In this short study let’s look at four separate verses related to this theme, and come to some
conclusions. But first, just take a moment to think of the wonder of it – being His friend! God is
capable of friendship beyond any friend you’ve ever met, and desires it.
1) Isaiah 41:8 – But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of
Abraham my friend.”
Context: God is reasoning with Israel that idolatry is out of character for them. It is not who
they are. So he encourages them to remember their roots in the patriarchs, their fathers. The highest honor in life is to be God’s servant, His chosen, and His seed as seen in Israel, Jacob, and Abraham.
Question: Where does God calls Abraham אֹהֲבִי or ‘my friend’ other than by Isaiah? There
is nowhere else but right here. But in II Chron. 20:7 King Jehoshaphat is praying hard to the Lord
because of an impending attack upon Judah. It is a desperate situation. In his prayer he reminds God that he gave this land Israel who is ‘the seed of Abraham thy friend forever.’ The friendship is real.
So without a clear reference to it, can we find evidence in Genesis itself of this friendship,
and what does that look like? It seems to me that every time Abraham needed the promise of God, faith was the requirement. But that faith was an inspired faith, by God himself. And then God reckoned his faith as righteousness, solving Abraham’s sin issue, which resulted in friendship with God, friend to friend [cf. Gen 15:6 – ‘And Abraham believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness]. And not only this, God counted Abraham as ‘his friend.’
2) Exodus 33:11 – “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh
unto his friend.”
Context: Moses is interceding with God about the jam Israel is in because they made and
then worshipped the golden calf. This sin is so dark, such a sell-out, trading God for a calf like the
nations. God draws a hard line: he refuses to go up with Israel anymore; he just might consume them along the way. For Moses, the presence of God is so vital it’s non-negotiable. So Exodus launches us into this surprising conversation, which is about just one thing, as Moses and God talk it out. He spells out to God what the far reaching effects of losing his presence would mean.
Moses knows it is a desperate moment with a narrow window of time, and that all Israel’s got
left now is an all-out appeal to the mercy of God, before the gavel slams down. This gives way to
some extreme, if not insane ultimatums, where he gives God a choice: ‘Either forgive this horrible idolatry of Israel, or blot my name out of your book!’ Can you imagine? (Ex. 32:32). ‘In fact, if you will not personally be present with Israel, don’t even bother to carry us in; it wouldn’t be worth it
without you with us’ (33:14). ‘Furthermore, what will the nations think?’ (‘cause they can’t really
know this stupid backstory). ‘If you say we have your favor and grace, but now you won’t even go
up with us because we totally blew out the contract – couldn’t that be seen as a sort of a
contradiction? And isn’t it already known around town that it’s because you do go with us that we’re even here, that it’s this that sets us apart from all other nations upon the face of the earth? (33:16). There’s no getting around it, and we’ll never deserve it, but we must . . . have . . . your . . . presence!’
What a heavy-duty intense conversation, face to face, friend to friend. And God was all over
it. Did it work?
Back to Ex. 33:11 – “And the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his
friend.” The word for ‘friend’ comes from the Hebrew word רֵעַ or ray’-ah (Strong’s Concordance #
7453). It means ‘an acquaintance, companion, friend; one who is beloved, a lover.’ And this comes from its root word, ‘to feed, pasture a flock, to shepherd; to lead, rule, govern; to feed, pasture, graze.’ This means that in Moses’ really frank parley with God, they were ‘feeding’ off each other, they were really diggin’ on the dialogue, and something was getting done heart to heart. (Compare the NT word φιλέω or phi’le-o used by Peter when Jesus asked him if he ‘loved’ him in John 21:15-17. Peter’s answer went beyond the commanded love of άγάπη or aga’pae, to a love where there was this mutual friendship with Jesus that really sustained Peter, as friends will do).
To boil it down, this interaction between Moses and God held: 1) a two-way street where
God was talking back; 2) a negotiation where the feed-back really engaged both God and Moses; 3) a mutual respect and dignity for what was said back and forth; 4) a heart-rending desperation where there was no plan B, no other way but by a gripping intercession based on truth and mercy.
Did it work? Yes. It succeeded in winning God’s heart back to his people. Beyond all this, I
believe from the get-go God was looking for a ‘friend’ to engage with his great burden for Israel,
and to move his heart. Ready to ‘give a damn’ about feeling what God feels? Can you even take it?
But that’s what friends are for.
3) Psalm 25:14 – “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will
show them his covenant.”
Context: David’s in a heap of trouble in this prayer, this song [all the Psalms were put to
music]. But notice, the first half of the Psalm is didactic [this is ‘wisdom literature’ after all, and the Psalm follows the Hebrew alphabet so you can memorize it] where he gives instruction on how to have a relationship with God and prays about that from his heart. Then in the second part he gives God ten imperatives, like ‘Don’t remember the sins of my youth; pardon my iniquity, for it is great; the troubles of my heart are huge, I’m so distressed; O my enemies! Oy vey! They are many and hate me with cruel hatred; I am desolate and afflicted; turn to me and have mercy upon me, redeem Israel out of all his troubles.’
But in between these two parts we have verse 14, a clutch moment: “The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” The word ‘secret’ is the Hebrew
word סוֹד or sode [Strong’s # 5475] and appears here, and only once as ‘secret’ in the Psalms. There are about ten different words translated as ‘secret’ in the whole OT, so let’s get the sense of this one. To help us get that, look at ‘sode’ as ‘counsel’ in Psalm 55:14. David said – “We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” These ‘sweet counsel’ friends turned out to be cunning liars, who were just waiting in deceit and guile to stab him in the back. It’s pointedly wicked because David gave his heart to these guys.
Now the ‘sweet counsel’ in Ps. 55:14 colors what ‘secret’, the same word, means in Ps. 25:14.
The ‘secret’ of the Lord that is with them that fear him – is ‘sode’ which is defined as “familiar
conversing, intimacy with those who fear him; intimate counsel together.” In other words, ‘sode’ means ‘intimate companion.’
Let’s also look at the meaning of ‘the fear of the Lord.’ It is not the kind of fear that comes
from the Chinese communist party taking over America. We must look at the biblical meaning of it, particularly in the Book of Psalms. “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever” (Ps. 19:9); “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Ps. 23:4); “O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust thee” (Ps. 31:19). Fear is faith.
The fear of the Lord is for sure ‘trembling’ before him, but it’s more. It is: to hold God in
highest regard so that I am wholly drawn to him and his Cross (Ps. 22:12-18); to esteem him so good that he could never fail or disappoint the one trusting him (Ps. 103:13); and it is to prove him many times over that I must build my life on his Messiah and Kingdom (Ps. 118:22-24).
Back to Ps. 25:14 – So we have, “The intimate friendship of the Lord is with them that fear
him; and he will shew them his covenant.” God seems to have this tighter circle of people, like
Abraham and Moses his friends, to whom he can entrust the secrete things that are internal to
himself. It’s not a special elite club; they are simply reconciled enemies who’ve given their whole
hearts to Jesus. They are that humble team who aren’t so impressed with themselves, but choose
rather to fear him, implying that are guarding their relationship with God as the prize above all else, and thereby are actually capable of having faith in God, and a relationship with him. And God will show them his covenant, the things that cannot be understand without the fear of the Lord. No other life comes even close to living like this.
4) John 15: 13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. 14 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Hence forth I call you
not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends;
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
Jesus’ friendship is yours on the condition that you love, are obedient, and are willing to
receiving the intimate things passed down by him, who laid down his life for you, your true friend.
Tim Halverson
lionsheadcafe.com 