https://www.facebook.com/share/v/186LdNxpjU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Hopefully all can open the links in this blog. In case not, refer to the movie “What About Bob.”
In order to make progress in the way of YHWH, we must do it s-l-o-w-l-y. We do this because the hearts of people must be changed, and we are not able to change hearts; only YHWH changes hearts. Our lives can allow YHWH to do his work, or we can, by our approach, turn people away from YHWH. Patience, “baby steps” are required.
▸ h0748. אָרַךְ ’âraḵ; a primitive root; to be (causative, make) long (literally or figuratively): — defer, draw out, lengthen, (be, become, make, pro-)long, + (out-, over-)live, tarry (long).
AV (34) – prolong 18, long 5, lengthen 3, draw out 3, defer 2, tarried 1, …lived + h3117 h0310 2;
- to be long, prolong
- (Qal) to be long
- (Hiphil)
- to prolong (days)
- to make long (tent cords)
- to grow long, continue long
h0749. אֲרַךְ ’ăraḵ; (Aramaic) properly, corresponding to 748, but used only in the sense of reaching to a given point; to suit: — be meet.
AV (1) – meet 1; (CLBL) v
- (P’al) to be long, reach, meet (BDB/TWOT) adj v
- fitting, proper
h0750. אָרֵךְ ’ârêḵ; from 748; long: — long(-suffering, -winged), patient, slow (to anger).
AV (15) – slow 9, longsuffering + h0639 4, longwinged + h0083 1, patient 1;
- long (pinions)
- patient, slow to anger
▸ h0751. אֶרֶךְ ’ereḵ; from 748; length; Erek, a place in Babylon: — Erech.
AV (1) – Erech 1; Erech = “long”
- a city 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Ur toward Babylon on the left bank of the Euphrates river
h0752. אָרֹךְ ’ârôḵ; from 748; long: — long.
AV (3) – long 2, longer 1;
- long
- of time
- of God’s wisdom (fig.)
▸ h0753. אֹרֶךְ ’ôreḵ; from 748; length: — + forever, length, long.
AV (95) – length 70, long 21, ever 2, as long as 1, high 1;
- length
- physical length
- of time
- forbearance, self-restraint (of patience)
See the nature of Hebrew words. The same root can reflect length both in the physical dimension and the dimension of time.
I recalled that the Hebrew word for “thigh” was in this same family, reflecting the nature of this longest limb segment of the body…
From my research on two-letter words (carrying on original ideas by Jeff Benner and Ze’ev Clementson, to whom credit is due):
The רך and כר families (same letters, different order) together reflect, “What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas,” to me. And exactly where does social media fit into this equation? And the principle of “Lashon HaRa” of which we have spoken before? Wikipedia, “Lashon hara (or loshon horo, or loshon hora) (Hebrew: לשון הרע; “evil tongue”) is the halakhic term for speech about a person or persons that is negative or harmful to them, even if it is true. It is speech that damages the person(s) who is talked about either emotionally or financially, or lowers them in the estimation of others. Shmiras Halashon (guarding the tongue) is the positive practice to promote the quality of life and help combat and reduce Lashon Hara.” Consider, please. Covering and uncovering. And how does this idea relate to Blog 201 that brought out for us the idea of compassion in any consideration of judging.
What this writer is asking of you is to look at the listings above (and many more not shown) and consider that there is a hidden meaning included in the Hebrew. Rapid change is not the Way of YHWH, but baby steps (recall his answer of cycles in Genesis 8:22). Change must come. We don’t push people to change too quickly, but allow them to walk along side us and see how we interact with others.
((An employee where I worked for over twenty years used to put sayings up at our place of employment. This was one that hopefully helped keep us grounded:))
We must respect the boundaries that we come up against. We dont just bulldoze over them. This is the idea we have shared about no “high hands,” no “raised fists.” Keep a steady stance and take baby steps.
- ⦁ Proverbs 22:28
- 28 Do not move the ancient landmark
- that your fathers have set.
In this way, YHWH works with us. In this way, s-l-o-w-l-y moving forward, one baby step at a time, we may truly see come to fruition the ideal that Martin Luther King worked for, that we shared recently. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [[and women]] are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In so doing, we allow hearts to be changed by YHWH. Have you ever been approached by someone trying to push their agenda? Was not your instinct to dig your heels in? And, hmmm 🤔 isn’t it curious that this just might have been Jacob’s struggle “with God and man” in that (only partially shown) Genesis 32 passage above? Is it “coincidental” that Jacob means “heel?”
Remember Laban telling Jacob, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn?”
⦁ Genesis 29:20-27
20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”
Jacob invests twenty years (Genesis 31:38 & 31:41) of his life with Laban, accomplishing what his father Isaac sent him to do (Genesis 28:1-5), to take a wife from “his mother, Rebekah’s people,” specifically her brother Laban. It was a very challenging time for him, reflected in the statement:
- ⦁ Genesis 32:28
- 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
There are plenty more details of his dealings with Laban earlier in Genesis. And one must consider (I have no answer, only questions for you to 🤔) that Rebekah surely knew her brother Laban and must have known there would be significant challenges there for Jacob. Was her goal to strengthen him by way of these challenges? Does the message have anything to do with learning patience? I’m just going to remind you that we have spoken about the significance of camels before.
See the story of Isaac sending his servant to get a wife from this same people back in Genesis 24. Rebekah came to Isaac as a result. See that this גמל root indicates weaning, maturing, repaying debts, and camels. See that there are also camels in the narrative about Jacob and his encounters with Laban and Leah and Rachel. This helps us understand some of the “hidden meaning,” that Jacob was sent out as a maturing process, a “weaning” from the nurturing of his family, in particular his mother. But the point is clearly made that Jacob’s maturation occurs over the twenty years, before he is prepared to meet his brother Esau. Such significant changes do not occur overnight. “Baby Steps” are required. And see that the slow and patient work that Jacob did even brought some change in Laban’s heart (only baby steps, but by way of YHWH) [don’t misread, there was still lots of deceit {another way of looking at Jacob’s name, that Esau mentions} in the entire situation, all sides]:
- ⦁ Genesis 31:24
- 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- ⦁ Genesis 31:29
- 29 It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
In our lives we learn, hopefully, by baby steps. Of course, some of us take huge risks, and when we fail, recovery is difficult to impossible. Again, taking small risks, baby steps, we learn from. And if we fail/fall, recovery is more likely. Think about the process toddlers go through.
One of my former mentors, Dr. Peter Armstrong taught us about accomplishing change by taking “chewable chunks.” This, of course, is the same idea:
((For some reason the website will not allow me to paste the link, so I am going to attempt typing it in:))
https://m.youtube.com/?v=wbAxBVYyVKk&t=335s&pp=2AHPAp-ACAQ%3D%3D
If you are unable to open the link, two new ideas are added from the one above. The first is just to show the book cover of Dr. Marvin’s book, Baby Steps. The second is a commentator sharing the old quotation, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
We have talked a great deal about the Synthetic Grasp of Life on the website, about action/reaction, about consequences. Pushing hard for our agenda will bring about hard “pushback.” Such is the nature of things. Persistent baby steps would be the way of YHWH.
Ⓒ Copyright Philip E. Gates; LogAndSpeck.com, February 2026. Please cite if you use this material.