Languages

         Northern Indiana seemed to be a place where many people settled either from Poland or from Germany. One of the radio stations, WLOI, would broadcast some of its programs in either Polish or German during the day. Most households, however, only spoke English. My parents and grandparents, as much as I can remember, only spoke English except when Dad would want to call me a special name. English as does many other languages, has certain rules that need to be followed and I spent all of my years in school studying how to speak English. I recently read a set of instructions that I had received in the purchase of a “stick on” mirror for my car. It was obvious that the instructions were not done by a person who spoke good English as many rules had been violated in the small set of instructions. When Moses received his marching orders from God, Moses asked the question concerning God's name. Exodus 3:13-14 says, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

         Moses was to say that “I AM” had sent him to the Israelites to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Any language would step up and say, “Wait a minute.” “Your tense is wrong.” We might think that God has messed up the tense of the verb and that it should have said, “I was” or “I will be.” The name however, was right on. It was so revered that Scribes didn't even prefer to write it. It was composed of four Hebrew characters, YHWH. Vowels were added later to make it come out, “Yahweh.” It was always “I AM” as God had no beginning nor no end and the name expressed the eternality of God. When the Lord Jesus Christ was involved in His ministry during those final 3 years, He associated with the word, “I AM.” Seven different times in the Gospel of John, Jesus mentions that He is the “I AM” in verses such as “I AM the bread,” “I AM the resurrection,” “I AM the light.” etc. We have to say that God is always right even when it comes to Hebrew grammar. Therefore, His Word is always correct in what it says and the way in which it is said. God said exactly what He wanted to say and in the way in which He wanted to say it, and He meant what He said. Rules in grammar become important when you think of the difference implied by a statement. For instance, a person “has” eternal life is quite different from a statement that says, a person “will have” eternal life. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” So the rule is in our favor when it says, “have everlasting life.” It is not “will have” but “have.” Biblical languages are a study in themselves and men and women spend a lot of time going over the manuscripts and the grammatical rules. The end result is a copy of God's Word that you can trust in each and every situation. Even though you may not understand every detail today, God's Word is always true and right. That is why we read, hear,study, meditate and memorize it throughout our life. Just read Psalm 119 and learn about the importance of the Word of God. Rest assured this day and in all the days to come that you can have complete confidence in the Scriptures. Just make sure you read them as much as you can. Praise God today for giving us His Word.