Skibidi Ohio and Doo Wop

 I once heard a story of Oprah that said she quit following the Christian faith when she read scripture that said God is a jealous God. She said that she couldn’t follow anyone who said they were jealous. I have no idea if this story is true but I get it. No one would want to follow a God that was jealous in the sense of the word that we currently understand. But if this story is true, what she didn’t consider was the meaning behind the interpreted word, jealous.

Much like the title of this blog, jealous is an easily misunderstood stump-the-band kind of word. And to make it more difficult, this same English word bears different meanings in different parts of the Bible. Its use in describing God in Exodus and Zechariah is very different from its use in 1 Corinthians that tells us love is not jealous.

Our present day understanding of jealousness bears the following synonyms.

envious, covetous, resentful, begrudging, bitter, malicious, spiteful, greedy, selfish

This is not my understanding of God! After a bit of searching, I found the biblical meaning in a footnote in the Amplified version of the Bible.

“There is no implication of envy in the ‘jealousy’ of God, but rather the boundless enthusiasm of the Lord which loves holiness, hates sin, brings judgment upon sinners, and intervenes on behalf of His godly ones.” ~Charles Feinberg, God Remembers.

Am I adept in ancient Hebrew? Do I have a degree in theology? No and no. I simply listened to the Voice that told me my current-day understanding was wrong and investigated using tools that anyone can access today. I stopped reading and searched these tools. I didn’t leave this passage until I found the answer from a trusted source that was in line with the God that I know. 

As I understand it, interpreting ancient texts is nothing like translating from one language to another present day language. When my understanding of new Gen Z terms like “skibidi Ohio” is sketchy, how can text from over 3000 years ago be easy to decipher? Imagine how someone 2000 years from now would understand the title of this article.

I must rely on people who study this ancient language for a living. One theologian (I can’t remember who), said that the Bible was a collection of works by inspired authors about their view of God from their place in history, each like a facet of a gemstone. So to understand scripture I must immerse myself in the culture of the author and read it from that perspective. 

Reading the Bible is not like reading a novel, although some parts like Esther are more readable than others. It is rather, a seeking-type reading. I must be careful not to pluck scripture out of context of the culture in which it was written and apply it to support my opinion. I am sure I have done this in my lifetime and I believe that those who do this publicly on social media will be held accountable for this someday, even if it is a click-of-the-button repost. 

I have an understanding of the character of God that came about over 65 years of sermons, prayers, Bible lessons and experiences. But I still need to slow down when I read the Bible. I still need to seek out meaning and not take everything at face value. I still need to listen to scholars who study the ancient text. But most of all, I need to listen to the Voice that tells me when I am getting it wrong and approach the Bible with an open heart and prayer.

Pathway to the Creator

 How do people who can’t read, don’t have a Bible or go to church know God? Do you think God decided to exclude them? As a child I worried about that. Recently I read a story of a man, Brother Lawrence, who found his path to God by observing the beauty of a tree. And I thought, “How is that even possible”?

I accept that God’s ways are a mystery to me. As a small child in Sunbeams, (Sunday school for littles), I learned that God gave us five senses. As an adult I have learned that God asks us to seek him. Putting that together, would God expect us only to seek him with one or two of our senses? So, yes, I believe that finding God in nature is possible. If we seek we will find, even without a concordance, commentary and three versions of the Bible.

Our culture is dependent upon words and videography to tell a story. Sadly, we have never been taught to read nature around us and understand God’s creation story behind something like a tree. It seems like the only time we pay attention to nature is when there is some cataclysmic event. So we become fearful rather than joyful over the natural world. We forget that God is so much bigger than we could possibly imagine.

In a short while the folks around my neck of the woods will experience a total eclipse. Instead of awe and wonder for a Creator that placed the stars and moon in the sky and synchronized their movements, some interpret it as impending doom’s day. Most of us, however, see it as a chance to celebrate. But how many of us see it as a moment to worship our amazing creator? To see it as a chance to observe His star given for our planet’s light and source of energy in a unique manner? To be amazed at this synchronized movement of our solar system?

Image by Chil Vera from Pixabay

In his Reasons to Believe Creation Model, Astrophysicist Hugh Ross lists 140 features of the cosmos as a whole (including the laws of physics) that must fall within certain narrow ranges to allow for the possibility of physical life’s existence and 402 quantifiable characteristics of a planetary system and its galaxy that must fall within narrow ranges to allow for the possibility of advanced life’s existence. Just those numbers alone are astounding.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities---his eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Taking care not to worship the creation but the Creator, we have microscopes, telescopes and a plethora of scientific devices to observe God’s creations. Yet we often fall victim to worshipping our own “brilliance” rather than that of the one who made it all. In The One Year Salt and Light Devotional by Chris Tiegreen he says, “What should have sent us in search of the Creator—the beauty and design of nature, the stunning miracle of a newborn, the joy of simple pleasures—became instead an idol or even just a happy accident. We have to learn to see the world in a new way.”

So if we are in a place where nature shows us something new, we should stop and learn about the One who created it. What kind of love and attention to detail did it take to create beautiful fields of wildflowers and what amazing creativity came up with a howler monkey and a firefly? And what about the cute fuzz on a bee or the amazing power in a storm? We should pause and take time to listen to God’s creation around us and learn how to catch glimpses of His amazing glory.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

 Is it easier to trust God when you are living in abundance or when you are living in poverty? The obvious answer is that it is easier to trust God when you have plenty. However, I wonder if that is true. 

In the story of the widow of Zarephath found in 1 Kings 17:7-24, she is gathering sticks to fuel her last meal for her and her son when this cheeky prophet comes up and asks her to use the last of her flour to make him a loaf of bread first. And she does! This is so hard for me to wrap my head around while sitting in my warm house with a full pantry. She was practicing faith when she had no physical evidence that God cared for her. 

I have often heard of or read about people in poverty who are generous beyond comprehension. Poverty seems to give a perspective that plenty cannot see. In times of extreme difficulty people seem to have a clearer view of the Father. The connection somehow becomes stronger and more real. This leads me to my next line of thinking. Must I suffer to learn to trust God? I really don’t want to! 

Then I jerk myself back into reality and remember that we will all suffer at some point in our life. It is a reality of living in our frail bodies in a world of hardship. But it is not the hardship itself that makes us more connected to God, it is the preparation of our hearts that opens the boundary to God’s presence in those inevitable difficulties. The suffering isn’t what produces faith, it simply magnifies the faith we already have developed. We can know that when the time comes, if we choose it, we will experience a broader Divine connection.

We are not told in the Bible, but I’m willing to bet that the widow of Zarephath prepared her heart by choosing to seek God when she was happily married and living a life of plenty. I am basing that wager on my experience. When I practice freaking out over the little issues of my day, I freak out when the big issues arise. Just like in emergency medical training, they practice keeping a cool head when there is no emergency in order to be able to rely on that training in the real thing. Trusting God does not ordinarily come out of the blue. Like other attributes, it usually follows an organic pathway of practice and development over time.

So what should we be doing to prepare our hearts to receive this connection when we inevitably experience hardship? Actively seek Him. Seeking is not passive. As Priscilla Shirer states in her book, The Armor of God, it is “meditating on God’s word, internalizing its principles and implementing them in your life”. And meanwhile we should be comforted to know that no matter the circumstances, our God will hold us. By the way, the widow’s story ends well. Her jar of flour and oil miraculously do not run out day after day. God provides.