During an anthropology research trip undertaken in 2015 I had a divine revelation experience that I will never forget … ever!
I remember that our research trip took us into the most remote areas of the Northern Cape Richtersveld desert, looking for Nama communities who still practiced the rite-of-passage custom of initiation.
… and Father, speaking to me ever so clearly, shared His inner-being.
It was His 'ahăḇâ-revelation.
('ahăḇâ pronounced ahabah)Spoken from the heart of Abba Abba, what I received just completely blew me away!
It started with liberation
Years ago, when Abba relished me over with His goodness and grace and love He showed me who He was as Abba (Father), a word derived from the Hebrew word ab or אב. The word is formed by the first two letters in the Hebrew aleph-beth and is pronounced av in English - Father.
But in Hebrew Ab (where we get Abba from) is the very intimate and personal address form for your daddy. Children would playfully call on their father shouting ab ab! When the word is doubled like this, it forms a superlative. It also later became the customary title used for God in prayer (in the New Testament once Jesus had revealed the Father).
So, the Hebrew word is ab, but where exactly does abba come from?
Where does Abba come from?
Even though it is not a Greek word, Abba occurs in the New Testament only three times. And appropriately so, it was used the very first time around by Yah’shua, the Son of God.
Ab is the base Hebrew word for father, but to understand the use of Abba, we need to know a bit of background, and for that we go to the Strongs concordance.
I quote: STRONGS G5: Ἀββᾶ [WH -βά], Hebrew אָב father, in the Chaldean emphatic state, אַבָּא i. e. ὁ πατήρ, a customary title of God in prayer. Whenever it occurs in the N. T. (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6) it has the Greek interpretation subjoined to it; this is apparently to be explained by the fact that the Chaldee אַבָּא, through frequent use in prayer, gradually acquired the nature of a most sacred proper name, to which the Greek-speaking Jews added the appellative from their own tongue.
You can only call someone your father if you know who your father is
Abba is a progression from the Hebrew term (ab or אָב) for father into an affectionate love form of address (Abba or אַבָּא) that could only have happened in the New Testament and only after Jesus had revealed the true nature of God as a loving Father.
Let me digress for second
I am from a traditional orthodox Dutch Reformed upbringing where no one spoke about God in terms of a personal relationship. It was unthinkable to proclaim something as ludicrous as God loving someone if that someone did not live a fully holy life out of himself.
And all this love as a Father?
A couple of years earlier Charelene, the kids and I had made a clean break from that part of the religious world making our journey to hear from the Spirit of Truth Himself, instead.
So at the time, the abba revelation by itself was already overwhelming to me.
So, let me get to 'ahăḇâ
On the occasion of Abba speaking to me during my research trip, He showed me how inseparable His fathership is from love itself.
I was taken to the Hebrew word 'ahăḇâ as found in Jeremiah 31:3. 'ahăḇâ is the proper Hebrew word for love and there existed in no uncertain terms a delightful interconnection and relation, if you would, between ab and 'ahăḇâ.
'ahăḇâ translated into English is short for all-embracing, comprehensive love. It is much more than what can ever exist between a man and a woman. It is a deeper intimacy, a caring love, a deep-down personal love - It is His Godly Love towards man, towards me and you.
Abba in Hebrew is אב. It is Father.
But if you add in more grace (the symbol ה) after each letter of father (אב), you end up with love - 'ahăḇâ (אַהֲבָה).
And 'ahăḇâ, אַהֲבָה is extravagant love.
There is always more ...
The 'ahăḇâ revelation spoken to me, came in a remote, dusty, desert location not far removed from the spiritual place whence I had absconded from.
And so, in revealing His love, Abba does something even more extravagant than revealing Himself as a Father to me. He adds both His intentions as well as the ancient word pictures to the 'ahăḇâ equation.
Yes, 'ahăḇâ has meanings and insight beyond our imaginations.
To understand what I am talking about we’ll have to look more intensely
I guess we need to go to Jeremiah 31:3 where the word olam is added to a sentence where 'ahăḇâ (love as described above) is used to bring it to extravagant, eternal love.
Olam is never ending love, continuous love, always ultimate love, always there love, never failing love, prevailing love ... without end.
