I feel like we often through words around in Christianity that we either don't understand their meaning or don't understand their weight and how these meanings can help enhance our walk with God. My goal is to write a bit about some of these words, so that the next time you hear them or use them, they'll mean a little more in your worship of God and possibly cause you to worship in a fresh and new way.
The first word I'd like to look at is Alleluia. We often sing this word at church or in our personal worship times. We use this word when praising God. If you already know what Alleluia means, great, if not, keep reading and I hope this is a help for you.
Alleluia comes from the greek word "allelouia." The greek format comes from the hebrew word Hallelujah which is actually two Hebrew words, Hallelu and Yah. Hallelu means a joyous praise or to boast in God madly. It's not just a simple praise. Yah is a shortened form of God's proper name in Hebrew - YHWH, or Yahweh or Jehovah in English. So when you put the two Hebrew words together you get Praise Yah or what is often transliterated as Praise ye the Lord or Praise Yah you people.
Hallelujah is first seen in the old testament in Psalm 104:35, where King David is worshipping God and praising Him for overcoming the wicked. Something definitely to be thankful for.
This word is also seen in the New Testament in Revelation chapter 19, verses 1, 3, 4 and 6. The form of the word used is Alleluia, which comes from the greek form of the word for Hallelujah. The septuagent (which is the oldest Greek translation of the original Hebrew text) translates Yah as Kurios in Greek which is the Lord. It is used in the context of expressing joy over the destruction of Babylon. So again, we see this word used for a "big praise" occasion just like King David did in Psalm 104. This is where we get "Praise the Lord" from.
My pastor once preached on the law of first mention, which basically means when you see a word used in the Bible for the first time, that occurrence is very important and sets the tone and is consistent with the other uses of the word throughout scripture. We can see this principle by Hallelujah's first use in Psalm 104 and in Revelation 19, as well as the other uses throughout scripture. It's always used in great praise of God and not used lightly.
Whether you use Alleluia or Hallelujah, both are heavy words of Praise and, I believe, should be used when we are greatly praising God for the victory over sin, the enemy and for the grace He's given us. So the next time you say or sing Hallelujah or Alleluia, say it with great heart felt worship and adoration for all God has done for us and the victory we've already received in Jesus Christ.
God bless, until next time....
Tim
