586 BCE (3)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23  ESV

Faithfulness – Last on the list; first in action.  ʾĕmûnâ.  If raḥûm is the feeling that God has for His people, that same feeling a pregnant woman has for her unborn child, then ʾĕmûnâ is the action that results from that bond.

First, let’s understand the verbal root.

This very important concept in biblical doctrine gives clear evidence of the biblical meaning of “faith” in contradistinction to the many popular concepts of the term. At the heart of the meaning of the root is the idea of certainty. And this is borne out by the nt definition of faith found in Heb 11:1.

The basic root idea is firmness or certainty. In the Qal it expresses the basic concept of support and is used in the sense of the strong arms of the parent supporting the helpless infant. The constancy involved in the verbal idea is further seen in that it occurs in the Qal only as a participle (expressing continuance). The idea of support is also seen in II Kgs 18:16, where it refers to pillars of support.^[1]

Now let’s see how it’s used as a noun (which is what we have in these verses).

There are at least ten distinct categories in which this noun is used in Scripture. In its first occurrence in Scripture it expresses the sense of steady, firm hands, a very basic idea (Ex 17:12). From this mundane sense, Scripture moves almost entirely to a use of the word in connection with God or those related to God.

Basically, the term applies to God himself (Deut 32:4) to express his total dependability. It is frequently listed among the attributes of God (I Sam 26:23; Ps 36:5 [H 6]; Ps 40:10 [H 11]; Lam 3:23). It describes his works (Ps 33:4); and his words (Ps 119:86; 143:1).^[2]

ʾĕmûnâ is also used to refer to those whose lives God establishes. He expects to see faithfulness in them (Prov 12:22; II Chr 19:9). Indeed, such faithfulness or a life of faith is characteristic of those justified in God’s sight (Hab 2:4). God’s word of truth establishes man’s way of truth or faithfulness (Ps 119:30).

From this we can also see the concept of a duty being entrusted to a believer which becomes his trust (faithful responsibility, I Chr 9:22; II Chr 31:15, etc.) or office.^[3]

What can we conclude?  ʾĕmûnâ flows in two directions.  First, it expresses God’s unwavering reliability.  We might not always see God’s hand, but it is there.  How do we know that it is always there?  Because God said so!  Listen to what you hear, not what your eyes observe.  Shema!  The mourning audience of the Babylonian captives needed to hear once more that God is totally reliable.  His deep connection to His people means that He will always act on their behalf.  We might not see how that action fits into our vision of God’s plan, but He does, and because we have heard Him proclaim His absolute commitment to us, what we see doesn’t matter.  What we hear does.  

What is the other direction of ʾĕmûnâ?  It is God’s expectation of our faithfulness.  We could rightly call this devotion.  Because God proclaims He will never leave us, He expects us to never leave Him.  A mutual obligation, initiated by God, reciprocated by us.  That’s what these forlorn captives needed to hear.  Perhaps that’s what we need to hear too.

Topical Index: ʾĕmûnâ, faithfulness, commitment, devotion, Lamentations 3:22-23