Character of God:

Faithful
ST U DY N OT ES

When God reveals who he is to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, one of the ways he describes
himself is faithful, or in Hebrew, emet.

“Yahweh, Yahweh, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,

overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness.”

This verse is the most quoted and reused verse in the Hebrew Bible. It’s clear that this
description of God is core to the biblical understanding of who he is, so we wanted to
spend some time focusing on this fascinating passage. In our Character of God series,
we’re looking at each of these descriptors and digging into their significance in the bib-
lical story and the implications they have for us today. These study notes will help you
dig deeper into the Hebrew word emet (faithfulness) and see the ideas presented in our
video Character of God: Faithfulness.
Contents
Understanding Emet 3 God is Emet in Jesus 15

Key Verses 3 God’s Faithfulness to his Promises 15

Emet and Related Words 4 Jesus as the Faithful King 16

Emet as “Truth”  5 Invitation to Covenant Trust 17

Emet as a Personal Quality: Trust as Embodied, Whole-Person

“Trustworthiness”5 Allegiance18

Emet as a Human Quality 5 Trust Despite Obstacles 18

Emet as a Quality of Yahweh 6 Summary20

The Example of Abraham 8

Not Blind Trust 9

God’s Covenant with David 11

David’s Response to God’s Emet 11

Failed Emet and Israel’s Exile 12

Hope of Future Emet 13

Words for Trust/Faith in the

New Testament 14

Modern Conceptions and

Definitions of Faith 15
Understanding Emet
The Hebrew word emet is often translated as truth, and as a verb, it mean means “trust” or
“faith.” This word encompasses incredibly important concepts for the Christian life. Trusting
God, or deeming him trustworthy, is one of the central ways that we define Christianity. Yet
trust, both in God and humans, is a concept that many of us struggle with. As we explore this
topic, we will seek to explore the following questions.
1. What does it mean that God is trustworthy?
2. What does it look like to trust or have faith in God?
3. What does trust look like in human relationships?
What does it require?
4. How important is this concept anyway?

Key Verses
Emet is used throughout the Hebrew Bible, but the following passages are some of the most
well-known passages containing this word, translated as “faithful,” “faithfulness,” “sure,” and
“amen.”

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
Your faithfulness to the skies. The testimony of the Lord is sure,
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, Making wise the simple.
Your justice like the great deep.
P S A L M 1 9 :7
PSALM 36:5-6

The psalmist prays, “What profit is there in my death, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
If I go down to the pit? From everlasting to everlasting.
Will the dust praise you? Amen and amen.
Will it tell of your faithfulness?”
P SA L M 41:1 3
PSALM 30:9

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are

the kisses of an enemy.

P R OV E R B S 2 7: 6

Character of God: Faithful  3

Emet and Related Words
The Hebrew word translated as “faithfulness” or sometimes “truth” in Exodus 34:6 is the
noun emet. Emet and its related words (words that have the same root but occur as verbs or
adjectives, etc.) occur 329 times in the Hebrew Bible. So this is a fairly common and import-
ant word. The root occurs in the following forms:

1. Nouns - Someone or something that is trustworthy and faithful.

• Emet - ‫ אמת‬- trustworthiness, constancy, faithfulness,
truth (used 127 times)
• Emunah - ‫ אמונה‬- steadfastness, trustworthiness, faithful-
ness, honesty, permanent position (used 49 times)
• Emun - ‫ אמון‬-faithfulness, trustworthiness (used five times)
• Amanah - ‫ אמנה‬- firm agreement, royal command (used
two times)
• Omen - ‫ אמן‬- trustworthiness/faithfulness (used one time)
2. Verbs - To be trustworthy, recognize trustworthiness, or trust/believe.
• He’emin and ne’eman - ‫ אמן‬- prove to be firm, reliable,
faithful, permanent, believe, think (used 96 times)
3. Adjective
• Emun - ‫ אמון‬- faithful, trustworthy (person) (used three times)
4. Adverb
• Amnah - ‫ אמנה‬- in truth, indeed (used two times)
5. Particles
• Amen - ‫ אמן‬- trustworthy, surely, a proclamation: “That’s
true!” (used 30 times)
• Amnam - ‫ אמנם‬- surely, indeed, truly (used nine times)

