HEBREW WORD STUDY – EXCITED – RAGAZ – רגז  Resh Gimmel Zayin

Psalms 4:3-4: “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. (4) Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”

Ephesians 4:26: “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,”

What does that really mean to tremble and do not sin? How can trembling be sinful?  Most modern translations will interpret this as anger. After all does not Ephesians say almost the same thing and it is clearly speaking of anger.  Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath sounds like the same thing David said about not trembling upon your bed.  So we conclude Paul was simply quoting from the Psalms, therefore the verse in Psalms means the same thing as the one in Ephesians.  The only difference is the context.  The context for the verse in Ephesians fits for interpreting the Aramaic word regez as anger.  The word in Hebrew in the Psalms is the identical equivalent, ragaz and therefore we would render it as anger.  However, regez and ragaz both mean to shake or tremble. One may tremble in anger or fear. One may tremble when cold or if they have a fever.  One may also tremble when excited or anxious. Ragaz can mean anyone of these things and it is only the context that will tell you what English word to apply.

The context for the Psalms 4:4 is quite positive.  The prior verse tells us that God will hear us when we call upon him and then tells us not to be anger?  Why should we be angry with that?  Should we be afraid?  Should we be awed?  Or should we be excited.  Some modern translations say awe, some just stay with the word anger but there are many other Hebrew words that could be used if anger was the intent.  I would like to choose the word excited.

So how does getting excited over the Lord hearing us result in a sin?  The word sin that is used here in the Psalms is chatah which is an archer’s term for missing the target. If I use the word excited over God answering or hearing when we call upon Him, this creates an important teaching. 

I once knew a pastor who called upon the Lord for direction in his ministry.  He knew God answered him by impressing upon him to encourage his church to build a conference center and Bible College.  He presented the idea to his church who got very enthusiastic over the idea and began donating money to the project.  He received what he felt were confirmations by prophetic words. The opportunity came up to purchase a building for three million dollars.  It was just a highrise apartment building that had no auditorium, offices, or space for classrooms. But it was a good deal and just had to be of the Lord.  After all the Lord spoke to him that he would build a conference center and this building selling for a ridiculously low price had to be of God.  The pastor was trembling – ragaz with excitement and got his congregation excited over it.  They could remodel the building and put in classrooms, offices and an auditorium.  

One day a prophet came to this church and said: “Pastor you will get your 3 million dollars for this conference center but I don’t know if it this building.”  I had a tape with that message on it.  The pastor ignored this warning. It was at this point that he should have searched his heart like David did “Search me O Lord and try my way.”  This pastor should have searched his heart on his bed before going to sleep, asking God to also search his heart.  He was just too excited to listen to any advice which came from sound experts, the building a was a money pit, it would take  years to develop it into a conference center etc.  Yet, he was too ragaz, too excited, “the Lord would provide” he would declare. They took out a huge mortgage and purchased the building and found it to be everything the expert advisors said it would be. It was indeed a money pit. After three years they filed bankruptcy and the building was sold off to some investors.  The pastor left the church and I heard he passed away a couple years later while only in his forties.

Here’s the catch, God did speak to him about building a conference center.  Three years after purchasing the old building a brand new home office complex went up for sale when the corporation that built it went bankrupt.  It was located two miles from the church and was a compus that had classrooms, offices, and a huge auditorium. It was a musical company and the auditorium was acoustically designed for music where professional musicians would perform. It was the perfect complex for a conference center and Bible College and it sold for 3 million dollars.  Had the pastor waited, listened to sound advice they could have had their 3 million dollars by that time to pay for it in cash. 

When God speaks to you, it is ragaz, exciting. But don’t let your excitement, enthusiasm cause you to sin – chatah – miss the mark or target.  Search your heart, upon your bed and just be silent before God to know His leading.