RR Psalm 46:5-8(4-7) Part 5

Shalom,

Psalm 46:5 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God—the holy dwelling place of Elyon. 6 God is in the midst of her, she will not be shaken. God will help her when morning dawns. 7 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms totter, He utters His voice, the earth melts! 8 Adonai-Tzva’ot is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

Today, we focus on verse 7.  Nations are “Mot,” meaning “cast down in decay.”  However; the word is translated as “in an uproar.”  Nonetheless; the nations are not “up,” they’re “down.”  And not just “down,” but “down in decay.”  Why?  Because they are a threat to Israel, and without Israel, God cannot fulfill His last day promises.

As an amplification, we learn “kingdoms totter.”  The Hebrew words are “Mam’la’chot Natan.”  Natan is one of those interesting Hebrew words that can take on any number of meanings depending on the context.  It reminds me of the Latin word “Agere” which can mean to, “ do, drive, discuss, live or spend.”

Similarly, “Natan” is a word that is used more than 2,000 times in the Hebrew bible.  It simply means “give” about 90% of the time.  However; on various occasions it can be translated throughout the Bible with many diverse meanings.  Some make sense in light of give (such as “commit”) while others seem far fetched (such as “roared” or “sparkles”).

Here are some of these diverse meanings found in the NASB translation…  “abandon, add, allow, applied, apportion, appropriated, ascribe, assigned,” and those are just the words that start with the letter “a.”  For the rest of the  list, see the Rabbi Trail below…

Rabbi Trail: bear, bestow, blame, bring, brought, cast, cause, comes, commit, conferred, consider, consign, contribute, cried, dedicated, defeat, deliver, designate, direct, display, distribute, divide, enabled, entrust, establish, exchange, execute, fasten, find, furnishing, grant, growl, had, hand over, hang, heap, held, hung, indeed deliver, inflict, injured, inserted, instilled, issued, laid, left, lend, let, lies, lift, made, marry off, offer, Oh, open, over, paid, performed, permit, pierce, pitch, place, planted, pledged, present, prevent, produces, provide, put, raised, reduces, render, repay, requited, roared, sent, set, show, slander, sounds forth, sparkles, speaks forth, spend, spread, strike, submitted, supplies, take, took, traded, turned, used, utter, wept, work, would, yield (and finally), yours.” End RT.

God speaks (literally, “gives His voice”), and the earth melts (from the Hebrew, “dissolves”).  Isaiah 14:31 Wail, O gate! Cry, O city! Melt away, all you of Philistia! For smoke is coming from the north, and there is no straggler in its ranks. 32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation? For Adonai has founded Zion, and the afflicted of His people will find refuge in her.  

Take heart, people of God!  You are grafted in to the same protection offered to Israel in the last days.  You (His people) will “find refuge in her.”  The message is consistent.  Proverbs 18:10 The Name of Adonai is a strong tower. The righteous one runs into it and is set safely up high.  Our salvation is based on the ministry of Yeshua.  In closing today, let us all receive the message spoken by the Jewish prophet, Isaiah.  

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone, a firm foundation—whoever trusts will not flee in haste.

Shalom shalom.

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Tue10-Feb-202623rd of Sh'vat, 5786
Ex 22:5-27(4-26)2 Ki 8Ps 132-133Jn 9(1 Ti 6)