Using Hebrew and Greek Word Study to Find The Best Treasures in the Word
If you learn nothing else from me, please learn this!
Bible excavating is my favorite! I love studying the Bible this way. As we saw previously, the BEST TREASURES in the Word are hidden and you have to dig for them. When you discover those treasures, it is PURE JOY! So let’s get started with an example.
First, go ahead and download an app or find a website that lets you see the Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) for each Bible passage. I like to use My Sword Bible app (https://www.mysword.info/download-mysword) but there are many others you could use.
We are going to start with Proverbs 18:4 King James Version and this is similar to what it looks like in my app :
” The words H1697 of a man’s H6310 mouth H6310 are as deep H6013 waters H4325, and the wellspring H4726 of wisdom H2451 as a flowing H5042 brook H5158.”
If you click on the letter/number, it will show you the Hebrew or Greek root of that word. This verse is contrasting man’s words/wisdom versus God’s wisdom.
Mans words are compared to “deep waters”. Looking at the root of “waters”, we see it means “water of the feet, urine, wasting”, so in other words, NASTY WATER, think dirty water used to wash feet or that contains waste/urine, sort of like standing water full of germs, decay, death. Yuck!
God’s wisdom is compared to a “flowing brook”. Where “flowing” means to “flow, gush forth, bubble up” and “brook” means “stream, torrent”, together think FLOWING, BABBLING, BROOK. Brooks that are flowing, streaming, bubbling are fresh, full of life, teaming with life. Yes!
Do you see the difference? Man’s wisdom / earthly wisdom brings death, whereas God’s wisdom brings life (James 3:14-18 KJV). Man’s wisdom brings WASTE, whereas God’s wisdom BRINGS REFRESHING. Studying the Hebrew roots makes the meaning of this verse so much more clear! Wasn’t that fun?
So now I have given you a tool for study. Go download that app and have yourself a GREAT time doing some BIBLE EXCAVATING!
In His Love,
Suzanne
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Do all Christians have difficulties? Do they have to deal with sicknesses? With job losses? With calamities? With financial losses? Or is it only people with weak faith that have to deal with those things? Let’s see what the Bible says about difficulties or storms. Matthew 7: 24-27 New American Standard Version says (italics mine):
‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.’
This scripture is contrasting those who stand on God’s Word and those who do not. You will notice something interesting-that the storms are the same. Yes, both houses went through word for word the EXACT SAME STORM, “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house.” The difference is THE FOUNDATION!
Let’s look a little more closely at what the Bible says about us having difficulties in Psalm 34:19 NASB:
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Wait, what? Yes, the righteous have MANY afflictions (we are righteous through Christ, see 2 Corinthians 5:21). So what are afflictions? In Hebrew “affliction” H7451 means “bad or evil, adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, grief, harm, misery, wretchedness, wrong.” Has any of that ever happened to you? It has to me and I am righteous in Christ. It has to my family and we are all believers.
Yet, even though the Bible talks about us having afflictions, so many Christians are surprised or discouraged when they encounter them. And so many fall back into thinking, “Why am I going through this? God must have abandoned me. He has forgotten me.” But here the Lord reassures us that He delivers us out of our afflictions. Sometimes, though, the way He delivers us is different than what we anticipated; but one thing we can always count on is His nearness as we go through those difficulties.
Religion does not exempt them from suffering, but it sustains them in it; it does not deliver them from all trials in this life, but it supports them in their trials, which it teaches them to consider as a preparation for the life to come.
And notice that we can’t just “hear” His Words, we have to DO them. If I only hear the word and don’t do it, I might as well ignore what I heard. For example, if I ask my son to take out the garbage and he hears me but he does not do it, he just ignored what I said. DOING the Word means putting it into practice. Of course, we do that with His help. And when we are doers of the Word, we can stand on that ROCK which is Christ and know that whatever comes against us, we will not fall. Psalm 46:1-3 says:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Sounds exactly like what happened to both houses in Matthew 7. Yet, though the storms come, and yes, they will, we are promised here that He will be with us in the storm. His presence is our promise when we stand on the ROCK. And oh what a promise that is! So,
LET’S STAND ON THE ROCK AND TRUST HIM TO BE WITH US IN OUR STORMS.
In His Love,
Suzanne
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Knowing your identity is so important! If you are not sure of who you are, then you can be swayed to be someone or something you were not intended to be. You can be swayed to do things you were not intended to do. The Bible teaches us just how important KNOWING YOUR IDENTITY is.
