Intimacy with God

Title: Intimacy with God
Text: James 4:8 (KJV)

📖

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

📜 Introduction:

God has always desired intimacy with His people.
From Adam walking with God in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8) to Moses speaking with God “face to face” (Exodus 33:11).
James, writing from a Hebraic perspective, calls believers back to this covenantal relationship.
Today’s message reveals three essentials for cultivating intimacy with God.

📖 Main Points:

📝 I. Draw Nigh to God — A Call to Covenant Proximity

Text: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

A. In Hebraic Thought:

The Hebrew root word קָרַב (qarav) means to approach God in worship or relationship.
God’s presence was central to Israel’s identity — tabernacle, temple, festivals.

B. The Reciprocity of God’s Nearness:

Psalm 145:18: “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”
God waits for us to respond in sincere desire.

C. Intimacy is Initiated by Us, Responded by God:

Isaiah 55:6: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

Application:

How close we are to God depends on how earnestly we seek Him.

📝 II. Cleanse Your Hands — Repentance in Action

Text: “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners...”

A. Hands in Hebrew Thought = Deeds

Clean hands reflect righteous actions.
Psalm 24:3-4: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?... He that hath clean hands...”

B. In Hebraic Worship:

Priests washed hands before ministering (Exodus 30:18-21) — symbolizing preparation for intimacy.

C. God Requires Moral Purity

No one approaches a holy God with unrepented sin.
Isaiah 1:16: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes...”

Application:

Repent not just in heart but through changing actions.

📝 III. Purify Your Hearts — Wholehearted Devotion

Text: “...and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

A. The Heart in Hebrew Thought = Inner Man (Mind, Will, Emotion)

Proverbs 4:23: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

B. Double Mindedness is Divided Loyalty

Hosea 10:2: “Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty.”

C. Intimacy Demands Singleness of Heart

Deuteronomy 6:5: “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Application:

Examine loyalties. Is anything competing with your devotion to God?

📜 Conclusion:

James, like the prophets before him, calls us to wholehearted intimacy with God — an intimacy that requires:

Proximity through sincere pursuit
Purity in action and motive
Singleness of heart

This is the Hebraic path to fellowship with the Living God — a path made accessible to us through Jesus Christ, our High Priest.

📖 Closing Scripture:

Psalm 25:14:

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.”

📌 Final Challenge:

Will you draw nigh to God today?
Will you cleanse your hands of compromised actions?
Will you purify your heart from divided loyalties?
God waits to meet you in intimacy — if you will come.

BackGround Study

The concept of intimacy with God has always been central to the Hebraic understanding of man’s relationship with the Creator. Unlike the often abstract or philosophical conceptions of deity in other ancient cultures, the God of Israel desired proximity and relationship with His people. From Adam walking with God in Eden (Genesis 3:8) to Moses speaking to God "face to face" (Exodus 33:11), the Hebrew Scriptures consistently portray a God who dwells among His people and seeks nearness.

James, writing from a deeply Jewish worldview, calls his readers to a renewed closeness to God, coupling this call with the necessary acts of cleansing and repentance, reflecting both the inner and outer dimensions of intimacy with God.

📖 James 4:8

🔍 1. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you."

Hebrew thought perceives relationship with God as a dynamic, covenantal engagement. The phrase “draw nigh” reflects the Hebrew verb קָרַב (qarav), often used in the context of approaching God in worship or bringing offerings. In Leviticus, for example:

“And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful...” (Leviticus 2:2)

In Hebraic theology, approaching God requires a preparation of both heart and deed. It isn’t passive; it’s active pursuit.

Implication:
The relationship is reciprocal. When man moves toward God with sincerity, God responds with favor and presence. This mirrors passages such as:

“The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18)
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

The proximity of God is relational, not spatial — it’s about communion, alignment, and spiritual nearness.

🔍 2. "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners"

In Hebrew thought, hands symbolize actions and deeds. To cleanse one’s hands implies repentance from sinful conduct. Under the Torah, priests washed their hands before ministering (Exodus 30:18-21), symbolizing purity and readiness for divine service.

James is echoing Psalm 24:3-4:

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart…”

Implication:

Drawing near to God is not a casual approach — it requires ethical and moral cleansing. Sinful deeds break covenant fellowship, and cleansing is both literal and symbolic in Hebraic practice.

🔍 3. "Purify your hearts, ye double minded."

In Hebrew anthropology, the heart (לֵב lev) is the seat of thought, intention, and will — not merely emotion. To purify the heart means to align one’s inner desires and motives toward God alone.

The "double minded" (δίψυχοι dipsychos) echoes the Hebrew idea of a divided heart (לב חלק lev chaleq). This is one torn between loyalty to God and to the world — a concept addressed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures:

“Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty...” (Hosea 10:2)

Implication:

Intimacy with God requires wholehearted devotion. In Hebraic thought, shema living (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) — loving God with all your heart, soul, and might — is the foundation of covenantal intimacy.

📜 Hebraic Patterns of Intimacy:

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, intimacy with God involved:

Approaching His Presence with reverence and purity (Exodus 19:10-11)
Repentance and Confession (Psalm 51:17)
Wholehearted Devotion (Jeremiah 29:13)
Obedience to His Word (Deuteronomy 30:20)

James preserves this tradition, placing it within a Messianic framework, where the means of drawing near is through Yeshua the Messiah, who has made access to God possible for all believers (Hebrews 10:22).

📖 Practical Application:

Hebraic Principle	New Covenant Expression	Application
Clean hands	Repentance from sinful actions	Examine behavior and confess specific sins
Pure heart	Single-minded devotion to God	Renounce divided loyalties and commit fully
Draw near	Through faith in Messiah, with humility	Seek God’s presence daily in prayer, Word, and worship

📜

In the Hebraic worldview, intimacy with God is not a mystical abstraction but a tangible, covenantal relationship marked by proximity, purity, and wholeheartedness. James 4:8 calls believers back to this ancient path — to actively draw nigh, cleanse their deeds, purify their motives, and forsake divided loyalty.

This path to intimacy is not merely about spiritual feelings but about covenant alignment with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, fulfilled and made personal through the Messiah.

📖 Scripture:

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” (Psalm 25:14)

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Saturday, 3 May 2025