Fruit of the Spirit: Peace

Peace may be the least discussed most desirable goal in our society. People often express goals of joy (or happiness) and love, but when is the last time you heard someone talk about their desire for peace?

Introduction

This month, the Fruit of the Spirit I discussed on the podcast with a friend was peace. Peace may be the least discussed most desirable goal in our society. People often express goals of joy (or happiness) and love, but when is the last time you heard someone talk about their desire for peace? Of course when you really stop to think about it, peace is a central component in our desire for all other things. How can you have joy without peace? How can you have love with out peace? Sarah and I discussed quite bit about peace in the podcast episode, but there was so much more that I had to do this blog post, as well!

Photocredit: Unsplash/Javardh

The Biblical Definition

In the episode, I talked about the original Greek and Hebrew words that are translated to peace in the English Bible, but I didn't really dive into how context clues in the Bible define peace. Perceptions and connotations of words can change over time and across cultures, so its always good to look at how the authors used the word throughout the Bible to get a better idea of it's true meaning.

Antonym: Disorder

In 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul juxtaposes peace with disorder or confusion by informing us that God is a God of peace, not disorder. This means that disorder is not an attribute of peace. This makes sense if you've ever been in a situation where there is a lot of confusion; this type of disorder causes stress, which is the opposite of peace.

Antonym: Division

If peace describes a time when there is no war, it shouldn't be surprising that the Bible describes division as the opposite of peace, which implicitly means peace is synonymous with unity. In Luke 12:51, Jesus says He didn't come to bring peace, but to bring division, confirming the idea that division is the opposite of peace. We could veer off into a tangent about how the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) came to bring division instead of peace, but I'll save that for another post. Let's stick to the contrast of peace and division. If people are divided (re: not united), the best case scenario is that there is no forward progression, however the worst case scenario is that people begin to attack each other over their differences. God makes it clear that may of the factors people use today to classify people are not Biblically sound. We use these man-made classifications to divide ourselves and thus eliminate peace from our society.

Synonym: Safety

We can also use the different versions of the English translation to see what peace actually means. I quickly discovered that while some translators use peace, others preferred safety for the same word. Genesis 28:21 KJV versus Genesis 28:21 CSB illustrate this very point. In the podcast we touched on peace being related to a sense of safety. The most obvious definition of peace is "not at war," which harkens back to safety. It is impossible to feel peace if you feel unsafe. When you feel unsafe, your guard is up, your instincts are on overdrive, and there is a lack of trust in the people or situation before you. Safety is something you can partially control, but it's also something you can have no control over. We can do our best to sever ties with unsafe people, locations, and situations, but sometimes those situations are unavoidable. The best we can do is remember that we are always safe in Christ, regardless of the outcomes in this world, and let that be our peace.

Synonym: Fellowship

As I continued comparing translations, I realized that the CSB translates "peace offering" to "fellowship offering" throughout the pentateuch. Now this is something that threw me for a loop. Fellowship is the coming together of friends or community. While the word brings to mind joy, comfort, and even safety, it didn't register as peace in my mind at first. Sarah mentioned a common thread that the way to maintain peace is through relationships. Peace offerings, specifically, were offerings meant for reconciliation with God. This combines many of the ideas we've already broken out. Reconciliation eliminates division, creating unity. Since God is our King and the reason why we are reconciling with Him is that we have rebelled , reconciliation means replacing the disorder and chaos of rebellion with the order of God's law. In doing these things, we elect to have God as our protector, our commander in chief. With God fighting our battles, we are always safe. The best part is that after we have reconciled with God, we can enter into fellowship with Him. We can then build a relationship that allows us to cultivate permanent peace.

