Original Word: אֶשֶׁר Part of Speech:Noun Masculine Transliteration:esher Phonetic Spelling: eh’-sher Definition:happiness, blessedness
Word Origin from ashar Definition
happiness, blessedness NASB Translation blessed (41), happy (4).
Deuteronomy 33:29 HEB:אַשְׁרֶ֨יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל מִ֣י NAS:Blessed are you, O Israel; Who KJV:Happy [art] thou, O Israel: INT:Blessed Israel Who
Makarios
was a powerful word to those who heard Jesus/Yeshua speak that day, because to them it meant:
divine joy and perfect happiness.
They were under Roman oppressors and this word gave them HOPE.
Matthew 5:5 Amplified Bible.
5 Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect]
Matthew 5:3-11 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition 3
Blessed (happy, [ a]to be envied, and [ b]spiritually prosperous —[ c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation
Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied)
Amplified Bible “Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of [your association with] Me.
James reiterates 1:25 But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but an ACTIVE DOER [who obeys], he will be BLESSEDand favored by God in what he DOES [in his life of OBEDIENCE].
Romans 2:13 For it is NOT the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous. If we are hearing but not doingwhat we hear then
we will NOT be declared righteous!!!
Read that again!
‘Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ Deut. 5:27.
16 Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
The Words that are so very important here are
Knowing, Doing and Being.
Our ability to hear the voice of God is dulled by our over involvement in unnecessary and many unimportant things including pleasures, hobbies and interests. Our Heavenly Father needs our full attention on Him and not on ourselves or what our old carnal/fleshly, nature wants to do. He is looking for complete dedication and total submission, not part-time participation, a personal commitment on a level we have not yet chosen.
When we are dulled by the world and its pleasures, Mark 4 comes quickly to mind. The glamour and temptations of entertainment, cause us to relax and when it comes to vigilance in the spirit we get lazy and compromise quickly follows; and that is when sneak attacks come as tests and trials of our Faith walk. We are living in the closing hour of this age, which we call the age of grace/chen and many of us have stretched the grace/chen of God to its fullest with a sloppy, disrespectful attitude towards the spiritual things of a Holy God.
It is very sad but true that so many have become people of entitled expectation, thinking that we don’t have to make any effort because God is a God of love and He understands and makes allowances for our apathy. The Spirit of God is calling ALL His chosen to
put off the self life
and to walk in the spirit;
and this is by no means a new message. It was the message of Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, His disciples, His apostles, His sent ones.
It was also the message of the Psalms and the Proverbs in that they all emphasized
uncompromising loyalty to the truth
and
outward actions that are consistent with inward convictions.
When we don’t have these elements in divine order in our lives we are stunting our spiritual growth. This is because when we say one thing, declaring our position, and then do another to appease flesh and the old carnal nature, we compromise our position in the spirit and give the enemy a way into our lives.
We are to give no place to the devil.
Eph. 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
Place or room = opportunity and scope for acting in and through you.
We are not supposed to give the devil any opportunity to influence our lives. He should not have any place in our lives because he is an enemy of God and wants to destroy God’s people.
The apostle Paul told us,
Neither give place to the devil.
The Greek makes it clear that we must choose to give the devil no territory …we have a choice.
Anywhere we have had a victory or found freedom we can be sure he will test that new position. Where there is a weakness he will exploit it. We are not to yield 1 inch/1 centimeter, because compromise is the language of the devil.
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.
They do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways
You have ordained Your precepts, That we should follow them with [careful] diligence. Psalm 119:3-5.
Lucifers rhetoric has not changed since the days in the garden, when he first posed the question.. did God say? and followed it by inventing the lie – He didn’t mean you would really/ surely die!
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen. 3:1-19.
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44.
We are not to be swayed by emotions and feelings, they will always lie to and confuse us. The devil will always work in the realm of the physical senses, which is why we are
to walk in and by the spirit of the living God and operate by our spiritual senses.
We say God is love and He is, but not by our standards of the human emotional love. Human love is notoriously selfish. His love is TRUTH and uncompromising.
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
We struggle to reconcile our picture of our Heavenly Father when for example we read accounts in Numbers 16 and 17 of His dealings with rebellion in the camp. This is a picture of His wrath against sin and is quite violent. Our Heavenly Father would not be loving, nor would He be just, if He allowed the arrogant challenging of His authority to go unanswered. How often do we witness destruction in the lives of those who challenge Him and yet fail to learn the lesson? To witness Gods judgment and still defy His authority, and in Korah’s case, this was behavior that could not be excused. As disciples of Messiah we do not need to live in fear of His hasty judgment however, we would also be wise not to flaunt the authority we have in Jesus/Yeshua as if we were no longer subject to the authority of our Heavenly Father.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23
The Lord God established Moses and the priesthood for this reason:
to separate the people from God for their own protection.
Sin cannot approach a Holy God and the Holiness of His set apart priests who were the mediators between the sinful people and God Himself. This was given to them to show them how to approach a Holy God, to establish relationship.
Now we have Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and His shed blood that cries Mercy for us and mediates on our behalf; and we are able to approach the Father ONLY on that basis. Let us not make the same fatal mistake Korah did; and approach the Lord God Almighty Creator of the universe in unprotected arrogance, forgetting Who is really in charge and control of everything. In Messiah we have perfect protection from the advances of the enemy but when the people of God oppose their protector, who will be that defense against Him?
Pride was the original sin and we are all born with original sin.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins. Eph. 2:1.
Original sin: the condition or state of sin into which each human being is born;
the sin nature of fallen man;
the tendency to sin is innate in all human beings, inherited from Adam in consequence of the Fall;
the nature of sin in which humanity has existed since the fall of man.
Romans 5:12 – Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 3:10-18 – As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
1 John 1:8-10 – If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us
Psalms 51:5 – Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Eph. 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
And the holy one of Israel is the judge of all hearts. His judgments are just and his wrath is poured out in righteousness.
Let’s take a moment here and do a spiritual heart check-up…
Father in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name, search my heart and consume my rebellious ways. In holiness alone may I approach You and not die. I worship You in grateful humility, may You alone be exalted in praise. Cut away and remove from my life all arrogance and pride that I may live in the joy of your presence. I bless you Father, Savior, King and Lord of my life.
If ye KNOW these things, HAPPY are ye if ye DO them.
We are to be DOERS of what we KNOW…
we are to apply His words,
His instructions to our lives EVERY DAY.
Head knowledge will not save us…
neither will intellectual agreement to a truth.
John 13:17
If ye KNOW these things, HAPPY are ye IF ye DO them!
This is the Secret of Being Happy.
Note the condition in this verse IF, there’s the option, the choice to direct our free will….in obedience to the Fathers will.
