From the Desk of Jeff King

A few good men

Jeremiah the prophet was a colossal failure if you measure him by today's feel-good Christianity. No one liked his messages. He was beaten, thrown into a cistern and mocked by the corrupt religious leaders.

But Jeremiah had something that most big-name preachers today lack: His heart was tender, he refused to compromise the truth and he served God in complete obedience. God gave him a tough assignment in the Old Testament – deliver a warning to stiff-necked Judah that unless it turned from its evil ways, Jerusalem would be destroyed and its occupants cast into exile. How bad was it? God said in Jeremiah 15:1 that even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Him, He still would cast Judah out of His sight.

Yet woven into these dark passages are glimpses of God’s mercy. Early on, God said he would pardon Jerusalem if one man could be found who sought justice and truth (Jer. 5:1). Even when Jerusalem’s doom was sealed, God still was looking for someone – anyone – who would yield to His will.

And He found three men: Jeremiah and two friends – Baruch the scribe and Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian eunuch. They were common men whose futures appeared bleak as the Babylonian army prepared to storm Jerusalem. Yet God rewarded them generously for simple acts of obedience. Although Jeremiah was treated roughly by the Jewish leaders, God delivered him from every crisis. Baruch, for his part, wrote Jeremiah’s warnings on a scroll and read it aloud in the Lord's house. Baruch did all that the prophet commanded.

When King Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll and the Lord instructed Jeremiah to prepare another, Baruch had his pen ready again. Here’s where we see God’s mercy. After the first scroll was rejected, God hid Jeremiah and Baruch from the king and his henchmen, who wanted them seized. God also sent a personal word of assurance to Baruch through the prophet – "Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh, says the Lord, but I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go (Jer. 45:5)."

The Lord used Ebed-Melech to save Jeremiah's life during the reign of King Zedekiah. When Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon and left to die, he alerted the king – probably at risk to his own life – and the order was given to rescue the prophet. God then sent Jeremiah to inform Ebed-Melech that because he had trusted the Lord, his life would be spared in the coming calamity (Jer. 39:17).

Let’s apply that understanding to today. We live in a society that is no less wicked than the house of Judah and the house of Israel in Jeremiah’s day. Psalm 14:2 says, "The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God." The Lord is looking for a few good men and women, just as He did in ancient Israel. And because God never changes, He will continue to extend His kindness and mercy to those who obey His voice, even in the most perilous of times.

Paradise lost and found

Maui, Hawaii, felt and looked like paradise the moment we stepped off the plane. We were surrounded by palm trees and warmed by gentle trade winds. A hundred yards from our hotel in Lahaina the sea rolled onto a carpet of white sand. Alisa and I spent a week on the island in April 2002 to celebrate 10 years of marriage. Everything was blissful the first day until we looked around and realized that all is not well in paradise. Maui is a melting pot of spirituality.

Most stores in this old whaling town sold carved, wooden images of Polynesian gods. One hotel had a giant statue of Buddha parked in the lobby. As we drove the scenic Road to Hana – a narrow, winding highway through tropical rain forest – we noticed a Mary shrine built into a rock wall. Our destination was the Seven Sacred Pools. We encountered New Age and Old Age. But we kept our focus on Messiah Yeshua.

Before we left Seattle, the Lord told me He had a surprise for me on the island. One day as we walked the streets of Lahaina, my wife took my arm and pulled me into an art gallery. I protested, "I don’t want to go in there," but ten years of marriage has taught me to listen to my wife. As I rounded a corner in the store, I froze when I spotted the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew on two clear acrylic tablets, flanked on each side by brass Shabbat candle holders. The artwork, displayed in a glass case, took my breath away. Today it sits on our piano at home. It was so amazing. Here we were surrounded by every idol under the sun, and Yeshua led me to this treasure – His Word – hidden away in an art store. The natural beauty of Maui is breathtaking, but it is no different spiritually than any other place – God gives man the choice to walk in darkness or light.

Addendum – One side note about our drive to Hana: As we navigated the many hairpin turns and one-lane bridges, we'd occasionally see a building with the sign, "Dengue information." We thought to ourselves, "What's up with that dang infomation? Can't those Hawaiians spell?" We learned later there was a Dengue Fever alert on the island. Dang! Here we were driving through an insect-infested jungle in a convertible Mustang, wearing short sleeves and shorts. We must have looked like fresh meat to the mosquitos. We escaped unscathed, probably because our white skin blinded any bug looking for a free lunch. On our flight home, Alisa had fun scribbling in a journal she dubbed the "Dang Report," chronicling all our zany encounters.

Counterfeit Jabez

And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you (2 Peter 2:3, KJV).

In terms of fan appeal, Jabez is the Elvis of the Old Testament. Bruce Wilkinson gave this minor player instant fame by selling more than nine million copies of his book The Prayer of Jabez. At the peak of the book's popularity you could not walk into a Christian bookstore without bumping into shelves of spinoff merchandise, including Jabez silk ties, travel mugs, mousepads and keychains, among other trinkets.

While the book has the Christian world spellbound, a few Bible scholars are raising concerns about Wilkinson's interpretation of the prayer from 1 Chronicles 4:10. The premise of the book is that Christians should recite the Jabez prayer – repeatedly if necessary – to invoke God’s favor and blessings. Wilkinson says it is a prayer God always answers.

