HF145 - The Knitting of the Lord
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Wed, August 3, 2005
Subject: Bible Study HF145 - The Knitting of the Lord
Hebraics,
"Saul spoke to David, saying, 'Whose son are you, young man?' And David answered, 'I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.'" What is said next will become part of the following study. We then read, "Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself." (1Sam17:58-18:1)
This is Bible Study HF145 - The Knitting of the Lord.
In this study we want to consider two interrelated ideas. One has to do with the knitting of souls and hearts. The other has to do with the weaving work of the Lord. Weaving would simply speak of how the Lord arranges events in our lives to keep us on the course He has designed for us. These two ideas flow together.
Reaching back to where the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, let's first consider the Hebrew terms being used. The Hebrew word for knit, that is, qashar [kaw-shar'], points to a binding, a joining together, or the making of a league. It speaks to the strength of the bond. Notice it says, "Jonathan loved him as himself."
The term 'soul' (nephesh) is generally used to express the personal life, that is, our inner being with its thoughts and emotions. Speaking of this love between David and Jonathan, an early writer said, "Friendship is an entire sameness, and one soul. A friend is another self."
This is almost a theological statement. Theologians often refer to Christ as God's other self, and to the Holy Spirit as Christ's other self. Such a mystery this. In this we can call attention to the prayer of Jesus; "That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may know that You sent Me." (John 17:21)
Isn't this interesting. The world will know about Jesus when the hearts of believers are seen to be knitted with love. (I'm using the word 'knit' freely.) Of course the Lord is speaking of an other- worldly love. The love that Jesus calls attention to is a love given to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a love that belongs to the new creation people of God. Paul said, "The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Rom5:5)
As we cross over into the New Testament we find a similar expression as was seen in the knitting of David and Jonathan. Addressing the Colossian believers, Paul calls attention to how a church is given oneness in the Spirit. He says, "That their hearts may be encouraged, HAVING BEEN KNIT TOGETHER IN LOVE, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding..." (Col2:2 - Caps are used throughout the study for emphasis only.)
Can it be that God actually knits believers as a church unit, that is, as a flocking of believers? I believe this is exactly the case. The Lord joins hearts to hearts. Of course this knitting can only come from God Himself.
Perhaps it even goes beyond the knitting of a particular flock. I meet with a group of ministers each Wednesday morning. We are all from varied church backgrounds, including Methodist, Assembly of God, Baptist, Nondenominational, Wesleyan, Nazarene, and so forth. Yet there is this 'knitting' of brotherly love that has lasted for a number of years. Is God in this? Yes --- God can do what we cannot do.
However in all this there is need for caution. There is a perverted form of love, if it can even be called love, that seeks to make David's and Jonathan's love to be homosexual. They take this from a dirge that David wrote following the death of Saul and Jonathan. In the dirge David says, "I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; you have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful that the love of women." (2Sa1:26)
The Hebrew word that David uses for love is ahabah (a-hab-aw'). While it can speak of the love of a man for a woman, or of a love between friends, it is more often used with regard to the forming of a covenant. Note how it is used for God's love to His people; "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His LOVE (ahabah) and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old." (Isa63:9)
Here the Lord speaks of His people and Himself as being one with Him, at least on His part. Is this not the knitting of hearts? Did not the Lord say much the same to Saul as he was out to persecute Christians. Falling to the ground, Saul asked, "Who are you Lord?" He heard this response, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." (Ac9:5) To persecute the Christians was to persecute Jesus. This is true covenant love.
Coming back to David, I would go a step further and add that David's and Jonathan's soul being knitted together likely had to do with God's redemption program. This alliance would play an important part in David coming to the kingship. The Lord gave Jonathan a love for David. Later Jonathan says he knew the kingdom was to be given to David. How did Jonathan know this? It must have been of the Spirit.
But let's leave that as it is. The question we should ask now is, 'Does God concern Himself in the work of weaving or knitting lives together?' I say yes. What say ye? Let's continue on.
Here again we must leave our emotions behind. Emotions cannot be depended upon. The weaving of the Lord is much deeper. It is a thing of the Holy Spirit and of the heart. Paul makes this pretty clear when he wrote, "[The Colossian Christians] having been knit together in love." It has been my experience as a long-time pastor, that when the Lord places a believer into a particular body of believers, the knitting of hearts becomes part of this placement.
