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Pathways of Peace

22 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Good morning!  Welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman where I am continuing my study of Isaiah 45:7 specifically the word “peace” which is the Hebrew word shalom.  Shalom is spelled Shin (ש) Lamed (ל) Mem (ם) and, this week, I am continuing to look at the Lamed.

The word Lamed means “to learn, study, become familiar with” and also means “to teach”.  Over the past few weeks, I have written about the importance of having the Holy Spirit as our teacher.  Teachers, Pastors, and Church Leaders are important but it is the Holy Spirit alone who leads us into the truth that is Jesus Christ (See John 16:13, John 14:6).  Jessica Hottle recently posted to her social media “let Jesus guide you. Not people!” and that made me chuckle.  She made the same point I’ve been trying to make over multiple posts and thousands of words but she managed to do it in six. No one has ever accused me of brevity!  I agree: let Jesus be our guide.  In Matthew 11:29 He bids us come to Him and learn of Him and, as I’ve meditated on the meaning of the Lamed, I’ve been wondering just how in this day and age we learn from Jesus.

Interesting, the word Lamed spelled Lamed (ל) Mem (מ) Dalet (ד) but pronounced Lim-mood means “a disciple, one who is taught, a follower”.  I have heard people lament the age in which they have been born and heard them wish they’d been alive during Jesus’ day.  What would it have been like to walk with him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee! Oh, to sit at his feet, to walk with Him, to listen to His words as He spoke them!  Oh, to be one of His disciples!

I have a book on everyday life and customs during Bible Times and, out of curiosity, I looked up what it would have meant to be a disciple.  I read: “In Old Testament times, young men had the chance to become pupils of the prophets and priests.  Samuel, for example, was given to Eli while he was a small boy and trained by the priest.  The prophet Isaiah gave private teaching to a group of disciples.  These disciples lived with their masters, learning from them throughout the course of the day.  They sometimes sat at their feet, learning by lecture and discussion.  At other times they learned by their teacher’s example, or from object lessons that presented themselves throughout the day.  They would quiz their students, checking to see if any light bulbs were going on in their heads.  This one-on-one relationship was the best way to instill learning in the next generation…when Jesus walked upon the earth, he called disciples to his side, and for three and a half years they lived at his side and learned from his teachings.  Sometimes they sat at his feet (Luke 10:39), or learned from his example (John 13:15).  Many object lessons were presented to them (Mark 4:2), and Jesus quizzed them to see if they understood what was spoken (Luke 9:20). 

I laughed a little at the anachronism of “light bulbs going on in their heads” but zeroed in on the necessity of the one-on-one relationship.  I understand the desire to have been there in person at the beginning but I cannot help thinking how limited walking with the man Jesus would have been.  He couldn’t have a one-on-one relationship with all of his disciples at the same time.  I read through the gospels and find the crowds getting smaller and smaller until it’s just the Twelve.  Of the Twelve, only Three saw His transfiguration and, of the Three, only One laid with his head on Jesus’ breast.  Not everyone experienced the same level of closeness so I personally do not look on the days when Jesus walked this earth as a man as halcyon days.  Indeed, Jesus Himself said: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).

Those days of Jesus’ ministry were limited to a tiny segment of the planet and, even if I’d been alive and living there and then, it would have been impossible to choose to be His disciple.  I don’t necessarily mean my gender would exclude me but rather that the custom of the day was a disciple would choose which Rabbi he wished to follow.  Not so with Jesus: He did the choosing.  It’s better to be alive in this moment because now we live in a day of no limitation.  The call to all mankind now is “Come!” (Matthew 11:27-29, John 7:37-38, Revelation 22:17). We don’t have to run after Him and ask Him where He’s staying because we know He sits at the right hand of the Father and we know we are in Him. 

