Farming the Fruit of Peace

By Brother Rabbi Dani’el Rendelman
Emet Ministries
ravemet@comcast.net

MEMBER OF BNAI YAHSHUA SYNAGOGUES WORLDWIDE

When a farmer plants seeds does he just throw them on the ground and hope the seed will grow healthy and strong? Of course not! Every farmer knows that one must till, plant, water, fertilize, and weed the field to produce a huge harvest. Long hours are dedicated to ensuring the crop grows. Casting seed on the ground and wishing they would magically spring up is a foolish idea. The same is true for the spiritual life of the believer. There is no “Jack and the Beanstalk” magic for a person wanting to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

“The fruit of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is ahava (love), simcha (joy), shalom (peace), patience, chesed (kindness), rachamim (goodness), trust worthiness, gentleness, self-control: there is no true Torah that is against this kind of fruit,” Galatians / Galutyah 5:22,23. These attributes must be cultivated or they will be overgrown by the weeds of the world. The fruit of the Spirit isn’t automatically present in the life of the believer. Love, joy, and peace are fruits that must be farmed. Let’s take a closer look at the fruit of peace and see what one must do to harvest this quality.

The story is told when President Bill Clinton took a huge step towards peace. Clinton was walking on the beach at Martha’s Vineyard and found an old bottle that had washed ashore. When the president opened the bottle, a small genie snaked out. “Hi Bill,” said the green genie. “I’m a very weak genie, so I can only grant you one wish – it had better be an easy one too.” President Clinton thought long and hard about this important decision. “I ask for world peace,” he said. The genie responded, “That’s a little hard, give me something easier.” Clinton then said, “Ok, make Hillary into the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the world!” The genie nodded his chin and said, “World peace it is!

Seriously, world peace and personal peace is the desire of all mankind. In their quest for peace, soldiers have died and kings have conquered. Peace is the central message of the Bible, the reason the Messiah came, and the answer to the all of the problems in our universe. In the Hebrew tongue, “Shalom” is the word for “peace.”

Shalom is a well-known Hebrew phrase that is also used as a greeting. On the surface, shalom means “peace, hello, and goodbye.” Because of its popularity, the true meaning of this term has been obscured. Shalom is greater than just the absence of war and it better than a fleeting feeling of happiness. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance defines "shalom" as, "to be well, happy, complete, in good health, prosperous, to be whole, and wholly.” When the fruit of the spirit is listed, shalom is directly connected to love and joy. The walk in the spirit is a walk in shalom. It is a walk in peace and a walk in wholeness. The events of Luke, chapter 8 shed some interesting light on this.

“But as He went the people thronged Him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment; and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And the Savior said, 'Who touched Me?' When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, 'Master, the multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest thou, Who touched Me?' And Messiah said, 'Somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that virtue has gone out of me.' And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately. And He said unto her, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made the whole; go in Shalom,’” – verses 42-48.

In this story, the woman with the issue of blood received her healing as she touched the tzittzit (fringes) upon the garment of the Messiah. Her faith led her to reach out for the Savior, and the end result was her healing. Not only did the flow of blood stop; she was also completely made whole. Don’t miss this. She was healed and made whole. She had found the Messiah. The void in her soul was now overflowing with shalom. Her life was now filled with Him. The woman had come face to face with the Prince of Peace and she would never be the same.

This fruit of safety and wholeness comes as we do the same. When a believer walks as Y’shua walked shalom abounds. (Y’shua is the Hebrew name of the Messiah given to His Hebrew parents in Luke 2). Shalom grows when Biblical decisions are made and a person obeys the Word of YHWH. “The fruit of righteousness is shalom: the effect of righteousness will be shalom and confidence forever. My people will live in dwelling places of shalom, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest,” -- Yesha’yahu – Isaiah 32: 17-18. As a person walks out their righteousness through obediance, he produces more and more shalom. The shalom, the presence of YHWH, that we experience here on earth is equal to the precepts of Torah that we walk in. “The Divine presence will not reside through sorrow, nor though laziness, nor through levity, nor through the preoccupation with trifles, but rather through the joy experienced by the performance of a mitzvah,” says one Jewish Sage. Torah submission connects us to YHWH, who gives us His Shalom. (“Torah” is the Hebrew word for “teaching and instruction.” The Torah is the revealed word of YHWH as found in the Bible in the books of Genesis through Revelation. YHWH is the ancient Hebrew name of the Creator, often translated “LORD” or “GOD” in English Bibles.)

Like the woman with the issue of blood, we too are broken and in need of repair. We need His Peace. We need His wholeness. Our need for peace is illustrated in how the word “shalom” is written in Torah Scrolls. A Torah scroll is a hand written manuscript of the first five books of the Bible. Great care is taken to make sure that the scroll is perfectly copied from the previous version. Each letter on the parchment is drawn with attention and considerable time. A single error renders the entire Torah scroll unfit for use, hence a torah scribe is specially trained to make each letter precisly correct. In Hebrew the word “shalom” is spelled sheen - lamed - vav - mem. Amazingly, the vav in Shalom is always written in a broken format whenever it is found in a Torah scroll. This is the only word and the only letter allowed to be “partially” written in the entire scroll of Torah. All other words must be written exactly and correctly to form. Why would the vav be broken in the word that means “whole?”

