Emunah and amen: Foundation of true faith in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 1–3; Hebrews 3–4)

Israel’s entry into the Promised Land was marked by a rollercoaster of faith and trust in God, as Moshe (Moses) behinds to recount in the Torah reading דְּבָרִים Devarim (“words,” Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22). Echoed in Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3–4, the generation that witnessed God’s mighty deliverance from Egypt failed to fully trust (אָמַן ’aman), say amen to Him at the border, dooming them to wander four decades in the wilderness until they died off.

This study explores how the new generation was challenged to overcome their ancestors’ lack of trust–faith (אֱמוּנָה ’emunah), foreshadowing the righteousness credited through Messiah (Christ) (Hebrews 10; Matthew 24).

As the Day of the LORD looms, including the prophesied restoration of the Temple, there’s a need for personal and communal cleansing, reflecting on the high priestly ministry of Yeshua (Jesus) (Hebrews 1–10) and the enduring symbolic significance of Shabbat and the Promised Land of the “rest” Yeshua provides for our souls.

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“But for all this, you did not trust [מַאֲמִינִם] the LORD your God…”(Deuteronomy 1:32 NASB 1995)

In this key verse from the Torah reading דְּבָרִים Devarim (“words,” Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22), the word translated trust is related to the verb for amen, communicating let it be done, and noun emunah, often translated as faith, faithfulness.¹

אָמַן (ʾāman): to confirm, support, uphold (Qal); to be established, be faithful (Niphal); to be certain, i.e. to believe in (Hiphil)
אֱמוּנָה (ʾĕmûnâ): firmness, fidelity, steadiness.

Summary: Tammy

Scott, Jack B. Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Accordance electronic edition, version 2.8. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. ↩︎