Basic Lesson 2 Never Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch!

Don't think it really is, but I'm calling this one; "Blue Moon over Kentucky!"

Whew!  It has been a long three weeks since I last posted anything and I have been as busy as a bee!  I was fortunate to have had three weeks of vacation which were used to get those once in a blue moon projects done at home and fine tune some others.  Now I have had one week under my belt back at work and I am plum tuckered out!!!

I hope I don't rub any of you the wrong way with this post and I ask that you not, jump the gun in your thinking process.  Please don't change your tune about my blog.  I haven't just pulled something out of the air, there is a point to this rambling no matter how it sounds and although it is late, I'm tired and it is raining cats and dogs outside right now.

Have you been able to understand anything I have said so far?  If you are a southern American you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?  Each of the phrases in italics are what is referred to in language as idioms.  An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally and is peculiar to a group of people.  In fact, just as I started to write this post I overheard a line from an old Western on television (which my husband was watching) that said, "Well, we can kill two birds with one stone with this one."  What perfect timing!  Ain't God good?

In America we use them every day.  I will never forget several years ago when I worked in an office and we had a young man working with us from Finland.  A co-worker, named Mike, in our office was dieting and every day he would bring a few small potatoes which he would microwave and then mash with a fork and top with lemon juice.  Our Finnish visitor asked Mike one day what he was eating to which Mike replied in his best southern voice, "smashed taters."  Tim rebutted, (imagine this in your best Arnold accent) "Smashed taters, never heard of such!"  We all had a good laugh!

I was suddenly awakened to the fact that the rest of the world was not as well versed on mashed potatoes as was West Kentucky and the rest of the Southern United States.  That fact can be reversed as well.  Tim taught us that fact all too well.  Another co-worker's college aged daughter stopped by one day and after she left Tim called this gentleman on the phone and simply said, "How much for the girl?"  After a long string of @##%$'s from the receiver, the phone slammed down on the other end and Tim looked perplexed.  We all began to scream, "No Tim!  You can't say that!  You can get arrested for that here!"

 Later we all had a good laugh when we found out what he really meant!  That phrase in Finland meant nothing like our thoughts on it in America!!!  To him it simply meant what would it take to get a date with the girl, nothing more or nothing less and it meant you ask the father first before asking the daughter.  The absolute opposite of what we had in mind!

My entire point in this story....idioms.  If you are from the south, we call them sayings.  Every culture, every people group, every country has them, even Jews.  And every people group uses them in their writings.  Yes, even in the Bible and do you remember the definition of an idiom?  A word or a phrase that is not taken literally?  So, how do you know what is an idiom and what isn't if you aren't familiar with the language?  You need a local who is familiar with the jargon of that area or people, right?  If that is so, then why have we been interpreting the Bible for thousands of years without a Jewish guide?  Could there be things we have taken literally that were actually idioms?  Could you imagine someone who is just learning English reading the first two paragraphs of this blog and taking everything I said, literally?

Well.....there are lots of idioms in the Bible and we have misinterpreted many of them and taken them literally.  Let me give you an example or two. Abolish and fulfill.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 "Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the words of the prophets.  I have not come to abolish but to fulfill."  I have always been taught that this verse is interpreted to mean that Jesus did not do away with the Law, but that through His death He fulfilled the Law so that we do not have to adhere to the Law any longer.  Hmmmmm that interpretation leaves lots of holes and questions, but no time to go there now.  The truth is that abolish and fulfill are legal terms.  Abolish refers to false teachers of the Torah or someone who is teaching heresy. Fulfill refers to someone who is teaching the truth of Torah and bringing honor not only to their Rabbi, but the Lord God Himself in doing so; they are said to be the Word in the flesh.  Goodness, does that make a great deal more sense to you in the context of that scripture?

Alright let me give you one more.  Old and new.  We have read the words in John 13:34 "I am giving you a new commandment: that you love one another."  Was this really something brand spanking new?  No!  Old referred to the original way something was viewed, such as Torah and new referred to looking at that same thing from a fresh new perspective.  Now, can you look at Matthew 26:28 the same; "Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant,....."  this is actually a quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34.  It is not a NEW covenant, but a fresh perspective on the old covenant with God's people.

Let him who has ears, hear and him who has eyes to see, see!  Jesus said in John 8:31-32; "If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  Jeremiah 29:13 tells us: "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."  You can find the truth, but it must be sought.  The choice is yours.  Sometimes the difference between a truth and an untruth lies in a minor idiosyncrasy.  Perhaps it is something so small as the one and only letter which differentiates between the two words idiom and idiot!