BFS # 125 Let Your Fingers Do The Walking (Yellow Pages)

Memory Verse: Ephesians 6: 10-18 10 Finally, grow powerful in union with the Lord, in union with his mighty strength! Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be standing. Therefore, stand! Have the belt of truth buckled around your waist, put on righteousness for a breastplate, and wear on your feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom. Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. And take the helmet of deliverance; along with the sword given by the Spirit, that is, the Word of God; as you pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God’s people.

Introduction: Let Your Fingers Do the Walking (Yellow Pages) I have deviated from the traditional Memory Verse.. in that usually we take one of the words in the slogan and seek a scripture that uses that word, but today I’m using the concept of what Yellow Pages is all about.. seeking and finding. I used the word Walking.. which made me think of shoes.. and this set of verses is exactly what I want to share. This assignment will be tougher than those of the last few weeks.. take your time, you can always do it late. Put on that full armor and study God’s word, so that you can more fully understand what He wants you to learn from it. This scripture from Ephesians is exhorting us to be armed - fully armed - to stand against HaSatan - the Adversary. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. I want us to dig deeper into God’s Word, and to really let our fingers do the walking through the resources we have available to us - books, internet - and really seek to find the true meaning of His Word. Don’t worry, I’m no expert, I’ll be learning to do this along with you all.

Assignment: I’d like you to choose a word, find the Hebrew or Greek original word, and then dig into it’s full meaning. Use things like the Strong’s Concordance or the Gesenius and find the root of the word. What is the first occurrence of that word in scripture? What did that word mean in that first occurrence? Did the meaning of the word change as God used it in scripture? Now find some verses in scripture that use that word, and like The Message Bible does, re-write that scripture using the full meaning that you now understand to illuminate that scripture verse. What kinds of words should you look up? I’m going to do fire.. but you could look up water, altar, sacrifice, prayer, washing, or any word that you feel God is asking you to understand better. If you feel challenged to, when you find the Hebrew word, look up the meaning of the letters in the root word. The Hebrew letters themselves have meaning, and give meaning to the word.


Okay, this is not my gift, so here I go doing the best of my ability and if I get it all completely wrong...please forgive me and I hope I don't offend anyone in the process. With all that being said, here I go:


The scripture I chose is Revelations 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].

This is the verse in Greek:

17ὁ ἔ.χων_ οὖς ἀ.κου.σά.τω τί τὸ πνεῦ.μα λέ.γει ταῖς ἐκ.κλη.σί.αις· τῷ νι.κοῦν.τι δώ.σω αὐ.τῷ τοῦ μάν.να τοῦ κεκ.ρυμ.μέ.νου, καὶ δώ.σω αὐ.τῷ ψῆ.φον λευ.κήν, καὶ ἐ.πὶ τὴν ψῆ.φον ὄ.νο.μα και.νὸν γεγ.ραμ.μέ.νον, ὃ οὐ.δεὶς οἶ.δεν εἰ μὴ ὁ λαμ.βά.νων_.


I decided to do a word for word translation of this verse instead of one word

ἔχω - to have, to hold, that is to say, to have and hold, implying present, continued having, or lasting possession.



οὖς - an ear



ἀκούω - to hear, intransitive, to have the faculty of hearing; transitive, to hear, perceive with the ears; to give ear, listen; to hear, that is to say, to learn by hearing, be informed



τίς - any one, a certain one, when emphatic, it denotes somebody important, something great.



ὁ - hence, his



πνεῦμα - to draw breath



λέγω - to lay, lay together, to collect; then, to lay before,



ὁ - hence, his



ἐκκλησία - The entire community of all who are called by and to Christ out of the world, the Church universal



ὁ - hence, his



νικάω - to be victorious, come off victor, conquer



δίδωμι - giving freely unforced



αὐτός - very, self, joined with each of the persons, with the third person, not simply he, but he himself, he and no other. Always emphatic



ὁ - hence, his



μάννα - manna, the miraculous food with which God fed the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness



ὁ - hence, his



κρύπτω - to hide, cover, cloak; conceal, keep secret, to keep covered for purposes of concealment



καί - connects thoughts;



δίδωμι - giving freely unforced



αὐτός - very, self, joined with each of the persons, with the third person, not simply he, but he himself, he and no other. Always emphatic



ψῆφος - a small stone worn smooth by water, a pebble; hence, any polished stone, a gem, stone of a ring. Also, of the black and white stones used anciently in voting, viz. the black for condemnation, the white for approval or acquittal



λευκός - light, that is to say emitting light, bright, brilliant, shining, glittering; and hence, radiant white



καί - connects thoughts;



ἐπί - upon



ὁ - hence, his



ψῆφος - a small stone worn smooth by water, a pebble; hence, any polished stone, a gem, stone of a ring. Also, of the black and white stones used anciently in voting, viz. the black for condemnation, the white for approval or acquittal



ὄνομα - that by which one is known, the name by which a person or thing is called; hence, the proper name or appellation of a person.



καινός - new, that is to say newly made; not merely recent, but different from that which had been formerly; new, as coming in the place of a thing that was formerly, and as not yet used



γράφω - to grave, or cut in



ὅς - perchance, perhaps, giving a stamp of uncertainty, and implying a dependence on circumstances



οὐδείς - not one, no one, nothing



εἴδω - to perceive



εἰ - if, putting the condition simply



μή - not



ὁ - hence, his



λαμβάνω - to take, take hold of, apprehend, to take or receive from another; to take what is given; hence, receive, pointing to an objective reception

Originally I just wanted to translate "in the stone a new name written", but after I got started, I decided to see how I interpreted the translation. So here is the Kerri Version:

Those who have an ear that can hear the manifestation of God should gather together all who are called by and to Christ; and each person who yields to Him will enjoy a taste of how saints and angels live in heaven, and He will give freely to each person a polished radiant white stone symbolizing acquittal and cut into this stone will be a name different than which he has been formally known, that he can not perceive until he takes what is given. Revelations 2:17

Whew!! This was a tough assignment but also a great way to get into the bible. I bookmarked this page that I used for translation to use again anytime I am not sure I fully understand a verse. Now I need to go give my brain a serious rest!!