 Luke 6:40 says, “A disciple is not above his teacher but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” What an amazing thing it would be if all we had today was the same as that possessed by Old Testament and Jesus’ disciples.  We can read the Red Letters in our Bibles and learn from the very words of Jesus.  What an example He left for us to emulate!  How tremendous that His words and example are not all we have!  We do not live alongside Him but abide in Him and we know He abides in us because of His Spirit (1 John 3:24).  We do not have to strive to follow His example for His very life is in us and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.  We do not have to try to be like Him because His Spirit is the first fruits within us and we can know His promise is sure: when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. 

While studying the Lamed, I watched a video on the Shivimpanim channel.  The Rabbi mentioned the Hallel which are special prayers said on Holy Days and pointed out there are two Lameds within the word.  Hallel is also one of the root words that comprise Hallelujah, a phrase that means “Praise the Lord!”  The Lameds in the word Hallelujah are a beautiful lesson.  I know that I will be like my Teacher Jesus Christ because I see Him.  I see Him because His Spirit is within me opening my eyes.  With my eyes opened to behold Him, I cannot but shout, ”Hallelujah!” because I see Him, I know Him, and I have learned from Him.  This learning and knowing is at the very center of my peace.

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

Spiritual Mentor and Christian Life Coach – Jessica Hottle

 References

Everyday Living: Bible Life and Times, MJF Books, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New York, New York, 2006

(3) Secret of the Hebrew letter Lamed – YouTube

(3) LAMED – Secrets of the Hebrew Letters – YouTube

My Feet Are on the Rock

08 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Personal Essays, Studies, Writing

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Happy Monday and welcome to another post on Renaissance Woman.

Does anyone remember the poem The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe?  It’s a poem about six blind men who seek out an elephant so that, by observation, they might understand the creature.  Each of the six men encounter a different part of the elephant and liken it to something familiar: a wall, a snake, a fan, etc.  The last stanza of the poem states, “So, oft in theologic wars/The disputants, I ween/Rail on in utter ignorance/Of what each other mean/And prate about an Elephant/Not one of them has seen!”

Last week I posted on the Hebrew letters that comprise Shin ש and how I’ve come across two schools of thought on that.  One is that the letter is comprised of Vavs and Yods and the other is that the letter is a Yod, a Vav, and a Zayin.  Which is correct?  I don’t care one way or the other because, as I followed both paths, I found myself in the same place: 3 Vavs and 4 Yods give me the number 7 which is Spiritual Perfection and the number of the Zayin is 7 which is Spiritual Perfection.  I found value in looking at both but the study did get me thinking.   

I cannot count how many times over the past weeks and months I’ve heard believers of various denominations stress the importance of “sound doctrine.”  I have found “that’s not sound doctrine” is used as the final hammer strike on the last nail in the coffin of another person’s argument but there are times when the speaker will explain just what they believe sound doctrine to be.  I listen and sometimes agree and other times disagree.  This made me wonder, just who decides what “sound doctrine” is?  I see one denomination convinced what they teach is the soundest doctrine of all unlike this denomination whose teachings are based on false interpretations of scripture and definitely not like this other denomination whose teachings are a delusion of Satan.  I must infer then, that by “sound doctrine” what they actually mean is, “what our denomination teaches.”

What is doctrine?  The definition of the word is, “something taught, teachings, something taught as the principles or creed of a religion, political party, etc.; tenet or tenets; belief; dogma, a rule, theory, or principle of law.”  There is nothing in this definition that suggests a personal knowing and relationship is necessary.  Such is also what I find in those insisting everyone have sound doctrine: there is only a rare mention of knowing God for yourself.  I am not concerned with sound doctrine.  I am concerned with knowing the Father because knowing Him and knowing Jesus Christ is the very definition of eternal life.  “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). 

I recently read a book called Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose.  When the author married her first husband, Rev. C. Russell Deibler, she and her husband both knew they were called to the Mission Field and, specifically, the Philippines.  Mrs. Deibler was several years younger than her husband and had just graduated from school.  She relates in her book that, before the Church would allow her to accompany her husband to the Philippines, they tested her in doctrine and theology.  She passed the tests and was allowed to go.  While in the Philippines, World War II broke out and Japan took over the islands.  Mrs. Deibler and her husband were interred in separate camps where her husband died.  Mrs. Deibler spent four years in various camps and I was struck by how it was not doctrine or theology that sustained her: it was the vitality of her relationship with Jesus Christ.  Mrs. Deibler-Rose writes, “Experientially, I was learning to understand the comfort of the Holy Spirit.  Sometime during the dark hours I slept.  The sword of sorrow had pierced deep within me, but He had bathed the sword in oil.”  

