Tag Archives: Kingdom Truth

Formed a Vessel-Yod

17 Monday Jan 2022

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Stock Photo from Pixabay

Hello, Everyone, and thank you for joining me as I continue to look at Isaiah 45:7 where God says; “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.”  Last week I wrote about God forming the light and how I could see a picture of Jesus.  This week, I am going to take a look at the word “form”.

The Hebrew word for “form” in this passage is yatsar.  For those of you who don’t know, there are no written vowels in the Ancient Hebrew language so this word is written with three consonants: the Yod, the Tzadi, and the Resh or, practicing using the Hebrew symbols (and reading right to left): יצר

I have a book by Robert M. Haralick called “The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters”.  This book was my introduction to each Hebrew letter having a meaning all its own and that my word studies could be deepened as I consider each letter as well as the word as a whole. This book gives the following meanings of the Hebrew letters for yatsar: the Yod means “spirituality”, the Tzadi means “righteousness & humility” and the Resh means “the cosmic container”.  Reading this absolutely fascinated me: especially the meaning of the Resh and especially after picturing the light that Jesus is being formed into a man.  As I looked deeper into the meaning of yatsar, I saw not only a picture of the life Jesus lived as a man but how our lives are lived in Him.

י Yod = Spirituality:  The Bible records that, at the moment of Jesus’ baptism, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove.  When I look at His life as recorded in the gospels, I see the Holy Spirit working in a man as He had never done in anyone in the Old Testament.  Well, Jesus was God some might say.  That is true but let us not forget that He emptied Himself and became like one of us.  Jesus did not have superpowers but He did live in and operate in the Holy Spirit in a way no one else had.  Truly, in seeing Jesus, we see the New Thing God promised through the Old Testament prophets.

I try very hard not to digress in my studies but it’s difficult: I see so many awesome things!  There are many times Jesus alluded to His oneness with the Father.  There are also many times He was clear about it but one of His allusions is found in John 14 and John 15.  Jesus is describing the Holy Spirit and He says, “but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14: 26).  Then He says, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26).  Who is sending the Spirit?  The Father or Jesus?   HE will because they are ONE!  I thought that was cool.  Anyway…that day came!  The Holy Spirit was sent and His sending is recorded in Acts 2.  He was sent then and He has continued to be sent to everyone everywhere.  The life I now live is the life of Jesus lived in me and that is only possible through His Spirit.

I do know there are those believers who insist the Holy Spirit went away with the death of the last Apostle.  There is absolutely no scriptural basis for this without some serious discounting of massive portions of the New Testament nor is it my personal experience.  I am filled with the Holy Spirit right this very minute.  He is my Teacher, my Helper, my Comforter, my Companion, my Best Friend.  He is the Spirit of Jesus imparting the very life of Jesus in me right now.  He is the Spirit proceeding from the Father who assures me I am accepted and reveals to me how I am loved. 

I encourage anyone who does not know they are filled with the Holy Spirit to do four things.  One, read the book of Acts and see how indiscriminately the Holy Spirit filled people.  Then two, go through the entire New Testament with a pen or bible highlighter-whatever you have at hand-and underline or highlight every occurrence of the word Spirit.  I am certain you will begin to see how this New Covenant is one ministered to us by the Holy Spirit.  Three, say “Jesus is Lord” and then call God your Daddy-which while being respectful, is the meaning of Abba (1 Corinthians 12:3, Romans 8:15).  Done?  Then know His Spirit is in you!  After you have done those three things do number four which is to consider the tradition taught to you might be wrong, refuse to be cheated of your inheritance, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the truth.

In the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, God declares a day to His people when He will, “sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you: I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).  It is always good to remember that this promise, while to Israel, is not just to Israel.  We who believe on Jesus have been grafted into the family of God and this promise is to all of us. 