Look at what Jeremiah is saying:
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying,
Yea, I have loved ['āhab] thee with an everlasting love [olam 'ahăḇâ]:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build [bānâ] thee, and thou shalt be built [bānâ]…
Look at the beautiful wordplay here as I translate each word directly:
Can you even say that a load without recognising the inseparability to the Father?
And note that we are drawn to the Father with lovingkindness, nothing else!
Giving effect
… and reading on …
That is how a loving father operates. He draws you with Lovingkindness.
Yes, He allowed angry religious people to nail to the cross and crucify His only begotten Son, His 'ahăḇâ. This is His Banner of Love standing above all, forever!
He says: I olam 'ahăḇâ you in such a way that I draw you near with lovingkindness [Jesus] and therefore I will bānâ [build, restore, repair, establish] you so that you, bride, virgin [sanctified one] will be bānâ-ed!
Glory!
And yes, it is true that today we may know and be confident that God sees us as the one that He OLAM 'ahăḇâ, that we are bānâ-ed!
But the message got even greater
This is the love-message I got and it was just absolutely mind-blowing to me, but then on the following day, as I went for my morning run along the desert coastline, Abba Abba spoke to me again.
And this time it completely blew me away!
There is always more, much much more
Get this ...
Abba Abba said to me that there was much, much more to the revelation in Jeremiah 31:3-4 and He revealed to me one of the most awesome, awesome, pictographs ever.
I already knew how the intensive form of a word in Hebrew was formed by repetition of that word and how, for example, the perfect red in Hebrew would be red red (see the Watch your language tab here). That is exactly where Abba-Father in Romans 8 comes from. By addressing Abba as Abba Abba, we are actually crying out to Him as the Perfect Ultimate Father.
I also remembered how the symbol for Grace (God's unmerited Favour - Jesus) in the ancient Hebrew text was the symbol hay or ה. It is the picture of an open window, meaning behold; reveal.
All of this has relevance in mind-blow number two.
Mind-blow number 2
So, let me put it all together:
Abba in Hebrew is אב.
Reading from right to left as we do in Hebrew, the word depicts:
א or aleph - ox for strength, leader, authority; and
ב or beth - house, in or contain.
So, God adds ...
What happens if Grace (hay or ה, also the abiding Spirit of grace - Yah'shua) is added in between the letters of Abba?
Adding the ה between the א and the ב gives us אהבה or 'ahăḇâ (ultimate love)!!!!
Amazingly, you get 'ahăḇâ [אהבה] - God's overwhelming love for us.
Time to take a minute and realize what happened?
As Grace, the Spirit of Love, entered in between the letters of Abba [אב] we end up with the word 'ahăḇâ [אהבה].
Wow!
Grace can not be loosened from love and the Father cannot be loosened from love!
Love revolves around the Father and grace revolves around His Ultimate Love - Grace, Jesus. Grace is the very essence of the Father in love!
And, in love 'ahăḇâ [אהבה], Jesus as the very person of Grace with the Father becomes ONE, just the same as the Spirit of Grace and the Father and Jesus.
Wow!
Is there a picture here?
Let's look at the pictograph (refer to the table on both modern and ancient Hebrew text letters to understand the word-pictures better).
Reading אהבה from right to left we find the following:
aleph - ox for strength, leader, authority
hay - open window - Grace
beth - house or inside or contain
hay - open window - Grace
The pictograph is a beautiful delight of what (or rather, Who) Love is.
Love 'ahăḇâ [אהבה] reads: The Person in authority (Father) in Grace houses Grace.
It is Abba with Grace (JESUS, Yah'shua, His Spirit) in between.
Abba with Grace is Love.
[Also see the pictographs of YHVH - The Hand by Grace nailed by Grace here, here and here]
Love resonates the Father and Jesus all around
Love is all the same language however you want to read the pictures!
This is kingdom talk!
It's all about Yah'shua!
It is all about the Father!
It's all about His unearned Grace!
It's all about His unmerited Favour!
It’s all about love!
It's in Grace and through Grace and by Grace and because of Grace!
It is the Father with Grace manifested in Grace!
The very heart of the Father revealed!
Glory to Jesus who restored us!
Oh, HalleluYAH!
'Ahăḇâ 'āhaḇ 'ahăḇâ ʿôlām 'ahăḇâ!