3. Relationship Words in the Word: With!
- Relationship Words in the Word: With!
“Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, which means ‘With Us Is God’. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” (Matthew 1:20-24, and Isaiah 7:14).
For God Is With Us | Appalachian Style (fixed echo)
Emmanuel (Greek spelling of the Hebrew Immanuel): Emmanu-El; literal meaning in Hebrew is “With us, God;” it is often translated as “With us is God,” “God with us,” or “God is with us.” Hidden in the title is the suggestion that God humbly puts us before Himself! The name Emmanuel speaks of the eternal reality that our Creator has a strong desire to be in our midst, dwelling with us. Emmanuel is a promise that implies the ongoing, permanent presence of God with us. Miraculously, our heavenly God is with us, His earthly people. God the Father is the first Emmanuel, exiling Himself from the Garden after they sinned against Him. Creator God hasn’t left the side of humanity ever since. God the Son continued the same quality of the Godhead, the next Emmanuel in line, when he took on flesh and became incarnate and was with us through thick and thin, through life and death and then life again. The third and final divine Emmanel is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love shared by the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit was called the “paraclete” by Jesus, that Greek term meaning “called to come alongside” us. Thus, there is this astounding with-ness to the Trinity that assures us of God’s everlasting presence with us. And now extending that with-ness, we contain the paraclete, thus bringing God’s presence through our ministries to others.
The Afters – God Is With Us (Official Lyric Video)
God’s With-ness. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares Lord Yahweh. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of the Angel Armies has sent me to you.” (Zechariah 2:10-11). The Lord in this passage says something crucial once, and then He says it again seconds later to underscore its importance. “I will dwell in your midst.” And subtly stuck in the middle of those “dwells” is the relationship word “join to,” which in Hebrew is a marriage word, meaning to cleave to and deeply unified with, to become intimately attached to. The Lord foresees the time when He and His people will be married. In the gospels, God was with us, present in human form through His Son, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, with-us-is-God. So, hundreds of years after Zechariah, Jesus fulfilled these words through His incarnation, the Word becoming flesh. Numerous times in the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh promised to dwell with His people, ever since the prophecy in Lev. 26:12, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people.” This is the gospel story, the Good News. Actually, this is the best news! “Ring out your joy, for the great one in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:6). And sure enough, God is true to His promise of presence as we read in John’s vision of paradise in Revelation 21:3: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.” The with-ness of the Lord is an eternal fact of life.
“Here I Am!” says the Lord. Hineini, or Hineni is the Hebrew word which literally means, “Behold, I am,” and is generally translated in the Hebrew Bible as “Here I am.” Hineni is the declaration of one’s presence and willingness to act. It could be a response to God, to an angel, of a child to a parent, or a servant to a master. The biblical hineni means: Here I am, you have my full attention; I am at your service; I am completely available to you; Whatever you want, I am all in; I am in total readiness to listen to you; I will not hesitate to respond to whatever you might say; I am committed to what you say to me. The willingness of biblical characters to say henini can be seen throughout the Hebrew Bible: Isaiah said it in his famous calling; little boy Samuel said it in the Temple; Moses said it at the burning bush; Jacob said it during one of his night-time visions; Abraham responded to God with a hearty hineni three separate times. Wondrously, in Isaiah 58:9, we find that the Lord Yahweh is the one declaring hineni. God in this passage said, “Here I am” to sinful Israel, and by extension to all of us. Amazingly, we find here the Lord of the universe establishing Himself as the one present with us, standing at attention, ready to listen, available and at their service. Astoundingly, the almighty God is telling us… Here I am, I’m right here, look at me while I’m looking at you. I am available to you, and I want you to likewise be available to me. So with God’s hineni, we see His Lordship as well as His humility, His authority as well as His presence and availability. There are at least ten other passages in the Hebrew Bible when God declares hineni, saying Behold, here I am, right here with you, including Isaiah 52:6, 58:9, 65:1; Ezekiel 5:7-9 and 6:1-7; Jeremiah 30:18-27 and 33:2-9; Zephaniah 3:17-30; Zechariah 8:7-8). Wonderfully enough, the last words of Jesus before His Ascension were, “Behold, here I am! I am with you every day, always and forever, to the very end of the age. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20).
And now for heavenly worship from Nigeria, led by a worship pastor there, Rev. Nathaniel Bassey:
EMMANUEL – NATHANIEL BASSEY Feat. GRACE OMOSEBI & IFIOK EZENWA – YouTube
“And it came to pass, when Moses entered the Tent, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the Tent, and Yahweh talked with Moses. So the Lord Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:9,11); “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom Yahweh Lord knew face to face.” (Deuteronomy 34:10).
In the Hebrew Bible, the word that was usually translated as “face” was “panim” (paw-neem). That Hebrew word was also translated as presence, front, surface, countenance, and before or in front of. Panim is recorded over 2,000 times in the O.T., and is a very significant idea all through Scripture. The root Hebrew word means to turn, to incline towards. The face of God in the Hebrew sense was of course literally impossible, because God is a spirit, doesn’t have a body, hence doesn’t have a face. The face of God in the Hebrew Bible, then, was a substitute word for the presence of God, the entire Person of God. But even that is a mystery, since God is everywhere in the universe. We couldn’t escape the presence of God even if we wanted to. It is simply impossible to be outside of God’s presence.
So why should we seek God’s presence, His face, if He is already present? It’s important to understand that the face of God points to intimacy with God. Being in the light of His presence with His face shining on us speaks to the level of intimacy we enjoy with the Lord. When we seek the face of God, we are saying that we earnestly want to be closer to Him. When we seek the face of God, we are asking for a more intimate sense of His presence. When God hides His face, He is in a sense turning His back and becoming less intimate in His relationship with us. But it appears that God doesn’t turn His back on us unless we first turn our back to Him. And even if God hides His face, He is still present. When God hides His face, He is, in His wisdom, deciding not to be as close as He could be. There is an eternal with-ness of God that is a part of His nature. He will not withdraw His presence, He will not hide His face, but he may withdraw His intimacy for a time if that is what is needed. As David said countless times in his psalms, seeking God’s face is practically a life-long quest for growing intimacy with the Lord God.
God seems to be saying, Don’t expect me to be up close and personal all the time. Don’t presume that I am at your beck and call. Sometimes I choose to seem silent or distant, and yes, sometimes you might have a dry period in your spiritual life. So seek me when I seem close and intimate, but also seek me when I am distant. Call to me when I seem more available, and call to me when I appear to ignore you. God’s silence is a mystery, and as Isaiah says elsewhere in this passage, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, God’s ways are not our ways. God’s wisdom is far deeper and higher than our understanding could ever be. After all, how really do we know what is best for us? How do we know what will lead us to deeper growth and stronger dependence on Him? God knows these things, they are His secrets. When God seems distant or silent or unresponsive, we need to continue trusting that He is acting in divine wisdom. God may seem distant at times, but in His mercy He is still present. Because God is full of lovingkindness, He wants to enjoy intimacy with you.
O Come O Come Emmanuel! – in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, singing over Jerusalem!
The Glory of God’s Personal Presence. “Behold! God’s home is now among people! He will live with them and encamp with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will pitch His tent with His people, He will tabernacle with them as their God.” (Rev. 21:3).