I love words. I enjoy their simplicity and their complexity. I love how as you investigate the depths of a single word it can become a scavenger hunt as you research out everything you can about it. I love how you can transcend language barriers to see the deeper meaning of word beyond your own language. I love how in the Hebrew the letters have numeric values and connect to each other. Most of all, I love THE Word. The Word of God that is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) I love how that lamp illuminates my understanding as I go on these word scavenger hunts and learn and know Jesus more as I read and study the Word.
In the song He Is, in 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus & Philemon, Yeshua is referenced as our Mediator and our Faithful Pastor. In these books, Paul writes about the guidelines of how church leadership should live their lives, and it brought me back to looking at the words mediator and pastor and how they relate to Jesus and not us as people. It brought me back to that scavenger hunt of words to dig down deep into them. Once again, God had something amazing for me to discover.
When I was looking at the word mediator and how it is used in scripture, I was drawn to a passage in the New Testament from 1 Timothy, as well as verses in the book of Deuteronomy from the Old Testament. As everything in the Word points to Yeshua, because He IS the Word, it is not surprising to see the parallels.
1 Timothy 2:1-6 [1] First of all, then, I counsel that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings he made for all human beings. [2] including kings and all in positions of prominence; so that we may lead quiet and peaceful lives, being godly and upright in everything. [3] This is what God, our Deliverer, regards as good; this is what meets his approval. [4] He wants all humanity to be delivered and come to full knowledge of the truth. [5] For God is one; and there is but one Mediator between God and humanity, Yeshua the Messiah, himself human, [6] who gave himself as ransom on behalf of all, thus providing testimony to God’s purpose at just the right time.
With His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus became our personal mediator and intercessor with the Father. When I was thinking about the priests and the different offerings and sacrifices that had to be made for the people to be made right with God, I could not help but think of Moses and how he had a direct line to Adonai, and how he spoke to Him on behalf of the people before the tabernacle was built. But that was not how Adonai wanted it to be. He wanted to be personal with the people just as He was with Moses.
Deuteronomy 5:1-5 [1] Then Moshe called to all Isra’el and said to them, “Listen, Isra’el, to the laws and ruling which I am announcing in your hearing today, so that you will learn them and take care to obey them. [2] Adonai our God made a covenant with us at Horev. [3] Adonai did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us – with us, who are all of us here alive today. [4] Adonai spoke with you face to face from the fire on the mountain. [5] At that time I stood between Adonai and you in order to tell you what Adonai was saying; because, on account of the fire, you were afraid and wouldn’t go up onto the mountain.
Moses acted as mediator between Adonai and the children of Israel, and at one point interceded on their behalf as Adonai saw they sinned by creating and worshiping the golden calf and declared He was going to destroy them and make His promised be fulfilled through Moses instead of Abraham. Moses pleaded with Adonai and He “changed His mind about the disaster He had planned for His people.” (Leviticus 32:7-14)
Moses was able to reconcile the people back to Adonai despite their sin. With the building of the tabernacle, and the different offerings, the people were able to have their sin covered. However, it was something that had to be done each year on the Day of Atonement. When Yeshua gave Himself as the final sacrifice, He made it possible for the entire world to be reconciled back to Adonai through Him, our Mediator. We do not have to be afraid to approach Adonai. Our loving Father wants to speak to us face to face, and Yeshua made that possible for all who believe in Him.
The word pastor was the word that took me on the wonderful word scavenger hunt for this study. In Hebrew, the word pastor is made up of the letters Reyesh (A head a person, the highest), Ayin (An eye, to see, know experience), and Hey (Behold!, to reveal, “the”, what, comes from). And when looking at the definition, there were a few things that jumped out at me.
· Companion
· Friend
· With a focus on care and concern
· To be an attendant of the groom of a wedding
I do not know about you, but when I look at this list of words that define “Pastor”, I see Yeshua! Seeing the phrase “to be an attendant of the groom of a wedding” blew me away. He is the bridegroom and we are the bride, so His pastors here on earth, caring for His people are to be His attendant, helping to make ready for the wedding feast!
Pastor has a numeric value of 275 and in looking at words with that value this is what we find. The very first phrase listed was, “Son of a hero”. If I could insert emojis in this, it would be the one with the very wide, surprised eyes because, all I have for that is WOW! It also means to be bare, to run or flow, cleave, and open places or meadows. (That last being a nice easter egg for a future post!)
My next step was to look at the word “companion”. Companion or Chah-veh-R in Hebrew consist of the letters Chet, Bet, and Reyesh, and translates to “A bosom person”. A companion is someone that you trust, and you can share your secrets with them. They are a friend, a partner, someone you unite and join with. Here again, we see the word friend, and that took me to the Word to see what scripture said about that particular word.
Exodus 33:11 Adonai would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then he would return to the camp; but the young man who was his assistant, Y’hoshua (Joshua), the son of Nun, never left the inside of the tent.
Proverbs 22:11 He who loves the pure-hearted and is gracious is speech will have the king as his friend.
John 15:12-15 This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. [13] No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] I no longer call you slaves, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is about; but I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known unto you.
How amazing is it, that we have the King as our friend when we live our lives in Yeshua? I can not think of a better friend, companion, pastor, or mediator to have than Him.
Companion totals 210 and has some incredible words with the same total, including:
Gracious Lord, Yah is Righteous May it be God’s will, Pleasantness, to glow, make hot, melt, approve, choose, delight in, to be ripe, mature, to be low, humble, to bind, string together, to untie, to be allied, to mediate, associate, friend, partner. Did you see that? Companion and mediate have the same numeric value! But more than that, when He is our companion, we become hot, we glow for Him, we delight in Him, we mature in the Word, we humble ourselves before Him, we unite with Him!
There is one other word that I looked at that ties to pastor, and that is minister. Yeshua was the first minister of the Gospel, the Rabbi of rabbis. In Hebrew, the word is Sha-rat and is made of the letters Shin, Reyesh, and Tav. Shar (Sar) means Prince and Tav means sign or cross. Minister means, prince or warrior of God/prince or warrior of the cross! It means to wait upon, to serve, first serving God, then serving His people. Numerically it totals 900 and when you look up other words with that value what you find is mind blowing.
900 = Hiding Place
Psalm 32:7 You are a hiding place for me, you will keep me from distress; you will surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and shield; I put my hope in your word.
The more I seek, the more I find Him. The more I find Him, the more beautiful He becomes, the more real He becomes. He chose to become my mediator so that I could know the Father. He chose to be my companion, my faithful pastor, my friend. He laid down His life for me so that I could be His friend and He could truly be my Hiding Place and minister to me like no one else can. The more I seek Him, the more I see that He is “I AM”.
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