I have been reading in Wuest's exegetical materials of the Greek New Testament and finding many gems and items worth knowing. Here is one that I have seen some folks ask about, why hasn't God answered my prayers yet? Obviously our time table is not His. Perhaps this might help us come to a new understanding.
The Title Deed to Answered Prayer
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 11:1). The Greek word translated “substance” had a technical meaning in the business world of the first century. It referred to one’s property or effects. It was used in such expressions as “Out of this estate I declare that
my husband owes me,” or, “more land than I actually possess,” the italicized words being the translation of the word. It was also used to refer to “the whole body of documents bearing on the ownership of a person’s property, deposited in the archives, and forming the evidence of ownership.”
Moulton and Milligan in their Vocabulary of the Greek Testament say of these uses, “These varied uses are at first sight somewhat perplexing, but in all the cases there is the same central idea of something that underlies visible conditions and guarantees a future possession.” Thus they translate “Faith is the title deed of things hoped for.”
To substantiate this usage, there is in “Living Yesterdays,” a delightful brochure by H. R. Minn, the story of a woman named Dionysia. She is described as “a woman of set jaw and grim determination.” It seems that she had lost a case in a local court over a piece of land to which she laid claim. Not satisfied with the decision of a lower court, she determined to take her case to a higher court in Alexandria. She sent her slave to that city, with the legal documents safely encased in a stone box. On the way, the slave lost his life in a fire which destroyed the inn where he had put up for the night. For 2,000 years the sands of the desert covered the ruins of the inn, the charred bones of the slave, and the stone box. Archeologists have recently uncovered these remains. In the box they found the legal documents. They read the note which this woman had sent to the judge in Alexandria, “In order that my lord the judge may know that my appeal is just, I attach my hupostasis (ὑποστασις).” That which was attached to this note, she designated by the Greek word translated “substance” in Heb. 11:1. The attached document was translated and found to be the title deed to the piece of land which she claimed as her own possession, the evidence of her ownership.
What a flood of light is thrown upon this teaching regarding faith. The act of exercising true faith as one prays, or as one leans on the resources of God, is itself the title deed or evidence of the sure answer to our prayer or the unfailing source of the divine supply. It is God’s guarantee in advance that we already possess the things asked for. They may still be in His hands, awaiting the proper time for their delivery, but they are ours. If the answers to our prayers are not forthcoming at once, let us rest content with the title deed which God has given us, namely, a Holy Spirit energized act of faith. We may be absolutely certain that our God will honor this title deed at the right moment.
Thanks for continuing to blow me away with your insight.
Posted by: Anthony | June 12, 2009 at 01:16 PM
In order to have strong faith there must be a perfect clarity in the understanding of the thing which is hoped for and a perception of how that thing will be divinely brought towards you until you receive it.
Each man is limited to what he believes, perceives and imagines possible. This means that not all men have the capacity to inherit the blessing of God because they can't perceive it and so don't believe it's possible.
Posted by: Matt | October 19, 2009 at 07:49 AM
Paul used a lot of legal terms in his rhetoric, such as the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. This was a Greek concept relating to interpreting the law regarding wills and such.
Posted by: volgadon | October 20, 2009 at 09:45 AM