Luke 18:1-8: Loss of trust in God’s promises, justice

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In Luke 18:8, Yeshua (Jesus) said that before the Son of Man’s return that “the faith” would be scarce on Earth. From the Greek word for “faith,” πίστις pistis (Strong’s lexicon No. G4102), we learn that we need to seek God’s strengthening of the “pillars” that supporting our role as “temples” for God on Earth: trust in God’s promises and justice.

Pistis is used 59 times in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the TaNaKh (Torah, Prophets & Writings, i.e. the Hebrew Scriptures). This Greek word translates three Hebrew words:

• Primarily, for אֱמוּנָה ʾemuna (H530): firmness, fidelity, steadiness. Example: “And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.” (Hos. 2:20)
• Several times for אֱמֶת ʾemet (H571): firmness, truth. For the truth aspect of this word, Greek words related to telling the truth ― e.g., ἀληθεύω ― are used instead of pistis.
• Several times for אֲמָנָה ʾamana (H548): faith, support, sure, certain.

The root for these words is the verb אָמַן ʾaman (H539), which means to confirm, support. From that we get the word אָמֵן ʾamein, which means truly. And one important use of a derivative of ʾaman in 2nd Kings 18:16 points us to the underlying meaning of this word as trustworthiness (see 2nd Kings 18:1-16).

From a start of his reign in which he “clung to the Lord” (2nd Kings 18:6), Hezekiah was so desperate to stave off the invasion by Assyria that he scraped gold off the אמנות ’emunot — pillars — of the temple he had put on earlier. The fall to Assyria came eventually, but he had already sacrificed the glory — the “weight” — he added to the supports of the house of God, a fitting object lesson for what was happening in the hearts of the nation at the time.

Other key uses of pistis to mean trust are found in Heb. 10:1–11:2 and Jas. 2:15.

Speaker: Jeff. Summary: Tammy.