One of the skeptics is Larry Pechawer, a professor of Hebrew studies at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo. He has published a book, The Lost Prayer of Jabez, that challenges the best-seller's message. Pechawer claims that the ancient Jewish scribes misunderstood the passage and added incorrect vowel points to one Hebrew word, which led to a critical mistranslation in English Bibles.

Pechawer says the correct rendering of Hebrew reveals that Jabez simply asked for pastureland, a valued commodity in his day. "Jabez was not asking for influence or ministry opportunities," he argues. "If translated correctly, all this discussion goes away. It eliminates much of the spiritual aspect of the prayer."

The Jabez controversy can be solved by correcting the mispronunciation of one word in the phrase "keep me from harm," he says. Pechawer points out that the Hebrew verb ASAH means to "make" or "provide" instead of "keep from." The Hebrew word MR'H was pronounced by Jewish scribes as MERA'AH, meaning "from harm/evil." They added markings (vowel points) to indicate that understanding, but Pechawer says it was a mistake.

"I wrestled with this verse and I came to realize that MERA'AH was the wrong form in this context," he says. "The correct word has the same original letters, MR'H, but is pronounced MIR'EH, which means pastureland. If you go from 'keep me from evil' to 'provide me with pastureland' you have wiped out the whole rationale for the Jabez phenomenon."

Pechawer also writes that the Jewish rabbis went to extremes in spiritualizing the Jabez prayer. He says they used a series of unlikely connections to identify Jabez as Othniel, the first judge of ancient Israel.

Peter Michas, a Hebraic Roots teacher and pastor of Messengers of Messiah International Ministries in Highland, Calif. (pictured right), agrees that some Jewish commentary is in error, but insists there is enough truth to take the texts seriously. Michas believes that Jabez and Othniel are the same person based on an understanding of Hebrew writing, which jumps forward and backward in thought. Jabez and Othniel are mentioned three verses apart in 1 Chronicles 4. The commentary in The Torah Anthology Book of Shoftim (Judges) states, "Othniel ben Kenaz was also known as Jabez. . . . Like King Solomon, Othniel did not pray for power or wealth. His prayer was for spiritual gifts rather than physical ones. . . . He was called Jabez because he advised and spread Torah."

Michas agrees with the rabbis who say Jabez was answered because of his humility. "Jabez wanted nothing but to serve God," he says. "Why does God answer that kind of humility? It has no arrogance, no selfishness, no greed. Paul was a tremendous example. He wished he could die and go to hell in place of the Jews so all Judah would be saved." Michas says he is grateful that God preserved enough rabbinical writing to help us understand difficult Bible passages. "We do not have vast amounts of sources remaining," he says. "Many of the scrolls and writings were destroyed by the church over the last 1,500 years." He says Jewish reference books on the Tanach (Old Testament) – available through ArtScroll, Judaica Press and Torah Anthology, among others – can be helpful to Christians wanting to dig deeper in their Bible studies. Hebrew is a picture language and many of the beautiful attributes of God are lost in the Greek mindset of the church, according to Michas.

While they disagree over the reliability of Jewish sources, Pechawer and Michas would say that a large segment of Christianity has misunderstood the Jabez prayer and, in extreme cases, used it as a carnal model for prayer. Pechawer says some Christians have been confused because they lack skills to make good decisions when interpreting Scripture. "We’ve dumbed down the gospel," he says. "Jabez is a novelty to most. Here comes a verse out of nowhere and it’s new and exciting." Wilkinson was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

A version of this article appeard in the October 7, 2002 edition of Christian Retailing magazine, a Strang trade publication.

Psalm 19

Studying God's Word is like searching for buried treasure. When you want to dig deep into Scripture one of the best tools is a Hebrew-Greek concordance. This week I uncovered some Hebraic nuggets hidden in Psalm 19:7 – "The law (Torah) of the Lord (YHVH – the name that represents pre-incarnate Yeshua and His infinite mercy) is perfect (tamiym – without blemish, complete), converting (shuwb – restore, rescue, circumcise, bring back home again) the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple (pthiy – seducible, foolish, silly).

Isn't this basically the plan of salvation? Yeshua, the living Word, restores us when we repent and receive His gift of grace freely. The Torah is written on our heart and its light guides us on the narrow path. God's Word even has the power to make the foolish wise.

I thought of that passage after watching "prophetess" Juanita Bynum minister on TBN. She stomped back and forth on stage and worked the studio audience into a frenzy. As she taught on spiritual warfare, she made the absurd statement that Christians should act like Indians of the Old West. Bynum said warriors prepared for battle by doing war cries through the night while their enemy – the cowboys – slept. Didn't Native American culture embrace other gods? Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-13 to put on the whole armor of God and, having done all, to stand. Paul also instructs believers to conduct their meetings in order. The TBN studio was in chaos. People in the audience allowed themselves to be seduced because of their lack of Biblical knowledge and understanding.

During my Psalm 19 study I found another little gem in verse 14. The Hebrew word for redeemer is ga'al, which can mean to be the next of kin, as in buying back a relative's property, or marrying his widow. It also can mean to ransom, deliver and avenge. Like the Hebrew word for convert, it expresses God's desire to be in restored fellowship with His children, who are undeserving subjects of such love and grace.