THE WORD OF GOD: A STUDY OF LOGOS AND RHEMA. by tonabamiro @ 2010-10-25 – 09:50:34 LUKE 5: 1-11, [1] And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, [2] And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. [3] And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. [4] Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. [5] And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. [6] And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. [7] And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. [8] When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. [9] For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: [10] And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. [11] And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. In this account in Luke 5 the people (Ochlos, that is, crowd) pressed on Jesus to hear the word (Logos) of God. However, when Peter answered Jesus, saying Master (Epistata, that is, instructor) we have toiled all night and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” in the latter parts of the passage above, the Greek word used for word here is Rhema. Let us look at some places where the words Logos and Rhema are used in the Bible, and see how they might relate, and the subtle differences that might exist between them. But it is worth noting first of all, that the word Logos is mainly used for the word of God, and the WORD of God made manifest, whereas Rhema appears to be a “saying” based primarily on the faith one might have in the Logos(word) of God, or at other places Rhema seems to be the word that would enable the power of God to be manifest, whether for healing, or any sort of deliverance, or help, as we see in the account of Luke 5 above, or generally a saying; and as we see below, it is also mostly based on a relationship upon Christ. Also in this same chapter, Luke 5:15, the Bible says, [15] But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. The word translated here as fame is also the Greek word Logos. One Bible translates it correctly “as the word about him.” Nevertheless, as we have said before, the word Logos has to do with God’s word. So to translate it as fame is not the least out of the way, for the fame of Jesus was because of the word of God which he preached, and also because of the fame he got from the word of God. Let us quote a few places in the Bible, ACTS 8: 1-5, [1] And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. [2] And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. [3] As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. [4] Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. [5] Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. The word used for word here is the Greek word Logos. Also in verse 14 of this same chapter. Usually, the word Logos is used in the sense of announcing the good news ( what we call the Gospel, Evangelion) of God’s word, or about the message of Christ. In John 14: 6-10, the Bible says, [6] Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. [7] If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. [8] Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. [9] Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? [10] Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. The Greek word used for word in verse 10 is the plural of Rhema. In Acts 10:22, we also have Rhema, when the angel told Cornelius to go fetch Peter. The plural of Rhema is used there. Also in the same Acts 10:36-37, [36] The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) [37] That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; In the first underlined word in verse 36, Logos is used, while in the second in verse 37, Rhema is used. You see here, that Rhema seems as it were a follow up to the Logos of verse 36. A translation uses the words “talked about” translating Rhema in verse 37. Also Rhema is used in verse 44 of this same chapter, after Peter had spoken about God’s word, but the last word there is a translation of the Greek word Logos. [44] While Peter yet spake these words(Ta Rhemata), the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word(Logos). In Acts 14:3 the word Logos is used in the sense of the word of his grace, there speaking about the word of God. In Romans 10, where we have some major insight into the use of the word Rhema, as distinct from the word Logos, the Bible says in in the earlier parts of the chapter, saying we do not have to ascend to heave to bring Christ down or descent to the Abyss, to bring him up, the word (Rhema) is nigh unto our lips, even the word of faith which we preach. Also verse 17 of the same Romans 10 says , giving the transliteration of the verse from the Greek, “ So faith comes out of hearing, this in turn comes through the words Rhematos) of Christ. So we see in some of the quotations of the words, Rhema and Logos, taken from the Bible (they are not exhaustive), Rhema has to do with relationship with Christ, whereas Logos is the word of God. If you are sick or dying, the Bible is the general word of God for you. Well, you can say you claim the word of God, the Bible, or that you want to base the faith of your healing on it. What you need, I agree with you, is the Bible the word of God. But not only that, you also need the Rhema. What has Christ revealed to you concerning the word of God about your situation? You need to take the sword of the spirit, as in Ephesians 6:17, which is the word of God (Rhema.Rhema is used there. People talk of the original sin. Most Jews do not believe in the original sin, as I have been made to understand. But there is the universal sin. He was bruised for our iniquities, he was wounded for our transgressions, and by his stripes we were healed. Jesus did the work of a high priest, who entered once in a year into the holy of holies to make atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel, but in this case, his sacrifice was total and once and for all. Just as the Israelites had to focus their gaze (the Hebrew word Nobat, to look intently) on the brazen serpent, we individually have to focus our gaze intently and intensely on Christ to receive our healing by the word of God, and by the Rhema of God. In Genesis 11, the whole earth was of one language and one speech. The one language and one speech, Saphar and Dabar (pronounced daw-baw and saw-phaw), reminds me of the Greek words Logos and Rhema. To get back to our Eden, we need the two.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 07:35:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015