Deuteronomy 4:4: “But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God [are] alive every one of you this day.”

The context of Deuteronomy 4:4 is teaching that when others died Israel did not because they cleaved unto the Lord.  That is such a wonderful promise that if just cleave to the Lord we will survive when others die.

I took a close look at this verse today after reading about the earthquake in Nepal.  There were Christians who died in that earthquake.  Did not Deuteronomy 4:4 apply to them?   I read about how ISIS lined up a group of Christians and beheaded them for no other reason than the fact that they were cleaving to God and would not deny Him.

Actually, Deuteronomy 4:4 is not a promise at all, but a statement of fact. Moses is just repeating a bit of history, pointing out how the people of Israel survived situations which would have destroyed them but didn’t because they cleaved unto the Lord.  Because they kept His laws they did not suffer the diseases that the other did.  Many of the laws had a practical side which the people did not understand.  I mean why wash your hands before eating, or wash your eating utensils with hot water.  They had no concept of disease causing microbes.  They just did these seemingly meaningless and foolish things in obedience to God.  Following strict dietary laws kept them from diseases that the other nations faced.  They practice good hygiene because God told them to, not because they knew the science behind it as we do today.  They practice strict rules concerning sexual relationships which protected them from STD.

Yet, Moses does not specifically mention the keeping of the laws of God, this is just implied. What he does stress is the idea of cleaving unto Jehovah.  Bible translators have a real problem with this passage. The preposition unto is not used here.  If this were to be rendered as clinging unto Jehovah it would read in the Hebrew  hadevakim laYHWH.  But it does not say that in the Hebrew, rather it is hadevakim baYHWH.  It is properly rendered as clinging in Jehovah.  But of course you do not cling in or on something you cling to something so the translators just play with the ambiguity of the language and use the preposition to rather than in.

The problem is not in the preposition but in our understanding of the word cling or devekim. You see, we really cannot find a decent English word to use for devekim that word has to be explained rather than translated.  The closest we can come is the word cling, hold fast, be faithful, remain faithful, be loyal or adhere.  Yet, none of these words come close to properly giving us an understanding of devekim. It just can’t be done with one English word, unfortunately when translating the Bible you have to come up with one or may two words at the most, because there just is not enough room for to explain it.  We have no one or two words in English for devekim.  You do not devekim to the Lord, but in the Lord. By using the word devekim Moses was giving a double meaning that is so often found in Scripture.  One meaning that applies to that particular time and one that applies to us today.   By cleaving to God the people of Israel remained chiyiyim alive physically.  Yet chiyiyim also means to be alive spiritually.  In Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35 and Luke 9:24 Jesus is teaching that whoever wants to save his life will lose it but if you give up your life for His sake, you will save it.  Those who lost their lives at the hand of ISIS by clinging devekim in God may have lost their physical lives, but their spiritual lives in Jesus Christ will remain forever and that they cannot lose. No man can take that away from them.  So long as we cling, devekim in God, dwell in the heart of God,  we will never lose our eternal lives, we may lose the physical life, but we all are going to lose that one day, some sooner than others, but yet all will lose their physical life one day.  If we cling or cleave in the heart of God we will be chiyiyim alive forever in Jesus Christ.

So what is this devekim that we cannot translate with one or two English words such that we can use the preposition in?  To the Jews today devekim which comes from the root word devek which is an attachment to God, having God always in the mind.  The Jewish concept of devekut refers to a deep, meditative state attained through prayer and Bible study.  In modern Hebrew devek is the word for glue.  It is also a synonym in modern Hebrew for dedication toward a particular goal. Yet in religious Judaism it is attaching yourself to God in all areas of your life. In the state of devekut one hears the voice of God, receives direction from God. One lives in the presence of God and heart of God.  It is unifying all aspects of your life, body soul and mind with that of the heart of God.   How can you put all that into one word?  How can you say that word using the preposition in? I can’t. Some would call this mysticism.  If mysticism is to be defined as the Jewish rabbis define it which is seeking to unify your entire life with the heart of God, seeking to always remind yourself that you are in the presence of God and whatever you do you do you do as unto God, then I have to confess I am a mystic and I think many of you reading this right now would fit that definition of mysticism.  Mysticism has just become a dirty word in Christian circles because it conjures up thoughts of a pointed hat with stars on it and a crystal ball. That is not what I am referring to here when I use the word mysticism. A Christian and Jewish mystic is simply one who seeks to walk closely with God, who seeks the heart of God, who speaks to God and God speaks to them.

Those Christians who were beheaded by ISIS were obviously in a state of devekut for just before the sword fell they all shouted a praise to Jesus.  Through their devekim or clinging to the heart of God they just entered a new life, a higher form of life spiritually. Their physical life ended, but they continue to live.

Devekut is a discipline.  The Jews wear a skull cap or kippah to remind themselves that they are always in the presence of God and whatever they do they do as unto God. As I am not Jewish I will not wear a kippah out of respect for my Jewish friends, but I do wear a baseball cap, even if I am preaching in a church.  I wear it to serve as that reminder. For over six years I have been on a journey to discover the heart of God. I have recorded that journey in my books and I still continue that journey always seeking to practice devekim or clinging to God.  I carry no illusions that it will save my physical life, maybe it will maybe it won’t but I do know it is preparing me for another life, an eternal life with the Jesus that I have grown to love more and more as the years go by in seeking to cling to Him or seeking devekut. The more I seek His heart the more I understand what the Apostle Paul meant, “ For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21.