Shalom to the Storm

Last night I attended a powerful little meeting at a local church. The visiting minister, Angelo Parisi, a prophet/minstrel, spoke about the storm that rose against Jesus and the disciples. It was not your average storm. It was called a “great windstorm.”

The first thing to note about this account was that the storm came after Jesus said “Let us cross over to the other side.” (Mark 4:35) When Jesus is intent on taking us to the other side in our lives we can surely expect great storms to arise in our lives. The enemy is afraid of our spiritual advancement and will create chaos around us in order to prevent us from advancing.

But where do we find Jesus when this great windstorm arrives? Asleep in the stern of the boat. This so concerned the disciples that they accused Jesus of not caring for them. “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (v.38) Sometimes Jesus does not show up in the time that we think. He has his perfect timing, just like when He raised Lazarus from the dead. We must trust Him despite the storms that may rage around us.

What was Jesus’ response to this demonic storm? He said three words:

“Peace, be still!” (v.39)

Being that Jesus was Hebrew He would have said “Shalom, be still.” The Hebrew word shalom is powerful and it actually means “destroyer of chaos.” Take a look at the breakdown from Michael Jackson (not that Michael!) from the Yah’s Messianic Fellowship.

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Shalom – (Peace) – tranquility, safety, well-being, welfare, health, contentment, success, comfort, wholeness and integrity.

When you understand shalom then you can posses shalom.

Let�s look into the word peace in the Hebrew for a better understanding.

Shalom – ooo mwlv � Remember Hebrew is read right to left and each letter has a different meaning or combination of meanings.

The first letter is Shin v pronounced (Sheen) the Shin represents a tooth, it means to destroy.

The next letter is Lamed l. It can mean to control, authority and the tongue.

Why do we use the tongue as a meaning of Lamed?

The tongue �controls� people, it�s manipulative, and it can be deadly. That�s why scripture says �The tongue has power over life and death; those who indulge it must eat its fruits.� Proverbs 18: 21

Now from these two Hebrew letters; there is destroy, authority and control.

The third letter is Vav w. Its meanings are to secure or nail. It means to secure something, establish something, bring something together or join something.

The last letter is Mem m. Mem can mean mighty, big, large and massive.

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Interestingly, the Greek word for peace in that text is siōpaō and means “From siope (silence, i.e. a hush, properly, muteness, i.e. involuntary stillness, or inability to speak, and thus differing from σιγή (G4602), which is rather a voluntary refusal or indisposition to speak, although the terms are often used synonymously).”

So when Jesus spoke “peace” to the storm he was silencing the chaos. He put a gag order on it! In our lives Jesus speaks shalom to our storms. He silences the rage and chaos of the enemy. And now what does it say was the result of Jesus hushing the storm? “And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” (v.39)

In these Bible accounts we often find little details that tantalize and intrigue us. They often gives us little to go on but can also give us much revelation. Before the storm approached we get these little details: “Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.” (v.36)

What is the significance of these “little boats?” We can’t know for sure. But hear this: we often feel alone when our storms come. But it usually turns out others are in the same boat (pun, yes) as us. They are observing and learning from how we dealt with the storm. I imagine those in the little boats learned a thing or to about speaking to a storm. Maybe they practiced it on their own on another day. We do not know who is watching and what they are learning from our storm.

One last thing to notice is that Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. Was Jesus being harsh here? Well, the disciples prior to the storm had witnessed many miracles, signs and many wonders. It also seems Jesus had wished THEY would have spoken shalom to the storm. Likewise, Jesus expects us to speak shalom to the wicked storms that approach us and those in our circle.

Shalom