7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
The visible and authentic trust that Abraham showed in the Lord by his actions, was rewarded by him becoming the friend of God. 2 Chronicles 2:7.
There is another reference inIsaiah 41:8.
8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
LiterallyIsaiah 41:8 could be translated as
Abraham, who loved Me.
Abraham showed his love for Adonai through his faith accompanied by obedience as seen in Genesis 12:1, 4; 15:6.
In the New testament, James 2:23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God
James confirmed that Abraham was truly
the
It was Abraham’s faith that entitled him to be called
the
Moses was also called the friend of our Heavenly Father.
There was no one who had the same level of face to face intimacy with the Lord God that Moses had.
Exodus 33:11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
Exodus 33:11 HEB: אִ֖ישׁ אֶל־ רֵעֵ֑הוּ וְשָׁב֙ אֶל־ NAS: speaks to his friend. When Moses returned KJV: speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again INT: A man to his friend returned to
Original Word: רֵעַ Part of Speech: Noun Masculine Transliteration: rea Phonetic Spelling: (ray’-ah) Definition: friend, companion, fellow
There are several Hebrew words forfriend.
Were Abraham and Moses the only two given that privileged relationship, or are there others?
We crave that type of intimacy in human companionship, longing to be cherished and treasured; but sometimes there is distance or disappointment that make human relationships less than that which our Father desires for us.
However, in His plan of the ages our Heavenly Father knows our needs and when He sent His Son to walk and live among us, it was not only to restore covenant relationship through His sacrificial death; but also to form a close and lasting friendship with us, one that will endure not only through this life but throughout eternity. By His life, death and resurrection, He enabled us to call Him Messiah, Savior, Deliverer, Redeemer and amongst many others, also Hisfriend.
How do we know this?
Because in Messiahs own words in John 15:14 and 15
Amplified Bible I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.
He calls us friends if we are obedient!
You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you.and he has told us everything He learned from His Father
and then says
16You did not choose Me, but I chose you. Meaning we were created to be His friends!
5384 philos: beloved, dear, friendly
Original Word: φίλος, η, ον Part of Speech: Adjective; Indeclinable Numeral (Adjective) Transliteration: philos Phonetic Spelling: (fee’-los) Definition: beloved, dear, friendly Usage: friendly; subst: a friend, an associate.
John 15:14Adj-NMP GRK: ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε NAS:You are My friends if you do KJV: are my friends, if ye do INT: You friends of me are
John 15:15Adj-AMP GRK: δὲ εἴρηκα φίλους ὅτι πάντα NAS: but I have called you friends, for all things KJV: you friends; for INT: however I have called friends for all things
In Hebrew, a friend is a male or female person. In the Bible, a male is referred to as achaver,while a female is called achaverah.Chevarim being the plural for friends.
חבר
We are familiar with calling Yeshua/Jesus our savior Messiah Lord Master King but can we say He is also our friend?
How do we see or consider Him?
How do we appear to other people in our relationship with Yeshua/Jesus?
Is He just a task master and we the obedient servant; or is the relationship something deeper?
Are there examples of this kind of loving friendship in His Word?
The book Song of Solomon is a representation of our relationship with the Father and even more it’s a picture of His heart and it is very important that we come to understand and know what His heart is towards us.
The picture expresses the kind of love that is not only overflowing, passionate and bubbling over, but also as being active. It’s a love that’s always doing something, and always looking for a way in which to express its depth and commitment.
In Song of Solomon 2:10 the shulamite calls Solomon
her dodi
she is saying that she is
completing him in love.
Here we must understand the Hebraic thought, which is, that love is not complete until it is shared… and this is a direct reference from Messiah Yeshua when He said
they will know that you are my disciples because of the love one to another.
Shared love is this way too and necessary if we are to enter the heart of God.
We are to say to Him thatHe is our beloved. There is no one else but you. Not parents, siblings, children, grand or great grand, etc. Yeshua/Jesus said
these are my family those who do the will of my father.. Matthew 12:50.
Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive one hundred times, and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29
Nothing and no one is to come between Him and ourselves…
Beloved is also transalated as dodi.
Dodicomes from a semitic root that meansto boiland its also a word used forlove; but not feelings, or a surface love ..it is the real unconditional love.
Unless we can call Him beloved/dodi do we have any right to enter in to His heart, to that deep and intimate relationship?
yadid: beloved 3039
Original Word: יְדִיד Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: yadid Phonetic Spelling: (yed-eed’) Definition: beloved
Psalm 127:2 HEB: כֵּ֤ן יִתֵּ֖ן לִֽידִיד֣וֹ שֵׁנָֽא׃ NAS: For He gives to His beloved [even in his] sleep. KJV: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep. INT: after that gives to his beloved sleep
Song of Solomon 2:10
The word yadiyad is made up from the word yad which is hand in Hebrew; and it’s repeated, making it to say or read
yadiyad or hand in hand.
Parents, mothers and children, siblings, friends and couples often
walk hand in hand.
It declares to whoever sees them that they share a special relationship.
Is this what people see of our relationship with Our Heavenly Father/Messiah, one of beloved friends walking hand in hand, side by side? Sometimes one in the lead pulling the other along and sometimes in the rear holding the other back?
There is an ancient belief in Hebrew culture that the heart was in the palm of the right hand and that when two people joined their right hands it was symbolic of sharing each others hearts.
It was the part of the body that does the most important functions for other people, and why we say, can I lend you or give you a hand?
Rather than a foot which hasn’t the same ability to assist someone!
We offer a helping hand or arms and hand to support another; and the ancient belief was maybe more of an indication that they realized a persons hand was the most usual outward expression of their heart, love and compassion.
