HEBREW WORD STUDY – TOO HARD – PALAH פלה  Pei Lamed Hei

Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah, Lord God! behold, thou has made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm and there is nothing too hard for thee.”

Matthew 19:26: “But Jesus beheld them and said unto them: With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

“But Jesus beheld them…”   Nobody looks up the Greek word for beheld  (emblepsas) because we all know what  it means to “beheld” or to “behold.”  It means to look at.  Did you know that there are over 8 different words in the Greek that are rendered as “hehold” and about four different words in the Hebrew that are rendered “behold?”   I know, I can hear you thinking it: “This guy really has got to get a life.”   But say, with all this “beholdings” going on in the Bible, did you ever stop to think that maybe there is a reason why Scripture uses this expression so much?  

Let’ s focus on the Greek word emblepas and the Hebrew word hineh. Both are rendered as behold and the Septuagint  uses emblepas for hineh in  Jeremiah 32:17.  This “looking at” or “beholding” carries the idea of looking into the world of the spirit.  In Matthew, when Jesus “beheld” his disciples, he was looking into their spirits. In Jeremiah when he uses the word “behold” he is saying that he is looking into the spirit realm.  

So why is all this “beholding” important?  Because the word pops up in two verses which reference the fact that with God nothing is too hard for Him or impossible for Him.  The thing is, for us to really understand that nothing is impossible or too hard for God, we must look beyond the natural world into the world of the spirit.   If we pursue the heart of God we will face mountains that appear too high to climb and valleys that a seem too long to cross. Yet, when we look through spiritual eyes we will see that nothing is impossible with God.  The word “possible” (Gk. dunatos) and “impossible” (adunatos)  both suggest a concept of strength and power.  That is why I directly relate Jeremiah 32:17 to Matthew 19:26.   Jesus is not saying that God can do everything.  There are, thankfully, things God cannot do.  He can not lie, break a promise, be unfaithful, unloving etc.   Jesus is, however, saying that nothing lies beyond the power of God.   This is what is behind the idea in Jeremiah 32:17 that nothing is “too hard” for God.   The word for “hard” is pala’ which carries the idea of being wonderful, marvelous.  The word is spelled Pei Lamed Hei which expresses the idea of God speaking heavenly miraculous things.   In other words, there is nothing that God says He will do that he can not do.  

The beauty of all this is found in the word “nothing.”  In Hebrew this is two words: “lo davar.”   My Hebrew students should recognize that phrase.   Lo – no,  davar – words spoken from the heart.  In other words we could render this as: “There are no divinely spoken words that are too wonderful, marvelous or miraculous for God.

Back in the early 1950’s a struggling unknown evangelist was holding a crusade in Los Angeles.  He was just another barn storming preaching of which there were hundreds and thousands.   Yet, within twenty four hours the name of Billy Graham was on the lips of people from all walks of life and all positions of power. Overnight Billy Graham became known around the world and the course of his life and ministry completely changed.   That change came about by two simple words spoken into a telephone.  Anybody could speak those words, but they would have had no impact on the world.  Only the man who spoke those words could have brought about the results that they did.  That man was William Randolph Hearst,  the most power media baron in the world.  After weeks and months of prayer and fasting by a group of unknown women, one managed to get a call to William Randolph Hearst and plead a case for Billy Graham.  Only God could have put favor for Billy Graham in the heart of this “King Cyrus” to pick up the phone and utter two words “Puff Graham.”  The “power of the press” took it from there. 

Nothing is too wonderful, marvelous or miraculous for God’s spoken Word.   As the Roman Centurion said to Jesus: “You are a man of authority, all you have to do is speak the word and my servant will be healed.”   No matter what it is you face, all you have to do is look through spiritual eyes, not natural eyes and say:: “God in the natural this is impossible, but with You nothing is impossible, just say the word.”