Last week, I finished reading all the way through the Bible. It took me nearly four years, because I like to stop and ponder (and investigate) the meanings of words. I then went back to Genesis 1:1 to start over. I wondered if it were possible to get new insights this time around that were different from last time. I was not disappointed.
In verse 2, we read this:
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Wanting just a little more insight, I went to my trusty Blue Letter Bible app and clicked on the interlinear to peek at the original Hebrew. The word for hovering (or moving, in some translations) is rachaph, which means to be soft, or to be moved, to cherish. Figuratively, it is used in the sense of a mother hen brooding over her chicks.
Isn't that a beautiful thought? That Elohim thought so highly of the earth He was creating? That He cherished it? I find it very heartwarming that He cared so very much about the abode that He was preparing for us.
Then today, another verse popped into my head, which really brought it home for me. Matthew 23:37 says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Can you see how Yeshua cherishes His people as He weeps over Jerusalem? It breaks my heart, knowing the grief He felt for His Israeli kinspeople, knowing the time of terrible testing that was coming for them.
But two verses later, we have the blessed hope: Yeshua says, For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say,"blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." It is one of my very favorite Hebrew sayings: Baruch haba b'shem Adonai!
The Jewish people will say it again soon, when Yeshua returns, for He cherishes them! And at the same time, we who know Him now will get to see Him face to face!
This week I was saddened nearly to tears to learn of the young girl that was horribly murdered near Barnard College in NYC. Such an evil act. It did great harm to me as well. Oh Lord please lead us out such darkness and into your light!
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