This book gave a graphic picture of the difference between having doctrine-which is by definition a lifeless thing-and having a vital relationship with the Living God.  To me, those quibbling over whether or not someone’s doctrine is sound are like the blind men quibbling over the elephant.  Not one of them was wrong per se but neither were any of them correct.  Not one of them had fully seen. 

There is a passage in Colossians I’ve been meditating on for some time: “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:18-19).  Our reward is Christ Jesus.  He is our very Life.  In Him, we are made one with the Father.  Everything the Father has belongs to Jesus.  Everything Jesus has is ours because His Spirit lives within us and declares it to us.  (See John 16:13-15)

I know this not only because the Bible tells me so but because I KNOW HIM!  He is real!  He is alive!  He is alive in me right now!  This is not something reserved for the future.  It is not something I earn if I follow Jesus’ example and live a moral life.  He freely gives Himself to me, teaches me who He is, and brings me into relationship with Himself.  There is no substitute for knowing Him and this knowing is my litmus test.  I don’t compare what I hear from others with any doctrine: the Spirit within me guides me into all truth.  Jesus Himself is that absolute living truth and, as He has joined me to Himself, I am one spirit with Him.

Let none of us allow ourselves to be cheated of our reward by anyone who has not seen.  Let us hold fast to the Head who is Christ Jesus.  Let us test everything and hold fast to what is true.  “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection…” and, finally, let us “no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ…” (Hebrews 6:1, Ephesians 4:15)

Amen.

All Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

The poems of John Godfrey Saxe/The Blind Men and the Elephant – Wikisource, the free online library

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, Williams Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1970, 1974

Rose, Darlene Deibler, Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II, A Ruth Graham Dienert Book, Harper San Francisco, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, New York, 1988

You Need a Good Shoe

01 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Hello!  Welcome to a new month and a new post on Renaissance Woman!

I am continuing in my study of Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord do all these things.”  I have made it to “peace” in my study which in the Hebrew is shalom and in the Greek eirene.  I had planned for my next study step to be an in-depth look at the Hebrew letters comprising shalom and did touch on the Shin last week.  However, I have come across something in my study of the Shin that must be looked at so, this week, I am going down one of those little side tracks I do usually try so hard to avoid.

In my previous studies of the Shin, I came across two teachers who described the shape of the letter as being comprised of other Hebrew letters.  The Shin is like a flame with the three flame parts being Vavs, the tops of the Vavs are Yods, and the base is a Yod.  Four Yods and three Vavs total seven parts to the Shin and seven is the number of Spiritual Perfection. 

This is not the description Mr. Bentorah gives in his book.  He writes, “The letter Shin is shaped with a base that has three arms extending upward.  Jewish tradition teaches that the right arm of the Shin ש is a Yod י which teaches that we receive wisdom from heaven, the left side is a Zayin ז which teaches that from the left side there flows a weapon of defense to bring peace and the center of the Shin is the Vav ו which connects us with heaven.  Thus the Shin brings the Zayin, Vav, and Yod into balance and harmony.  The Shin teaches us that the peace of the Zayin, the wisdom of God, and the connection with heaven will bring us into harmony with God.”1

Mr. Bentorah speaks specifically to the Hebrew word shalom: “The left arm of the Shin is the Zayin which is a weapon to bring peace.  The Shin is the first letter of shalom which means peace.  Shalom has a wide range of meanings, not just an absence of strife, but the presence of wholeness and prosperity.”2

This idea of a weapon that brings peace sounds like an oxymoron to me.  Never in any history I have read-of any age in any place-has a true peace resulted from warfare.  While reading The Middle Sea, I was struck at how a battle would be fought because of the anger and resentment built during a previous battle which would then lead to another battle because an entirely different group of people would be outraged and then another battle, and another…any “peace” was merely a cessation of the actual killing.  There was no peace in the sense of harmony or covenant friendship.  I can think of no instance where a weapon of any sort brought a genuine peace.

