100 Prison Meditations: Cries of Truth from Behind the Iron Curtain (16 page)

Peculiarities of the Hebrew Alphabet

When the Japanese Imperial orchestra plays their own national music, they have no conductor. Harmony is achieved because the musicians breathe in the same rhythm, constituting, as it were, a single organism. This is how we can understand why Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon His apostles.

You sense something of this when you read the Bible. Dozens of authors have contributed to it, with no single coordinator to harmonize the writings. But the authors breathed the same air of heavenly spheres in the same rhythm.

The Hebrew alphabet teaches you not so much how to read and write, but how to breathe. Two letters, the
aleph
and the
ayin
, are unsounded. In transliteration the former is represented by the smooth breathing sigh “é” and the latter by that of the rough breathing “è.” When these letters are pronounced, you hear nothing: the speaker opens and closes his mouth without making the slightest sound. Jesus said to John, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8). These are two letters of the Greek alphabet. But Jesus and John were both Jewish and it is unlikely that they would have spoken with one another in Greek. Jesus must have spoken Hebrew. Might He not have said, “I am the
Aleph
and the
Ayin
, which would mean, “I am the silence and the even deeper silence”? Or would He have said, “I am the
Aleph
and the
Tay
,” the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which was written at that time as a cross? Might the sense have been, “I am the silence and the cross”?

The
yod
is often silent. “My beloved is mine,” says the bride in the song—
Dodi li
(Song 2:16). In the word
li
, which stands for “mine,” the
yod
is silent, one might even say quiescent, giving peace. No need even to pronounce it. She continues,
veani lo
—“and I am his.”
Lo
, the word for “his,” ends with the letter
vav
, again unsounded, quiescent. What long speeches Romeo and Juliet deliver to each other. Not so here. The mutual possession is so sure and so strong that words cease.

Just as the Hebrew alphabet starts with a silent letter, the Bible is more conspicuous by its silences than by its words. It is silent about the first thirty years of Jesus’ life. We know that at the age of twelve Jesus spoke with the priests in the temple, but the subjects they discussed are not revealed. Mary sat a whole night at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him, but we are not told what He said.

In many places in the Hebrew Bible, the sign called
athnach
(respiration) divides verses into two main clauses, such as in Psalm 2:1, “Why do the nations rage [respiration], and the people plot a vain thing?” Omission of a deep respiration in the midst of this verse would result in a reading unfaithful to the Hebrew text. Other readers breathe at the same point and this establishes the harmony of the orchestra.

There are many words in the Bible whose aim is to bring you to the great silence. “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him” (Habakkuk 2:20).

Orthographic Errors in the Bible

The renowned American preacher Billy Sunday once said, “If the English language gets in my way, I tramp all over it.” This is the sentiment of the biblical authors, too.

There are a few letters of the Hebrew alphabet that are written one way when they occur at the beginning or middle of a word, but have another form when used at the end.

This rule of orthography is unfailingly respected throughout the Bible with but one exception. A strange “orthographic error” has been perpetuated for 3,000 years in all Hebrew manuscripts and printed Bibles, and never corrected. The synagogue keeps the error in the Bible even though few of the rabbis could provide an explanation.

In Isaiah 9:6,7, some 700 years before the birth of Christ, the coming of a child who will be the Prince of Peace is announced. “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.” The Hebrew expression for “of the increase” is lemarbeh, written with a final “m” in the midst of the word.

The Kabbalah, a collection of old Jewish writings containing mystical thoughts, explains that the coming of this child was prophesied in the Scripture with a final “m,” which has the form of a square without any opening, to show that He will be born from the closed womb of a virgin.

There is also what we would today call a typographical error in the Bible. In the old manuscripts, as well as in modern scientific editions of the Hebrew Bible, the name Manasseh is written erroneously in Judges 18:30. Since there are no vowels in the original Hebrew, the word is written “MNSH,” with the N always appearing above the line of the text.

The explanation is that Jonathan, about whom this verse reports, was the first idolatrous priest in Israel. He was a grandson of Moses, written in Hebrew “MSH.” The author of the book of Judges did not wish to shame the great legislator. He thought that respect for Moses’ name was more important than accuracy in the genealogy of an idolater. So he added an N to the name of Moses, thereby changing it to Manasseh. For the few who have to know the whole truth and also to teach us how to communicate a truth in a diplomatic manner, the N is written above the line.