Character of God: Faithful  4

Emet as “Truth”
The word emet can mean both “truth” and “trustworthiness/faithfulness,” and these are relat-
ed concepts. So this verse can be (and sometimes is) translated as “God is full of truth.” But
modern notions of “truth” tend to be more oriented toward scientific facts, principles, or
concepts (e.g., it is true that 2+2=4). The word emet can function this way too, though it is not
the primary meaning of the word. Here are some examples of emet being used to mean “true
fact” or “concept.”

Send one of you, and let him bring your brother [When the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon] And she
while you remain confined, that your words may be said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in
tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the my own land of your words and of your wisdom.”
life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.
1 KINGS 10:6
G E N E S I S 4 2:1 6

So sometimes emet can mean “a true statement,” with the implication that the statement is
dependable. But more often, the word has a personal or relational connotation. This is the
case in Exodus 34:6, where emet is describing a characteristic of God. “God is full of truth”
could convey that God does not lie, or that God stands up for truth, or that God will always
judge rightly. While these notions may be right, they do not get at the relational aspect of the
word emet.

Emet as a Personal Quality: “Trustworthiness”

When emet and its related words are used to describe a person, they are typically translated
as “trustworthy,” “faithful,” “reliable,” or “truthful.” In English, you can see the relationship
between emet as a true concept and emet as a personal quality, or in other words, “truth”
and “truth-ful.”

Emet as a Human Quality

Humans can possess this quality of trustworthiness or faithfulness. At a basic level, trustwor-
thiness involves honesty or “truth-telling.” Let’s look at some examples from the Hebrew Bible.

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying And they did not ask for an accounting from the
tongue is but for a moment. men into whose hand they delivered the money to
pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly.
P R OV E R B S 1 2:1 9
2 K I N G S 1 2:1 5

Character of God: Faithful  5

But emet involves more than just honesty. It involves faithfulness, reliability, and being a per-
son in whom others put their trust. Here are some examples that clarify this from the text.
• In Exodus 18:21, when Moses appoints leaders in Israel, we are
told they are to be “people of truth.” In other words, people who
won’t take bribes or distort justice—people who are faithful and
trustworthy.
• In Isaiah 8:2, Isaiah says, “And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah
the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for
me.”
• In Joshua 2:14, when the Israelite spies enter the land and en-
counter Rahab, they make a promise to her and declare that they
will keep their promise: “And the men said to her, ‘Our life for
yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then
when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully
with you.’”
• In 2 Kings 20:3, Hezekiah prays to Yahweh: “‘Now, O Lord, please
remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with
a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.’ And
Hezekiah wept bitterly.”

“[When emunah is used to refer to humans], it often refers to those who have
the capacity to remain stable (i.e., faithful) amid the unsettling circumstances of
life, realizing God’s truth has established them (Ps. 119:30).” – M A RV I N W I LSO N ,

O U R FAT H E R A B R A H A M : J E W I S H RO OTS O F T H E C H R I ST I A N FA I T H (G R A N D R A P I DS,

M I : E E R D M A N S, 1989 ) , P. 1 8 3.

Emet as a Quality of Yahweh

To say that God is full of emet doesn’t just mean that God tells the truth or stands for truth. It
means that God is faithful and worthy of being trusted. Let’s look at how emet is used to de-
scribe God in the Bible.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his At an acceptable time, O God,
faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has In the abundance of your steadfast love
led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen. Answer me in your saving faithfulness.

GENESIS 24:27 P SA L M 6 9 :1 3

Into your hands I commit my very breath;

Save me, O God of emet.”

PSALM 31:5

Character of God: Faithful  6

The word emet can carry the connotation of reliability or stability. For example, when the
Amalekites fight against Israel in Exodus 17, Moses holds his hands up to defeat their enemies.

When Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let
his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy.
Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and
Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the
other. Thus his hands were steady [Heb: emet] until the sun set.”

E XO D U S 17:11 -1 2

The word emet also carries the connotation of constancy or security.

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that

you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be
peace and security [Heb: emet] in my days.”

ISAIAH 39:8

Like Moses’ hands and the days of Hezekiah, God’s character is also described in terms of
stability and constancy. He is steady, reliable, and dependable. This is one reason why he is
called a “rock” in so many places throughout Scripture. Deuteronomy 32 combines this im-
age with the word “faithfulness” or emet.

The Rock!
His work is perfect,
For all his ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is he.

DEUTERONOMY 32:4

God does what he says he will do, and he is always consistent with his character. Because
faithfulness is the last word of the five used to describe God in Exodus 34:6, it has the effect
of declaring that the previous attributes—compassion, graciousness, patience, and loyal
love—will endure, or be faithful, forever. In other words, God is full of faithfulness in the
sense that we can count on the consistency of his revealed character.

Yahweh, Yahweh, compassionate and gracious, slow to

anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness.

E XODUS 3 4:6

Character of God: Faithful  7

The Verb Form: “Trust” or “Believe”
This meaning of emet also appears as the related verbs he’emin (Hiphil form) and ne’eman
(Niphal form). These are usually translated as “to believe” or “to have faith.” These words are
related to the noun emet, or “trustworthy,” because they essentially mean “to consider some-
one trustworthy” or “to trust.”

The Example of Abraham

The first time we come across these words in the Bible is in the story of Abraham. God makes
a promise that Abraham and his wife Sarah will have a huge family, so that through them all
the nations will experience God’s blessing (Genesis 12:1-3). But Abraham and Sarah are really,
really old; they’ve never been able to have any children. Yet in the face of these challenges,
Abraham he’emin’s, that is, he considers God trustworthy to open a way forward, no matter
the obstacle.

He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and

count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he
said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed
the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

GENESIS 15:5-6

Paul reflects on this moment as the paradigmatic example of what faith in God looks like. He
reflects on this moment as the point in which the whole human family becomes part of Abra-
ham’s family, united to God through this faith.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaran-
teed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those
who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you
a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the
God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all
hope, Abraham, in hope, believed, and so became the father of many nations, just as it
had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he
faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years
old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief
regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it
was credited to him as righteousness.” The words, “it was credited to him,” were written
not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who
believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death
for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

R O M A N S 4 :1 6 -2 5 (N I V )

Character of God: Faithful  8

Not Blind Trust
The relationship between the noun “trustworthy” and the verb “to trust” implies that trusting
is inherently connected to a person or object’s trustworthiness. Sometimes, modern notions
of trust or faith involve belief in something despite the evidence, or what we might call blind
trust. But this isn’t the biblical notion. Biblical trust is inherently connected to trustworthi-
ness or faithfulness and relies on evidence of that trustworthiness. Let’s look at more exam-
ples of emet in the Hebrew Bible to see how biblical trust is not blind trust.

Sometimes emet means “shown to be true.”

“Bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be

verified and you shall not die.” And they did so.

GENESIS 42:20

God offers evidence to the Israelites to help them believe.

“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you
sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak
believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you with you, and may also believe you forever.”
shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry
E XODUS 19:9
ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will
become blood on the dry ground.”

E XODUS 4:8-9

At first the people do believe.

And the people believed; and when they heard that the Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the
Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they
their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

E XODUS 4:31 E XODUS 14:31

But then they encounter giants when spying out the land, and they fail to believe.

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people
despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in
spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”

N U M B E R S 14 :11

Character of God: Faithful  9

Emet as a Covenantal Word
Something that stands out about the word emet and related words is that they most often
occur in a covenantal context. In other words, these words—trust, faithfulness, constancy—
describe the quality of the covenantal relationship between God and humanity. God is faith-
ful to his people, and he wants that faithfulness to be reciprocated. Emet and related words
have everything to do with the nature and integrity of a relationship of trust. This has impli-
cations for how we understand the quality of close relationships in our own lives—with God
and with others. These are characteristics of an ideal partnership.

