The Etymology of Faith

ACCORDING TO BLUELETTERBIBLE.ORG, THE WORD "Faith" occurs 247 times in 231 verses in the King James Version of the Bible. Out of 247 times, the word "Faith" only appears twice in the Old Testament. One of the clues in understanding the meaning of a word in the Bible is to see where it appears first. The word "Faith" first appears in the King James Bible in Deuteronomy 32:20; "And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith." In this passage, this is God speaking about the children of Israel, His chosen people and saying how wicked they are. It is interesting that the first time, the word "Faith" is seen in the Bible is when God speaks about it in this passage. God is saying that the children of Israel, have no faith because of their actions, so God is displeased. The Hebrew word for "Faith" in this passage according to Strong's Concordance H529 is 'emuwn' which is pronounced, "a moon." It is a masculine noun which means "faithful." It stems from the root of H539 "aman" pronounced "A mon" which is a feminine noun that means "believe." The only other time you will see the word "Faith" in the Old Testament of the King James Bible is in Habakkuk 2:4 where it says, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." In this passage, the word "Faith" is translated according to the Strong's Concordance as H530 'emuwnah pronounced (eh moon naw). It is a feminine noun meaning steadfast. This is the very first time in the Bible where you see the actual word "Faith" being applied in a personal manner. In this passage, God is telling us it is a way of life for the just or the people who are trying to live righteously. We will explore in further details how very much Faith is a part of who we are and how we as humans think, live and exist.

The Fasteners of Faith

"And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Hebrew 11:6 NLT

I want to start with the tool called Faith because it is the essential element a person needs to begin building a relationship with God. You must first believe that He exists. Without this belief then nothing else matters, and because you cannot have a relationship with someone you do not believe exists, then you cannot have a relationship with God without faith in God. It is the hardware that keeps us bound to God. If this bond is broken or weak, then our relationship with God will be broken or weak. We must make sure that we are fastened to God with a secure line. The stronger our faith in God, the stronger our relationship with God.

People complicate this process. They think, 'Oh I have to fast and pray to have a stronger faith in God' or 'I need to meditate day and night on God' but honestly it is as easy as believing you are going to take your next breath. (Now, don't get me wrong, fasting and praying will help your walk with Christ and strengthen your relationship, but it is not necessary to grow your faith.) No one says in the midst of taking a breath: "I sure hope I take another breath after this." We breathe without even thinking about it because according to Genesis 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man, became a living soul." (KJV). No one is ever taught how to breathe because the breath of God (Neshamah from Strong's H5397) is inside of you and it is perfect and complete. It does not need help so therefore it is out of your control. Your breath is evidence that you can believe in something that you do not understand, and that is out of your control because (Neshamah) is living inside of you. When God breathed into the first man Adam, and he became a living soul, every other person from that day forward was born with the breath of God. This breath from God is the Spirit of God in seed form. For anyone who is reading this and maybe a new babe in Christ, or what is commonly called a new believer, this spirit is not the Holy Spirit (Ruwach Strong's H7307) but just the life force that comes from God (Neshamah). No one ever doubts that when they go to bed, they are going to wake up in the morning. We plan what we are going to do today and tomorrow and next year without fear of tomorrow not coming. We never think that the next moment could be the last moment of our life. We just believe that we will wake up to see another day. It is this faith, this same belief that we must apply in believing in God and if we can believe in God we can believe in His word because God is everything that He speaks. When we were little children, many of us believed in an Easter bunny, Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, but as we became older, we came to the realization that they were a myth. We sometimes put God in this same category incorrectly. We think 'Since there is no man in a red suit flying in a sled pulled by flying reindeers supplying all of our wants, then there can't be a god who will supply all of our needs.' We treat God as if He is a myth because of circumstances and situations in our lives that are seemingly impossible to overcome, or we believe God for some things but not all things. Some of us can believe God for healing if we have a headache but not if we have cancer. Some of us can believe God for a new car but not a new house. We can believe God for a paycheck but not for abundant life. Let me say it another way; More than likely most people have never physically seen their own heart, you may have seen a picture of it, but not your own actual heart. No one has touched it, smelled it or tasted it, yet no one ever doubts the existence of their own heart because science has told us that it is essential for life and we would not be able to live without it. We have not seen it, but we have felt it, and we have heard it, and because we have heard, we have believed. A woman carrying a child in her womb believes her baby is alright because she hears the baby's strong rhythmic heartbeat through an instrument though she will never see it with her own eyes. (My grandmother used to say you can tell when a woman is pregnant because the baby's heartbeat can be seen at the bottom of their neck; the area between the collar bones.) The mother will never hold her baby's heart in her hand but because she has heard a healthy heartbeat ... she believes. The same faith can be applied to believing in God. "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Rom 10:17 KJV). Why can we believe so easily that we will wake up tomorrow? Is it because we have done it every day of our life? Possibly, but people develop fears all the time for things they have done numerous times before. Some people develop fears of elevators, crowds, or even just going outside their door; but unless you are terminally ill, no one ever develops a fear of not waking up the next morning or not being able to take their next breath. Why? Because we have all been given the measure of faith according to Romans 12:3, "For I say through the grace given to me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." So, what is this measure? It is the exact amount of faith we need to sustain us so that we don't worry about taking our next breath or if our heart will...