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).  The promise of God recorded in Ezekiel is fulfilled in Jesus.  We are in Him and His Spirit is in us.  We are clean.  We are being renewed.  His Spirit within us is not only the wisdom and knowledge to know His ways but the strength to walk in them.  This is not a way of life reserved for some spiritual elite.  God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34).  The Holy Spirit is often symbolized by water in the scriptures and Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).  This idea is echoed in the glorious revelation of Jesus Christ: “And the Spirit and the bride say ‘come!’ and let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come.  Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us.  We can have as much of Him as we desire.  May our eyes be opened to see this, may we drink deeply, and may our hearts overflow with rivers of living water.

Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from:

The New King James Version of The Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

Haralik, Robert M., The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters, Jason Aronson, Inc., Northvale, New Jersey, 1995

You’re Taking That Out of Context

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by in Walking in the Way

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I was part of a prayer group some time ago where I felt compelled to share scriptures on knowing the will of God.  I shared Ephesians 5:17 and Colossians 1:9-10.  Almost immediately, I was accused of taking the scriptures out of context and admonished that, if I read further into Colossians, I would see that the will of God was a mystery.  It wasn’t impossible for me to have taken a scripture out of context and so I did read further into Colossians.  I found it was so obvious I had NOT taken the scriptures out of context, and what had indeed been a mystery was now revealed to us (see Colossians 1:25-27), that I longed for an opportunity to confront my accuser.  God, in His infinite wisdom, did not allow it and so I chose to hand the criticism over to Him and learn what I could from it.  

The context of scripture is of vital importance in both its meanings.  Dictionary.com defines “context” these two ways: 1. “the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect” and 2. “the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.”  Both are important and I believe some scriptures cannot be understood outside of the culture and beliefs of the day in which they were written.  I agree that it can be dangerous to lift a scripture out of its context and use it to say something it was never intended to say.  And yet, I find I take scriptures out of their context all the time.  A scripture I find comforting is Hebrews 13:5: “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (KJV).  Other translations say, “Be free from the love of money” (ASV, ESV, Amplified).  And so, within its context, this scripture has to do with money, not being obsessed with it, being satisfied with those things I have, and trusting God to provide for my material needs.

I do apply the promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me to my finances.  I also apply it to those times when I have a flare, my entire body is in agony, and I can barely move.  I apply it to those times when I am lonely.  I apply it to those times when my future looks bleak.  I apply it when I am tired and depressed. I apply it to situations far and above its original context.  If the Writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is quoting Deuteronomy 31 verse 6 or verse 8, then he too has taken it out of its context.  The original promise was made to Israel before entering the Promised Land and then to Joshua and yet the Writer had no qualms about applying the promise to the fledgling believers of his day. 

I recently started reading a collection of lectures by Andrew Jukes where he traces the mystery of the Kingdom of God through I and II Kings.  In his introduction, Andrew Jukes acknowledges that questions may arise as to why he’s applying Old Testament scriptures outside of their proper context and says, “The facts are these, – Christ and His apostles continually refer to various passages from the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms; but these references, though claimed as applicable either to the Church or Christ, appear, when we turn to them, to be quoted apart from their proper context, and to relate not to Christ, but rather to certain circumstances in the life of some Old Testament saint, or to some portion of the history of the ancient Israel”.  Andrew Jukes then shares some examples.

He first compares John 15: 24, 25 where Jesus quotes from Psalm 35:19: “they hated me without cause”; words which come from a Psalm of David, were applied to David himself, and were in reference to men and circumstances of David’s own day.  Mr. Jukes also references Acts 1:16-20 where the Apostle Paul says, “Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus.  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and his bishopric let another take.”  Paul is quoting from two different Psalms-Psalm 69:25 and 109:8-both of which are Psalms of David and, again, originally applied to David himself and were in reference to people and circumstances of his day.

