100 Prison Meditations: Cries of Truth from Behind the Iron Curtain (4 page)

Almah

Everyone would consider it bad taste to publicly discuss or write about whether his wife was a virgin at the time of marriage, but many debate whether Mary was really a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.

In many circles it is contested whether Isaiah really prophesied the virgin birth. The argument is that in his words (7:14), “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive,” the Hebrew expression
almah
does not necessarily mean “virgin.” It could also mean “young maid.”

Like other nouns in Hebrew, the word “virgin” has two forms.
Elem
, the male form, is always used for a very young boy who could not have known a woman yet, like David when he killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17:56). In this passage the King James version translated
elem
as “stripling,” an adolescent youth. The word occurs again in 1 Samuel 20:35 in reference to “a little lad” who accompanied Jonathan.

Since
elem
in the male form surely indicates a virginal boy, why then should the female form,
almah
, not also have the inference? Surely Matthew the Evangelist knew better Hebrew than the modern professors of theology, and his translation of Isaiah’s prophecy was “a
virgin
shall be with child” (1:23). For myself, I would believe in the virgin birth of Jesus even if it were not written in the Bible.

We humans all have split characters. How could it be otherwise, since we inherit from our parents features that come from two divergent and often contradictory lines? Jesus, however, was One: He is not ravaged by inner antagonisms. His heritage comes from a single line.

You can rely on the Bible. Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus. The One who kept her pure physically by His grace will also see that you appear before Him with virginal purity in a spiritual sense.

The Double Sense of the Word “Netzah”

They gave me twenty-five years, which was practically the same as life imprisonment. The day I received the sentence, the following thoughts occurred to me. Hebrew biblical words have a cluster of meanings, giving them a spectrum like that of the rainbow. Let us examine two meanings of the word
netzah
. This word can mean “perpetual”—“Why is my pain perpetual?” asks Jeremiah (15:18). But
netzah
also means “victory” (1 Chronicles 29:11). Thus, what appears to be a despairing, unanswered question in Jeremiah could also be faithfully and literally translated, “Why is my pain? It is to serve victory.”

It is said that King Solomon once stood at the seashore admiring the fleets of many nations passing by. He asked the high priest who was standing beside him, “How many ships a year do you think pass through our waters?” The priest answered, “Only three.” The king, thinking the priest was being insolent, said indignantly, “How dare you give such a reply? I see dozens of ships at this very moment.” “An illusion,” responded the high priest. “In reality all ships sailing on all the seas are only three: the ship of desire for money, that of desire for fame, and that of desire for pleasure. These are the three forces which drive through the seas, whatever name a vessel takes for a while.”

The king pondered this for some time. In his Song he had foretold of a fourth ship, a very small one, unable to navigate beyond the small lake of Galilee, but in the end surpassing all others. This would be the ship of the Messiah, a ship powered by the sacrifice of the Son of God, by intense love, by the desire to serve.

It sails in defiance of all the laws of hydrodynamics. The wonder accomplished by the Messiah when the tempest ceased and the ship was rescued at His command is an even greater miracle than is commonly thought. Mark wrote that the waves had beaten into the ship “so that it was already filling” (Mark 4:37). Any vessel full of water will sink whether the sea is stormy or calm. But this ship, the ship of Jesus, does not sink, not even when the waters of sins, crimes, schisms, heresies, and persecutions have filled it to the brim. It advances toward victory.

Its “perpetual” (
netzah
) great sorrows are but the shadow of the
netzah
, the victory toward which it sails.

Two Senses of “Sabachtani”

Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani
,” was Jesus’ cry from the cross. Matthew translated these words from the Aramean: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” But this is not the only possible translation.

Sabachtani
is the first person, past tense of
leshabeah
, which means “to forsake.” But
leshabeah
also means “to glorify.” It is frequently used in this sense even in modern Hebrew prayers. So the words of Jesus could have been translated, “My God, My God, to what (degree) have You glorified Me!” These were the words with which the Therapeuts, a subdivision of the Essenian sect of Jesus’ time, finished their prayers. It was an expression of amazement at the multitude of graces received.

