Post by Mark on Aug 9, 2009 4:50:20 GMT -8
The Hebrew word "ekeiv" is usually translated "if" or "because"; but it more carries the idea of "to the end". The image brought to mind in the use of this word is the heel of one’s foot. The common understanding of this word is that as the heel is the end of our body, and upon this foundation our form solidly rests, so the words of
are to be the basis for our stability. It is, so to say, the final word.Rashi adds a strange twist to this concept (in no way despairing the earlier) with the idea that it is with our heel that we trample and grind down a substance to the smallest elements. It is with our heel we crack open the nut to see what is inside. Thus if we do not look deeply into the Word of God, to understand it at it’s center-most elements, then, at best, we have no idea what it is we are standing on.
Paul may have well been referencing this idea when he told Timothy to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" (2nd Timothy 2:15). It is certainly the concept that he was speaking of when he told the Corinthians "all things are lawful but not all things are expedient" (1st Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23), quoting from the "Wisdom of Sirah. The thesis of Sirah is distilled into the one word "ekeiv". Sirah stated that if you walk in perfect obedience to the commands given in
with your physical being but do not understand what these laws mean, it is as though you are walkingin absolute contempt of the commandments. Sirah declares that the mitzvot (the commands and prohibitions) are like a shell that contains the very heart and mind of Adonai. "All things are lawful" is a declaration that the commands as an ends to themselves are worthless- but a shadow of heavenly things.It is important to commit ourselves to
, walking in obedience. It is vital that we should choose to obey the Scriptures without questioning the appropriateness or validity to our context (explaining away those things which we believe do not apply to us). If we stop there, with the obedience, without growing in our understanding, we sell ourselves short, failing to enter into the intimacy that God wishes to share with us. 
