ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – HE REMOVED HIMSELF – SELQ סלק Samek Lamed Qop

​

ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – HE REMOVED HIMSELF – SELQ סלק Samek Lamed Qop

Acts 1:9-11: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (10) And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; (11) Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

​This has always been a mystery to me, at least in regards to the Trinity.  If Jesus dwells within us, then how is it He was taken up into heaven?  If he came right back to dwell within us, then how is it that we are to expectantly await His return?   Where is He at anyways?  Is He in heaven, on earth or within us?  

Well, for one thing, Jesus is simply the manifestation of God in human form.  God’s Spirit took on a human body. When we get to heaven we will not find three distinct beings or Gods but just one God who is a Spirit and able to be expressed in a human form but as God He will also be omnipresent.  Christians have tried to wrap their brain around the concept of the Trinity for 2,000 years and have failed so I just won’t get into that. Anything I say will be just my own opinion and most likely will not jive with your view of the Trinity.  So, let’s move on to something we might be able to understand.

In the ascension story we have some amazing events.  First those witnessing this event beheld Jesus. In Aramaic the word beheld is chazin which means to be revealed.  So, when Jesus spoke they chazin or received a revelation.  What was this revelation?  Jesus was taken up.  The word for taken up in Aramaic is ‘asethaleq from the root word seleg.  It does mean to be taken up, but that Taw put this is in an Ithpaal form which makes it reflexive and has the idea that he removed himself. You would read this not as taken up but that He removed himself.  Then it says a cloud received him.  The word cloud is where we tend to miss what is going on. This word for cloud  anna’ in Aramaic and in Hebrew is not your word for a cloud in the sky. This is a divine cloud like the cloud that rested on Mt. Sinai and in the tabernacle.  In a word it is the Shekinah Glory of God.  The word receive is qaval which has the idea of taking over and encompassing. Almost like he was absorbed into the Shekinah Glory.   C.S. Lewis describes it like a curtain on a stage.  The host steps out of the curtain and it is almost like he walks through the curtain because you cannot see among the folds of the curtain where is splits.  Then when he goes behind the curtain it is like he is folded into the curtain.  C.S. Lewis said that Jesus was passing through this dimension into the fourth dimension.  Remember, C.S. Lewis was a writer of Science Fiction and he knew about portals.   When Jesus said that He was the light of the world, He was saying that he was the bridge, the portal into the dimension of God, God’s realm which is beyond time and space.

The witnesses were not looking toward heaven but toward the heavens, plural, the sky. It does not say Jesus was taken into heaven only that the witnesses were looking up in the sky.  I mean one minute Jesus was there talking with them and the next minute this Divine Cloud, this Shekinah Glory came over Him and he was gone.  Where would your gaze go if someone suddenly disappeared in a Divine Cloud?  You would be looking up in the sky also. The closing of this portal would result in the disappearance of the Divine Cloud and Jesus.  

Then two men appeared.  It does not use the word malachi for angels or messengers but the word gavar which is the word for mighty, powerful men.  These were most likely angels but their appearance was not as messengers as they were not referred to as malachi. I believe their appearance was to assure the witnesses that even though Jesus seemingly disappeared his power was still present with them and these gavars were a symbol of this power. 

 I always took their question “Why stand you gazing into the heavens” as a statement of “You’re wasting time, get busy.”  If you think about it, that doesn’t make much sense as this gazing was only momentary and it surely would not change some eternal plan if they took a few moments to ponder this event.  I believe these gavars were saying, “You are looking in the wrong place, He is no longer in this natural realm but His Spirit does live inside of you and one day He will return to you as he left.  

The text is a little muddy here. Were these gavars speaking of the Second Coming?  If they were then that would suggest that Jesus went to heaven and there He remains until the second coming. The syntax in the Aramaic implies that those witnesses who saw Him leave will see Him return to receive them when their time to leave this physical realm comes, just as we shall see Him when our time comes.  Jesus will come for us personally, He will personally appear to us in this Shekinah Glory the moment our souls leave our bodies and He will personally escort us into His realm so shall we remain forever. Did He not promise that in John 14:3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.”

I see this is a blessed, wonderful promise for the moment I leave this physical body, I will receive that hug from Jesus and He will escort me to His realm. I know there are all these testimonies of people of had near death experiences and they saw a dark tunnel and an angel came and led them to meet their relatives and pet dog Sparky.  Eventually they get around to meeting Jesus if at all. Sometimes it is just an angel telling them to return.  I don’t question their subjective experience, I am just saying it is not Biblical.  Jesus promised to meet me personally when I pass from this earth and that is my expectation.  My relatives, parents and all those who have gone on before me and even Sparky if somehow he made it there, can wait.  The first person I want to see and the only person I want to see at that moment is Jesus and I don’t want some being of light or an angel escorting me through that dark tunnel.  I want to walk hand in hand with Jesus in that tunnel if there is such a thing and I ain’t going to stop talking about all those wonderful times we spent here on earth. He promised it in His Word and I am holding Him to it.

​

Hi there! Thank you for reading this Daily Word Study. Can I ask a favor? Share this Daily Word Study with your friends on Facebook and Twitter by clicking one of the icons below.

Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!