The Hebrew word written above is dabar. It is an amazingly complex and powerful word. The three letters of the Hebrew aleph-beth used in the word are: daleth, beth, and reysh. If we were to interpret the combined pictographic meaning of these letters, it might be "the door of the tent/house of the Highest". The word "dabar" is used when referring to God's spoken Word. The New Testament equivalents in the Greek language are "logos" and "rhema", both words meaning the spoken word.
The partial translation of "dabar" in the Concordance is to: speak, declare, command, promise, teach, appoint, pronounce. The meaning can also include "to sing". We know from scripture that God does indeed sing. Not only is it recorded that the LORD sings over us, but many of His revelations to King David, and to the prophets, took the form of song.
The LORD is so committed to His dabar, that He sent it in the form of a Person, Jesus, who is the Word (logos/dabar) become flesh who dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14). It is through this Dabar Person of Christ that all things, including all life, were made (Jn. 1:1-4). The LORD keeps watch over (hastens) His dabar to perform it (Jer. 1:12). It accomplishes what He sets it to do:
"So shall My word (dabar) be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
Isa. 55:11
Jesus said the same in describing dabar:
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words (logos) will by no means pass away."
Mt. 24:35
Dabar's primary power is that of "setting in a row" and "bringing into order", as written:
" He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Col. 1:17 NRSV
"...has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..." Heb. 1:2-3 (also Isa. 40:26)
Another action associated with the meaning of dabar is "to lead, to guide, to lead flocks to pasture, to rule or direct a people". Jesus described how His spiritual sheep respond to His voice, His spoken commands, as the Good Shepherd. This is a power of dabar:
"But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.....Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep....I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." Jn. 10:2-4, 7, 9, 11
Not only is Jesus telling us that He is the performance of dabar, but He also associates Himself with the pictographic meaning of the letters of dabar in referring to Himself as "the door".
Dabar also refers to "the hinder part". This is also the part of God that Moses was allowed to see when Moses asked to see God's glory:
"So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen." Ex. 33:22-23
Before the LORD walked past Moses, He made a proclamation of His name over Moses (V. 19). He pronounced His name (see the above meaning of dabar) in order to shield Moses from an outbreak of the holiness of dabar.
Dabar is the word also used to refer to the innermost recess in the temple, which in the house of God is the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant containing the commandments of God are housed. The ark is covered with the mercy seat, which is the throne of God. Remember, the letters of dabar mean "the door of the house of the Highest".
Dabar also includes the action "to ask in marriage, to speak to a woman". Jesus, the living Dabar, is betrothed to us, the Bride of Christ. We are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7). This is a working of dabar. Jesus also made it a point to speak with women, to share revelation (also a work of dabar) and truth with them, which would have been considered unusual in its day, especially of a rabbi, but dabar includes the meaning of speaking in this kind of intimacy with women. God, the Father, in a similar way, is married by the dabar to Israel (Isa. 54:5-6).
The Concordance says that dabar is also used as we speak together, to one another. The reference given for this is Malachi 3:16:
"Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name."
The LORD responded to the dabar of this activity: He listened and heard, and then He had a book written. This is the power of dabar.
However, the meaning of dabar also includes a solemn aspect which is very serious and timely to consider. Dabar also means "to warn, to threaten, to subdue, to destroy, to lay snares, to plot against". The destruction of dabar comes in the form of death and pestilence. In fact the Hebrew word for pestilence, deber, comes from its root word "dabar". This is especially important for us to know as a pestilence is now covering the earth in the form of a virus. However, scripture tells us that His people were afflicted with a deadly disease because of their transgressions and iniquity, with their souls melting because of trouble. They were at their wits end. It is at this point that "He sent His word (dabar) and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." (Ps. 107:17-28). The same word, dabar, that became a pestilence to them because of their transgressions, was also sent to heal and deliver them in God's mercy, as they cried out to the LORD in their trouble.
The same holy dabar that breaks out in destruction against sin, came and dwelt among us full of grace and truth, not to condemn the world, but to save it (Jn. 3:17). The curse of dabar was hung on a cross and lifted up so we would have deliverance from that curse (Gal. 3:13-14). The dabar has two sides to it, existing together, seemingly opposite to one another, but not opposite at all.
To me, an example of the warning meaning of dabar can be found in this verse from the Psalms and the New Testament:
("Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.")
"while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?" (Ps. 95:6-11 excerpt) Heb. 3:15-17
How can dabar contain life, deliverance and salvation, and all manner of benefits, but also contain warning, threats and destruction at the same time? To me, dabar is like a beehive full of thousands of bees. The bees work tirelessly, producing benefits far outweighing their seeming small size. Not only are there numerous benefits for us now by the bees in the fertilization of fruits, vegetables and flowers as well as the production of delicious honey, but these bees are building many chambers in the hive for future generations, with the food and provision necessary for them. Some of that future generation of bees are designated to be royal in nature, and are fed with a royal jelly. However, if someone tries to prevent the work of a single bee, or seeks to destroy the hive and its purpose, they can receive a thousand stings. To some, those stings are fatal. Like the bees and their hive, the dabar has a beneficial , essential work to do - don't try to interfere with it, impede it, or destroy it.
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
Heb. 4:12-13
The work of dabar is to bring all things into order and subdued in Christ, our Good Shepherd, our "Door of the house of the Highest", who leads us to pasture by the sound of His voice. This is the sharp two-edged sword of dabar.
Before leaving dabar, let's see a last example of its power and glory:
"Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isa. 40:4-5
Our Father's dabar accomplishes what He sets it out to do.
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