The broken vav in the word “shalom” reminds the reader of the events of Numbers 25 and how a spear is used to break a plauge of death. In Numbers 25 the Isrealites are charmed by the daughters of Moab and are enticed to worship the idol Peor. An official publically seduces a Midianite woman. Then “Pinchus, the son of El-Azar, the son of Aharon the kohen, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a spear in his hand; And he went after the man of Yisrael into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Yisrael, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stopped from the children of Yisrael,” Numbers 25:7,8. Pinchus stopped the plague by thrusting a spear, the shape of a vav, into the those involved in the sin. His action made atonement and brought peace to Israel. After this YHWH offered the nation the brit of shalom – the covenant of peace. The broken vav in Shalom should remind us that are all broken and in need of His wholeness and repair. Shalom comes as we allow YHWH to heal our brokeness and stop our sin.

By the fruit of Shalom we can walk in faith amidst the troubles of life. Through His Shalom we can make it though a bad day or a string of terrible events. The book of Ephesians proves how this is possible. "He is our Shalom, Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." -- Ephesians 2: 14. Our shalom is the presence of Master Yahshua. It is Him. Nothing more and nothing less. He is our peace. The Prince of Peace is our wholeness. He is the one that completes us. To illustrate this, a Jew who accepts Y’shua as Messiah is often called “completed Jew.” Rav Sha’ul wrote, “For YHWH was pleased to have all the fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making shalom though His blood, shed on the execution stake,” -- Colossians 1:19, 20.

Every time we use the word “shalom,” we should be reminded that we are speaking about Yahshua. He is our peace. Now, apply this idea to Tehillim / Psalms 122: 6 where we are told to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” When we do this, we are actually praying for the salvation of Jerusalem. As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are praying that all Yisra’el comes to know Y’shua as their Master and Savior! The Talmud confirms this in Megillah E: 33-35, “And where is the horn of the righteous exalted? In Jerusalem, as it says, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may they prosper that love thee. And when Jerusalem is built, David will come, as it says.” The Jews have this truth, yet many are so blind that they don’t see it and accept Y’shua as their Messiah!

As we walk in Shalom we are walking as Y’shua walked and thus replicating His life. “My covenant was with him of life and shalom; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in shalom and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity,” -- Malachi 2. Y’shua was never in a hurry nor did he ever worry about life. He lived in total shalom. Y’shua focused on YHWH, brought forth the Kingdom of Heaven. Having Y’shua’s focus is what enables us to have the Shalom promised in the Scriptures. "He wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose minds is stayed on Thee." Isaiah 26: 3

If we trust, or focus on things of this world, then doubt, fear and worry will grip us. But if we believe, and put our assurance in the Father's sovereignty, then He will keep us in His Shalom or wholeness. This idea is emphasized by the Gematria value of Shalom, which is 376. Through Gematria, the practice of giving Hebrew letters numerical values, we may gain insight and understanding into the hidden truths of the Bible. The Gematria of “Shalom” is exactly equal to the numerical value of Exodus 15:18, which says “YHWH yimloch le'olam va'ed" or in English "Yahweh will reign for eternity." This teaches us that when YHWH is reigning in our life, when He is King, there is complete peace. YHWH’s glory is complete as His shalom guards our hearts and mind. The battle for Shalom is fought in our thoughts. As Proverbs 23:7 teaches, "for as he thinketh in his heart, so he is." If we stay focused on the Word, through prayer, study, and worship then we can keep the true heaven-sent Shalom. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things,” -- Philippians 4: 8

Many times we feel that we can protect ourselves from this world of pain. We reason that we’re too busy to stop and pray. We act as if we can face the storms of life without the Holy One. Well, this is not the case. Exodus 14: 14 makes clear what our job is and what Yahweh's job is when it comes to the problems of life, "YHWH shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Here’s our answer to those bad hair days, plain and simple. YHWH does the combat. All we have to do is hold on to Him. He fights for us while we hold our ground.

In Hebrew the words for “hold your peace” are "charash Shalom." Charash means "to scratch, to engrave, to plough; to be deaf, imagine, speak not a word, be still." This same word is used many times in the Scriptures for a "craftsman" or "engraver." The implication here is that we are to take the Shalom of heaven and carve it deeply into our situation. "Charash Shalom" is translated in many verses "hold your peace" but could also be understood as "engrave His Shalom upon your life," or "imagine His Shalom." Like a farmer ploughs through the top soil, we too should dig His shalom deep into the dirt of life. This is where the fruit of shalom is to be farmed – in our mind, soul, and heart.

Shalom is more than just a friendly greeting. It is an expression of our hope of salvation in the Messiah. It is a fruit of the Spirit. Like the peace offering during Temple times, because of Messiah we have fellowship with YHWH. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have shalom with Elohim through our Master Y’shua HaMoshiach,” – Romiyah / Romans 5:1. Shalom is the Messiah’s wholeness, His presence, and His joy in our life. YHWH has healed our brokenness through His shalom.

Will we just talk about His peace or will we strive to experience it? Like the woman with the issue of blood, let us reach out to the Messiah and allow Him to heal us. We should be reminded of the action of Pinchus and the breaking of the plague that eventually brought peace. Let’s ask YHWH to farm the fruit of peace in our lives.

Pray this:

“Abba YHWH. We ask you to move in our lives. Forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Help us to engrave your shalom upon our lives. Help us to farm the fruit of shalom. We have been broken for so long. We need your wholeness. Father, we ask you to empower us so that we might focus our minds. Let us remember that true shalom is not having everything perfect, but knowing the Perfect One. You are our peace. May he who grants peace in the heights bring shalom upon us and upon all Israe’el. Amein.”