What does the Bible say it means to be a witness? To what are we a witness? How does someone become a witness? Let’s find out.
The prophet Isaiah proclaimed this in Chapter 43 verse 10:
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
The word witnesses is the Hebrew word Ed, and in conventional use, the witness is the one who gives evidence or testimony of things or of people.
This was a role that was not to be taken lightly. In Leviticus Chapter 5 verse 1 this warning is given:
And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he does not utter it then he shall bear his iniquity.
Not only was it a punishable offense to refuse to give testimony, in Deuteronomy Chapter 19 verses 16 and 19 we see the reward for a false witness:
If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
What can the ancient pictographs for the word Ed reveal to us that would help to understand this role better? Ed is spelled Ayin Dalet.
Ayinis the picture of the eye and means to see, to know, or to experience.
Dalet is the picture of the door and indicates a pathway, a place of decision, or an entrance to life or death.
When we put these two pictures together we can see that the witness or the Ed for God is the one who knows or has experienced God and will now provide a pathway or an entrance to life for others. There will be a decision to be made by those who hear that will declare an eternal destiny. They must choose to enter the doorway to life or they will be left out.
In the Gospel of John in Chapter 10 verse 9 we see this pathway precisely revealed by Jesus Christ:
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Later in this same Gospel of John in Chapter 14 verse 6 Jesus declares that there is no other pathway to life with God:
And Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
But just who is this witness for God to which Isaiah referred, and how is this witness selected? Isaiah said that this witness was a servant that was chosen by God.
The Hebrew word for chosen in Isaiah 43:10 is Bachar and means to select or examine, to approve, or to choose. Here Isaiah describes for us the fact that God Himself has examined and approved of certain servants that will declare that He is the one and only God.
Again, what can the ancient pictographs that have now become the conventional Hebrew script explain to us? What can the three letters Beyt Chet Reysh tell us about the word chosen?
Beyt is the picture of the floor plan of the tent and means the house, the dwelling place, or the family and is the first letter in the Torah that identifies the Son of God.
Chet is the picture of the fence and describes a protected garden, a private place, an inner room, or a sanctuary.
Reysh is the picture of the head and means the leader, the master, or the prince.
When these three pictures are put together a wonderful idea emerges. To be chosen is to be invited by the master into his house or his family which is a protected place; it is a sanctuary like a protected garden.
Whose house or family is the chosen invited into? Remember, the Beyt identifies the Son of God. The chosen are invited into the family of the Son of God by the prince who is Christ Himself.
What about those who aren’t in the house or aren’t in the family of the Prince? Is there any way for others to be included, to be chosen, Bachar, and then to become witnesses, Ed?
In Revelation Chapter 3 verse 20 Jesus, the Prince of the house of the chosen, offers this:
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
You must also choose Him. The disciple of Jesus named John carefully detailed this for us in his Gospel in Chapter 1 verses 12 and 13:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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Shalom brothers and sisters at Rock Island Books. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your ministry. The resources I've purchased from you so far along with these wonderful Hebrew Living Word Discovery is not only helping me to read and understand the deeper meanings behind the original text, but is consistantly increasing my Hebrew vocabulary. Toda Raba (Thank you).