We are all so used to hearing people say “Amen” at the end of prayers and saying it ourselves that we seldom think about the word, but the following points may show you that there is a lot about that small word you don’t know.
1) “Amen” doesn’t just mean “may it be so.” Many people think of amen as a kind of spiritual punctuation mark – something we put at the end of prayers to mean “the prayer is over.” Those who understand the word better think of it as meaning “may it be so” and being a way of adding our agreement to what was said, but the word means much more than that and actually has a number of meanings. Amen comes from a Hebrew root which in its various forms can mean: to support, to be loyal, to be certain or sure, and even to place faith in something. At the most basic level, the word can mean simply “yes!” as we see in Paul’s statement: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20). But the central meaning of the word has to do with truth, as we will see.
2) Amen was not usually used to conclude prayers in the Bible. Although it is found many times in the Bible, its main use was to affirm praise for God (Psalm 41:13; Romans 1:25; etc.) or to confirm a blessing (Romans 15:33; etc.) – either by the speaker or the hearers. The “amen” found at the end of the Lord’s Prayer in some manuscripts of the New Testament affirms the expression of praise that concludes the prayer. Perhaps because of this, over the course of the centuries it became common practice to use “amen” as the conclusion for prayers.
3) Amen is used as a characteristic of God in the Old Testament. Although the English Bible translation you use may not show it, in Isaiah 65:16 the Hebrew text speaks twice of “the God of Amen,” and this clearly uses amen as a characteristic or even a title of God. Because many translators feel this would be confusing in English, they choose to render the text as “the God of truth,” and although that is not a bad translation, it does somewhat obscure the original sense of what was written.
4) Amen is used as a characteristic of Jesus in the New Testament. Just as God is referred to as the God of Amen in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament in Revelation 3:14 “Amen” is used as a title for Jesus Christ “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” The combination of Amen with “faithful and true witness” clearly show the connection between amen and truth.
5) Amen was used uniquely by Jesus. Jesus usually used the word amen at the beginning of his statements, and in those cases, it was sometimes translated by the Gospel writers into Greek as “truly” (Luke 4:25; 9:27; etc.). The NIV translates this in turn as “I assure you …” But a completely unique use of amen by Jesus in the New Testament is recorded by the apostle John ,whose Gospel shows us that Christ frequently doubled the word at the beginning of particularly important statements. In the King James Bible this is translated “Verily, verily,” in the ESV as “truly, truly,” and in the NIV “Very truly.” The doubling of amen was not only used by Jesus, however. In the early 1960’s part of a Hebrew legal document dating from the time of Jesus was found in which an individual declares “Amen, amen, ani lo ashem” meaning “Very truly, I am innocent.” It is possible, then, that Jesus borrowed this doubled form of amen from legal language of the day. But knowing that Jesus used this expression to signify important things he wanted to stress can help us see their importance in our own study of his words. The full list of occurrences of amen being doubled in John’s Gospel is: 1:51; 3:3, 5, 11; 5:19, 24-25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; 8:34, 51, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20, 21, 38; 14:12; 16:20, 23; and 21:18.
It is interesting that while the New Testament writers often left untranslated certain Hebrew or Aramaic words such as abba, “father,” but immediately followed the word with a translation into Greek, they invariably left “amen” untranslated in its Hebrew form. This could possibly have been because they felt the word amen was known and understood by all their readers, but it is more likely that they knew that the word represented a range of meanings and they felt it better to simply include the word and let the reader or hearer consider the possibilities. If this is the case, we can draw a lesson from the fact. That small untranslated “amen” we read in our Bibles can mean more than just “may it be so.” We can often profitably think about what it most likely means in a given context or the intended force with which the expression was used. Finally, we should remember that “amen” certainly is not just a spiritual punctuation mark or a simple exclamation – wherever we use it we should think of it as a solemn affirmation that we are giving our personal guarantee that what was said is true!
“We must hang together, or we’ll hang separately.”
“. . . ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
These statements identify (and in some cases, define) those who spoke them. But no one has ever uttered more impacting words than Jesus Christ, and no statement of Jesus’ more defines His life and what it means to be His disciple than the Sermon on the Mount. It may be the most familiar of Jesus’ teachings, though arguably the least understood and obeyed.
