- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Jul 4, 2023 10:55:59 GMT -8
From a thread I wrote back when I was recovering from Covid:
I shared this with several people back then, not thinking that our loving Father tends to return these things to us tenfold.
In the last week my health deteriorated to the point I have to tell you I despaired. Looking forward, cancer is not a pleasant way to die. But because of my other conditions I may face a very painful end. And the worst and even now most painful condition was caused by two doctors thinking they were gods and playing fast and loose with my health at a time I literally entrusted my life to them. The old feelings of anger came flooding back, and it is impossible to walk with God like that. My spiritual life began to suffer.
Moreover, I've talked just this week with one member here and one member of my own congregation who, while dealing with their own problems were undergoing their own crises in faith- all serious. So I wanted to share how this idea of חבלי־מות chevleh-mavet came back to me.
My sister called and I told her what I was going through right now. She asked if I remembered what I had told her about the term "umbilical chords of death." I said yes, it was a promise of the resurrection and new life. But she had thought a lot about it, and her take was the promise of God's nurturing us through the entire process of death in this life, on into the next.
That was exactly what I needed to hear right now. Adonai in His infinite mercy returned an insight I had shared with her (and others) but with a different perspective- the exact perspective I needed at that very moment!
Y'all have a happy 4th, and no matter where you are remember the Elohim who gave you whatever bounty you have. He is the same God who will be with you in whatever trials you may be facing now or in the future.
The Psalmist wrote:
Psalm 116:36–6 (ESV)
The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
This is how it is translated by most English Bibles. To our church fathers, most of whom were unrepentant pagans, death was being trussed like a pig for the (wrong) altar and thrown into the void, hoping God caught them instead of ha’satan. But look at how the “chords of death” is written in Hebrew: חבלי־מות, chevleh-mavet, which translates to the “umbilical chords of death.” This gives a whole new meaning to the scripture. The Rabbis saw this as one of the early promises of the resurrection, and I agree. It was an umbilical chord that brought us safely (though terrified) into this life, and the picture here is of a promise of new life with our God. That is a promise we as believers can count on.
Psalm 116:36–6 (ESV)
The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
This is how it is translated by most English Bibles. To our church fathers, most of whom were unrepentant pagans, death was being trussed like a pig for the (wrong) altar and thrown into the void, hoping God caught them instead of ha’satan. But look at how the “chords of death” is written in Hebrew: חבלי־מות, chevleh-mavet, which translates to the “umbilical chords of death.” This gives a whole new meaning to the scripture. The Rabbis saw this as one of the early promises of the resurrection, and I agree. It was an umbilical chord that brought us safely (though terrified) into this life, and the picture here is of a promise of new life with our God. That is a promise we as believers can count on.
In the last week my health deteriorated to the point I have to tell you I despaired. Looking forward, cancer is not a pleasant way to die. But because of my other conditions I may face a very painful end. And the worst and even now most painful condition was caused by two doctors thinking they were gods and playing fast and loose with my health at a time I literally entrusted my life to them. The old feelings of anger came flooding back, and it is impossible to walk with God like that. My spiritual life began to suffer.
Moreover, I've talked just this week with one member here and one member of my own congregation who, while dealing with their own problems were undergoing their own crises in faith- all serious. So I wanted to share how this idea of חבלי־מות chevleh-mavet came back to me.
My sister called and I told her what I was going through right now. She asked if I remembered what I had told her about the term "umbilical chords of death." I said yes, it was a promise of the resurrection and new life. But she had thought a lot about it, and her take was the promise of God's nurturing us through the entire process of death in this life, on into the next.
That was exactly what I needed to hear right now. Adonai in His infinite mercy returned an insight I had shared with her (and others) but with a different perspective- the exact perspective I needed at that very moment!
Y'all have a happy 4th, and no matter where you are remember the Elohim who gave you whatever bounty you have. He is the same God who will be with you in whatever trials you may be facing now or in the future.
