WORD STUDY – JESHURUN – ישׁהרנ

Deuteronomy 32:15: “But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. Thou are waxen fat and thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness, then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation.”

Lately, God has been calling me out of my comfort zone reminding me of a deal I made many years ago when I was young and didn’t know what it was like to grow old. I told Him if He proved a ministry I would never retire. Now He is calling in my promise.

I did not have any particular verse in mind this morning as I started my study, so I randomly picked one out and found myself in Isaiah 44:2. This verse said little to me and I decided to make another random choice. However, the word Jeshurun dud stand out but I didn’t see any particular spiritual lesson. Jewish literature teaches that Jeshurun is a term of endearment that God uses for Israel. It means straight or upright. It has the idea of one mindedness with God. It is a special affectionate name like a father calling his daughter princess. It is used when God wants to express his affection for Israel.

I really wasn’t getting anywhere with this so I decided to just pick out another random verse. This time I landed on Deuteronomy 32:15. When I found this verse starting out with Jeshurun I decided to explore the possibility that God was trying to tell me something in this word.

I sort of reflected on that phrase waxen fat. I recalled something my Uncle Otto, who was a farmer, said to me as he was playfully twisted Baby Doll’s head (Baby Doll was a cow if you haven’t read my book). He said something curious, that he made sure Baby Doll was not well fed. He said that a well fed cow will grow insolent and rebellious and will end up kicking you if you are not careful. The cow becomes spoiled and demanding. Even though Baby Doll was like a pet to Uncle Otto, he would not indulge her. I guess that is the idea behind this verse in Deuteronomy. We can grow fat and lazy with God’s blessings and then when he removes one, we begin to whine and kick.

The root word for Jeshurun is yashar which means to be upright or righteous. When I examine the built in commentary in this word, I find the word is spelled Yod, Shin, and Resh. This combination of letters suggest being filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. It represents someone or certain people who are chosen by God, given special favor by God to accomplish something for Him. Do you ever get that feeling that God has given you special favor, that He has endowed you with a something special from the Holy Spirit to carry out some special task? Then He has called you Jeshurun.

But say, this is more than just standing up giving a testimony and saying, “Oh yes, God has given me a beautiful house, car etc.” and then smugly sitting back basking in your blessings. If that is the case you have ended up like Deuteronomy 32:15, fat, spoiled and demanding like the old cow ready to start kicking if something interrupts your comfortable lifestyle. Perhaps that beautiful house, car etc. was given by God for a special purpose beyond your own pleasure. Perhaps He may just decide to take it away.

There is a shadow to these letters in the word Jeshurun. The Yod, Shin and Resh also indicate that you can become ungrounded when you let the passions of this world consume you. There is a danger to the natural blessings of God and that is to become too attached to them. As Job said: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21). C.S. Lewis described how parents will dote on a newborn baby and give it everything it wants. But when it grows older, much of that attention ceases as that child must learn to find its way. So too as new Christians we probably felt we found a genie in a bottle who granted our every prayer request. As we grow older in our relationship with God that attention from God may not seem as intense. Perhaps God is saying: “It is time to look beyond yourself and see a world out there that is in need.” We get so use to God’s constant attention we start to become like the fat old cows and start kicking when we are not getting that immediate response from God. We become too attached to the blessings of God rather than to God Himself.

I read a tweet on twitter today from an atheist who said: “I was a Christian and really enjoyed it for the first couple years but then I was getting nothing from it.” That sounds like someone who refuses to grow up. If Christianity does not please him he will find some other god who will.

Notice, however, that God is addressing these fat old cows as Jeshurun. Even though we, (I say we as I am also referring to myself) allow ourselves to become fat old cows, kicking and screaming when we are forced out of our comfort zone, God still calls us Jeshurun. Despite all our self-centered, selfish demands, we are still His “poopsie doll.” He may no longer be the celestial genie where our wish is His command. He is a heavenly Father, one with whom we have a love relationship and not a “give me” relationship. We are His mate, not His pet. We don’t worship God hoping He will pet us and give us a Milk Bone.

Lately, God has been calling me out of my comfort zone and I have been kicking and screaming like the fat old cow. Yet, God still calls me His Jeshurun. He is just letting me know that I am not being fattened up for the slaughter, but for service and I need to get on the tread mill and start to slim down.

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