Only the truth that you KNOW, understand and apply/DO
will make you free..
because mental assent does not help or increase our spiritual maturity.
If ye KNOW these things, HAPPY are ye IF ye DO them!
This is the Secret of Being Happy!
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם,
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Peace to friends and family.
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
Not sure ..you can be…
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute,
SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus had just washed His disciples’ feet
16 Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
It was just before the Pesach/Passover Festival and Yeshua/Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.
These were some of the final instructions given to HIs Talmidim/Disciples. And as we are also His Talmidim these words are for us too.
He is reminding us that knowledge has to become reality by putting into practice what we have learned.
When we know these things and do them then we are blessed….
IF
conditional
we want to be blessed …but,
what is it that we have to do?
What are these things to which He was referring?
One word for blessed in Hebrew is
Baruch בָּרוּך
The word bless, is used to refer to any action, object, or person that is blessed. The term blessing, is an expression of gratitude and gratefulness to God. Whether it is a family member, a friend, a loved one, or a colleague, the Hebrew word for blessing/baruch is a positive statement of love/ahavah.
The concept of blessing and blessed are foundational in the Hebraic mindset and are directed first and foremost towards our Heavenly Father Himself not towards the individual or for their benefit.They understood the conditions that were required to be blessed by God as listed in Leviticus 26. Here the scriptures also lists the curses that follow when not keeping His commandments.
Yeshua /Jesus reminded His disciples and followers that they were to be mindful that, following being healed from sickness and receiving deliverance from unclean spirits; they were not to sin again – lest a worse thing come upon them. He also listed those He declared blessed in the Beatitudes; which on first inspection appears to be a strange list of those who He considers to be blessed/Baruch. We tend to think first by material and physical things, where Yeshua/Jesus and His Father primarily think spiritually, in higher thoughts and ways.
Rooted in the Hebrew prayers are the blessings towards the Father as in the opening words of most prayers …
Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe.
Blessing the Father is also the last line of another much used prayer known as the SHEMA.
Pronounced: shuh-MAH or SHMAH,
Alternate Spellings: Sh’ma, Shma,
Origin: Hebrew, the central prayer of Judaism, proclaiming God is one.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
She-ma yisrael, adonai eloheinu, adonai echad
Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Baruch shem kavod malchuto l’olam va-ed
Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.
Shema Yisrael שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל Hear, O Israel
are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is the centerpiece of the morning and evening prayer services.
Hear, O Israel: God is our Lord, God is one.
In its entirety, the Shema consists of three paragraphs: Deuteronomy 6:4–9, Deuteronomy 11:13–21 and Numbers 15:37–41.
As Abraham was told
We are blessed to be a blessing and that not for ourselves.
We should not always be looking for blessings and praying for ourselves to be blessed but rather to say with the Psalmist:
BLESS the Lord o my soul
and all that is within me
BLESS His Holy Name.
When we bless God we are thanking Him for all He has done for us and declaring our love for Him acknowledging Who He is in our lives, giving Him the 1st place He deserves and the agreement that He is the Blessed and the One Who imparts the blessings. Many immediately think of things, when we see or hear the word blessing for provision; and in our answered prayers to things we need or desire in the natural physical realm. Sometimes we even ascribe blessings of God to things we just simply made happen for ourselves. We sometimes have a skewed viewpoint on what His blessings actually are.
Often when we ask someone how they are, their reply is
‘I’m blessed.’
It makes us think, do we really know what being blessed means, other than a feel-good response or a positive confession to evade agreeing with our adversary?
Psalm 1:1 HEB:אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־ הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ NAS: How blessed is the man who KJV: Blessed [is] the man that walketh INT:blessed is the man who
HEB: לְדָוִ֗ד מַ֫שְׂכִּ֥יל אַשְׁרֵ֥י נְֽשׂוּי־ פֶּ֗שַׁע NAS: [A Psalm] of David. How blessed is he whose transgression KJV:Blessed [is he whose] transgression
Blessedis the man who trusts in Him. Psalm 34:8
Strong’s Hebrew: 1293. בְּרָכָה (berakah) — a blessing
Genesis 12:2.
HEB: שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃. NAS: great; And so you shall be a blessing;
KJV: great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
INT: your name shall be a blessing.
The primary question posed was
Do you we want to be blessed/baruch?
The answer is obviously …yes
who wouldn’t want to be blessed?
And the next question would no doubt be simply..
How can we be blessed?
In the Word of God Jesus/Yeshua Himself tells us how.
John 13:17 if you know these things blessed are you if you do them
17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them
He had just washed their feet showing the servant heart and action.
Our question is twofold
and of course conditional.
The condition is.. IF
And the answer to the first part is
we are to know these things…
know what things?
The things that pertain to life and godliness..
2 Peter 1:3
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.
Notice that the list of things that pertain unto life and godliness begins with faith and ends with love. These are all the things, blessings, that He gives to us.
He shows us the deep things of God.
Deep calls to deep. Ps. 42:7
All our directions and instructions for life, the life here and now, and the life to come; olam haba and olam hazeh.
The word life is always plural in Hebrew – chaim – literally lifes: life here without Yeshua/Jesus worldly and lost; then life here with Jesus/Yeshua saved, born again of His spirit from above and also eternal life in the Fathers’ presence – full redemption in a glorified state like the resurrected ascended Messiah.
Matthew 16:23 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.
What are we to gain by losing?
The opposite of all the world screams at us, and offers us by its ways of temptation and empty promises of riches, and an easy road in life.
This is not the narrow way.
We are to study to show ourselves approved unto God. We are to love His Word, His Torah, His scriptures. We should have our determined purpose as ..to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and we do that by reading His Word and spending quality time in His presence; without any electronic digital devices, including phones.. His spirit of holiness does not need to communicate through those. If we can’t take even one hour without them, we are both addicted and in bondage; and if we reacted defensively in thought or word to that statement …has it not proved the point? Every loving parent will take a toy from their child from time to time as part of process of discipline.
Would we interrupt Jesus/Yeshua while He was talking to answer a call? We do it all the time.. if we believe that His presence is in us for one, and two, is He not present in our midst when we gather together? Family, these devices are leading us into the system set up for the one against Christ, the beast is already building his platform… and we are helping it to learn, grow and control us with our own input into the system. We share everything with it and think it is secure… we should be sharing our everything with Jesus/Yeshua – not our I phones etc. The I being an obvious first letter of this device! We are cautioned not to be ignorant of the devices of our enemy.
The subtleties of the enemy go back to the garden …and these modern elements are becoming firmly established as part of our lives.. Slowly like the frog in water, we get used to them and quite resourceful at making relevant reasons and/or excuses for their necessity. We make statements like …My whole life is in my phone ….when it should be in Messiah Christ. Our life is hid with God in Christ not in some search engine with the same 2 first letters…nor in the cloud! That is definitely NOT the cloud which will accompany Messiah’s return!
