Hebrew Word Study – Marvel – ‘Athadamar – Ayin Taw Daleth Mem Resh 

Isaiah 56:7: “For my house will be called a house of prayer for all the people.”

Luke 2:37: “And she (Anna) never left the temple, serving God night and day with fastings and prayers.”

As Christians there are two things we long to do, we want to please God and we want to serve God. This creates a very important question. How do we please God and how do we serve God?

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is at the very root of pleasing God. In Luke 7:9 we find that Jesus marveled at the faith of the Centurion. When we see the word marvel we think of awe or amazement. Indeed this word in the Greek ethaumasin does carry that idea, but drill down a little further and you find the Aramaic word is ‘athadamar which is in an Ithpael form from the root word damar. As an Ithapel this would suggest that Jesus himself felt a sense of joy and a wonderful feeling over the faith of this Centurian. It is like you would marvel at the Grand Canyon, the root of that marveling is a feeling of joy at something beautiful.  It wasn’t that Jesus was shocked or taken by surprise at the faith of the Centurion, it was that His heart was warmed and made joyful at his faith. The marvelous feelings we get when we see God’s beauty in nature is the same marvelous feeling God gets when he sees that simple childlike faith in us. 

So, we can please God with our faith, but what about serving Him? How do we serve him? Is being a missionary serving him, full-time Christian work, or going to church, paying tithes? I suppose so, but don’t tell me what you think serving God is, tell me what the Bible says serving God is. In Luke 2:37 we learn that Anna served God in the temple with fastings and prayer.  

Fasting is going without food, right? Wrong! Going without food is an expression of fasting. The word in Aramaic for fasting is tsama’ the Hebrew word is tsom.  Both words mean fasting. In its Semitic root tsom and its Aramaic cognate tsama’ means to submit or surrender in order for a change to take place. In this context, it is to the Divine Will in order to bring about a transformation or change in one’s lilfe through the revelation of His hidden knowledge. That is the essence of fasting. Going without food is the most common expression of this. But there are other ways to fast. I have heard some speak of a fasted lifestyle. I am not too sure of what this means but I am led to understand that it involves denying yourself the things of this world, the things of the flesh to submit to the Divine Will. Basically, I believe this is really a very good definition of tsama’.  Anna as a widow lived a “fasted lifestyle.” She lived in the temple denying herself of the things of the flesh to pursue the Divine Will of God. This is called a service to God.

Then she prayed. The word in the Aramaic for prayer is tsalutha, from the root word tsalam.  These are prayers of petition and/or intercessory prayers. I read in Jewish literature that intercessory prayer is dear to the heart of God for they are not selfish prayers but prayers birthed in a concern and love for someone other than oneself. Anna lived in the temple living a life of fleshly denial and praying in intercession day and night. That is called a service to God. It was not being a prophetess that was called her service, it was her fasting and prayer.   

What then is the house of prayer? The word house is beth which means not only a physical place of dwelling but a spiritual place of dwelling. It could be a tent, a palace, a tabernacle, or a house. It could also be the spirit, the heart, or the mind. The Jewish synagogue is not really a place of worship as we consider our churches. To the Jews, the synagogue is a “House of Prayer.”  It is a place where you seek the heart of God.  

But soft, if faith pleases God, and it takes faith to enter the heart of God, it would follow that when we enter the heart of God our faith has made His heart joyful and thus we enter His joy. We are commanded by God to serve Him with joy. Psalms 100:2: “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.”  

Yet it is that joy that comes from our faith, so really it is our faith that is ultimately responsible for the joy of the Lord that we feel. When the Centurion expressed his faith it created a joy in the heart of Jesus such that the healing power came out of Jesus, but Jesus made it clear that it was the Centurion’s faith that activated this power. The combination of faith – pleasing God and prayer – proclaiming the heart of God created a “house of prayer” that brought about the healing of the Centurion’s servant.

Hi there! Thank you for reading this Daily Word Study. Can I ask a favor? Share this Daily Word Study with your friends on Facebook and Twitter by clicking one of the icons below.

Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!