Aramaic treasures

What a week it has been!  The last two days have been such a time of spiritual blessing, as it seems the Lord simply pours and pours more and more of his riches into my lap.

I have been preparing a sermon on Luke 23:26-56 for our Easter retreat.  As I was trying to find some material on verse 34, where Jesus says, "Father, forgive them," I began rummaging through the books left to me by a dear saint named Rosetta Saurs of Richmond, VA. When we moved to Virginia in 2005 and bought her house, she heard the I was a lay preacher, and left me all the books she had in the house, a very nice library of theological books and commentaries.  One set I have never used until now is the "Expositor's Dictionary of the Bible".  I found in it such a wonderful article on Forgiveness, that I went around excited all day today like I had found a treasure in a field.

A few days ago, I decided to buy a Greek-English interlinear Bible, and that came in the mail today.  It was another treasure that has already been helpful to me.

Which brings me to the third and best discovery:  since I've been learning NT Greek, I've not made much progress.  But this evening, while "following bunny trails", I learned of a new English New Testament translation that I also immediately purchased.  Namely, the Aramaic English NT (AENT).  I've been struggling for two years now because I was so dissatisfied with the newly revised NIV, which should be called the NNIV or RNIV or TNIV, but has usurped the name of the actual NIV'87, which is being deep-sixed by Biblica.  This has disgusted me to the point I don't even want to read my NIV87, even though I reference it from time to time.

Anyway, the New King James has delighted me and filled its place nicely.  Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law who gave me a copy 6 or 7 years back.  This was yet another treasure.

The thing that I discovered today which has me so excited is this:  NONE of the translations I read having really satisfied me, the answer became so clear.  Now I know why: None of them are based on the original New Testament.  The original really wasn't in Greek, but in Aramaic.  BUT OF COURSE!  Why would the Apostles write in Greek, if they and the Lord spoke Aramaic?  It makes no sense, except that somewhere along the way, Westerners forgot.  It explains why Greek manuscripts differ so widely: Each of them was a translation.

For example, the word for debt in Greek is different entirely from the world for trespass, but the word in Aramaic means both debt and trespass.  The Aramaic means both, so one Greek translator chose "debt" while another chose "trespass".

I know this isn't very coherent. I'm too thankful and excited to be clearer.  How fine that I don't have to learn Greek!  Instead, I'm ordering a Hebrew grammar and shifting at once to that, so that I may read both the Old and New Testaments in the same (or almost the same) language.

I suppose, of course, that those who believe the primacy of the Aramaic NT could be wrong.  But most definitely those who think that, simply because the "earliest Greek manuscripts do not have this verse", that such verses should be omitted, could very well be dead wrong.  But even if the  Peshitta (Aramaic NT) isn't the original, it will add greatly to the understanding of the Lord Jesus, since it is written in HIS tongue, a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew.

The AENT is a new English version NOT based on the same conflicting Greek texts at all.  That alone ought to be refreshing.  And it has the Aramaic on facing pages, in Hebrew rather than the old Aramaic script.  This means, once I've learned Hebrew, I can shift into Aramaic pretty easily.

This is no small task.  Being an autodidact, I need a lot of prayer.  Making time for self-study is coming much easier to me these days, but time itself is still short.  Simply subtracting from my sleep is only good up to a point.  Pray for me.  I never imagined I would finally decide to learn Hebrew. But how important this is for me, and for many Jews who need to hear the Gospel of Messiah Yeshua, and for the times we live in.  Lord, speak again, more powerfully than in ages past, as the wickedness of man is much greater now than ever before.  Lord, use me, if you will, and grant me the strength to learn a new tongue, for the sake of your flock. Amen.

Categories of Ministers

It seems to me there are many kinds of ministers, even in the context of the Bible.