We need to check our spiritual temperatures and where we are spending our time.
We should be determined to know His word and know more than others, so we have something worthwhile to ‘share’ or ‘re tweet’! The scripture says we will be accountable for every word we speak, so let’s be holy in all manner of communication …and lets do it face to face, not from some remote secure location. forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together.
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (NKJV) Matthew 12:36.
We are not to spend our days in the safe harbors of life, full of joy and tied securely to the dock where the water is calm and undisturbed.
If we truly believe in Jesus/Yeshua we ourselves must cut the ropes that keep us safe in that harbor. If we don’t God will like a good father, sever them and send us out to sea into unfamiliar waters where we will really learn to reach out for His help.
We must experience the great depths of our Heavenly Father and begin to know things for ourselves. We must begin to have greater spiritual discernment; and by putting everything in our lives afloat on Him and launching out onto the oceans of this life, into the swelling tide of His plan and purpose… only then will our spirit eyes and ears be fully opened.
The second part is
doing
when we know to do something and do it…then immediately we know more – more is added..
Mark 4:25, ESV: For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Mark 4:25, KJV: For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
“For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has” Matthew 13:12
If we have experienced that season of losing interest spiritually, we may find that it was where we neglected to do something we knew to do.
Maybe because we reasoned there was no immediate need, and now we have little to no discernment and when a time of crisis comes, we’ve become spiritually distracted instead of being spiritually controlled. This means we are not walking by the spirit but by the flesh.
This is disobedience and a door that only leads to apathy and loss of direction. Refusing to continue learning and knowing more, is a dangerous place to find ourselves. Thinking we know it all, is taking pride in ourselves. The more we know, the more we should realize that we know so very little – there is no end to an infinite God and His knowledge.
The most important part of
knowing and hearing is the doing
The shema is – hear and do –
it’s ALWAYS action.
If we will DO these things,
putting the word into practice in our lives and keeping the boundaries of our halak/walk within His precepts, then we will be following Him…
There is a counterfeit to true godly obedience, a subtle and sneaky option offered by a seducing spirit.
It is those suggestive options… just as he did with eve; in which we create our own ideas and opportunities to sacrifice ourselves, and our zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment.
It may be a good idea, and have great appeal, and even good fruit and notable results; however these counterfeits are good works apart from the spirit and will of the Father.
It’s a fact that it’s easier to sacrifice ourselves in time, talent and treasure; than to fulfill our spiritual sacrifice as detailed in Romans 12:1-2.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Great acts of self-sacrifice don’t impress the Father and Jesus/Yeshua says to those who present that to Him...
depart from me I never knew you. Matthew 7:23 .
So it’s very possible to be busy occupied with many things, as was Martha, and yet not be doing the Fathers’ will for us.
Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. Luke 10:42
Martha was not wrong to want to serve the Lord, But Jesus prefers that she stop and listen to His Word.
We must be about His business, not ours; and it’s much better to do so by discerning His will in our life. Obedience is always better than what we deem as sacrificial. 1Sam. 15:22
And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
We must guard our hearts
out of it issues of chaim/life..
everything we do flows from it.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fixed on the Lord. Prov. 24:3
By paying attention, so we don’t go in reverse, returning to what we once were; when our Father wants us to be something that we have never been… He chooses us and our path – we are to simply follow.
John 7:17 and if anyone wills to do His will he shall know.
(KJV 1900) 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Matt 5:9 Amplified Bible. 9 “Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor]
Matt 5:6 6 “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness]
Matt 5:4 4 “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace]
Blessed in Matthew 5:3-12 Amplified Bible.
3 “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired]
are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant],
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
Matt 5:9 9 Blessed (enjoying [a]enviable happiness, [b]spiritually prosperous—[c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions).
Reading the words in red … THIS is what it means to be BLESSED according to His Word….
Two more descriptions of those who are
blessed/baruch
Ps 119 :1 Blessed – happy, fortunate, to be envied
KJV: [are] thy men, happy [are] these thy servants,
This is the word blessed as used in Psalm 34:8. The word blessed appears in other scriptures, however, the Strong’s number may be different depending on the way in which that word is used.
אַשְׁרֵ
Blessed is also translated as Happy,
and is more than close to the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel – Asher, which also means happy.
According to the Hebrew Text, the Tribe of Asher was one of the Tribes of Israel descended from Asher
Hebrew: אָשֵׁר ,
Modern: ʼAšer, Tiberian: ʼĀšēr, “happy one”
Asher is a Hebrew name meaning: happy and blessed, fortunate, and most blessed son.
The meaning of Asher comes from the Hebrew word osher, which means happiness.
Asher is consistently pronounced “ah-shur.” There are no alternative spellings of this name.
In Old English and Germanic, Asher means:
one who lives near an ash tree or grove,
or ash maker.
For those unfamiliar with Hebrew, illuminating the language through the alef-bet helps. Here we will take a moment to recall that Hebrew is unlike any other language and because It’s the one language God chose to use to first communicate with His children we should not be ignorant of why He did so.
Hebrew letters have unusual dynamics.
Each letter has a name!
Where we in the English alphabet say A B C D G H
in Hebrew it is Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Dallet, Hey, etc.
Each letter also has a numerical value and each number has a meaning. In the beginning, each letter was a pictograph and from the pictograph/pictures, we derive meaning and because of this construction, there are many layers of understanding for each letter when we take the time to study them the deeper meanings of His Word are revealed rather than just the surface ones.
Secondly: the dots around the word, are the vowel markings and were added to let us know which vowels are being used in the word. Hebrew vowels do not have letters like our English vowel letters:–a-e-i-o-u.
אַשְׁרֵ
Hebrew always reads from right to left.
The Hebrew word Asher/Blessed, uses the letters
A – alef, SH – shin and R – resh
It begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet– Aleph.
Aleph is the name of the letter and it has the numerical value of 1. The number 1 stands for God, Unity: as in bringing 2 things together to form 1 object; in this case, Father, Son, His Holy Spirit are 1.
It also stands for unique, one of a kind, like no other.
The original picture letter/pictograph looks like an Ox Head.
Aleph means: strength or power, leader, most important or first, the strength and power of a leader. When the letter Aleph is in a word, Our Heavenly Father is usually involved in the definition of it.
In the word asher – blessed,
we see that:
His strength and power are found.
Shin, pronounced Sheen is the 2nd letter in asher. Shin has a numerical value of 300 and that number stands for the victory of good over evil and Ruach HaKodesh/His Spirit od Holiness. Again reading right to left, the pictograph for Shin/sheen looks like the teeth of a pitchfork and also resembles bottom set of teeth, or flames of fire:
The meaning of Sheen/shin is:
to destroy or consume, the fire of God to destroy His enemies, something sharp.
