Life Sustainer

At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes.

From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites,

for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.

Nehemiah 12:44

Last time we saw our groups take their place in Temple and, under the leadership of Jezrahiah (“Yah will shine”), the great praise and happiness of men, women, and children was heard far off. Today we see those dealing with Temple storerooms.

First we see that men were appointed (paqad – concerned, visit, muster, appoint, assigned, called to account, commit, entrust, made overseer, put in charge, surely take care, avenge, bestow) to be in charge of rooms of the storehouse (otsar – a treasury, storehouse, cellar) for the offerings, the firstfruits, and tithes.

Let’s start unpacking firstfruits, since they’re…first. The word is reshith meaning “beginning, choice, finest, head, top” and is used for “In the beginning” in Genesis. This was quite literally the first of the produce or animals born to the people. And it belonged to Yahweh.

Anything that stir in you? Since selling our house we’ve been busily buying things to get set for our extended RV trip. It makes me take pause and remember the first, best, and beginning portion should be His.

Let’s go with the tithes next, as this one is prescriptive as well. Tithe is the word masser, meaning “tenth part.” It originates with Abraham after a battle in Genesis 14:

“After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.“

The first use of this word tithe (masser) is in relationship to a priest of the Most High God. And Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils after being blessed by the Creator.

I’m convinced the Creator of all does not need a tenth of that with which what He blesses us, but we need the practice of offering it, lest His provision turn into our pride.

Offerings is the final category of produce and livestock being taken care of by these men in the Temple storeroom. Offering is the Hebrew word terumah meaning “contribution, offering for sacred use, offered by lifting.” I glanced through the 76 times this word is used, and each point to a freely given offering. Except one: when used in Proverbs as a ruler greedy for bribes.

I find that contrast striking. This is not referring to the first and best of a crop, nor is it the tenth of all harvested. This is over and above, given freely to the one who may have worked hard, but in the end, has simply freely received. The opposite would be demanding an unwilling bribe to do what ought be done anyway, perverting justice.

And all these offerings were to be put in the storehouse and the men in our verses today were in charge of them. Let’s see what they were to do with all these gifts.

These gifts were to be collected “from the fields around the towns,” which is our next phrase. I just connected some fascinating dots about that word fields. The Hebrew is sadeh, which means…field. But it is the same as Shadday, more commonly seen in the phrase El Shaddai.

This is translated as Almighty, but its more literal and field-like reference refers to a goat feeding her babies milk to sustain them. I had learned from this book that El Shaddai had the idea of a nursing mother being the only one able to calm and sustain a fussy infant, and based on this excerpt, it makes even more sense:

“Many times a translator will not translate a Hebrew word literally because the literal meaning would mean nothing to the Western mind and in some cases would actually be offensive to the Western reader. Such is the case with the word שדי (shaddai). The use of the word “Almighty” by the translator is his attempt at translating the text in a manner that will both make sense to the Western reader as well as retain some of the meaning of the original Hebrew word.

The parent root for this word is שד (shad). The original pictograph for this word is . The (sh) is a picture of the two front teeth and has the meaning of “sharp,” “press” (as from chewing) as well as “two.” The (d) is a picture of a tent door with a meaning of “hang” or “dangle” as the door is hung or dangles down from the top of the tent.

The combined meanings of the and would be “two danglers.” The goat was a very common animal within the herds of the Hebrews. It produces milk within the udder and is extracted by the goat kid by squeezing and sucking on the two teats dangling below the udder. The function of these teats is to provide all the necessary nourishment for the kids, as they would die without it. The Hebrew word שדי (shaddai) also has the meaning of a “teat.” Just as the goat provides nourishment to its kids through the milk, God nourishes his children through his milk and provides all the necessities of life. This imagery can be seen in the following passage:

‘And I will come down to snatch them [Israel] from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and wide land to a land flowing with milk and honey.‘ Exodus 3:8

The word שדי (teat) is often coupled with the word אל (mighty, strong) creating the phrase אל שדי (el shaddai) literally meaning the “mighty teat,” hence we can see the translator’s reluctance to literally translate this phrase in this manner and instead using the more sanitized “God Almighty.”

The idea of God being characterized as having teats does not sit well in our Western culture. We are familiar with identifying with God as a father, but not as a mother.

The Hebrew word for mother is אם (em) or in the ancient pictographic script. The ox head meaning “strength” combined with the picture for “water” () forms the word meaning “strong water.” Animal’s hides were placed in a pot of boiling water. As the hide boiled, a thick sticky substance formed at the surface of the water and was removed and used as glue, a binding liquid or “strong water.” The mother of the family is the “one who binds the family together.”

God can be seen as the “glue” that holds the whole universe together. This is more than a figurative statement but also very scientific. All matter is composed of atoms, which consist of protons with a positive charge and electrons with a negative charge. The protons are packed together in the nucleus, the center of the atom, while the electrons orbit the nucleus. Since each proton has a positive charge, each proton should repel the others causing the protons to fly apart, but for some unknown reason, they do not. This phenomenon is called “nucleic bonding.” God literally “binds” the entire universe together.

“male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

..God has the characteristics of both male and female…[He] promised the nation of Israel that he would bring them into a “land flowing with milk and honey.”

God as the אל שדי (el shaddai), the mighty teat, will supply his children with his life sustaining milk.”

(Jeff Brenner’s His Name is One, emphasis mine)

Isn’t His living Word incredible? His character sublime?

So from this Mighty Provider, in the fields, these appointed men were to gather up the the portions (menath – allotment) by the Law (torah) for the priests and Levites.

You might already know when Yahweh divided up land for the tribes of Israel, He gave none to the Levites. Why? The LORD was to be their inheritance. And instead of tending the fields, they were to work in Temple and eat from these tithes and offerings of the landowners.

The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel.

They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance.

They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.

Deuteronomy 18:1-2

But I think an exciting part of today’s verses is that the people, Judah, rejoiced (simchah– happiness and merriment from last time) over (al – hovered over) the priests and Levites who ministered (amad – take one’s stand). In other words: the returning exiles’ great joy hovered over those ministering in Temple.