The sermon has been called Christ’s Manifesto – His platform speech outlining the character of those under His kingdom rule. The events that led up to it — His rabbinic training, baptism, wrestling match with Satan, and selection of a cabinet (twelve disciples) — give it the feel of an inaugural address. We speak of a person’s seat in Congress and of a professor’s chair at college, so Matthew’s note that Jesus “sat down” for this sermon is quite significant. This is no small talk. Here Jesus reinterprets the law, redefines spirituality, and calls His followers to a radically different lifestyle in which we love our enemies, turn the other cheek, and offer our coat to the one who steals our cloak.
Before we get too far into the body of the sermon, let’s linger at the introduction: the Beatitudes. There are eight of them, each beginning with the word blessed, commonly rendered “happy.” Yes, these two words are related, but Jesus has more in mind than merely feeling good. The Beatitudes were crafted for their shock effect. The kingdom belongs to the poor; the truly joyous are those who mourn; the meek, not the rich and affluent, are the true owners of the earth’s real estate.
This isn’t a treatise on social ethics, nor the random sayings of a preacher who’s run out of steam. The Beatitudes are the description of a true disciple. If you’d heard of Christian disciples but never met one, here’s the profile. These qualities aren’t optional; every believer will possess each of them in some measure.
The Beatitudes’ sequence is important; each one lays the foundation for the next. Like climbing a mountain with God at the top, our journey toward Him begins with poverty of spirit, declaring spiritual bankruptcy – recognizing that we bring nothing to the table except our sin. Humbled, we weep tears of repentance (mourning). Then we quit calling the shots in our own lives and for others (meekness). Contrary to popular opinion, meekness isn’t weakness but a total surrender to God, illustrated by the two people Scripture calls meek: Moses and Jesus. Humbled, repentant, and surrendered, we hunger and thirst for God Himself and His righteousness.
We’re now at the mountain peak where disciples like to camp, but we can’t stay here. We must go back to the valley where life is lived and our discipleship is tested. So the first four beatitudes move us toward God; the last four point us to others. The descent begins with mercy and compassion for those in need. Purity of motive, protecting and preserving our relationships (peacemaking), and rejoicing when persecuted: These are where the rubber meets the road.
Matthew (7:28, 29) notes that those who first heard the sermon were amazed. May those who hear it now be radically transformed, becoming a nearer copy of the One whose disciples we are.
*Used with permission from the Bible Advocate, Jan-Feb 2010
We are amazingly reluctant to realize that our heroes have faults. When it becomes glaringly obvious, we toss them aside, capes torn, shields tarnished, heroes no longer.
This must be why we find it so hard to realize that good people in the Bible do inexplicably bad things. The really tough ones are the ones we never see say I’m sorry. I wrote about Lot recently (Jerk or Just) and the story has remained close to my heart since. We never see him building an altar, weeping over wrongs done, or even read any justification except what I call God’s “gobstopping” grace. God called him righteous.
I just reread the story of Samson. He’s another hero with a severely torn cape. Read Judges 13-16. On the surface, Samson was an arrogant womanizer with major co-dependency problems. You know the good-looking jock in the movies who is led around by a gorgeous, manipulative harpy? That’s him.
The story starts beautifully with an appearance by God to Samson’s parents with a promise of his birth and instructions as to his rearing. (Kind of nice to have God Himself show up to deliver your What to Expect book!) The last two verses in chapter 13 say, “So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshatol.” That is a pretty auspicious beginning.
Then the first thing we see Samson do as an adult is to let his parents know that there’s a hot Philistine chick that he wants them to get for his bride. “Sammy, isn’t there a nice Jewish girl you’d rather bring home?” They weren’t being prejudiced. The Philistines were in power over Israel at the time and they were ungodly idol-worshipping oppressors out for pure destruction.
