Yakhad: UNITED TOGETHER
Jan 10, 2021
hebrewwordlessons
UNITED/TOGETHER: yakhad. (Strong’s 3161/3162).
Root: יחד
Sounds like: yah-khad
In these days of quarantine it is, perhaps, more important than ever to cherish the very human instinct of togetherness and unity. It’s been a strange year of separation and even the most introverted of us miss working together, and playing together, and worshiping YHWH together.
Our sense of togetherness is seriously at risk… as we communicate more through email, texts and video-chats than we do in person. Thank goodness we have the technology to allow us to communicate in this way, but I worry that once the pandemic is lifted, we will forget to return to “normal”. We’ve become so ingrained with communicating from a distance, that communicating together may seem obsolete and outdated.
Churches and synagogues may be at most risk for losing their community. Church-from-home is easier (you can stay in your pyjamas), and cheaper (no gasoline is needed). But church is supposed to be about family: connecting, learning and praising together. Families can be maintained from a distance… but they cannot thrive when they are separated. Remote church is better than no church, but without adequate adjustments to maintain family connections, the church community will suffer.
Togetherness is of vital importance in the Bible. The word for unity/togetherness is yakhad and it comes out of the word for one and only: ekhad. We are all one-and-onlies, but we are meant to apply our uniqueness to community. We are meant to be together.
King David recognized the importance of family togetherness:
Psalm 133
[David:] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together [yakhad] in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, as on Aaron’s beard, the oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for YHWH commanded the blessing there—life forever.
Unity, togetherness, life… they are intertwined. Individuals are brought together in community and that’s a necessity for healthy human existence.
Come Together!
The community of humans who worship their Creator are meant to stick together. God called on His sons and daughters to unite:
Isaiah 45:20-22 (See also Isaiah 43:6b-26a)
“Gather yourselves and come; come together [yakh’dah], you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge, who carry around their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save. Declare and present your case; indeed, let them consult together [yakh’dah].
Who has announced this long ago? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, YHWH? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
YHWH wanted all the ends of the earth to join together and turn to Him. We are one, created, humanity and God wants us to unite. We are to gather together and serve Him:
Psalm 102:18-22
This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise YHWH:
For He looked down from His holy height; from heaven YHWH looked upon the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free those who were doomed to death, so that people may tell of the name of YHWH in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples are gathered together [yakh’dah], and the kingdoms, to serve YHWH.
But this is not how we are as a human race. We don’t always gather together… and when we do, it’s not always for good. We put a lot of stock in tribalism… us against them. We like to label ourselves to separate us from others. There is racial divide, gender divide, economic divide, cultural divide, and a division of nations. We are not united… we are not together.
The story of the Jewish people, found in the Tanakh (Old Testament), gives us a good picture of the dangers of these division.
When does the nation of Israel suffer the most? When they are fragmented.
Reuniting Israel & Judah
Only a couple of generations after King David, ten of the tribes of Israel rebelled against king Rehoboam and his stiff taxes and merciless behaviour. The twelve tribes were divided into two separate kingdoms: Judah in the South, and Israel in the North.
This was not pleasing to God. He wanted His people united, but they had turned on each other and they turned on Him. Instead they turned towards the gods of foreign lands. They forgot who they were and who their Creator was.
As a result, enemies (whom they had looked towards by worshiping pagan deities) came to them. Assyria defeated the kingdom of Israel and Babylon defeated Judah. The people were scattered and Jerusalem was razed to the ground.
But YHWH announced a future day when the tribes would once again unite:
Jeremiah 50:4-5, 33-34 (see also Jeremiah 3:117-18)
“In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, “The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah as well together [yakh’dah]; with continual weeping they shall come, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’
…This is what YHWH of armies says:
“The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well; and all who took them captive have held them firmly, they have refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong, YHWH of armies is His name; He will vigorously plead their case so that He may bring rest to their land, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.”
This was the final goal: togetherness, unity, peace. God united with His human creation, and humans united together.
Together Against
Unfortunately there were an awful lot of people who were united against YHWH and His people.
In the days of Joshua, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all united “together [yakh’dah] with one purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel” (Joshua 9:1-2).
When Nehemiah rebuilt the city walls in Jerusalem (after the Babylonian invasion), the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites “conspired together [yakh’dah] to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it” (Nehemiah 4:8).
For followers of YHWH this has been a very hard pill to swallow. If they were under YHWH’s protection then why were they always in such danger? Why was their unity at risk? Why did they have so many enemies?
