Carolyn E. Jacobs

We’re looking at Yahweh Tsur, The Lord is My Rock, this week. A whole host of images and references have been tumbling around in my brain. Tsur means cliff, boulder, big rock – a place of shelter, refuge. But what other rock or stone references do we see in the Bible? Today we’re looking at some uncomfortable ones. Did you know our phrase “stumbling block” originated with the Bible? It’s up there with “handwriting on the wall” or “casting pearls before swine” or “fly in the ointment” – phrases you’re familiar with but may not realize they’re in the Bible. You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor put a stumbling block before a person who…

The name Yahweh Tsur, The Lord is My Rock, is first used in Psalm 144. Thank Yahweh, my Tsur, who trained my hands to fight and my fingers to do battle. Psalm 144:1, Names of God version David knows he can rely on Yahweh, his Rock In the Bible we find lots of words translated rock or stone or boulder. Tsur, H6697, is a boulder or rocky wall or cliff. Not something you throw, but something you take refuge in. Moses used tsur for the first time to describe the rock at Horeb. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the…

Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. We have more forces on our side than they have on theirs.” 2 Kings 6:16 The name this week is Yahweh Tsebeaoth, the Lord of Hosts. Does Martin Luther’s hymn come to mind? You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle. – from A Mighty Fortress is our God Other images from the hymn are mighty fortress and bulwark. Those make me think of David’s descriptions – strong tower, refuge. Or this proverb – The name of Yahweh is Migdal-Oz. (strong tower) A righteous person runs to it and…

David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. -1 Samuel 17:45, Names of God version Man, I love this passage. Who doesn’t? The Lord of Hosts uses a scrappy shepherd boy to bring down a Philistine giant. Read 1 Samuel 17:38-47 with fresh eyes. Can’t you picture it? There’s a big, ol’ ugly giant stomping around, trash talking David. The Names of God version says this: “When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a…

For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream-Isaiah 66:12a Peace like a river. Is this what you think of? Puffy clouds, gentle breezes, birds singing? The night before Jesus died, he told his disciples this: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. -John 14:27 Twenty-four hours later, his body lay in a tomb. The river the disciples navigated looked like this.No peace there. The Anointed One, the Messiah they’d…