“…But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord – that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.” (Judges 14:4)
Here’s where I think some of the denial comes in. To me, it is rather clear that Samson’s parents were doing their job as godly people, trying to steer their son in the right direction. They were simply unaware that God, in His sovereign plan, was going to work Samson’s willfulness into the greater good.
As I read commentaries, people seem to struggle with this, certain that, since God’s spirit often moved mightily on Samson, he prophetically wanted the Philistine woman for his wife so that God could move against Israel’s enemies.
I think Samson just wanted the girl. We can’t be afraid to see good guys without a cape. Our God of grace is often beyond our understanding. He uses flawed people who do stupid things. There are some unbelievable doozies of Samson stories I’d love to share but even a brief synopsis gets a bit lengthy.
Read through Judges 14-16. You will notice that Samson’s deeds are not always accompanied by “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.” Sometimes, as when he ate honey from the lion carcass, he was completely breaking Jewish law (Leviticus 11:27). His marriage was clearly an ungodly one with horrible results for his wife. (The foxes didn’t fare so well either.) Some of his actions appear to be purely out of anger or revenge.
Still, God had a plan to move against the Philistines and, more than once, He used a strong man with weak principles to do so. The Spirit of the Lord did fall upon Samson in chapter 15 and he killed 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone. Gruesome? Yes. But these were enemies of God. There is no way one person could kill 1,000 people in a day with anything but an explosive. Or the Spirit of God and a jawbone. He followed that God-filled victory with a visit to a prostitute, then pulled up the city gate by the gateposts and carried it up the hill. Flawed hero. Torn cape.
All of this leads up to the story of Samson and Delilah, one of the most infamous relationships in the Bible. I won’t lend much space to that here. You know the story. This seductive worshiper of Ashtoreth, Dagon and Baal-Zebub manipulated him into telling her, not the Source of his strength, but how he could be robbed of it. He paid a dear price for that dalliance. Blindness, bondage, humiliation and shame.
He eventually was able to push down the main pillars of the temple of Dagon, killing more enemies of the Lord in his death than he ever did in his life. God gave him an amazing victory. And here’s the lesson:
While there are incredible stories in the Bible about Samson, he judged Israel for 20 years. Several times we see him destroying the enemy through the Spirit of God. Several others, we see him acting badly or questionably.
But we don’t know anything else that happened during those 20 years. We don’t know how many ways God used him. For some reason, God chooses to show us Samson’s frailties. We see him succumb to seduction and give in to desires.
But God placed him in Hebrews 11:32 in the same verse as David, Samuel and Gideon.
Whaaat??? And what about me? Yep, you darlin’. All those failures. All that shame. Past is past. He can use you too. God exposes all that weakness, all that rawness, to teach us something. Good people really mess up. God uses really messy people.
Stay in the middle of your mess and the temple you are dallying in will come down on your head. But He is willing to pull you out and He can still use you.
There are no chains so strong that the power of God cannot break them.
There is no blindness so dark that the light of God cannot pierce through.
There are no idols in your life on a pedestal so high that you cannot cast them at the feet of Jesus.
Samson went into the arms of the wrong person, but God gave him a glorious victory at the end of his life. And God gave him, in all of his messiness, gobstopping grace.
*This article is an adaptation of Angela Martin’s website post with the same title – you can see the original post here. Reproduced with the author’s permission.
He sits in the dungeon, knowing that before the day is over he will be executed in the most brutal manner that Roman law allows. He’ll be scourged within a hair’s breadth of death, and then nailed to a stake to die slowly and painfully, paying for his crimes of insurrection and murder against the powerful Roman occupier.
Less than a half mile away, a powerful Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, fearing for his own career and life, struggles between the demands of both expediency and justice. An obviously innocent man has been railroaded into his presence. The religious leaders for whatever reason want him dead, a gruesome task that Roman law won’t let them carry out themselves, and hence their invitation to Pilate to do the deed for them.
Over Pilate’s head is a threat. “This man claims to be a king, but we have no king but Caesar,” say Jesus’ accusers. If you don’t do something about him, you’re no friend of Caesar. We’ll make sure Caesar knows that you took no action against one who claims to be a king and is trying to usurp Roman authority. Caesar already has suspicions about you. Do you want to risk this?
