What Is A Pure Heart?

Psalm 24:3-5 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and

A PURE HEART;

who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

This is Messiah Who, because of what He has done we can ascend to the hill/presence of the Lord! So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

This phrase

a pure heart

lev tahor

is used in many scriptures.

‘and a pure
וּֽבַר־ (ū·ḇar-)
Conjunctive: waw – vav

Adjective – masculine singular construct
Strong’s 1249: Beloved, pure, empty.

heart,
לֵ֫בָ֥ב (lê·ḇāḇ)
Noun – masculine singular
Strong’s 3824: Inner man, mind, will, heart.

When we think of a pure heart

we often think of an innocent child.

Someone not yet exposed to the issues of life that cause

a pure heart

to become tainted, calloused and hardened by lifes’ experiences. Yet these verses are not specifically pointing to young children.

Ps. 73 is directed to Israels offspring.

The Psalms and David have much to say of the heart.

Psalm 73:1 
HEB: לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל אֱלֹהִ֗ים לְבָרֵ֥י לֵבָֽב׃
NAS: to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!

lə·ḇā·rê

לְבָרֵ֥י

to such as are pure in

1249 [e] lə·ḇā·rê

heart

3824 [e]
lê·ḇāḇ.
לֵבָֽב׃

וּֽבַר pure

לֵ֫בָ֥ב heart

Labara levav

The Hebrew letters:

Lamed resh beth yod  lamed beth beth

A PURE HEART – LEV TAHOR לב טהור

Strong’s Hebrew: 2889. טָהוֹר (tahor) — clean, pure

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. clean, fair, pureness. Or tahor {taw-hore’}; from taher; pure (in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense) — clean, fair, pure (-ness). see HEBREW taher.

Strong’s Hebrew: 2890. טֳהָר־ (tahor) — pureness

tahor: pureness Original Word: טְהוֹר Part of Speech: Noun Masculine Transliteration: tahor Phonetic Spelling: (teh-hore’) Definition: pureness

טהור – pure, clean (figurative); pure, unalloyed – Hebrew …

Inflection of טָהוֹר Adjective – katol pattern Root: ט – ה – ר The middle radical of this word is guttural; this affects the adjacent vowels. Meaning pure, clean (figurative); pure, unalloyed

The Hebrew word Tahor (Tet-Hey-Resh), which is reference number 2889. It is an adjective and is from the verb Taher 2891.

Strong’s Hebrew: 2891. טָהֵר (taher) — to be clean or pure

taher: to be clean or pure Original Word: טָהֵר Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: taher Phonetic Spelling: (taw-hare’) Definition: to be clean or pure

HEBREW WORD STUDY – A CLEAN VESSEL – BIKELI TAHOR

May 19, 2021 · A clean vessel is bikeli tahor in the Hebrew which spoke of a very common vessel in oriental culture as it is today. A potter often made vessels which were referred to as vessels fo

We have looked at

heart lev/leb levav in previous posts

(link below for newer readers.)

https://www.minimannamoments.com/because-9/

However a pure heart …what is it?

and how do we attain one?

Because according to

Jeremiah 17:9 –  the heart is wicked and deceitful

and yet, if it were possible to have a pure heart,

then it would not be something David

both desired and asked for in

Psalms 51:10.

Create in me a clean heart and who can ascend the hill of the Lord; and in Psalm 24:3-5. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

This is Messiah, Who because of what He has done, we can ascend to the hill/presence of the Lord! So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

Create a clean/pure heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

David asks directly for

a pure/clean heart and a renewed/steadfast spirit: 

Create in me a PURE heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

This verse invites

a radical renewal

from our Heavenly Father.

His request – create in me a PURE/clean heart;

is it simply another way of asking for

forgiveness and spiritual cleansing? 

What does ‘Create in me a PURE/clean heart’ mean?

When David prayed Create in me a PURE/clean heart, he used the same Hebrew verb that is used in Genesis 1:1 for the creation of the world; a cosmic cleansing before starting anew from scratch. This type of cleansing is enormous and all encompassing.

Jesus/Yeshua said:

The PURE in heart will see God… 

so it must be possible…

but only through Him.

In Psalms 73:1: A Psalm of Asaph.

Truly God [is] good to Israel,

[even] to such as are of a pure/clean heart.

Israel and his descendants are His children of promise, to which, if not born naturally to the covenant chosen; are the gentile believers grafted-in by grace. This is only through being born again from above by His spirit and washed in the Blood of Messiah Jesus. So the promise applies to those as well.

God is Good to those with a pure heart and who doesn’t want the goodness of God? Yet to receive that goodness we apparently need a pure heart.

We recently looked at the word

good which in Hebrew is tov/tob

and discovered its’ Hebrew meaning was:

to be in harmony with something.

