SHIBBOLETH

"The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephramites arrived. And when any Ephramite who escaped said, 'Let me cross over,' the men of Gilead would say to him, 'Are you an Ephramite? If he said, 'No,' then they will say to him, 'then say, 'Shibboleth!' And he would say 'Sibboleth,' for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousands Ephraimites." - Judges 12:5-6


I heard a report about the Ife and Modakeke crises, where a group would stop commuters on the way and in trying to identify their origin, they force them to make statements - this was done in order to ascertain their accents and that sure gives them away. How reliable this form of recognition is, I am  not certain, but I know that even technology has a place of speech recognition, like voice dial and voice commands.


So, I bring to your attention this day, a kind of spiritual speech recognition. A Christian may not have an accent peculiar to the Hebrew or Greek; but there are ways of speaking and then we can identify a Christian. There is Christian vocabulary that always give a Christian away all the time. I am not referring to hypocritical 'it is well' or the 'God will help us' syndrome or even God bless you. I am pointing this Christian to something deeper than English.


The Christian Shibboleth is most time a recognition that is evidenced by the effect and not really the audio, the Christian Shibboleth is about what gives us away as genuine disciples, the Christian's shibboleth is what can save us from trouble and even in trouble at times - it is not about putting Jesus as an appendage in every statement. It is about the effect of the simple words from a Christian's mouth. How I wish everyone you spoke to becomes edified, how I wish everyone you correct, feel the love - this is beyond accent, this is the father's voice in your mouth.


Please, don't ask me if the word shibboleth is a Christian word or English word, truthfully I don't know - but I found it first from the bible. I understood it first from the scriptural view and I believe the root is from the bible. But today, I want you to be aware that something should give you away when you speak, people should be able to identify you when you speak.


WHAT DID YOU SAY?
"And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, 'Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.'" - Matt 26:73


So, Mr Peter thought he would just do undercover and seat close to the people persecuting his master, he wanted to be close yet, he didn't want people to know that He knows Jesus; but as long as your mouth is open to talk, something will give you away - Peter only wanted them to know that Jesus may not be guilty, so he didn't know when he started quoting and speaking wisdom, those people quickly understood that this was definitely a follower of Christ. O, this isn't the best time to be given away by speech, at other times it would have been better - but this moment he wanted to speak as one of them but couldn't.


If you were challenged in the face of persecution, and everyone knows that your speech betrays you, would you deny? Would you take an escape root and say you do not know Christ? A situation will arise when they will ask you if you are a 'spirikoko', people would want to know how serious you are with this God because your speech will betray you like Peter - This shibboleth may not always play out among our own set, because we understand each other - this accent or pattern of talking will play out among those who want to crucify Christ in our lives - but at that point your response can be a denial or an assertion.


Ideally, I do not think a man should apologise for his accent or deny his roots; but this has become the norm amongst us, we may not be cool with taken sides with Jesus when our speech betrays us - but at this point you may be denying Jesus already. You can't say 'Let us pray', because you don't want to appear religious, you don't want to use the wisdom of the Bible, because you want to leave religion in the church - but this speech patterns are part of the true makeup of the believer.


"When she recognised Peter's voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, 'You are beside yourself!' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, 'It is his angel.'" - Acts 12:14-15


This may appear a little bit out of the context but I will drive my point all the same, the brethren will open their arms to you if we recognise your voice as someone who has been freed from captivity of the enemy. The children of God will be happy when your foul language has been replaced with appropriate words. This is the matter at hand now.


There are some whom, despite having the heavenly language their origin is not in the kingdom - and there are those whom we want to hear them and recognise them so as to open the doors of our fellowship to them. Do not tell me this moment that it doesn't matter - yes, these words at times could be hypocritical, yet it doesn't mean we should discard the place of genuineness.


Has your mode of speaking caused you to deny Jesus, or has it caused open doors for you? The answer may be relative yet, you should be proud that the Jesus' style of speaking is in your pattern. You don't need to be ashamed of it - you don't have to be ashamed when you draw your point of arguments from the Bible.


