Name of God - El HaNe’eman: The God Who is Faithful
El HaNe’eman: The God Who is Faithful
Daily Verse: “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.”
☆ Deuteronomy 7:9 NLT
Let's Talk About It: The word for faithful used here in the Hebrew is “aman (aw-man)”. According to the Strong’s dictionary its proper meaning is to build up or support, or foster as a parent, or nurse. Figuratively it means to be firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet, or to be morally true or certain. It can also mean to be sure, steadfast, and to put trust in.
Additionally, it can mean to be safe, reliable, or trustworthy. In the context of this verse, it means faithful, but as you can see from studying the richness of the word, there is much more depth there.
Our study of the Hebrew word “aman” leads us to understand that this word is often used to convey the strength of His covenant promises, and with covenants come conditions. Many people liken covenant to contract, but the truth is, it is much deeper than that. If you would like to know more, I encourage you to look up information concerning suzerain-vassal treaties.
These were covenant treaties that were made in antiquity. There was an entire process to ensure the covenant was made.. In order to have a covenant, one must have cut a covenant and blood was shed. Because there was no paper, one simply could not sign on the dotted line. Without a court system in place, one could not be held liable with anything other than their life. To make a covenant with someone meant to take on death if necessary to save those in which covenant was made.
When we understand the depth of covenant and God’s faithfulness, we see why Christ came and was given as an offering for each believer to be united in relationship to God. God was keeping His covenant when He sent His one and only Son to die (e.g., John 3:16). As today’s verse states, He is the God Who is Faithful, and He doesn’t give up on us. His covenant made to Abraham covers us.
The covenant He made with Noah keeps the world from being flooded again. These covenants didn’t die when the people God made these covenants with passed away. No, these covenants are still very much at play. Jesus died to make the decedents of Abraham more numerous than all the stars in the sky. Gentiles have been grafted in. All who desire relationship with God can come to Christ and ask for forgiveness and be saved.
As I write this today, there is a category 4 hurricane barreling towards us with winds of 155 miles per hour. While I continually battle fear and anxiety, God is faithful and has been with me every step of the way, reminding me of the promises in His Word. Like today’s verse says, He is lavishing His love upon me because I love Him and obey Him.
Alot of people don’t like to talk about the conditions related to the blessings of God. Not all are conditional, but many of them are. Just like a parent with a child. For example, for the parents to provide their teenager a car, the condition of having a license must be met. Then, there are blessings that are intact because of who God is. Going with the same parent/child relationship, we can see a parent still celebrates a child’s birth, even if they didn’t perform well on their report card. The love they have is unconditional but the blessings, many of them, come with conditions. How has God been faithful to you? How has He kept His promises to you? – Crystal