I’ve ended up looking at many more passages with דמים, which we had explored before as “extreme in measure,” or as “excesses.” We did point out before that it is really the direction or the focus of the extreme that seems to be most critical in the teaching of Scripture. If the direction is toward the LORD, he appears to be pleased with that. If it is for the satisfaction of our own souls, not so much. So, before going to a couple of new topics (that I had prepared), I wanted to look at דמים again, in the cognate permutation perspective, that may help you get on board more with the topic and tie it to “soul.” (And to prepare for the next entries.) We talked previously about bloodguilt/bloodthirsty as being prime examples of the negative extreme in the eyes of God’s Word.
I want to keep this focused today, but Scripture always ends up with threads going everywhere. Hopefully I’m going to give you two witnesses of the דמים principle. These examples, I think, explain the two extremes beautifully. As mentioned before, we can be “in excess” in either direction in our lives, in our souls. Hopefully the idea of LogAndSpeck will come through in these passages about “excesses.” When we see a speck in another’s eye (when we are judging that maybe “they” are “extreme”), first we must pause and look at the standard by which we are making that judgment. Read all of Matthew 7:1-5, and especially see: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you…”
Please see the connection between “excesses” and “soul.” We have discussed before that “name” delineates the nature or character of something/someone. Among other things to see here, be aware that our souls have a nature to want to fly like birds, and that is what (in the red version below) is a measure of striving that is expressed/restrained.
⦁ Genesis 2:19 NKJV
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought (them) to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that (was) its name.
See the nature of God, his nature being one of nurturing and encouraging us – god forms and turns over to us for naming.
To follow are findings I “stumbled across/was led to” while researching other topics. These two, “appointed times/feasts” and “figs,” are words you can keep in mind as you read Scripture, whichever “Testament” you are reading, Hebrew or Greek.
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Feasts / Appointed Times
First are seasons/appointed feasts/appointed times מועדים/מעדים. You can see the דמים in them. Below are excerpts from two AlHaTorah searches:
4. Yechezkel 46:9 (Mikraot Gedolot)
וּבְבוֹא עַם הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי י״י בַּמּוֹעֲדִים הַבָּא דֶּרֶךְ שַׁעַר צָפוֹן לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֺת יֵצֵא דֶּרֶךְ שַׁעַר נֶגֶב וְהַבָּא דֶּרֶךְ שַׁעַרנֶגֶב יֵצֵא דֶּרֶךְ שַׁעַר צָפוֹנָה לֹא יָשׁוּב דֶּרֶךְ הַשַּׁעַר אֲשֶׁר בָּא בוֹ כִּי נִכְחוֹ [יֵצֵא] (יצאו).
5. Yechezkel 46:11 (Mikraot Gedolot)
וּבַחַגִּים וּבַמּוֹעֲדִים תִּהְיֶה הַמִּנְחָה אֵיפָה לַפָּר וְאֵיפָה לָאַיִל וְלַכְּבָשִׂים מַתַּת יָדוֹ וְשֶׁמֶן הִין לָאֵיפָה.
⦁ Ezekiel 46:9-11
9 “But when the people of the land come before the LORD {on the appointed feast days}, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. 10 The prince shall then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out. 11 At the festivals {and the appointed feast days} the grain offering shall be an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, as much as he wants to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil with every ephah.
As you see, from another search below (allowing suffixes), the focus may be what determines whether the “excess” is “good or evil.” God looks on the heart (1S16:7) behind our actions. I have to think there is some sarcasm in God’s using the word “your” in the passage – “your sacrifices,” “your appointed feasts,” and in v.16 “your doings.” It is best to know that the LORD is fully aware of our “doings” and the motivations, “heart,” which is indeed overlapping “soul.” (A very brief side journey that may help you in future reading – as I looked at the Hebrew in 1 Samuel 16:7, I “saw” that the name Samuel שמואל includes a cognate permutation of נפש soul. Recall that Samuel “hacked Agag אגג to pieces (1S15:33) in the presence of the LORD. Strong notes אגג means “I will overtop.” The soul (in the presence of the LORD – his Spirit) must “hack to pieces” our excesses. We must see the Log in our own eye and be willing to remove it. (In John 8:6 and 8:8, when the Teacher writes on the ground with his finger, is he reflecting, “These people have drawn a line in the sand”?)