Pilate vacillates, but he believes he sees a way out. At the Feast of Passover it is customary to release one criminal, a complete and unequivocal pardon. Why shouldn’t that prisoner be Jesus? Earlier in the week, the people of the city welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with shouts of hosannas and praise. Surely they would demand the release of Jesus called Christ, and not the release of a murderer and thief.
“Whom do you want me to release to you?” asks Pilate. “Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:17)
“Barabbas!” they shout back.
“What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”
Less than a half mile away is Barabbas. He is close enough to the activity taking place down the street to hear the rabble yelling his name, but far enough away that he cannot hear Pilate pleading for the life of Jesus. He can only hear one side of the conversation, and when he hears his name on the lips of an angry mob, he has hope that his supporters are coming to rescue him. “Barabbas! Barabbas!” His fellow revolutionaries are coming to his aid!
But the very next words he hears freeze him with fear and dread, because what he hears is, “Barabbas! … Crucify him! Crucify him! … Barabbas! … Crucify him!”
The guards rush into his cell and drag him off the floor. And after the shoving and dragging and struggling is done, the murderer and thief finds himself in the street among the mob, now a free man! But a completely innocent man takes his place on the instrument of death.
Did Barabbas feel any twinge of remorse when he saw Jesus carrying his cross? Did he watch as Jesus and two of Barabbas’ compatriots slowly expired as they baked in the sun? We don’t know. But I do know this. I am Barabbas. I was in bonds because of my crimes. I deserved nothing less than the penalty that had awaited Barabbas.
I am Barabbas because one day I found myself free of the guilt, completely pardoned because Someone for no reason that I deserved stepped forward and took my place. My guilt gone, my life restored, I now have the chance to live, and this time truly live. Life: the gift to Barabbas and to me. For I am Barabbas.
Many of us study the Bible every day. If we’re not, we should be. But why do we study the Word of God? Many of us frankly enjoy learning more “things” about scripture: more data, a fascinating Hebrew word picture, the meaning in the original Greek or Hebrew, some historical tie-in to what we’re reading, and so on. I do, too. But here’s where I caution us as well.
Many of you love the scripture, as I do, that prompts us to “grow in grace and knowledge…” (2 Peter 3:18). Some use the verse that says “Study to show yourself approved unto God…” (2 Timothy 2:15). Actually the word “study” in the King James Version of 2 Tim 2:15 is an old English word meaning “be diligent”. The Greek word there actually has nothing to do with Bible Study directly. But as you’ll see, we must study and we must know why we study. It’s far more than just gaining more knowledge.
Our modern learning system comes from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle – – the Academy, where students were expected to just have new information funneled into their brains while one speaks and everyone else listens. But the learning system in Jesus’ day was far different. Disciples didn’t just learn the words their rabbi was teaching – they watched their actions and copied their reactions to everyday situations. They learned by doing and watching a life. It wasn’t enough to pore over the scrolls by themselves. Their teachers were like a parent running alongside a young child learning to ride his bike for the first time without training wheels. They were in the thick of learning by doing and watching – not just studying documents. The goal was to create a bond between teacher and student. The goal was a deep relationship.
What am I getting at? The goal of Bible study goes far beyond knowing what’s in the Book. It’s about coming to know the Author of the book. Not just coming to know about Him, but to know HIM, directly and personally. Holy Scripture is Yeshua (Jesus) in writing. When we read it, we should be hearing his voice. Everything you read, study or hear should be helping us have a closer walk with our Beloved Savior. To know him, and help as many as possible to come to really know Him, is my overriding mission in life, as Paul teaches us in Philippians 3:
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).
Notice also these words in the Gospel of John: “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. [then He tells us the point of searching scriptures] But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:37-40).
Knowledge – in the Biblical sense – should not be knowledge for knowledge sake, but to transform us. We should focus on the transformation, not just on the information. Information is to help in the transformation. Sure, 2 Peter 3:18 says we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge”, but of what? Finish the verse: “Of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” – 2 Peter 3:18.