I couldn’t think the idea was a scriptural one either.  Doesn’t the Apostle Paul say, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…?” (2 Corinthians 10:4)  The list of the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 does mention peace but not as a weapon.  Paul does say, “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” but the actual weapons are the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Ephesians 6: 13-17).  Peace isn’t a weapon here, defensive or otherwise.

The only scripture I could think of where peace might be thought a weapon of defense is Philippians 4:7: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  The Greek word translated “guard” in this passage (“keep” in the KJV) is phroureo (G5432) and means, “to be a watcher in advance, to mount guard as a sentinel, to hem in, protect, keep with a garrison”.  I know of no culture where a Watch would be set without that Watch being armed: not to attack but to defend from attackers.  Here, I can see the idea of peace as a defensive weapon but, wondering what more I might learn, I took a look at the Zayin.

There isn’t anything that immediately stands out.  I look up the Zayin in both Mr. Bentorah’s and Mr. Haralick’s books and both tell me the Zayin is the seventh letter of the Hebrew Alphabet and has a numerical value of seven.  The word Zayin (spelled Zayin ז Yod י Nun ן) means “arms” or “weapons”.  Both books tell me the Zayin is even shaped like a sword with the top being the hilt and the vertical part being the blade. 

Mr. Bentorah distinguishes between weapons and arms by writing, “Weapons are used to bring peace from those who are opposing peace.  Arms are used to settle conflict over possessions, something like land, resources, or food.”  He then goes on to write, “the Zayin reminds us that God has provided all we need when He created this world, He will sustain us or protect us.  Thus the Zayin also means to protect and sustain.  As a sword the letter Zayin is a symbol of power.  It is the power of God that will protect us and sustain us.”3

Both books point out the Zayin’s numerical value is seven and the seventh day is the Sabbath or the Day of Rest.  Elaborating on this idea of rest, Mr. Haralick writes, “True rest occurs when the desire to receive for ourself alone is at rest.  For work can be viewed as the activity we do to fulfill and feed the desire to receive for ourself alone.  When the work activity ceases, that is, when the desire to receive for ourself alone is put to rest, a stress-free state emerges.  In this stress-free state we are able to take a cosmic view, seeing ourselves as part of and connected to and identified with Godliness rather than separated and fragmented from Godliness.”4

My Mother commented on last week’s post that she saw the peace of God as rest.  In the Zayin, I definitely see the connection between peace and rest.  Yet the letter Zayin also stands for movement so this letter appears to be a letter of opposites.  It’s an active rest and it’s a peaceful warfare.  Such opposites are only reconciled inside the person of Jesus Christ and by understanding life lived in the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ is our rest and His rest is made real to us by the Holy Spirit living in us.  Yet the Holy Spirit is described as wind and living water in the scripture: always moving, increasing, and bringing refreshment and revitalization.  This rest is a dynamic rest.  Then, there is no denying our Christian lives are filled with warfare.  And yet, we do not make war as the world does.  We have no need to fight for resources:  God Himself is sufficient and “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). 

I think it’s interesting that Ephesians speaks of having our feet shod by the preparation of the gospel of peace.  Assuming the Apostle Paul has a Roman Legionary in mind when he is describing the armor of God, these warriors of Rome did a great deal of marching and carried heavy packs while they were at it.  Good footwear was important and Roman Legionaries wore heavy soled hobnailed sandal-boots called caligae.  The hobnails gave the wearer good traction on most surfaces.  Reliable footwear was probably one of the most important parts of a Legionary’s military kit and it makes me look at the passage in Ephesians in an entirely new light.

