Sunday, April 7, 2013

Psalm 22:23


Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Psalm 22:23

23 Ye that fear [yare'] the LORD, [Yahovah] praise [halal] him; all ye the seed [zera`] of Jacob, [Ya`aqob] glorify [kabad] him; and fear [guwr] him, all ye the seed [zera`] of Israel. [Yisra'el] KJV-Interlinear

23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. NASB


Fear, ‘yare,’ means revere, respect, afraid, be in awe, tremble.

Praise, ‘halal,’ to be clear or sound, to be clear of color, to boast, to praise, rage, renown, shine, to celebrate, to commend.

Jacob is the son of Isaac.  Isaac is the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the one who crossed over the river, away for the land of godlessness, and as such entered into the promise of God and was called, Hebrew, or he who crossed over.

At that point in history, God created a new spiritual species.  Whereas before there were the descendants of Noah, now there are those who will descend from he who crossed over.  And that crossing is from sin or spiritual non-existence, to the spiritual creature that God intended for us all.

Jacob is yet another junction in history, where he is the Hebrew descendant, and then his name was changed to Israel, marking the beginning of a nation of spiritual peoples.

The new nation is started symbolically from Jacob, but is made up of those who believe in the Savior, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

From Jacob descended the Hebrew race, which turned to the Jewish race, or those who turned away.  The term Jew came from the region known as Judah or Judea, which was many, many centuries after Jacob, but still retained the culture and ancestral lines of the Hebrew peoples.

So, this reference to is to all Jewish peoples of genetic descendants.

However, the new species created by God comes not from the genetic descendants, but from faith, and may apply to anyone who believes in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the world there are many families and relationships, but in Christ there is but one spiritual relationship and family.

Israel is the symbolic term used for all believers.  Jacob is typically used to symbolize the Jewish race.

Glorify, ‘kabad,’ means to be heavy, burdensome, numerous, rich, honorable, to make weighty, to abound with, to boast, to be chargeable, to glorify, to make self many, to prevail, to honor.

Fear, ‘guwr,’ to turn aside from the road or path, to lodge in, to sojourn, to reside, to gather for hostility, to assemble, to dwell.

And so both genetic descendants of Jacob as well as spiritual descendants by faith, as written in this time of David, all are to fear, respect, tremble at the prospects of the Lord.  All are to live in the sound, comprehensive and vastness of truth.

A special appeal is made to the Hebrew race, to take on the burden of Gods vast riches in blessing, even in the face of tremendous odds for this world.  The Hebrew people have a special prophecy promise from God, to be the seed peoples that will enter into the Kingdom of God, when it is established.  That will occur at the Second Advent, at the end of the Tribulation.  Therefore they need a special appeal and resource to survive as a race until that future time.  That resource is of course Jesus Christ.

And to all who believe, all believers everywhere, whether Jew or gentile, to grow in fear, in faith, to turn aside for the prior road of spiritual indifference and ignorance, and turn to the road of truth and growth and prosperity, and live there.

For the Jewish people, their culture and heritage can be a trap, disengaging them from truth and sending them into a life of hostility in a hostile world.

For all believers, residence in truth, means incorporating doctrine into your mind.  And to do that you have to learn doctrine, study doctrine, pursue doctrine as though there was nothing else in life.

Doctrine is treasure, and most folks who recognize treasure, pursue it.

Prospectors of old, pursued treasure knowing it was there, but never found it.

Spiritual prospectors, have treasure, doctrine, given to them, and so it is just a matter of taking it.  Their greatest fear is that they should live their entire life and never attain Gods treasure which is so freely given.  And this simply because they do not respect God, do not fear God, do not praise God, do not pursue God in the manner that God defines and has designed for us.