On the last evening, the Lord prayed, “Glorify Your Son” (John 17:1), probably using the Aramean word
meshabeah
. The apparent result was not glorification, but being abandoned by most of His disciples, being flogged, mocked, crucified, and forsaken by God. Is this how the heavenly Father answers prayer?

But Jesus’ supplication that evening could also have had an entirely other, mysterious, sense: “The hour has come. Our plan should now be fulfilled. Forsake, reject [
shabeah
] Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify [
shabeah
] You through bearing everything with patience and love.” Thus the entire time up to and including the crucifixion is a consummation of Jesus’ prayer.

It may also seem strange that Jesus’ words, “You have forsaken Me,” are in the past tense, while He was being forsaken then and there—the crucifixion was a very present event. Why then does Jesus use the past tense? Ordinarily someone would not ask while being beaten, “Why
did
you mistreat me?” He would say, “Why
do
you beat me?” using the present tense.

One of the secrets of spiritual strength is to live outside of time. A present-day revolution with all its immediate horrors is difficult to endure. But we can easily bear reading about the French Revolution and its guillotine of 200 years ago. God and the spirit of men live eternally. Eternity is not timelessness, but life beyond time. You can decide how you wish to regard an episode of your life, in the present or in the past. Everyone sometimes ponders pleasant memories of the past and relives them as if they were present. The opposite can be done as well. You can transfer today’s difficulties into the past, thereby enabling yourself to cope with them serenely. In this manner they cannot break you. This is how we resisted.

How to Examine Yourself

Solitary confinement tempts you to endless brooding over your past life. The apostle Paul writes, “Let a man examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). How should one proceed? There is no specific instruction in the Bible, but Christian experience of hundreds of years has taught us at least one thing: Do not be too thorough in self-examination. A little creature in the laboratory can be examined so extensively that it dies from over-exposure.

Rather than examining all the details of your own life, try to fathom the depth of your faith in the value of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Once a man was greatly concerned about the state of his soul. No sermon or religious book could satisfy him. Finally, he heard about a hermit who was reputed to have great wisdom. The man took a horse and rode to the mountaintop where the sage lived. He found the sage in meditation at the entrance to his cave. The sage asked the man what he desired. “I seek salvation,” said the man. The sage was silent for a long time. Then he said, “Why don’t you seek a horse instead?” “I have a horse,” the man replied. Turning toward the rear of the cave, the sage remarked, “So that is it,” and said no more.

As the man rode down the mountain on his horse, he thought and thought about his meeting with the sage. All at once he was enlightened: Why should he seek a horse? He had one. He was riding on it. Therefore, why should he seek salvation? God sent His Son into the world that the world might be saved through Him. Salvation had already been purchased. A man riding on a horse should not bother to seek a horse unless he had overtired or killed the one he has. The Savior cannot be exhausted. His salvation is available to all who receive it. Jesus has come to seek and to save what is lost. His desire for us to be in paradise is much greater than our own. His desire to forgive our sins is much greater than our desire to be forgiven. Salvation cannot be earned, but only accepted. When the man arrived in the valley, he understood.

Christians often say, “I was saved five or fifteen years ago.” This cannot be so. Christ bought salvation for all of us 2,000 years ago, when He died for us on Golgotha. Perhaps it was only five or fifteen years ago that we realized it and accepted His offer.

When we approach the Lord’s Supper, the main thing we must ask ourselves is, “When I hear the words, ‘This is My blood, shed for you and the remission of your sins,’ do I understand them as clearly addressed to me? Do I know, as surely as a rider knows he has a horse under him, that my sins are forgiven and forgotten and dealt with?” If I understand this, I have examined myself well and am worthy of communion.

The Bible’s Imprecise Time

I lost the notion of time. I didn’t know what hour or what day it was, since my solitary cell was subterranean. I didn’t even know if it was spring or summer.

The authors of the Bible knew their lives are eternal. Time did not matter for them and so they were quite imprecise in dating events.

In John 21:1 we read,
meta tauta
—“After these things Jesus showed Himself again.” How long was it “after these things”? You search in vain.