When Nehemiah recounts God’s faithfulness to the people, God’s covenant with Abram is
described with reciprocal language of faithfulness.

“You are the LORD God,

Who chose Abram
And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees,
And gave him the name Abraham.
You found his heart faithful before you,
And made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land....
And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

N E H E M I A H 9 :7- 8

When the people renew their covenant with God before entering the land, Joshua describes
all of God’s faithful acts toward the people, and then he calls the people to respond to God
by reciprocating that faithfulness.

Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and
in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served
beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

J O S H UA 24 :14

The people struggle to trust God as their king, and they ask for a human king to be set over
them, like the surrounding nations (1 Samuel 12:12-13). Although Samuel calls this a “great evil”
(v. 20), he reassures them that God will be faithful to them and “not reject them” (v. 22). He
then calls them to respond with like faithfulness to the good things God has done for them.

Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your
heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

1 SAMUEL 12:24

Character of God: Faithful  10

God’s Covenant with David
After the rise and fall of Saul’s kingship, we meet David, a scrappy young man who has one
thing going for him—his trust in God. The story of David trusting God in the face of a giant is
meant to be a contrast to the previous story of the Israelites who did not trust God when they
encountered giants in the land (1 Samuel 17; Numbers 14; 1 Kings 3:6). This story establishes
David’s trust, or faithfulness, in God. And so God chooses David and makes a covenant with
him, and God promises to remain faithful to David’s family line.

But my love [khesed] will never be taken away from him,

as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before
you. Your house and your kingdom will endure [ne’eman]
forever before me; your throne will be established forever.

2 S A M U E L 7:1 5 -1 6

Notice that God says he will never take away his khesed from David. In other words, God will
always be faithful to his covenant. He also says that David’s descendants and kingdom will
endure, or ne’eman, forever. When David is faithful to the one who is ultimately faithful, his
kingdom will faithfully endure.

David’s Response to God’s Emet

And now, O LORD, let the word that you have spoken concerning your
servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as
you have spoken, and your name will be established and magnified
forever, saying, “The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God,”
and the house of your servant David will be established before you.

1 C H R O N I C L E S 1 7: 2 3 -24

God calls the kings that follow David to walk in faithfulness just like David did. When David is
on his deathbed, David reminds Solomon that God desires covenant faithfulness to be recip-
rocated by the king. And because the role of the king is to set an example for the people to
follow, God desires this from his people too.

Keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will
and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by
his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my
may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure
Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
saying, “If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk
1 KINGS 11:38
before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their
soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.”

1 KINGS 2:3-4

Faithfulness, reliability, truth-telling, and trust are defining characteristics of a covenant rela-
tionship with God and partnership between humans.

Character of God: Faithful  11

Failed Emet and Israel’s Exile
If you read the story of the kings that come from David’s line, none of them trust God the way
David did. Instead, they trust their own plans to gain security, using wealth, military power, and
reliance on other gods. And it leads to injustice, violent ruin, and eventual exile from the land.

Many biblical authors reflect on this covenant unfaithfulness from the people.

Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the
us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the
wickedly. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no
fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to knowledge of God in the land.
your commandments and your warnings that you
H O S E A 4 :1
gave them. Even in their own kingdom, and amid your
great goodness that you gave them, and in the large
and rich land that you set before them, they did not Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful
serve you or turn from their wicked works. have vanished from among the children of man.

NEHEMIAH 9:33-35 P SA L M 12:1

Many proclaim their own khesed, but a

faithful person who can find?

PROVERBS 20:6

God made a promise to David that a righteous king from among his descendents would reign
on the throne forever. Yet Israel finds themselves in exile with no king and no hope. Psalm 89
is a reflection on the promise of faithfulness from God and the perceived failure of that faith-
fulness. The first half of the Psalm recounts God’s khesed and emet, shown in the covenant
he made to David.