The Psalmists prayed for God to take action:
Psalm 83:1-5
God, do not remain quiet; do not be silent and, God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire (together) against Your treasured ones.
They have said, “Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation, so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” For together [yakh’dah], with one mind, they make a covenant against You.”
An unnamed Psalmist pointed out the enemy’s power play against them.
Psalm 71:10-11
For my enemies have spoken against me; and those who watch for my life have consulted together [yakh’dah], saying, “God has abandoned him; pursue and seize him, for there is no one to save him.”
But their enemies were wrong. God does not abandon His people. YHWH would save them.
Uniting our Hearts
YHWH would save them in a far more profound way than just delivering them from their enemies. He would save them from death itself.
Psalm 86:11-13
[David:] Teach me Your way, YHWH; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart [yakhed l’vavi] to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. For Your graciousness toward me is great, and You have saved my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
Saving our souls from Sheol was the purpose and the point of the “Greatest Story Ever Told”. Humans once walked in the Garden of Eden with YHWH, side by side, face to face. It was a beautiful union, a portrait in togetherness. But Adam (Humanity) and Eve (Life) got greedy… they desired to take the one thing God asked them to refrain from. Blatantly disobeying God they took what they desired in the hopes that they would become gods themselves, making themselves equal to God’s power. But no fruit could deliver that kind of power, and Eve and Adam, with their sin of disobedience, caused their own exile out of the Garden.
And with their exile came death. No longer where they under the divine protection in the Garden, now they entered the wild, chaotic, wilderness space… a space where humans were enslaved to death… and where Sheol (the grave) awaited them.
But this was not what God wanted. He wanted unity. He wanted togetherness with HIs people. So He put a plan into action. He would send His Anointed One, His Son, to defeat death and bring His people back home to Him in the Garden. By uniting our hearts to YHWH we could escape death. David understood this when he said, “You have saved my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
To the Grave Alone, or United Together?
The choice was left to humans: Alone or together? Go down to the grave alone, or unite together in the Presence of God.
hebrewwordlessons.com
God bless
J.
Jan 10, 2021
hebrewwordlessons
UNITED/TOGETHER: yakhad. (Strong’s 3161/3162).
Root: יחד
Sounds like: yah-khad
In these days of quarantine it is, perhaps, more important than ever to cherish the very human instinct of togetherness and unity. It’s been a strange year of separation and even the most introverted of us miss working together, and playing together, and worshiping YHWH together.
Our sense of togetherness is seriously at risk… as we communicate more through email, texts and video-chats than we do in person. Thank goodness we have the technology to allow us to communicate in this way, but I worry that once the pandemic is lifted, we will forget to return to “normal”. We’ve become so ingrained with communicating from a distance, that communicating together may seem obsolete and outdated.
Churches and synagogues may be at most risk for losing their community. Church-from-home is easier (you can stay in your pyjamas), and cheaper (no gasoline is needed). But church is supposed to be about family: connecting, learning and praising together. Families can be maintained from a distance… but they cannot thrive when they are separated. Remote church is better than no church, but without adequate adjustments to maintain family connections, the church community will suffer.
Togetherness is of vital importance in the Bible. The word for unity/togetherness is yakhad and it comes out of the word for one and only: ekhad. We are all one-and-onlies, but we are meant to apply our uniqueness to community. We are meant to be together.
King David recognized the importance of family togetherness:
Psalm 133
[David:] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together [yakhad] in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, as on Aaron’s beard, the oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for YHWH commanded the blessing there—life forever.
Unity, togetherness, life… they are intertwined. Individuals are brought together in community and that’s a necessity for healthy human existence.
Come Together!
The community of humans who worship their Creator are meant to stick together. God called on His sons and daughters to unite:
Isaiah 45:20-22 (See also Isaiah 43:6b-26a)
“Gather yourselves and come; come together [yakh’dah], you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge, who carry around their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save. Declare and present your case; indeed, let them consult together [yakh’dah].
Who has announced this long ago? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, YHWH? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
YHWH wanted all the ends of the earth to join together and turn to Him. We are one, created, humanity and God wants us to unite. We are to gather together and serve Him:
Psalm 102:18-22
This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise YHWH:
For He looked down from His holy height; from heaven YHWH looked upon the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free those who were doomed to death, so that people may tell of the name of YHWH in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples are gathered together [yakh’dah], and the kingdoms, to serve YHWH.