Click below for link to post.

https://www.minimannamoments.com/who-or-what-is-good/

 We know Yeshua/Jesus said: Only God is good

or

in harmony with everything in His creation.

SO could we then understand that:

God is good

or

in harmony with those with a pure heart?

 

We know from scripture that clearly we cannot make our hearts pure by our own efforts. The good news of the gospel of the kingdom is that Jesus Messiah, died on Calvary’s cross;

He alone bore ALL our sins,

removed them,

nailing them to the tree and

thus leaving us with

a pure heart.

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; Col 2:14 KJV

Colossians 2:14 New King James Version 14 having wiped out the [a]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way,

So our question, how do we get one, is answered in that Jesus/Yeshua gives us

a PURE heart

and it comes by

putting our faith and trust in Him.

An interesting thought here is, at the cross He took away not only all our past sins but those He knew we would commit against Him today and in all our future days! It’s is such an overwhelming miracle of His grace and merciful forgiveness, that even before we do wrong, He has made provision for the truly repentant heart. This should not however be a license for us to just do as we please, but rather, to look soberly at our lifestyles and keep our walk very close to Him on the narrow way.

The questions we should ask are,

what do we do when we receive that clean/pure heart?

And..

what are the characteristics of a clean/pure heart?

As we have seen previously in the Hebrew language, there is often a play on words which is used to give a wider picture and offer deeper understanding for us. In Ps. 73:1 the word

PURE – LABARA,

has an l, a Hebrew letter lamed in front of it

לְבָרֵ֥י

to such as are pure in

1249 [e] lə·ḇā·rê

which in Hebrew language and sentence construction is a preposition.

The lamed or L stands for:

TO UNTO or FOR.

In its’ root form, the word

PURE is BARAR

and can be seen in the scripture verse as

labara.

The word has the picture of:

cleansing and rejuvenating;

so in translating this verse it would read:

God is good to the pure heart.

or

He is in harmony with a pure heart,

rather than reading as: those who are pure in heart!

Why is this important?

Well, do we want to know truth, or do we want to settle for what we think we know or have been taught; which is often our comfort zone? (Re-read the parable of the old wine and old wineskins). Isn’t it important to know what our Heavenly Father means? For the writer it is very much so, none of us wants one day to discover we have been believing something that is not correct; because only the truth will make us free, not what we choose to think or believe, simply because it fits our paradigm.

The idea or picture the Hebrew language describes and creates for us is that:

Our Heavenly Father relates to our hearts – not our bodies and minds but our hearts. Yeshua/Jesus came to save and redeem our spirits, NOT our flesh bodies.

Yet Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it I the Lord search the heart verse 10 I try the reins even to give every man according to his doings.

Our minds and souls can be responsible for some impure and unclean things /doings and the fruit can be very ungodly. An example is debate, or debating an issue. This is something we think is ok and yet when 2 people so called debate, they are really arguing from their minds and souls, thinking they are discussing from a pure heart. Yet really they are each trying to prove their position correct over the other person and it becomes competition and they are not really serving God. They are simply trying to exert their control over the conversation, seeking advantage to be right.

This can lead to a divided heart with divided interests and we are to love God with our whole heart, not a divided one. Let us live by His truth with our whole heart. Ps 86:11 12

Debate opens up a door to a spirit of competition and a competitive spirit often leads to jealousy and offense. To remove a spirit of offense means removing the competition.

There are no scriptures telling us to debate or argue. In fact Gal. 5:19 lists the works of the flesh and we should be Gal. 5:22-26 instead.

Only God can give a pure heart.

Do the words for pure heart in Jer. 17:9, tell us that having a pure heart could clean up our minds and souls? This seems to be confirmed in Prov. 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding (mind) and in all your ways (body or physical actions) acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. When we deny our flesh life, our old carnal nature, subduing and crucifying the flesh, our mind and body; and put our heart and spirit-man first, we will, with His help, be walking in the way/life of righteousness.

What is our Heavenly Father doing when He gives us a pure heart?

Pure heart in Hebrew is Barar levav.

We noted that barar

in its’ root form, 

means:

to cleanse or rejuvenate

so when we willingly open up our hearts to Messiah,

He cleanses our hearts and rejuvenates them.

However, that is not all that is accomplished because Hebrew Rabbis teach that the word barah

is related to the word

bara without the h.

Barah with the letter h at the end means;

to be bright.

This is a connection to Jesus/Yeshua’s words in Matt. 5:16. It shows when He enters and fills our hearts, He cleanses it rejuvenates it, so that He is in harmony with our hearts. Then His light shines out from our hearts, which aligns with His command: to let our light shine before men.

When we debate /argue/ compete with other believers, trying to be right, it’s not letting our light shine forth to others. But is rather letting our own minds and intellect shine and it rarely if ever impresses unbelievers or believers for that matter.

