The Gentiles

It's a fact that you can learn something new every day.

 

I like to do word studies when reading the Bible. Today I found out that the word "Gentile" used in Genesis 10:5 is actually a Latin word! How did a Latin word get into the Old Testament when we know it was written in Hebrew and Aramaic? Ah, humans. We know in the late 4th century St. Jerome translated the Old Testament from Greek to Latin for the Roman Empire. He later translated it from the Hebrew/Aramaic language to Latin correcting translation errors he found in the Greek translations. The 4th century translators used the Latin word Gentile over and over in the OT describing foreign nations, foreign peoples. Those who were not a part of God's promise of a chosen nation.

 

Genesis 10:5 (KJV)

'By these were the isles of the [Gentiles] divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their [nations]. '

(brackets of the words are mine)

 

Moses was the author of The Book of Genesis and we understand Hebrew would have been his language of preference. In this verse the word used in the OT is the Hebrew word "goy goy" which means "nation", "people", "heathen", "pagan", those other than God's chosen people, first called Hebrew's then called Israelite's. The same word "goy goy" is the final word in this same verse which they did translate "nations". In OT times there was no Hebrew word "Gentile". In New Testament times the word in Greek is "ethnos" which is "a foreign nation". Those people who are not Jewish.

 

Now when I read scripture and find the word Gentile I understand the original translation was a non-Jewish foreign "nation". Foreign in respects to the Israelite nation, differentiating the two separate nations of people.

Even though Jesus sent the apostles out the Jewish nation first he then blessed the Gentile centurion and also the Gentile woman at the well in Samaria. We know he loves the Gentile people who come to belief in him and grafts (adopts) us into the kingdom of God! One people following the One True God.

 

In the following commentary Mr. Nelte did a good job explaining and thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you, my friends.

 

franknelte.net

THE USE OF THE WORD "GENTILE" IN THE BIBLE - franknelte.net

 

Eleventh Hour

We all struggle in life. Whether we follow the Lord for 4 years or 40 years there are still struggles. Jesus tells us to pick up our cross daily but he also says to give him our burdens and he will carry them. Carrying the cross of Jesus should not be a burden, it should be a desire, an act of obedience.

 

Our Power of Twelve word this month is persevere. It’s such an appropriate word for me since it’s been 6 months since Jerry died. For 6 months I have had to get out of bed every morning and learn how to do one more day as a single person. There is no helpmate any longer. There is no companion any longer. There is no Mr. To my Mrs. any longer. It’s just me. I know the Lord wants me to persevere because he loves me. He has more in store for my life. So I continually listen, watch and wait for him to tell me and show me where it is we are going in this new phase of life.

 

The Holy Spirit moves and we watch if we have our hearts and minds focused. There are times we question if he hears us and sees us and then at the 11th hour, with 59 minutes and 59 seconds he shows himself in full glory! We are just at the verge of giving up and then he’s there. We have reached the end of our rope and he is there. We have endured all we can endure and we have persevered for as long as we possibly can and he shows himself. It’s amazing how he will let us go to the very edge of the cliff, not to tempt us to jump, but to show us the grandeur of life in front of us to the fullest. He allows us to span the horizon of our life and see the magnificent beauty set before us. There he is in all his glory standing by our side saying,

 

“See? This is all for you. This is the beauty of your life. This is what you and I have done together. Sorry it seemed to take so long and sorry there had to be difficult times.”

 

My own life has been filled with lonely desert experiences, brief mountain top glimpses, lots of seasons working in the field, and thankfully very few dark valley days. In each one of those experiences he has been with me. He promised to never leave me. He promised not to turn his back on me and forsake me. He promised to love me for eternity. I believe him!

 

I hope you will too even if he shows up right on time for you or helps you persevere until 11:59:59999999.

In The Stillness

This morning during my scripture reading the Lord was leading me to all of His words about being still.  Listening and watching for Him requires stillness on our part in order to hear Him and see Him. 