The peace with which our feet are shod is the peace of God: union, harmony, completeness, wholeness, well-being, tranquility, and abundance.  With this peace as our foundation, we stand on the solid ground that is Christ Jesus and we cannot be moved.  We are protected and sustained with Jesus Christ Himself as our defense.  When we do move, it is not in a state of warfare to claim more ground and resources or because we seek to put an enemy down.  When we move, it is because we are pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Our steps are sure because Jesus is also the way and our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of His peace.

  1. Bentorah, Chaim, Hebrew Word Study Beyond the Lexicon, Trafford Publishing, USA, 2014 Page 149
  2. Ibid., Page 150
  3. Ibid., Page 90
  4. Haralick, Robert M., The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, New Jersey, 1995, Page 106

All Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

Other References

Matyszak, Philip, Legionary: the Roman Soldier’s Unofficial Manual, Thames & Hudson, Ltd., London, UK, 2009, Page 52-54

Norwich, John Julius, The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean, Vintage Books, Random House, New York, New York, 2006

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Having My Fill

11 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Image by Yinan Chen from Pixabay

This has been an interesting week.  In last week’s post, I asked questions I didn’t have answers for.  I had no idea where the Holy Spirit was going to take me as I began to seek to understand the Peace that comes only from Jesus Christ but I have been taught of Him long enough to know He was going to take me somewhere.  As I write this post, I still cannot say I have a complete understanding what peace is but I do understand why I haven’t been satisfied with any of the definitions for peace I have come across.

I subscribe to Jeff A. Benner’s YouTube Channel and so, when I set myself to study the Hebrew word for peace, I checked out some of Mr. Benner’s videos on studying Hebrew.  Lecture # 33 is titled “Eastern and Western Thought” and caught my attention because I’ve been thinking so much about the power of my thought life and the necessity for my thoughts to be brought under the rule of Jesus Christ.  This video is a short one and I’ll include a link to it at the bottom of this post.  It is short but it brought to mind something I hadn’t given thorough consideration.

I think we all understand the Hebrew People of the Old Testament had a very different culture, language, and thought process than we who live in the West.  Have any of us sought to acknowledge what that means?  I think it’s important to do so.  I am deeply grateful for my English Bibles.  To be able to sit and read it in my native language is a gift I never take for granted.  Such a gift is mine because of many people but I always have William Tyndale in the back of my mind whenever I look at the multiple translations I have on my shelves.  He dared to translate the bible into English, was condemned as a heretic, and was burned at the stake.  The Bible I hold in my hands is only there because William Tyndale, and others like him, so believed in the importance of it, that they gave their lives.  For this reason, I cannot disparage any translation.

That being said, what I have is a translation.  The English language comes with culture and a thought process very different from the cultures and thought processes in place when the Old and New Testaments were written.  Mr. Benner speaks of two schools of thought: the Greek and the Hebrew.  The Greek is equated with abstract thinking and the Hebrew is equated with concrete thinking.  What’s the difference?  Abstract thinking refers to the process of thinking deeply about some abstract idea and involves emotions such as love, hatred, anger, etc.: thoughts that are not real but a concept of our intelligence.  Concrete thinking involves thinking about physical things that can be felt, done, or processed by someone.  Is one better than the other?  I think that depends on whether we focus on one to the detriment of the other.

Malcolm Smith often utilizes an analogy of reading off a menu as opposed to eating the food the menu points to.  While Mr. Smith does not specifically attribute this analogy to abstract v concrete thinking, I think it works.

Imagine you are sitting at the table pictured at the top of this post.  Your friends and family are gathered around you.  The food has been prepared and set before you.  The aromas that wafted from the kitchen as the food was being prepared were indescribable.  They whetted your appetite and, now, as you sit at the table with the food before you, your stomach is growling.  The Host of the feast rises and begins to describe the food to you.  Perhaps the Host uses words like “delight”, “satisfaction”, “savory”, “sweet”, and “aromatic”.  All of these words are describing something real-the food is on the table before you-but then suppose the Host sits and everyone around the table begins to describe their favorite dish.  They share how it tasted that time they ate it, how wonderful it was, and how the taste would differ from anything on the table.  You’re ready to try the food for yourself.  All of your salivary glands are in overdrive and you can’t wait to taste what has been described to you, what you can smell, and what you can see on the table before you.  But then, everyone around the table sighs and says, “one day”.  They sing a song about how great the food was and how great it will be and then leave the table without eating a bite. 