Another word mentioned earlier, which is related to

barar is bara

which we are familiar with from Genesis 1.

Bara the word for

creating something new.

The very thing David prayed for in Ps 51:10

create in me a pure heart and reNEW…

When Messiah gives us a

pure heart He is creating in us a new heart.

One final point of interest is the word

barar in a Niphal form. 

Niphal is a verbal form which expresses a simple passive voice. Example – He was destroyed.

Recent understanding of Hebrew grammar suggest that the Niphal is also reflexive.

As in my voice was heard by me.

Apparently this word

barar

comes from the old Akkadian word

Nibiru which means in Akkadian

a crossing.

As in crossing a river or a crossing over.

The flood of Noahs’ day is now a fact according to the scientific community and some of the scientists now believe the flood was as a result of the earths close encounter with either a huge asteroid, or a planetary body – that nibiru /crossed over, or by the earth, so close that it was the cause of the catastrophic flood.

Readers may note there are many articles and youtube internet sites referencing nibiru in recent months. We know by faith in His Word, that the flood was God cleansing and rejuvenating the earth from all the sin, ungodliness and violence; and it’s a clear example of what He does when He cleanses our hearts from all the sin and uncleanness.

He washes it all away and what remains is a pure heart.

Prov. 22:11. He that loveth

pureness of heart

for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

Messiah also said He calls us friends 

John 1:35-51, John 15:15.

and there is also a reference in His own words in

Matt. 24:36.. as it was in the days of Noah.

Many believe that there is a recurring cycle of celestial bodies moving, that will result in another nibiru/crossing known in some circles as the planet of the crossing. Whether you believe this or not is not as important as preparing our hearts before a Holy God and maintaining a lifestyle and walk that is pleasing to Him. One which shows forth His light, His brightness, and the fruit of a pure heart created by His indwelling Spirit of Holiness.

Today is the day of salvation… it’s time to make absolutely sure we are in a right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

We are only promised today and with David, our desire should always be,

create in me a pure heart oh Lord!

A PURE HEART – LEV TAHOR – לב טהור

A brief look at the letters of the ancient

Hebrew pictographs, adds further fullness

contained in the words..

Lev Tahor

 Tahor is spelled Tet Hey Vav Reysh.

Ancient Hebrew – Read right to left.

Modern Hebrew

TET

Tet is the picture of

a coiled snake

and means:

to surround or to encircle.

HEY

Hey is the picture of

the man with his hands lifted up to the heavens

and means:

to behold

and

can be a picture of

the One Who Reveals/His Spirit of Holiness

VAV

Vav is the picture of

the wooden hook or the iron nail

and means:

to add, or secure, or

join two things together that are separated from one another.

REYSH

Reysh is the picture of

the head

and means:

the leader, the highest, or the prince.

These pictographs give a picture of how we become pure/clean according to Our Heavenly Father.

David was asking for:

his heart to be surrounded by the Spirit of Holiness that is connected to the prince.

The numerical value of each of the 4 letters in TAHOR reveals further information about the prince.

The numerical value of Tet is 9

and the number 9 refers to

the conclusion of a matter, the summation of man’s works, and can refer to the fruit of the spirit.

The numerical value of Hey is 5

and stands for:

grace or favor with God.

The numerical value of Vav is 6

and it describes:

man and his enmity with God.

The numerical value of

Reysh is 200

and

contrasts the insufficiency of man

with the sufficiency of God.

David has not yet met

this prince Who is to come but He will be

the One Who will be sufficient or able to overcome the enmity that David has with God and make him pure/clean.

He will accomplish this through God’s Grace and will bring an end to Davids situation and produce the fruit of God’s Spirit in his life.

We know this Prince/Sar as Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, Jesus the Christ, Who will bring victory that we so earnestly desire in our hearts

The 3 letters in the word for heart /Lev

reveal what is hidden there.

Lev is spelled

Lamed Beyt.

Ancient Hebrew

Modern Hebrew

LAMED 

Lamed

is the picture of:

the shepherd’s staff

and describes:

control, authority, or the voice of authority.

BEYT

Beyt

is the picture of

the floor plan of the tent

and can mean:

the house, the family, the physical tent or body,

and is

the first letter in the Torah that identifies the Son of God.

Here is a picture for us to understand the heart/lev/leb

The heart/lev/leb was:

the leader or the one in control of the physical body, the tent in which David was dwelling.

 The cause of David’s problem was that his heart was full of things which were leading him in a direction he didn’t want to go any more.

The numerical value of these two letters seem to complete the mystery of David’s heart.

The numerical value of

Lamed is 30

and stands for:

a blood sacrifice.

The numerical value of

Beyt is 2

and refers to:

God the Son.

Surely this is what Our Heavenly Father wants in David’s heart. The leader in his heart needs to be the Son of God, Who by His blood sacrifice can set David free from his old nature.

