Monday, July 6, 2009

The Significance of 'Amen'

Have you ever wondered why some Churches shout Amen to sermons?

Some Churches in Malaysia practice this, some don’t. Those who do, claim a special power to the word. Those who don’t practice it, believe that there is no power in the word.

But what does Amen mean?
אָמֵן -
Amen means ‘so be it’ (also ‘let it be') or ‘truly’ (as in surely or verily)
To the Jew, the way you catch a blessing from heaven is to utter the word ‘Amen’ (ps. Joseph Prince)

Hence when the Beatles sang the song ‘Let It Be’ – they are singing the ‘Amen’ (but of course we know that ONLY Jesus is LORD).

Amen in Hebrew is made of 3 consonants: - the Aleph (א), the Mem (מ) and the Nun Sopit (ן).

These 3 letters is taken and originate from the
נאמן מלך אל (‘EYL MELEKH NE’EMAN) = God The Trustworthy King.


Amen comes about when you take the Aleph from ‘EYL, the Mem from MELEKH and Nun from NE’EMAN – to form AMN = AMEN.

Hence, when we utter the words ‘Amen’, we are saying that not only is God Trustworthy to carry out everything He promised, but it also denotes that God is a King. This not only goes in line to the Jewish perspective that the Messiah is from the line of David (the line of Kings), but also dictates that God’s word as a decree.

Today, we enjoy ALL of God’s promises through the Amen because:-
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)


The thing is this – If we are sinful, and we utter the Amen, It means God is trustworthy to execute the judgment we deserve. Because there is no one perfect and blameless (righteousness through the law perspective), hence the trustworthy God only punish us – and He cannot bless us.

But through Christ, we are NO LONGER the objects of God's wrath.

Christ cleanses those who are righteous through faith (apart from the law), they are blessed when they utter the ‘Amen’ because then, God can bless you without being unjust (that is because you are no longer a sinner, hence the trustworthy thing is to bless you!!!) The trustworthy King is so willing to bless!

Hence Paul said what he said!

If you look at the word Amen, It begins with the Aleph (the picture of the sacrificial ox – the picture of Jesus at the cross), goes through the revealed Mem (showing the flowing water – the picture of the Holy Spirit rushing to fill) and ends with the Nun (the picture of the moving fish – an symbolism of massive life).

Therefore, when we utter the Amen, we are uttering faith that it is through the Cross of Christ, the Holy Spirit testifies it and results (ends) with flowing LIFE! Hallelujah!

Paul understood this and hence, he that is why he included Amen in ALL HIS EPISTLES…(source wikipedia.org/Amen)

If you don't want to be blessed, it's ok.. you don't have to utter the Amen or believe in blessing. But if you want life and blessing up to the full, Amen to you!

Written and Copyrighted by Randy Khoo.

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