The concrete mindset sees the food is there.  You can see it and smell it.  All you have to do is fill your plate and eat.  You do so and the food is just as wonderful as described!  You taste the promise contained in the smells.  You eat until you cannot possible take another bite and, while doing so, you and the others at the table with you laugh and talk and fellowship.  Perhaps one has tried a dish you haven’t tried yet.  He or she gushes about how delicious it is and the dish is passed down the table to you.  You taste it and find it is as marvelous as described.  You pass around your favorite dish and see the delight on your companions faces as they too experience it.  Perhaps no one wants to leave the table because the experience is too good and you all sit together enjoying each other’s company.  When the company finally does break up, it does so with the promise that you all will get together again and will eat together until you are filled to the brim.  Each morsel you taste between that meeting and the next is done so with the idea of sharing it with those who ate at the table with you. 

If you’ve stayed with me through that analogy, I hope you can see how abstract and concrete can work together.  I think abstract thinking can enhance the enjoyment of concrete thinking.  The Hebrew word for peace in my study passage is shalom and Mr. Benner covers it in his Lecture #8 video titles “An Introduction to Word Studies”.  He says shalom is not cessation from war but rather means “completeness”.  I take that definition to John 14 where Jesus says, “My peace I give unto you.”  I look at the Fruit of the Spirit as being “completeness”.  I remember Colossians 2:10 where the Apostle Paul declares I have been made complete in Christ.  Have been made!  Now! 

All of this is well and good but if all I do is remember it, it’s just the aromas.  Knowing all of this certainly whets my appetite but if I don’t actually eat it, I’m never satisfied.  I can look at peace as an abstract concept.  I can study it, compare and contrast it with other concepts, and learn all there is to know about peace.  This is not how the Hebrew people thought of peace.  The peace of God was something concrete with a very real application to their everyday lives.  So it is to my life today and I am convinced the only way to move from my enjoying the abstract to having my fill of the concrete is to leave my books and all my studying and allow the Holy Spirit to make everything I have learned real to me.  How do I do that?

I admit that as wonderful as it is, my abstract thinking isn’t enough.  I acknowledge I’m hungry and want Him to not only show me what peace is but to fill me with it until I overflow.  I ask Him to open my eyes that I might recognize the concrete reality of peace and then I rejoice along with the Psalmist because I know “my soul shall be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (Psalm 63:5, NI).

Lecture #33: Eastern and Western Thought – YouTube

Lecture #8: An Introduction to Word Studies – YouTube

Difference Between Concrete and Abstract Thinking – Ask Any Difference

Great Britons: William Tyndale – The Man Who Translated the Bible Into English (anglotopia.net)

MalcolmSmithWebinars – YouTube

Getting a Grasp on Peace

04 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Image by Avelino Calvar Martinez from Pixabay

Hello and welcome to Renaissance Woman as I continue in my study of Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.”  I am moving on from my study of the word “make”.  The Hebrew word translated make, asah, is one I do want to look at further but, for now, I am content with what I have already discovered.  God is an artist, The Artist, and He pours His very self into everything He makes.  In Isaiah 45:7, the thing He is making is peace.  What does that mean?  What is peace?

I looked at peace a bit when I was conducting my study on the Fruit of the Spirit.  In that study, I saw peace as something that belongs to Jesus and can only be given by Him.  It is given to each individual believer as we come to see ourselves in Him and Him in us through the Holy Spirit.  It is not something that can be imposed on us from without rather peace becomes our way of being as His life is formed in us.  The peace of Jesus Christ is not something we can impose on others but flows out from us as the springs of His life in us overflow.  Such were my conclusions during that study and, while I still wholeheartedly believe what I wrote, I did not define what peace is. 

