Genesis 1:2
2 The earth was without form (h8414. תֹּהוּ ṯôhû) and void (h0922. בֹּהוּ ḇôhû), and darkness(h2822. חשֶׁךְ ḥšeḵ) was over the face of the deep (h8415. תְּהוֹם ṯehôm). And the Spirit (h7307. רוּחַ rûaḥ) of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
As the Israelites left Egypt, at Passover/Pesach, we’ve discussed how it was the birth of a new nation. At this point, having come to the edge of the Red Sea, it is a picture painted for us like entering the Creation story all over again, with God facilitating the entire process. There is darkness, and God separates with light.
Deuteronomy 32:10
10 “He found him in a desert land h4057. מִדְבָּר miḏḇâr),
and in the howling (h3214. יְלֵל yelêl) waste (h8414. תֹּהוּ ṯôhû) of the wilderness (h3452. יְשִׁימוֹן yešiymôn);
he encircled (h5437. סָבַב sâḇaḇ) him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
This word waste, h8414. תֹּהוּ ṯôhû, we saw in the earth without form. And though we do not have h0922. בֹּהוּ ḇôhû, void, we do have desert and wilderness.
Exodus 14:19-20
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness(h2822. חשֶׁךְ ḥšeḵ). And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
The deep that was present at Creation, h8415. תְּהוֹם ṯehôm, are the floods that covered the Egyptian army, and the hovering spirit h7307. רוּחַ rûaḥ is the blast of God’s nostrils.
Exodus 15:4-5
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods (h8415. תְּהוֹם ṯehôm) covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
•••Exodus 15:8
8 At the blast (h7307. רוּחַ rûaḥ) of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
➔ Now the people have moved into an entirely new world for them. It is a new creation. All around them is foreign, nothing is the same. It is not a Garden, as it was in he beginning, and it is not the lush Goshen, where they lived in Egypt, but it is that which replaces the void, the desert and wilderness. The first part of Exodus 15 is the Song of Moses, the poetic version of what has transpired and is to take place. And then Miriam’s song. And then three days in the wilderness of Shur (traveling to see) with no water, until they reach Marah, bitterness/opposition/rebellion, where there is water, but it is bitter. These are our index verses that will lead us into the next few entries, Exodus 15:25-26:
Exodus 15:25-26
25 And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made for them a statute (h2706. חֹק ḥôq) and a rule (h4941. מִשְׁפָּט mišp̱âṭ), and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen (h8085. שָׁמַע šâma‘ h8085. שָׁמַע šâma‘) to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear (h0238. אָזַן ’âzan) to his commandments (h4687. מִצְוָה miṣwâ) and keep all his statutes (h2706. חֹק ḥôq), I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer (h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’).”
Contrast do that which is right in his eyes with:
➨Judges 17:6
6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
➨Judges 21:25
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
◈ h2706. חֹק ḥôq
GV p.87 חקק set circles [circumscribe to protect a basic value]; p.87 חקה portray; p.76 חוקfix limits; p.79 חיק receive No DVs
CM חקק encompass (A59); חקה isolate (A32); חוק pressure (A4); (חיק no cognates)
◈ h4941. מִשְׁפָּט mišp̱âṭ
p.268 שפט judge; create order and harmony
CM שפט act surreptitiously/openly (E4)
◈ h4687. מִצְוָה miṣwâ
p.214 צוה command; delegate authority while retaining control
CM צוה control movement/action (E5)
◈ h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’
p.247 רפא loosen
CM רפא increase/decrease (E66)
In the h8414. תֹּהוּ ṯôhû ((EDBH from p.293 תהה confuse; react to uncertainty;; CM תההpress harmfully (D22))), the confusion and uncertainty, the entirely new world, God brings חוק fixed limits and משפט creates order and harmony. The world is defined in an orderly and harmonious fashion, with fixed limits. Today we will look a bit more at the roots for commandments and healer. Again these are index verses, bringing us to the next few weeks’ look at roots that include the word “attention” in the EDBH definition. There are about thirty-five such roots, so a very important concept. Two of those words appear here in bold, listen h8085. שָׁמַע šâma‘ (repeated/doubled) and give ear h0238. אָזַן ’âzan. It is in the instruction, the attention to the fixed limits and the created harmony, that bitterness becomes sweet. This is such a foundational concept, that we must understand, in order to appreciate the importance of Attention.
Let’s look first at מצוה from צוה.
① appointing
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded (h6680. צָוָה ṣâwâ) the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden eat, eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
16 וַיְצַו֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֔ים עַל־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִכֹּ֥ל עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן אָכֹ֥ל תֹּאכֵֽל׃
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Deuteronomy 1:16
16 And I charged (h6680. צָוָה ṣâwâ) your judges (h8199. שָׁפַט šâp̱aṭ) at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him.
