(Please)

“He said, “Now take, ________, your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” Genesis 22:2

(Please) – It’s there in Hebrew, but nearly every English translation just leaves it out.  What a difference it makes!  The story of God’s command to sacrifice Isaac seems so out of character with a God who calls Himself compassionate above everything else.  Where is the heart of God in such a cruel request?  Well, God’s heart is right where it should be – full of grace and mercy.  But our translations leave His heart hidden because none of them include this tiny particle na. 

Bear with this today.  You will learn something incredible important about Hebrew.  A particle is a minor part of speech, usually a short few letters added to a word.  These few letters cannot be modified in order to show relationships within the language structure.  Most words in language can be modified to show how they relate to other words.  For example, our verbs change to show us whether or not they apply to one person (he is) or many people (they are).  They also change to show us whether the act is in the past, present or future (I did, I do, I will do).  But these tiny parts of speech do not change form.  Consequently, they are often considered irrelevant.  This is especially true when the language itself modifies verbs with additions of small groups of letters.  There is a particle in Hebrew that is exactly like this.  It is the particle na. 

Although na is a tiny, minor part of the language, it is used more than sixty times in Genesis alone.  It is always attached to a verb.  So it is often ignored when the verb is translated into English.  But this decision to ignore na actually hides something from us that is quite important.  If we look closely, we may see why Jesus proclaimed that not the smallest letter of the alphabet or the smallest part of the letter would pass away until everything it said was fulfilled.

Na is used in connection with a speech from God only five times.  In every example, the use of na indicates that God is fully aware that he is asking the person to do something that is completely contradictory to reason.  And this is the secret to the hidden please.  In the speeches of God, na is an announcement that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.  Amazingly, God recognizes this very fact and He condescends to our inferiority by asking us to please, if we don’t mind too much, follow His instructions since they come from His sovereign control of the universe.  Isn’t this simply overwhelming?  The God of all creation could have bellowed his orders.  He could have proclaimed His eternal plans in thunder, fire and lightening.  He could have deafened us with His power or blinded us with His holiness.  But He comes to us asking our permission.  He seeks our cooperation as a favor to Him.  God’s na is the na of amazing grace, hidden in one of the smallest parts of Scripture.  It is the still, small voice written down.

God speaks to us today with na in His words.  “Please do what I ask.”  Do you hear the hidden please in your life?