Daily Bread - MAR/03/07

Ephesians 6:17 - "And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the proclamation of God."

When we consider the weapons of our warfare mentioned in 2 Corinthians 10:4, nothing stands out as much as the sword of the Spirit. Although there are two weapons mentioned in the New Testament, the Sword of the Spirit has the supreme position (Romans 6:13). The real challenge that we face in every trial that we encounter is whether or not we are going to believe God's word or the report of man. If we take up God's word, it becomes the sword of the Lord in our hand and in our mouth that destroys all of those things that would attempt to destroy us and steal the blessings of God from us. The only way to effectively stand fast against all that Satan would do to oppose us whether spiritual, physical, or financial is to have the high praises of God upon our lips and this sharp two-edged sword in our hands (Psalms 149:6).

Just as our Lord Jesus Christ will slay the enemies of God with the sword of His mouth, we too will destroy every opposing force of man and devils by the word of God (Revelation 19:15, 21; 1 John 2:14). The Greek phrase "rhema Theo" (word of God) is found 4 times in the New Testament. The first time is in Luke 3:2, "the rhema of God came upon John." In John 8:47, Jesus said, "he that is of God hears God's rhema." Paul uses this phrase in Romans 10:17, "Faith is from hearing and the hearing through the rhema of God." And then finally in Hebrews 11:3, "We understand faith framed the ages by the rhema of God" (keeping in mind that in Psalms 33:6, logos is used, "by the logos of YHWH the heavens were made").

The first time that "rhema" is found in the Old Testament is in Genesis 15:1, "After these things the rhema of YHWH came to Abram in a vision." The Greek word "rhema" is derived from the word "rheo" which means "to speak" or "to utter.". However, the primary Greek word for "word" in both the Old and New Testaments is "logos". The Greek word "logos" occurs 330 times whereas "rhema" occurs 70 times in the New Testament. The Greek word "logos" is found 1239 times in the Septuagint and "rhema" is found 546 times. The Greek words "logos and rhema" are translated by the same Hebrew words. However, 90% of the time "logos" translated the Hebrew word "dabar", which is the exclusive word for the "written word" or Mosaic Law in Biblical Hebrew. Yet at the same time "rhema" dominates the translation for "dabar" in the Pentateuch whereas "logos" is dominate among the prophets.

The word "logos" is used to identify the Lord Jesus Christ as the Word (logos) of God (John 1:1) but rhema is never is used in this way. Although, "logos" is primarily used to identify the written word of God "rhema" is also used for the written word of God in Matthew 4:4. The phrase "logos tou Theo" (the word of God) is found a total of 12 times in the New Testament (Luke 8:11, John 10:35, Acts 6:7, 12:24, 17:13, Romans 9:6, 1 Corinthians 14:36, 2 Timothy 2:9, Titus 2:5, Hebrews 4:12, 1 John 2:14, Revelation 19:13). Even though both "logos" and "rhema" are accurately translated "word," there is reason to believe that "logos" is the more exclusive word for denoting the written word of God. Obviously, God gave a special meaning to the word "logos" by identifying it with the Eternal Word who became His only begotten Son. "What characterizes the use of logos in the NT is not some new meaning for the word beyond what is found in the Septuagint but its reference to the divine revelation of God through Jesus Christ and his messengers" (The Anchor Bible Dictionary). On the other hand, rhema may be understood to have a unique role in referring to the proclamations, or utterances of God, which extend beyond the written word and includes those who have been given the Spirit to speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11).

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org

Note: scripture references will be linked on Monday as I don't currently have access to that functionality. Blessings!!! Carol :)