The Armor of God

The armor of God is talked about often in the church. As Christians, we're supposed to dress ourselves in this everyday as protection against the enemy. Part of that armor includes sandals of peace (Ephesians 6:15). Why peace is associated with sandals and the feet is not specified, but I have some theories. In order to make peace with something (or someone), you have to move forward. Peace requires forward thinking, letting go of the past, and imagining a better future. Also, we are supposed to spread the gospel (which in turn spreads peace), and this requires motion on our part. Another angle, is that shoes protect the feet from the harshness of the ground and provide stability. Whether it's grip in slick terrains, cushion on rocky surfaces, temperature regulation, etc., shoes enable us walk with more ease on otherwise difficult landscapes. Similarly, peace allows us to navigate difficult situations more easily.

Pursing Peace

In the last section, I talked about the need to move to obtain peace. Romans 14:19 tells us that we have to pursue peace. That means peace isn't just something we can happen upon. Like love and joy, we have to actively cultivate it. Peace isn't just a feeling that comes and goes as it pleases, we have choose peace, whether that's cutting stressful people/situations out of our life or redirecting our attention. This may be one of the most important things to remember about this Fruit of the Spirit.

References

1. Shalom". My Jewish Learning; visited April 2019
2. What is the meaning of the Hebrew word shalom?". GotQuestions.org; visited April 2019

Nehemiah 3: Rebuilding the Wall

Nehemiah 3 says a lot more than we give it credit for!

Introduction

Nehemiah 3 explains the process of rebuilding the wall. We are given the names of families and people who were in charge of each section of the wall. Reading the list was quite a struggle, for me. I kept wondering why we cared who built what and what the significance of this chapter truly was. Bible.org reminds us that the lesson to be learned from this chapter is rooted in unity and cooperation. As the members of the body of Christ, we must each perform our duty for the body to function as a whole. I think there's more to it, however.
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Importance of the Wall

Photocredit: Unspalsh.com/Tony Bertolino

Most ancient cities and nations have a wall around them—the Great Wall of China being the most famous. These walls protected citizens from outside invaders. Back then, there were no global councils (like NATO or the UN) to police behavior between countries. If a famine or drought struck, there was no Red Cross to bring supplies. Thus, leaders sought to make their empire as large as possible. If one portion of the kingdom was in drought, perhaps the other would not be. In addition, this provided the kingdom with riches and a larger army. Under this idealogy, small kingdoms were often absorbed in to these larger kingdoms, just as Northern Israel was taken by Assyria and Southern Israel was taken by Babylon. We don't think about wars like these often in the US because they aren't a threat to us, however, territorial wars still happen in world.

To protect their kingdoms, kings would build large walls around the cities to fortify them. These walls kept the enemy out, but were wide enough to allow the kings army to attack the enemy from atop the wall. This style of battle is highlighted in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah, had such a wall before Babylon destroyed the city. The Israelites, specifically Nehemiah, knew that without rebuilding this wall, Judah could never stand as an independent kingdom. Not to mention, it left God's house vulnerable for attack.

Many people are described as simply working on the wall, but others are assigned specific parts of the wall. Those parts were the sheep gate, the fish gate, the old gate, the tower of the furnace, the valley gate, the dung gate, the gate of the fountain, the water gate, the horse gate, the east gate, and the gate Miphkad. What do these landmarks and gates mean? God wouldn't have preserved this information if it didn't matter. Jesus Plus Nothing lays out the meaning of each gate both in our personal journey and prophetically. I'm going to highlight some of these points below.
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The Sheep Gate

Mentioned twice because it serves as the beginning and end of the wall, the sheep gate was built by Eliashib the high priest and the priests. Intuitively, the sheep gate is where they brought in sheep to be sacrificed at the Temple. We naturally assume this is linked to Jesus spiritually. The description of the work starts and ends here just like our world starts and ends with Jesus. Once we find Jesus, we take steps down a path to become closer to Jesus. The gates in between represent milestones on that journey. As we travel this path, various believers will help us move forward by steadying and fortifying that point of our faith. Most of us begin this journey with the encouragement of a pastor or priest, which makes it fitting that the priests were the ones in charge of building this gate.
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The East Gate

The east gate is the gate through which Jesus entered the city (see Ezekiel 44:1-2). Many believe He will return through this gate, as well. During the rule of the Ottoman empire, the gate was sealed to prevent the Messiah from entering (little did they know He had already entered). This fulfilled Ezekiel's prophecy.

Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah is listed as the keeper of the gate. Shemaiah is a popular name in the Old Testament, so there are quite a few Shemaiah's mentioned. Nothing seems to explain why Shemaiah was given watch over this particular gate.
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The Gate Miphkad

The final gate introduced is called Miphkad, which was thought to be the inspection gate.^[3] This is likened to the judgement we will receive when Jesus comes back. No one is given charge of this gate, rather those working around this gate are mentioned. This is also fitting since only Jesus can exact judgment.
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Work Together

Aside from giving us insight on our spiritual journey, this passage does focus on unity. These families came together to build the wall and succeeded. As a church family, we too, should be coming together to fortify a place for God in our hearts and the hearts of others. The Jews needed to protect a physical Temple, but we are to protect the Temple in our bodies. Each of us is better at something than our fellow believers, this is why it is important to fellowship with other believers. Together, we can fortify each other.

Did You Catch It?

The Bible is always lambasted as sexist, but there are some surprising passages about women that often go unnoticed. Once such passage is in Nehemiah 3:12. It wasn't just men who built the wall, Shallum's daughters also participated. This means they weren't sitting at home washing dishes and making sandwiches, nor were they restricted from working.
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References

1. Iain Gordon and Brett Wilton. "Bible Study on the Book of Nehemiah Chapter 3: The Gates of Jerusalem". Jesus Plus Nothing; visited April 2017
2. Steven J. Cole. "Lesson 3: We Won! (Nehemiah 3:1-32)". Bible.org. August 16, 2013
3. Isidore Singer, M. Seligsohn "Miphkad (R. V. Hammiphkad)". Jewish Encyclopedia; visited April 2017

Heaven's Tears

I see the clouds come and
Watch the rain pour, wondering
     are those the tears of the world--
          tears of lives lost and hearts broken?
Chances we've lost amassed into sorrow
Fall from the heavens in systematic rhyme.
Pain and tension rising in the atmosphere
Until the Earth folds in her pain
     and the tears fall uncontrollably
One drop massaging one grain of sand
     attempting to heal the bruised blood,
          cleanse one stain etched in this land...
Flowers grow from her moistened crust--
The tears of the Earth replenish her,
She grows strong where each drop falls
And expresses love in the aftermath of pain...
My tears are part of her tears and
     our tears fall steadily,
          steadily drenching the soil below...
A pain, released in the shadow of a missing sun
So we wait for tomorrow,
When heaven's tears run dry
     and the healing begins.

These two girls express unity and the uniting of differences beautifully. They are truly wonderful poets with beautiful thoughts.

Eye to Eye

"I got my self a notion
One I know that you'll understand
To set the world in motion
By reaching out for each other's hand
Maybe we'll discover what we should have known all along
One way or another together's where we both belong

If we listen to each other's heart
We'll find we're never too far apart
And maybe love is the reason why
For the first time ever we're seeing it eye to eye"
Eye to Eye - Tevin Campbell

Some times it feels like we're too different—
Unalike in every way,
     and we don't speak the language
We create, feel, and express...
Everything is a world apart
     and yet  here we are, face to face...

If we could move past this barrier
See the human that exists
Beyond our unavoidable difference,
     and find a way to love what we are,
Who would stop us from gazing
     brown, blue, or green—
One eye to one eye?

And would we exist then
In some peaceful state of harmony
     discover beauty in each other's worlds—
Or continue our collision
Of thoughts and words,
     a consequence of our disconnect?

