by steve » Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:44 am
Hi Guest,
I enjoy a few ABBA songs as well as the Harry Potter stories myself
But to answer your question, the word "Abba" predates the Swedish band by a few thousand years
It's actually an Aramaic word that's an endearing form for "father", much like the word "daddy" or "papa" is in English. It's mentioned a few times in the Bible.
The first time is in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is pleading with God to spare him from the agony of crucifixion, he starts his prayer with "Abba, Father" (that's in Mark 14:36).
In Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, the apostle Paul talks about how when we receive and live by the Holy Spirit, we are set free from being controlled by our sins, and become the children of God who no longer need to fear condemnation. At that point we have a new intimacy with God where we can pray to Him and call out "Abba, Father", as a child calls out to his or her dad. The chapter in Romans is definitely one of the most powerful ones in the Bible.
As others in the thread have mentioned, the particular song here was written by Carey Landry, and is a contemporary retelling of the prophet Isaiah's words of Isaiah 64:8 (echoed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:21), comparing us to clay and God to the potter (i.e., someone who makes pots out of clay). It's a way of explaining that we are all put here on earth for a specific purpose.
Incidentally, J.K. Rowling derived Harry Potter's last name from the phrase "potter's field" which is also in the Bible. Judas Iscariot (the disciple who betrayed Jesus) was buried in a potter's field (a piece of land that couldn't grow agriculture and thus was relegated to making clay for pots). Over the years the phrase "potter's field" has become synonymous with a cemetery where a city would bury people with no families. J.K. Rowling was pretty clever in that she chose a name that was associated with a curse (Judas) as well as being an orphan (potter's field).
Hope this helps, and hope you enjoyed the impromptu Bible class
God bless,
Steve
Hi Guest,
I enjoy a few ABBA songs as well as the Harry Potter stories myself :) But to answer your question, the word "Abba" predates the Swedish band by a few thousand years :)
It's actually an Aramaic word that's an endearing form for "father", much like the word "daddy" or "papa" is in English. It's mentioned a few times in the Bible.
The first time is in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is pleading with God to spare him from the agony of crucifixion, he starts his prayer with "Abba, Father" (that's in Mark 14:36).
In Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, the apostle Paul talks about how when we receive and live by the Holy Spirit, we are set free from being controlled by our sins, and become the children of God who no longer need to fear condemnation. At that point we have a new intimacy with God where we can pray to Him and call out "Abba, Father", as a child calls out to his or her dad. The chapter in Romans is definitely one of the most powerful ones in the Bible.
As others in the thread have mentioned, the particular song here was written by Carey Landry, and is a contemporary retelling of the prophet Isaiah's words of Isaiah 64:8 (echoed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:21), comparing us to clay and God to the potter (i.e., someone who makes pots out of clay). It's a way of explaining that we are all put here on earth for a specific purpose.
Incidentally, J.K. Rowling derived Harry Potter's last name from the phrase "potter's field" which is also in the Bible. Judas Iscariot (the disciple who betrayed Jesus) was buried in a potter's field (a piece of land that couldn't grow agriculture and thus was relegated to making clay for pots). Over the years the phrase "potter's field" has become synonymous with a cemetery where a city would bury people with no families. J.K. Rowling was pretty clever in that she chose a name that was associated with a curse (Judas) as well as being an orphan (potter's field).
Hope this helps, and hope you enjoyed the impromptu Bible class :)
God bless,
Steve
