This Too Shall Pass
June 25, 2023Howard Haworth presented "This Too Shall Pass." A video of the message is here.
The first word Howard focused on was perseverence. It's the journey that's the reward, not the destination. The Biblical Hebrew for persevere is sarah (saw-rah, שָׂרָה). It's only used three times in the OT and is mostly translated as contended, striven, struggled, or wrestled. In Genesis 32:28, Jacob "struggles" or "wrestles" with God. This is when he is renamed Israel. This broadens our idea of a trial. The word wrestle conjours up, sometimes, simply dealing with a decision, as in "wrestling with a decision or choice." In this situation, too, a God-centered focus can be of help.
The same word is the root of the name Sarah, Abraham's wife. And, it's the the root of the word/name Israel which means "strives/struggles with God." In modern Hebrew the feminine noun form means "minister."
It's also interesting to note that while there are few uses of "persevere" in the Old Testament, there are many Greek words used many times in the New Testament to express the idea.
One of Dennis Prager's current big-picture questions is "can anyone be sure of their faith without being tested?" Using Howard's vocabulary from today we might ask "can anyone know the depth of their faith without trials?"
There are many Biblical Hebrew words (about 17) used to express the notion of trials. These are translated as trial, test, proving, examination, wrath, brutish, approach, come near, severe, hard, adverse, hardship, running, a race, judgment, a wonder, extraordinary, appoint, smelt, refine (remember the refining silver analogy Howard shared?), a sign, blameless (trial of the innocent), and portent. The notion of trial is clearly a theme of the Hebrew Bible.
The phrase "This too shall pass" is not in the Bible, but there are plenty of reference to something "coming to pass" or passing (in the sense of being done or ending) in the Bible. For example, Genesis 8:6, "And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made."
Also very interesting is the connection of "coming to pass" with God's declaring His name to be "I am what I am." The Biblical Hebrew word for "come to pass" is hayah (הָיָה). It's also the word used in "I am what I am." Coming to pass is very much like "is" or "to be." Anyone who has studied languages knows that the verb "to be" is often very interesting (i.e. complicated, tricky) in many languages. This highlights the notion of something being valuable "in the process of becoming" not just when "it has become." The very notion of God's self-described name makes it clear that the process of becoming is at least as important as having become. In fact, the favored Hebrew translation is not "I am what I am" but rather "I will be what I will be."
Bonus
To Covet
It's the 10th Commendment. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, house, etc. But what does that really mean. Is coveting just like lusting or wanting? Dennis Prager makes it clear in a 5-minute video: here.