On the first day of a brand new August, I’ve been thinking this morning about the Hebrew word “Ahava.” It is the most common word for love in the Old Testament, and unlike how our present age might often communicate love as a feeling, concept, or idea, “Ahava” is love because it is inseparable from action and obedience. To “love” according to this word, and according to the God who uses it, is to give to and take action toward something. We can see that God makes covenant with Israel in the scriptures, and when He does, He uses “Ahava.”
“Berit (Hebrew)”: this relationship between a deity and people was unlike any ever known. Most ancient gods are said to be the “cultural furniture” or reflection of the people in their context, like the Greek gods who were the epitome of humanity in that day and age. Most gods were also takers rather than givers and bore very human vices, being a “bottom-up” construction or projection of humanity. But the Hebrew God was a “top-down” origination, quite starkly unlike the humans who followed Him. The Hebrew God was not a reflection of human “perfection” but actually in contrast to what was considered good and perfect to humans, exhibiting and beckoning a higher standard. This God was a giver, reaching out and calling humanity to Himself as much as and before humanity ever called upon Him. The Hebrew God, YHWH, offered a covenant relationship.
When God gave Himself in covenant, it was not conceptual. It was an action which was performed and executed in real time for Abraham and his descendants (Israel) and now unto all people. When God created covenant, it was outside of His nature to fail or go back on it, and henceforth He only improved upon it forevermore unto our present salvation. I believe that when He first promised salvation for Israel, He saw us, all humanity, in the same moment and therefore promised it for everyone. God is within and outside of our sense of time, and when He establishes something, it is not bound by our linear sense of past, present, or future, and it does not decay on that timeline like we do. I believe that God is Now, ever-present, and His covenant is too.
So today, I ponder that love. I consider how powerful is the “Ahava” of God. His “love” is always tied into action and covenant, and it is outside of His nature to go back on it. It is not a feeling or concept; it is a very real, tangible, and ultra-practical “love.” His promises are not static and stuck, they are now, which means that He is presently with us, as His covenant is ultimately found manifest in Jesus. He is not the God who provided, will provide, or sometimes provides, He is providing right now. He is not ancient, He is Now, and His love is happening and unchanging. He is the God who is doing what He promised and calling forth my offering of trust in His capacity to “Ahava” me; to provide and do what he says He is.