In a couple of places on the website, I have discussed the idea of the “raised fist” as “excess.” Found in searches, in 71. Recognize the Truth in God’s Separations, some discussion, and the other 24. God-incidences, includes the image below, also noted in Scripture as “high hand.”. The point in both places is as we are discussing now, we must be very cautious about taking “excessive” stances (which is exactly what we see in America right now – extreme polarization). We must be able to talk to one another face to face rather than forming images of others based on media of any kind.
3. Yeshayahu 1:14 (Mikraot Gedolot)
חׇדְשֵׁיכֶם וּמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם שָׂנְאָה נַפְשִׁי הָיוּ עָלַי לָטֹרַח נִלְאֵיתִי נְשֹׂא.
⦁ Isaiah 1:10-17 NKJV
10 Hear the word of the LORD,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12 “When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
- Feasts are supposed to be times appointed to extreme focus on the LORD (יהוה), but as is so often the case, our souls at such times would rather “fly high.” Where is our focus? The LORD or the idol of “me?”
- “Stretch out your palms” means asking for a handout.
Figs
I showed the above BDB definition to make you aware that it may be a reference to the fruit or to the tree. Figs and fig trees make many appearances in Scripture (beginning in Gan Eden, leaves being used as clothing to cover “excesses”), both Testaments.
I want to give a personal reference here. It is so curious how the LORD knows things far in advance in our lives and gives us witnesses that may pop up for use fifty years later. Right about fifty years ago in my life I lived with another in an older house on the outskirts of town. We had chickens and lived pretty simply. We had a prolific fig tree in the back yard. One year we ventured to make fig preserves because we could not keep up by simply eating what was ripe. By the end of our venture (I truly wish I could upload to the website the image I still see so clearly in my brain), the one with me drew a picture on a yellow note pad of a “skull and crossbones,” with the skull replaced by a fig. Imagine the fig here. 😂 We were overwhelmed.
A great picture for me to pass along as the fig standing for “excess; extreme. And think, as we go through Jeremiah 24 how many connections there are with the life of the Teacher. Think especially of his finding Nathaniel under the fig tree, and of the fig tree he curses. You can look those up. Throughout this chapter, I personally saw many connections with the first four books of the Greek Testament, and possibly the fifth, as well.
As we go through the upcoming investigations, which will begin with דמים, I hope you will see the Scriptural commentary on life in the more “hidden” messages. And just for you to compare, because you see there is much reference to “good and bad/evil” in the chapter, I have done the investigations both in the standard manner, and repeated them, removing the references to “good and evil.” I am not a lifelong rabbi, so I cannot comment on a discussion by R. David Fohrman I recently heard on a podcast, except to pass it along to you. His opinion (educated, to be sure, but opinion, just as mine are – take or leave) is that God never intended the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to be off-limits forever.
I just ask, as you read the following passages, that you keep in mind what seems to me to emerge here, that extremes in either direction may not be the goal of the LORD (יהוה) for mankind. We will throw in some commentary along the way about some of the roots we have chosen to investigate. First, as applies to the topic at hand, is דמים:
Jeremiah 24 – (NKJV – The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs)
1 The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket (had) very good figs, like the figs (that are) first ripe; and the other basket (had) very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.”
4 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for (their own) good, into the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
8 ‘And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says the LORD—’so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for (their) harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”
- I “bolded” the crossout “their own,” because, as you will see below, it is unclear really in the passage whether is exile is for the good of Israel or Babylon, or possibly for both. We are going through many cognate permutation investigations on this passage because the chapter carries so much amazing interpretation of Scripture by Jeremiah as the mouthpiece of the LORD (יהוה). As we go through all of these roots I hope you will keep a couple of things in mind. First is that “figs” are an excess. The second, which I personally see very strongly here, is the picture that is painted of God’s soul, his character, who he is, and how his heart is very broken by how we treat him. He has done SO MUCH for us, and we are so unappreciative.
See all of the bolded words of things the LORD does for us “in excess/abundance.” He pours out for us, and we, unfortunately, tend to break his heart. We tend not to be thankful. We take all that he has done for us for granted. He went to excess for us.
See that by excluding good and evil, there are some differences in the highlights. And see that excesses go in both directions.
- If I make some errors, please forgive me. My methods are manual, not automated.