There are the John the Baptist types, who are out there stirring up the waters, churning souls out of the mire to come up to the surface and see the light of day.  They touch on the political and cultural issues of the day, and often get in trouble with the State, not because they are preoccupied with "change", but because it is the way to make people see their need for Jesus Christ.  HE is their one preoccupation and joy.

There are the Jeremiah types, who weep their eyes out and prophesy for a nation that is too far gone to save. They care when everyone else has given up, and continue faithfully preaching even if they are cast out and rejected by the Establishment and the Church.  The are shepherds who stay with the sheep of God, through the times of persecution and exile.

There are the St. Paul types, who dig deep into the theological and write to challenge the future generations, all the while preaching the simplest and plainest "Christ crucified" to the present generation.  These are the missionaries, the front-line apostles ("sent ones"), who have given up careers and honors to reach every corner of the world, who are not content to sit in a well-established church while one person somewhere out there has not heard the gospel.

Simon Peter types are the fatherly, wonderful saints who are full of faith, and are salt to their community, growing and helping others to grow in the Lord's precious Church.  They possess a humility and gentleness that excels all, like Moses, and yet are powerful and effective at leading and proclaiming the simple Gospel, despite their lack of formal training and gifts.  In their weakness God is glorified greatly.

James types are the ones who are able to lead other ministers and effect reconciliation where division has arisen.  They are ready to die for their faith, and encourage others to the same level of faith. They are able to raise up leaders in their wake, and leave behind a stronger church than they found.

Of course there are also those who are like Jesus Christ.  They strive to be always in prayer, depending on God's power alone, and are ever visiting, preaching, healing, doing whatever their hand finds to do, but ever retreating back to the wilderness for time alone with the Father.  They are not generally popular at all, but extremely effective in lifting the outcasts, encouraging the weak, and making the rich and powerful angry. They often are disappointed by those they love deeply, and left waiting outside.

These are the types we all strive to emulate.

Other kinds of ministers have arisen along the way who are of a different sort: these are categories I will avoid naming after persons, as I should not be the one to sully their names.

I'll just call this first category the Rock Star. These say what people want to hear, and usually achieve popularity on par with rock stars.  They are silken-tongued in the pulpit, happily married, successful in life; they are winsome and happy in all men's eyes.   But by failing to preach Christ crucified and the essential doctrines of the Gospel, they weaken the Church.  Over time, though they grow in popularity and their church grows in number, the people are eviscerated entirely in their souls.  Instead of obedience, there is only conformity, "unity" if you like, and a false sense of righteousness that is very much like that of the Pharisees.

Then there is a category that is characterized by belligerence and a preoccupation with politics and cultural issues. We can call this minister the Four-Star General.  This type is well portrayed by Robert Duvall in the 1997 film The Apostle.  Everything is warfare and political strife and saving the church, community or country from conspirators and sinners in high places. This kind of minister is, in short, distracted from the important spiritual warfare of proclaiming the Gospel, by the diversionary skirmishes of cultural warfare.

Just today I read a blog by such a "coach".  He started off well, even quoted Charles Finney's blaming of the pulpit: "If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it."  He wants Jesus to be his drill sergeant, not his wet-nurse, he says, even though God describes himself exactly as a shepherd, feeding the lambs (perhaps with a bottle), and as some of the other types he denigrates.  While many of his accusations against the ministers of our day are true, he gives the impression he thinks any minister who doesn't fit into his own particular category, isn't worth his salt.   While this type of minister, many of them, have good and healthy ministries, many are obsessed with the Dark Side, it seems, and liable to "go over to the Dark Side" in their striving with it.  Like Duvall's character, they soon stumble and wreck their ministries and their own lives.

Since I work in data analytics, I often find such categories enigmatic because they are not exclusive. None of them are white or black, male or female, good or bad.  In many ways, a man can find elements of himself in all of these descriptions.  It's never good to try and pigeon-hole anyone, nor myself, into a single category.  Rather, we all need to be who we are, and yet, we all need to learn from our forebears, and grow.