But this is not how we are as a human race. We don’t always gather together… and when we do, it’s not always for good. We put a lot of stock in tribalism… us against them. We like to label ourselves to separate us from others. There is racial divide, gender divide, economic divide, cultural divide, and a division of nations. We are not united… we are not together.
The story of the Jewish people, found in the Tanakh (Old Testament), gives us a good picture of the dangers of these division.
When does the nation of Israel suffer the most? When they are fragmented.
Reuniting Israel & Judah
Only a couple of generations after King David, ten of the tribes of Israel rebelled against king Rehoboam and his stiff taxes and merciless behaviour. The twelve tribes were divided into two separate kingdoms: Judah in the South, and Israel in the North.
This was not pleasing to God. He wanted His people united, but they had turned on each other and they turned on Him. Instead they turned towards the gods of foreign lands. They forgot who they were and who their Creator was.
As a result, enemies (whom they had looked towards by worshiping pagan deities) came to them. Assyria defeated the kingdom of Israel and Babylon defeated Judah. The people were scattered and Jerusalem was razed to the ground.
But YHWH announced a future day when the tribes would once again unite:
Jeremiah 50:4-5, 33-34 (see also Jeremiah 3:117-18)
“In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, “The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah as well together [yakh’dah]; with continual weeping they shall come, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’
…This is what YHWH of armies says:
“The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well; and all who took them captive have held them firmly, they have refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong, YHWH of armies is His name; He will vigorously plead their case so that He may bring rest to their land, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.”
This was the final goal: togetherness, unity, peace. God united with His human creation, and humans united together.
Together Against
Unfortunately there were an awful lot of people who were united against YHWH and His people.
In the days of Joshua, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all united “together [yakh’dah] with one purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel” (Joshua 9:1-2).
When Nehemiah rebuilt the city walls in Jerusalem (after the Babylonian invasion), the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites “conspired together [yakh’dah] to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it” (Nehemiah 4:8).
For followers of YHWH this has been a very hard pill to swallow. If they were under YHWH’s protection then why were they always in such danger? Why was their unity at risk? Why did they have so many enemies?
The Psalmists prayed for God to take action:
Psalm 83:1-5
God, do not remain quiet; do not be silent and, God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire (together) against Your treasured ones.
They have said, “Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation, so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” For together [yakh’dah], with one mind, they make a covenant against You.”
An unnamed Psalmist pointed out the enemy’s power play against them.
Psalm 71:10-11
For my enemies have spoken against me; and those who watch for my life have consulted together [yakh’dah], saying, “God has abandoned him; pursue and seize him, for there is no one to save him.”
But their enemies were wrong. God does not abandon His people. YHWH would save them.
Uniting our Hearts
YHWH would save them in a far more profound way than just delivering them from their enemies. He would save them from death itself.
Psalm 86:11-13
[David:] Teach me Your way, YHWH; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart [yakhed l’vavi] to fear Your name. I will give thanks to You, Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. For Your graciousness toward me is great, and You have saved my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
Saving our souls from Sheol was the purpose and the point of the “Greatest Story Ever Told”. Humans once walked in the Garden of Eden with YHWH, side by side, face to face. It was a beautiful union, a portrait in togetherness. But Adam (Humanity) and Eve (Life) got greedy… they desired to take the one thing God asked them to refrain from. Blatantly disobeying God they took what they desired in the hopes that they would become gods themselves, making themselves equal to God’s power. But no fruit could deliver that kind of power, and Eve and Adam, with their sin of disobedience, caused their own exile out of the Garden.
And with their exile came death. No longer where they under the divine protection in the Garden, now they entered the wild, chaotic, wilderness space… a space where humans were enslaved to death… and where Sheol (the grave) awaited them.
But this was not what God wanted. He wanted unity. He wanted togetherness with HIs people. So He put a plan into action. He would send His Anointed One, His Son, to defeat death and bring His people back home to Him in the Garden. By uniting our hearts to YHWH we could escape death. David understood this when he said, “You have saved my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
To the Grave Alone, or United Together?
The choice was left to humans: Alone or together? Go down to the grave alone, or unite together in the Presence of God.
Yakhad: UNITED TOGETHER
UNITED/TOGETHER: yakhad. (Strong’s 3161/3162). Root: יחד Sounds like: yah-khad In these days of quarantine it is, perhaps, more important than ever to cherish the very human instinct of togethernes…
hebrewwordlessons.com
God bless
J.
