Jesus Took Away Our Reproach: [חרפה] Kherpah

Reproach:  Kherpah [חרפה]

1  Samuel 17:12-13, 15-18 

“Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

"But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening. Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.””

David was sent to bring food and supplies to his brothers who were fighting with the armies of Israel on the front lines with King Saul against, who else?  The Philistines again!  These troublesome people were such a thorn in their sides!

He just "happened" to overhear what this giant was saying to the armies of Israel.  What was his greatest concern?  Not the giant, not the armies of the Philistines but he "reproach" he was heaping upon Israel.  

Let's continue the story:

1 Samuel 17:22-26

“And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. 

"So David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.” 

"Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?””

This is the strangest battle set up, don't you think?  Here we have these two opposing armies just camped there opposite each other in the Valley of Elah which, by the way, mears "fear."  It doesn't say they were fighting each other.  It just says that this giant, Goliath, came out every morning and evening to mock the armies of Israel, heaping crippling condemnation, "kherpah," on them.  That's right; he came out and stood before the Israelite army and hurled insults at them and their God for 40 days.  
What kind of battle strategy is that?

When David arrived on the scene on this 40th day, notice what his major concern was?  Not what was their battle strategy but TAKING AWAY THE REPROACH FROM ISRAEL.
 

"Reproach," is an old fashioned word for "shame."  In Hebrew, it is the word, "Kherpah."
Whenever someone is "standing in judgment" over you, they make you feel "reproach."  It could be your family, your "friend," pastor, Bible teacher, theologian or whoever.  

The fact that this was the fortieth day that this verbal abuse had been going on was another chief concern.  Why?  Fourty in Bible numerics is the number of probation or transition.  The whole situation was fast becoming critical. 

This terrifying giant of a man was clad in bronze from head to toe:  Bronze helmet, breastplate, shield and foot gear.  Bronze in the Bible depicts "judgment."  

Bronze helmet=judgmental thinking.  

Bronze breastplate=a heart that has no love for people.  

Bronze footwear=standing in judgment 

Bronze shield=resists grace, i.e. The real gospel.

The word, "Philistine," itself means "to wallow in the dust."  Can't feel much lower than that.  Sounds like the devil, doesn't it? 

The Hebrew spelling of the word, "Kherpah," is very revealing. Hebrew reads from right to left and is a form of picture writing, like Chinese.  The word pictures give us a window on God's perspective of what reproach means to Him and shows things you'd never read in any definition. 

Kherpah is spelled like this in Hebrew:  

[חרפה] 

Each letter means:
[ח] = het/chet--"fence"
[ר} = resh--"head, think, meditate
[פ] = pei--"mouth, confess"
[ה} = hei--"grace."

The root word of "Kherpah," is the word "relax-raphah" [רפה] but the letter "het [ח] is missing.  In other words, the "fence" is gone.  You can relax when you are not "fenced off" from God by CONDEMNATION.

The message is clear: 
"When you are fenced off, or prevented, from relaxing (feeling condemned causes unrest) you feel "Kherpah-reproach."

Reproach, shame and condemnation are all tools the devil uses to try and get at us.  He's really good at using half-truths; ok let's face it, even the whole truth, to make us feel shame, disgrace and that God is angry at us.  You see, he hates God and he hates man, who is made in His image.  But he cannot strike at God directly, so he does the next best thing; he strikes at US.  We are the ones God loved SO MUCH that He gave up the life of His beloved Son to save us.

What the devil does is come to you whispering condemning thoughts, but he substitutes the personal pronoun, "I" instead of "you." Then he knocks you on the head for thinking the thought he put there.  

He whispers things like:
"I don't spend enough time with my kids."
"How can I call myself a Christian after that display?"
"I only prayed fifteen minutes while (whoever) prays for two hours....EVERY DAY!"
"I really wish I could faithfully read my Bible EVERY day, like I should."
"I just can't seem to do anything right!"

Blah, blah, blah...on and on he drones and, as I said, substituting the personal pronoun, "I," instead of "you," so that you'll think you thought of it.

FYI:  He cannot read your mind.  He can only tell that he's got you by what comes out of your mouth.  Don't own the thought by giving voice to it.  Speak what God's word says about your situation. 

ANY THOUGHT THAT CONDEMNS YOU IS NOT FROM GOD.

Feeling condemnation effectively keeps you from receiving anything--and I do mean ANYTHING--at all from God.

Church, the Holy Spirit doesn't work by condemning us.  His job is to remind us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ.  He knows better than anyone that "THE STRENGTH OF SIN IS THE LAW, meaning condemnation. Sin loses it's power over us when we realize "there is therefore now now condemnation......" no Kherpah.  Jesus bore ALL our shame! 

Getting back to David, he knew that if the Israelites were buying into this "Kherpah" Goliath was spewing out, God would not be able to deliver them.  Condemnation, i.e. the law, stifles faith.  Since everything we receive from God is based on grace through faith, not by the law, which condemns, they were unable to believe God for the victory.

But look what happened as a result of one seventeen-year-old shepherd boy....ONE BOY....putting his faith in God......The giant, Goliath, was killed AND beheaded!  Afterward, Israel vanquished the Philistines by a great victory!  

Feelings of shame, condemnation or reproach still remain the greatest obstacles to our receiving from God.  WHEN WE REPROACH OURSELVES FOR OUR FAILURES, WE DISHONOR THE WORK JESUS DID AT THE CROSS.  

It's tantamount to us paying for our own sins!  AS IF!

Jesus died to deliver us from ALL shame, ALL condemnation, ALL reproach.  God wants us to relax, to rest in Him and not feel any shame or condemnation; no more "KHERPAH."

Thank God that Jesus took away all our reproach!