Hebrew Word Study – A Walker For Balance – Sha’an – Shin Ayin Nun

II Chronicles 16:7: “At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him Because thou hast not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.”

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Asa was a Godly king.  The prophet came to Asa in II Chronicles 15:2 and said: “The Lord is with you, while you are with him. If you seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”  Asa then led the nation of Judah into a covenant to seek the Lord with all their hearts and with all their souls. In fact, anyone who did not seek God was put to death. The Bible tells us in verse 15 that the nation found God and God gave them rest. Asa even removed his mother from her position as queen because she made him an idol. Asa cut the idol down and burned it. He brought gold and silver into the temple and dedicated it to the Lord. For 35 years Judah lived in peace and prosperity and there was no war.

Then Baasha, the king of the Northern kingdom of Israel built a city called Ramah which cut off all trade to Judah.  Suddenly the economy of Judah was about to collapse, their food and water supply were under threat. After 35 years of trusting God, seeking God with all his heart, he fell into fear. He and Judah had lived 35 years in peace and prosperity and now with the threat of that prosperity ending, he fell into panic. Instead of going to God, who had promised peace and prosperity and in 35 years never failed in that promise, Asa went to the temple, not to seek God, but to strip it of all the silver and gold and bring it to Syria pleading for their help. Syria was not necessarily an ally, but they were not an enemy. 

Well, the plan worked. Bassha dismantled the city of Ramah and peace and prosperity returned. But the prophet came to Asa in 16:7 and told Asa that because he relied on Syria rather than God, Syria will one day destroy Judah. Asa, in a rage, had the prophet thrown into prison. Four years later Asa came down with a disease in his feet.  It is believed that he developed an infection that spread throughout his body and for two years he lived in agony until he finally succumbed to the disease. 

I am looking at only one Hebrew word today.  It is the word nishe’aneta to rely upon.  Asa relied on Syria not God.  This is from the root word sh’an. Asa sought peace by placing his faith in a foreign pagan power that would soon consume his nation.  For 35 years Asa knew the blessings of God.  After 35 years he grew comfortable with the blessings and forgot where the blessings came from and when he faced the threat of losing that blessing when the economy of Judah was about to collapse he became fearful and he fell to compromising his faith in an unseen God for something he could see,  a Godless nation which might support him and give him some balance. He placed his faith in man, in the arm of the flesh. He compromised the holy relics of the temple and used the gold and silver, that he 35 years earlier had dedicated to God, to bribe this Godless nation to be his support and give him some sense of balance

I have been reading and studying about the United States in the twentieth century and I saw during that century a rise in evangelicalism.  Christians gained many victories during this time including having the words under God included in the pledge of allegiance and on our coins.  Many extra church ministries arose including Billy Graham who was a pastor to every president. There was Campus Crusade, Intervarsity, Youth for Christ the rise of prominent evangelists like Oral Roberts, and the introduction of Christian television and Christian television and radio networks. 

Oh, the enemy was hard at work with the Viet Nam War, racial division, and riots, but the church stood and was respected.  I remember in the 50’s there was talk of a population explosion and we would all die of hunger.  Yet, this country is well feed.  There was the talk of another Great Depression, yet despite some economic downturns, this country was still powerful, wealthy, and prosperous. There were massive construction programs and beautiful churches were being built and we stood proud as a Christian nation. 

But now the church and Christians are under attack. Social media is raging at Christians calling them hateful, filled with nationalism, tribalism, racism, and every nasty ism except wokeism and we all know who claims the virtue of that and calls it a noble ism. 

What happened?  In my humble opinion, Christians and their religious leaders have like Asa, surrendered to their fears. We’ve had it easy like Judah had during the time of Asa and we learned to accept the role of honor that was given to Christians and now that we are threatened with hate, rage, legal action, and worse, decline in church membership many are panicky. They do not want to be called haters and like Asa, they start to compromise and pay off the enemy.

We do not need a modern-day prophet to tell us what is wrong, it is found right in the Bible by an Old Testament prophet who is telling us that we sh’an, relying upon with full trust in the flesh and not God. Sh’an is an ancient Hebrew word used for a shepherd leaning upon his staff. It is a word used for something or someone who provides balance and support. 

I had a man on my disability bus today who walked down the stairs of his home and then asked me to wait a minute or two when he walked to the rear of his house to get a walker.  I then had to use the lift to get him on my bus. I told him he seemed to be doing fine without the walker but he said: “Oh, I know, I am just afraid I might lose my balance and this walker will keep me from falling. 

As we go through a period that may prove difficult for us to maintain our balance are we going to trust in Jesus Christ to lean upon, be our sha’an or are we going to run for a 

 a walker of compromise? 

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