The Lord's Prayer

 The book Matthew was originally written in Hebrew and was discovered in 1380 by a Jewish Rabbi in Spain named Shem Tov, who copied it as an appendix to his own book Even Bohan. Let us look at the original Hebrew rendering of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to see how they would have identified with it, given their ancient Hebrew background of the time.

Our Father in heaven

Contrary to what many modern scholars think, regarding God as their Father would not have been alien to Jewish thinking 2000 years ago. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Malachi all refer to God as ‘our Father’, as do many ancient prayers written up in Jewish literature. Modern Jews, however, tend to see the words ‘Our Father’ in the context of the days leading up to Yom Kippur only, when it is recited in a Jewish prayer every day for 10 days. Some avoid using it altogether, associating it with Christian worship.

May your name be sanctified

This is not just a statement of fact, but a call to take action. His name must be sanctified in word and in deed - this means to make known His name to all mankind; to praise His name in our speech; and to perform deeds that glorify His name in the eyes of the world. All the Psalms back up these words of Jesus.

May your Kingdom be blessed

The Hebrew word for ‘bless’ is derived from the word which means ‘knee’. In ancient times one would bless a king by kneeling before him to praise him, as king Solomon did when he blessed God in the new temple he had built. This is why Isaiah wrote that every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord. We are invited to bow our knees before our heavenly King, lifting our hands like Solomon to bless Him and His kingdom!

Your will shall be done in heaven and on the earth

God’s omnipresence was well-known among the ancient Israelites, in contrast to the multiple gods of the other surrounding nations, who had gods with specific functions and rulership over specific domains only (e.g. a god of war, or a god of water, etc.). It is a wonder and a mystery to us that our God hears each prayer of every individual, no matter what their status in life. We proclaim therefore that His will shall be done not only on earth in general, but also in the minute details of our personal lives. He cares for each person individually.

Give us our bread continually

Amos wrote about a time yet to come when there will be a famine, not for bread or water, but for the words of God. Jesus here assures us that, not only will He provide sustenance for our bodies, but also heavenly Bread, the Word of God, to nurture our souls.

Forgive us the debt of our sins as we forgive the debt of those who sin against us

This is the most difficult command Jesus gave – we have to forgive our fellow human beings in the same complete way that God forgives us. Jesus used the word for ‘forgive’ here that means to cancel a debt. God’s forgiveness erases our wrongdoing so that we no longer have to bear the guilt of it, nor pay the debt that was incurred by our actions. Peter had to double check here – forgive 70 x 7 times!

Do not bring us into the hands of a test

There is an ancient Rabbinical prayer with these same words contained in it, therefore well-known by the disciples. When Jesus said these words, He was speaking from experience, having endured such testing Himself. When we face a test, we should rejoice in the fact that our Lord has a comprehensive plan, even though we do not see it yet!

And protect us from all evil

The emphasis here is that our God is the only one Who can protect us from all evil – We tend to think only of Satan as evil, but there is also the evil that lurks in the human heart; and the evil of natural consequences brought about by our wrong choices.

Amen

Jesus ended His prayer with this one word which means ‘Truth’ and ‘Belief’ and ‘Trust’.  By shouting ‘Amen’ the ancient Israelites were confirming their belief in the truth of everything that had just been spoken. This ancient Hebrew word appears 129 times in the New Testament!

(The ending “For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever and ever” was added later, as it was used by the early church in this way since about 100 A.D. It does not in any way contradict the prayer preceding it, as it is completely compatible with the Word, and as such is wholly acceptable).

Points to ponder: How do I apply the words and thoughts of this prayer in my life? Is it guiding me into a more moral and ethical lifestyle in the presence of my King and before my fellow human beings?

The Lord's Prayer

Job's wife

 

Job 2:9

And his wife said to him: “Even now you hold to your integrity? Curse God and die!

These short, recorded words from Job’s wife could paint a picture of a harsh unforgiving woman, uttering ideas called ‘foolish’ by her long-suffering husband.