There are other Scriptures that allude to this knitting being a work of Christ Himself. Consider these:
"...upon this Rock [the revealing of Christ and the person of Christ] I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." (Mt16:18 - Christ is the builder of the church, not man.)
"...and the Lord OPENED HER HEART to respond to the things spoken by Paul." (Act16:14 - Only the Lord can open hearts in this sense.)
"But now GOD HAS PLACED THE MEMBERS, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." (1Co12:18. While this may speak of giftings, can it not also apply to God placing us where we need to be?)
"... not yet as lording it over those ALLOTTED TO YOUR CHARGE." (1Pe5:3)
"... when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many has had been APPOINTED TO ETERNAL LIFE believed." (Act13:48)
--- All these are partial quotes. Feel free to check context ---
Now let's move on and include the idea of God weaving circumstances and situations and peoples and events together at various points in our lives in order to accomplish His purpose for us. (Quite a long sentence, but the point is made.)
First we need to understand that the Lord is always at work in our lives, even when we are not conscious of it. He said that He would be with us always. But was He at work in our lives before we came to know Him personally? There are Scriptures that indicate such. Consider the following:
"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." (Ps139:16 - A good Psalm to read in its entirety.)
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." (Jer1:5 - Jeremiah still speaks as a prophet to the nations through his book.)
"But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles..." (Gal1:15,16)
Stop and think about it --- Paul was set apart from his mother's womb to be a preacher of the gospel. How about all those years before he came to know Jesus personally. Was the Lord in the background of his life during those years? This had to be the case if Paul was set apart from his mother's womb. Think about it.
One might say, 'Well this only applied to certain great men, that is, men like David, Jeremiah, and Paul, and other selected great men.' But is that truly the case? Consider this Scripture: "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him, in love." (Eph1:4,5)
Now this brings us to another question. Is God involved in every detail of our life? No, not in the sense that He causes us to sin. Yet the Lord is always present in the scenes of our life to continue His work for His purpose. Did not the apostle say, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Cf. Rom8:28-31)
Paul did not say that God is the cause of all things. That would make Him the author of our sins, of our misdeeds, of our failures, of even the evil motives of our hearts. What Paul said was that God causes the whole of our lives to work together according to His purpose. (This is where the free-will of man and the oversight of God can be seen together.)
Yes, God has a purpose for each and every one of His children. It says, "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers..." (Ac13:26)
Concerning all believers, it says, "We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." (Eph1:11)
And again, "[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." (2Ti1:9)
Now --- Look back on your life. Can you see the rock from which you were hewn? When the Lord told Israel to look to Abraham, that is, the rock from which they were hewn, He was telling them to look at Abraham's life, and how the Lord worked in his life. Was not the Lord in every step that Abraham made? Was He not in the background even in Abraham's failings? Yes, and Abraham serves as the prototype of the believer's walk.
I can look back over my 65 years, by way to my childhood, and say, 'Yes, God was there then.' And, 'Yes, He has woven my life to bring me to where I am.' And, 'Yes, even in my stumblings in life, the weaver was there.' How can I say that? Did not David say, "The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand." (Ps37:23,24)
May I make a suggestion that you take time to read the whole of Psalm 37. David wrote this as an old man. Read it and then read it again, and again, until its message sinks into the deep of your understanding.
So, what about peoples and events? Yes, the Lord brings people into our lives according to His plan. Yes, there are circumstances that are arranged by God for our lives, by which we will find ourselves moving further along the journey of His will.
How about right now --- How can I know that the Lord is knitting my life together? I am glad you asked that question. You can know. You are designed to know. But it is not a knowing in your emotions or necessarily in your mind. It is a knowing of the Spirit and in your spirit.
My point is that we can know the working of God in our own lives, if we will stop long enough to pay attention. The apostle said, "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil2:13)
And again it says, "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, WORKING IN US THAT WHICH IS PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Heb13:20,21)
There is much more to be said about the knitting and the weaving of the Lord. I'll leave off my part of the study for now. Please feel free to share your thoughts, your experiences, and your questions. This is an excellent study to cause a further understanding of the life we are called to live.
The study is open.
Blessings,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)