ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – PEACE – SHALOMA  שלמא Shin Lamed Mem Aleph

John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

My study partner commented on how all the religions of the world practice peace and harmonization. Except Christianity, we make noise, are busy and do everything else but practice peace. Yet, unlike all the other religions of the world peace is imparted to us by Jesus, we don’t have to work for it.  When she mentioned that I thought of Samson Hirsch’s definition of shalom which we all know is peace.  How do you define peace.  In our English peace is a sense of serenity, relaxation, freedom from worry and stress. That is what I think of when I think of peace.  We talk of a peaceful environment, being alone in a forest or near a lake without anyone nearby as a place of peace.  People go to therapist seeking help to find peace, married couples seek to find peace in their marriage where there is no strife, anger or tension, just a feeling of oneness with each other. 

All of this and more fits the word shalom. So what did Jesus mean that He would leave peace.  Actually the word in Aramaic for leave is shavaq which is a word used for divorce, to forsake or to impart. It is a separation.  When Jesus said “My peace I leave with you” He is saying that He is actually taking a part of himself, that peaceful part and giving it to us.  He is imparting His peace.  That is why He says it is not a peace that the word gives.  The word gives is yahav which is not like nathan which is the word for giving.  Yahav has the idea of earning something. Like you are given a paycheck like an employee. You work for it.  The Buddhist, Muslims, Hindus as all other religions promising peace teach steps to take to earn this peace.  Then you get your peace.  It is not the master’s peace but it is yours, you earned it. However, what Jesus is teaching is that the peace He is providing is His peace, it is imparted to you, it is shavq not yahav.

Christians go to church saying they lost their peace and they try to recapture it through praise and worship. Praise and worship does not necessarily bring peace. With Jesus living inside of you, you always have that peace in your spirit.  However, Jesus is holy, His peace is holy and if there is unholiness in you it will block that peace.  Worship and praise all you want but until you allow Jesus to remove that unholiness from you He can not share His peace with you. 

Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” As long as we dwell on this earth we will have a corrupt body and mind. We will be struggling with the powers and rulers of darkness that try to control our bodies and minds so we don’t praise and worship God nor experience the peace Jesus has imparted sharq to us.

Jesus, however, died to cleanse our spirits which are eternal and He has made our spirits holy, where the old body and physical brain will die and turn to dust.  The enemy knows he cannot touch our spirits as that now belongs to God if you accepted his gift of salvation, but our bodies and minds are open territory. That is why in Psalms 103:1 David is literally screaming and demanding that his soul – nephesh – mind bless the Lord.  His spirit is longing to praise God but his soul keeps interfering with its lack of peace, its fears, its worries and cares.  David has to take his soul by the cuff of the collar, slam it against a wall and demand: “Soul, get with the program, stop with you worries and cares, I have a spirit at peace and I want it to be released. So start praising God already.  Think of all His benefits.” David knew that he had the peace of God in his soul but his body and mind kept blocking that peace.  Here is where praise and worship brings peace. What praise and worship do is to release your spirit from the shackles that your mind and body put on it.  You confess sins, you repent during worship and when God forgives, the mind and body start coming online.  The body might start doing something strange like swinging from the chandeliers.  Your mind will still keep wrestling with you but will eventually give in and get with the program and allow the spirit to take the leadership rule of your life. As long as your spirit has that old body and mind under control, you will know peace, the peace of Jesus, not your peace that you get by practicing all the tricks of the trade of other religions. The peace of Jesus is not earned, it is a gift you just need to simply surrender to God’s holiness.  

But what is peace actually?  Samson Hirsch, and my Study Partner, they call it complete, perfect harmonization with God. The religions of the word teaches complete, perfect harmonization with nature, with others and with yourself. Something you have to accomplish through various tricks of the trade, something you accomplish yourself yahav. However, if we have complete harmonization with God, the peace Jesus shavaq imparts to us and not what we earn yahav then harmonization with nature, others and yourself will naturally follow.