Bible Studies

Witnessing

by Harry Goldtmann
05/20/16
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“A faithful witness will not lie.  A true witness delivers souls.”  Proverbs 14:5,25

God is so confounding with surprise and wonder, that I never know what to expect, especially when it comes to talking with other people about their eternal destination.  In my mind, I make preparations, what people will say, or how they will react.  I contemplate and pray about how to respond, yet when the time comes to be a witness, I find myself still being Divinely trained. 

What does it mean to be a witness?  A witness gives testimony, the attestation of a fact of event, which furnishes evidence or proof.  It is in my experiences, faith and hope with a living God, that I share with others.  I speak what I know, have seen, felt, and experienced.  This does not mean I need to be astute in the scriptures to share my faith.  (Yes, the enemy has tried to make me feel inept with that one.)

 I want to study a little more about the origin of the word witness.  I adore learning words in the Hebrew language, because the language itself sometimes describes a word in way that gives a visual.  In Hebrew the word is  òÅã (eda) or òÅãäÅ (edah), meaning witness, evidence, and testimony.  In primitive pictorial Hebrew the first letter the ayin literally means to see and was drawn as an eye, and means seeing, insight, perception.  The second letter is the daleth (ãÆìÆú) and was drawn as a door.  The word means a door (of a tent), gate, portal or entrance.  The third letter spelling of the word witness, ends with the hei spelled two ways, äà, which means Lo! or Behold! The other is äé, meaning “here it is.” 

An interesting Hebrew study technique I learned was to rearrange the letters, which in pictorial Hebrew makes sense how the scrambled words would share a relationship.  This does not always work, but at times I find some interesting relationships. In the table I am providing the translation or definition of the modern and pictorial Hebrew word.  Words highlighted in red are used in the KJV version of the Bible.

Not expressly stated in the word witness, but there is an assumption that a witness speaks of truth, or their perception of truth.  What they saw, felt, and experienced.  The word witness also is used for a gathering of people.  When there is an accusation of sin, there should be two, three or more witnesses as addressed in Deut 19:15, but what about being a witness for Christ?  Should it be one, two, three or more witnesses?

From my personal experience, I believe John addresses this in 1 John 5: 6-8. 

“…And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”  “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”  “For there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one.”

Being a witness for Christ is not so much what you say, and actually, I still have not figured out my part.  The Spirit draws the sinner, the Spirit and the Word convict them, and God saves them.  I believe we are medics on a battlefield, administering the Gospel of Peace.  We are lifting up the knowledge of the mystery of the Gospel, we are sharing a knowledge about God, who lives inside of us.

Case in point, we do not know what goes on inside of someone.  It is between them and God. 

This is what being a witness is all about.  The saving of souls for eternity.  God allows us to experience His Love for others and me.  As a witness, I can only speak of what I see, my knowledge of God.  I lift up Him and warn others about the penalty of sin.  Beyond this is a matter between God and the individual.  What an amazing God we serve!

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven..”  Mt 6:20