In this letter, we see that in being blessed: something is being destroyed and victory of good over evil is the result.
The 3rd and final letter in asher/blessed isResh which has a numerical value of 200 and stands for: insufficiency or poverty.
The picture/pictograph of the letter Resh, is the outline of a human head:
The meaning of Resh is: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest or Most Important person, Human reasoning vs. obedience.
This is significant in meaning for us because when we allow Resh-human reasoning to be in control as the most important source of our lives, then poverty of Spirit is the result.
We could conclude that ASHER/BLESSED means:
We are blessed because our Heavenly Father in Unity, Oneness, Father, Son, and His Spirit; is moving in strength and power to destroy our enemies and overcome our human reasoning and weaknesses.
The first mention of this Strong’s #835 word in scripture is inDeuteronomy 33:29.It speaks of the victory Israel has because they were saved by the LORD. Blessed translated as, and Happy, as it is in other verses of Scripture.
Happy (#835) art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the Shield of thy help, and Who is the Sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places..
In the English language translation the words:
Blessed are You, Lord
falls somewhat short from making clear to the reader of the deep meaning of this key word, blessing.
As some scholars note, Ba-ruch, translated blessed, comes from the infinitive application of the verb to bless, which is an action that can also be done by people towards other individuals. This does suggest that we have the power to give/transfer a blessing to others. If we follow that as a logical premise, does having the power to give, mean we also have the power to take away a blessing from others? This may be true when we bless other people, but completely impossible in relation to our Heavenly Father in the sense that, we cannot take away a blessing from Him, and if that is the case, do we lack the power to bless Him as well? We can praise the Lord but can we bless the Lord? We say this expression on a regular basis yet it seems it raises a question.
This question however, only exists in the English translation because of its lack in fully interpreting the Hebrew term:
ba-ruch/blessed.
In Hebrew there is no question at all because its’ meaning is not giving blessing to
when it is said in relation to God.
The word ba-ruch
is derived from the word be-rech,
which is a knee.
In Hebrew when we say ba-ruch in relation to our Heavenly Father, we’re really saying
I’m kneeling before You, Lord.
Understanding the Hebrew meaning of the very commonly used word bless or blessed
provides us with a very beautiful picture and serves to remind us
of exactly where we are positioned when talking to Him.
It is a constant reminder both to ourselves and toward Him
of the humility we should express
when we are speaking to the King of the universe.
For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Sometimes our boldness in coming before His throne of grace, is more like arrogance, demanding His attention to solve our problems?
Here perhaps, the Hebrew can teach us something about humility?
One other place where our English translation shows a lack in terms of reverence is in Job:
Then said his wife to him, Do you still retain your integrity?
Curse God, and die. Job 2:9.
Although this is what Job’s wife really meant to say to him, in Hebrew, these are not the words she said! Due to the uncompromising reverence toward the Creator of the heavens and the earth being intrinsically embedded within the Hebrew language, (which we do not fully comprehend as a concept), the words “curse” and “God” cannot be written and or dwell side by side!
The Hebrew text says: …bless God, and die.
The reader is expected to understand that the meaning of bless in this context as being exactly the opposite, but the Hebrew language cannot tolerate writing, seeing, speaking or reading the degrading word “curse” attached to the name of God! It seems we grafted in gentiles still have a long way to go….!!!?
Do you want to be blessed?
Then…
Obedience is the key!
If you KNOW these things, you are BLESSED [happy and favored by God] if you put them into practice [and faithfully DO them].
Wesley’s New Testament (1755)
Messiah always insisted that being a true talmidim/disciple, was not in intellectual knowledge of His teaching, (mental assent/head knowledge); but developed and matured out of a real relationship with Him, living and walking in joyful obedience with His will.
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts. If they have been ablessing and if you haven’t already, please sign up for free email notification, like, share and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with His Truths.
Meanwhile let’s remember to stay alert and ready, be in prayer and in His Word for in an hour we think not He is coming… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
Again we need to remember that the New Testament, as we know it, has been translated from Hebrew/Aramaic/Latin/Greek and finally into the English language; and not discounting all the additional translations into every known language of the nations.
For the purpose of this post, we are looking at the most ancient meanings, not what we think or perceive it to mean.
In the New Testament, there are two primary Greek words translated as blessing and they shed some light on the Scriptural meaning.
The first is Makarios,which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew word esher.
The other is Eulogeo,which is used:
to give a good report or
say a good word;
it is more similar to the meaning ofbarak.
We bless God for all the blessings He gives us in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and we are to bless those who mistreat us, because we were called to receive a blessing from God (1 Peter 3:9).
In the Greek translation where the word is
Makarios
Strong’s Greek: 3107:
μακάριος (makarios) — blessed, happy
According to the Key-Word Study Bible:
The Greek word translated blessed in these passages is makarioi
which means: to be fully satisfied.
It refers to those receiving God’s favor, regardless of the circumstances.
makarios: blessed, happy
3107 Strongs – Greek
Original Word: μακάριος, α, ον Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: makarios Phonetic Spelling:(mak-ar’-ee-os) Definition:blessed, happy Usage: happy, blessed, to be envied.
describes a believer in: enviable fortunate position from receiving God’s provisions (favor) – which (literally) extend (make long, large) His grace (benefits).
This happens with receiving (obeying) the Lord’s directions and commandments in birthings of faith.
This word has been used, mostly taken from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.
In ancient Greek times, makarios referred to the gods. The blessed ones were the gods.
Makarios carries the meaning of happiness that we just looked at.
The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6 describe: the happy state of those who find their purpose and fulfillment in God.
In the Psalms, the best life is available for those who love and fear God and order their lives according to His Word.
Romans 4:6-8 ties this happy blessing to those whose sins are forgiven, for they know the relationship to God has been restored.
Strictly speaking, there is no Greek meaning of the word blessed.
The word blessed comes from a German word ‘bletsian’ meaning ‘blood’! –
the reference being back to Old Testament sacrifices….
The English-speaking church chose to use the word bless as a translation for the Greek eulogeitos; this Greek word actually gives us the English word ‘eulogy‘. ‘eu‘ means ‘good‘ and ‘logy‘ means word – hence the meaning of eulogy is literally ‘a good word‘.
This Greek word eulogeitos was chosen by the New Testament writers as the nearest equivalent word they had for the contextual meaning for the Old Testament Hebrew word barak, which as already mentioned in Part 1/last post; literally means to kneel.
eujlogevw – Eulogeo – (yoo-log-eh’-o);
Word Origin: Greek, Verb, Strongs #: 2127
to praise,
celebrate with praises
to invoke blessings
to consecrate a thing with solemn prayers
to ask God’s blessing on a thing
pray God to bless it to one’s use
pronounce a consecratory blessing on
of God to cause to prosper,
to make happy,
to bestow blessings on,
favored of God, blessed.
