Hebrew Word Study – Distress – Tzarar 

 Isaiah 30:20: “Although the Lord has given you bread of affliction and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.”

We can play around with words as much as we want, but grammatical rules, syntax and basic root meanings for words are pretty much static.  I don’t find too many ways around this, God brings about distress and oppression. Logically, He is the creator of all things.  This coronavirus is still made up of atoms and molecules that ultimately God created and that He let evolve to be a threat to man’s life. He could very easily say; “Oops! My bad,” and zap it away, but He does not.  So, he either gives us the bread of affliction or he allows the bread of affliction to come upon us.  Of the many usages of the word nathan which is generally rendered as give, there are three occasions in the Scripture where nathan is rendered as allow.  So, we cold say that God has allowed the bread of affliction to come upon us.  But I have a problem with the syntax on that.  Still, if it is allow, why does He even allow such a horrible thing? 

I am not going to answer that as I am not a theologian. I am just a language teacher. So, I am just going to side with most translators and say that God gives us the bread of affliction and examine some of these words and you decide. 

The word in Hebrew for  afflication or tzar.  Tzar is used to express grief, affliction, fear and distress.  Not unlike what we as a nation and world are going through right now with this pandemic. The word is spelled Sade and Resh. This spelling would indicate that the purpose of this grief or affliction is to humble (Sade) oneself to the Holy Spirit (Resh) so we can move in Divine power.  

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That fact that Isaiah is using the metaphor of bread should bear this out.  Bread, in Hebrew is lechem and is often used as a metaphor for a source of life. Jesus is called the Bread of Life, he is the source of life.  Rabbi Samson Hirsch a 19th Century linguist and Hebrew master points out that it is closely associated with the word lachim which you may recognize as to life. Bread is a source of life.   The source of the affliction is the living, loving life of Jesus Christ who gives this affliction to bring humility so we are able to move in the power of the Spirit of God. 

I read something in the Talmud this morning.  It teaches two sources of humility.  That which you try to accomplish through your own disciplines, which is rarely successful and that which is accomplished through affliction.  In affliction you realize you are no different than anyone else. This coronavirus has struck high profile people like political leaders, the rich, the famous as well as the average man on the street.  It is no respecter of person.   

The Hebrew syntax is telling us that it is the affliction that is the teacher.  We just don’t see it yet.  Right now we are too wrapped up in fear. We are fearful of contracting the virus, we are fearful of the economic havoc or fear for elderly parents.  Yet, God tells us that he gave us this virus as a teacher and one day we will recognize it as a teacher.  We will recognize it as a teacher it is going to bring about a reconciliation with God.

There is a little play on words here. The Lord will also bring upon you the “waters of oppression.”  The word oppression is a play on the word for bread.  Bread is lechem and oppression is leches. Lechem pictures a joining with God to enter into His hidden mysteries.  Leches is a joining with God to enter into humility.  Water represents the mysteries of  God.  It is spelled with an Open Mem, a Yod, and a Closed Mem.  It is the mysteries of God both revealed and unrevealed.  Literally the word oppression, leches, has the idea of squeezing, or pressing.  I found the best illustration for leches in The Talmud.  It is like man who had two wives.  One was young and the other was old.   The young wife kept pulling out the man’s grey hairs leaving the darker hairs so he would look younger.  The older wife kept pulling out the man’s dark hairs to leave the grey hairs so he would look older.  Before long the poor boy was pluck bald.  Do you ever feel like while living in lockdown with this virus?  You look to the right and that leads to disaster and you look to the left and that leads to destruction that is leches or oppressed.  That is when you need the revealed or hidden knowledge of God to whisper, “this is the way, walk in it.” (verse 21).

We can look upon the recent pandemic as a punishment from God if  you wish, a display of His Divine wrath or we can look upon it as God’s mercy to bring us to Himself, to be reconciled with Him. I read about a man in Italy who came to the hospital testing positive for the Covid.  He was a 75 year old pastor. He came just with a Bible and patiently and peacefully read his Bible as he was waiting to be attended to.  Once it was confirmed he had the virus he began ministering to others who were positive, reading Scripture to them, praying for them.  The doctor who wrote this account said that he and many of the other doctors and nurses were atheist.  They believed in science not a God. Yet, they watched this humble pastor as he ministered and prayed for others.  He brought peace and calmness to many patients that these doctors could not.  So many patients filled the hospital, they were overwhelmed and felt helpless and many died right in front of them, despite all the doctor’s efforts.  Eventually, this 75 year old pastor passed away.  This atheistic doctor thought, “Who will pray for these people.”  The doctor was at the end of his rope, his faith in science began to be questioned and before long this atheistic doctor was praying to the God of this 75 year old pastor.  The coronavirus had brought another lost sheep into reconciliation with God.  He received the Bread of affliction, the teacher who brought Him to God. 

 

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