- The next one I wanted to look at is יפת. We looked at this root previously with Japheth, who is to live in the tent of Shem.
יפת p.107 wonder; be open and receptive;; be open and receptive (C17)
- Not discussed before is that it is a cognate permutation with the root for “house:”
בית p.26 protect; contain;; protect/endanger (B3)
- We have discussed the importance of the influence of sharing the tent meant each affecting the other. We will delve more.
- Note “good טוב” and יפת have significant cognate permutation overlap, so there will definitely be differences with including vs. excluding טוב.
Jeremiah perceives “excesses.”
- You will notice here and in those following, why I raised the question about Judah going to Babylon (the land of the Chaldeans) being a benefit to Judah or to Babylon.
- Very important to notice here that Judah is one of the vocabulary words for יפת, be open and receptive. Recall we have discussed “love God and love neighbor” as the basic two commandments. Judah exemplifies (or should – any individual can “fall”) this quality. The best example I can give you of why Judah became the representative of the Hebrew people is to go to Chapter 38 of Genesis and read the entire chapter. First, we see how hard Judah’s heart is, then how he goes to a prostitute, and then how harshly judgmental he is of Tamar. But then, he confesses that Tamar is more righteous than he is, when confronted with the truth. (We see the same thing with David when he is confronted by Nathan about the Bathsheba/Uzziah incident – more about David later). This is being open and receptive, not how Judah behaved initially, but how he responds to Truth. And we must each realize as we encounter someone in a LogAndSpeck confrontation and we draw our line in the sand, that we may have to wipe that line away in order to receive the truth, and God’s blessing. As the old saying goes, “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”
- Recognize the extreme polarization in today’s America, and the world. We must be willing to take a break, a Sabbath, from our “stance” in order to understand one another, on both “sides.” And how is it that we are most likely to get “the other” to “chill/relax,” lower the “high hand?” By taking the first step ourselves. FIRST (Mt7:5) remove the Log from our own eye. Take the first step.
- More to come.
Next, from verse 3, the LORD asks Jeremiah what he sees, or what is he perceiving ראה. We look at this root, but recognize that there is significant overlap with “evil רע,” so you will see significant differences in the two sets, “including” and “excluding” טוב and רע.
Notice please. The various things that may lead us to “see, to be aware, to perceive,” and that sometimes we might “see” in the works of artisans, but ofttimes it takes the sword or famines or plagues to awaken us to our senses.
I am a very slow learner at times. And this is one of those. I learned something VERY important about Sabbath by this investigation, see in the wording “and I caused to return והשבתים” in verse 6. You can’t miss it – it is not in permutation form, simple שבת sitting right in the midst of the word. Sabbath/Shabbat is a causing to return, a “return to baseline” for us.
- You may want to ponder Nebuchadnezzar’s showing up in many investigations.
- Note that also שבת and טוב cognate permutations have major overlap.
- Please be aware of the many times the word “very מאד” appears in the chapter. I did not do a cognate permutation investigation here for מאד, but please recognize to as an “excess-type” or “extreme-type” word. And recognize it as including our דם doublet, “measure.”
- I wanted to include בכר as the root for “the firstborn בכור,” seen often in Scripture. It is seen here as the “first-ripe” fruit in verse 2. I did not get any major revelations there, but do notice the bolded words.
In Scripture, the firstborn did get treated “as a prince,” which is not a highlighted word in the דמים group, but we tend to think in that direction.
- Next, I just want to mention Zedekiah צדקיהו, who shows up in some of the investigations, יפת and שבת individually, and in a phrase in בקר. The name means “righteousness of the LORD (Yah), צדק + יה.
- This is from the “End Matter” of my NKJV Strongs.
- With a name like Zedekiah, one would expect that he would have lived a more righteous life. If you read either of the two “Captured and taken to Babylon” passages, you may see that at his end, he “satisfied objective justice.” The בכרpassage highlights tell the story. At some point the LORD gives up on us and gives us over to justice. The LORD is very merciful, as we have pointed out numerous times. However, on the spectrum of justice and mercy, , sometimes he will just “give us over.”
- There is one more really big one that I have saved for last. I briefly referred to David earlier as I wrote about Judah. I encourage you to think again about the יפת investigation. Return momentarily to it here. Notice some words – pots, appointed, Judah, and I caused to return, and I built them, and I planted them, and like the figs.
