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The Names of God – ABBA Father |
Shalom,
Boker-tov (good morning),
Over the past ten weeks we have been studying the various names that the LORD used to show us the different facets of His character and how they had been fulfilled in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However, none of them could really reveal the true heart of the LORD more than the special name that only Jesus, as the only Son of God, could come and show us.
Throughout the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus taught His disciples using many parables and a number of them were centered on the father and his children; an example, He taught on the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11- 24). He also taught His disciples how much the Father loves us and longs to shower us with His many blessings.
In
Matthew 7: 7 – 11, Jesus taught us the father heart of the LORD and how He
would never hold back on all the good gifts that His children would ask of Him.
If earthly fathers would give the best that they think their children would
need, then the Heavenly Father would be more than sufficient to give us His
spiritual children whatever He deems right for us to have.
I
remember those Saturday evenings many years ago when I would bring my whole
family to my parents’ home and sharing family dinners with them. I recall how
my father would be busy in the kitchen preparing our favorite dishes. I also
recall seeing the joy on his face whenever we finished everything on the plates
and he would give a smile to all of us for appreciating his gift of love. All
fathers are alike. We love our children coming to us and asking for things that
they need from us and no father would be happy if their children ask of those
items that they need from strangers.
Likewise,
the heavenly Father loves it whenever we go to Him and ask of Him all those
things we need for daily sustenance and He will rush in and grant us our
requests and I have seen His supply. The Father loves to give in abundance and
in style. What can limit the Creator from giving? Supply is never the problem.
I believe the problem usually lie in our lack of asking. Many times, Jesus
rebuked His disciples in a loving manner by telling them, “O you of little
faith.”
In Romans 8: 15 – 17, the apostle Paul wrote: -
15. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17. And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
After Jesus rose from the dead and breathed on His disciples, He imparted His Holy Spirit on all His disciples on the Day of Pentecost. That was the birthday of the church and it has been growing in multitude since. Today, the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of each one of us who call upon His name and who has received Him into his life. And it is this same Holy Spirit that will bear witness with our spirits and give us the assurance that we can call upon the LORD as Abba, Father.
Abba is the Hebrew word for a father and it is interestingly made up of a combination of the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet of 22 characters – “aleph” and “vet” to form the word “Av” and the affectionate form of “abba” is thus derived.
(please note that the Hebrew language is written from right to left)
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Hebrew
Alphabet / word |
Meaning |
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“Aleph” |
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“Bet” or “vet” |
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“Av” or FATHER |
Each Hebrew alphabet has a pictorial representation. The alphabet “aleph” has the picture of an “ox” or a “bull,” which is a picture of a “leader”. The “bet” gives the picture of a “house”. Therefore, combining the two, the father is called to be the leader of the house. Besides that, he is also called to be the sacrificial one because the bull is also the sacrificial animal used in the temple.
The alphabet “He” speaks of grace and has the picture of a window – a window of opportunities and of grace and it is also the fifth alphabet and is the number for 5 (Hebrew language does not have numbers but uses the alphabet also for counting).
When God breathed on Sarai, her name was changed to Sarah (Genesis 17: 15). No more was she known as the “domineering one” (Sarai) but from that moment onwards, she became known as “princess” (Sarah) for she was given a new character. The addition of the fifth letter “he” (pronounced with the breathing out from the lungs) signified that she now possessed the breath of God and her new name means “princess”.
So when the LORD breathes on the father, we derive the Hebrew word “Ahav” or “love”. By adding the fifth alphabet “he” right into the midst of the two letters “aleph” and “vet”, a beautiful word is formed. When the father receives the grace of the LORD to govern his own household and family, he can do so with love. That is a beautiful description of the LORD as well. He who has the breath is also the Father and the LORD is so full of love.
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Hebrew
Alphabet / word |
Meaning |
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He |
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Ahav or
LOVE |
It was this same love that compelled Him to send His only Son, our Lord and Savior, into this Earth to die for our sins so that we who believe in Him will never again be separated from the love of the Father. We have the privilege of calling Him Abba, Father because the Lord Jesus lost that privilege for us when He hung there on the cross bearing all our sins. For the duration of that six hours when the brunt of the Father’s wrath was targeted at Him, Jesus could not address the Father as Father. Throughout His ministry on Earth, Jesus always addressed the Father as Father but He lost that right on the cross so that we can now legitimately address the LORD as Father. He is no longer far away; He now comes and makes His abode with our spirits in our bodies.
My
friends, have you made that choice to come and embrace Him as Father? He is
likened to the father in the parable of the prodigal son Who is constantly
scanning the horizon looking out for all His lost children and when He sees you
from afar returning home, He will run towards you and shower you with His love
and restore everything.
Coming
home to the Father is not a difficult thing. All it takes is a simple act of
faith to invite Him into your life. Why not spend a couple of minutes saying
aloud the prayer below and the Father, Who sees our hearts, will come into your
hearts and reside there.
Our Abba Father, thank you that You love all of us so
much that You did not leave us alone in our sins but gave us Your beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came, loved You and loved us and was obedient to
You even to the point that He died for all our sins and now we are made
righteous before Your presence.
Thank you Lord Jesus that You took all our curses in Your body so that we can receive Your blessings in our lives. Thank you that we are made righteous by Your righteousness and that we are now children of the LORD and joint heirs with You in Your kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus, into my heart and take up precedence over my life.
Thank You Father that because of Your Beloved Son's
death, I am now a child of Yours and I am greatly blessed, highly favored and
deeply loved.
Thank you and I pray all these in the most precious and
holy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our Yeshua
Ha'Mashiarch (Jesus, the anointed One). Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer
for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large
universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal
trials but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the
time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the
Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to
worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious
to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you
His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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