Grace, the unmerited favor of God. It is a word that when we hear it, we are transported to the foot of the cross and what Jesus did for us. However, grace is not a concept that is only found within the New Testament. It was designed by a gracious God with a heart of compassion for His creation.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8
We find God’s grace all the way back in the beginning of the Bible. Before David, before Moses, before Abraham, there was grace, and it was with a single man. Noah. So, what was this grace? Was it different from the grace we have through Jesus? To answer these questions, we need to look at what grace means in Hebrew.
Grace or chen (hhen) means graciousness, kindness, favor, or beauty. It can be connected to a primitive root word that translates to chanan (khaw-nan) “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior, to favor, bestow; causatively to implore (that is, move to favor by petition.)” Another primitive root is chanah (khaw-naw) meaning to incline, or decline (the slanting rays of the evening); to pitch a tent; generally, to encamp (for abode or siege).
One of the things that jumped out to me was the phrase “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior”. The days of Noah were full of wickedness to the point of destruction. However, when God looked upon Noah, it was with favor and He stooped in kindness towards him offering him a means of salvation. While calamity was fixing to strike the earth, God said to Noah, “But with thee, will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and they sons’ wives with thee.” Genesis 6:18 With this scripture, we see another one of the definitions of grace, “to encamp”. While not a traditional encampment, they were encamped within the safety of the ark while the flood destroyed the earth. God’s hedge of protection was surrounding them. Noah was a humble man, a man who was upright before God. It was almost as if it could have been Noah that was being spoken of in James 4:8 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Let us now move forward in the Biblical timeline to the book of Exodus. We get excited when we think of the grandeur of God delivering His people from under the yoke of bondage in Egypt. If you are around my age, when you think of Exodus and the Ten Commandments, Charelton Heston and Yul Brynner come to mind. It was a production of epic proportions on the silver screen. Just typing this, I can hear Heston’s booming voice, “LET MY PEOPLE GO!” We remember the parting of the Red Sea, Moses ascending the mountain for the Ten Commandments, the golden calf, and the manna and quail. We witness in the word a great deliverance and after that deliverance, the people once again fell into sin before they even made it to the promised land. Moses, a one-time murderer turned prophet and man of God, cried out on behalf of the people after the golden calf, saying “If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” Exodus 34:9 Moses interceded for the people, and I find it beautiful that he asked God to “take them, the people, for His inheritance if he (Moses) had found grace in His sight”. I do not know about you, but I want to be the Lord’s inheritance. To be in that place of putting yourself to the side and interceding on behalf of others, even those you do not know, crying out for God to show them His grace and His mercy, to draw them to Him; it is something we are all called to do.
As we get further into the Torah, we find in the book of Numbers, the Aaronic Blessing. This blessing came directly from God, and He told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons that they were to give this blessing to the Children of Israel. Numbers 6:23-27
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
In Hebrew, the word bless is barakh and literally means to bow down and means complete blessing in God. The word keep is speaking of being guarded with a hedge of protection. Just like we saw with Noah. The line “The Lord make His face to shine upon thee” literally means to illuminate. Gracious in this passage, is the Hebrew word hhanan and is a verb. It is the action of healing, being lifted up, help, strength, refuge and rescue. Hhanan in essence is to provide protection, but also as we saw with Noah, it means to bend in kindness to an inferior.
The word countenance is also the same word as face in Hebrew, paniym, and is asking for God to let His face be seen. Shalom, is wholeness and completeness in body, soul, and spirit. This is what I see when I look at this blessing.
May the Lord kneel before you and protect you.
May His face illuminate you and in His kindness be your refuge.
May He show you His face and His wholeness and completeness rest upon you.
Grace (gracious) is His kindness and refuge. What a beautiful gift to bestow upon His children.
Grace is spoken of numerous times in the Psalms.
Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psalm 86:15 But thou, O Lord art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. This is a point that is repeated in multiple Psalms. He is compassionate, He gives you grace, He is slow to anger, He is merciful, and He is the Truth. Sounds a lot like Jesus, doesn’t it?
The last verse from the Old Testament that I want to look at is Provers 3:34. Surely He scorneth the scorners: but He giveth grace unto the lowly. Or as different look from the Complete Jewish Study Bible shows, The scornful he scorns, but gives grace to the humble. Again, like in James we see the words grace and humble combined. Grace is coupled with humility, and that now leads us into the New Testament.
To be continued in part 2.
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