I will sing of the steadfast love (khesed) of the Lord, forever;

With my mouth I will make known your faithfulness [emunah] to all generations.
For I said, “Khesed will be built up forever;
In the heavens you will establish your emunah.
You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
And build your throne for all generations.’”

P SA L M 8 9 :1 -4

Character of God: Faithful  12

The psalmist then praises God’s past faithfulness (emunah) and might (vv. 5-18), and then
again recounts God’s promise to David (vv. 28-37):

My khesed I will keep for him forever,

And my covenant will stand firm [ne’emah] for him.
I will establish his offspring forever
And his throne as the days of the heavens.
If his children forsake my law
And do not walk according to my rules,
If they violate my statutes
And do not keep my commandments,
Then I will punish their transgression with the rod
And their iniquity with stripes,
But I will not remove from him my khesed
Or be false to my emunah.
I will not violate my covenant
Or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

PSALM 89:28-34

Then the poet accuses God of doing just that—violating his promises (vv. 38-45):

You have renounced the covenant with your servant;

You have defiled his crown in the dust

PSALM 89:39

He goes on to describe the desolation of Israel (vv. 40-45) and then cries out to God (vv. 46-51).

Lord, where is your khesed of old,

Which by your emunah you swore to David?

PSALM 89:49

It seemed like God was no longer overflowing with emet. The destruction of Israel raised the
question of God’s trustworthiness, faithfulness, and reliability to fulfill his promises to Abra-
ham and to David.

Hope of Future Emet

So the Israelites are left living either in continued exile or under foreign rule in the land, with-
out the same glorious temple as before (Ezra 3:12, Haggai 2:3), and they are still awaiting a
king who will bring restoration.

Yet the prophets had been proclaiming a faithful one to come, in whom Israel would again be
called into faithful covenant relationship and become faithful ones once again. Let’s look at
some of these prophecies.

Character of God: Faithful  13

A throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will
will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall
and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness. be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the
Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.
ISAIAH 16:5
ZECHARIAH 8:3

Isaiah 53 speaks of this one to come as one in whom it will be difficult to place trust (he’emin)
because of perceived weakness as opposed to power.

Who has believed [he’emin] what he has heard from us? And to
whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up
before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no
beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected
by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as
one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was
crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that
brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

I SA I A H 5 3 :1 - 5

Words for Trust/Faith in the New Testament

In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and in the New Testament, the
primary words used to translate or express ideas of trust/faith and trustworthiness/faithful-
ness are aletheia and pistis.
1. Aletheia - ἀλήθεια: truthfulness, dependability, uprightness, truth, reality
(used 183 times in the New Testament)
• Truth as a quality: truthfulness, dependability, and uprightness
• Truth as a statement: truth and reality
• Truth as a synonym for the the good news about Jesus
• Trust in the Gospel of Jesus
2. Pistis - πίστις: faith, faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, commitment, assurance,
proof, trust, belief, endurance (used 243 times in the New Testament)
• The root, πιστεύω, and related words, occur 604 times in the
New Testament
• Often translated as “faith”
• Faith as trust
• Faith as trust in the good news about Jesus
• Faith as a synonym for the good news about Jesus

Character of God: Faithful  14

 • Sometimes translated as faithfulness (Romans 3:3; Galatians
5:22). It involves a whole-person response.
• Embodied trust, trusting faith, or allegiance may be better
translations.

Modern Conceptions and Definitions of Faith

Faith as unfounded belief, usually as opposed to reason

“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.” — Mark Twain

Sometimes people use Hebrews 11:1 to support this idea: “Faith is being sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

We’ve seen that trust throughout the Bible involves the reliability of the person be-
ing trusted.

Faith as a cognitive belief only, involving only the mind

Sometimes faith does have more of a cognitive aspect in the Bible. However, this has to be
held in tension with other passages that emphasize faithfulness.

Also consider James 2:19: “You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe
and shudder!”

Paul speaks of the “obedience of faith” in Romans 1:5 and 16:26.

