I want to continue to show you the power of Grace, the Person, Jesus Christ, in the names and actions of the Hebrew Scriptures. I’ve highlighted the Hebrew letter hey (ה) so you can take note of the letter and its transformation on the meaning of the words. To see why the hey (ה) is Grace, read my previous post: http://abdicate.net/blog/?p=293
Abram – אברם meaning “High Father” but Abram couldn’t have children.
Sarai – שרי meaning “My Lord” or “My Prince” and shows her dominance. But Sarai couldn’t have children.
Abraham – אברהם God took ה from His Name Yahuah (יהוה) and gave it to Abram making him Abraham.
Sarah – שרה Likewise God substituted the yod (י) in Sarai for the hey ה from His Name (יהוה) making her a Princess (the meaning of Sarah)!
After grace (ה) was introduced, within a year later, Abraham and Sarah, had Isaac! Notice too that in Abram the words and symbols of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are present (see below) but not grace (ה), so no blessing. When God put grace (ה) into Abraham and Sarah they had Isaac. Also the plan of salvation is now visible, being on this side of time of the cross.
The Father sent the Son:
1 John 4:14 (KJV) And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son [to be] the Saviour of the world.
Father – אברהם
Son – אברהם
Jesus, the Son, brought Grace and Truth:
John 1:17 (KJV) For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Grace – אברהם
After Jesus was Glorified, the Holy Spirit was sent:
Galatians 3:14 (KJV) That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Galatians 4:6 (KJV) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Holy Spirit – אברהם The letter mem (ם) represents water and means the Holy Spirit because the Spirit brings forth living waters through Jesus’ work (John 7:38) and He moved upon the waters at Creation (Genesis 1:2).
Notice the order in Abraham’s name: Father (אב), Son (בר), Grace (ה), Holy Spirit (ם), the execution of God’s plan for mankind. 🙂
Also notice that the yod (י) from Sarai’s name has a numeric value of 10 whereas the letter hey (ה) has the numeric value of 5. The Ten were replaced by Grace!
Bless – ברכ – barak and contains the word for Son (בר) and the letter kaf (כ) has the meaning of open hand. So the Son offers His hand, but what is in His hand? To receive a BLESSING (ברכה) you add the letter hey (ה)! The first time the word “blessing” is used is where God is speaking to Abram just before changing his name:
Genesis 12:2 (KJV) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And indeed the Seed of Abraham is a Blessing of Grace to the whole world! Jesus Who brought Grace and Truth!
Genesis 22:17-18 (KJV) That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
John 1:17 (KJV) For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
So now let’s look at the process involved in accepting this Gift from God.
Isaiah 30:15 (KJV) For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:…
The word “returning” is the same word for “repent” in Hebrew, and in the Greek it literally means to change your mind (meta – change – noeho – mind; metanoeho means repent). In the verse above, the word “returning” is shuba (שובה) and if you remove the hey (ה) you get the word for “return” – shub (שוב). So when we “return” we are “returning” to Grace (ה).
The letter chet (ח) has the meaning of “fence”. Remember this for later.
Heal – רפא means rafa and the letters have the meaning of head (ר) mouth (פ) and sacrifice (א). So “thinking” on the Sacrifice and “speaking” of the Sacrifice is to HEAL. Now each word has a root word from which it stems. Rafa’s root word is rafah (רפה) meaning to “relax”! Healing stems from relaxing, no worries, trusting in God’s grace! Amazingly, look at the word for sick.
Sick is חלה challah which contains that letter chet (ח) meaning to fence. The letter lamed (ל) means to learn. So to fence one off from learning Grace (ה) is to be sick (חלה)!
How to overcome this world and rely on God and His Grace:
Meditate הגה haga meaning “to mutter” as in to meditate on God’s Word mumbling His Word under your breath. The letter gimmel (ג) has the meaning of a camel, and a camel is used to transport things. So the letter meaning of haga is to transport from God’s Word His Grace into us! Grace transported Grace from His word to our hearts! This is proven by Paul in the verse below.
Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
John 1:16 (KJV) And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
This verse in the Greek, the word “for” is actually “anti” meaning “substitution” which means that when Grace runs out, there is more Grace to take its place!
Romans 5:17 (KJV) For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
The word “abundance” in the Greek is perisseia and means superabundance and superior in quality! And if that wasn’t enough, the Gift of Righteousness by Jesus Christ is given too! What is this for? The promise you SHALL REIGN in LIFE! Now! Here on Earth! How can you reign if you’re sick, if you’re destitute? Call on Jesus and Believe!
John 10:10 (KJV) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly (perisseia!).
Praise God for His abundance of Grace and the power He has!