KJV Word Usage and Count bless 43x
praise
makavrioß
Makarios – (mak-ar’-ee-os);
Adjective, Strong #: 3107
blessed, happy
KJV Word Usage and Count:
blessed 44x – happy 5 happier
makavrioß – Makarios – (mak-ar’-ee-os);
Adjective, Strongs #: 3107
Eulogeo focuses more on good words or the good report that others give of someone and also describes the blessing that we say over our food.
(Matthew 26:26).
This word is where we get our English word eulogy, in which we speak well of one who has passed away.
Having looked it up in Strongs and Lexicon this is what they all said:
ευλογημένος – Evlogimenos means blessed. Makarios does too.
The correct translation is ευλογημένος (evlogimenos).
Makarios is sometimes used but it means more that that…as in
happy, having a peaceful soul
rather than simply blessed.
In the Vulgate, each of these blessings begins with the word beati, which translates to happy, rich, or blessed (plural adjective).
The corresponding word in the original Greek is μακάριοι (makarioi), with the same meanings.
Thus Blessed are the poor in spirit
appears in Latin as:
beati pauperes spiritu.
The word blessed that was used by Jesus/Yeshua in the Sermon on the Mount also called, the Beatitudes, with which we are probably most familiar.
Here the word is derived from the Greek word makarios which translates into happy or blissful. There are around 5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words that are interpreted as happy in the Bible.
The word happy in the English language is often thought of as Fortunate or lucky, cheerful, contented, characterized by or indicative of pleasure. (Random House College Dictionary).
The way happy is portrayed in the Bible is much more meaningful.
As an example, the Bible doesn’t just present happiness to be an event or occurrence that results from luck or a brief feeling of elation. (There is no such thing as luck, coincidence or chance, in Hebrew thought, as everything is planned by God’s providence.)
The Bible states that happiness can be there, despite experiencing a correction from God or enduring hardships while on the path to virtue. (Job 5:17; I Pet. 3:14, 4:14)
We should think more in terms of JOY as in the Joy of the Lord.
The joy of the Lord is your strength
(Nehemiah 8:10)
The first Lord means my lord of men or of God; a title spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence. LORD, in all caps later in the verse, refers to the root of our joy, which strengthens us. It is the Hebrew word Yehovah (YHWH).
This Joy, is a spiritual force because, God’s Strength and Joy are in Heaven.
David writes,
Strength and joy are in his place (1Chr. 16:27)
When David said that, he was probably thinking about the tabernacle – due to the fact that the ark of the covenant had been stolen, and David brought it back to Jerusalem.
The joy of the Lord is our strength, and is brought to fullness when we accept His provision of righteousness by grace that reunites us so we can enjoy His presence.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom. 14:17).
One Hebrew phrase is: to be at rest, safe.
(Matt 11:28-30). 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
If we read carefully Jesus/Yeshua was
only talking with His disciples,
NOT
the multitudes or the huge crowds following Him.
We may not have realized that He was quoting the Bible/Old Testament scriptures (Tenach/Torah/Prophets etc.) These verses read like a spiritual checklist…. References added..
See verse 1: His DISCIPLES came to Him
2. and He opened his mouth and taught THEM saying
BLESSED
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
(Here poor in spirit is a Hebrew idiom for Repentant) Is.61:1
BLESSED
are they that mourn for they shall be comforted
(mourn can be interpreted as prayer/intercession)
Is.61:2,3
BLESSED
are the meek for they shall inherit the earth
(meek, also translated humble. Heb:ANAV.) Ps.37:11; when used collectively, it refers to a faithful minority/ a group remaining godly through all their trials, not giving in to the temptations of the world. 1Kings19:18 remnant referred to by God.
Around 24 verses refer to the remnant but are not so obvious because the Hebrew word ANAV has been translated into different words such as POOR/MEEK & LOWLY as well as HUMBLE. e.g.’s. Is 29:19, 61:1; Zeph. 2:3; Ps. 25:9, 37:11, 76:10; Prov. 3:34.
Humble and Meek used to mean the same but todays modern understanding of humble denotes a lack of pride but not a lack of confidence; while meek means low self esteem and lacking confidence.
BLESSED
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness
Righteousness is ACTION it’s DOING!
Hosea 10:12; Matt.6:33; John 6:53.
Being not just a hearer but a doer – the perfect will of God – This is hungering to DO His perfect will. We are made righteous by faith and grace but as righteousness is action, we don’t just sit by and wait for our redemption, we work out our salvation by following Jesus/Yeshua and doingwhat He did and what He told us todo.
Hebrew root is Ts D K – Tsadik; and the Gk. verb is Dikaio: both mean to do right, to be just. They are verbs that require actionby the subject of the verb. When we are made righteous by our faith, our behavior and lifestyle has to change. If it doesn’t 1John 2:3 applies. Righteousness and holiness are the foundation of relationships for all of humanity. Each of us has a relationship with God, with other people, even with animals who have souls. We areto do right,to be just in every endeavor, and we are to keep ourselves pure; this is our minimum standard! To go beyond that is Ts dakah – Hebrew translates as acts of loving kindness and doing unto others as we would have them do unto us – often called the golden rule.
No one can be perfect while in this earthly body but we can daily work towards being more like Jesus/Yeshua wants us to be. God knows our hearts and sees our faith and the Blood of the Lamb.
BLESSED
are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
Also meaning those who forgive – literally this says to be merciful – which is a Hebrew idiom meaning to be forgiving – 2Sam.22:26; Matt.6:12-15; Mark 11:25.Also to be forgiving of self and walking in repentance – having all sins forgiven.
Those who are forgiving will be forgiven – this action is repeated in the ‘Lords Prayer’.
BLESSED
are the pure in heart
for they shall see God.
2 Sam.22:27; Ps.24:3,4
BLESSED
are the peacemakers
for they shall be called the children of God
Ps.37:37; Is 32:17
BLESSED
are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are those who press on for the sake of righteousness – this means to walk in all the promises of God.
Prov. 21:21; Matt 11:12.
BLESSED
are you when men revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of things against you falsely for my sake
Rather than a fleeting happiness dependent on current circumstances, the blessedness that Yeshua/Jesus spoke of is: deep, abiding, unshakable joy –
rooted in the assurance of God’s blessing,
both in the present and in the future.
The book of Matthew was written in Hebrew, so we can refer to the places where Blessing – Blessed – Bless is recorded.