② commanding
Deuteronomy 3:28
28 But command (h6680. צָוָה ṣâwâ) Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.’ (A sense here also of “equipping.”)
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Genesis 2:1
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host (h6635. צָבָא ṣâḇâ’) of them. (Notice צבא, highlighted above in cognates, the “heavenly host,” angels•••)
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Psalms 68:28
28 Your God has commanded (h6680. צָוָה ṣâwâ) your strength;
Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
③ decreeing circumstances
Psalms 7:3-6
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6(7H) Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed (h6680. צָוָה ṣâwâ) a judgment (h4941. מִשְׁפָּט mišp̱âṭ).
④ order; commandment
Genesis 26:4-5
4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge (h4931. מִשְׁמֶרֶת mišmereṯ), my commandments (h4687. מִצְוָה miṣwâ), my statutes (h2708. חֻקָּה ḥuqâ), and my laws (h8451. תּוֹרָה tôrâ).”
Notice torah (teaching) is here even before it is given to the nation at Sinai. All the learning has to begin again in this “new creation.” Starting from scratch. And Abram kept the orderto leave his family, his country (where he was “living” – the house he was in – בית) and go to a new place that God would show him. See Genesis 12:1-3.
Not from EDBH, but one more comment, “army” here is also h6635. צָבָא ṣâḇâ’, the “heavenly host.”
Joshua 5:13-15
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army (h6635. צָבָא ṣâḇâ’) of the LORD I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
15 Then the Commander of the LORD’s army (h6635. צָבָא ṣâḇâ’) said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
I highlighted “delegate authority while retaining control” in the primary definition of צוה to help make this concept clear. Such is the design of Creation, and each new creation, each new direction in life, each individual person, microcosm/microcosm. We have free will, as a gift from our Creator. We are given delegated authority. However, God retains control, in that the system created: action/reaction, actions/consequences work automatically as the built-in nature of the universe, unless there is a supernatural intervention. So, we have authority, but in the end, God has control either by way of how the design itself works, or by how God says “not yet.” Remember:
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
And then we will look at רפא.
① healing; loosening pain
Genesis 20:17
17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed (h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’) Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore (children);
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Psalms 60:1-4
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Lily of the Testimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching. When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, You have cast us off;
You have broken us down;
You have been displeased;
Oh, restore us again!
2(4H) You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it;
Heal (h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’) its breaches, for it is shaking.
3 You have shown Your people hard things;
You have made us drink the wine of confusion.
4 You have given a banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed because of the truth.
Selah
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Psalms 103:2-4
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals (h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’) all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
② being dead
Psalms 88:8-10
8 You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
9 My eye wastes away because of affliction.
LORD, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You work wonders for the dead (h4191. מוּת mûṯ)?
Shall the dead (h7496. רָפָא râp̱â’) arise and praise You?
Selah
I give you some references to read closely and 🤔, tying to this passage. First, Genesis 2:17, and note particularly “in the day you eat of it.”
Numbers 12, and note particularly in verse twelve “as one dead.”
2 Kings 20. Hezekiah was to die. His life was prolonged, but not without major consequences.
I am not giving you answers, but food for thought. If I, who by all rights should be dead, by virtue of my rebellious ways, suffer consequences that are not death, yet major, do I praise God?
③ physician
Genesis 49:33 – 50:2
33 And when Jacob had finished commanding (h6680. צָוָה ṣâwâ) his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians (h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’) to embalm his father. So the physicians (h7495. רָפָא râp̱â’) embalmed Israel.
“Pay close attention” here••• see in 4:33 it says Jacob finished “commanding” his sons. Please go back to read Genesis 49. At the beginning, Jacob says he will tell them what will befall them in the last days. But notice, as you read, that there is as much about the past as there is about the future. He is describing the nature of his children and the results or consequences from their nature, as seen by previous actions.
④ endangered species
Deuteronomy 2:11
11 They were also regarded as giants (h7497. רָפָא râp̱â’), like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
The built-in control over our lives, the design of Creation indicating consequences for our actions, are the limits of our flesh. It is within God’s reach (read Numbers 11, where the people are complaining for meat, and Moses questions God’s ability to provide for such a multitude. God’s answer in
Numbers 11:23
23 And the LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”) to withhold our well-deserved consequences, to “loosen” the control over our lives, which we perceive as a “healing.”
Our job is to attend to what God tells us. The last two verses of Ecclesiastes: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear (h3372. יָרֵא yârê’) God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
h3372. יָרֵא yârê’ is another of those “attention” words we will be looking at.
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