Good Evening Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Psalms 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.”
Matthew 19:23-24: “Then Jesus said unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter heaven, Again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
George, the 84 year old former Greek teacher that I meet with once a week, and I were relaxing doing what we enjoy doing most, making fun of modern English translations of the Bible. George shared one of his biggest complaints. He could not understand why any modern translator did not accept a later manuscript rendering of the Greek word for camel as “kamelos” (rope) rather than “kamilos” camel. This would make more sense in Matthew 19:23-24 that is easier to put a rope through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to go to heaven. I explained that translators always go with the earliest manuscripts as they are considered more accurate and the earliest manuscripts us “kamilos” (camel). George just sighed and said: “One day they are going to dust off some manuscript in the basement of the Vatican which is earlier than our eariliest manuscripts and it will use the word “kamelos” (rope).
I thought about this as a possible answer to an old question I had. I always, and still do, believe that Jesus was quoting form Oral Tradition (now the Talmud) which speaks of dreams revealing one’s heart by saying: “They do not show a palm tree of gold nor an elephant going through the eye of needle. Again the Midrash in a discussion of the Song of Solomon, describes the lengths and willingness that God would go to open the door of salvation by saying: “Open for me a door as big as a needles eye and I will open for you a door through which may enter tents and camels.”
The idea of a large animal passing through a needle’s eye was a common expression of rabbis to illustrate something that is very difficult if not impossible. I might add that needles in those days could have very large eyes that could accommodate a thin rope, like packaging rope or thicker. Rope, like today, was made by combining thin strands of fabricate and tightly binding them together. The tighter the bind, the stronger the rope was and the thinner the rope was.
Could it be that Jesus, being the good rabbi that he was, was making a play on the word camel. He would have been alluding to an old and familiar illustration while at the same time playing the word “kamilos” (camel) but also leading his disciples to hear “kamelos” and think of a rope. Yes, if a rope were bound tight enough it could pass through a needle’s eye.
In other words, for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, he must bind himself very tightly with God. That is not so difficult when you are poor and depending on Him for your daily bread, but when all your needs are meet and your storehouses are full, you have a tendency not to bind yourself to closely to God.
I remember hearing stories of some old line Pentecostal groups that had what they called tarrying services. They would stay up all night waiting for the Lord to make a visitation. After all that is what is instructed in Scripture in verses like Psalms 40:1 and Isaiah 40:31 which talks about waiting for, or more correctly upon the Lord. I tend to think it is more God waiting for us that we waiting for Him. During these tarrying services the faithful would spend hours praying to God, confessing sins, just really getting down and heavy with God.
You see the word “wait” is the Hebrew word, “kavah,” which is more than just sitting back waiting like you are waiting for a bus or train. This word is the same word use for making rope. In Psalms 40:1 David is saying he is “waiting patiently.” Actually, the word kavah is repeated two times which is why the translator added the adverb patiently. The word patiently is implied, it is not in the Hebrew. In this case the repetition of the word “kavah” was to indicate a very tight binding. David is saying that when he completely bound himself to God, then God inclined unto him. The root word “inclined in Hebrew is “natah.” This has the idea of stretching out, or reaching out to embrace. That is when God heard the cry of David. The word “cry” here is “shava’” which is a calling out for help. Note, even before God hears the cry of help from David, God is already reaching out to embrace him. Well, let’s get this progression right. Before David found himself in trouble where he had to call on God for help, God was already reaching out to him and as He was reaching out David began to cry out for help.
There is a story in the Talmud of a rabbi who crossed a street and heard a small child silently sob for his mother who had left him to go to the market. The rabbi knew the mother had left some time ago, for had the mother just left and was in the child’s sight, the child would wail loudly for his mother, but now that she was out of sight, the child only sobbed to himself. So, to are we with God. David’s cry was not a silent cry, for he knew his heavenly Father was reaching out to him and longing for the nearness of God so he wailed to him He longed for the protective, secure embrace of His Heavenly Father as a child longs for the secure protective embrace of his mother.
There is an old song, written by Gary Paxton who wrote such novelty songs as Alley Oop and co-wrote the Monster Mash with Bobby Pickett. After many years of successful song writing Gary Paxton found Jesus and began to write more serious music, such as:
Time after time I was searching for peace in some void,
I was trying to blame all my ills on this world I was in
Surface relationships used me till I was done in
But all the while someone was begging to free me from sin.
He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in line,
He was there all the time.
I think maybe this is what David was talking about here in “waiting patiently” for God. It was really that God was there “waiting patiently “ for David, as David was slowly through prayer, confession, praise, worship binding himself to God. You see the word “wait” is spelled with a qof which represents sanctification, sacrifice, receiving. This is followed with a vav which represents transformation through unification. The vav is then followed by an ayin which represents spirituality. God is patiently waiting for us to sacrifice our lives to Him so we may be unified with Him and be spiritually transformed. The time of tarrying is not waiting for God to come, it is God waiting for us to lay aside all the hindrances, all the foreign thoughts and fleshly desires so that we become one is spirit with Him. Note that the qof is the number 100 which represents God’s patience, vav, is six the number of man and the ayin is 70 the number of restoration. Waiting or kava’ is God patiently waiting for man to be restored to Him.
He was there all the time, just waiting patiently in line.
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