It may bear a reference to the scripture God writing us on the palm of His hand, as they would have understood the deeper meaning with the ancient thinking of heart in hand names are written in His heart!? Isaiah 49:16
The modern Hebrew expression meaning
friend is yadiyad
literally hand in hand
Here in Genesis 28:16
Yod Daleth Vav Yod Daleth
yad i yad / yad v yad
with a v not an i is the same in Hebrew.
The word for knew here is yada and means more than just knowing. It’s a reference to the intimacy of a married couples relationship. As in Adam knew his wife and she conceived.
Yada is also constructed from the word Yad/hand and the same word from which the name David comes, as well as the word yadiyad.
People used to shake hands and it would be a mutual agreement or form of contract between them, saying lets shake on it. It’s obvious that a handshake held much more significance than it does today. Another reason the right hand was offered as a greeting, was to show the other party you did not have a weapon in your right hand.
It is a common custom now to offer our hand when we are introduced to someone for the first time; and it can indicate that in meeting them, there’s an initial action to sharing a future relationship either business, casual or friendship.
In days past the handshake had more meaning than a casual relationship; they believed that:
by taking someones hand and particularly the right hand, you were sharing each others heart.
This action has a much greater meaning, more than just help me out of this situation I’m in but – take my heart and let me take yours.
The ancient thought behind it is that of:
sitting at the right hand of our Heavenly Father.
It was a metaphor, an idiom, meaning:
sharing the Father’s heart.
yad: hand
Original Word:יָד Part of Speech:Noun Feminine Transliteration:yad Phonetic Spelling:(yawd) Definition:hand
Recall Hebrew letters also have a numerical value:
יד
Yod Daleth
The letters in the word Hand YD,
without the vowel letter a:
yod = 10 dalet = 4 = 14
2 hands joined =28
There is another word in Hebrew with the value of28 which is: kocha
The rabbis/teachers, say that when 2 words have equal numerical value, there is a connection that we should take note of. In this instance the two words with the value 28 could refer to:
two hands joined together is great strength!
Or in other words:
A friendship from which one can draw great strength.
This is what Messiah Yeshua/Jesus wants for us,
we are to draw great strength from
our yadiyad with Him
when He said:
I no longer call you servants but friends.
How is our relationship with Yeshua/Jesus?
Is He our yadiyad, our beloved friend?
Are we truly walking with Him hand in hand/ heart in heart..?
In the following verse He is calling us to come:
In the phrase in Song of Solomon:
come away with me
in the Hebrew text there is a lamed (a letter L), before the pronoun Me.
In the Hebrew language, when used as a preposition as it is here, the lamed is usually translated as TO or UNTOso it would read God is simply saying
Come to Me
He is calling us today…
come to me.
And just as the Father in the parable of the prodigal son, who ran to meet him. As we turn/teshuvah, and come to our Heavenly Father through Jesus/Yeshua, He will meet us, coming towards us… then we can become His friend.
Yes, we can be His servant, we can be present at all the meetings and be on time, and we can listen closely to His instructions and obey them. We can be loved by our Heavenly Father, but do we want to be yadiyad, hand in hand with Him?
We can be serving the Lord so much that we fail to realize that He is reaching His hand/His yad out to us. With the concept we just looked at, He needs another hand to complete the word Yadiyad – to be hand in hand.
He may be our Master, our King, our Savior but He wants to be more than that. He wants to be our friend, our Yadiyad, His hand in ours, His heart joined with our heartsand always to be and remain our Yadiyad: beloved friend.
Even more special is the fact that the relationship with our Heavenly Father can always be that of“beloved friend” because He always keeps His promises and longs to establish the relationship Yeshua/Jesus died for us to have.
We were made for God.
Song of Solomon 7:11
In the original Hebrew, the Shulamite woman is saying she is
for or to her beloved;
and if it follows that this is a picture of our relationship with God, then we were made for God.
God created us for Himself.
He created us just for Himself, for His pleasure.
The first purpose for our existence is that we were created to bring pleasure to our Heavenly Father.
Revelation 4:11 KJVS Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. He made you so that He COULD ENJOY YOU, both in this world and eternally in heaven
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
Sometimes we get so focused on fulfilling our own pleasure, we never stop to think that our main purpose and function in life is to bring pleasure to the Lord.
We are created to bring glory to Him, to honor Him, to praise His glorious name, to thank Him for His abundance in our life and to praise Him for His abundant grace,
“everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Isaiah 43:7
This is the very purpose of man – to glorify God in every way.
Ps100:3 says “Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his;”
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear, reverently respect God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Eccles. 12:13
He is really the only one we need to please, and He is the easiest person to please; because He designed created and equipped us to bring pleasure to Him.
Maybe some of us are not good looking or talented, but if He created us that way, then whatever we look like or are able to do, when we do our best it will always bring Him pleasure. We may feel we have no talent, but there is something about us that our father designed to bring pleasure to Him ,and if we ask Him He will show us what that is.
He is our beloved
and
His desire is toward us.
The most usual way to make contact with someone or something, is to reach out and touch with your hand. A touch of the hand is a universally understood sign of affection; however it can also be done in an aggressive move. In legal terms it’s the difference between assault and showing affection. It is also a way to express your desire for a deeper relationship.
We are His beloved and He is our beloved.
Are we ready to be His friend?
Are we ready to reach out and take the hand being offered to us?
Yes, there are more than just Abraham and Moses who are friends of our Heavenly Fathe; all HIs disciples were and as such then so are we.
Decide today to be yadiyad – hand in hand, heart in heart with Him, our beloved friend!
Proverbs 18:24
A man who has friends [ a]must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
He is our Yadiyad, let’s always walk side by side and hand in hand with Him.
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.
We are familiar with Abraham being called 
