Hebrew Word Study – Follow – Radaph – רֹ֥דְפֵ  Resh Daleth Pei 

Isaiah 51:1: “Harken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the rock from whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit when you are dug.”

“If you want to know faith and be attached to this righteousness, do not look at it directly as do others who cause themselves to die, rather, look at the rock from where you were hewn.”  Zophar 3:222b.  

At first reading Isaiah 51:1 sounds like good advice.  We all seek to follow after righteousness. But what does it really look to the rock from which it is hewn?  Actually, this verse gives us a glimpse into the heart of God.  The above Jewish commentary on this verse gives some insight I never really considered. The key lies in that phrase written by Isaiah: “You that seek the Lord, look unto the rock from whence you were hewn.” This is not just those who follow a righteous life, we all seek to follow a righteous life. The word follow is radaph which is in a simple Qal form and has the idea of simply following after something. A lot of people follow after teachings but do not seek the Lord.  Many who follow after righteousness are not seeking God but are only seeking a better life for themselves and/or a home in heaven

However, for those who are following righteousness but are also seeking the Lord, Isaiah gives a little clue as to how to fill this void you feel within yourself.  The word seek is bakas which is in a Piel participial form, which is much more intense than just following after, this has the idea of being driven, or obsessed. As a participle it would put it in the present tense, you are now obsessively seeking the Lord.  This expresses my heart as well as the many who join our All Access site. We all feel this driving urge to know God, to be intimate with Him.  Well for any among you who are reading this and you have this drive in your heart, an obsession, or bakas to know God then this verse is also for you. This is why I am sharing this on my website as well as on our live All Access Site.

To truly know the Heart of God you must look to the rock from whence you were hewn.  The word look is navat which means to look upon or behold. However, this is in a Hiphil form and as such, it is more than just looking upon, it is attaching oneself to.  Attach yourself to the rock from which you were hewn. As a Hiphal it would suggest that you are drawn to this rock like a magnet pulling you to be attached.  

The Jewish commentators in the Zophar explain it this way.  When you suffer pain, you must realize that God, as a loving Father, is also suffering the same pain.  If a man’s wife is unhappy, then he will also be unhappy no matter how good his fortune is, for when he becomes one with his wife, he will share her happiness as well as her pain.  

It would then follow that if we are the bride of Christ, then Christ as the bridegroom will not only feel our every hurt and sorrow but it will grieve him just as the hurt and sorrow of a man’s bride would grieve him.  

However, the commentator goes on to say that we must look beyond our own pain and sorrow to the pain and sorrow God feels on our behalf and pray for His sorrow and pain as a wife would seek to comfort her husband who was feeling pain and sorrow on her behalf.  In a Christian context, this means that when God sorrows over a lost world we would also feel His sorrow and seek to do whatever we need to do to bring a lost world to God. 

You must remember that the Jewish concept of prayer is much different than ours.  To the Jew, prayer is uniting yourself with God, not just offering up petitions.  In that unity with God, you share his joy and his peace, but also his sorrow. When you share that joy and peace with others or ease the sorrow of others, that is also prayer for you are doing it in unity with God.   Thus, when you feel pain, the Rock from whence you were hewn is also wounded.  The word hewn is chastav which has the idea of being cut off.  By attaching yourself to the rock it will heal the wound that both you and the Rock or the Heavenly Father feels.   

A few years ago while living in silence I made a deal with God. If He would weep with me when my heart is broken, I would weep with Him when His heart is broken.  No sooner had I ended my period of silence when I passed by a hospital where there were right-to-life protesters protesting against abortion.  I oppose abortion but I just didn’t feel the passion that these people felt, enough to get out and fight against it.  But I no sooner drove a block away when I felt something welling up inside of me. It came from the very pit of my stomach and suddenly I was filled with grief, sobbing like a little child.  God was keeping me to His end of the bargain.  I had entered His heart and began feeling His grief and sorrow over the many lives He created that were being snuffed out.

As a Baptist I was taught we must evangelize so people do not go to hell because they need God.  Never once was I taught to evangelize because I needed to look to the rock from which I was hewn because that Rock is weeping and grieving over a lost world. 

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