Deuteronomy 31:8 “And the LORD, he [it is] that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”
“Abused children will always protect the abuser, because it is all they know. They fear the person, hate the circumstances, but anything is better in their eyes than abandonment.” – Kalav
Moses is encouraging Joshua in front of all the people of Israel as they begin their invasion of the Promised Land. He gives Joshua two assurances which give him courage and removes any fear. He promises that God will not fail him nor forsake him. That sounds like the same thing and a bit redundant. I mean if God will not fail us that means he has not forsaken us or abandoned us.
In Hebrew there is a real distinction between failing someone and abandoning that person. The word for fail here in Hebrew is raphah. This is a word used when someone is pulling on a rope and his strength is beginning to fail. It is used for someone who is growing tired and weary of doing a task.
I remember as a pastor I would make frequent visits to a member of my church who was bed ridden. Her name was Daisy and she lived with her husband Harold. Daisy was bedridden with rheumatoid arthritis. The arthritis had advanced to the point where she was unable to get out of bed. I always found Harold there caring for his Daisy, cooking meals for her, empting her bed pan, bathing her, and holding her hand every opportunity he had. Harold never failed or raphah her. He never grew weary or tired of caring for his Daisy. One day Harold had a heart attack and was placed in a hospital. When I went to visit Harold in the hospital the first question he asked was about his Daisy and was she being taken care of. Then I just sat and listened to him as he talked about being in the hospital and failing his Daisy. He wept as his heart just broke over the fact that he was unable to care for his Daisy. Yes, Harold did fail his Daisy, not emotionally, not because he mentally grew tired of caring for her, but his body grew tired of caring for his Daisy. That is raphah, growing weary and tired of a task either mentally or physically. Sometimes you are just not physically up to the task, which is raphah.
But we know that God never grows weary or tired physically, but sometimes we think he will grow tired of putting up with us. But like Harold, his whole life was caring for his Daisy; she was his reason for living. Harold did not come out of that hospital, but went to be with the Lord shortly after my visit and although Daisy had no life threatening illness and was given good care in a nursing home, she joined her Harold only a month later.
God will never give up on us emotionally or physically. We have the assurance he will not raphah. It is interesting that the word raphah, failed is in a Hiphal form. In other words, nothing will cause God to fail us, neither lack of strength nor desire. No matter how rotten and low down we are, even that will not cause him to give up on us.
While Harold was in the hospital I could not re-assure him that he was not failing his Daisy, for in truth he was, but I could reassure him that he had not abandoned or forsaken his Daisy. There was a caregiver assigned to Daisy while Harold was in the hospital. Harold insisted that he speak almost hourly with that caregiver directing her on how to care for his Daisy. Harold did not ‘azav his Daisy. ‘Azav means to abandon and forsake, but it is not the cruel abandonment where you leave the person helpless, without any recourse. This is to abandon, by putting something or someone in the care of another Although Harold did in a sense abandon his Daisy by going into the hospital, he did not ‘azav his Daisy. She may have been in the care of someone else, but he was still directing that care. Even though Harold was not physically able to be with his Daisy, she knew her Harold was still there, watching out for her. But when her Harold went to be with the Lord she was now ‘azav, abandoned and she lost her will to live.
Even if God should raphah or fail us, we could still manage somehow. But if he were to ‘azav or abandon us, I don’t know about you but that I could not handle. As Kalav said, anything is better than abandonment. Being abandoned by God is more terrifying that His failure to heal me, or rescue me from a financial disaster. I can handle that. I’ll endure a broken body, I will stand on the street with a tin cup but if God abandoned me, then all I would have is despair.
So God promises not to fail us, that is good news, but He also promises to never abandon us, that is life giving news.
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