As I try to answer that question, some of my favorite scriptures on peace come to mind.  There is John 14:27: ““Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  There is Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.”  I especially like the Isaiah verse as it states “whose mind is stayed on You” and I have been meditating a great deal on the importance of my thoughts.  Since peace is an aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit, I define it as something internal, something that comes from the life of Jesus Christ within me.  The verse in John does quote Him as saying, “not as the world gives do I give to you,” which tells me His peace is different than the peace I find in the world.  Is the difference between Jesus’ peace and the peace of the world that His is part of the flow of His life and, to the world, peace is something external?

I looked up peace in my New World Dictionary and find the answer to that is yes and no.  The first entries under “peace” are, 1., freedom from or a stopping of war, 2., a treaty or agreement to end war or the threat of war, and 3., freedom from public disturbance or disorder; public security; law and order.  This series of definitions can be summed up as “peace is the absence of conflict” which I admit is how I used to think of peace.  This idea of peace is fragile.  An argument escalates, or a law is opposed and this peace is broken.  This kind of peace is imposed on people from without and such imposition often breeds resentment.

Of course, the peace defined in the dictionary is not always imposed.  The fourth entry under peace says, “freedom from disagreement or quarrels; harmony; concord” and then under “make peace” I read, “to effect a reconciliation with, to end hostilities, settle arguments.”  Two individuals or disparate groups of people can choose to make peace with other, to cease from hostilities, and to settle conflicts.  And yet, there is no need of a heart change for this kind of peace.  It is not imposed from without but neither does it infer those parties ceasing from hostilities are now of one accord or that any restoration of relationship will follow.  This too is an absence of conflict but, just because they may not be acted on, does not mean resentment and bad feeling ceases to exist.

In entries five and six in the dictionary, I finally find peace defined as, “an undisturbed state of mind; absence of mental conflict, serenity, calm, quiet, tranquility”.  These definitions are certainly closer to what I think the peace of Jesus is and yet this peace too can be found in the world without Jesus being mentioned anywhere.  There are religions where the practices are meant to lead to serenity and a tranquil state of mind.  I have met some of the practitioners of these religions and they do seem more calm and confident-more peaceful-than I have ever dreamed of being.  I once watched a documentary where different religious leaders were interviewed and all of them spoke of life being good, peaceful, and blissful.  I listened carefully and Jesus as the source and giver of peace wasn’t mentioned once, even among those leaders who professed to be Christians.  If this is so, if this kind of internal peace can be achieved without Jesus, is He even necessary in our day to day lives?  Is the only bonus to a Christian life that belief in Jesus means you get to escape hell?  What is this peace He promised to leave with us and just how does it differ than that given by the world?

I looked up the Greek word for peace used in the John passage in the Strong’s concordance.  It is eirene (G1515) and means, “peace, prosperity, one, quietness, rest, set at one again.”  The entry in Strong’s Concordance suggests eirene comes from the primary verb eiro which means “to join.”  This same Greek word is used in the Septuagint in place of the Hebrew word translated peace in Isaiah 45:7 which is shalom.  The Strong’s gives a similar definition for shalom (H7965): well, happy, health, prosperity, rest.   

I see these definitions in Ephesians 2:14 where, speaking of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul says; “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation”.  Here, peace is unity; being set at one again with no divisions or separations.  I feel this passage sums up most of the definitions of peace I’ve come across but it all happens within the peace that Jesus Christ Himself is.  What is this peace?  I’ve looked up definitions, compared and contrasted, and still don’t feel I have a grasp on it.

In Isaiah 45:7, God declares He is the One who makes peace  and then in Matthew, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt. 5:9).  I feel there is more to this peace than a lack of war, conflict resolution, or a tranquil mind.  Just what more there is, I do not know.  I need to know because I cannot make peace if I do not know just what it is.  My prayer is that in the upcoming weeks the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation will open my eyes to see what this peace is that God makes, this peace that is Jesus Himself.

Until next time…

Unless noted otherwise, all scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible Old and New Testaments, The Authorized King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Printed in Colombia, 2003

References

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1974, 1976

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990