This blog is called Beautiful Words. That’s because we talk about the beautiful words that make up The Word of God. And I’m very glad you’ve chosen to join us.
The word we are going to be looking at today is a word that is essential to our Christian experience:
It says a lot about who and what we are…
It says a lot about what it is to be a follower of Christ.
And it’s found right in the grocery store dairy case.
The word is… “oikos”
I don’t know why it’s on the carton… web site doesn’t say how they came about… They talk about the wholesome goodness, the simplicity of the product… nutritional value. But it’s the name of the yogurt… you see it in stores… now you’ll be reminded of
The word οικος simply means “house” or “home”.
Those are pretty powerful words… especially in Scripture.
In the Bible we read, You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).
So, Οικος...
Really old…. Goes back before Homer… 1,500 before the birth of our Savior. 700 years before Homer wrote the Illiad. I guess that’s because people have always had homes. And our homes mean a lot. The word “home” means so much more than the structure. It means the people who live there, the things they value and work for. In time the word came to mean the inheritance that the home with its attached structures and lands.
The word could be used as a noun… the building, attached properties, inheritance, people. Or the word could be used as a verb:
οικεω to live or dwell
οικοδομεω to build a house (domicile two words both of which mean “house”)
When archaeologists study any culture, one of the first things they consider is how the family functioned. They study the homes. Not only in terms of the structures they built, but also how the family itself was defined, how it functioned, what were the rules or laws that governed or protected it.
Consider this, in the Old Testament the word for “tribe” occurs less than 400 times. The word house, however, is found more than 1,800.
How incredibly important this idea is.
In the New Testament the word takes on a whole new meaning. The followers of Jesus are called “the house of God.” The New Testament teaches that God doesn’t live in a building, in some sort of elaborate temple, but in the hearts of His peoples, most especially in the hearts of His gathered people.
Keep that in mind the next time you gather with other believers to worship God. Remember, we’re His House!
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