Last week, I heard a message about Caleb’s example and how he “wholly followed” God. I noticed one of the translations on my Bible app said “fully followed,” so out of curiosity I looked up other translations and noticed something interesting about the LEB version.
“No one of these men of this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give to your ancestors, except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; he himself shall see it, and to him I will give the land upon which he has trodden and to his sons because he followed Yahweh unreservedly.”
Deuteronomy 1:35-36, LEB (italics in original)
That italicized phrase is the one that’s typically translated something like, “he has wholly followed Yahweh” (Deut. 1:36, WEB). In the LEB, there’s a footnote on this phrase that says, “Literally ‘he filled his hands after Yahweh.'” That caught my attention. I know in Hebrew, words often paint a “picture” that helps the reader visualize what’s going on. For example, the word for anger has to do with flaring nostrils and being “slow to anger” literally means having a “long nose.” Today, I’d like to look more deeply at what we can learn about following God wholly, or “filling our hands after” Him.
Fully Committed to Follow God
The phrase “wholly followed” or “filled hands after” comes from two Hebrew words: mâlê’ (H4390) and ‘achar (H310). It’s used of Caleb five times (Num. 14:24; 32:12; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:9, 14). By contrast, the Israelites other than Caleb and Joshua did not “wholly follow Me” (Num. 32:11, WEB). Similarly, Solomon “didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did” (1 Kings 11:6, WEB). An NET footnote about Solomon describes this phrase as an “idiomatic statement” that “reads in Hebrew, ‘he did not fill up after'” God (footnote on 1 Kings 11:6). That’s very similar to the LEB note saying this phrase literally means, “he filled his hands after Yahweh.”
Digging deeper into these two words in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT), we see that mâlê’ is a common verb (used 249 times) with two basic meanings: to fill up something spatially (e.g. oil filling a jar [2 Kings 4:6]) or temporally (e.g. the days of pregnancy being fulfilled [Gen. 25:24]) (TWOT entry 1195). Sometimes, it’s used figuratively of things that fill the earth such as violence and sin (Gen. 6:13; Jer. 16:18; 51:5; 8:17; Mic. 6:12) or God’s presence, glory, kindness, and knowledge (Num. 14:21; Ps. 33:5; 72:19; Is. 6:3; 11:9; Jer. 23:24; Hab. 3:3).
Mâlê’ is also used of someone’s words being fulfilled (i.e. they did what they said they would do). The phrase “‘to fill one’s hand’ (with sacrifices) is ‘to consecrate’ one’s service” (Ex. 32:29; 1 Chr. 29:5). It’s used for priests being consecrated to God. In other words, they “filled their hands” toward Him. It’s also used of the Levites who obeyed Moses after the Golden Calf incident, and in this case it’s “an expression meant to say that they had been faithful to God even though it turned them against family and friends” (NET footnote on Ex. 32:29). That’s also what Caleb did–he was faithful to God even when the entire rest of the nation and all the other spies except Joshua rebelled against Yahweh’s command.
The second word in this phrase, ‘achar, basically means “after.” It can mean “behind {of place)” or “afterwards (of time)” (Thayer’s Dictionary, H310). Beyond that, I can’t find much information about this word. The TWOT discusses ‘achar only briefly, spending more time on other derivatives of the word ahar (entry 68). Interestingly, ‘achar is related to the Hebrew word for time, ‘aharit (TWOT 68g). In Hebrew, the idea of time is like “the view a man has when he is rowing a boat. He sees where he has been and backs into the future” (Wolff, qtd. by TWOT).
As I ponder these definitions, I picture someone with their whole life full of God, like someone who’s got their hands so full they can’t pick up anything else. And then, filled up with focus on God, they faithfully follow after Him to the places He’s going and the future He’s leading them toward. I find it interesting that there’s also an element of uncertainty; people “filled up after God” are wholly committed to Him, but don’t know what the future holds. They’re goin to follow Him no matter where He leads.
Full Hearts and Hands
With all the talk about filling up hands when following God in these footnotes and dictionary entries, I started looking into the Hebrew word for “hand” and reading verses where it’s used alongside mâlê’ (H4390). There aren’t very many, but the ones I did find are interesting. For example, human hands can be full of “wickedness,” “bribes,” and “blood” (Ps. 26:10; Is. 1:15, WEB). In sharp contrast, God’s “right hand is full of righteousness” (Ps. 48:10, WEB).
