HEBREW WORD STUDY – FLATTERY – PATHAH פ תה
Psalms 78:36-37: “Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. (37) For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant.
The Psalmist is speaking of the many times during the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel when they refused to trust God. They did trust in God despite all the wondrous signs He gave them. Then when they started to suffer the consequences for their sins, they cried out to God and began to: “… flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.”
The word in Hebrew for flatter is yepathuhu from the root word pathah which means to be open, spacious, wide, entice, deceive or persuade or even to be seductive. It is like a woman who tries to seduce a rich man with flattering words, telling him how handsome he is, what a gentleman etc. She does not really care for the guy, she is only after his riches. We consider a guy falling for all this seductive talk thinking the gal really loves him. Everyone sees through it but the guy being seduced. We say that she played him for a fool.
Yet, do we not do the same to God? When we get into trouble suddenly we start going to church, praying, reading the Bible, doing all the things we think will seduce God into sharing his wealth us. We are playing God for a fool which He is not, He sees right through our insincere praise, worship. He won’t fall for it.
The next verse tells us that our hearts are not right. The word right in Hebrew is kun which means to be firm, planted and rooted in the ground. It means to be steadfast and unmoveable. Just as that gold digging woman will drop this rich man the moment he loses his riches, so to will believers, abandon God if they do not get to participate in His wealth. I have heard many people say: “I have tried Christianity, it just doesn’t work.” Obviously, they made a show of caring for God and may have made a play as the dutiful Christian, but like the gold digger their heart with God ’s wealth and power, not His heart.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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I have heard many Christians brag about how God blessed them a hundredfold. How they prayed and God gave them wonderful answers to prayer. Just as the gold digger loves to show off the jewelry her rich man gave her, but she has no love for the guy just as these gold digging Christians have no love for God. If God ever shuts off the of answered prayers and blessings these Christians will, like the gold-digging woman, abandon God for another god who will pay better.
I once heard a preacher say that Jesus was wealthy. His proof was that the disciples left a lucrative job to follow Jesus. This preacher’s argument was: “Who in their right minds would leave a good paying job for one that paid poverty wages. Jesus had to offer the disciples more money than they made fishing.” I saw people listening to this nodding their heads as if they say: “Yeah, you’re right, I would never leave my job unless I was offered more money.”
These are the people that God is talking about in Psalms 78:36-37. These are the people who turn to God only to get something from Him. To tap into His wealth. Their hearts are not tuned to His heart. They will say wonderful words of praise, thanksgiving, and worship. They will faithfully attend church every Sunday and they will surely pay 10 percent of their income before taxes with the full expectation of getting a whole lot more in return. They do not have a heart that is kun, steadfast in God. A heart that will still love God even if the blessings stop.
Their faithfulness to God is planted in their own selfish desires, in their own heart’s desires and if those desires are not met, they are gone. But if their heart’s desires are planted in the heart of God and a love for God then when the storms come they do not abandon ship but cling to the Rock they are anchored to.
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
Chaim,your descriptions this time is direct ,but humorous too ,haha ! ABANDON SHIP is because most people treat the Lord as a button for blessings….sad right ?
Let’s all open our heart for His Spirit to anoint us with His wisdom so that we will live in His LIGHT ,no need FLATTERY but in TRUTH and SPIRIT !
very beautiful
Thank you my Dear Teacher, You are absolutely correct in what you said .
Women aren’t the only gold- diggers men do it too . Sometimes they string along several women at the same time, until they drain the women’s bank account and leave them with a broken heart .
Yes we often flatter God because we want to get our behinds into heaven. It is my belief that we also insult God and may not realize we are doing it. The Jewish people believe that God answers all prayers . It’s just that the answer may be no. So are we saying that God is rude because he isn’t answering ? Believe me He is answering; we just aren’t listening.
We also insult Him when we say He can’t do this or He can’t do that . I believe He can do anything that He wants to do. We talk about the fact that God will wipe away our tears, but do we wish that we could wipe away His tears ?
May God Bless you all and keep you safe
You sound bitter about what you are seeing around you, especially at church. We are called to be the church not go to church. Perhaps you might think of asking God to meet your God family from the four corners of the earth, people of like mind, people who want the heart of God. The people you are talking about are the lukewarm church and they are being vomited out of Jesus’s mouth. Do not look to your right or left and keep your eyes on Jesus and what others are doing or not doing will not matter so much. I was miserable in a church and cannot go back because every single corporate entity had a mixture of truth and lies in their teachings. If Jesus is your first Love, be glad He is and let others choose for themselves and you will have peace, joy and love. We are not to be a busybody in the affairs of others but work out our own salvation with awe and trembling. Let it go, brother. May your understanding in this be opened, I pray for you, because it is so important not to waste our precious time on matters of no importance.
Thanks for this reminder to check our motives towards God.
I wish this lesson could be taught in every single church.
Amen. I really needed to hear this today. Bless you.