Matt. 5:3-11
In the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12,
is where Jesus/Yeshua lists
what itmeans to be blessed..
However this list is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of being blessed, or when we pray for others to be blessed.
Remember all those childhood prayers, God Bless Mother, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, etc., we had no idea what we were saying!
Because we were actually saying,
Let them be
poor in spirit,
mourning,
meek,
hungering and thirsting for righteousness,
merciful,
pure,
peacemakers,
and persecuted! etc …
So how could such things lead to happiness?
It seems like they lead more to the opposite of happiness??
However, the Beatitudes tell us one thing clearly… and that is, we can never be happy when we live self-centered lives. We may be fooled into thinking we’re happy for a while, but eventually it will fold in on us because true happiness can be found only in a relationship with our Creator.
Only the One who made us, knows what will truly make us happy and give us satisfaction in life.
We have to get to the end of ourselves and to the beginning of God, if we are to gain any lasting contentment in life, and that can happen only through divine revelation and transformation through God’s Word and His Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
This is the
pearl of great value
(Matthew 13:46),
worth selling everything to gain it,
and ultimately, it’s the secret to true satisfaction.
What was Yeshua/Jesus’ purpose in saying such things?
Did He want to make sure we were miserable while here on Earth so we would long for heaven, or was it because He knew what would really make us happy?
This of course is in spiritual terms and not just for here and now but for our eternal home.
While trials are not blessings in themselves, they are channels for them and what if the trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest times the loneliest nights, are our mercies in disguise? What if our blessings come through rain drops?
There shall be showers of blessing, this is the promise of love sent from the Savior above and this idea of blessing is also firmly established in Scripture.
One translation of the New Testament (ESV) has 112 references with the words bless, blessing, or blessed, none of which connects blessing to material prosperity.
Sometimes saying we’re blessed can be a subtle way of boasting while trying to sound humble. We sometimes attribute it to such circumstances as e.g:
College scholarship? Blessed.
Unexpected raise? Blessed.
Wonderful family? Blessed.
As Christians/Believers in Jesus/Yeshua, we use that term too, of course. We pray God will bless our family. We attribute our undeserved gifts to God’s blessings. We talk about ministries being blessed, etc., etc.
For believers, is the blessed life synonymous with the successful life? Is it really the Christian version of the good life? A loving marriage, obedient children, a vibrant ministry, a healthy body, a successful career, trusted friends, financial abundance — if these are the characteristics of a blessed life, then having all of them should translate into an extraordinarily blessed life.
But does it? If someone had all those things, would they be extraordinarily blessed? Maybe by the worlds standards.
Rather than turning to God, they might feel self-sufficient and proud, perhaps a bit smug and self-righteous. After all, their hard work would be yielding good fruit.
Moreover, they wouldn’t need to cry out to God for deliverance; everything would already be perfect. They wouldn’t need to trust God; they could trust in themselves. They wouldn’t need God to fill them; they would already be satisfied?
What is blessing, then?
Scripture shows that blessing is:
anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in Him.
Blessing is:
anything that draws us closer to Jesus/Yeshua.
Blessing is:
anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal; and often it is the struggles and trials, the aching disappointments and the unfulfilled longings that best enable us to do that.
Pain and loss transform us.
While they sometimes unravel us, they can also push us to a deeper life with God than we ever thought possible and they make us rest in Him alone.
It is Not what we can do or achieve for Him, nor is it what He can do or achieve for us.
During times of pain and loss, we long for His Presence; they are the important and often critical times when we long to know that God is for us, and with us, and in us. Good health, great families, financial wealth, are all wonderful gifts we can thank God for, however, they are not His greatest blessings.
Why?
because they may make us delight in His gifts
but not
in Him for Himself.
God’s greatest blessing always rests in God Himself.
When we have that, we are truly blessed.
He, Himself, IS the blessing.
As noted earlier there are other Hebrew words for blessing are:ashrei/asre and esher, which is also translated ashappiness.
Here we see the Hebrew word translated as ASHREY
ASHREY is a Sanskrit word which means:
a shelter.
In Hebrew it’s a prayer which translates into ~
Happy are they who dwell in Your house, they will praise You always..
and so we make a shelter out of love for everyone who believes in consciously living the WAY Father intended us to.
Some commentators note that ashrei/ashrey is a pun on ashur, meaning to strive forward… Ha’ish (the man) represents the ideal man of God who is not ensnared by the ways of the wickedness that surrounds him. The WAY forward is the Torah-perspective.
Happy is the people for whom it is so, happy is the people for whom Adonai is their God תְּהִלָּה לְדָוִד
Strong’s Hebrew: 835.
אַשְׁרֵי (esher) —
happiness, blessedness.
Original Word: אֶשֶׁר.
Transliteration: esher.
Ashrei (Hebrew : אַשְׁרֵי)
is a prayer that is recited at least three times daily in Jewish prayers, twice during Shacharit (morning service) and once during Mincha (afternoon service).
Ashrei yoshvei veitekha, ode yehalelukha selah.
Happy are those who dwell in Your house, may they always praise You, selah!
It is composed of different passages from the Book of Psalms, primarily psalm 145.
The prayer, praises God for being both mighty and a protector who takes care of the righteous.
Strong’s Hebrew: 833.
אָשַׁר (ashar) —
to go straight, go on.
Ashar meaning: to go straight on, advance. to lead on (causative) to set right, righten, to pronounce happy, call blessed. (Pual) to be advanced, be led on. to be made happy, be blessed.
In the paleo pictographs the letters can also mean:
fire on the head or the chief fire:
Alef – shin = fire
Alef – an ox, strength, leader, first.
Shin/sheen – a tooth, to consume, to destroy.
Resh/Reysh – the head person, the highest.
alef sheen resh
alef shin = fire ish
Reysh = head highest chief
This may seem confusing however in light of
Proverbs 25:21-22 (NKJV)
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the Lord will reward you.
Romans 12:20-21 (NKJV)
Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
To us, this doesn’t sound like forgiveness, but like taking vengeance and we have interpreted it as heaping fires of justice or judgment or condemnation or vengeance on the heads of our enemies.
This is primarily because our generations are so far removed from the lives and the lifestyle of those generations these words were speaking to. In the Bible lands almost everything is carried on the head—water jugs, baskets of fruit, vegetables, fish or any other article. Those carrying the burden rarely touch it with the hands, and they walk through crowded streets and lanes with perfect ease.
In many homes the only fire they have is kept in a brazier which they use for simple cooking as well as for warmth.
They plan to always keep it burning. If it should go out, some member of the family will take the brazier to a neighbor’s house to borrow fire. Then she will lift that brazier to her head and start for home. If her neighbor is a generous woman, she will heap the brazier full of coals.
