ANAWIM

I recently learned the origin behind this word from a message given in my church’s Anchor–20s and 30s–network.

Throughout its history, the nation of Israel has been besieged and enslaved by civilization after civilization. One of those was the nation of Assyria. When Assyria defeated Israel, they took the Israelites as slaves.

 

But not all of them.

 

They were picky about who they chose. Only Hebrews who had skills they could use to serve a purpose were taken. All those the Assyrians deemed to be of no practical use were left behind. They were referred to as the Anawim; the “throw away people”.

Imagine that. Imagine being left behind because you’re not even good enough to be a slave.

How would that make you feel?

Unloved?

Worthless?

Pathetic?

Like a waste of life; a waste of breath?

 

I can only imagine that these are among the feelings the Hebrews left behind must have felt.

 

But what if this word; these people were viewed through a different lense?

What if we were all the Anawim?

And what if that was nothing to feel any shame about?

 

I think you can take out “what if”, and change these from questions to statements. Not just statements, but statements that carry with them great pride. Not in self, but in the One who came to save and raise up the “throw away people”.

As my friend Sarah, who taught on this in Anchor, explained, the Anawim were those Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes. As He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus started with the world-famous Beatitudes; the “Blessed are the….” For…”

Jesus started His most famous sermon with these Beatitudes very intentionally. He wanted the marginalized and tossed aside to know that the Kingdom of Heaven held them in the highest regard. He also wanted the prideful and self-righteous religious leaders who were there to know that the very people they considered beneath them were those whom God held in the highest esteem..

You could sum up the Beatitudes in one statement; “Blessed are the Arawim; the throw away people.”

Feels like an oversimplification.

But then Christ did not come to heal the well. He did not come to spend his time among the powerful, self-righteous and spiritually bankrupt. Christ came for those who knew they were in need of saving; of a Savior.

So, let’s look back at those questions now as statements.

 

We are the Anawim.

And that’s nothing to feel any shame about.

 

Think back to those Hebrews who were left behind because they were deemed to have no practical value; no earthly worth. What is earthly worth compared to divine grace? It’s fleeting and very little in the eternal scheme of things. We don’t come to salvation through earthly worth. We come to it through grace; God’s divine grace.

 

So the next time you feel worthless, remember that you are one of the Anawim. And this time wear that title with pride. Christ came to die for and bring eternal life to the “throw away people.”

His death and resurrection means we are worthy.

We are loved.

We are His.