August 14, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, August 14.
Have you heard of the Bible word "Shibboleth"? A strange word, but an important word - not because of its literal meaning (stalk of wheat) - but because of how it is used in Judges 12. As the story goes, the Gideonites were at war with the Ephraimites and had just won a decisive battle. The surviving enemy soldiers were attempting to sneak across the Jordan River to safety, but the Gideonites placed sentries at the water's edge. They stopped everyone trying to cross and gave them an unusual instruction - "Say Shibboleth". They knew that the Ephraimites would mispronounce this word, and when they did, they were killed. The term has evolved through history to mean a word or pronunciation that identifies a person with a certain place or group.
We still do this today. For instance, if you're wondering whether the person you're talking to is a "true" Texan, just ask them to pronounce any of these Texas town names - Mexia, Gruene, Palacios, Refugio. Or just ask them to spell Nacogdoches. By the way, if you had trouble with any of those names, maybe you'd better check your birth certificate! You may just be a Texas wannabee! There are other words that demonstrate where we're from. If you grew up in the northeast and you're going to play basketball, you put on sneakers. But if you're from the south, you reach for tennie shoes. And after that game, when you're thirsty, if you grew up on the west coast, you're gonna drink a soda, or if you were born in the midwest, a pop. Here in the south, we just usually call everything a coke.
So, what word identifies us as Christians? This morning I'm thinking of a word that's found in only one verse of the Bible, Jeremiah 23:6 - "In his day, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called . . . Tsidkenu". The Hebrew meaning of this word is "The Lord Our Righteousness". And when you and I stand before God and He asks the eternal question, "Why should I let you in my heaven?", that will be our password. God, on that day, will have no interest in what we've done or not done with our lives. As Paul memorably put it, "our righteousness is as filthy rags". When we stand there in that eternal moment, we want God to see us standing in the holiness of Christ.
That is our Shibboleth. That is our Tsidkenu. That is our righteousness.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