To feed an enemy and give him drink was like heaping the empty brazier with live coals, — which meant food, warmth, and almost life itself to the person or home needing it and was a symbol of finest generosity.
Giving a person coals in a pan to carry home on his head was a neighborly, kind act; it made friends, not enemies. Proverbs 25:22 instructs us to give our enemy so many burning coals they have to carry them the way burdens are carried in the Middle East: in a container on the head.
If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Aramaic Bible in Plain English “And if your enemy hungers, feed him, and if he thirsts, give him a drink, and if you do these things to him you will heap coals of fire on his skull.”
So the act of heaping coals of fire to an enemy was to show a love that is usually reserved to those who are our neighbors or kindred. It is a way to show a kindness reserved for those you love and trust, even when not deserving of it.
Blessed, happy, content, full of His joy.
Here are some of those who are blessed:
Matt 5 & 6, 13:16, 20:29, 24:46
Matt. 11:6 Blessed is whoever would not be caused to fall away because of Me.
Luke 11:28, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” 14:14, 42:43 Gk. Fulasso: means to guard, protect and to take care not to violate!
Luke 12:37, 38, 43 Blessed are those servants the Lord finds ALERT!
John 13:17
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven Rom.4:7
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial Jam.1:12
1Pet 4:14
Rev. 14:13, 16:15,19;9, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. . . . Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb also 20:6, 22:6-7, 22:14
Blessed are…
Those who watch!
There is no hint of material prosperity or perfect circumstances in any New Testament reference.
On the contrary, blessing is typically connected with either those who are dead, in poverty and trial or the spiritual benefits of being joined by faith to Jesus/Yeshua.
Ephesians 1:3 blesses God for all the blessings that He gives us in Christ, and 1 Peter 3:9 instructs us to bless those who mistreat us, because we were called to receive a blessing from God.
Bringing these threads together, we see that:
a blessing is a statement of good will and happiness that is said about another, as well as the condition that fulfills those good words.
God’s original design in creation was for His creatures, including mankind, to experience spiritual prosperity, peace, and fulfillment, but that design was destroyed when sin entered the world.
Statements of blessing are a wish for God to restore His favor on others or a declaration of His inherent goodness.
The ultimate blessing that God has given is the new life and forgiveness that comes through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach.
The material blessings we enjoy from day to day are temporary, but the spiritual blessings available to us in Messiah transcend both here in time and eternity, as well as both material and immaterial things.
As the Psalmist said, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Psalm 146:5).
A final thought
Those who receive a
blesSING – SING
of them in praise to the Lord who gave them!
We are blessed, We are blessed, every day of our lives we are blessed. When we wake up in the morning, when we lay our heads to rest; we are blessed, we are blessed!
Let us rejoice and be glad and declare…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… (Ephesians 1:3)
No matter what we do or don’t receive in this temporal form, we have been given every blessing through the complete work of Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach – His righteousness, resources and privilege.
In ourselves we are too small to bless the Lord!
However, we can think of how great He is;
and how wonderful the God of the universe is;
and tell Him while
humbling ourselves in a kneeling position of surrender!!
Baruk atta adonai eloheinu melehck haolam..
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe!
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family and cheverim/friends!
Don’t leave this page…until you are BLESSED!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily and
that coals of fire are heaped on your heads!!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts. If they have been a blessing and if you haven’t already, please sign up for free email notification, like, share and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with His Truths.
Meanwhile let’s remember to stay alert and ready, be in prayer and in His Word for in an hour we think not He is coming… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen
God’s meaning of Blessing compared to our concept.
Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonai
ברוך הבא בשם יהוה
Barukh atah Adonai
bah-ROOKH at-TAH ah-doh-NIGH
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה
Words that begin Hebrew blessings, are commonly rendered in English as:
Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe.
This phrase is sometimes called the
Shem umalkhut;
it includes the name and the sovereignty, affirming that God is King over the entire universe.
Messianic blessings are recited in Hebrew with the intent of remaining true to the Jewish identity of Yeshua as the Mashiach/Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world.
God Bless You, Bless You and Blessings to you; are probably some of the most familiar sayings yet, what are we really saying?
The scripture says:
Blessings like showers in
Jeremiah 3:3 I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.
This word shower in the Hebrew isgeshem, which means: to rain violently, pour down in heavy shower, according to Strong’s Concordance.
There are two main Ancient Hebrew words for rain used in the Hebrew Bible:
גשם geshem and מטר matar;
they are used for different types of rain.
Geshem: rain, shower, גשם, in the Bible is usually associated with a heavy rain.
Strongs#1653. גֶּ֫שֶׁם (geshem)
— rain, shower.
geshem -gheh’-shem; a shower: rain, shower
geshem, used of gentle rain in Job 37:6:
shower of rain, KJV small rain; and
used of the flood in Genesis 7:12.
Figuratively of blessing: showers of blessing (Ezekiel 34:26 );
Figuratively of destruction:
There shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it. (Ezekiel 13:13).
Ezekiel 34:25-26 (NIV)says, “I will make a covenant of peace with them and…I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.”
This word shower in the Hebrew is geshem.
Transliteration: geshem
Phonetic Spelling: (gheh’-shem):
which means to:
rain violently, pour down in a heavy shower,
as showers from heaven cause the earth to become fruitful and produce abundantly.
Deuteronomy 32:2. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
The best place to live is with the blessing of the Lord, and the Lord has already poured out the shower of blessing in Messiah. Eph. 1:3!
Deuteronomy 28:2 (AMP) says, “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God.”
We know what we mean, when we speak it out to an individual, or over a nation or even when we say, Bless God, or, We Bless You Lord.
It’s probably one of the more common words in the scriptures in the English translations
but what does it really mean?
A blessing, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, is:
the act or words of one that blesses, or
a thing conducive to happiness or welfare.
What was the original meaning according to the scriptures?
In the Bible, there are several words that are usually translated as blessing or bless. The Hebrew word most often translated bless is barak, which can mean to praise, congratulate, or salute, and is even used to mean a curse.
Genesis 1:22 is the first occurrence, when God blessed the sea creatures and birds, telling them to be fruitful and multiply in the earth.
Likewise, in verse 28, God gave the similar blessing to Adam and Eve, adding that they were to exercise dominion over creation.
The Hebrew Word for blessed in the paleo Hebrew script:
The word is translated as bless krb.
בָרַךְ
and blessed looks like this:
Strongs #1288 to kneel, bless
When this Hebrew script is directly translated into English, we get the spelling of Barak.
Barak (pronounced Baw-rahk) is the Hebrew pronunciation for the verb bless and the past tense word blessed.
When written in this form it means to show respect (usually translated as bless) as seen in Genesis 12:2.
