Hebrew Word Study – Intensely Beg and Plead – Baqash. בקש  Beth Qop Shin

Deuteronomy 31:3,6: “The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.  (6) “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

Isaiah 40:15: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.”

“Russia’s annexation puts world two or three steps away from nuclear war.”  Washington Post headline, October 1, 2022. 

The war in Ukraine sort of faded from the news the past few months and now it suddenly seizes the headlines declaring that Russia may resort to nuclear weapons to win the war.  News commentators are comparing this to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 just 60 years ago when the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Suddenly there is serious talk about the number of casualties and the destruction that a nuclear exchange would bring. Political scientists talk of an October surprise before a major election, well we sure have a big one.  How will our government handle this if Putin carries out his threat to use nuclear weapons? People are frightened and worried. 

What should be the position of Christians during this time? Do we join in on the fears and panic?  In Deuteronomy 31 the people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land. They would face a powerful enemy which included giants. Forty years earlier they were ready to embark on their conquest of the Promised Land and they were fearful.  The word fear that was used is yara’ which is to be in awe, respectful, and honor.  They stood in awe of their enemy, they respected and honored their power such that they stuck their heads in the sand. Now once again they faced the same enemy but this time in Deuteronomy 31;6 God commands them to be strong.  The word strong is chazaq which means to stand firm or to be focused.  Focus on the promises of God.  Then they are to be courageous.  That word is ‘amatz which means to be obstinate, and stubborn, that is to not allow anything to break your focus on God and His love and caring nature. Doing this they are not to fear or yara’ that is to stand in awe of the power of the enemy, the giants that are in the land, and then to not be afraid which is the word ‘aratz which means to be focused on yourself and your own safety. Take your eyes off yourself and consider the need for the Gospel in a dying world.  I once had a student who was in special forces who told me that when he went to combat, he overcame his fears by concentrating on his responsibility to his teammates. He focused on watching their backs and protecting them. Sure, he felt fear, but it was a fear that motivated him, helped him to focus, and heightened his senses. 

Then we are reminded that God will not fail us. The word for fail is rapak which means to weaken, it is in a Hiphal (causative) form.  God will not give us cause for weakness by forsaking us. 

So, why should we have such positive thoughts about the threat of nuclear annihilation over our heads? The answer to that is in the prior verse Deuteronomy 31:3 “The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee.” God is going to handle the nations, he will deal with them. He will go before us.  You see, we as Christians do not have nuclear weapons in our arsenal.  We have something much more powerful, it is called prayer. But what if it is God’s will for nuclear weapons to be released?  In I Samuel 1 we have the story of a loving woman who longed for a child but the Lord created her to be barren. Yet, when she prayed and wept before the Lord and promised that if God gave her a child she would give the child back to him God changed his direction and gave her Samuel.  In Exodus 34 God was ready to destroy Israel because they worshipped a golden calf.  One righteous man stood up to God and God told this righteous man Moses, “For your sake, I will not destroy this nation.”  Just one man stood in the gap.  Ezekiel 22:30:“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

In fact, God searches for someone to stand in the gap so He can prevent some madman from releasing a weapon of mass destruction.  God cannot change a man’s free will but when confronted with the tears and cries of his beloved people, he will make that exception. But He can only do it if there is a righteous person to stand in that gap. In fact, the word search in Hebrew is baqash which means to beg and plead. This begging and pleaded, baqash, is in a Piel-intensive form.  

Right now, there is a dictator about put his finger on that nuclear button, and God is intensely begging and pleading for someone, some righteous person, to take their eyes off themselves and to stand in the gap for the nations so God can alter the will of this madman.  Will you be that one to take your eyes off yourself, to not be in awe of the might of nuclear weapons, and to focus on God and the need for the Savior for this world? Will you be the one to stand in the gap like Moses and plead for the nations? 

Jewish tradition teaches that at any time there are thirty-six righteous men who are unknown and based upon the story of Abraham pleading with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of just a few righteous, it is these righteous people who prevent the world from destruction, they stand in the gap and it is for their sake. 

It is just a legend because all it takes is just one. That is all it took to save the nation of Israel.  The legend teaches that it would have taken thirty-six to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But that could not have been found. Who knows, maybe you are the one to stand in the gap and pray to prevent a nuclear war. God is fully capable of creating another timeline for the sake of His righteousness.     

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