I’ve also seen the phrase mâlê’ +‘achar translated “wholeheartedly follow,” so I looked up times that mâlê’ is paired with “heart” as well. Much like with “hands,” human hearts aren’t typically filled with anything good. Solomon said, “the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live” (Ecc. 9:3, WEB). Similarly, Haman “dared presume (mâlê’) in his heart to” conspire against the Jews (Est. 7:5, WEB). Without God’s influence, human hearts are full of things contrary to God’s nature.
It’s not human’s base-line nature to “fully follow” God with their hands or heart. That’s why it’s so unusual to have someone like Caleb or David fully commit to following God. For us to follow the Lord like that takes dedication and faith on our part, and assistance from God Himself.
In Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication, he said, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it” (1 Kings 8:15, WEB). That’s the word mâlê’ used in the sense of fully following through on a promise. “Hand” here is yâd (H3027), which literally means a person’s hand but also figuratively refers to “strength, power” (Brown-Driver-Briggs dictionary). God has the strength and power to follow-through on His promises. His hand working in our lives can help us to fully follow Him as well.
After God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, He entrusted the people to make a tabernacle (the precursor to Solomon’s temple). Specifically, he commissioned Bezalel of Judah and Ahisamach of Dan to spearhead the construction of the tabernacle tent, ark of the covenant, priestly garments, and other holy items. In doing so, He chose a man who was “wise-hearted” and then “filled (mâlê’) him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship” (Ex. 31:3, WEB; see also Ex. 28:3; 31:1-11; 35:30-35). These men were already wise in their hearts, but they also needed God to fill them up with His Spirit in order to do the work that He wanted them to do.
That Which Fills You Bears Fruit
The New Testament also has some things to say about what fills our hearts and the intensity of our commitment to God. Whatever it is that fills up our hearts is going to come out eventually.
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles. The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart.”
Luke 6:43-46, NET
Like in the Old Testament, there are things that can influence what fills our hearts. For example, Peter confronted Ananias because “Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit” (Acts 5:3, NET). In contrast, God fills people up with His Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:31; 9:17; 13:52; Eph. 5:18). He also fills us with other good things, like joy, peace, and knowledge (Rom. 15:13).
For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.
Colossians 1:9-12, NET
The Greek word translated “fill” in these verses is pleroo (G4137). It means “to make full,” fill up to the fullest extent, “to make complete in every particular,” “to carry through to the end,” and “to fulfill” in the sense of bringing something into realization or effect (Thayer’s dictionary). It doesn’t paint the same word-picture with filled up hands as the Hebrew word does, but it means basically the same thing. It refers to something being as full as it can possibly get. When it’s God that fills up the “treasury of a heart,” then the fruit produced is going to be good.
Fully Involve Yourself
As I wrapped up this study, I thought of what Jesus called the greatest commandment. He said, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength‘” (Mark 12:29-30, NET, bold italics mark a quotation from Deut. 6:4-5). Heart, soul, mind, and strength is basically everything you have. You should love God wholly, the same way that Caleb followed Him.
In the Old Testament verse that Jesus quotes, there are three Hebrew words used. We’re to love God with all our heart (leb [H3824], inner person, including thoughts and feelings), soul (nephesh [H5315], yourself as a living being), and might (me’od [H3966], force, might, “muchness”). We’re supposed to put our all into this. Everything that makes us who we are, our entire lives, and all of the “muchness” that we have. That sounds a lot like being having our hearts and hands full of following God.
The Father and Jesus are fully committed to accomplishing their plan to bring human beings into their family. They’re all-in, to the point that Jesus died in our place to make it possible for us to receive forgiveness and live new lives that (if all goes as it’s meant to) will result in us becoming “like him” and seeing “him just as he is” (1 John 3:2, NET). They expect us to demonstrate commitment to Them as well. One way we do this is by “wholly following” the Lord, no matter what the future holds or what other people around us might say.
Featured image by Brightside Creative from Lightstock
Song Recommendation: “Give Me This Mountain (Caleb’s Song)” by Graham Kendrick
Like An Anchor 