Faith as passive not active

The authors of the New Testament certainly believe that God’s grace is a gift that no one can
earn. But this does not necessitate a passive faith, and there are countless examples of faith
as active in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.
• Faith is “attentive engagement in a promissory relationship.”
Walter Brueggemann, Reverberations of Faith, 78.

God is Emet in Jesus

God’s Faithfulness to His Promises

On the first pages of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Matthew begins like this:
“This is the genealogy—or the lineage—of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abra-
ham.” What the Gospel writer is claiming is that Jesus is the promised king to come and the
one through whom all people will be included in Abraham’s family. In other words, God is
faithful through Jesus.

Character of God: Faithful  15

Jesus came to embody God’s faithfulness, or in Greek, aletheia. In Romans, Paul says that
Jesus has come on behalf of God’s aletheia, his faithfulness, to confirm the promises made
to Abraham and Israel, so that the nations would glorify God (Romans 15:8-9).

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the

circumcised to show God’s truthfulness [aletheia], in
order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his
mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among
the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”

ROMANS 15:8-9

God shows that he is still faithful to his covenant and to his character. Yahweh will not aban-
don his people or his own emet; rather, through Jesus, all the nations are invited into Abra-
ham’s family and into a trusting relationship with Yahweh. In Jesus, God shows that he is
trustworthy, consistent, and reliable.

Jesus as the Faithful King

God had invited David and his descendants into covenant faithfulness with himself. The
problem was that the kings did not show faithfulness to God. Instead, they broke the relation-
ship through betrayal, time and again. And the people followed in their kings’ ways. Jesus is
the true faithful king. He fulfills the Davidic role and is the one who will sit on David’s throne
forever.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a
and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son servant, to testify to the things that were to be
from the Father, full of grace and aletheia. spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as
a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast to
J O H N 1:14
our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

HEBREWS 3:5-6

God promises David (in 2 Samuel 7:15-16) that when the king is faithful to the one who is ulti-
mately faithful, his kingdom faithfully endures. The New Testament says the same of Jesus.

But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is for

ever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness is the
sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteous-
ness and hated wickedness….”

HEBREWS 1:8-9

Character of God: Faithful  16

Invitation to Covenant Trust
God shows himself trustworthy through the faithful one, Jesus. Humanity is then called to
place their trust in Jesus, and through that trust, they can enter into covenant partnership
with Yahweh.

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
G A L AT I A N S 3 : 2 6
Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we now stand.

R O M A N S 5 :1 -2

Paul is really clear that it’s not our worth—whether defined by status, gender, ethnicity,
morality, or Torah obedience—but our trust in Jesus that makes us Abraham’s offspring.

Jesus calls people to respond with trust and belief and promises that they too will endure.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet
shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes
J O H N 3 :1 6
in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

J O H N 11: 25 -26
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works
of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that
you believe in him whom he has sent.” ... Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

J O H N 6: 28 -2 9, 3 5

People are called to believe in Jesus because of God’s continued faithfulness to his promis-
es, and the eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In other words, just as
in the Hebrew Bible, trust in the New Testament is not blind trust. Trust in God is based on
trustworthiness. A person’s history of trustworthiness is what makes trust a reasonable thing
to do.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our Many Samaritans from that town believed
preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. in him because of the woman’s testimony,
“He told me all that I ever did.”
1 C O R I N T H I A N S 1 5 :14
JOHN 4:39

These eyewitnesses, the apostles and disciples, went from town to town proclaiming what
they had seen. This telling of the good news of Jesus became synonymous with the word
“faith” (pistis).

Character of God: Faithful  17

They only were hearing it said, “He who And the word of God continued to increase,
used to persecute us is now preaching and the number of the disciples multiplied
the faith he once tried to destroy.” greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the
priests became obedient to the faith.
G A L AT I A N S 1 : 2 3
A C T S 6 :7

So to trust God is to trust in the good news that Jesus is king.

