They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:3-4)
Embedded within these verses is an interesting concept, not obvious when reading the English translation, but very subtly hinted at when reading the Hebrew text. Asaph said that the enemies of God plot against His people and consult together “against Your sheltered ones.” In other translations the phrase is rendered as “Your treasured ones” or “hidden ones.” The idea that His people are sheltered or hidden is at the heart of the concept to which I am referring.
Though it can mean “to store up” as in storing up treasures, the Hebrew root word, צפן tzafan, literally means “to hide,” or “to conceal something.” No doubt, this alludes to the idea that God can hide Israel from her enemies in time of trouble, as when David was able to evade Saul and his army time and again. Yet I will suggest there is another layer to it, and it has to do with Joseph, the son of Jacob.
When he was summoned from prison to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, you will recall he was eventually made viceroy of all Egypt. However, he was no longer identified by the name Jospeh; he was given a new name — Tzafnat Paneach — “the one who reveals hidden things.” The term צפנת tzafnat is derived from the Hebrew root צפן tzafan — “to hide.” Obviously, Joseph revealed things that were been hidden from other men but let’s not overlook that, as the Egyptian viceroy, his true identity was hidden from most everyone. This was especially true when it came to his eleven brothers — something that proved important, and prophetic, as the story continued.
Here is what I am getting at: we know Joseph is a prototype of the Messiah but I would argue that he also portrays those who are in Messiah, i.e. the Body. Specifically, he portrays those in the Body whose identity as Abraham’s seed (see Galatians 3:29) is hidden from their Jewish brethren, just as it was with Joseph. Even more importantly, the prophetic element speaks to the notion that when those who have been hidden, as it relates to being part of God’s Israel, are finally revealed to their desperate brethren, the purpose and plan of God will be manifest in the world. In short, the reconciliation between “Circumcision and Uncircumcision” will initiate the final stages of the restitution of all things — and you and I get to be a part of it! Perhaps this explains why the enemies of God are working so hard to come against His people — especially those who are about to be revealed.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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