Image result for charcoal glowing red

 

Isaiah 50:11: “Behold, as all of you who kindle fire, who are surrounded in sparks, walk (a righteous walk) in the light (of) your fire in your burning. From My hand this shall be for you in pain  (so) you will lie down.”

 

I periodically make a reference to the  70 faces of Torah. The Jewish sages taught that every passage of Scripture has at least 70 different ways of looking it and understanding it. Keep in mind that the Spirit of God resides in our heart and all interpretation of Scripture must come from the Spirit of God living in our hearts.  I received correspondence from someone who said that she understands we are to dig or search the Scriptures with all our hearts soul and minds, but doesn’t the Bible teach that we sometimes need the help of others to understand a passage?  Well, as far as the little gems of historical and cultural insight I offer, these are things anyone can discover for themselves if they would devote time and effort to studying the Scriptures.  The Bible does not directly say that we should study with others, but it is hinted at like with the Bereans.  The Talmud does teach that we are to  never study the Torah alone.  Some Jews will actually hire someone, pay them to study with them. There is real value in sharing your study with others to get their input and I have found also that as I share with someone they tend to draw more out of me as I do with them and when you combine notes, you do get much more than you would if you studied alone.

 

When you do study with someone, I have noticed that little things I might overlook through personal study suddenly make an appearance such as this word  behold. In Hebrew the word behold is the word  hen which is basically saying; Here is a revelation from the presence of God pay close attention. So what are we to pay close attention to? “As all of you who kindle fire…”  Do you kindle fire?  I don’t kindle fire. I am a creature of the 21st Century who has electric heat and cooks with an electric stove, toaster oven, steamer and a George Foreman hamburger maker.  Nope, I haven’t kindled a fire in years.  I guess I don’t need to behold this one.

 

Not so fast, Chaim, the word kindle is  kadech. While at the University of Chicago library, I did a little research on this word.  In its Semitic origins this  kadech, kindle, comes from the polishing of a red gem stone (carbuncle).  It also refers to a piece of coal that begins to glow red. Ever watch a piece of charcoal on your barbeque grill? When you blow on it it starts to glow red.    That is the idea of kadech.  Now look at the word fire, which  is ‘esh in Hebrew and we find that it not only carries the idea of fire but also of passion. Like a hot ember when God breathes on our kadech carbuncle we begin to glow with ‘esh, passion.

 

Ok, I have to say it because it is expected of me as I am a Chicagoan. The Cubs won the Stanley Cup yesterday.  Ah,I’m only fooling, gotcha. I’m not that disenfranchised, I know it was the Super Bowl that they won.  I even know who made the winning touch down.  Ok, there I lied, I don’t know. But one thing I do know, I saw a lot of passion out on the streets yesterday. I mean this town went absolutely nuts.  I honestly think nobody even cared that there is a major presidential election next week. My point is this, one face of Torah may be referring to those who kindle fires, which leaves me out, but there is another face to Torah in reference to those who express passion.  That kind of takes us all in.  I saw even the least expressive person do cartwheels over a win of a silly game played by grown up men. Probably not one gave a thought to the presidential election and if Hillary wins we may see in a few years that the Cubs, oh excuse me, I am from Chicago, DA Cubs will be men and women.

 

So let’s look at this other face of Torah here and we find God is giving a revelation.  He is saying that “as all of you are having your passions polished, or blown upon (with the breath of God?) to glow bright red (red also symbolizes passion)…”

 

Then He follows by saying that you are then surrounded.  This word surround is me’az’ri which is like a girdle tightening. We are surrounded  by sparks  which is the Hebrew word  ziqoth.   Ziqoth is a bright, sharp shinning, like the sparklers I saw people carrying around yester to express their passion over the Cub’s victory.  As you allow God to polish or intensify your passions you will begin to be surrounded by a sharp brilliant shinning sparklers.

 

I have heard where some with spiritual discernment can actually see this zikoth in people (yes, my hand is raised).  All of us can see it in the Spirit.  How many Christians have you met where you could almost sense a glowing?  These are Christians who allow God to kindle or polish their passion for Him. Can you imagine what would happen if you had the passion for God like my cartwheeling friend has for the Cubs.  You would be flying.  Yeah, it is perfectly alright for a normally sane, educated person to go around whopping and hollering over a bunch of grown men trying to put a ball through a hoop and decorate his body in blue covered in Chicago Cub symbols.  But, boy try and express some emotion over the presence of God and, oh my, you are some sort of fanatic.  So what is wrong with being called a fanatic.  My cartwheeling friend is proud to be called a Cubs Fan, why should we shirk from being called a God fan(atic).

 

Let’s keep in mind that as bearers of this sparkling light we get that light from the indwelling of Jesus Christ and when people see or sense that ziqoth there is a tendency to look to the creature rather than the creator.  Us creatures tend to assume some of that worship.  People begin to praise you, honor you, lift you up because of the ziqoth and…well check out old Moses. When  Moses descended from the mountain, his face was filled with such intense ziqoth that he had to wear a veil.  Paul let the beans out of the bag (or is it the cat – you spill the beans) in II Corinthians 3:13: He (Moses) kept covering his face with a veil, he did not want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away.”  How many of these people that you have seen or sensed this ziqoth lose it but they keep yahooing to make everyone think it has not faded away.   But you cannot produce a passion that is not there. If the Cubs lost yesterday and my friend tried to do his cartwheels, everyone would know they were phony.  You can’t fake a ziqoth, and  I tell you people get pretty tired of the fake ziqoth.   You are not fooling anyone, only yourself.

 

Take it from Isaiah, when you kindle a fire, express a passion for God and wear His ziqoth, be sure to walk a righteous life. Like it says in Isaiah 50:11.

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