Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers”…when the term “peacemaker” is used the initial thought is of someone who keeps the peace between two opposing parties. A “peacemaker” solves dilemmas often without the force of violence, although the threat of violence is sometimes present and to be used if necessary.
When I was growing up, I watched dozens of westerns where the sheriffs — or the good guys — were armed with the Colt 45 “peacemaker.” How ironic that one of the most famous guns of the 1800’s was named the “peacemaker”. The rationality is simply you can only have peace through strength.
When Jesus (Yeshua), the Prince of Peace (in Hebrew the “Sar Shalom”) returns again, He will usher in the Messianic age of Shalom — His strength will be on display as He rules with a “rod of iron.”
Interestingly enough, as I was studying the Hebrew New Testament, the word “peacemaker” has a completely different connotation than our understanding in English. The word peacemaker in Hebrew is the phrase “rod-fey shalom”.
Shalom has a much richer meaning than simply the word peace. It can also mean completeness, prosperity, safety, contentment, health, blessing and rest. The word “rod-fey” in Hebrew literally means to “run after” or “to chase!”
So, in Hebrew it says to “chase after shalom” — to run after God’s shalom! And one can only find God’s shalom through our “Sar Shalom” – our Prince of Peace!
Let’s strive to reach a new level of intimacy with our Lord! Let’s run after a deeper knowledge of our Lord and in doing so, we’ll experience new levels of peace, contentment, blessing and rest! With so much work to be done, isn’t it good to know this is available to us NOW through our Sar Shalom!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]During the Biblical festival of Shavuot, the book of Ruth is read. It’s a powerful story of faith, restoration and redemption. The book opens with a famine in all the land surrounding Bethlehem, forcing a difficult decision upon Naomi’s husband, Elimelech. Now, Bethlehem (beth: “house”, lechem: “bread”) literally means “house of bread”, so the irony of Elimelech’s departure from his home, “house of bread”, during a famine, is lost on English speaking readers, but reveals that every detail in the word of God can be meaningful, especially the meanings of names.
One of my favorite ministers of the Gospel is D.L. Moody. He tells a story about having heard Pastor Henry Varley once say that, “The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.”
The Lord is quoted in this scripture in Matthew and it contains an important principle which I think we sometimes tend to overlook. Many believe and even teach that if someone acquires much material prosperity, then God has surely given them favor, and that if someone is undergoing extreme trial, it must be because they have sinned or that they lack faith. But the Lord says that the sun rises and the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous alike. A life of good circumstances does not necessarily mean that God is with us. And likewise, a life of trial and suffering does not mean that God is not with us!
The African Impala (an African antelope) are amazing creatures that can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance greater than 30 feet. Yet Impalas can be kept in a zoo inside an enclosure with a simple 3 foot wall. Why? Impalas will not jump if they can’t see where their feet will land. Do we have something in common with these antelopes? Able to take great leaps of faith, but refusing to do it unless we can see where we’ll land?
An aging king woke up one day to the realization that should he drop dead, there would be no male in the royal family to take his place. He was the last male in the royal family in a culture where only a male could succeed to the throne – and he was aging. He decided that if he could not give birth to a male, he would adopt a son who then could take his place but he insisted that such an adopted son must be extraordinary in every sense of the word. So he launched a competition in his kingdom, open to all boys, no matter what their background. Ten boys made it to the very top.
For centuries in Ethiopia, there have lived a people we now know as the Falashas. They kept all sorts of Biblical traditions and call themselves Beta Yisrael (House of Israel). As experts began to study the matter, it became clear that these were descendants of the Jewish people who came to Africa in ancient times and intermarried. Unbeknownst to many, a percentage of them became believers in Jesus over the years. Jesus (or Yeshua, as they called Him) became a part of their identity as Jewish people. Many Falashan Jews worshipped Jesus as their Messiah and continued to practice Jewish tradition.
So often in our walks with the Lord, we become focused on what we can see, what we can hear and what we can sense in the physical realm. Like that young man, we focus on the enemy’s attacks around and about us. At times we can get so focused on our physical circumstances that we forget that the Lord has already provided for us the victory!