II Samuel  22:30:  For by thee I have run through a troop; by my God have I leaped over a wall.”

 

The Talmud instructs that we are never to lose the pashat, that is, the literal interpretation of a verse.  Although Jewish tradition teaches that there are 70 faces to Torah,  and we can draw many different understandings from a specific verse, we must recognize and never loose the literal meaning of a verse. Whatever our interpretation of a verse, it must always square with the literal meaning of that verse.

 

Well, I have to admit, sometimes it can get very challenging to cling to the literal meaning of a verse. This is one such verse.  First by God we can run through a troop.

The word run here is arus which could come from two possible root words, the first is the root rasas which means  to oppress or it could come from rus  which as the idea of assaulting.  The word troop comes from the root word gadad, which in its Semitic origins has the idea of being cut or as a noun a cutting machine eventually as it moved into the Hebrew language it became troop as a troop is cut out of a larger force.   So by my God I will pass through a cutting machine and leap a wall.

 

Most of us are not what we call athletic and thus leaping over walls are not a part of our daily routine, particularly if we have just been through a cutting machine.

 

The word God is be’lohai which has prepositional Beth in front of the word which is usually rendered as in or on. The suffix contains the pronoun my.  Hence in or on my God I have leaped over a wall.  The word leap is dalak which means to leap or skip.  It is in a Piel form so this is a mighty leap. After passing through a cutting machine we can take a mighty leap over a wall.  Neat trick.  The word wall is sur which has multiple usages which include, one who has dominion over you, or one who lies in wait and of course as a noun it means a wall.

 

Now we  can really relate to this spiritually and emotionally.  Have you ever felt like you have been through a cutting machine spiritually or emotionally but when the enemy tries to exercise control over you after he has put you through that emotional cutting machine you find that by your God you can leap over that one who lies in wait to have dominion over you thinking he has weakened you. After going through a spiritual cutting machine your  faith still remains in tack and you can leap that wall separating you from the presence of God by your God. 

 

But I am still haunted by the fact that there is a literal interpretation to this verse as well.  Can it be that God will allow us to physically be beaten up and then give us the power to leap a wall?  That is the literal meaning.

 

Yes, there is vindication. I was reading the story of the Chinese Christian Brother Yun in the book The  Heavenly Man.  He had been taken by the police, and beaten until he was bloody.  He was able to make an escape and managed to walk past the guards until he came to the prison wall which was 10’ high.  He explained what happened next:

 

First I pulled myself up onto the wall as high as I could manage. I looked

`           over the top and saw that on the other side was a ten-feet-wide open

septic tank.

 

As I hung grimly onto the side of the wall, all of a sudden I felt as if

somebody hoisted me up and threw me over!  I jumped so far that I

even cleared the septic tank! A Scripture came to mind,….”

I  don’t need to tell you that what that Scripture verse was (II Samuel 22:30).

 

Sometimes we spiritualize a passage (which I do all the time) and often forget the pashat or literal meaning (which I try not to do).  Sometimes we overlook the literal meaning as it is just too fantastic to take literally.  I mean, come on, being able to leap over a wall after passing through a cutting machine?  Well, it seems that a Chinese Christian Brother Yun, did that very thing.  Unless, of course, you just want to believe he made the whole story up which I don’t.

 

As for me and I suppose most of you, we do not need to leap over walls, but we do need to leap over a wall separating us from the presence of God after we have passed through a spiritual or emotional cutting machine. Maybe one day Sparky the Wonder Dog (my neighbor’s pit bull) will take in after me and I will have to leap over a literal wall.  At that time, I plan to lay claim to the pashat of II Samuel 22:30.  But until that happens I plan to keep on leaping over any spiritual or emotional wall by my God that the enemy puts up to separate me from the presence of my God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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