Is the Bible inerrant? Yes, it is, even in its obvious errors. The truth is revealed from them too.

Qualified Almightiness

If God is almighty, why does He not free us?

The Bible calls God “Almighty” (Genesis 17:1, etc.). The Greek word for it is
pantocrator
, which means “having power over all things.” Jerome translated the word into Latin as
omnipotens
, which can be interpreted as meaning “able to do anything.” The two concepts are not identical.

There are things that God cannot do. The Bible says, “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). Since He is eternal, He cannot cease to exist. Because of these things, He has limited His sovereignty, and has given a Scripture which “cannot be broken” (John 10:35). He cannot act contrary to His own character, or change His mind in essential things and say, “I will not have love anymore,” or, “There will be no righteousness and wrath in Me.” There is therefore a “must” even in God and in His providence.

As with God, so with man—we also “must” pass through tribulations. Jesus says, “The Son of Man
must
suffer many things” (Luke 9:22), and again, “You will hear of wars and rumors of war…These things
must
come to pass” (Matthew 24:6).

Prayer is important, but its scope is limited. Speaking about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and Judea, Jesus teaches His disciples, “Pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20), when it would be more difficult to find means of transportation. He does not say, “Pray that the calamity itself should not come.” One could as well pray that 2 + 2 not equal 4.

There exists a “must.” When sins arrive at their peak, they bring with them unavoidable catastrophe, because it is in the unchangeable nature of God to punish sins. You can only ask for an alleviation of it.

God must have a certain character. What has no characteristics cannot exist.

How could we arrive at union with God if we could not be certain that He is on the peak toward which we advance? If there were no “must” with God, we would strive to be holy and He might have changed to unholiness. He might even have changed His desire to be united with us.

God has power over all things. He is as the Bible calls Him,
pantocrator
, but He has no power over His loving heart to make it cease beating for us. Our eye must be “single” (Luke 11:34, KJV), which means it must be the single eye. His eye and my eye are one.

The eye with which He sees me and my own eye are the same. The heavenly Bridegroom says to His bride, “You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes” (Song 4:9), with the eye which is one and the same as His own.

God wished, wishes, and will wish unity with us.

Should a Christian Defend His Country?

Generally, it is dangerous to try to establish general rules by which a Christian should be guided. God has said, “Let it be…that you do as the occasion demands” (1 Samuel 10:7), or as St. Augustine said, “Love and do what you like.”

Jesus said to the first generation of disciples, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,…flee” (Luke 21:20,21). Many of us would have said, “Then enlist in the army.” But a treasure of divine knowledge had been entrusted to the disciples which must not be lost. It was more important for the little band to defend this knowledge than defend a fatherland which advanced toward destruction by God’s decree.

Jeremiah, when the Jewish state was threatened by the Babylonians, delivered speeches which would today be considered high treason. He counseled surrender to the enemy without any resistance. Since the Jews were the chosen people, their mere survival was more important than the nobility of a heroic fight.

The occasions when such choices are necessary are rare. No Christian would defend a Nazi Germany or a Communist Russia.

Otherwise the commandment of God stands, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1). If your government has decided that a war is in the interest of the nation, you obey. It is not wrong to kill in a just war. After the return of Abraham from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, Melchizedek, king of Salem (a type of Jesus), blessed him (Genesis 14:17–19). Just this time had been chosen by Melchizedek to bless Abraham! Those who have fought against tyrannies are also blessed. The Christian can do much. Abraham with a small group of what we would today call “freedom fighters” conquered world powers.

It is essential for children of God to participate in the fight against evil, even when this fight takes the form of war. Their role is “to sanctify the war. “This is the expression used in the Hebrew of Joel 3:19. They should bring into the war the notions of righteousness and love. But foremost, the Christian’s role is to prevent war, bringing the rulers of nations to living faith in Christ and teaching those who believe that the best guarantee of peace is strength.

The Name of God

Jesus says to God, “I have manifested Your name” (John 17:6). But which name did He manifest? Was it Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, Lord of hosts? There can be different explanations. May I suggest one.

When my wife was in Communist prisons, she brought one of her guards, let us call her Nina, to Christ. Sabina taught her the creed and the Lord’s Prayer. One day this new Christian said to my wife, “I cannot just repeat the Lord’s Prayer like a parrot. I must understand it. I say, ‘Hallowed be thy name,’ not knowing what His name is. Could you please tell me?” My wife answered, “God has all names. In the Bible He is called God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is also God of Nina. He is your personal God. Nina is His name. Now sanctify it.”

