Have you ever wondered why at times there seems to be an emptiness in our faith? Have you ever experienced doubt? Have you ever just wanted to give up trying? Is it conviction or condemnation? Is faithfulness a state of being? What do I call faithfulness?

       Before I expand on my thoughts about this word let’s look at the biblical origins. Faithfulness in the Old Testament is from the Hebrew word, a noun, emunah. This word is found in Punic, the language of Carthage, Phoenicia as emanethi meaning “certainty”. We see this meaning in context by its first usage in Exodus.

But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the otheron the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. Exodus 17:12 – KJV

       Other words to describe it are firmness; security; moral fidelity from the root emuwn meaning established, trusty; trustworthiness. The basic meaning of emunah is certainty that Vine’s defines as faithfulness. Vine’s purports that man can show himself faithful in his relations with his fellow men75 but that really this word is exclusive of God and not of or from man. I contend that this is true and will expand on this; but first let’s finish our word study.

       Vines goes on to say that the word emunah is synonymous with tsedeq, righteousness, Isaiah 11:5, with chesed, lovingkindness, Psalm 98:3, NASB, and with mishpat, justice, Jeremiah 5:1.76 These are characters of God, not man. Again, we see that faithfulness is of God, not man.