Be Silent חָרֵשׁ

We are in chapter fourteen of Exodus with our word for today. חָרֵשׁ be silent, be deaf, speechless, keep still. It is used 47 times in the Old Testament. We find our word used in the sense of interjecting yourself into a situation. Genesis 34:5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, וְהֶחֱרִ֥שׁ so Jacob held his peace until they came. Notice that Jacob didn’t interject himself into the situation until his sons came back in from working with the livestock. Numbers 30:3-4, 6-7 When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge and her father hears about her vow or pledge וְהֶחֱרִ֥ישׁ but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand… If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself and her husband hears about it וְהֶחֱרִ֣ישׁ but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. Notice how in both example that were given that both the father and the husband do not interject themselves into the situation. This I think is the sense we find in our chapter.Exodus 14:13-14 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only תַּחֲרִישֽׁוּן to be silent.” We don’t know if God uses our word to emphasize that God will do all the work or if he is responding to all the complaining the people were doing earlier in the chapter about their situation. My guess is that they were interfering or interjecting themselves into the situation by grumbling and being negative. Which the Bible calls unbelief. This throughout all the Bible effects how God chooses to work in our lives and the events in them. If you remember yesterday, we looked at how God fights for us because he is for us on our side. This works only if we trust him and not get in the way but keep our peace and be still or silent so that he can show up in a powerful way to accomplish what only God can do. Sometimes the best thing we can do is not say anything or inject ourselves into a situation that only God can solve. This is a huge part of what wisdom from God is all about. Proverbs 17:28 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise מַ֭חֲרִישׁ if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues. I’ll close with this great Psalm. Psalm 62:1-2 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken… My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.