Rakhaph: The HOVERING Wings

Hover: rakhaph, verb (Strong’s 7363).

Root: רָחַף

Sounds like: rah-kawf

I’m on vacation! …a road trip with my parents! On Tuesday we headed south of the border into the United States of America. We had a wet evening in Peekskill NY, with a lightning storm that took out the power for an hour, and then the next day we made our way to the home of my ancestors Sarah Wells and William Bull. I’ll share more about that adventure next week. After a brief stop in the US, we made our way to Ontario, where we are enjoying a relaxing visit with our Ontario cousins and friends! 

So to keep things simple, this week we’re going to look at a word that has a very small, but significant, footprint in the Bible.

It is the verb meaning to hover… rakhaph.

Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness (was) over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (was) hovering [m-rakhephet מְרַחֶ֖פֶת] over the surface of the waters.

To hover is the third verb used in the Bible. First God created, and then the earth was (it existed), and then the Spirit hovered over the watery surface.

Without a solid concept of “spirit”, the author tried to paint a scene for our limited imaginations. The Spirit was like a bird, hovering over God’s created space.

The poem in Deuteronomy 32 revisited the imagery from the creation narrative:

Deuteronomy 32:9-11

“For YHWH portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the howling wasteland of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers [y-rakheph יְרַחֵ֑ף] over its young, He spread His wings, He caught them, He carried them on His pinions.”

God is like a mama bird that hovers over her chicks… caring for them; making sure they are safe, and well-fed, and feeling love.

This kind of hovering is all about relationships. We should hover over each other in our faith families… making sure everyone experiences safety, nourishment, inclusion and love.

The third time this word shows up in the Bible, it takes on a slightly different hue. The people had abandoned YHWH and Jeremiah physically felt anxious over what would come of the people:

Jeremiah 23:9-12

[Jeremiah:] As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble [ra’khaphu רָֽחֲפוּ֙]; I have become like a drunken man, and like a man overcome by wine, because of YHWH and because of His holy words.”

[YHWH:] “For the land is full of adulterers; for the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil and their might is not right. For both prophet and priest are defiled; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares YHWH.

“Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them, they will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it; for I will bring disaster upon them, the year of their punishment,” declares YHWH.

Jeremiah said that he felt like his heart was broken and his bones “hovered/trembled”. It’s a feeling of jittery anxiety. It’s like wanting to take off into flight, but you can’t. You are grounded in fear. This was the perfect word for Jeremiah to use. The Spirit of YHWH hovered over the earth at creation, but we cannot hover and fly away from earth during times of anxiety. Only YHWH can truly rescue us from our fears and worries. Only with YHWH can we take flight.

Yeshua (Jesus) wanted to rescue the people of Jerusalem from their anxieties, but they rejected the help:

Matthew 23:27-29

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

Do you have anxieties? (Really, who doesn’t!?) Let Yeshua in. He will be like a mama bird to you, hovering over you, guarding you, nourishing you, and carrying you when you just can’t take another step. We all need that kind of help, and Yeshua offers it freely! Don’t stay stuck in the nest without a way to fly… let Yeshua be your wings and soar.

Next week: HOUSE