SOZO - Finding Wholeness

February 16, 2025

Pastor Patrick presented today's message, "SOZO - Finding Wholeness." A video of today's message is here on YouTube.

The title of this new series is Sozo (so-zo, σῴζω). Patrick summed up its meaning by saying sozo = wholeness = saved + free + healed/redeemed. In the Greek New Testament, there are about 100 words with this root that are translated in many ways including: will save, to save, get well, shall be whole, be cured, made, cured; with all manner of tenses, subjects, and objects in various numbers and genders. Save(d) or made whole seem to be common translations.

So then I ask myself, what Hebrew word, if there is one, is similar in meaning and usage. It appears that yasha (יָשַׁע) is as close as any and usually refers to some form of saving (about 200 times in the OT), including deliver, rescue, and preserve. It's usually God doing the saving of lots of people, as in the Exodus, but also saving individuals. The people also use the word to request God's deliverance from their enemies. Lastly, it can be used (less often) with people rescuing other people (Deuteronomy 22:27, 28:31). A few OT references are translated as savior, as in God is the savior of David and of Egypt.

In the OT, this "saving" or "made whole" is primarily physical and material. The NT carries the meaning into the eternal and spiritual realities.

Here's the kicker... The Hebrew word for Jesus, (Yeshua, יֵשׁ וּעַ), comes from yasha. It can be all of: One Who Saves, One Who Frees, One Who Heals, and One Who Makes Whole! From BibleHub.com, "The name Yeshua is a variant of Yehoshua and is often translated as 'Joshua' in English. It means 'Yahweh is salvation' or 'The LORD saves.' In the Hebrew Bible, it is used to refer to several individuals, most notably Joshua, the son of Nun, who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land." The Greek word for Jesus is basically a transliteration of Yeshua, Iesous (ee-ay-sooce, Ἰησοῦς). The "IHS" on many Christian crosses comes from this Greek word/name (in all caps, the first three Greek letters are ΙΗΣ).

Patrick mentioned El Roi (el roh-ee', אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י) today, "God who sees me." This is only seen in Genesis 16:13-14. Hagar uses this term for God when God saves her and her baby Ishmael in the desert. It is the only time that a human gives God a name. The usage of this name starts to personalize God. It's another attribute of God. The Hebrew roh-ee can be translated as shepherd, seeing, looking, or gazing. Generally, the verb ra-ah (to see) is used in many other ways, including when God looks upon His Creation, when God looked on the earth and saw evil, when God inspects (sees) the ways of his people, and when God asks that His people see and give attention to Him. It's also used when humans are doing the seeing, looking, etc. It's used when Eve saw (in the sense of "realized") that the forbidden fruit was good for eating. It can also mean perceived.

It is certainly true that the Israelites grumbled a great deal in the wilderness, to the point of wanting to go back to Egypt. Exodus 16:3, "'If only we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt!' they said. 'There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!'" This demonstrates that human nature leans toward being taken care of rather than being free. Being free can be hard. Being taken care of is the appeal of socialism and communism. Being free means you are responsible for taking care of yourself. See Prager's Rational Bible: Exodus, pp. 181-183. Like Patrick said, it's the only way to get all the donuts God has to offer.

One of the last things Patrick mentioned was the need to keep moving forward toward God. Moving forward is a key theme in the Torah (and the Old Testament). Many of God's instructions involve moving forward, literally and metaphorically, such as:

Genesis 1:28a, "God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."

Exodus 14:15, "Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on."

Deuteronomy 1:6, "The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain."

Isaiah 30:21, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"

Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

Deuteronomy 31:8, "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight."

Exodus 14:15-16, "Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16“As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land." As Patrick said, God has parted the waters for you; go.

Psalm 23:4, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

Genesis 2:24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

Proverbs 4:18, "The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day."

And here's one that's cautionary about not moving forward, Genesis 19:26, "But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."

All this moving forward reminded me of a funny way my Dad (the Presbyterian minister) used to describe the church's main responsibilities along the paths of its parishioners. He would say the church is here to "hatch, match, and dispatch." That about sums up our earthly path as God sees it, particularly if you include some hatching of others after your matching. Not explicitly stated in that little quip is the "toward God" part. But since it's a minister's quip, you'd be safe to infer that instruction in Godly ways along the path is included. God certainly wants that to be the case. Deuteronomy 11:19, "Teach them [God's instructions] to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." In other words, teaching them all the time along their path.

Bonus

Recently Discovered 1500-year-old Monastery with Deut. 28:6 Mosaic

A 1500-year-old monastery was recently unearthed in central Israel near the Biblical city of Gath (about 35 miles south of Tel Aviv). Included is a floor mosaic, pictured below, that includes Deuteronomy 28:6, "Blessed are you when you come in and blessed are you when you go out," in Greek. In the photo, the letters are all in caps. In a more normalized Greek, the entire verse would look like this:

εὐλογημένος σὺ ἐν τῷ εἰσπορεύεσθαί σε καὶ
εὐλογημένος σὺ ἐν τῷ ἐκπορεύεσθαί σε

Additionally, the site has ten other buildings including a winepress and a large warehouse. The settlement appears to have lasted about 600 years (1st through 6th Centuries A.D.).

Read the whole article, "Earliest Signs of Christianity Part 1 – Kiryat Gat Monastery Mosaic".