Joseph Prince sermon How To Meditate On God’s Word: Your Old Testament is written in Hebrew, Your New Testament Is written in Greek, but there is a Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. So sometimes it’s good for us to look at what the Greek says.
Because in that way, you will know what Greek word corresponds to the same Hebrew word here. And therefore, it is the same truth. Amen.
So here, the word “gives light” in the Septuagint, in the Greek, is actually “photizo”, the very same word.
Ephesians 1:18 says, “The eyes of your heart, your understanding being” “‘photizo’ or being enlightened.” Here, it is the same word.
“The entrance of your word gives light. “It gives understanding to the simple.”
That tells us that this Spirit of wisdom and revelation operates with the Word of God. It is not apart from the Word of God. It is with the Word of God.
Do you remember Joshua, in Joshua 1:8? God says: “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth,” “but thou shall meditate therein day and night,” “that you may observe to do, according to all that is written in it.” “For then you will make your way prosperous” “and then you will have good success.”
Notice that when God said this to Joshua, obviously he was reading the Book of the Law and what they had back then, the Bible they had back then is the Torah, the first 5 books of Moses which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
That’s what Joshua was meditating on and reading, when the Lord says, “This Book.” Notice the word “this.” “zeh. In the Hebrew, “zeh” or “this,” He was reading it! Obviously, for God to say: “This Book of the Law that you are reading.”
“This Book specifically, This Book of the Law” “shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate therein” It is not enough just to read. God says: “You must meditate therein day and night.”
But remember this, The Bible says that at this point, Moses has just died and before Moses died, Moses laid his hands on Joshua and Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom and that was the closing chapters of Deuteronomy.
When that was mentioned, the very next book is this Chapter 1 of Joshua and here’s where we are.
It’s not enough just to have the spirit of wisdom, We need to open up the Book, God operates with these 2 means of bringing wisdom into our lives, bringing hazon vision into our lives.
“For then you will make your way prosperous, and then” “you will have good success.” Psalms 119, it says: “The entrance of Your words,” The word “entrance” in the Hebrew is “pethach.” “Pethach” actually means to open the door.
Today, they will say: “‘pethach’ or open the door.” So in the other versions like ESV” it says: “The unfolding of Your words gives light.” In the Youngs translation, it says: “The opening of Your words” which is more accurate.
So every time you hear the Word of God, as I open the Word of God, I’m doing that right now, you won’t be carnally minded. But be spiritually minded. Every time your mind is set on the Word of God, you’re meditating on God’s Word. You are actually setting Your mind on the Spirit. “And to be spiritually minded is life and peace, shalom.” Wellbeing, health, wholeness is all in that word “shalom.”
So we see that even though Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, he did not neglect the Bible, He did not neglect the Word of God and it was opened when God spoke.
Pastor Joseph prince wants us to understand that from reading the word of God we can gain wisdom, and that God is the only source of wisdom, it does not matter how much you think you know God or how blessed you maybe, reading Gods word is a must every day.
