Unfolding the word picture of belief and faith
Each of the Hebrew letters has a picture associated with the letter. We will not look into the picture associated with each letter here. But, we will focus on the three Hebrew letters for belief and faith, which is best known in English as "amen". Which is found in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary/concordance under the number #539. These three letters are:
Aleph/א which is a picture of two oxen harnessed or bound together. This idea of binding is expanded to include the idea of gathering together.
Mem/מ The original picture was waving lines, which represents waves of water. So mem represents water or any other type of liquid.
Anciently these two letters were combined to show the one in whom the waters were gathered within. Thus the mother, who had the embrionic fluid or waters, gathering in her womb. This Hebrew word for mother, "em", is found in the Strong's Hebrew Dictionary under #517.
The final letter, will make this picture clear:
nuwn/נ or ן The picture associated with this letter is "seed"!
So when the 'em' or mother has the seed added to her womb, the embrionic fluids gather, and when the seed is ready to come forth from the womb to be born, the water breaks.
So amen, refers to the planting of the seed, and the bringing forth of the seed to be born. When we look at how the ancient Hebrew people used the word in scripture, we will see much more!
#539 Strong's
on one hand:
To nurse, nurture, care for, be a trustee, be a guardian
on the other hand:
To be nurtured, and, cared for
Thus one perspective is of the caretaker, who provides nurture, care, provision for the child. While the other perspective, is of the child receiving the nurture, care, and provision necessary to grow and thrive.
This nurture, care, and provision, is given in order to establish the seed, so the seed can grow and thrive and become established.
Thus put simply: Belief is to establish, while faith is established.
Therefore, belief is like unto the little child who must be cared for, nurtured, so that the child may grow and mature into full grown faith. So that they will not waver as the storms of life come against them, but will stand firm and resolute, with determination and steadfastness.
So we should look to see if we can find examples of each stage in scripture:
1. Seed as first implanted in the womb
2. Seed as it comes forth from the womb to be born
3. Seed as it is growing and maturing outside the womb
4. Seed as it is fully grown and mature
It is my hope and prayer that you will remember this simple picture as you read through the teachings of Jesus once again. At first it may even seem contradictory, but this will lead to a deeper understanding as one delves into the faith once delivered to the saints.
Comments
Post a Comment