Hebrews 10:22 echoes this mystery too. 

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.   

David turned to the place that is the only solution for our wicked human hearts. 

Jesus our Prince, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, will with His own blood wash our hearts pure/clean. His Spirit of Holiness will reveal and lead us in ways pleasing to our Heavenly Father. With a Lev Tahor, we will no longer suffer from an evil conscience but will be able to draw near with full assurance of our faith in Him.

Today is the day of salvation… it’s time to make absolutely sure we are in a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are only promised today and with David, our desire should always be,

create in me a pure heart oh Lord.

Shalom shalom mishpachah/family

and cheverim/friends!

It’s all about Life and Relationship,

NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

NOT SURE?

YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

BECAUSE 8

Because – Silence Is Beauty

1 Peter 3:3-4. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. Learning evolves out of communion but we should be mindful not to mix the two.Many times we are over anxious to learn or speak or get answers to our prayer requests.We will see the Lord most clearly in the silent still pool,

where we can hear the still, calm, small voice. Kings 19:11-13Here in this place, words are as pebbleswhich when dropped into quiet water,send out ripples and distort the image.He wants to minister to us in the beauty of the silence.In ways He could never communicate by words alone. Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.He desires to look deep into our souls and as He searches us out and knows us,His blessings will come in ways yet unknown to us. He desires we also minister to Him. We need to be still and wait quietly for His salvation. Lamentations 3:26. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.Time spent in His presence is never wasted for only He can touch us the deep in our souls.Our modern, technology oriented lives, have become too busy and too noisy.And we are too eager to impatiently move, to get up and go on with our lives and are easily tempted to dispel the perfect, calm, place in His presence because we’re too busy and so we can do what we need to do to move forward   Like a child with a short attention span we want answers and action NOW!We leave our ‘shopping list’ of needs and requirements at His feet, and rush out of His presence, without any semblance of real or meaningful communication and expect home delivery without delay!We are often uncomfortable in the silence.

It takes practice and discipline to remain quiet before Him for any prolonged length of time;Yet it is for us to minister to Him from our inner desire, asking Him to create in us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within us. Ps 51:10The still waters of Psalm 23 where the sheep must drink, are those same pure waters, where we too must take in His spirit.Sheep are not happiest when drinking from fast-moving waterNo doubt sheep are afraid of the rushing water and rightly so because if they fall in, their wool would become so saturated, that they would drown with the extra weight pulling them under.

Likewise for us to receive the full benefit of His life-giving waterin the form of His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, we must be still and know that He is God. Psalm 46:10Because in the silence and stillness, that pool will reflect all that He is; and all that He will be in us; and all that we can become in Him.The more still that the water is, the more accurate the reflection, as with a mirror made of glass. Likewise the more we are still within, as well as externally, the better we reflect Our Father. We can only see our reflection in still waters otherwise what we see is distorted.Our cry should be, “search me and know me”. Psalm 139:1, 23Then after we are refreshed from the still waters of the pool and we touch that which has imbued us with life then, when the ripples go outward across the surface, it is symbolic of the giving out of ourselves.

But unless we first fill up; there will be no substance in our outward reach to the lost and hurting world around us.Jesus, lover of my soul

Jesus, I will never let You go

You’ve taken me from the miry clay

You’ve set my feet upon the rock

And now I know. I love you, I need you,
Though my world may fall, I’ ll never let you go
My Saviour, my closest friend,
I will worship you until the very end…There is no salvation without purification, so the need to have God create in us a clean heart, is essential for maturity as a believer.

We have to have an inner cleanliness. For Jesus himself reminded us, the pure in heart shall see God. Matt 5:8Everyday we should take a mental mikveh/ a bath for our minds and determine to be honest with ourselves and then, to think on, whatsoever is pure, etc., as referenced in Scripture. Phil 4:8Our minds stray, our hearts wander, but let’s not lose our souls but instead discover the living Word Himself and plant Him deep within us, to purify our hearts as only He can (James 4:8); by the washing of the water of His Word . Eph 5:262 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Because in the silence of His presence there is holiness and the fullness of His Shalom. When Jesus said My Peace I give to you. John 14:27He was talking about Shalom which cannot be translated into just a single word..

When there is Shalom there is tranquility,

there is an absence of disorder and violence,

there is justice, sufficient food, clothing and housing. Divine Health no sickness.

There is absence of conflict, lack, hatred, abuse, bribery, corruption, pain, suffering, immorality and all other negative forces.

That is what Jesus was meaning when He said, ‘My peace I give unto you.’ This place of Shalom, is being still and knowing He is God.Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

Because there is beauty in the silence and in the stillness of His shalom.

~~~~~

Mikveh or mikvah (Hebrew: מִקְוֶה / מקווה is a bath used for the purpose of achieving purity

~~~~~~~

Shalom to each and everyone.