Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

This is the first in a planned series (The Lord willing) exploring how God has masterfully hidden profound spiritual truths—“hidden gems”—within Scripture. These gems are meant for believers to diligently search out, celebrate together, edify one another, and strengthen the faith of the saints. This study on the Hebrew word דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697 is drawn from a broader examination of Hidden Treasures in the Bible and to try to explain God’s purpose in concealing them.

Proverbs 25:2 (KJV) declares this extraordinary verse: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” Examining the original Hebrew (via interlinear tools like Blue Letter Bible) reveals a deeper layer. The word translated “thing” is דָּבָר (dāḇār) H1697—a masculine noun often rendered “word” (over 800 times in the Old Testament). The word translated “matter” is the same original Hebrew word, דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697. 

Thus, the verse can also read as: “It is the glory of God to conceal a word: but the honour of kings is to search out a word.” This suggests God is glorified by concealing “The Word” (Jesus Christ, see John 1:1–14) throughout Scripture, while believers—who are honored by God, spiritually, as “kings”—by being made able to search out Jesus when reading the Bible. Remembering also that 1 John 1:1 tells us that Jesus is  “the Word of life;” And to make the connection between Jesus (the Son of God) and the Word as unmistakable as possible, we read in 1 John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.”

Believers Are Made “Kings” and “Priests“

Understanding Proverbs 25:2 requires recognizing believers’ exalted status. Revelation 1:5&6 states: “…Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father…”. This is reiterated in Revelation 5:10, where we see from the preceding verses that Jesus, as the Lamb of God, has redeemed the believers by His shed blood, “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Believers are become a “holy and royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5 & 9), called to spiritual reign now and in the New Earth “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

This is reinforced in Job 36:7 where we read, “He (God)withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings [are they] on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.” Ephesians 2:4-6 “¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.“ In Luke 22:29&30 we read that Jesus (The “King of kings, and Lord of lords“! see: 1 Timothy 6:15 &Revelation 19:16) said to His disciples, “And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.“

Jeremiah 33:3 promises, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” The Hebrew for “mighty things” (בָּצַר (bāṣar)^H1219) can also be translated as “hidden” or “concealed.” Similarly,  in Isaiah 48:6, “Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare [it]? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things (נָצַר (nāṣar))^H5341, and thou didst not know them.” The original Hebrew word that is translated here as “hidden things” could also be translated as “guarded”, “protected”, “preserved”, “kept close”, or “kept secret”, which indeed is a synonym for “hidden things” or “concealed things”.

“Dāḇār” in Other Key Verses

The word appears in significant passages pointing to Christ:

• Proverbs 16:20: “He that handleth a matter (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697 wisely shall find good…” → Hebrew: “He who wisely understands/heeds the word shall find good.”
• Psalm 56:10: “In God will I praise his word (דָּבָ֑ר (dāḇār))^H1697: in the Lord will I praise his word (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697.”
• Psalm 33:6: “By the word (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697 of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” 
• Psalm 145:5, “I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works ” → Hebrew: “…and of thy wonderouswords (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697 (repeated).”

Jesus Spoke in Parables for a Reason

Jesus taught exclusively in parables! In Matthew 13:34&35, we read that: ”All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” This was a reference to the prophetic statements in Psalm 78:2 and Psalm 49:3&4. (NOTE: The a Greek word κρύπτω (kryptō) ^G2928, which means “to conceal” or “to hide”).

The Meaning of “Conceal”

In Proverbs 25:2, “conceal” is סָתַר (sāṯar) ^H5641 (also “hide”, as in Psalm 64:2; or “secret” as in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret (סָתַר (sāṯar)) ^H5641 [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words (דָּבָ֑ר (dāḇār))^H1697 of this law.“) 

Job 28:20&21, “Whence then cometh wisdom? and where [is] the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid (עָלַם (ʿālam)) ^H5956from the eyes of all living, and kept close (סָתַר (sāṯar)) ^H5641 from the fowls of the air.”

