The New American Standard Bible (1995) contains the word form “meditat*” twenty-four times, all of which appear in the Old Testament, and twenty of which appear in the Psalms. The remaining four occurrences are found in Genesis 24:63, Joshua 1:8, Job 15:4, and Isaiah 33:18.
“Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.”
–Genesis 24:63 NASB1995
This is the first time the word “meditate” appears in the Bible (NASB1995). The “law of first mention” proposes that the first time a word or concept is used in the Scriptures, it contains insightful keys for interpreting subsequent usages of that word throughout the rest of the Scriptures. What insights about meditation can we glean from this first usage of the word that make sense of other times that meditation is mentioned in the Ancient Writings?
As Isaac went to meditate in the field toward evening, he saw camels coming when he lifted up his eyes and looked. What do camels represent in the Scriptures? Throughout the Scriptures, camels often represent wealth and prosperity. Jesus said that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, elaborating that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (1) Thereby Jesus connects prosperity, material wealth, and/or rich people to camels.
Camels were like the semi-trucks of the ancient world, which [wealthy] people used to transport merchandise across long distances for commercial business purposes. Just as semi-trucks guzzle a lot of fuel, so also did “watering camels” take a long time, as they “guzzle” a lot of water. So as Isaac went out to meditate in the field, it was during meditation that he looked up to behold the camels. The “field” can represent one’s “career field,” occupation, or how a person makes their living.
When we look at other passages about meditation throughout the Scriptures, notably Psalm 1:2-3 and Joshua 1:8, we see an important connection between meditation and prosperity. Since camels are connected with prosperity, that meditation and prosperity are closely linked together is not a mere coincidence.
“Prosperity” and even “money” are not dirty words, for the Bible regularly talks about them with positive connotations. Certainly there are demonic counterfeits that ensnare people when finances are idolized (see 1 Timothy 6), but God is not anti-prosperity or anti-money.
Money itself is not the root of all kinds of evil. If this idea sounds heretical to somebody, then reading the actual Scripture again may bring some clarity. It says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” See 1 Timothy 6:10, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Luke 16:14, 2 Timothy 3:2, Hebrews 13:5. (2)
In other words, it is not bad, evil, or wrong to have money in large quantities; it is evil when that money has you. When the love of money compels, influences, and guides our decisions more than the love of God does, then we are not being directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, but directed and influenced by an unclean spirit called “Mammon.” (See Matthew 6:24 NKJV).
Back to the main idea, how are prosperity and meditation connected? How can we become more prosperous for God’s glory so that our generosity to others can increase? To paraphrase Randy Alcorn, God prospers us not to merely raise our standard of living, but to raise our standard of giving. (3) Giving generously severs the head of the spiritual serpent, Mammon, from injecting our lives, minds, and bodies with the poison of greed, envy, and worry.
Envy will physiologically rot our bones (which can even cause or manifest itself in dental cavities and/or osteoporosis–see Proverbs 14:30). Worry (a form of stress that is preoccupied with something bad that could happen in the future) will compromise our immune systems as excessive cortisol dries up our bone marrow, which can result in all kinds of physiological problems within the digestive system, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, nervous system, etc.
Idolatry is a form of excess, putting a created thing in place of the Creator, or prioritizing a lesser “god” before God Himself. (See Romans 1:21-25; Exodus 20:1-4). Greed is [a form of] idolatry (see Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5 NIV). God engineered and wired the human body and mind together in a particular way.
Like the Master Engineer of a complex sports-car, God designed us to operate from the top quality “fuel” and “oil” in order for us to live our lives with maximum efficiency, strength, power, health, and longevity. This “fuel” is an unbroken, steady, consistent, bonded, connected, unwavering, constant, moment-by-moment love relationship with Himself, for He made us in His image.
Biblical meditation is maintaining that constant, steady, moment-by-moment intimacy and communication with God. That first time meditation is mentioned in the Scriptures, it was when Isaac went to the field to fellowship with God in loving communication.
That intimacy is drawn out in the passage by what happened next. Isaac’s bride-to-be came to him as those camels appeared on the horizon. Contextually, the story-line of Genesis 24 paints a picture of the relationship among the three members of the Godhead. Abraham (like God the Father) sends his servant (representing the Holy Spirit, or “Helper”) to bring a bride for his son, Isaac (a picture of Jesus, God the Son). (4)
Just as Isaac walked into his destiny and beloved bride when we went out to meditate, we were created for intimacy with God–knowing, loving, and trusting Him. When we know, love, and trust God, cherishing what He has to say in every area of our lives and making the changes necessary to become more like Him, it is like adding the highest quality oil to the engines (“hearts”) of our sports-cars (physical bodies and lives).
This occurs as we talk to God about what He is saying in His Word, particularly regarding the life, love, joy, miracles, sufferings, trials, persecutions, floggings, death, burial, resurrection, teachings, instructions, commandments, actions, thoughts, beliefs, character qualities, and model lifestyle of Jesus, who is called the Word of God.
In Genesis 24:63, the NASB1995 footnotes clarify that the word for “meditate” in this passage about Isaac can also be rendered as “stroll.” That is, “Isaac went out to stroll in the field toward evening…” Such is reminiscent of the first few chapters of Genesis as it describes mankind’s original intimate relationship with God.
Adam and Eve walked naked and unashamed in the Garden of Eden, which represents the kind of intimacy, trust, comfortability, and freedom to be who God created mankind to be in relationship with Him. Every evening, Adam and Eve would take a stroll with their Creator in the paradise Garden of Eden, experiencing the fullness of love, joy, peace, patient expectancy, kindness, goodness, trust, humility, and self-control that God meant for them to enjoy in relationship with Him.
However, a fallen angel named Lucifer (or Satan) entered the body of a serpent to deceivingly tempt mankind into rejecting God’s leadership and loving instructions. After they took the bait, the poison of this “serpent” invaded the mindsets and attitudes of mankind, producing guilt, shame, and fear.
Physical disease even came into mankind from this point forward, since guilt, shame, and fear compromise the immune system through excess cortisol drip, resulting in all kinds of disease and sickness. When Adam and Eve violated their trust relationship with God, when their Creator came for their regular evening walk (or stroll), they hid themselves and attempted to cover their newly perceived flaws.
God desired mankind’s intimate trust relationship with Him to be restored, that there would be no lingering trace of guilt, shame, or fear keeping us away from His presence. He provided the way for our intimate stroll with Him to be restored so that we would no longer run, hide, and attempt to cover ourselves as we wallow in shame or live with feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and fear of punishment. Connecting with Jesus, our Creator, is meant to remove all guilt, shame, fear, bitterness, and every toxic or poisonous thing in our lives that hinders love.
Biblical meditation is meant to be an expression of intimate communication with God. Practically, the Jewish people would meditate not only by reading and studying the Scriptures, but also by singing them aloud, even dancing, and talking to God about those truths. “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’” (John 8:31-32 NASB1995)
For more information on knowing God personally, I recommend my blog post “Knowing the God who Fights for You.”
- See Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25. Results found by typing “camel rich” (NASB1995) in the search bar of BibleGateWay.com.
- Select results found by word searching “love of money” in BibleGateWay.com (NASB1995)
- https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/9306-randy-alcorn/about-giving#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGod%20prospers%20me%20not%20to,time%20to%20raise%20it%20again.%E2%80%9D
- I initially gleaned this insight from the teachings of Derek Prince.
