December 29
Proverbs 15:13
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:
But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Biblical narration tells us about the patriarch Jacob when he falsely concluded that his favored son, the one in whom were set all of his expectations, had been devoured by a wild beast on his way to his brothers. The text tells us that Jacob’s heart would not be comforted. We would say today that he did not have closure. In a way, the messianic interpretations of this are monumental. Jacob never had closure over Joseph’s supposed death, but Joseph hadn’t died. Like Messiah, he was raised from the pit his brother put him in after 3 days, to be set to rule over the gentile world until such a day that his brothers would recognize him.
Jacob was not a spiritual dwarf. His time in the ‘school of Laban’ had certainly exercised his spiritual knowledge great maturity and discernment. The Biblical narration reveals him as a man in touch with God through visions and prophecies and yet, he was not able to consciously discern that Joseph was still alive.
Jewish sages who have pondered on this question for many years before we did tell us that the answer lies in the words of our proverb of today. Sorrow of the heart, uncomforted unresolved sorrow breaks our spirit and steals our spiritual faculties from us. A priest was forbidden to serve in the temple in a spirit of sadness. We even see Aaron who was not permitted to mourn the death of his two sons while he was in the service of the High priesthood. This principle is also echoed in ancient Semitic cultures where a servant was not allowed to show sadness in front of the king whom he served. We remember this in the story of Nehemiah who was afraid of having shown sadness in front of his king.
This may sound cruel and cold, but therein lies a very important principle: it is close to blasphemy to be sad in the presence of Him from Whom all blessings and comforts flow, in front of He Who does all things well and to our benefit, even those things that sadden us. The Hebrew word used here for sorrow is actually synonymous with the word ‘idol’, which shows us that even though God understands our human sorrow, it becomes idolatrous when it morphs into rebellious bitterness of the Father’s doings in our lives.
The Father certainly has a heart to understand the frailties of our human nature, but in the end, He expects us to have closure through the understanding that:
Proverbs 15:13
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:
But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Biblical narration tells us about the patriarch Jacob when he falsely concluded that his favored son, the one in whom were set all of his expectations, had been devoured by a wild beast on his way to his brothers. The text tells us that Jacob’s heart would not be comforted. We would say today that he did not have closure. In a way, the messianic interpretations of this are monumental. Jacob never had closure over Joseph’s supposed death, but Joseph hadn’t died. Like Messiah, he was raised from the pit his brother put him in after 3 days, to be set to rule over the gentile world until such a day that his brothers would recognize him.
Jacob was not a spiritual dwarf. His time in the ‘school of Laban’ had certainly exercised his spiritual knowledge great maturity and discernment. The Biblical narration reveals him as a man in touch with God through visions and prophecies and yet, he was not able to consciously discern that Joseph was still alive.
Jewish sages who have pondered on this question for many years before we did tell us that the answer lies in the words of our proverb of today. Sorrow of the heart, uncomforted unresolved sorrow breaks our spirit and steals our spiritual faculties from us. A priest was forbidden to serve in the temple in a spirit of sadness. We even see Aaron who was not permitted to mourn the death of his two sons while he was in the service of the High priesthood. This principle is also echoed in ancient Semitic cultures where a servant was not allowed to show sadness in front of the king whom he served. We remember this in the story of Nehemiah who was afraid of having shown sadness in front of his king.
This may sound cruel and cold, but therein lies a very important principle: it is close to blasphemy to be sad in the presence of Him from Whom all blessings and comforts flow, in front of He Who does all things well and to our benefit, even those things that sadden us. The Hebrew word used here for sorrow is actually synonymous with the word ‘idol’, which shows us that even though God understands our human sorrow, it becomes idolatrous when it morphs into rebellious bitterness of the Father’s doings in our lives.
The Father certainly has a heart to understand the frailties of our human nature, but in the end, He expects us to have closure through the understanding that:
All things world together for good to them who God.
Romans 8:28.
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