The biblical revelation goes even further. In both Hebrew and Greek the Bible text speaks not about a God of Abraham, of Isaac, and so on, but simply God Abraham, God Isaac, God Jacob. He identifies Himself with His friends and believers. It is not enough to believe that God is one. The Jews sing in the synagogue,
Huh echad veein sheni
. (“He is one and there is no second.”) Each believer who comes to the One does not stop at being a second who obeys and adores the first, but becomes one with the One. God is God Abraham, and Abraham is Abraham God.

The notion of oneness in Hebrew differs from that in the European languages. Man and wife shall be “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

The unity between husband and wife is not a perfect one. Spouses clash with each other, but deep underneath there is a unity that cannot be separated. Such is our unity with God. He is God Abraham, God Isaac, God Nina, God Richard, and God you. These are His names.

Scarcity of Biographical Data

No scrupulous modern biographer would attempt to write a biography of Jesus on the basis of the scarce data the Bible gives about Him. Even about Jesus’ earthly life we know next to nothing. Thirty years are passed over with silence. This is to show us that God keeps files on no one.

Job says, “What is man…that You should test him every moment?” (7:17,18). What a man is in the present moment is what counts. What he has been before can be erased by the grace of God. Never hold past sins against a man, rather hold a man against his past sins.

George Muller, the British philanthropist, founder of many orphanages and renowned as a man of prayer, was in prison for theft in his youth. So was Skrefsrud, the renowned Norwegian missionary to the Santals in India.

St. Vincent de Paul was ordained at the age of 19 although the Council of Trent had fixed 30 as the minimum age. He was silent all his mature life about his invalid ordination and about an adventurous escape from slavery which had occurred only in his imagination. He was also silent about the fact that in his youth he had sought the parishes with the fattest incomes.

What does an ugly past count, when God sees a beautiful present?

The Bible Teaches Poverty

When God makes Abraham a declaration of love, Abraham’s answer is, essentially, “What will You give me?” (Genesis 15:1,2). Let it not be so with us. May we not be only parasites on God. May our relationship with Him not be all asking but also giving.

When you are converted you must become poorer than you were before, for Jesus’ sake. Then when you purchase a dress, you can offer Him the difference in price between a plain and a fashionable one. Jesus has given His blood for me. Should I not offer Him everything I have?

Jesus forbids His disciples to have two coats (Matthew l0:10). What would He say about those who possess several houses and several cars?

The prophet Hosea had to buy his wife’s love with money. Jesus is in the same predicament—He has had to buy His bride. Paul writes, “You were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 7:23). The price paid for us is “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). Would we sell ourselves to Him for less? Would we give our lives to Him simply because He is right, even if He had no forgiveness of sins, no paradise, and no earthly blessings to bestow? Are we His profiteers, or do we find in Him a Beloved to whom to give our all?

Jesus said, “Blessed are you poor” (Luke 6:20). The strongest Greek word for poverty, ptohois, a word indicating abject misery, is used here.

The Lord asks the apostles, “Do you not…remember the five loaves
of the five thousand?
” (Matthew 16:9). The superfluous bread does not belong to me but to the poor.

George Muller, who became a legend for the orphanages he founded and supported by power of faith and prayer, wrote in his diary, “We found the cheapest and plainest rooms in Bristol, but still too good for servants of Jesus. Our Master had nowhere to lay His head.”

Just as Jesus knelt to wash the feet of His disciples, St. Hedwig of Silezia, a princess, gave gifts to the poor, kneeling before them. After such a life, Hedwig was able to say as her last word at her death, “Welcome.”

Wealth is especially dangerous for ministers.

A journal of architecture published a photograph of the villa of a renowned American evangelist as being the most beautiful villa of the year. This man might have a better chance of preparing good sermons in a modest apartment.

I have heard sermons in cathedrals in rich countries and sermons delivered in prison by pastors in chains. The latter had the more durable influence upon my soul.

Rabbi Yehiel Mier, having no money to give a beggar, gave him one of his wife’s rings. When the wife learned of it, she was upset. “That was a very costly ring with a real diamond in it,” she said. Rabbi Yehiel, hearing this, searched the town for the beggar. He came home triumphantly and assured his wife, “I found him and warned him to be sure to sell the ring for a good sum of money.”

Let us be souls who freely give ourselves with all we have to Him. Love poverty! Become poor.