Faith. In the Bible faith is never defined, only described. What about Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”? “See, there faith is defined.” Even that is a description. Faith cannot be defined because the object of faith, God, is so infinitely vast that it takes a parade of pictures from the darkness on the face of the deep to the new Jerusalem descending from heaven in order to piece together a mosaic of what faith is like. Trying to define faith is like trying to stuff infinity into a shoebox.
This week the Spirit drew my attention to a beautiful tile in this mosaic I’d not seen before. So amazing!! He unveiled a lively hope to turn to Jesus at God’s right hand in a fresh way, comforting me for impossible situations I’m facing. Let’s dive right in.
In Isaiah chapter 7 the people of Judah, led by awful Ahaz, the king who’d nailed shut the doors of the temple, are being besieged in Jerusalem. Two formidable foes, the northern kingdom of Samaria and Syria, had slaughtered 120,000 of Judah’s brave warriors (2Chr 28:6). Now they’ve surrounded Judah’s capital city, Jerusalem, threatening to breach its walls and install a puppet king over them. Yahweh sent Isaiah the prophet to recenter Judah’s eyes on Himself in this crisis, a crisis of their own making for forsaking Him. So Isaiah proclaims a message of fresh hope, gift wrapped as a warning:
“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
Isaiah 7:9b ESV
Now, we’ll pick apart the Hebrew a bit to reveal this awesome word picture of faith! The word “firm” in both instances is ‘āman (אָמַן, pronounced aw-man’). In its simplest form, this verb means to turn to the right hand. Isaiah employs another instance of ‘āman to help us visualize it:
“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right [‘āman] or when you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21 ESV).
Usually in the Hebrew language the verb is the Lego block from which nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are all built. Apparently not in this case, according to Strong’s. In this instance ‘āman is derived from the noun yāmîn (יָמִין, yaw-meen’), which means the right hand (though sometimes indicates the right side of a person). The right hand was thought to be the stronger, more dexterous one, and therefore more prominent than the left hand.
As I’m learning, Hebrew is a very dynamic language, its verbs vibrating and pulsating and gyrating in the text. Its imagery is perpetually in motion, more like a YouTube video than a still life painting. And ‘āman is just like this. So faith in this verse is not an abstract concept. It concretely depicts one turned away rotating toward, turning to, the right hand. Let’s go back now to Isaiah’s original proclamation and get a better sense for it in its original Hebrew mindset.
“If you are not firm in faith [‘āman], you will not be firm [‘āman] at all.” Another way of thinking of the “firm in faith,” ‘āman, is “turning to the right hand.” Though it’s framed negatively, positively it’s saying, “Be turning to the right hand.” Now here’s where faith gets exciting! What, or who rather, is God’s right hand? It’s Jesus! He is both at the right hand of God and is the right hand of God. Biblical references abound to Jesus being at the right hand of God, so just a couple here should suffice to demonstrate this.
“After making purification for sins, he [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3). This first chapter of Hebrews takes pains to identify this Son at the right hand as God (see 1:8).
“Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom 8:34).
In the context of Isaiah 7, King Ahaz and company will soon be introduced to Immanuel, God with us, this Son to be born of a virgin. Unto us a Son is given. It is this Son, who having passed through Bethlehem to the cross to the grave, who is now exalted at the right hand of God. Jesus is presented freely as the right hand to whom we are to turn towards.
Now for the second half of faith. What promise, what good news, did Isaiah hold out to the discouraged, fearful people of Judah if they’d ‘āman, turn to God’s right hand? “If you are not firm in faith—if you do not turn to the right hand, you will not be firm [‘āman] at all.” The first ‘āman is Hiphal, active, what the people needed to do. This repetition of ‘āman is in the Niphal, which is passive, something done to, or achieved for, the people. This passive āman now presents what Yahweh would do for them. This is the Lord exercising His right hand to do, to work, to manifest His power.
Other English Bible translations give these senses for the passive āman: stand, stand firm, be firm, endure, last, continue, remain secure, remain loyal, and be established. All of these nuances are valid when the Lord exercises His right hand. Judah, now standing, was threatened with the real possibility of being cut down and destroyed. In other words, not standing. If the people will turn to His right hand, He will respond by stretching out His right hand to cause them to stand. He would deal with this two army threat by His power.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” (Psalm 118:14-16 ESV)
Our Lord Jesus is the right hand who does valiantly! In whatever problem we’re facing or seemingly impossible situation we’re facing, the prophet’s words still ring true today. Turn to Jesus, exalted King and High Priest forever, at God’s right hand. In your turning to Him—faith—He will turn to you in deliverance and salvation. In His time, of course, not ours. But He faithful to watch over His word to perform it (Jer 1:12).
This fresh insight on faith has opened up for me a whole new category for right hand of God. Every verse of Scripture that presents Jesus at God’s right hand is a presentation of Jesus as the object of faith for me to turn towards. And not only to turn towards Him, but to expect Him to turn towards me and do valiantly! As a parent over long years of instructing my three children in the words or ways of the Lord, it gets discouraging when, in their teen years, they are still not walking with God. As will happen in the teenage years, sin rears its ugly head and disturbs the peace within the home. It often feels like the enemy has the upper hand and will promote his puppet king over the rest of their lives (or at least many years of it). But the heavenly Father invites me—all of His children—to turn to His right hand. That’s a motion picture of faith, of belief, of trust. The Lord sees our turning to Him, that we might see His turning toward us. What a gorgeous sunset the Lord revealed through Isaiah in the midst of such a tempestuous thunderstorm! What a beautiful tile in the Bible’s mosaic of faith to contemplate and lay hold of.
Glory Unveiled: Discovering Jesus 