These are just two of the examples shared by Mr. Jukes: the pages of his introductions are filled with many more.  What is his material point?  At the end of his introduction, Mr. Jukes says; “Now when we remember that these applications of Scripture are applications made by the Holy Ghost, and that they pervade the entire writings of the New Testament, we shall I think feel that we have unexceptionable witness at least to the fact that the Word contains something beneath and besides its first and historic meaning.  In saying this, I by no means deny the first or literal sense both of the histories and prophecies of the Old Testament; I am only contending that this first and historic sense is not the only one, nor indeed the highest one…”

This comforts me.  There are so many scriptures that the Holy Spirit has used to comfort me where the original context applied to someone else in a different time.  It doesn’t matter.  Every scripture of both the Old and New Testaments are ultimately about Jesus and since “in Him all the promises of God are yes” (1 Corinthians 1:20) and I am in Him; any promise made, regardless of original context, is mine. 

Context is important, even crucial for understanding, but it is not king.  2 Corinthians 3:5-6 says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth live”.  The proper context of this is comparison of the Mosaic Covenant, or the law, as compared to the New Covenant which is ministered by the Holy Spirit.  And yet, this passage has an application here.  Keeping scriptures cemented in the time and place in which they were written, declaring that promises made to Ancient Israel was for that people in that time, leads to stagnation.  The Spirit enlivens scripture, applies it to our circumstances in this time, and the words become springs of living water within us. 

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” is the direction that comes to us through Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.  When another quotes scripture, I check the context to gain understanding and listen for what The Spirit is saying in this moment.  When someone accuses me of taking scripture out of context, I offer that accusation up to God and listen for what The Spirit is saying.  Then I pray for the accuser that The Spirit will open the eyes of their heart, that they will come to know the freedom that is in Christ Jesus, and that they will see that the letter killeth but The Spirit giveth life.

Scriptures quoted from:

The Holy Bible Old and New Testaments Authorized King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2003

Andrew Jukes quotes from:

Jukes, Andrew, The Mystery of the Kingdom, 1884-Based on Public Domain Texts

The Ministry of the Spirit

14 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Fruit of the Spirit, Studies

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I write this on a Sunday afternoon after having had a wonderful meeting with other believers and, after the chronological meeting was over; continuing my day strengthened in the Spirit, edified, joyful, and peaceful.  I say “chronological” because I live and move and have my being in Jesus Christ and so while the Sunday meeting is an opportunity to gather together with others who live and move and have their beings in Jesus, to hear our teacher share his delight in Jesus, and have our spirits cry a resounding “Amen!”; there is no real end to the meeting because my body is the temple of God and His Spirit dwells in me (1 Corinthians 3:16).  I am-along with other believers-the ecclesia, and we all live and walk in the Spirit.  This is my Christian Life.

I can’t help wonder what Sunday Service was like for other believers.  Did they go to a church building believing it was the only place they could meet with Jesus? What was the message like?  Did their meetings end with the Song of Lord in their hearts?  Did their meetings end with their hearts heavy with the burden of being wretched sinners, saved by grace certainly, but having nothing more in them than a determination that this week they would do better?  How many of them heard a message on the life that is theirs now through the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

I ask myself these questions because-whether through social media or in person-I rarely hear anyone speaking of the Holy Spirit.  When He is mentioned it is little more than that: a mention.  I hear nothing of His ministry and very little of His necessity to the Christian Life.  I understand His purpose is hard to nail down.  After all, it is Jesus who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and that in all things He may have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18).  The Spirit speaks not on His own authority (John 16:13) and so it is difficult to understand just what the Spirit of God does.  I long to know more myself and so, while conducting this study of the Fruit of the Spirit, I went to the New Testament with a blue Bible highlighter and looked at every instance of “in the Spirit”, “of the Spirit”, “by the Spirit”, etc. 

It’s a fascinating project and scriptures I have read innumerable times leapt off the page.  Doing this study has convinced me the Christian Life is impossible without the Holy Spirit.  Space does not allow for me to quote every scripture I highlighted because doing so, and including the context within which they occur, would result in my quoting the entire New Testament.  I have managed to select those scriptures which were especially helpful in revealing the ministry of the Holy Spirit to me and I pray they do the same for you. 