A related Hebrew word is berakhah meaning a gift or present. This shows that behind the paleo form of the verb barak there is a concrete meaning.
That is: to bring a gift to another while kneeling out of respect.
(Think Magi as they found Jesus/Yeshua after following His star!)
Barak ברך Bet/beyt/beit – resh/reysh – Kaf
It could also be interpreted as the son of tenderness –
to treat as a mature son, with tenderness.
ר ב – ב Bet/beyt/beit – ר resh/reysh – son
רך – ך Kaf – ר reysh /resh – Bless/Tenderness
So what are we saying when we say, God bless you?
Strangely ..it would seem we are saying, God kneel to you!
It’s interesting that the saying, take a knee has become more popular! Is that taking a blessing? Well.. it depends on who or what you are kneeling to!
When the scripture speaks of blessings and curses, in the literal translation it’s saying:
God will bless/kneel to those who are obedient and will give His lightnings to those who are not!
The Lord responds in mighty power, riding upon the Cherubim as He comes to help David.
In Psalm 18:14 David declares The Lord sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, lightnings in abundance.
In Psalm 144 David again speaks of warring against his enemies and states in verse 6 that he is liberated when the Lord’s lightnings come. We do know that lightnings and thunderings proceed from the throne of God.
Also in Exodus 19:16 when the Torah was first given to Israel during Shavuot/Pentecost:
On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud shofar blast (קל שׁפָר חָזָק מְאד),
We should not take lightly the curses for disobedience!
Looking at the ancient Hebrew pictographs that make up the word bless, more specifically to bless.
The word bless in Hebrew is barak, and is comprised of the Hebrew letters
Bet– Kaf – Reysh
Barak ברך
Bet – reysh son
kaf – reysh tenderness
bet – a house household BET (the equivalent of our letter “B”, and represented in the ancient Hebrew pictographs as a house or tent, meaning house, as in lineage – e.g. the house of David).
kaf – open hand a palm to open allow cover KAPH (K) (pictured as the palm of a hand, meaning to bow or bless).
reysh – the head person the highest. RESH (R)(pictured as the head of a man, and meaning the first or highest person).
House – head of person – palm of hand
could be understood as:
the house inheritance is being given to the person whose head I place the palm of my hand on.
Genesis 48:13, 14 – 22
From earlier posts remember that the Hebrew/Aramaic word for son is bar (BET RESH).
Therefore the ancient Hebrew pictographs show that to bless is for the SON (Jesus/Yeshua) to extend the PALM OF THE HAND to, or to lay his hand on, you.
TO BLESS you!
Above shows the paleo word with a Vav added to the spelling, and its possible meaning.
Dabar means WORD:Messiah was and is the WORD made flesh.
Qodeshmeans Holy/Set apart.
Gen. 1:28: God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
The Hebrew word translated blessed is v’ibarak, which is more appropriately translated
He will bless or He is blessing,
suggests an ongoing and future blessing, rather than a past blessing.
To form v’ibarak, two letters are added to the word barak shown below,
the letter VAV (similar to our letters V or W)(pictured as a tent peg or nail, and meaning a nail or hook),
and YOD (Y)(pictured as the arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or my works)….
therefore, v’ibarak, or
God’s first blessing to humanity
is prophetic of
God’s ultimate blessing to humanity:
the NAIL in the HAND of the SON is God’s BLESSING.
Most Hebrew roots consist of three letters and can be written as a noun or a verb, but both are related in meaning.
A good example is the root ברך which can be used as a noun, ברךberek[H:1290], meaning knee
Both the noun and verb form can be seen in the following passage.
and kneeled (barak) down upon his knees (berek) before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven 2 Chronicles 6:13 (KJV)
Additional nouns are developed out of the root by adding specific letters to the root, the most common being the addition of the letter ה to the end of the root, such as in the word:
ברכה berakah [H:1293]
(The כ and ך are both the same letter kaph.
The form ך is used when it comes at the end of a word.).
This word is a gift or present and is related to the root through the idea of: bending down to the knee and presenting a gift to another.
Each verb also has the ability to slightly change in meaning by changing the form of the verb.
The parts of speech can be confusing so, simply explained is that what is termed the Piel form is a stem formation in Biblical Hebrew from the verb, usually indicated by a speech mark called a daghesh.
The Piel stem is the most flexible in its use of all the various stem formations; it can express simple action, intensive action, resulting action, causative action, or other kinds of action (all in active voice) depending on the context and the specific verb.
This is why the piel form of the verb ברך barak [H:1288] literally means to bend the knee to present a gift.
These definitions are the original concrete meanings of these words, but we will recognize them more easily by the abstract words the translators usually use to translate them.
And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing (berakah), my father? bless (barak) me, even me also… Genesis 27:38 (KJV)
A more literal translation of this verse would read as;
And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one gift (berakah), my father? Kneel down and present me a gift (barak), even me also…
The Hebrew language is filled with abstract thought, but the difference between Hebrew and Greek abstracts is that Hebrew abstracts are related to something concrete, while Greek abstracts are not.
A blessing from Greek thought is a pure abstract one, with no foundation in the concrete, but from a Hebraic perspective a blessing is any action or object that is presented out of respect to another.
Just as artwork may be created in the concrete or the abstract, words can also be created in the concrete or the abstract. A concrete word, idea or concept is something that can be perceived by the five senses. It can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. An abstract is something that cannot be perceived by the five senses.
As the Bible was written from an Eastern philosophical perspective, it is important that we recognize that we cannot interpret it through our own Western philosophy. To do so, would place a meaning and interpretation that may not be that of the original authors.
The Aaronic Blessing given by the Priests is another familiar berakah:
Other Hebrew words for blessing are: ashrei/asre and esher, which are also translated ashappiness.
It is said that David opened and closed his favorite Psalms with the word ashrei/asre.
This word has been translated as the praises, praiseworthy, or as happy, blessed, and fortunate. It can also mean enriched.
Psalm 1 begins with ashrei – ha’ish and
Psalm 2 ends with ashrei kol choso vo.
Job 5:17 declares “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
This blessing is connected to the knowledge that God is at work to direct us in the right path.
God’s chastisement is actually a display of His love for us, like a parent who disciplines a child about to do something that would be dangerous.
Psalm 1:1-3 carries that theme further when it states,
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
The book of Psalms is full of references to this kind of happy blessing for those who love and fear the Lord God.
so it is not too long!…
Blessings will be concluded next post in PART 2.
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family
and cheverim/friends!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts. If they have been a blessing and if you haven’t already, please sign up for free email notification, like, share and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with His Truths.
Meanwhile let’s remember to stay alert and ready, be in prayer and in His Word for in an hour we think not He is coming… and…
it’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE?
YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
John 13:17
You must be logged in to post a comment.