Are You A Verb or A Noun?
Does it really matter? Well, if you are trying to walk in the footsteps of the Messiah, trying to be conformed to his image ….it is extremely important. Messiah’s language was Hebrew, and Hebrew is a verb centered language. It is a living, breathing, moving, action-oriented vital force – just as the Holy One of Israel!
In the beginning YHVH ‘spoke’ and creation came about. He spoke in verbs such as ‘let there be,’ ‘appear,’ ‘created’. In fact,there are no less than three verbs in the average verse of Scripture from the Tanakh. Verbs (as well as nouns) are derived from ‘roots’. Isn’t that interesting – the Hebrew language is a verb action packed language and it is based on ‘roots’. Knowing your roots allows one to build a firm foundation!
If you’ll notice, the roots hold the essence of the word’s meaning and many words, based on the consonants (usually three), share the same root meaning. Learning the ‘root’ of a Hebrew word helps tie the context and meaning of the sentence together and many mysteries unfold to a deeper meaning.
But the important idea to remember is that we are to be ‘doing’ like our Messiah, using our hands and feet and not just gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It is all summed up very nicely in several verses. Consider these:
Ecclesiastes 12:12-13
But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Zechariah 7:9
This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
Again, the Holy One of Israel, Himself, says to ‘keep’ His commandments, to ‘do’ justice, to ‘love’ kindness and to ‘walk’ humbly. We are told to fear, walk, obey, love, serve, show mercy and have compassion….all verbs…all actions….
So…go….be a verb!