Click to Enlarge
A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! Remember that in older posts I showed how that each Hebrew letter has it’s own meaning, much like the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt and Chinese today. When you combine the meaning of the letters, you get a fuller meaning of the word used today. You can see the meaning of each letter in the image to the right.
The Hebrew word for thanks is toda (תודה) and each letter has the meaning of “Covenant and Door – Grace”. Jesus made a covenant with us as He is the Door full of Grace and Truth. The first five times (the number of grace) any form of the word thanks is mentioned in the Scriptures is when Israel is taught how to offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to the Lord in Leviticus 7. But there are two other forms of thanks in the Scriptures as well.
The next thanks is barak (ברךְ) with the letters meaning “In, man, open palm” and is translated as “thanks, bless, praise, kneel down [as in adoration] and curse”. The first time barak is use in the Scriptures is when God blessed the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea to multiply and be fruitful. The next time is when God blessed man to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over all. Then God blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it. God then blessed the male and female and called them Adam (a double blessing). The next blessing mention, again by God, was when He blessed Noah – the fifth blessing, Grace which Noah had already found in the Lord, Genesis 6:8 (KJV) – when God told them to be fruitful and replenish the earth. The first blessing by man was Noah when he blessed Shem and cursed Canaan, son of Ham, for what Ham had done to his father by seeing his nakedness. Noah couldn’t curse Ham because he had already been blessed by God. Interestingly, the greatest blessing man ever received from God comes from the word for nakedness (ערוה) in Hebrew letter meaning is “see man nail grace”. Jesus was nailed to the cross, naked, so we could have grace. I find it a wonderful matter when you see that this one word barak can mean a blessing or a cursing. So close are they that they share the same word! James 3:10 (KJV) “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” Now you can understand this verse: Proverbs 18:21 (KJV) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Truly the President’s name is a blessing to some and a cursing to others.
The last form of thanks is yada (ידה) meaning to hold out your hand in worship or make confession or to praise. The letters mean “open hand, door, grace”. It is a wonderful gem that in praising the Lord we give Him thanks! In fact, if you realize this, it is the meaning to the verse in Revelation 3:20 (KJV) “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Literally, to praise the Lord, is to open the door to Grace! To put your hand on the door, open it, and receive Grace! Glory to God! I remember as a kid seeing a painting of Jesus standing at a door knocking and the door didn’t have a doorknob – it could only be opened from within. This is how we know the Lord Jesus more, by inviting Him into our hearts through daily praise and worship. If you have trouble praising the Lord, read and listen to Peter Furler’s song “I’m Alive!” http://www.songlyrics.com/peter-furler/i-m-alive-lyrics/
On this day of thanksgiving I want to praise my Lord Jesus Christ and thank Him for coming and giving me life! Thank you Father for sending your Son to die for me and give me life! Thank you for your wonderful Grace!