THOSE WHO STAND
DRAPER’S PAPER ROUTE
THOSE WHO STAND
by Adam Carroll Draper
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Abraham being the father of our faith. Towards the end, I noted that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac preceded God’s willingness to sacrifice his son for us, and that this begged the question of how our obedient pliability to God in love and awe opens the doors of heaven into our lives. I don’t mean that there is some sort of quid pro quo with God. He is who he is. We conform to him, but he is impressed by faith. There is a mystery in this and it seems like a Zen riddle. For instance, Moses changed God’s mind. What in the world? I thought God never changed.
We can miss the beauteous nuances of the mystery of God if it does not dawn on us to gaze within the literally written word to open and experience him as a sweet fragrance. The relationship between Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac and God’s willingness to sacrifice Jesus is an invitation to gaze into the divine nature. God had a plan all along and it was not contingent upon Abraham because God does not need or require anything from us, but he wants us to live in him freely and intimately. So rather than drawing up an equation to explain it, sometimes we must just let the fullness of his goodness wash over us in a way similar to how we enjoy art (as I discussed two weeks ago) – making sure not to “murder to dissect.”
I have been dwelling upon a couple verses in Isaiah lately. In fact, I am drawn to contemplate them again and again. They are Isaiah 30:21-22. In context, Isaiah has been prophesying over the Jewish people in the verses leading up to these, saying essentially that since they have put their trust in Egypt and not God, there are going to be some dire consequences. There is way more to it than that, but it will work in a pinch. He tells them that they are going to flee at the slightest provocation and that there is going to be nothing left of them. But then he says that God will be patient and have mercy on those who wait for him when they cry out to him. Then come these verses (please note that I am taking this from the Orthodox Jewish Version [OJV] and I added the italics and some of the translations):
20 And though Adonoi give you the lechem tzar (bread of trouble), and the mayim lachatz (waters of affliction), yet shall not thy morim (teachers) hide themselves any more, but thine eynayim (eyes) shall see thy morim;
21 And thine oznayim (ears) shall hear a davar (word) behind thee, saying, This is the derech (road), walk ye on it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
This is fascinating. I am always drawn to the verses that illuminate the ways God speaks to us and leads us. It also bothers me because it flatly says that God gave them the bread of trouble and the waters of affliction. It feels contrapuntal to Jesus’ teaching that God is our Dad, and he doesn’t give us snakes when we ask for fish. I looked up the meaning of the Hebrew words “tzar” and “lachatz”. Without belaboring this, because you can look this up in Strong’s Concordance (tzar is listed as Strongs 6862 “sar” ; and lachatz is Strongs 3906 “lahas”), tzar is translated properly as trouble, but it also means “narrow” or “tight”. Lachatz does translate as affliction, but it also means “short ration.” Another way of reading this is that God may lead us into times of little bread and shortness of water, which he clearly did with the children of Israel in the desert, and they rebelled. But it follows from there that if we remain patient (making his nature sacred to us [kiddush HaShem] and not giving in to the sense that he has betrayed or abandoned us [agmat nefesh] as discussed in a previous missive here), then our eyes and ears will be opened. We will see our “morim” (teachers). Who? And we will hear a word behind us, telling us where to go.
You know what. I am not going to stomp on this. Instead, I want to direct you to Zechariah 3:7 (again in the OJV with a few translations added by me).
7 Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os (The Lord of Hosts): If thou shalt walk in My ways, and if thou shalt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My Beis (House) [Hamikdash – the temple], and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee ways to walk among these standing here.
If you will read this in context, an angel was the one standing there saying this to Joshua. I have heard Rabbis say that in Hebrew “those who stand” is an idiomatic reference to angels. Look at this and let it ease over you. Then read Romans 8:14: “For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (King James Version).
Meditating on Isaiah 30:20-21 has brought me an amazing sense of peace and trust in the Lord. We keep going in patience and trust. He leads beside the still waters. In what amazing way can we expect this to manifest? Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard.
Abraham is the father of our faith because he loved God so much and was in such awe of him that he did not question whether or not to do what God told him. There is some mystery surrounding Abraham that makes him special. I mean, if God showed up and told me something directly, I think I would do it. But then I realize the potentially horrific ache of an occasion in which God did give me a direct command face to face that I would not obey. I can’t know any heart but mine, so I just allow it to sit in my spirit that God has given me (I have inherited) the very faith that so impressed him with Abraham, the mystery of which I cannot comprehend. I want my heart to be open and loving and in awe of God like Abraham’s. Our holy history (heilsgeschichte) buoys within us the resolution that this is not only possible, but that we can expect to be lead directly by the Holy Spirit and that we will be given the strength to follow.
What if we walk among angels and see them in the land of the living?