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us.  We cannot believe nor confess who Jesus is without Him (Romans 10:9).  “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Go ahead.  Say it out loud.  Use all the definitions of the Greek: Jesus is Supreme.  Jesus has all authority.  Jesus is God.  Jesus is Lord.  His Spirit in us testifies of Him (John 15:26).   

The Holy Spirit reveals our relationship to the Father.  “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”  That’s 1 John 3:1.  I know I am a child of God.  I can say it out loud.  How do I know it?  Because Galatians 4:6 is true: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”  He is not merely God the Father.  He is God MY Father.  See also Romans 5:5. 

The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray. “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8: 26-27). 

The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the things of God. “But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (Isaiah 64:4) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirt of God for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14).

The Holy Spirit shows us how Jesus has set us free. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8: 1-2).  “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Holy Spirit reveals to us the hope we have both now and for the future.  “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8: 9-11). See also 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and Ephesians 1:13-14.

The Holy Spirit reveals to us the New Covenant.  “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?” (2 Corinthians 3:5-8)

There are so many more wonderful, beautiful scriptures!  How I pray you search them out and read them for yourself!  Underline them.  Highlight them.  Speak them out loud so your ears hear them.  Let the Spirit minister to you and He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).  I know the Holy Spirit lives in me and is active in my life.  I know it through experience and I also know it because the Bible tells me so.  Because He lives in me, my life bears His fruit. His fruit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:25-26a)

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Amen!

And Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.  ©1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

 

Show Your Work

31 Monday May 2021

Posted by in Walking in the Way

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I laughed a little as I chose the title to this post.  I can’t tell you how many times I lost points in math class because I failed to show my work.  I didn’t do it on purpose: I’d do the mental steps and write down the answer.  If I got it right, what did actually writing out the steps matter?  It mattered for many reasons, as any math teacher will tell you.  Doing the work and showing the work is important.  And so, before I post the final study on the fruit of the Spirit, I want to address something I wrote in last week’s post, specifically; rather than doing “good works” I seek to be about The Father’s business and do only what I see Him doing.  I did not mean waiting on God is an excuse to not do anything.  In this post, I want to expand on what I mean when I say “good works” and I want to take a look at James 2:26 and Ephesians 2:8-9. 

James 2:26 says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  In times past, I have looked at these two scriptures and wondered if they didn’t contradict one another.  Someone might say, “Of course not!  It’s obvious!”  I can only speak to my own walk with God and, for a long time, it wasn’t obvious to me. 

These two scriptures appeared to be expressing opposing thoughts regarding works.  That is, of course, even assuming the two Apostles are speaking about the same thing.  Perhaps Paul is speaking merely of Jesus’ death and resurrection while James is speaking directly to how we Christians interact with our fellow men.  And yet, can the two be separated?  Don’t we have a tendency to present God with our good works, almost like a “here’s how Christian I am, aren’t I faithful and good” resume?  Our works are the proof of our faith according to James but then no they aren’t according to Paul. 

Is your head spinning?  I know mine was until my eyes were opened to see that everything comes from God.  I took another look at Ephesians 2: 8-9 and saw that everything mentioned there is a gift of God.  His grace is a gift.  His salvation is a gift.  His faith is a gift.  When I saw that Galatians 2:20 really says “the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God” rather than IN the Son of God, it changed James 2:8-9 for me.  I do not have to prove that my faith in Jesus is alive by doing good works.  Rather, it’s because He is alive in me through His Spirit, and because I live by His faith, that I do good works.  The works I do are His works.

Continuing on in Ephesians: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).  This is such a beautiful, exciting verse and one that leads me to rest in Jesus.  It’s never me.  It’s not my works.  It’s not doing what I think is good.  God has prepared specific good works for me and I walk in them.

This is, of course, easier said than done.  First, we must know what these works God has prepared beforehand are and there is a subtle difference between good works and the good works prepared beforehand by God.  There is a fact I have found to be often overlooked by pastors and teachers I have listened to.  I find there are few in Christendom who fail to attribute the existence of evil in the world to the fall of mankind that resulted in the eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden.  What I do not hear spoken of often is that the eating of the fruit of the tree resulted in man knowing both good and evil.  We humans are capable of great evil as well as great good. 