When Satan had his one audience alone with the Son of God Himself, he used his best tactics. What did this include? Let’s look at Matthew 4:1-11 new American Standard Bible (italics mine to see what satan’s tactics were)::
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’’ Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, so that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’’Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.
Out of the three chances Satan had to tempt Jesus, he used two of them to try and get Jesus to doubt who He was. Satan attacked His IDENTITY. If that is Satan’s best tactic against Jesus, why would Satan use anything less on us? This is why so may Christians struggle with their identity in Christ. Because Satan is after our identity! Identity is exactly where Satan attacked Jesus and it’s exactly where Satan attacks us.
So I don’t think we can expect that at some point we will ‘arrive’ and no longer have to battle with this. I think we should even expect that these types of attacks on our identity will continue and so this is a heads up for us to be on guard, to be ready! So “…be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” ( 1 Peter 5:8 NASB). DON’T LET IT BE YOU THAT IS DEVOURED! Be ready! Be on the alert! One way to be on the alert is to have His Word in your heart, so that you can be sure of who He made you to be, of your IDENTITY. Studying Psalm 139 will help!
Why is identity so important? Because it is out of knowing who we are, that we can give ourselves humbly to serve others, and this includes serving our family. Let’s look at Jesus example in John 13:3-5 NASB (italics mine):
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
It was out of KNOWING HIS IDENTITY-that He came from God, that He was going back to God, that God had given Him the victory-it was out of this knowing, that Jesus was able to humbly lay it all aside and wash His disciples feet. Ok, sorry, but I am UNDONE by this! The King of Kings humbled Himself and washed the disciples feet. Can you imagine? I would have been like Peter and said, “No, Lord! Don’t wash my feet!” (that comes later in the chapter). And Philippians 2:6 says that Jesus did not have to “grasp” His equality with God or His identity. He already knew His equality with God. He was secure in it. Because He was so secure in His identity, He was able to humble Himself to wash His disciples feet and to humble Himself even to point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).
As we follow Jesus example, if we also become secure in our identity, not needing to grasp for it, but firmly holding onto our identity as CHILDREN OF GOD, then we are able to humble ourselves and serve others, and put their needs above our own. That is why KNOWING OUR IDENTITY IS SO IMPORTANT.
So moms, let’s
KNOW WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST, SO THAT WE CAN HUMBLE OURSELVES AND SERVE OTHERS.
In His Love,
Suzanne
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Yes, I believe in seed stuffing. If I had anything to do over in raising our children, I would get more of the Word of God in them any way I could. Romans 10:17 New American Standard Bible says:
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
So if we want to build faith into our children’s lives, we need to let them hear the Word of Christ; we need to let them hear the Bible. There are so many ways to teach our children the Word of God-listening to Bible songs, singing Bible songs, studying the Bible with them, helping them memorize the Bible, writing out the Bible. Our young adult children still remember many of the Bible songs we sang when they were young.
And somehow I believed that if I got the Word in them, it would immediately bear fruit in their lives. What I didn’t realize then, is that seeds take time to grow, even seeds of the Word in our children’s hearts take time to grow and bear fruit in their lives. In 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 NASB the apostle Paul puts it this way (italics mine):
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers….
As mom’s we can plant the seeds, like Paul did, and we can water the seeds by teaching like Apollos did, but we have to realize that GOD CAUSES THE GROWTH of the seeds in our children’s hearts. And He does it in His own timing. Just like we wouldn’t expect a tomato plant to bring forth tomatoes the day after we planted the seed, even so we can’t expect mature fruit from our children, when we just planted the seed of the Word in them. Here’s a poem I wrote to make this point:
Be faithful – The seed of the Word to sow
Be patient – Trees take time to bear fruit and grow.
Be hopeful – This we know-His Word accomplishes His purpose and returns not void.
So mom’s, please don’t tire of planting seeds, because you don’t see any fruit. Planting seeds is hard work! But BE FAITHFUL to keep planting! Plant more seeds! I promise that in His time, those seeds will grow into trees and they will bear fruit. In my prayers for our children, I pray to the Lord of the Harvest to bring forth fruit from the seeds of the Word that we planted in them when they were younger. And BE PATIENT! He will do it in His perfect timing. Finally, BE HOPEFUL! We have His promise that His Word won’t return void, and that includes the Word that we have planted in our children’s hearts (Isaiah 55:11).