 

Now that I am retired and I no longer have my husband with me I am afforded this luxury of being still.  A young mother with two little ones only gets this quiet time in rare instances.  A full time working woman is focused on getting her job done and hardly ever has a moment of stillness especially if her family awaits her when she goes home.  A business owner is so busy earning their livelihood and keeping their employees employed they never have much time for themselves let alone stillness.  Today life is so busy very few can find a still time once a week let alone once a day to listen and watch for the Lord.

 

There are many scriptures that speak of being still before the Lord.

 

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

 

Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!

1 Samuel 12:16

 

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalms 46:10

Dreams

Yesterday was the six month anniversary of Jerry's death.  It weighed on me all day that 1/2 of a year had passed and I still don't feel ready to do much of anything but read, be quiet, be still, stay home.  I still do not want to be around others and try to put on a happy face and act like a normal person.  I am no where near normal and honestly feel like there will never be the "old" me here again.  Fact is, I have no idea who I am now that I am not Jerry's wife.

Part of me is gone and missing forever, at least here on earth.  I read that a person who loses a limb still feels that limb.  My leg is missing.  Half of my heart is missing.  The one I was once so passionate about is missing. The person of my dreams is missing.  Our marriage had survived numerous trials and now the trials of marriage are over.  I am once again single, which I have not been for 60 years.  My first child came to me at age 19 along with my first husband.  Then there was the next child and the next husband.  I always had someone to care for and live with for 60 years and now that has ended.  I have to learn how to do this, live alone.

There is no doubt that the Lord is with me and right at my side encouraging me on each day.  I do get out of bed in the morning.  I do eat during the day.  I do clean my house and do my laundry.  I do get outside in the yard when the weather allows.  I do go through the motions of the day.  Every day I seek that Lord and let him guide my quiet day.  I know he reminds me that this will take some time to heal and not to rush anything.  He assures me that I am doing okay and my fears and tears are his to carry as long as I let him.   Honestly, there are some days I want to feel them.  I want to hold them and carry them because I want to be mad and upset that this old lady has to carry this alone.  I know it's not healthy to be mad at God for putting me in this valley.  It's not his fault.  I need someone to blame don't I?  I'm totally human.

For some reason yesterday I decided it was time to go through Jerry's files in a cupboard and clean it.  Little did I know it would take 3 hours and I'm only through one shelf.  Most were financial records, medical records, family history records and work related records.  But there were several notes and cards that he had held onto for decades.  The one that had me crying was a small little note he wrote me in 2006.  "You sure were a lot happier 23 years ago.  What happened?"  Of course I am not a woman of few words so I wrote him back a short book.  From the late 1990's into the 2000's we had several huge hurdles in our marriage.  But because of God's hand and our perseverance and endurance we managed to stay married.  It's another book about all we went through for that decade.  January 30, 2006 at age 65 Jerry was involved in a head on collision and his health was never the same after that and only continued to decline for the rest of his life.  He was not happy and I was not happy.  He was forced into retirement and I continued working full time.  We were apart more than we were together and any physical intimacy we had was removed.  Jerry was not a conversationalist and I was.  

Last night was the first time I actually dreamed about him and I did remember part of the dream.  Dena, Chris and I were the only people who could see him and talk to him and that upset him as there were many other people with us.  Everywhere we went he tired to get others to notice him and talk to him.  We tried to explain to these people that he was "right here" but they assured us we were crazy.  Dreams are hard to explain but even though we were frustrated we were thankful for being together.  There was some laughter, some tears, some anger from all of us but the love was apparent.  When I did actually wake up I thanked God for the dream.  Just seeing his face and talking to him in the dream was good.  It made him real again which I had not been able to see for the past six months.

Life can be such a strange walk.  You can have a decade of joy and then have a decade of sadness.  You can have a person in your life for 40 years or 40 days.  None of us ever know what tomorrow will bring.  God does though.  He is the one who knows every minute of every day for every one of us.  He is never surprised by any thing or any changes.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  We are not.  We change.  We are molded by the Master Potter if we allow him to create us into an image of him cracks and all.