Doing good works has very little to do with whether or not we are following after God.  There are people who have no belief in any sort of god at all who have done great good.  There are people who believe in a God who have done great good.  There are people who are devout followers of Jesus who have done great good.  The same is true for doing evil but, for the sake of this post, I am focused on good works. 

There are many scriptures that stress the importance of good works like Titus 3:14: “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”  Romans Chapter 2 stresses the importance of good works especially in verses 6 & 7: “who will render to each one according to his deeds, eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good…” Good works are crucial and they are expected in the life of a Christian.

The point I am attempting to make is that, for the Christian, there is a difference between good works done FOR God and good works done out of the life OF God.  There is such a thing as “spiritual burnout”.  I am convinced this happens because we are capable of doing great works, the Bible even spells them out for us, and we expend so much energy in doing Christianity that we eventually burn out.  The Spirit is promised to be a spring of living water, flowing out to others through us.  When the works that we do are the works we see the Father doing, it’s His life in us that enables us to do the works.  There is no spiritual burnout when our works flow from the Spirit within us.  His fruit is love, joy, peace…

Knowing whether our works are the result of what we think/believe is good or whether they are the result of the life of Christ in us is impossible without the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  It requires being still, shutting out every other voice, and listening for His because, “…He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak…” (John 16:13).  Whatever He speaks we must do and we must do only what He speaks.

God has prepared the way for us to walk in.  We are His workmanship: His work is shown in us.  We can be confident that He who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6, emphasis mine).  We can trust that He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).  We can trust that the good works expected of us are not a call to busyness and exhaustion but rather a promise that His life in us bears fruit. Let us remember we only bear fruit when we abide in Him.  It’s His life flowing through us that bears fruit and the Father is the husbandman who prunes us that we may bear more fruit.  Let us not fall into the trap of “I ought to be doing this or I should be doing that.”  It is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).  He wants our lives to bear fruit and we can trust that He will ensure they do so no matter our circumstances or stations in life. 

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit! (Galatians 5:25)

Amen.

Fruit of the Spirit-Gentleness

24 Monday May 2021

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness” Galatians 5:22-23

The New King James Version I quote from most often has “gentleness” in this passage but I am used to hearing and quoting “meekness”.  “Gentleness” is without doubt a more positive word choice but it is “meekness” I find in the King James and Amplified versions.  It is the word I find most interesting in this list of Spirit Fruit because it is the one that carries the most negative connotation.

What do you think of when you think of meekness?  I mentioned in an earlier post how literature forms my understanding of words and, thinking on books I’ve read, I cannot think of one time where a character was described as “meek” and it was meant to be positive.  A “meek” character is a “weak” character and is someone to be mocked rather than emulated.  This cannot be what the Bible means.  Moses is called “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3, KJV) and I do not read of a weak man in his story.  Jesus calls Himself “meek and lowly of heart” (Matthew 11:29, KJV) and I do not read of a weak man in the gospels.  If Jesus were weak, spiritless, spineless, and easily imposed on-all words I’ve found used to define meek-He would have been no threat to the rulers of His day.

I did hope the dictionary definitions would help clarify the meaning of meek for me but they did not.  The New World Dictionary gives the first definition of meek as 1, patient and mild; not inclined to anger and resentment and then 2, too submissive, easily imposed on; spineless, spiritless.  Webster’s give me “humble and patient, submissive”; not necessarily a negative attribute of a weak character but not necessarily positive either. 

Looking at the Greek was also of little help.  The Greek word for meekness in the Galatians passage is praotes (G4236) and the Strong’s Concordance defines it as, “gentleness, humility, meekness.”  None of the related words, praos (G4235), praus (G4239), and prautes (G4240) offered any enlightenment.  The definitions do not go beyond “gentle, gentleness, humble, humility, meek, meekness.”  Not a great deal of new information here so I went to my reference materials.