But I think that the opposite is true. Remember that she had suffered the same devastating losses that Job had – the disappearance of all their wealth and means of generating an income in extremely rapid succession, as well as the death of all their children in one disastrous incident. They had also lost all their servants except for four messengers - the bearers of these bad tidings - who I am sure left the household when they realised that Job had no income left with which to pay them their wages.

I can imagine that the two of them then had many tough decisions to make, not the least of which was finding ways to earn some income to live from. These plans were further disrupted when Job fell ill with a debilitating disease, effectively turning him from the community leader that he was into someone totally dependent on his wife for his very existence. It could not have been an easy time in her life, as she probably could only find work as a servant in another household, a great let-down in status from where she had been all her life!

It is against this background of pain and loss that she then said the words quoted above. We know that Job during his lifetime rescued the needy, cared personally for people with disabilities and people who were dying, and brought orphans into his home. He could not have done all of this without the full co-operation of his wife, showing a soft heart and a willingness to share her belongings with others. Could she perhaps have said those words out of compassion for her husband, wishing only to see his suffering end?  We know only that Job reacted to her words by comparing them to the way foolish women would speak, he did not accuse her of being foolish herself. I am sure that he eventually persuaded her not to react out of her personal pain and loss, but to hold on to the truth of Who God is.

Have you ever wondered why Job’s wife was not murdered by Satan as her children were? In marriage a man and a woman are considered one in God’s eyes (Gen 2:24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.) Therefore, when God forbade Satan to take Job’s life, his wife was included in this prohibition.

Points to ponder:  Is there an area in my life where I have either verbally, or physically responded incorrectly against God out of the pain and agony of my soul? Have I been hiding my pain from people for years and years? Am I not even sure anymore where this pain originated from? There is hope – contact our Healing Rooms where many compassionate people are waiting to show you the way out!

Truth be told

Prosperity

 

Luke 16:25

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.”

The parable that Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus, is very well known. Mostly because it is usually used to explain that there are two destinies after death – Heaven for Lazarus (described as Abraham’s bosom here), and Hell for the rich man.

What we may sometimes miss in the reading of these verses is the fact that Lazarus, despite loving God deeply and keeping his faith unto the end of his life, had exceedingly difficult circumstances to live with. In fact, he is described as utterly destitute, reduced to begging alms to stay alive, and in poor health with ulcerated sores covering his body. He had nowhere to stay and was dropped down and left at the rich man’s gate, where it seems he was not cared for either, existing on the leftovers casually thrown away from the rich man’s table. None of these circumstances made a dent in his steadfast belief in his God, evidenced by the fact that he was found in the bosom of Abraham, or Heaven, upon his death.

This flies in the face of the teachings of what is known as the prosperity gospel – that brand of Christianity that holds that God wants believers to be physically healthy; materially wealthy; and personally happy at all times, and that the absence of all of these therefore is symbolic of a faith that is simply not good enough.

What is the foundation of these claims? The fact that we are Abraham’s spiritual children is widely given as reason that we also inherit the material blessings of wealth promised in the Abrahamic covenant. This is referred to in Gal 3:14 “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,” but we cannot ignore the rest of the verse: “so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” Paul is referring to the spiritual blessing of salvation here, not the material blessing of wealth. Good health is God’s intention for us, and Jesus bought us this right at the cross. However, God sometimes allows illness to accomplish His will, as we read about the man blind from birth in John 9:3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” As to the role your faith plays in falling ill or not, it is not just wayward believers who get sick: Paul himself had a physical ailment that the Lord declined to heal; he left Trophimus sick in Miletus; he advised Timothy to drink wine for his stomach ailment.

Does this mean that it is God’s will for us to be poor, ill, and unhappy? Of course not! But it means that when we do find ourselves in unpleasant circumstances, we will not be shamed into thinking that it is solely the result of our lack of faith, as listening and heeding to the teachings of these so-called prosperity teachers might do. Our circumstances can turn out to be less than favourable because of wrong choices we made; or because of sin in our lives; or because of ignorance; or because of external meddling in the form of witchcraft for instance.

Points to ponder: Am I clinging to my faith in Jesus through all circumstances of my life?

God of all my days