Take a particular piece of art, for example. One year it is basically unimportant and its value is very minimal. The next year it is worth a billion dollars. What happened? Estelle Getty, who was a stage actress for over 30 years and thus, reasonably unknown, commanded a greater salary and notoriety because of her work on the GOLDEN GIRLS. What is the difference? The art was the same. Ms. Getty’s work was still the same. The only thing that changed was the validation of the work. Someone said the art was magnificent and someone noticed Ms. Getty and her new medium (television) and that made the difference.
This is the sense of the word “rhema”: The basic sense here is that “rhema” is when God validates His already presented and authenticated Word, whether through prophecy, prediction, preaching, personal witness, or powers (miracles, healings). This validated word becomes real and live in the heart of the listener. This term is used over 50 times in the New Testament , so its value is important.
Some Definitions Are Warranted:
First: “That which is said, word, saying, expression”, as in Luke 2: 17, 50, where “rhematos” is a “saying”; in Acts 28: 25, where Paul validates the word of the Old Testament from Isaiah 6: 9-10; and in Hebrews 12:19, where the word logos is used, but it does not become a rhema because the word is not accepted as truth in that instance. Notice that a “rhema” can be a prophecy, prediction, (Matthew 26: 75), or a command of Jesus (Luke 5: 5), where it was not the fishing spot that was changed, but it was the heart of the disciples that had changed. They had a desperation and willingness to follow Jesus at His word.
The other term is similar, but it goes a little further, as in the case of Hebrew Parallelism:
Second: “That which is after the Hebraism – or Hebrewism – thing, object, matter, event, situation”. We see this in Luke 2: 15, where the shepherds had the prophecy of the child made real to them by divine visitation. This terms brings to life the word already spoken, presented. The angel had verified the prophecy concerning Christ. Because Old Testament imagery was vivid, and because God spoke through words, events, situations, etc., “rhema” means more than the actual words uttered; Its meaning goes to the substance of the word, its validation, fulfillment, source, subject, and shows God’s faithfulness to the Word, and His desire that this rhema be active in each of us.
We Notice Its Development:
First, the initial word or concept is presented in the Old Testament and then it is verified in the New Testament, as when Paul’s words in Acts 28: 25 reveal Isaiah 6: 9-10, and the word becomes updated; 2 Corinthians 13: 1 and Matthew 18: 16 confirm Deuteronomy 19:15, and the word becomes USEFUL in church and legal matters; Luke 1:37 shows Genesis 18:14 as the HOPEFUL word, in that God reveals miracles when He brings the word to life. These verses unite the Old and New and show eternal truths of God. Nothing in the New Testament is new in material; it is new in revelation in that it shows the fullness of the original seed of the word. This is similar to miracles being updated creations of God to this generation.
Second, the concept, then, needs to be believed or internalized, personalized by the individual persons to whom it is revealed. Romans 10: 16 begins by saying that not all heed the message given (again, if the “logos” or declaration of the word is not accepted, it cannot become a rhema). For the report (“ekron”) must be believed and this comes by the delivering of the message (need messengers – verses 14-15), and then to hear it. “Faith comes by the report, and the report comes by the rhema of God”. This is the reason why many hear the spoken word but it doesn’t help them. There are two factors: a) either God is not specifically ministering that word to them that day, or b) they are not receptive to the word previously spoken. This word in Romans goes back to Isaiah 53: 1, so the message of the gospel is not “new” news, but good news of a message uttered for thousands of years by a loving God. And as Billy Graham said regarding this good news, “The gospel is good news, not merely good advice.”
We must keep in mind that as a physician gives a prescription to someone and they could share that medicine with someone else, but the words of the prescription will not help because they are not: 1) specifically meant for that person; 2) they need to go to the Great Physician and get their own word from God. The belief we are speaking about is not given on the basics of our feelings, but on God’s faithfulness and truth of His Word to us. The people in New Testament times understood more clearly that Isaiah was speaking about the report of the gospel message, so the book of Romans says that this Isaiah text is made real to them and thus, a rhema is present. For this reason we cannot just simply utter a word of Scripture and think that it will make miracles and move God. The only thing that moves God is true faith (Hebrews 11:6) and when that logos is made alive to us. Until then we continue to study, meditate, and allow that Word to become part of us; 3) The Word must be about Christ, not as much about us. The reason our prayers and lives are not powerful is because we build our Christian lives around our needs, thinking, desires, instead of Christ. Romans 10: 17 says the rhema comes from the report or preaching of Christ. In the Greek the word more closely says, “….by the word (rhema) of Christ …”. This term is an objective genitive and it speaks of possession. In other words, a better translation would be: “By the word about my Christ”. The Word becomes alive when it is centered around the Logos Himself (John 1: 1-3).
What Do We Do?
We witness these rhemas come alive in our lives – Acts 5: 29-32; 10:37. When Jesus walked with His disciples He often told them, “you will remember these things after I go”. Sure enough, after the resurrection they recalled His already spoken words and these words became rhemas to these trembling servants. They always witnessed about who Jesus was and what He had said. People need to see that God’s word is for today and that these words are living in us.
We allow the Holy Spirit to make these things real to us. Ephesians 6: 17 speaks about the two-edged sword, which is the “rhema” of God. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us remember the previously presented word which we heard or studied. The Spirit takes this Word and makes it real to us exactly when we need it (especially during warfare, which is the sense of the verses on the armor of God).
We realize that if a particular portion of Scripture does not seem to dance in our soul, we need to meditate on it (Psalm 1), and then it will be a medicine to us at the specific time God intends it to be.