Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell
There's this:
"According to the venerable Strong's Concordance (#G4487), Rhema means an utterance (individually, collectively or specifically) on a particular matter or topic. Thayer's Greek Definitions defines the word as something that has been uttered, in either the past or the present, by a living entity.
The first time Rhema is used in the New Testament is during Jesus' forty-day temptation by Satan. Jesus, after being tempted to feed himself through a miracle after fasting for a long period, responds with the following.
But He (Jesus) answered and said, "It is written (logos), 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (Rhema) that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4, HBFV) "
https://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/...rms/rhema.html
From childhood I was taught more about the written word (logos) than the spoken word (rhema) of God. Matthew 4:4 is amazing. We live not by "bread alone" (the written word) but by EVERY WORD.
What does "every word" mean? IMHO it often (not always) means the written word plus the spoken word. Spoken by who? The Holy Spirit Himself.
Who is Jesus talking to in Matthew 4:4? The devil himself. This takes us back to the garden. The devil who deceived the woman is still at it. He's out to deceive the Son of God who came to take him down. The devil knows he's a goner, yet this doesn't deter him one bit.
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We were taught to rely on Logos (scripture, bread) more than (EVERY word) including Rhema. The workings of the devil were minimized...not by our teachers, flesh and blood, but by the devil himself...that was his plan...he's a liar.
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Nell |
I don't mean to have any negative effect, but I'm a little confused here. When Jesus says, "it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God", isn't Jesus talking about actual bread?
Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and nights and the devil tempts Him to turn stones into bread -- a huge temptation for a starving man in His youth. The devil wasn't telling Jesus to turn stones into some written words was he?
Jesus' response simply says that man shall not live only on physical bread (actual flour, water, yeast, plus heat = bread) but on what comes from God's mouth. It would be strange for Jesus to tell the devil of all "people" not to live off the Scriptures alone because the devil sure isn't living off Scriptures alone in the first place! Jesus is just saying that what God has said sustains Him more than actual bread does. It's not a commentary that Scripture is insufficient.
Jesus says, "it is written that man shall not live by bread alone." He doesn't say, "what is written IS bread, and man shall not live by it".
In the next exchange, Jesus again says, "it is written", but this time He says, "It is written, you shall not test the Lord your God". This doesn't mean that what is written is a test to God.
I think logos versus rhema is one of these things that, upon looking at how they are used, would show the "written versus spoken" thing might not be quite right.
Here is a link to a blog post about it:
https://reflectingtheologian.com/logos-and-rhema/
I'm not saying the guy's conclusions are right, or that we should automatically believe him. I'm just including that link because he already did the work of finding and arranging verses, using John and Ephesians as examples, and marking which ones use logos and which use rhema, and at least from what I see, it's difficult to conclude a significant difference between the two, as they both seem to be used in overlapping ways.
Trapped