But the word of the Lord abides forever. 1 Peter 1:25 and Isaiah 40:8 NASB
Word – Since this New Testament reference is a quotation from an Old Testament verse, we can look at both the Greek and the Hebrew. The Greek word is rhema. The Hebrew word is dabar. Both words mean “to speak, that which is spoken.” Understanding what these two words mean tells us something very important. It tells us that what will eternally remain is God’s spoken word.
Think of the power in this statement. God spoke everything into existence. There is no other ancient cosmology with anything like this concept. God’s breath, through His word, brought us to life. God’s spoken word declares our redeemed status before Him. God will bring this world to an end with a single spoken word. And when Moses asked for God’s name, God spoke the word of Being. For those of you who have any philosophical intuition, you should be shuddering at the awesome power of this declaration. God is a God of language. He speaks – and the world is born, sustained or ended. The most powerful concepts of the faithful are based in the spoken word.
How grateful I am that men moved by God wrote down His words. That’s what makes the Bible so important. It is our roadmap from God. It is the record of God’s communication with us. I believe that every word in the Bible is incredibly powerful, spiritually vital and carefully chosen. I could not live in this world without it. But someday I will be with the author, and the book will no longer be needed. I will sit face to face with the One who wrote it. I will hear Him speak His words. I will no longer have to rely on translators (won’t that be wonderful). What a day that will be. I can get an autographed copy of the original.
The best part of rhema is that God does not wait until heaven to speak to me. He whispers His words all the time. God talks to you and to me. It is almost too wonderful to believe. His spoken word is the ground of our very being, filled with power beyond anything we can think of, and still He wants to whisper how much He loves us. He wants us to speak to Him and He wants to answer us. Go ahead. Open your mouth. You are speaking His language.
Topical Index: word, spoken, rhema, dabar, 1 Peter 1:25, Isaiah 40:8
TRAVEL NOTE: Tomorrow I will be heading for Italy and then Greece. I will be lecturing on Greek mythology and Greek philosophy on the cruise ship Silhouette. I will not be back in the USA until September 7. Patrick will watch over Today’s Word and Michael will make sure your book orders are filled, but my ability to answer blog questions and email will be severely limited. I’ll send some photos if I can.
Skip
Skip — awesome “word” for the day…for eternity. Have a great trip.
According to the definition of our Father, not culture, wickedness or evil is to break the function of something or someone. So every time I change the meaning of the spoken or written Word of our Father, I break the purpose and meaning and therefore I am wicked – same goes for every other purposeful thing God created -( Sabbath, man, woman…) – that’s why 2Chron 7:14 is just not happening. To me, not wanting to be deceived, restoring the Word of God is how I understand Who He is,what He demands of me, how He prefers to be worshipped,etc… for He is the Word.
“The true Torah was in his mouth
and no dishonesty was found on his lips;
a cohen’s lips should safeguard knowledge,
and people should seek Torah from his mouth” Malachi 2:6
I also encourage you to read the whole of 2 Peter –
May grace and shalom be yours in full measure, as you come to a full knowledge of God and Yeshua or Lord — ( you want grace and shalom? work to get to the full knowledge)
God’s power has given us everything we need for life, through our knowing the One who called us…
For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control…..
Therefor brothers try even harder to make your being called and chosen a certainty…..
For this reason I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them….
And I consider it right to keep stirring you up with reminders…..
3:16 They(Shaul’s letters) contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17 But you dear friends, since you know this in advance, guard yourselves so that you will not be led away by the errors of the wicked and fall from your own secure position.
18 And keep growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord (*grace is not just a once-off saving thing – how do I grow in grace? by sinning more? Never!= Romans)
Touche! You hit it right out of the park, Luzette. To break the purpose – to refuse to understand as it was given.
Word! Another rhema from the Logos. Where would we be without the Book God wrote? (and to think- we have the Author residing within us!) And there is ONE whose Name is written upon His thigh- the Victorious Lamb Who is the risen Living Word.
~ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is the Word of God ~ (and to think, we are here below debating about whether His Name is Jesus or Yeshua!) He is the Living Word of God in flesh and blood. God became a man and lived among us. “Never a man spoke like this Man”- because this Man was more than just a man- He was (and is) Emmanuel- God with us. God in the midst of us. God having dinner with a tax collecter. God holding an open and sincere conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well. God, saying “I am thirsty.” God washing the feet of stinky fisherman. And God having His face spit upon and God wearing a crown of thorns and God hanging on a tree with nail-pierced hands and feet. ~ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself ~ 2 Corinthians 5.19)
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
I know not when my LORD may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.
But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
~ The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.” [ Psalm 2:9 ] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
On His robe and on His thigh he has this Name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS ~
(Revelation 19.13-16)
~ I know Whom I have believed, and am fully persuaded that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day ~ (2 Timothy 1:12)
Besides a literal language application, could this also be a reference to “the remnant”. His words remaining alive in followers such as the 7000 in Elijah’s time, who lived out His by not falling into idolatry?