Philippians 2:12 ESV - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
work (Hebrew) = melakah – Strong’s 4399 (ref Gen 2:2)
מְלָאכָה = mem + lamed + aleph + kaf + he = water (power, chaos) + cattle prod, staff (prod, go towards) + ox (strength, leader) + arm, open hand (cover, allow) + window, fence (to reveal, to separate).
Therefore work in Hebrew could mean: to grow closer to your leader by allowing him to help you identify and separate out chaos.
129 of 167 occurrences of melakah in the bible are translated simply the english word “work,” including the work God did at creation (Gen 2:2-3). Five of the uses of melakah speak of workmanship, as in the skill and evidence of it, while building the tabernacle and all the ornate and specific furnishings (Ex 31 and 35). In addition, various types of things (nouns) are counted as melakah: property (Ex 22:8); the raw material used to build the tabernacle and furnishings (Ex 36:7); even livestock (Gen 33:14).
So, as Skip Moen points out in Taking Care of Business, work is not only a deed, but sometimes the means and the end result. Working out your salvation, or “keep working out your deliverance,” as the Complete Jewish Bible phrases it – is the melakah of being a disciple. It is the act of growing closer to our leader Jesus; the act of allowing him (via submitting) to teach us to root out chaos and to bring order to the world around us.
That is simply bringing the kingdom of heaven into our world, illuminating the darkness around us with the light from God’s place. It takes faith, belief in Adonai, and it takes melakah, hard work, actions that bring redemption.
Copyright © 2012 Andy Madonio – Patriarchs, Philosophers, & Phlip Phlops