Isaiah 45:15 profoundly states, “Verily thou [art] a God that hidest (סָתַר (sāṯar))^H5641 thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.”

Daniel 2:28-30 uses the Hebrew version of the Aramaic word רָז (rāz)^H7328 means “to conceal” or “make secret” that which can only be revealed by God alone—and not derived by human wisdom “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets (רָז (rāz))^H7328…he that revealeth secrets (רָז (rāz))^H7328 …But as for me, this secret (רָז (rāz))^H7328 is not revealed to me for [any] wisdom that I have more than any living,..” When king Nebuchadnezzar heard the secret revealed to him by Daniel in Daniel 2:47, we read, “The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth [it is], that your God [is] a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets (רָז (rāz))^H7328, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret(רָז (rāz))^H7328.”

Daniel 2:30 makes clear Who really is the Author and Reveler of secrets.  It was NOT Daniel, but rather the source was and is Almighty God!   Anyone to whom God has graciously granted the privilege of spiritual understanding will readily attest to what Daniel declared. It is entirely due to God Alone! Moreover, It is also a gift to the believer’s as an “honor” to search out God’s Word to find the Hidden Treasures that God has so miraculously concealed within His Word, the Bible.

This is a fundamentally key point! For anyone to really understand a “secret” thing of God, God Has To Be The One to “reveal” it to him or her by His Holy Spirit, and it is never because of any intellectual prowess of that person. Moreover, a person will not “hear” that secret unless that person is a true believer. A person must be “Quickened” or “Born Again” by God’s Holy Spirit to have “the ears to hear and the eyes to see“!

And PLEASE, dear reader, note the harmony with what we read in 2 Peter 1:20, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.” It is God, working through the power of His Holy Spirit, Who Alone provides true interpretations of the Spiritually inspired scriptures. True interpretations of the Bible can NEVER be derived from man’s intellect. Anyone who thinks that the latter is even possible simply does NOT know God.

Jesus Commanded “Search the Scriptures”

Few people are aware of Jesus’ specific instruction to “Search the scriptures“, but that is exactly what Jesus instructed the Jews of His day as we read in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  The Jews thought that by simply having the words of “Moses, the law, and all the prophets” that they also had the promise of eternal life. Their legalism and literalism blinded them to the Truth, and is a caution from God for all readers. Jesus was making clear that “the scriptures” (which at that time consisted ONLY of the Old Testament) were all about Him! The reality is that only in knowing and loving the Lord Jesus Christ (as God and Savior), as He is manifested in all the holy scriptures, can there any hope of eternal life!

We therefore have been given a clear mandate by Jesus to search the scriptures, focusing first upon the Old Testament, to see how gloriously and amazingly God has embedded, and interwoven, the Lord Jesus Christ within so many of its passages. The New Testament of the Bible reveals to us how this is indeed the case, perhaps no more clearly than in Jesus’ own exposition to his two disciples after His Resurrection on Easter Sunday along the Road to Emmaus.

Conclusion: Glorify God and Be Honored by Searching Out His Word, The Lord Jesus Christ

As the prophet Daniel affirmed (Daniel 2:30), no human intellect uncovers that which God has gloriously hidden—only God reveals them by His Spirit to the born-again believer (having been quickened and thereby given spiritual ears to hear and the spiritual eyes to see). Only if a person is a true child of God can he or she be granted the spiritual discernment to understand that the entire Bible is all about God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan involving the Person and Atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is hoped that the reader will, by the Grace of God, The Father, be drawn to know and love Jesus (John 6:44) and be honored to search out The Word. 

We are also reminded of what we are told in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” This will be true for all believers in Heaven! Halleluja!

May this post, and all of the Bible studies found here, be a blessing to the reader and edify and strengthen the faith of the Saints.

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This entry was posted on December 7, 2023 at 4:19 am and is filed under Bible Studies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.