Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Shalom Alechem

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Question of the day: What does "Shalom Alechem" really mean?

Answer: These are Yeshua's first words to His disciples in the resurrection. (John 20:19b) Shalom Alechem is a traditional greeting meaning "peace be unto you." The traditional response is to reverse the words back to the person who started the conversation, Alechem Shalom, meaning "to you, peace."

But that doesn't answer the question: What does this really mean? Peace is not the absence of war. Nor is it some version of "serenity now."

The real meaning of Shalom is in four parts. First, it means complete (we are complete in Him). Second, it means wholeness (we are missing something until Yeshua comes into our lives). Third, shalom is perfection (He alone is perfect, but in Him we are more perfect). Fourth and last, we are lacking nothing (this is what it means in Psalm 23 when we read, "I shall not want").

There is shalom that passes all understanding ... Philippians 4:7 "And the shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua."

That Shalom passes understanding because all "understanding" would tell us there is no shalom. (Ask Job. If you can't ask him, read his book.) The two greatest words in the Bible are "but God." But God gives us the answer in the previous verse when it says, "pray with thanksgiving."

Try it. You won't come back to me and say, "I tried it (praying with thanksgiving) and it didn't work." Love never fails.

2 Corinthians 13:11 "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Aim for restoration, encourage one another, be of the same mind, live in shalom - and the God of love and shalom will be with you."