- I pointed out earlier that there were similarities between David and Judah, the living a less-than-perfect life, on the end of excesses toward “evil,” yet when confronted with that truth, there was a repentance (verse 6 “and I caused to return”). For David, that did not mean there were no consequences, indeed there were, and we have discussed them before. But it meant he was “a man after God’s own heart” (1S13:14). Recall also that David (the bloodthirsty one) was going to kill Nabal and his house in excess expression of his “righteous anger” at Nabal, but was saved by the perceptiveness and forthcoming of Abigail, Nabal’s wife (See 1S25).
- So why do I bring up David here? He was a man of “excesses דמים.” He, or his nature, is also seen in this chapter of Jeremiah. First an EDBH entry, and then a deeper dive by way of Jeremiah 24. You will see that the EDBH entry is rather bland in its presentation, but when you look further, there is more to the understanding.
- What here EDBH notes as a container, and NKJV translates as basket, I used the word pot, and I will share the idea behind it. The container in 1 Samuel 2:14 is a boiling pot. Please do read the context and see how Eli’s sons were sinful, self-seeking, and see the circumstances of their demise.
- The passage in Song of Songs is about passionate love. The aphrodisiac “mandrakes” in Genesis 30, used in the “mothering battle” between Rachel and Leah is דודי, from the same root, דוד. In general our presentations of Scripture have been “tamed,” but here, in particular, you can see that Judah and David were passionate men, and the LORD makes situations whereby he “causes them to return.” (Recall King David dancing in the street in just his loincloths and his being chastised by his wife Michal.)
- Peter is also quite passionate in the Greek Testament, and words from the Teacher frequently have to turn his dial down a notch or two
- The LORD likes passion and uses passion, but it must be appropriately focused and appropriately “measured.”
- See that the EDBH definition says service “needs,” not “desires.”
- See the investigation for דוד:
- After reading this, I encourage you also to read 2 Samuel 24 so you understand more about David, overzealous, but repentant.
And in this, and in the Greek Testament (the Teacher is noted to be from the line of Judah and David, in addition to our mention of the zealousness of Peter), there is a lesson for us to learn. Yes, the part of our soul that includes our emotions, that likes to fly like birds, is a gift from God, and when focused appropriately and in appropriate measure, can advance God’s Kingdom and draw us personally closer to God. The part of our soul that is “the will” must be strong enough to restrain our passions, our “high hand,” or or the LORD will “give us over.” His mercy is very long-lasting, but we cannot expect it to be, as our English translations put it, “forever.”
It is literally “all over the place,” most famously in Psalm 136:
- If we repeat it enough in our words, we begin to believe it. See the last two words in every verse: לעולם חסדו. We discussed חסד recently, as mercy and lovingkindness.
- חסד p.84 devote oneself entirely; give oneself to needs
- לעולם is the preposition ל “to or toward” plus עולם. Here is BDB for עולם:
His mercy does last a “long time.” עולם is of the root עלם.
- It is “hidden.” This is why the Teacher said “No one knows the day or the hour.” It is hidden. Hopefully you read about David in 2 Samuel 24, and you read one of the closing passages for Zedekiah. Sometimes we fall into the hands of man, and sometimes of God (pestilences, etc.). His mercy DOES last a long time, but not forever. When we break a covenant with the LORD he is under no obligation to keep his part of the agreement.
2 Peter 3:8-16 NKJV
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Be Steadfast
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
- What the LORD does is give time for us to recognize the foolishness of our ways and as a result, change our direction.
But we have to get to that point of recognition before we change. Look for that Log in your own eye. I, only I can a recognize that I need God’s help. I cannot make anyone else change direction. Read 2 Samuel 12. The key verse is:
2 Samuel 12:13
13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
- When, oh when do we recognize our excesses? When, oh when do we say “enough?”
Please, LORD (יהוה), forgive us and show us your way. The Teacher never said, keep on with your excesses. He said, repeatedly, “Go, and sin no more.” He spoke of repentance, which is a change of direction. Talk with others with different opinions. Understand one another. Bridge the gap. Take the first step by removing your Log and erasing a line in the sand.
May we hear these voices.
Thank you, Jeremiah, for your sharing.
More soon, LORD willing.
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