No Offense #3: How To Get Rid Of Bitterness
August 27, 2023Pastor Patrick presented this morning's message in the series "No Offense." His topic was "How To Get Rid Of Bitterness." A video of the message is here.
I thought I start simply by looking at uses of the word bitterness in the Torah. Interestingly, and in line with Patrick's main point, bitterness and poisonous are closely related in the Torah.
There are two words that are most often translated as bitter(ness) and/or poison(ous): mar/marah (מָ֣רַת) and roshe (רֹאשׁ).
There are three fairly well known uses of marah. The first is the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Feast (Exodus 12:8 and Numbers 9:11) to remember the bitterness of being in Egypt. The second is the bitter water that is given to a woman accused of adultery (Numbers 5:18), mostly in order to calm down her husband. Third, there is the well at Marah. The place is named Marah ("Bitter") because the water there was too bitter to drink. This was the Israelites first encounter with needing water after fleeing Egypt.
A less well-known use of marah/bitter is in Deuteronomy 32:32. Here, Sodom and Gomorrah are described as having bitter grape clusters.
In Deuteronomy 29:18, Moses cautions the Israelites to "have no root among you that produces bitter poison." Here, the bitter may refer either to the sin being referenced, idolatry, or the punishment for it.
It is clear that the Torah recognized the danger in being bitter, harboring bitterness, etc. So what did the Torah offer as relief or comfort?
Seems to me that the answer is ritual, offering/sacrifce, and atonement. These were the ways the Israelites could get "closer to God." The word for offering, korban, has a fundamental (root) meaning of "near, get close to." This was one way a person could get close to God.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, also offered ways to "make things right with others." This is more obviously meant to allow you to ask for forgiveness for things you have done to others. In a sense, though, harboring bitterness is an offense to not only the one who offended you somehow (and maybe unknowingly, unintentionally), but also to those simply around you putting up with your bitter demeanor.
Bitterness in water makes it useless. Bitterness in you can make you useless (or worse), too. Release it. Have real compassion and forgiveness for others.
Bonus
Melchizedek
Do you know who this is? Have you ever even heard the name? Me neither. But stumbling upon information about him caught my curiosity...
He first appears in Genesis 14:18-20. He is introduced as King Melchizedek of Salem. It's quite likely this is Jerusalem. After Abram (later Abraham) returned from a victory, King Melchizedek brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram (:19) and blessed God Most High (:20).
Prager points out in his Rational Bible: Genesis that Melchizedek was a non-Hebrew but still a monotheist. He held onto the monotheistic view in the face of nearly universal pagan opposition (per Sarna). Abram wasn't the only monotheist at the time, but God chose him for the mission to bring monotheism to the world.
He is mentioned again in Psalm 110:1-4. Here, King David refers to Melchizedek as a "priest forever."
More words are used to tell Melchizedek's story in the New Testament than in the Old. See Hebrews 7:1-25. In this passage, we learn that Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils (highly honored); his name means King of Righteousness; and he's also refered to as the King of Salem (as in Genesis) and "king of peace." He is often refered to as the King of Withouts, and those withouts start to be listed here: without mother, without father, without beginning of days or end of life, etc. He was without genealogy, that is, not a Hebrew, not a descendant of Levi (the pristly tribe) or any other Israelite tribe. Paul notes that the "order of Melchizedek" is a priesthood separate from the birth line of Levi.
Because Melchizedek is clearly a Biblical figure, and because there is much written about him in other non-Biblical sources, there are many ways he is portrayed. Chad Bird, in his paper on the subject, early on introduces Melchizedek as "so diversely identified as the following: the priest-king of Salem, Shem (son of Noah), a man exalted to an angelic status, an angel, an archangel, a heavenly power over the angels, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, a heavenly power over Christ, and the Father! His relation to Christ - a relation David established already in Psalm 110 - has beckoned and still beckons particular examination by those in the Church."
Most of the Melchizedek extra-Biblical teachings portray him positively one way or another. But one does not. The angle that does not portray him positively does so because he blessed Abram before blessing God in the Genesis text. Ouch.
If I've got your Melchizedek-curiosity gauge on high, here are two resources I can offer. First, this 21-minute video by Chad Bird will add more depth. If you're still wanting more, see Chad's 171-page paper. And, of course, you can search on Melchizedek to your hearts content! You won't find too many other uses of the name out there.
Bonus 2
The Hill (Movie)
Lynn and I saw The Hill last Friday after it was recommended by Dennis Prager. It's an excellent film that deals with all kinds of struggles. And many of them are with or about God and what He wants. You recall that the Hebrew patriarch Jacob was renamed Israel (isra = struggle/strive, el = God) in Genesis 32:28. It's the true story of Rickey Hill, born in 1956, a Texan baseball player, who overcame great medical issues all his young life to play professional baseball. The story is uplifting in many ways, but I'd say the core of the movie is about struggle with God and with each other in relation to God.