One o f the greatest sins a Christian faces is . . .
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by Dr. Paul S. Rees
rumor, tattle; especially, scandalous, half-confidential, ill-founded remarks.” Such has been the deterioration and demoralization of a once splendid word. All of this present and ugly meaning of the term belongs to the shabby busi ness in which Gashmu was engaged twenty-five hundred years ago. Gashmu, much as we loath to admit it, is the symbol of something that too many of us love to do. If we were more honest, we should be saying to ourselves, “ Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue” (Psalm 52:4). We have a fondness for the verval morsel that means chewing on somebody’s name or character or reputation. The more the gossipy tidbit is surrounded with an air of secrecy and confidence — the “please- don’t-breathe-a-word-of-this” sort of thing — the better we like it. Our eyes light up with a strange glint and our ears become very alert. Yes, we love it. And we’ll never be anything but members of the Gashmu clan until we admit it. Cheap Gabbling Gashmu is the symbol, also, of something wasteful. When the faculty of language is so astounding a gift from God, what a pity it is to debase it by pressing it into the services of gossip! I was struck recently with the Williams translation of our Lord’s admonition in Matthew 12:36, “ So I tell you, for every worthless word that men utter, they will have to give account in the day of judgment.” I hope no supersensitive soul will misread this word of the Master, taking it to mean that you must never engage in any conversation of gaiety or humor. I assure you that there is a place for lighter moods in conversation — a place so wholesome and relaxing that every one of us needs it from time to time. But talk that lowers the rating of someone else, cheap gabbling that gratifies someone’s vanity by making him appear to have the upper hand over another, a senseless carrying on of conversation in a negative vein — this is simply wasting the breath God gives us and the endow ment of speech which He has entrusted to us. Unproven and Unprovable The symbol of something we love to do and something stupidly wasteful — that’s Gashmu. But these fall short of the worst element we need to see in his representative character. He is the emblem of something wrong. His whisper that Nehemiah was getting ready, in all proba bility, to rebel against the emperor of Persia and to have himself made king of Jerusalem was unproven and un-
G a s h m u is a c h a r a c t e r with a double name. Part of the time in this chapter he is called “ Geshem,” part of the time ‘Gashmu.” But I am all for the “ Gashmu” form of his name. Being the sort of person he was, “ Gash mu” suits him much better. There is a kind of slashing harshness about the sound of it that well fits the hurtful role he played. Gashmu was a man who long ago hired out his tongue in the service of rumor, suspicion, and slander. Follow ing the long captivity of the people of Judah in Babylon, certain Persian rulers came to power in the East who were friendly to the Jews and permitted their return to the homeland. One of these rulers had a Hebrew attendant of whom he was fond — a man by the name of Nehe- miah. When Nehemiah requested permission to go to Jerusalem and supervise the task of rebuilding its walls, the king consented. Here enters Gashmu. Along with some others, he cared nothing about the restoration of the city. He wanted no success to crown Nehemiah’s efforts. So he helped cir culate the baseless rumor that Nehemiah was trying to organize a following for the purpose of leading a rebellion against the Persian ruler. This mischievous gossip en abled the leader of the opposition, Sanballat, to say cun ningly and correctly, “ Nehemiah, do you realize that the report is going around, and I heard it from Gashmu, that you want to be the new king of the Jews.” “ It is reported . . . and Gashmu saith it.” That is the entry that occurs in the Book after the name of Gashmu. Now before we dismiss Gashmu the gossip, it might profit us to think of him as a symbol. A Word of Honor Someone has said, “ Lilies, when they fester, smell worse than weeds.” The word “ gossip,” which Gashmu so well symbolizes, began its life as a word of honor and beauty. My dictionary says that it comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word, “ godsib,” which means literally “ re lated in God.” The meaning given to it was that of “ spon sor,” especially when the sponsorship had some solemn or sacred associations. From that high level it first descended to the state where it meant harmless, idle chatter. Shabby Business Finally it reached the lower stage where, according to the main definition now given, it meant “ groundless
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THE KING 'S BUSINESS
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