Trust as Embodied, Whole-Person Allegiance

In the New Testament, as in the Hebrew Bible, trust/faith involves whole-person allegiance
to God. It’s not simply cognitive or passive. If the good news, or proclamation of the faith,
is that Jesus is king, then faith (pistis) in the Gospel is an allegiance to that king. And that
allegiance involves the whole person—cognition, trust, and embodied loyalty.

The words for faith/trust can be translated as “faithfulness” and can refer to God or humans.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! What if some were unfaithful? Does their
For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice
ROMANS 3:3
and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to
have done, without neglecting the others.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
M AT T H E W 2 3 : 2 3
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...

G A L AT I A N S 5 : 2 2

Trust Despite Obstacles

Just as in the Hebrew Bible, trust in the New Testament is often portrayed as something peo-
ple do or are called to do. The people of God were waiting for a king to come, but because
Jesus didn’t seem like a king, they didn’t recognize him as one. He didn’t seize political pow-
er or a crown. So to trust him required a transformed imagination. (See Isaiah 53:1, which
speaks of the difficulty of belief in one of such a humble appearance). But the Gospels are
full of people who place their trust in Jesus despite great odds.

A Gentile centurion appeals to Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,

“Lord, my servant is lying paralysed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him,
“I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to
have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be
healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to
one, ‘Go’, and he goes, and to another, ‘Come’, and he comes, and to my servant,
‘Do this’, and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marvelled and said to those
who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

M AT T H E W 8 : 5 - 1 0

Character of God: Faithful  18

A Jewish synagogue leader, whose daughter was dying, implored Jesus to come heal her.
On the way, his daughter died.

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some
who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue,
“Do not fear, only believe.”... Taking [the little girl] by the hand he said to
her, “Talitha cumi”, which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And
immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve
years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

MARK 5:35-36, 41-42

A woman who would have been deemed unclean by society reaches out to touch Jesus.

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for
twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his
garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be
made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter;
your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

M AT T H E W 9 : 2 0 - 2 2

Two blind men recognize that Jesus is the Davidic King.

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying
aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the
blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am
able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes,
saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were
opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”
But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

M AT T H E W 9 : 2 7 - 3 1

These are only a few examples of the many times people trusted Jesus in the midst of chal-
lenging situations. No one is excluded from this kind of trust—Jew or Gentile, male or female,
leaders or the oppressed. It is significant that many examples of trust in the New Testament
are offered by those who are in the least likely position to recognize Jesus—the Gentiles, the
unclean/outcast in society, or those who can’t see.

Trust in Jesus is not passive; it is active. It’s not simply cognitive; it is relational. And it’s not
necessarily perfect trust. Like in Mark 9, when a father brings his son to Jesus, begging for
healing from a demon.

“If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help

us.” And Jesus said to him, “If you can? All things are
possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of
the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

MAR K 9 : 2 2-24

Character of God: Faithful  19

Summary
• God is emet; he is trustworthy, faithful, and reliable. He is the
rock.
• God calls people to respond to his trustworthiness with trust.
• Emet is a covenantal (commitment) term. Trust/faithfulness is
foundational to partnerships. God calls his people to reciprocate
his faithfulness in covenant relationship.
• Although people fail to remain faithful, God remains faithful.
• God has proven himself trustworthy through acts of faithfulness
over time, specifically the fulfillment of his covenant promises to
Abraham and to David, through Jesus.
• Jesus is the faithful, Davidic King, and humanity is invited to trust
in him.
• Trust involves the whole person and is often exemplified in the
Gospels by the lowest in society, who often face great obstacles.
• We can follow the examples of those who trusted in Jesus
through our embodied allegiance to him as King, despite any
obstacles we may face.

Like Abraham, David, and the many followers of Jesus who have come before, we can trust
God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Rather than coming up with our own solu-
tions apart from God, we can trust God to provide a way forward. This doesn’t mean it’s a
perfect allegiance. But we are unified with the perfectly faithful one and empowered by the
Spirit to follow in his way. This is why Paul can say in Galatians: “I have been crucified with
Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by pistis
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).”

Character of God: Faithful  20