That Hurt: Acts of God

April 14, 2024

Pastor Patrick presented today's message, "That Hurt: Acts of God." A video of the message is here.

During his message, Patrick mentioned that "it's OK to wrestle with God." Did you know that the word Israel (is-rah-ale, יִשְׂרָאֵל) is commonly understood as meaning "struggle with God" (isra = struggle, el = God)? Or wrestle with God, if you will. Here is an Chabad.org article with a simple description of the meaning. The notion of wrestling is supported by the fact that Jacob is renamed Israel immediately following his wrestling with someone and by that someone, mostly understood as God (Genesis 32:22-32). In Hebrew it may more exactly mean "God strives" or "he will rule as God." Abarim Publications has an article that discusses in some detail these nuances to the word/name Israel: here, with an interesting conclusion.

Patrick had a wonderfully simple graphic (at right) showing a simple line that starts with starting our journey with God, rises to a (mountain) peak, and then descends into the valley of real-life problems. As Patrick pointed out, it's the valleys that are the most fertile for growth, not mountain tops.

This valley metaphor immediately brought to mind the 23rd Psalm which many Jews and Christians alike can quote from memory. In it, the phrase "valley of the shadow of death" occurs. Here's the interesting thing... A better translation is "the valley of darkness" or "of dark shadows" (tsal-maw'-veth, צַלְמָוֶת). This translation would be far more supportive of Patrick's analogy, that God is with us not so much at death but throughout all our travails. This is also in keeping with the Old Testament focus on this life and not any afterlife.

Bonus

Biblical Grandparenting

The Torah makes it very clear that parents have a comprehensive responsibility to teach their kids "the Way" (God's rules about behavior, worship, etc.). Probably the best verse on this subject is Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Basically, teach your children God's rules for behavior "all the time."

But what about grandparents? There are plenty of places where the blessings of grandparenthood are described, but I was having a hard time remembering anything as specific (as Deut 6:6-7) that grandparents are called to do in the Bible. So that became my quest for this Bonus. Turns out, there are some things...

This may be the clearest... Moses is talking to the Israelites about the laws that have been given to them, particularly the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai (also called Mount Horeb, Mountain of JHVH, and Mountain of Elohim). He makes it clear that one must be careful and watchful all the time so as not to disobey. In the midst of this is the following verse: Deuteronomy 4:9b, "Teach them to your children and to their children after them." Did you catch that? "Their children after them" are your grandkids! Grandparents have the responsibility to pass on "the way" to their grandkids as well as to their own kids. The work, and the joy, never ends!

Other Biblical references include: Deuteronomy 6:1-2, Exodus 34:7, Psalm 78:4-8, and Psalm 71:17-18.

There are about 30 million grandparents in the U.S. today. That's a powerful force that could be put to work teaching the youth about "the Way."

This makes Lynn and I quite happy about the Family Dinners we instituted a while back and do our best to keep up. We use that time to teach a Biblical principle each week (or as possible) in the area of how to live and behave. We also get a fair amount of car-time with various kids to have similar, however brief, conversations. It crossed my mind that maybe I should develop some materials that other grandparents could use to do similar activities - which got me to looking around... Turns out there are already plenty of such materials for grandparents to use. For example, Focus on the Family, right here in our backyard, has a wealth of materials on the subject: click here. Plenty of material for a great start.

Here's another good source: Legacy Coalition. From their website: "In just a few years, Legacy Coalition has seen thousands of Christian grandparents find purpose and have a greater spiritual impact on their grandchildren's lives. 1. World’s largest source of grandparenting resources. 2. Growing attendance and number of events. 3. Combined 500+ years of ministry experience."

Bonus2

If Christianity Dies, the West Dies

The title above is a quote from a well-known practicing Jew, Dennis Prager, which summarizes (in part) a significant segment of his Fireside Chat from last week. I commend it to your watching: here. The segment I'm talking about is the first 20 minutes of this episode.

This ties into the first Bonus (above). Grandparents need to help keep Christianity alive, and this predominately means keeping it alive in the hearts and minds of the next generation - your grandkids.

Prager has another little ditty: There are three types of people: fighters, those who help the fighters, and those who do nothing. He says the first two are of equal value. The last group is worthless. What's my point? If you won't or can't be a fighter in this fight to keep our youth on the right path or for any other righteous cause, then figure out a way to help those who do fight. This is most often done by financially supporting the fighters, but clever people can figure out other ways that are just as valuable.