It’s February! I know… it’s been February for over a week. But here we are!
There’s a lot going on too. It’s been… crazy. Since I last wrote, there’s been an insurrection, an impeachment on an outgoing President, calls for racial justice, a wildfire not even two miles from my house, a Super Bowl, a kid out of service for a week with a fever (but not the virus), changes in how to handle pandemic life, starting a job (that, i should add, I really love… even if I end up exhausted). It’s a lot, ok?
But one of the things that comes around every year, like clock work, is… Valentine’s Day. I have always had mixed emotions about this holiday, especially after the grade school parties and sugar overloads ended sometime around third or fourth grade.
When I was fifteen, I had an empty Dasani water bottle that I would comically hit over my head (because I exaggerated everything intentionally as a teen). I kept telling myself “Jesus is my Valentine,” but I think I was just masking my envy of classmates who were much prettier and popular than me and their Valentine’s dates. Even as my husband and I started to get serious, I had difficulties getting into the proverbial spirit of the holiday. In my mind it was dumb.
But here we are, not even a week away from the big, flowery, chocolatey holiday, and I’m looking forward to it, but mostly for the kids and the idea that I can spread this idea of God’s love to those around me. Ok, and let’s also talk about “love.” English is so dumb in that there is only one word for love. Love can encompass a deep passion for coffee to the love of a parent or within a family to the love between friends or the passion of romance. Love is kind of an all encompassing term. But the Bible? There are multiple words translated as love. Sometimes, translators will add an adjective like “steadfast” or “brotherly” to distinguish between the connotations of the Greek and Hebrew words used.
It really wasn’t until recently that I got a little more interested in these words, and to be honest, with all the real life stuff happening, I haven’t really had time to research it as much as I’d want. But for the last week, Jeremiah 31:3 will not leave my mind. For context, Jeremiah had a difficult job. He told Israel about their exile – it was coming, it’d last a while, Israel would be destroyed. These were his people. This was the nation and land he loved. And he saw it all come crumbling down. He’s known as the weeping prophet for a reason. There’s a lot about Jeremiah that soundbytes really well (like Jeremiah 29:11), but misses the complexity of the message (like it’s gonna be hard before it gets better!). So looking at Jeremiah 31:3, I wanted to do the message justice. I’ll probably still mess up because to err is human.
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:3 ESV
There is so much to unpack in here. First, “everlasting love” literally means “long-lasting affection.” Nothing truly profound here, at least, at the surface level (I really wanna learn Hebrew better!) The real nugget is the word translated “faithfulness.” If I could convey the entire depth of this Hebrew word and do it justice to my non-Hebrew brain, I would. This word, hesed, is also translated “steadfast love” or “kindness” in other areas of the Bible. It’s a word that describes God’s love for us because of His character, not because of humanity’s actions. This term speaks to covenant love between God and man. God says, “I love you and I will continue to love you,” and then man messes up, but that love continues. It’s so impossible to explain because NO WORDS EXIST FOR IT IN OUR LANGUAGE! In Greek, the term is agape. So in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), anytime hesed is used? Agape. The Bible Project has an excellent video about this!
This year, with everything crazy that’s happening, leaning in to that covenantal love that is independent of me and my pandemic fatigue has brought me hope. I realize that many have been hurt and abused by the church and the Bible, and I know that I cannot undo any of that, but I can tell you that you are loved immensely. Jeremiah is writing to an exiled people bringing them hope of a return to their land, to be build up again, to be happy and in God’s presence, even after being apart from them. The hope is tangible, though reprieve is not immediate. God is not slow in the way we understand time. He created time! He wants us to see Him as King over everything and for us to reflect back to Him all the glory. His love is everlasting because He is love and He is outside time. He is faithful. Jeremiah foretold of Israel’s return back to the Promised Land and He brought them back! I can’t get enough of this story of Him and His relationship with humanity. It’s fascinating to me and leaves me with a ton of questions, but hey! I’m learning to sit with them. Lovely Readers (or as my husband has decided you should be called “CCandL Heads”), have you ever seen His faithfulness, His hesed, in your life? Look for it. It’s there. It is completely independent of you, too. This is why the good news of the Gospel is amazing! It is all on Him!
Comentários