HEBREW WORD STUDY – MANIFOLD – RABAB – רבב   Resh Beth Beth

Psalms 104:24: “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast, thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.”

I read something interesting in the Sichot Kodesh vol. 2 page 207-208 about this verse. “How manifold are your works O’Lord, you made them all.” “We have one God yet He created a very diverse world.”  When you look at the word for manifold in the Hebrew you find it is the word rebab which means to become many, numerous yet stemming for one original source.

When you stop to think about there are as many different views of God as there are people. We have many churches today who declare that they are the true church, yet even within that church, there are diverse opinions on the interpretation of certain Scripture passages and how one relates to God.

I read another quote which is very revealing “Only a being of true oneness can create space for such diversity. Because God transcends the confines of the world, He can encompass all of its variedness.” Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.   You see the word YHVH comes from three words Hayah which mean: was, Hoveh which means: is and Yiheyeh which means: will be.  This name invokes God’s transcendence and how he encompasses all of time.  In Psalm 104:24 The Psalmist uses this name to show that the diversity of the world and creation is not just possible but is actually compatible with God’s unity.

The word mah is translated by our Christian translators as: how, yet it could also mean: what. The English word what expresses a sense of wonder.  Mah or what is the foundation of this verse. This verse is expressing a wonder, a marvel that with such diversity in the world there is a unity.

Then it ends with: “The earth is full of your riches.”   Actually, the word for riches is qinyan which really means possessions.  God created it all and He owns it all.  It is sort of like the house you live in if you have a mortgage on it.  You think you own it, you call it your house, you decorate it the way you want, you make improvements that you want, but really it is the bank that holds the mortgage that really owns it. As you make each payment you acquire a small part of the ownership. Yet, with God, everything you have God owns it 100%.  At any time He can call in the note and take it all away as it was with Job.  The old saying: “You can’t take it with you” is very very true.

It is His possession of everything that creates this unity.  That is one thing we all have in common in this world and that is everything we have, even the shirts on our backs are owned by the same lending company of God, Inc. Yet, we all are different, different in appearance, different in our personalities and even different in our views of God and Scripture. This is how God can be a personal God because he created you uniquely.  He relates to you differently than he relates to everyone else.  He created billions of people because He is so infinite that He has billions of different ways to relate to His creation.  It takes an immense variety of people for Him to even begin to exercise the infinite ways He has of relating to people.

So what is the greatest commandment?  Is it “Thou shalt be a Baptist,” “Thou shalt interpret the Bible like the Pentecostals?  It is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, soul and might.”   You see by loving Him with all your heart He is able to exercise that unique way of loving you that He designed you to be loved by Him.

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