Unger’s Bible Dictionary defined meekness as, “…in the scriptural sense is an inwrought grace of the soul and the exercises of it are first and chiefly toward God” and then quotes Trench’s Synonyms saying, “The Greek term ‘expresses that temper or spirit in which we accept his dealings with us without disputing and resisting; and it is loosely lined with humility and follows close upon it (Eph. 4:2, Col 3:13) because it is only the humble heart which is also the meek, and which, as such, does not fight against God.”

The Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines meekness in a similar way.  The entry for MEEK, MEEKNESS says: “PRAUTES, or PRAOTES, an earlier form, denotes meekness.  In its use in Scripture in which it has a fuller, deeper significance than in non-scriptural Greek writings, it consists not in a person’s outward behavior only; nor yet in his relations to his fellow men; as little in his mere natural disposition.  Rather it is an inwrought grace of the soul; and the exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God.  It is that temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting”.

The Vine’s Expository Dictionary did not care for “gentleness” as a definition for meekness neither did it suggest prautes/praotes had any inference of weakness: “The meaning of prautes is not readily expressed in English, for the terms meekness, mildness, commonly used, suggest weakness…whereas prautes does nothing of the kind…’gentleness’ has been suggested but as prautes describes a condition of mind and heart,  and as ‘gentleness’ is appropriate rather to actions, this word is no better than that used in both English Versions.” 

While none of these entries gave me a clear idea what meekness means, I did begin to see a pattern emerge.  I found that I was defining meekness for myself as submission to God, but a submission flowing from relationship.  I looked to the lives of Moses and Jesus to see if this definition held and I believe it does.

There is a beautiful statement expressing the relationship between Moses and God in Exodus 33:11; “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”  Moses’ story is full of speaking to God, listening to God speak, and then obeying: relationship.  And yet, Moses’ didn’t always obey.  The word of the Lord came to him to speak to the rock and instead Moses struck it.  This disobedience cost him the Promised Land (Numbers 20).  Moses’ story is one of a mighty man and one of an incredible relationship with God, and yet this relationship was not perfect: something more was needed.

Jesus is the example of perfect submission and obedience to God.  He says of Himself, ““For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49) and also “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).  John 5: 20 says, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”  Jesus was submitted to His Father because of love even though that love took Him to the cross.

I would encourage the reading of the stories of Jesus’ arrest: Matthew 26: 50-57 (especially verse 53), Mark 14: 43-50, Luke 22: 47-54, and John 18: 3-12 (especially verse 6).  There isn’t space in this post to go into why the cross and why God didn’t/couldn’t choose another way to deal with sin but I hope you can see reading these passages that nothing happened that Jesus didn’t anticipate and allow.  He was submitted to His Father’s will and He was anything but weak.

With Jesus’ Spirit within us, we have His same love relationship to the Father. His Spirit at work in us means we can keep ourselves in perfect submission and obedience to the voice of The Father.  This obedience is always our choice and I don’t pretend it’s easy.  His voice is at odds with the voices we hear in the world.  There are so many demands for our attention, time, and activity.  Good works need to be done and we’re the ones who need to be doing them.  But, our ears are inclined toward the voice of Our Father, we must be about His business, and we only do what we see the Father doing.

“Spineless,” the world calls us.  “Spiritless.”  “Weak.”  These words hurt, especially when they come from someone close to us.  We know we are none of these things in Christ Jesus: we are meek.  One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 30:15: “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’ But you would not.”

I will.  His Spirit within me strengthens me to choose Him as Jesus chose Him and the cry of my heart becomes, “I delight to do your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8)!

Amen.

Unless notes otherwise, scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982

References:

The Comparative Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Guralnik, David B., The New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Company, Cleveland • New York, 1976

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

Unger, Merrill F., Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1982, Page 709

Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1997, Pages 727-728

Webster’s New Reference Library: An Encyclopedia of Dictionaries, Webster’s New Dictionary of the English Language, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1984