God's Word

Day Four                       God’s Word                            Genesis 27:1-38

According to some estimates, there may be as many as three quarter of a million words in regular use in the English language. It’s hard to be precise because so many of the words we use are cognates or derived from other words. However, even with that caveat, it’s obvious that we have enough words to keep us going for several lifetimes. No wonder Dr. Johnson felt overwhelmed, toiling away in his attic, compiling his famous dictionary. No wonder, either, that in a rare autobiographic moment, he defined himself as a lexicographer, “a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge…”

Samuel Johnson would have had an easier task if he had confined himself to Hebrew. Classical Hebrew, as it was spoken at the time of King David, contained only about ten thousand words. The Hebrew or Semitic root for “word” is dabar, but the root had to double up for other purposes. Dabar also meant “thing,” “affair,” “event,” or “action.” Words had more than one meaning. Depending upon the context, a word could mean several different things. More often, it meant that a subtle second meaning could be applied to common terms. A word, once spoken, was therefore so much more than a breath of wind; it took on a life of its own. A word was a happening.

Jacob is the most human of the patriarchs. Unlike some, whose characters are not developed in Scripture, Jacob is instantly recognizable. He is the duplicitous co-worker who smiles at your face and stabs you in the back. He is the lover who promises the world then shares all your secrets at the bar. He bears the mark of Cain. In him, good and evil struggle for the upper hand. He is also cunning. While his hairy brother, Esau, is away, he dons a cloak of animal skin and dupes his father, Isaac, into giving him his blessing. In so doing, Jacob steals his brother’s birthright. Even though, when he discovers the trick, Esau begs his father to renounce Jacob and to restore his blessing, Isaac cannot comply. He has given his word. He cannot change what has been spoken.

When God spoke, in creation, He did more than announce an event. His words took on a life of their own. Or, rather, His Word took on a life of its own! God said, “Let there be light!” and so it was. God’s creative Word entered our world, forming beauty and order out of chaos. It was this Word that, miraculously, took human form in the coming of Jesus. God spoke and, as Martin Luther wrote:

Not by human power or seed                                                                                                 

Did the woman’s womb conceive;                                                                                                      

Only by the Spirit’s breath                                                                                                                         Was the Word of God made flesh.

Heavenly Father, my words are many, and mostly worthless. I speak without thinking; my words vanish as quickly as they are formed. Your words are few, and of infinite worth. Your Word endures. Stay my lips, Father, and open my ears to Your voice; through Christ my Lord. Amen.