Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: Revelation 19:11

Lesser known characters :: Ethan

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On August 26, 2011

In Character-(istics), Christian, Lesser known characters

If I was to ask you, do you know, who penned the famous words, that we sometimes sing, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing, I will sing; I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. With my mouth will I make thy faithfulness, thy faithfulness to all generations”, it is less than likely that one would realize that it was written by Ethan the Ezrahite and secondly that it is the first verse of Psalm 89. Psalm 89 was authored by Ethan, It starts with Ethan expressing that he would sing of God’s mercy forever and make known the faithfulness of God to all generations with his mouth. He ends his Psalm, by saying “Blessed be the Lord forever, Amen and Amen”.

Who is this Ethan? Ethan was the son of Mahol, who was known for his wisdom. His wisdom was only surpassed by king Solomon (1 Kings 4:30-31). In fact, the very first name that is mentioned in relation to comparing the wisdom of Solomon is Ethan the Ezrahite (1 Kings 4:31). From the scripture, we can be assured that Ethan was wise. How can we be so sure. Proverbs 11:30 states that a soul winner is wise and in order to win souls, one must understand that they must sing of God’s mercy and tell of God’s faithfulness, which is exactly what Ethan writes in the beginning of his Psalm (Psalm 89:1).

What can we learn from Ethan?
To be wise as he was we must be soul winners, which means, we must be singing of God’s mercies forever and telling of his faithfulness which was to redeem us from the penalty and power of sin and death, by sending us His Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the FAITHFUL and TRUE (Revelation 19:11) one. Everyone who believes in Jesus will not perish but will be saved i.e., their souls will be won for God’s kingdom from the grips of the devil.Let us be more like Ethan the Ezrahite. Blessed be the LORD forever, Amen and Amen.

1 Kings 4:30-31 (KJV)
30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

Psalm 89:1, 52 (KJV)
1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
52 Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

Proverbs 11:30 (KJV)
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

The Name is Faithful

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On July 13, 2009

In Christian, The Name

Apokalypsis Iesou Christou (The Revelation of Jesus Christ) records one of the names of the rider on the white horse, referring to Jesus, as Faithful (Revelation 19:11).  Come to think of this statement, it is not only a testament to the character of Jesus that He is indeed faithful, but that He is personified as Faithful, epitomizing faithfulness. Great is indeed His faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23). Merriam-Webster’s states that the word ‘faithful’, implies an unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted.

The Sunday before I left for the USA in 1998, the pastor at the Anna Nagar Methodist Church youth meeting was sharing on a passage that has been etched in my mind since . It was the passage from 2 Timothy 2:11-13, which reads as follows – “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” The phrase that caught my attention then was the last part of this trustworthy saying –  He will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself, even if we are faithless. I must admit that I had solely understood this saying to mean that God (Jesus) will remain faithful even if we are unfaithful. Only while preparing for this article did it dawn on me that there is a clear cut distinction between being ‘faithless’ and being ‘unfaithful’. To be faithless is to not believe. To be unfaithful is believing but not living as if we do. Let me try and explain. To be faithless is to reject the one who wants to marry you, not believing that he/she is the one. To be unfaithful is to be married to one and living promiscuously as if you are not married at all. Furthermore, it dawned on me that God will remain faithful in judging those who do not believe in Him (faithless), just as much as He will remain faithful in saving those who are ‘faithful’ and exacting justice on those ‘unfaithful’.

Member of the OWASP Board of Directors and my good  friend, Tom Brennan, an ex-Marine completes his emails by using the motto of the United States Marine Corp,  Semper Fi, the shortened form of Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for ‘Always Faithful‘. As much as I have my highest respect to all those in service and a special place for the few, the proud, the Marines, I realize that the only ONE that is truly Semper Fi is none other than Jesus, the rider on the white horse whose name is Faithful. Jesus has an unswerving adherence to (love for) you and me and to the oath or promise of restoring us to God by which a new covenant (tie) was contracted because of His faithfulness to endure the suffering of the Cross, the rejection of men, death and because of His resurrection. He is truly Semper Fi, He cannot disown (deny) Himself. The Name is Faithful.

Revelation 19:11 (KJV)
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

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