Moms, here is a reminder for you not to give up-Galations 6:9 King James Version:
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
What does it mean to be “weary”? In the Greek Weary G1573 means “to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted, to fail in heart.” If we are wearied out or our heart is failing from well doing, what might happen? Well, we might give up. We might faint. We might stop sewing seeds in our children, either from the exhaustion or from discouragement. Yet, this verse tells us not to become weary and not to faint. How? By keeping our hope in God. By hoping that in due season, in His timing, we will reap the fruit of what we have sewn in our children’s lives.
Moms, don’t give up! Keep your eyes on Him! Keep sewing those seeds! and
IN HIS TIMING YOU WILL SEE THE FRUIT IN YOUR CHILDREN’S LIVES OF THE SEEDS YOU HAVE SEWN.
In His Love,
Suzanne
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Going back to Luke 1:5-56, we can learn many lessons from Mary on how to respond in FAITH to God’s promises for us.
FIRST, WE CAN PONDER, YET STILL BELIEVE. We can ask “how” but not “whether” He will do what He has promised. There are many times that we do not understand what God is doing in our lives. Mary did not completely understand what would happen to her, but she knew God and so she trusted Him. Have you ever had the experience of going through a difficult time and not understanding why, only to find out after it was finished that God has taught you some deeper spiritual truth that you could not have learned otherwise? This is where trust in God comes in. We trust that He loves us and that He knows what He is doing in our lives. It’s not often that we have an angel talking to us, but we do have the promises in His Word and we can trust that He will fulfill His promises to us. Numbers 23:19 New International Version reminds us that God does fulfill His promises:
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
SECOND, WE CAN PLACE THE DETAILS IN HIS HANDS AND STILL BELIEVE. Mary was not actually given many details. To her question of “how”, the angel responded, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” Ok, we like details, and this explanation did not give many! What we do know is that Mary trusted God. In response to the limited details, she offered herself up for His purposes, saying, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,”; this was despite what these new circumstances could do to ruin her upcoming marriage, ruin her reputation, or perhaps cause her death (the punishment for fornication in that day was stoning to death).
THIRD, WE CAN PURPOSE TO KEEP BELIEVING DESPITE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES. Mary said, “be it done to me according to your word.” I am sure when Mary was traveling the grueling approximately 4 day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem while great with child, she may not have found it easy to trust His promise. Or when her husband was desperately looking for a place for her to labor and all he could find was a stable, she may have been wondering about God’s plan. Yet, what better place for the Lamb of God to be born, than in a stable? What looked like a mistake was actually an important part of God’s plan all along.
When your circumstances are not the greatest, resist the temptation to turn your back on your faith. Instead, keep trusting that though you cannot see or understand or make sense of what is happening, God is in control. Stand on the promises He has given you in His Word, and ground your hopes on those promises.
FOURTH, WE CAN PURSUE FELLOWSHIP AND BELIEVE TOGETHER. After hearing that her cousin Elizabeth was experiencing her own miracle, Mary chose to visit Elizabeth and received encouragement to stand in faith for her own promise from God. Mary could see Elizabeth’s promise coming to pass, as Elizabeth’s belly grew bigger and bigger, and this gave Mary faith to stand firm for her own promise.
Be careful! Like Job, we do not want to be around people who are going to tear our faith down. We want to be around those who are going to build us up, point us back to the Word (Bible), and encourage us to stand strong in our faith. We are encouraged in 1 Peter 5:9 that there are believers who have faced the same trials as we have but have already had the victory in those trials.
FIFTH, WE CAN PRAISE AND MAGNIFY GOD FOR THE PROMISES HE HAS GIVEN. Mary began to praise God at Elizabeth’s house. Even though she had not yet received the promise from God, but it was literally just a seed inside her, Mary began to praise God for the promise she had not yet received from Him (Luke 1:45). That is FAITH!
Praise is not always easy! Sometimes when things are not going well, praise is a sacrifice. In Habakkuk Chapter 3: 17-19 New American Standard Bible things are not going well, yet Habakkuk still chose to praise God despite his circumstances:
Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.
So let’s be like Mary, and
LET’S CHOOSE TO HAVE FAITH IN HIS PROMISES AND NOT WAIVER,
In His Love,
Suzanne
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