
How Does Your Life Speak “Jesus”
Text: Judges 12:5-6
5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
Transition of Meaning:
A. Original Meaning: The word shibboleth originates from the Hebrew word shibbólet which literally means the part of a plant containing grain such as the head of a stalk of
B. Historical Hijacking of the word: Because the word Shibboleth was difficult for some people to say, it became a litmus test or a “password” to determine whether someone was a friend or foe.
C. Transition Through Time: Throughout time words and curtural distinctives became methods of identiftying differences. I say tomato, you say tomatoe, etc.
D. Modern Meaning: “Shibboleth” has become weaponized language, it is language with the power to divide, or even to kill.
The meaning of a shibboleth has now morphed into any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that
Historical Examples:
In times of battle the way a group of people pronounced a word was the determining factor in identifying enemy or foe.
a. During the Battle of the Bulge, American soldiers used knowledge of baseball to determine if others were fellow Americans or if they were German infiltrators in American uniforms. So in this case, it is more than just your conversation but your knowledge
b. During World War II, some United States soldiers in the Pacific theater used the word lollapalooza as a shibboleth to challenge unidentified persons, on the premise that Japanese people often pronounce the letter L as R or confuse Rs with Ls; the word is also an American colloquialism that even a foreign person fairly well-versed in American English would probably mispronounce or be unfamiliar with.
c. In October 1937 the Spanish word for parsley, perejil, pronounced parahill was used as a shibboleth to identify Haitian immigrants living along the border in the Dominican Republic. The president of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, ordered the execution of these people. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 individuals were murdered within a few days in the Parsley Massacre.
Spiritual Maturity
The lesson in the story: We must be careful to look for the reason
2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Rhotic sounds are usually the last ones a
This form of rhotacism has often been associated with a childlike way of pronouncing the letter R, an example being Elmer Fudd’s pronunciation of “rabbit” as “wabbit” often, people with the condition are mistakenly referred to as a person with a lisp, which is a different speech pattern.
1 Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Typically speaking, all of us have one kind or another “shibboleth” in our lives. It usually does not result in as tragic an end as was the case with the Ephraimites, but the “shibboleths” in our life can do serious harm to our Christian testimony and witness. Let’s consider what some of these might be and how we can gain victory over them.
A shibboleth is any
If the Ephraimites had known in advance what the
How to overcome the shibboleths in your life?
A. Recognize them.
Romans 7:21-25 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
We need to conduct our own personalized “spiritual inventory” of our
B. Admit them.
We have all heard it said that the
There is no hope for success unless we face up to the “shibboleths” in our life. Don’t try to ignore them and pretend they don’t exist. The likelihood is that most of the people we know are already quite aware of the shortcomings in our life.
Illustration:
One Sunday, a preacher, in the course of his sermon, asked that anyone who lives a perfect life, and never sins, to stand up. One man did, and immediately his wife spoke out clearly, “Sit down John, I know better!”
C. Confess them.
James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (NIV).
There is a great benefit that occurs when we confess our faults to those we love and trust; and wonderful forgiveness when we confess our “shibboleths” to God and ask Him for forgiveness
D. Ask God to help you replace these various “shibboleths” with their antonyms.
- Pray for God’s help to replace evil for good
• Replace Pride with Humility
• Replace Selfishness with a Charity
• Bitterness to sweet spirit
• Rejoicing in the blessings that others enjoy to replace envy, covetousness and jealousy;
• Tongue that praises God and encourages others to replace a tongue given to criticism, gossip and vulgarity.
You might say, “that’s a mighty tall order!” Indeed it is, and you do not want to battle it alone. Add God to the equation and you are assured of victory. Let us say with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13).
Many call themselves Christians but their talk does not match their walk!
Creating a shibboleth
Matt 7: 21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The word shibboleth originates from the Hebrew word shibbólet which literally means the part of a plant containing grain such as the head of a stalk of wheat
We all know that the most common form of
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
The problem for the church is that “shibboleth” carries another connotation: that of “prejudice over trivialities”. For “shibboleth” did not itself denote anything particularly important (it meant “the part of a plant containing grains, a stalk of grain . Its sole significance was not what it meant, but how people pronounced it. It’s the world’s earliest version of “You say ‘tomayto’ and I say ‘tomahto’.
If we are not careful we will allow this to creep into the Church.
Inclusion vs Exclusion
We must make sure that we are not using our distinctives for divisiveness
God called us to be
He did not call us to have a Hollier than thou attitude
Church, God is calling us to use his Word to show love not hate
God help us to not weaponize the Gospel and use it to harm others
But for the grace of God we would each be in the placed of the worst sinner
Making mistakes is far better than
Let us make a decision to allow our lives to use God’s love to draw others into God’s kingdom rather than push them away.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
He is desiring that we let Him into our heart and when we do, we wont use that to keep others out but to bring them to know Him!
We will have an attitude of Inclusion vs Exclusion
John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?