Chapter 3 of Matthew starts with the words, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.” In the preceding verse, John and Jesus could not have been more than two or three years old, so nearly three decades must have elapsed before John began his public ministry. For Matthew it was still “in those days.”

Both John and Matthew were speaking about events between which much time passed as if they took place simultaneously. Before Einstein this would have been considered inaccurate. Now we know that a statement about the simultaneity of two events acquires meaning only in relation to the place where an observer is situated. It belongs to the subjective part of our observation, not to the objective part which constitutes history.

The Spirit blows wherever it wishes, says Scripture (John 3:8). Wind and Spirit are the same word in Greek. I can place myself spiritually in a position such that events distant from each other in time appear to occur simultaneously. It is like some Americans who like to watch two or three TV programs at the same time.

Can the preaching of John the Baptist occur “in those days,” that is, at the time of his childhood? This is how Matthew saw the events. Who am I to accuse him of inaccuracy?

We have a promise, “Ask and it will be given you” (Matthew 7:7). This verse seems to contradict much of our experience. Every believer knows of answered prayers, but also of seemingly unanswered ones. We have asked and were not given. But how much time has passed since we asked?

Moses asked God, “Let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan.” The Lord answered, “Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter” (Deuteronomy 3:25,26). Here is an instance not of an unanswered prayer, but of a prayer clearly refused. How does this fit with, “Ask and it will be given you”? Well, a little later, some 3,500 years (or, to use the biblical expression, “in those days”), Jesus was on Mount Tabor with His disciples and “Moses and Elijah appeared to them” (Matthew 17:3). Mount Tabor is in Canaan, beyond Jordan, in the Promised Land. So Moses’ request was finally granted, only with a few thousand years’ delay. Not much for one whose life is eternal.

The Hebrew has no singular for life. Most Hebrew nouns that end with “im” are plural, and the biblical word for life is
haiim
. We will have a multitude of opportunities to invest our life in the lives of others. I believe that all prayers will be answered.

Eternal life is more than infinite. Kantor, a Jewish disciple of Einstein, conceived the notion of “transfinite.” When you draw an endless line in one direction from a given point, its mathematical value is 8, infinite. But when you draw from the same point two or more endless lines in different directions, you have something beyond the infinite. Kantor calls it “the transfinite,” and uses the Hebrew letter
aleph
for its mathematical symbol. The possibilities of eternity are inexhaustible. “Ask and it will be given you.” Do not ask when. Heaven is outside of time.

Periods of time in general are not objective physical facts, but are dependent upon the observer. Time and space are by their very nature confused representations of the only real thing: the interval in the space-time continuum. Let us think biblically, outside of time.

The Things Beyond the Bible

The Bible contains what God revealed to us, taking into account the condition and capacity of our hearts and minds.

Jesus told His disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). We wonder what He would have said, had we been capable of receiving all His words.

The biblical authors have left many interesting things untold. Paul complains that time fails him “to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets” (Hebrews 11:32). Much of Paul’s time was absorbed by dealing with all the trifling questions that produced so much strife among the first Christians.

Jude had intended to write about the most important subject of “our common salvation” (Jude 3). We have remained without the knowledge of his thoughts in this matter because he instead had to exhort the believers to beware of “ungodly men” who had crept into the leadership of the church.

Biblical authors also had to adjust their messages so as not to offend the prejudices of listeners. The first Christian sermon, delivered by Peter on Pentecost, calls Jesus simply “a man attested by God” (Acts 2:22), “exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33). Peter does not say that Jesus is the Son of God. This would have been too difficult for the Jews to accept. Diplomacy is a factor in all intelligent preaching.

We must come to understand not only what the pastor says, but also what he might have said, had we been open for the whole truth.

When a statue of Krüger, the president of the Boer Republic, was made in Pretoria, Krüger’s wife asked the sculptor to make the president’s top hat hollow so that when it rained the birds could drink from it. Those familiar with the history of the Boer Republic are inspired by this statue, encouraged to emulate that great statesman in their own actions. Birds get from that same statue a few drops of water.

If we do not remain little birds in faith, we will come to know what the authors of the Bible could not tell their contemporaries. The river of life will give us more than a few drops of water.

God passes us through prison to give us new ability to understand.