Hebrew Word Study – Strong – Ozaz –  Ayin Zayin Zayin

Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

The pessimist says, “It can’t get worse,” the optimist says, “Yes it can.” – unknown

Yesterday a small group of us got together to do a study at the Buzz Café in Oak Park.  If you happen to live near Chicago you probably know Oak Park as the artistic community.  In fact, if you see someone working with a laptop at the Buzz Café it is a safe bet to walk up and ask, “Well, how’s your book coming?”  Surrounded by all the works of art by the local artists and since the Buzz allows us to have a room to conduct our study, it can be quite an inspiring an creative time.

Since everyone in the study seemed to be going through some sort of wilderness experience we studied Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower.”   Who doesn’t need a strong tower in this day and age?  It is interesting that “the Lord” is in a prepositional phrase and that the subject of the sentence is name, not the Lord. It is the name that is the strong tower.  Name in Hebrew is shem which really means a reputation. If you are working at a job and a co-worker comes up to you and says, “The boss wants you to move your car.”  It does not matter whether that co-worker says, the boss, Mr. Jones, Robert, Headman, supervisor, manager, owner, the guy who pays you salary, the guy who can fire you, the man in charge, or any number of ways to address a boss, you will move your car because every one of those identifications is enough to tell you that the man in the corner office has the power and control to make you pay consequences if you do not do according to his wishes.  Each one of those identifiers is a shem (name). Each, however, tells you a little something about that person.  

In this verse, it is the name or reputation that is the strong tower.  Then there is a prepositional phrase that tells you a little something about the reputation of this person. In this case, it is Jehovah or YHWH.   What does it tell us about this person or name who is a strong tower?  Well, there are many things in that identifier of YHWH or Jehovah.  Two things stand out to me. It means, I was, I am, and I will be. So this strong tower will never be destroyed, and will always be there as a beacon in the wilderness to give you direction.  Traveling through the desert the first thing you will see when you approach a city will be the towers. When that comes into sight, you follow the direction to that tower for it will lead you home, you will not get lost so long as you can see the tower.  If you are wandering in the wilderness, lost, with no direction, look for the Tower (Jehovah), and when you see it follow a path leading to the Tower (Jehovah), it will lead you home. No storm or force of destruction will destroy this Tower for it is YHWH, (it always has been, it is, and it will exist). You need never fear of this Tower disappearing. 

Note also that it is a strong tower. The word strong is oz which comes from the root word ozaz. Ozaz means strength, hardened. It also means a place of refuge and a fortified city.  This is where the word Gaza comes from meaning an area of strength or fortification. The name alone tells you why the Gaza Strip is so important in the Middle East.  So this Tower is a Tower that is fortified and a refuge.  The name of God is a refuge.  We can find refuge in the name of Jehovah because it is, has been, and always will be there, it will never leave us.  

A second thing about the name Jehovah is that it is in a feminine form. Jewish tradition teaches that when the word Elohim is used for God it is a word in a masculine form and thus represents the masculine nature of God, his protection, his provision, and his discipline.  Odd, but you would think Solomon would use the word Elohim as that name would be more appropriate for the strong tower, yet, it is Jehovah who is the strong tower.  Jehovah is in a feminine form and Jewish tradition teaches that whenever the word Jehovah is used it represents God’s feminine nature, His caring, nurturing, and loving. 

You see what Solomon is saying is that our refuge in God is not in his provision, His strong arm protection against our enemies, or in his discipline, our refuge is in his lovingkindness, His tender mercies. The Apostle Paul understood this very well, he was beaten, tortured, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and finally executed. Where was the strong tower in all that?  It was not in Elohim where he was protected from the beatings and torture, he was not delivered from prison, spared from being shipwrecked and where was this strong tower when he was getting his head lopped off?   Romans 8:39 tells us that is was not the name Elohim that was his strong tower, but it was the name Jehovah  YHWH that was his strong tower. “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”

When we cry out in the wilderness, in the midst of being beaten, tortured, imprisoned, car wrecked (few are shipwrecked these days) or even facing execution, our strong tower may not be our deliverance but the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  All we really want is the joy of the Lord.  A car wreck is not conducive to that but we can find a strong tower in a car wreck, the peace and love of God, and really, isn’t that the reason we want deliverance from all our trials so we can have peace and joy?  With God, we get the best of both worlds, the lessons and teachings of our trials, and joy and peace to boot. In honor of a member of our study group who says she is related to  Jimmy Durante, I will paraphrase one of his famous quotes, “Whoever would boot a reparation [joy and peace] would give his grandmother a hot foot.”

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