Jul 8, 20236 min read

UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF GOD'S NAME, JEHOVAH EL EMUNAH - [Sermon Note]

UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF GOD'S NAME, JEHOVAH EL EMUNAH יהוה אל אמוּנה And How does knowing God as your JEHOVAH EL EMUNAH impact your life? Pastor Stephanie

DEUTERONOMY 7:9 NLT

Understand, therefore, that the LORD YOUR GOD IS indeed GOD.

HE IS THE FAITHFUL (אמן 'âman)

GOD who KEEPS HIS COVENANT for a thousand generations

and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and

obey his commands.

DEUTERONOMY 32:4 NLT

He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.

Everything he does is JUST and FAIR.

HE IS A FAITHFUL GOD who does no wrong;

how just and upright he is!

H530 FAITHFUL

Original: אמנה אמוּנה

Transliteration: 'ĕmûnâh 'ĕmûnâh

Phonetic: em-oo-naw') or (shortened) 'emunah em-oo-naw'

FIRMNESS, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness

Origin: from H529

- firmness; security; moral fidelity:- faith (-ful, -ly, -ness, [man]), set office, stability, steady, truly, truth, verily.

H529

Original: אמוּן

Transliteration: 'êmûn

Phonetic: ay-moon'

Origin: from H539

Strong's Definition:

established, trustworthiness:- faith (-ful), truth.

H539

Original: אמן

Transliteration: 'ÂMAN

Phonetic: aw-man'

- to SUPPORT, CONFIRM , be FAITHFUL

to UPHOLD, NOURISHED

PILLARS, supporters of the door

to be established, be faithful,

to be carried by a nurse

made firm, sure, LASTING

confirmed, established, sure

RELIABLE, FAITHFUL, TRUSTY

to foster as a parent or nurse; to be permanent or quiet;

to be TRUE or CERTAIN;

to go to the right hand: - hence ASSURANCE , BELIEVE , bring up, establish, + fail, be faithful (of LONG CONTINUANCE, STEDFAST, SURE, SURELY, TRUSTY, VERIFIED ), NURSE, (-ing father), (put), trust, turn to the right.

The Hebrew language developed in a nomadic agricultural culture.

Because of this much of the language is centered around this lifestyle.

The more we understand their way of life and culture, the more we can understand their language.

We can better understand the author's message if we better understand his language.

In our culture, concepts, words and ideas are taught by using other concepts, words and ideas.

Often this is a very difficult task to accomplish.

Since the Hebrew language is a task oriented language, teaching these concepts, words and ideas are much easier.

The Nomads

The first Nomad Jabal, a descendent of Adam through Cain.

GENESIS 4:20 CEB

Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who

live in TENTS and own livestock.

We know that Jabal and his descendents were nomads from the simple fact they lived in tents and raised livestock.

A tent (ohel in Hebrew) is a portable shelter for the purpose of moving from one grazing place to another.

The Hebrew word used in the above for cattle is miqneh which actually means any livestock property.

This could be cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, etc.

When the livestock consumed the edible vegetation in one area, the herder would then pack up his tent and his belongings and move on to better grazing land.

Probably the most famous nomad is Abraham.

He traveled a great deal through the land of the Near East living in tents and raising livestock.

The Tent

The tent is a very important part of

the nomads life.

- a tent stake/peg

What is the most important

factor when placing your tent stakes?

The ground.

If you drive it in soft ground, any tension on the rope will pull the stake right out.

You need very FIRM ground to hold the stake in.

The ideal ground would require a hammer to beat the stake in.

In ground like this the stake will remain SECURE in its position even in a strong wind.

ISAIAH 22:23 KJV

And I will fasten him as a NAIL in a SURE (FIRM) place;

and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

Here we have the stake (peg) being driven into a "FIRM" place.

The Hebrew word translated as "FIRM" here is the verbאמן (AMAN, Strong's #539) which literally means "TO BE FIRM or SURE".

When setting up our tent, we desire to find a spot where the GROUND will be FIRM.

Believe

The verb aman is used 110 times in the Old Testament.

Genesis 15:6 "Abram BELIEVED the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness".

The word "BELIEVED" is the very same Hebrew verb AMAN.

The picture we have from this is that Abram was firm in his devotion to God.

Just as a stake planted in firm ground supports the tent, even in a storm, Abram will support God, even in the storms of life.

The question we now ask is, how did Abram remain firm?

The verse just before states;

Genesis 15:5,6 '[God] took [Abram] outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them."

Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Abram BELIEVED the LORD, and He credited it to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Faith does not need physical evidence. Faith needs heart

Righteousness was given to him.

We usually read this to mean that Abram believed God's promise in verse 5.

The problem with this is that the Hebrew verb AMAN means MORE THAN just knowing something to be true.

Why did God give this promise to Abram?

Genesis 26:4,5 "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,

BECAUSE Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws (Torah in Hebrew)".

God made this promise to Abram because he was FIRM in his OBEDIENCE to GOD.

The Hebrew in Genesis 15:6 does not say Abram "believed" God, it says he was "FIRM" IN GOD.

From Genesis 26:5 we see that he was FIRM IN HIS OBEDIENCE to GOD and HIS TORAH.

He chose to obey because he loved God

The basic, root meaning of EMUNAH

is TRUST and RELIANCE,

not intellectual acquiescence in the truth of certain propositions.

God is described as a GOD of EMUNAH in Deuteronomy 32:4

“The Rock, His work is PERFECT; for ALL His ways are JUSTICE,

a GOD of FAITHFULNESS [emunah] and without iniquity;

JUST and RIGHT IS HE.”

God is not being described here as agreeing to the truth of certain statements.

EG - "God exist,

God communicates with individuals and makes promises to them.

God has the power to keep promises made,

God may be relied upon to keep promises.,

In God We Trust..

From believing promises of God to believing God

No, the context makes it very clear:

Abraham’s ACT of RIGHTEOUSNESS is his DEMONSTRATION of TRUST IN GOD.

There can be no doubt that, had he been asked, Abraham would happily have affirmed the truth of the four propositions listed just above.

The Torah, however, gives us no reason for thinking that Abraham ever asked himself the sorts of questions to which our four propositions could be construed as answers.

The emunah spoken of here is MORE THAN BELIEF that certain statements about God are true;

IT IS BELIEF IN GOD, TRUST and RELIANCE UPON GOD, all of which call forth behavior consistent with that stance of trust and reliance.

The root meaning of emunah is TRUST and RELIANCE,

not intellectual acquiescence in the truth of certain propositions.

Consult the holy spirit. Holy Spirit helps you to see the truth

God’s characteristics make it possible to appeal to a “GOD of FAITHFULNESS”:

GOD is free of iniquity, just and right.