Lemme kick things off today with a quiz question.
Which language would you say is the mother language of Hebrew?
Now most scholars would say Ugaritic, Phoenician, or Aramaic.
Well, I got a news flash for all them academic homies.
They’re all WRONG!
The true mother language of Hebrew is Akkadian.
The more we learn about Akkadian, the more we learn about some of the earliest Hebrew words found in the Torah.
For example, there’s a lot of heated debate about the meaning of the name Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
It turns out this name stems from Akkadian, NOT Hebrew.
The name means something like “the foundation of Shalem.”
“Shalem” was probably the name or a main characteristic of a god…
So it might also mean “the foundation of the god Shalem.”
Now let me ask you this.
What word does SHALEM sound familiar to?
If you said SHALOM, you got it!
The idea is that the god worshiped in this city around 2500 BC was a god connected to shalom (peace).
Hmm, I wonder who in the world could that be?
The answer is found in the Book of Genesis which we’ll explore the next time we meet.
So here’s the takeaway coming to me today.
Don’t you think it’s paradoxical that a city whose root word means peace has been the cause of so much un-peace?
If you look back in history, I think I can see a God-pattern here.
For example, God destroyed all of humanity except Noah and his family in the flood to continue His plan of salvation.
Following the Golden Calf fiasco, the Hebrews who openly committed idolatry were killed by their brothers.
It was only after that slaughter that God accepted His people and restored their relationship.
Per God’s command, the Promised Land had to be taken by force and violence under Joshua’s rule.
There weren’t any ridiculous UN peace talks involved.
It was pure divine violence per the Lord’s command.
Yeshua had to undergo the torment of torture and crucifixion before he was resurrected to eternal glory.
The Jewish people underwent the horrors of the holocaust, but then afterward, Israel was resurrected as a nation, and God’s chosen people were restored to their homeland.
Finally, in the last days, we know there’s going to be a war to end all wars before the new heavens and earth are established.
And this war is going to be triggered over a dispute about who possesses the territorial rights to Jerusalem by the way.
The lesson here is before peace, it seems like there has to be this process of violence and war that has to come first.
So if you’re going through some heavy struggles in your life
It could just be the necessary precursor of things you need to endure before the Lord’s blessings overtake you.
Ya feeling me?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do not think that I have come
to bring peace to the earth.
I have not come to bring peace,
but a sword.”
-Matthew 10:34
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