Isaiah 30:21, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”
The other day when performing my duties as a disability bus driver, I heard a word behind me. That word came from Mary. Mary is a delightful lady who is confined to a wheel chair and needs the services of a caregiver, yet she is a very uplifting person, always happy and bringing joy to those around here. Her daughter and grandchildren live next door to her and when I pick Mary up for her Doctor’s appointment she is not only aided by her caregiver but here grandchildren as well. There is step outside her door that is too high for her wheel chair and it takes two or three grandkids plus a caregiver to carry her out the door to the chair. The grandkids are always fussing over her trying to be that special one to help grandma get on the bus. Of course she just delights in all the attention and is always pretending to panic over some danger that does not exist and then joking about it when someone comes to her rescue, a rescue that she never really needed. I suppose, like the boy who called “wolf” she seems to be unable to discern between a real danger and a fallacious danger.
He doctor is located on the corner of a busy intersection and on this day the handicap spot in the parking area was taken, so I was forced to let Mary and her caregiver out at the bottom of a sidewalk that had a rather long incline to the door of the building. Now Mary is using a wheel chair which was given to her by someone who had it given to them who had it given to them. By this third generation the old chair was ready for the scrap heap. The brakes work, but they do not lock and if you are not careful in setting the brakes, they will fail.
When we got Mary and her chair out of the bus, I turned my back to retract the lift and shut the door of the bus as the caregiver pushed Mary’s wheel chair with Mary in the chair up the incline to the entrance of the building. As my back was turned I heard a word behind me. It was the caregiver giving out a horrible scream and Mary shouting, “Save yourself.” I turn around and saw every caregiver’s nightmare. As the caregiver was opening the door to the building the brakes on Mary’s wheel chair failed. It and Mary were heading down the incline straight for me and the bus building up speed that would bring joy to Danica Patrick’s heart. I took a leap from my bus to Mary’s wheel chair and caught Mary’s chair just as the caregiver arrived to grab the other side of the chair and we managed to bring Mary into a smooth landing. I looked up at Mary and she was grinning at me as she said, “Far out, let’s do it again.” “Not on your life chickee baby,” I said.
Back in my bus for some reason I thought of Isaiah 30:21 and the words “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee…” It is funny how you can hear some passage of Scripture all your life and yet you never stop to give it any real thought. I wondered what the writer meant by hearing a word behind you?
Every modern English translation puts a different spin on this verse. Some will say word some will say voice. In Hebrew this is the word debar which is a word from the heart and speaks to the heart. In this context it is a word or a voice from the heart of God speaking to our heart. But why does it come from behind? The word behind is ‘achar which literally means behind, afterward or even beside. It could also mean pursuing. These renderings give no explanation as to why this word is coming from behind. One theory is that it is an allusion to the shepherd who follows behind his sheep as they are moving. The sheep are heading for a pasture where they will feed or a body of water to drink. The sheep know where to go so the Shepherd follows behind to make sure there are no stragglers. Once a sheep gets lost they stay lost and the shepherd must go find them before some predator does. But that still does not explain why the voice or the words of God come from behind us. Does that mean that God is not leading us but just following us and giving instruction from behind. Perhaps this is a picture of one who has left God to go off on his own and thus God must follow behind him calling out to him to giving him directions in the hope that he may hear the directions and get back on the right path. I know as a teacher when I would give a test I would stand in the back of the room so the students would not know who I was watching and thus not be tempted to sneak a peek at their neighbor’s papers. They would have to look back at me to check before glancing at their neighbor’s paper, which was much more awkward than just looking forward. I would often give instructions on these occasions from the back of the room. Perhaps this is a picture of God testing us and giving us little prompts to help us along the way.
I went to the Talmud and found a reference in Megilla 32 (a) to this verse which I believe gives us a much deeper insight. Here the rabbis tell us that another rendering for the word ‘achar behind is unusual or strange. Thus, they render this as your ears shall hear a word from a strange or unusual place. This is really a reflection of the basic Semitic root idea of ‘achar. A voice from behind is an unexpected or unusual voice. The caregiver’s scream and Mary’s voice coming from behind was totally unexpected and I had to stop whatever I was doing to act.
Yesterday my study partner was out with her real estate agent looking to purchase a house. Her agent showed her a house which she said was perfect for her. It had a good price, was in good repair and everything seemed right about it, but my study partner had a check in her spirit. Something wasn’t right, she was not sure what it was but it was just not right. So she moved on to check other houses. I think she heard the voice behind her.
I believe all of us at one time or another has clearly felt a “no” or “go.” Somehow you just know the direction to take, we call it a check in our spirit, a still small voice, a prompting or a knowing. We have many ways to describe it but ultimately it is that voice behind us. It comes out of nowhere, from a strange or unusual place. There is no reason for it, no apparent meaning for it, but we just know, this is the way walk in it.
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