Hebrew Word Study  – Snow – Shalag – שלג     Shin Lamed Gimmel  

Love That Snow

Job 38:22: “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow, hast thou seen  the treasures of the hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble against the day of battle  and war?”

I fear I must report some very bad news I heard today, the groundhog saw his shadow. Yep, six more weeks or winter. What better way to commemorate this occasion than with our first big snowstorm in three years.  Trying to get disabled people into my bus, avoid getting stuck in the snow, and then try to remember rule #1 when driving in snow-covered streets in Chicago: “Expect the crazies.” 

But I made it to my apartment, alive and I am tired, oh so tired.  I think I am getting a little too old for this disability bus stuff. I think I am ready to become disabled myself.  Then, after a day of fighting the snow,  this verse from Job always pops up in my mind where God asks Job if he has entered the treasures of the snow. Like, really?  There are treasures in the snow? I know I did a study on this some time ago, but I forgot what that treasure was, so I dug it up and invite you to join me down memory lane as I follow the advice of Hippocrates “cura te ipsum” – “Physician, heal thyself.”  

This verse in Job may very well be a reference to Joshua 10:11 where  God stopped Israel’s enemies with snow and hail.  Hitler’s advance into Russia was stopped by a winter snowstorm. That snowstorm was a treasure for the entire free world. Historians say that had Hitler made it to Moscow he would have ruled the world and finished off his “final solution.”  The Talmud does teach we are to never forget the literal meaning of a Scripture passage.  

The beauty of the Old Testament and its poetry is that you can drill down further beyond its literal meaning and discover hidden treasures.  For instance, hail was often viewed as seeds falling from heaven and replanting the earth.  Snow carries a very powerful symbolic meaning for the Jews, The Zohar represents snow as the purest form of white. My father used to say that snow was so white you could take a white shirt and lay it by the snow and it would appear dirty. Hence, the purity of God and His wisdom are pictured as the snow.  The treasures of snow and hail are used in time for trouble. The word in Hebrew for trouble is tsar which means the loss or potential loss of something of value. Battle and war often mean the loss of something of value and yet God is asking, “have you seen the treasure house filled with hail or seeds to replant what you have lost, and have you entered into the purity of the wisdom of God?” In the midst of trouble, we can look at the purity of God and know that all we will lose in our trouble is that which keeps us from the purity of God which is a doorway to His heart.

Occasionally on our Full Access site, I take our members down the esoteric trail of the Hebrew language.  What do I mean by that?  Well, let’s look at something esoteric, ie., the Gematria. Snow in the Hebrew is shaleg.  It is spelled with a Shin which has a numerical value of  300, Lamed = 30 and Gimmel = 3 which gives snow or shaleq a numerical value of 333.  The Hebrew word shich’cha also has a numerical value of 333 and that word means forgetfulness.  The sages teach that when two Hebrew words share the same numerical value they have some sort of relationship.

I saw that relationship today as I drove my disability bus through the hood in the Lawndale area. This area has one of the highest crime rates in Chicago. It is gang-infested, drug-infested, and crime-infested.  Every building is in disrepair or boarded up. Trash usually covers the ground and there really is nothing I would call beautiful about this area except, today, in the midst of the snowstorm and that pure white snow-covered all the defilements of the area making it actually look beautiful.  “Have you entered the storehouse of forgetfulness?”  That snow causes me to forget how ugly and rundown that area is.  In the midst of your trouble, have you entered God’s storehouse of snow that will cover all those horrible things in your life and almost make you forget them?

333 is also the numerical value for our imagination.  Specifically a positive imagination.  When we come to the treasury of God’s storehouse of snow our imagination brings us into a wonderland of all the things that God has prepared for us, beyond what we can even imagine.  No wonder God told Job sitting there in his misery, “Job, all you see is your trouble, but if you would just enter my storehouse of snow, of hope and a positive imagination, you will take your eyes off of your trouble and see something beautiful. 

Have you entered the treasuries of the snow?  The word enter in Hebrew is bo’ which has the idea of coming into, becoming a part of something, having intercourse.   In the midst of your trouble rather than dwell on your trouble, dwell on God, His love, compassion, and caring. God gave you an imagination use it to surround yourself with all the beautiful things God has prepared for you. 

More snow is on the way tomorrow and it is predicted to hit just as I am traveling down Lawndale street and 16th Ave.  I plan to enter the treasures of snow and when I pass that boarded-up storefront next to a trash-filled empty lot I will see something beautiful and I will be reminded that whatever ugliness is taking place inside that vacant building by gang bangers, God can turn even that into something beautiful.  

I tell you, you just have to love this city, because God does.

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