ALL knowledge from Bible study should result in knowing Him more than ever before. It also should result in having a closer relationship with him and with all those made in his image. That’s ultimately what the two greatest commandments are: to love God with all your being and heart and soul – and to love fellow mankind as your own self. all our learning should be pointing to that goal: greater love, a closer relationship with our Maker and fellow humans – no matter where they live, no matter their nationality or skin color, no matter what they’ve been in the past. If they are a believer, or a potential believer, we are to love them as we love one another and our Maker. When you’re thrilled with new information, ask yourself: how is this helping me draw closer to my Maker and to my fellow humans?
Study to come to Christ. Study to know Him better. Study to love God and mankind better. And so remember: the reason we do Bible study is to come to know Him (Philippians 3:9-11). It is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We study the book to come to know its author better. So we search the scripture, for there’s life there, and He is our Life. We study to find Him, to come to Him, to learn about Him and to be like Him as He comes into our lives and lives again in us.
*Condensed, with permission, from the Blog posting of October 26, 2013 on lightontherock.org
I’m not talking about prehistoric Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon “cavemen” here – I’m actually thinking of two men of God who at different times in biblical history both learned important lessons at the back of a cave.
These men were both successful in their own fields – one a warrior and one a man of religion. Both were used to life around palaces and nice homes, but both men lost everything they had and fled in depression and fear for their lives – to the back of a cave.
The first man was King David. 1 Samuel 22 tells us that when the jealous Saul stepped up his campaign to kill the young shepherd-warrior, David finally fled to a mountain cave where he holed up in depression, frustration and fear. The other man was Elijah, and in 1 Kings 19 we see that when the wicked Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah also “caved” under the pressure and ran for many miles, to the back of a cave on Mount Horheb – where he stayed, apparently in fear, frustration and anger.
There are times in our lives when psychologically we find ourselves in the back of a cave, too. We understand that some depression is physically caused and must be treated as such, but sometimes we find ourselves in the dark cave of depression or despair due to discouragement and difficulties. This is because fleeing to the inner parts of our minds is a very human reaction and sometimes seems like the only way to survive. Unfortunately, it becomes easy to stay there. It’s not that we are comfortable in the cave of depression, but the longer we stay there, the harder it becomes to leave. That’s why in both biblical stories of God’s servants who fled to physical caves, the first thing we see in the way God turned these situations around was that he commanded both men to leave the cave they were in.
In David’s case, God sent a prophet to David to specifically tell him he had spent enough time in the cave and that it was time to leave. “… The prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the [cave] stronghold’” (1 Samuel 22:5), so, uncomfortable as it was to do, at God’s command David left the cave. We see exactly the same with Elijah. “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord …’” (1 Kings 19:11). God patiently listened to the reasons Elijah gave for his depression, anger and fear, but he nevertheless firmly told him to come out of the cave. It probably wasn’t psychologically easy for them, but both men obeyed in faith. They may not have seen a reason to leave the cave, yet once they realized it was God’s will they obeyed.
So, God understands when we sometimes flee to the cave, but he is just as clear in telling us we must not stay there. And God goes a step further – as the wise Physician he is, he prescribes what we need in order to stay out of the cave. In both the stories of David and of Elijah, God prescribed exactly the same spiritual medicine. When he instructed David to leave the cave, we see the next thing he did was to tell David to go help the people of Keilah who were being attacked by the Philistines: “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah” (1 Samuel 23:1-2). And when Elijah obediently stepped out of his cave, God immediately told him to go to Damascus and instructed him: “… When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat …” (1 Kings 19:15-16).
God doesn’t just tell us to pull ourselves together and leave the cave of depression. He tells us to leave – and to go help someone who needs help. Finding ourselves in a “cave” is something that even some of the greatest of God’s servants have experienced, but the way out was the same for them as it is for us. We overcome this problem only when we realize God doesn’t want us to live in the cave and that his prescription for cave fever is often to go help someone. It’s as though God knows that the only way for us to effectively stay out of the cave is not just to get busy, but to get busy serving others.
That is how God helps us get our focus off our own problems – by getting us to focus on and help others whose problems are so often so much worse than our own.
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