SPEECH EFFECT
"And they said to one another, 'Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?'" - Luke 24:32


There is an effect our speech or words should have in the hearts of men as Christians, there should be a 'burning' in the hearts of men that truth is being said. Even though their head will comprehend the language, there should be an effect of the words from our mouths in their hearts...when Peter spoke that day, they were cut to heart.


There are those whose 'rhema' always result in arguments, and there are those whose words always bring healing. I do not mean poetry at all, I mean simple words resounding deep beyond the meaning of the words itself. This cannot be mimicked by anyone and if they do, the words will not have such effect as it is suppose to have.


The scripture says that we should say unto the righteous 'it is well'; it is not just a statement of encouragement, it is a statement of wonders; because you said it is well, the person should see the wellness and not just be raised in hope. There is an effect that the word brings unto those who are receptive unto it.


"Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." - John 10:5


Everyone should have a distinctive way of recognising the voice of Jesus, as sheep in His sheep fold, our recognition of His voice should not be confused with any other voice, in fact, any other voice should cause us to flee and run towards Jesus the more. His words are words that soothes every situation of our lives, His voice should amplify as the days go by - the beauty of it is that, Jesus speaks in accent clear to the hearer.


Adam heard the voice of the Lord in the garden and hid himself, the truth of the matter is that if you have ever heard his voice; you will never be mistaken - even in a 'not so good state', you will able to recognise the voice of the Master. If we have a visitor at the door, depending on who it is, we can be compelled to quickly put your space in order - this should also happen to you while Jesus calls, you know His voice why not do something about your inside.


One cool night, while little Samuel wanted to sleep, God decided to let Samuel know of His accent, God wanted a speech recognition process with the little boy, and that night with the help of prophet Eli, Samuel heard and recognised the voice of God. God doesn't just speak for speaking sake, the day you recognise His voice, He begins to hold you in confidence, telling you things and it puts you ahead over the physical.


WHAT'S YOUR SPEECH LIKE?
"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." - Col 4:6


Let it be clear to the believer that it takes a conscious effort to be speak right; when the scripture say 'let', it points to the fact that you can and should permit only the right kind of words from your mouth. In a world where slangs abound and when one would be under constant pressure to use those kinds of words, we must Let our speech be graceful and seasoned with salt.


It is a deception and a trap of the enemy for the youths today when we express 'extremely good' as 'bad' or 'wicked'. Those words aren't graceful, those words can't edify, they aren't heavenly, and though they tingle the years and amuse the heart - they never drive he a consciousness intended by the father - please, let us call good, good and bad, bad.


What we say over time becomes the definition of our personality, the way we use words becomes what we are known for - if the words are vulgar and though they make us have attention in presence of men; they will never carry heaven's backing. Emotions may rise, and laughter may abound, but all become a charade of the moment and never having eternal value. That is what I think, and that is what I say.


"Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these ought not to be so." - James 3:10


We can't because of acceptability from the world begin to distort the our speech pattern, we can't just agree to use earthly words since we are heavenly people. Don't you forget that beautiful statement 'peace be unto you'. This kind of speech pattern are not learnt in the everyday school; they are a conscious effort to unlearn the norm and become filled with the right words.


There is a lingua franca of the kingdom, the kind of words that when people hear, they will wonder like Mary what sort of greeting is this; we must begin to use such words to define our identity too, we must begin to use such words to call forth the virtue of the kingdom in ourselves - we should become addicted to such vocabulary that something distinct begin to mark us out from the world in general - this is a plea.


Jesus told us that, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, we cannot separate a person true identity from his or her utterances - it tells a lot about us. There is a possibility that you too have thought about these things and see that your vocabulary has to change - but you think there is going to be a strain in communication with the world - but that is just the devil trying to put you on mute.


CONCLUSION:
There is a language of the kingdom, it will make us stand out amongst persecutors, and it will also make us acceptable to the fellowship of brethren - it really cannot be faked. It is a declaration of identity, a calling forth of possibility - it is a break from the nauseating norm. Let your words edify.


Say 'shibboleth'


God bless you and I love you
Akinsuroju Femi
© The Fundamentals