FROM PASTOR TIM
Hello RVC!
Two folks asked me follow-up questions from Sunday’s sermon that I will address.
But first of all, thank you all so much for the generous Pastor’s Appreciation gift presented by those sneaky Elders! Honestly, I do not think of Pastor Appreciation month at all. Kathryn and I feel appreciated and blessed all year long. Still, we are truly grateful for the gift and will enjoy some nice meals together. Thank you!!
The first question I will treat is one that asks why the word “hurricane” is used in Psalm 83:15 (ESV) when few other translations use that word. The verse reads:
so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!
It’s a very good question. Most English translations use the words “storm”, “tempest” or even “tornado”. Still a handful translate hurricane. I am not sure why.
The Hebrew word, and the Greek word seem to suggest the idea of “sudden burst of wind.” The same Hebrew and Greek word is used in Proverbs 1:27 by way of comparison. So, give that a read and see how you might translate it.
The second question comes from someone in response to my point in the sermon where I state that I do not know why God chose Israel. This person wondered why I did not refer to Deuteronomy 7:7. Another good question. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 7:6-8 to get a bit of context:
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
This passage is not saying that God chose the Israelites because they were fewer in number than the rest. He is saying they should not somehow think they are special, because, after all, they are actually fewest.
Verse 8 offers the primary motives for God’s action; namely, love and fidelity to his oath, which refers to His covenant language with Abram (Abraham).
This passage is about the reasons God rescued the Hebrews from Egypt, which you can see at the end of verse 8. But the basis for rescuing them is His ongoing love and faithfulness to His promises, which He offered to Abram back in Genesis 12, 15 and then in covenant language, chapter 17.
All that said, the Hebrew people were not “chosen” per se because they were fewest, they were reminded not to brag about being the chosen because they didn’t have a reason to brag. They were the least in number. (Still are today, remarkably so, compared to the surrounding Arab nations, Russians, Europeans, Chinese, etc.).
Looked at another way, God did not choose Israel when they were in Egypt. He chose Abram, and due to Abram’s fidelity, Abram’s line through Isaac and Jacob is the chosen line. In other words, the Hebrew people were chosen by way of Abram, before they even existed as a people. God did not choose them 400 years later when they were in Egypt.
So, my uncertainty about why God chose Israel still persists. I cannot say why God chose Abram. The text does not tell us. But He called Abram, who followed God to the Promised Land and who was blessed as a result (Gen 12:1-7) with blessings, posterity and the land.
No one from the line of Abram through Isaac and then through Jacob (whose name was later changed to Israel) should brag about being chosen because they have no reason to brag. But I still can’t tell you why God chose Abram and then his line.
Having fun?
I love that you all are digging in, paying attention and then asking good questions!
Rescued by Christ,
Pastor Tim