Good Morning Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty. He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rest in his love, He will joy over you with singing.
There is a much deeper message in this verse than what I shared yesterday with everyone. After discussing this passage with my study partner, I feel this deeper message should be shared with the Nevim Arith Hayomim as this is something that you must really understand for these last days.
The phrase “He will rest in His love,” is a very troubling one for translators. To translate it in it’s proper syntax just flies in the face of conventional Christian thought. Yet, it may actually confirm what a Nevim Arith Hayomim really feels in his or her heart.
There is a use of the word “charash” (rest) that translators would never dare to use in this passage, yet, it makes perfect sense. What I find so disturbing about the translations I read for this verse is that without exception, the phrase “He will rest in His love” totally disrupts the literary flow of the passage, unless we apply this forbidden use of the word “charash.” That word is “enchantment.” Another word applied to “charash” is “bewitched.” Actually, we really have no English word to use which expresses the true nature of “charash.” But stop and think this over. The Lord you God in the “midst” of you…” Remember that word “midst” (karav) could mean your inner most parts or your heart. When the Lord enters your heart He is “mighty” or He is empowered to save you. That power is like a running generator. It has a lot of power but until you plug something into it, that power is not being used. Until God connects with your heart, His power is not being used.
Now note what follows, he will rejoice over you with joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy over you with singing. How does “rest in His love” fit between those two phrases? It fits if you use the word enchantment. “He will be enchanted with His love.” That doesn’t make sense? What happens when a man and woman kiss for the first time and tell each other “I love you.” That rush, that high, that ecstasy, that is “charash.” When a woman is pregnant she loves the child within her. But after giving birth and the nurse puts that baby in the mother’s arms and she sees it for the first time, what she feels is “charash.”
When you invite God into your “midst” (karav) or your heart you feel a real rush, a “charash.” But soft, what Zephaniah is telling us is that “He will “charash” in His love.” In other words what God feels when we invite Him into our hearts and He has our hearts completely He feels “charash.” When two lovers express their love for each other, they experience a real high, not so much in receiving love from their beloved but a rush or high in having their own love for that person awakened. They then walk around in a haze or a cloud, they are in love, they are enchanted. But, until the object of their affection shares a mutual love, the feelings of being in love can not be awakened.
So to with God. That is why he needs us to voluntarily give Him our hearts, That is why He gave us a free will. God likes to be “in love.” Every time someone gives their heart to Him , He rest (charash) in His love. Christians are saying all the time, “I want more of God, I want to feel His presence” when all the time God is saying: “I want more of you, I want to feel your presence.” When you give Him all of your heart, you give Him the chance to feel the joy of being in love. Like a mother will rejoice over her baby and cherish and protect her beloved baby with her life or a husband will rejoice over his beloved wife and will cherish and protect his beloved wife with his life, so will God cherish and protect you when He is allowed to have your whole heart and he can “rest in His love” or rejoice over being in Love.
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