Just Yesterday

Strange how we forget
Just yesterday it was us--
Just yesterday I was not allowed
I was denied the right to be

If you grew up in the US, attended elementary, middle,
and high  school in the states, why shouldn't you be able to
attend college in the states? Read more here.

And I all I wanted, was to live...
Just yesterday, it was my family
Denied their humanity,
Pushed aside and suppressed
Simply to aid someone else's ambition
And we didn't even want their throne,
We just wanted to live...
It wasn't long ago, just yesterday
When we were all running
All searching for a place to hide
Stumbling on each other
Fighting each other, killing each other
For the same chance--
Somehow at the end of the war
At the end of the race
We were all still standing here
Reminiscing on yesterday
When there was want
And we forget
That yesterday for us
Is today for someone else.

Condemnation

A bird pushed out of a nest
Expected to fly or fall to its death:
Nature condemns it to itself
But such is life--
Unless we force a change
Give that change a name,
     A motivation...
Perhaps we all agree
Even as we speak in different tongues
We condemn the very nature
That condemns us
Agree to disagree
     But hold life precious to our hearts
Enraged over simple rights
We deserve and expect
Yet withheld by natural tendency...
Should the weak be left to die
Petty bait for unfavorable chance,
Payment for the strong's paradise?
No! We argue and we fight
     Promote value and equality
Be it rightly so--
But to what end do we play this game
Under the guise of moral laws--
Natural rights that nature itself condemns
This idea of good and bad
Right and wrong to be debated and critiqued
Analyzed and accessed to who's standard?
And if in the end,
We're here together,
All agreeing to life
What is it that we all condemn?

The Convergence of Souls

Rain falls--
The steady drip of heaven's tears
Pooled beneath my window;
A rhythmic cadence of nature's voice
Intermingling with us lowly folk.
And my heart melds with it's tune
Slow and steady, we talk--
Here, at the convergence of souls
Peacefully...
We fall together,
Ease down the window pane
Until we lie still
Resting gently beneath the infinite sky,
Sinking in tender pillows of grass.

Any Human to Another

*NOTE: Countee Cullen is one of my favorite writers; he also wrote a poem called Any Human to Another (click here to read). I didn't want to title my poem with the same title but I couldn't think of anything more fitting... Perhaps it'll come to me at a later date.

Sometimes I understand you,
But most days I don't--
We're from two different worlds,
Taking two different paths
And yet, I see you daily...
You and I are so different,
No likenesses, no common ground,
What you enjoy, I detest
And what brings me joy, you reject.
But for all your strangeness--
I see you there in the mirror,
Somehow still apart of me.

Citizen

Is this how its going to be forever?
Me seeing you, You seeing me
But never seeing each other--
Empty promises and unfit lies...
Words draining from somewhere cold?
Will you ever care for me,
...as if I mattered
Respect and protect me--
Who am I to you?
You to me?

My voice falls on deaf ears
And I'm tired of yelling,
Knowing you'll never hear...
I don't want to be silent,
But I don't want to fight.
...anymore.
Can I just get this out?
Discomfort put aside,
I'm home.
Let me look into your eyes,
One human to another,
And know we're in this together.

We The People

In the news this week: Nina Davuluri wins Miss America
and "America" reacts to the first (Indian-)American winner
(Click here for the article).

We the people, in order to form
     a more perfect union
Read it, remember it, recite it--
Commit the words to memory
Replace real education
And teach yourself the lie.
See that star-spangled banner wave
    over purple mountain's majesty
Watch it, fly it, revere it--
Raise your voice for the land of the free
And let your body fall
Beneath the weight of chains
Pledge your allegiance blindly
     one hand over your heart
Cry for it, bleed for it, die for it--
Become a hyphen in a sea of wholes
And wonder why you and me

Make a we---not We the People

But a different we...

We the People, 

     in order to form

          a more perfect union--

With the right to Life.

     Liberty.

     And The Pursuit of Happiness--

With liberty and justice for all...

With liberty and justice for all?