šāma‘
Today’s Hebrew word is one of those that permeates the OT, appearing some 1,150 times, and having equivalents in Akkadian, Aramaic, Arabic, Ugaritic, and Ethiopic. Šāma‘ (H8085) basically means “to hear with the ear” with several shades of meaning derived from it that generally denote effective hearing, that is, truly listening. Ideas conveyed by šāma‘, then, are “paying attention, regarding, and obeying.”
The first occurrence of šāma‘ well illustrates the above concepts. After they sinned, Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Gen_3:8). Here was, as many expositors believe, the pre-incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus, walking in the Garden. Adam and Eve recognized Him as such and knew fully how they had disobeyed His one and only command. We find šāma‘ again in Gen_3:10 and still again in Gen_3:17, where God told Adam that he “hearkened” (listened to, obeyed, or at least followed the lead of) his wife instead of His God.
We repeatedly find this word, therefore, in reference to obeying God. We are told to “hear the word of the LORD” (e.g., Isa_66:5; Jer_22:29), “hear [His] voice” (Isa_28:23), “[hearken] unto counsel” (Pro_12:15), and obey His law and “commandments” (Isa_42:24; Neh_9:16). Two passages that sum it all up are, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deu_6:4-5), followed by the command to keep these words in one’s heart and teach them to your children (Deu_6:6-9). Those verses actually comprise the “Shema,” the basic confession of faith of Judaism recited both morning and evening.
The challenge to us today is both clear and convicting. As šāma‘ indicates “hearing with the intent to obey,” so does the Greek akouō (G191), which is how the Septuagint renders šāma‘ here. It means not only to hear in general (e.g., Mat_2:3), to hear with attention (e.g., Mar_4:3, “hearken”), and to understand (e.g., Mar_4:33), but also to obey (e.g., Luk_16:19-31). In a day when Christ is presented as a way to salvation without Lordship, and when Christian living is viewed as not involving strict obedience to anything definitive, Scripture’s emphasis on obedience has never been more critical.
Scriptures for Study: Who hears God, according to Pro_1:5 (cf. Pro_1:7)? To what should we hearken and what is the result in Pro_1:33; Pro_8:32-35? What comes by “hearing” in Rom_10:17?
HEBREW HONEYCOMB
HEBREW HONEYCOMB
William Andrew Dillard
“DYING, THOU SHALT SURELY DIE”
The phrase, “Dying. thou shalt surely die” is a literal translation of the Hebrew words revealing the penalty for eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent capitalized on the words, assuring Mother Eve that she would not immediately fall down dead from eating of the forbidden fruit. Additionally, there was good food to be had and knowledge to be gained. Of course, he purposely did not reveal that unlike God, she would not be able to always choose the good and shun the evil. What subtlety in his lies!
So, with sin now incorporated into the basic makeup of the species, it is appointed unto men once to die. Hebrews 9:27. Is there anyone who could successfully argue against this consistent process? Every hospital testifies that men get sick and die. Every cemetery shouts that it is appointed unto men once to die. Every undertaking establishment says that it is appointed unto men once to die. Old age, and the loss of mental acumen bears witness that it is appointed unto men once to die, so death reigns on planet Earth without respect of persons. The Bible is plain in declaring that the last enemy of mankind to be destroyed will be death. 1 Cor. 15:26.
But GOOD NEWS! For those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, death has indeed been destroyed as the enemy. Jesus soundly defeated it on the cross long, long ago. He not only defeated it, He made it to lay down at our feet and patiently wait for the nod of God to become our transport from the terrestrial to the celestial.
Consequently, there is no fear of the grim reaper in the eternally young heart of the redeemed. Neither is it waited upon with dread. Conversely, the Father of Spirits is fellowshipped in increasing intensity in the full realization that should the Lord Jesus not appear bodily in His glorious second coming, the hideous monster of death will become a limousine to carry us over into the higher dimension in style to the shout of throngs of awaiting saints constituting the grandest welcoming committee imaginable, and in their midst is the blessed Son of God by whose Word, Work, and Authority we enter that heavenly home.
But until then, sin continues to raise its ugly head and we do what we would not. Thus does the reality of its penalty exercise itself in all of us: “Dying, thou shalt surely die.”
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