Amen is a word that I have used ALL of my life. I am a child of the church; a child raised on faith. I prayed with my mom to ask Jesus into my heart when I was two. That’s what she tells me. Now much of this was modeling, and my faith was the faith of my mother for many years. Yet I still said Amen, and the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Merciful, Redeeming, Creator God of the universe still heard me say Amen.

I didn’t really have an understanding of what the word Amen really meant. I always thought that Amen meant “And everyone in agreement,” because how many time have you heard the phrase, “And everyone in agreement said… Amen.” Everyone says Amen together and then we continue in our worship. But what did we mean when we said Amen.

Well, the word Amen is a transliteration. We are used to translations in that we say a word that has a meaning in English and someone who speaks a different language will use a different word to speak the same meaning. A transliteration is a literal translation. The easiest one that I can think of is “Ok?” I have heard “Ok?” used in many languages to signify “Is that alright with you?” “Do you understand and agree?” In this same way, Amen is a transliteration into the English language. It is a verb and Bible Study Tools Commentary says that it means: to take care, to be faithful, reliable or established, or to believe someone or something.

Amen is used in the Old Testament over one hundred times to confirm the characteristics of covenants, curses, blessings, and statements made by people as well as by God.

Isaiah calls God “The God of Amen,” because he is trustworthy, and Jeremiah uses Amen to emphasize his mocking of a false prophet. In these ways, Amen is an exclamation mark.

In the New Testament the Apostle Paul uses Amen to close many of his letters. Paul uses Amen only in blessings and not in cursing. Paul also asks his readers to say an “Amen” to the promises of God. Paul also uses Amen to emphasize the points that he has made in his letters which is what I imagine as the first: “Can I get an Amen?”

Amen is different when Jesus says Amen though. All of the times that you see the phrase “truly I say to you” the translation is,  “amen lego humin” in Hebrew. Or transliteration and translation “Amen I say to you.”  In the Old Testament the prophets said “Thus Saith the Lord,” but Jesus says “Amen I say to you.” This “Amen” is part of Jesus claim to being God. The prophets said this is what the Lord says. Jesus said, “this is what I say.” Jesus capitalized on this in chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, but truly I say to you.” “Amen I say to you.”

So now you have a clearer picture of how deep the word Amen can go. It is much more than an affirmation. It is that and a statement of faithfulness, belief, emphasis, and a declaration of divinity.

You are not alone, if you are lonely. When you feel afraid, you’re not the only one. We are all the same; in need of mercy, to be forgiven and be free. It’s all you got to lean on but thank God, it’s all you need.

Amen is all you need. Amen faithful. Amen is belief, Amen is a strong statement. Amen is a Declaration of Divinity.

And all the people said, “Amen.” Woah. And all the people said, “Amen.” Give thanks to the Lord, for His love never ends. And all the people said, “Amen.”

It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor.  You know that Love is what we all crave no matter how week or strong we appear. We are all broken, but we are bound together in our quest for love and healing. God knows we stumble and fall, and He so loved the world He that He sent His Son to save us all.

And all the people said, “Amen.” Woah. And all the people said, “Amen.” Give thanks to the Lord, for His love never ends. And all the people said, “Amen.”

Blessed are the poor in spirit who are torn apart. Blessed are the persecuted and the pure in heart. Blessed are the people hungry for another start, for theirs is the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God!

Categories: Jennifer Chlumsky

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