HEBREW WORD STUDY – PERHAPS – ‘ALI אלי Aleph Lamed Yod
Genesis 24:5: “And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”
I read something interesting in a Jewish commentary today on the above verse. This is the story of Abraham commissioning his servant, Eliezer, to go to a distant land to find a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s family. The Midrash teaches that Eliezer had a daughter of his own that he had hoped would marry Isaac.
So, there is likely a deeper meaning to those innocent word: “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me.” He could have been suggesting a pretext or reason for Abraham to pause and consider other options for Isaac, like Eliezer’s daughter.
The word perhaps in Hebrew is ‘ali which is written without a Vav so it could be rendered as ‘eli which would then be rendered, “For me (for my sake) the woman will not follow me.” Rashi, the Jewish commentator suggest this shows that despite his hope that his mission would not be accomplished, he still was determined to carry out his task to the best of his ability. Not to mention Abraham’s own trust in his servant to carry out his wishes even though he knew his servant had other desires. Eliezer understood that the bloodline of Isaac needed to follow Abraham’s family but he still hoped that maybe Abraham would choose his daughter.
As it turned out Eliezer chose to submit to the will of Abraham’s God and carry out his mission to find the wife that God had provided for Isaac to carry out His Divine plan. I suppose you could say that Eliezer sacrificed his child for the sake of God which presents a picture of God sacrificing His Divine Child/Son Jesus Christ to carry out His Divine plan for us.
In this simple story we find the theme of the whole Bible which is denying oneself, one’s own hope and desires for the sake of the others, for the sake of God. It seems our whole culture is built around “looking out for number one” and that one being us. Yet, God’s teaching is that we are to learn to love and love often means the sacrifice of our own desires and wants. Only in sacrificing to God our will, our desires our hopes and dreams can we really learn to love God.
I have been on a 13 year journey now to discover the heart of God and I have learned that to really enter the heart of God, to really become one with God I have to let go of all my hopes, dreams and personal desires and focus on the desires of God. Many years ago Lanny Wolfe wrote a song call: Whatever It Takes:
“There’s a voice calling me from an old rugged tree
And it whispers: “Draw closer to me
Leave your world far behind, There are new heights to climb
And a new life in Me you will find.
For whatever it takes to draw closer to You, Lord
That’s what I’ll be willing to do
And whatever it takes to be more like You
That’s what I’ll be willing to do
Take the dearest thing to me
If that’s how it must be to draw closer to you
Let my disappointment comes, Lonely days without the sun
If in sorrow more like you I’ll become.”
If you desire or long to journey into the heart of God, there is a price to be paid, it could cost you your dreams, your hopes and desires. Yet, when you have paid the price to enter God’s heart, He will fill you with new dreams, new hopes and new desires, they will be His dreams, His hopes and His desires.
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