Deuteronomy  29:10-11: “Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, [with] all the men of Israel, Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that [is] in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:”

 

Matthew 20:16:  “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”

 

This passage in Deuteronomy 29:10-11 is always read by the Jews the day before Rosh Hashanah as it is believed that these words were spoken by Moses on the day of Rosh Hashanah, the day when all will stand in judgment before God.

 

The Talmud in Peasachim 50a explains this passage by telling the story of a man’s son who fell ill to the point of death.  Through the father’s prayers he was brought back to life. When the son awoke his father asked him “What did you see in heaven.”   The son replied that he saw an upside down world.  Those who were on top in this world were on the bottom in the next world and those who were on the bottom or in a lowly state in this world were exalted in heaven.  The Talmud went on to say that the leader or the sages are superior to the wood hewer or water carrier only from an earthbound perspective.  Here on earth we see a hierarchy of roles, but when we all stand before the Lord God there is no higher or lower. What seems like a lowly state  here is no less lofty and significant in the eyes of God.

 

The word stand in Hebrew is natsab. There are a number of different words in Hebrew for stand.  This particular word has the idea of a unity, oneness and sameness. We would use that word today at a political rally where the politician will call out to the crowd, “Who will stand with me.”  All those who would support this politician would stand as one in support.  They may be doctors, lawyers, janitors, gardeners, rich and poor, your station in life would not matter, you are united and equal in this one area of support. Each has only one vote and when the votes are counted that candidate does not care whether that vote came from a rich man or a poor man.   When the people stood before the Lord God, they were natsab, they were united as one and it did not matter what  your position was life, you were equal before God.  This word is found in the Aramaic to describe a pillar or marker to direct one on his journey.  If we natsab (stand) before God then our role, not matter what our position in life, is to give others the direction to finding God. It is that which we will be judged upon. Did we live our lives in a way to bring people to God or did we direct them away from God.

 

There is the old story I used to tell when I taught Church History in Bible college. There was a pope who died and went to heaven.  When he came to the gates of the city he found they were locked. The pope was infuriated, why as a pope the gates of heaven should be opened with ten thousand angels welcoming him. He pounded on the gates and St. Peter poked his head out and asked, “Who is it, what do you want?”   The pope, now very indignant shouted, “I am the pope, let me in.”  St. Peter asked, “Do you have a key?”  The pope said, “Of course I have a key, but I am the pope, you must let me in.”  “St. Peter said everyone must use their key.”  So the pope, feeling very put out as he was after all the pope and someone with his rank and position should be given some leeway. But he put the key in the lock and the key did not work.”  Now the pope was in a state of panic, “Open the door, I am the pope.”   St. Peter said, “Try the side door.”  The pope couldn’t believe it, he the pope entering heaven through the side door.  But with a creeping fear that he may have overstated his rank and position he went to the side door.  The key did not work.  St. Peter suggested he try the back door. Now the pope was in a near panic and went to the back door.  Still the key did not work.  The pope pounded on the door, frantically crying out, “You must let me in, I am the pope.”  St. Peter scratched his head and said, “I don’t understand it, the key should work.”  Then it dawn on him. St. Peter said, “Oh, yeah, I remember now, some monk named Martin Luther was up here some time ago and changed all the locks.”

 

Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 20:16,  “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”  Your station in life will not matter in heaven, all will be treated as an equal.  The last first and the first last is an old Semitic idiom meaning “in this we are all equal.”

 

Looking at this phrase many are called but few are chosen in the Aramaic I find something very interesting. The word for many in Aramaic is sagiya. There is some debate but I hold to the school of thought that this word comes from a Semitic root word SG which means one who is rejected.  Thus, this could read, the reject ones are called.  The word few is the word zeora which in the Aramaic means the least, the little ones, the insignificant ones, the ones who sit in the back pew and are never called upon to speak or pray, who just do not seem to have that dynamic to draw crowds, they are uneducated, seemingly untalented, they are the ones who are chosen by God.  The word chosen in Aramaic is gava, this comes from an old Persian word and is used for the servants who gathered the crops during harvest time.

 

From the Aramaic I believe what Jesus was saying was that the rejected ones are also called and the least among you are the ones who are chosen to gather in the harvest of God. In other words, don’t you just sit back on your kester and say, well it is the pastor, the TV evangelist, the really gifted and talented who are to bring in the lost. Jesus is saying you also have been called and chosen to bring in His harvest of souls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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