“At this the whole assembly said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the LORD.” Nehemiah 5:13
There is an old song where the chorus is made up of only five words: amen, amen, amen, amen, and amen. That’s a word we use often, but what does it mean? Amen occurs over 50 times in the NIV Bible. Besides ending many of the books in the New Testament, it is also the very last word of the Bible. It has the same meaning as “verily” or “I tell you the truth.” Over 75 times Jesus began speaking with those words. He was saying that what he was about to tell us was true. When we end a prayer, or when the pastor ends a sermon with amen, we are saying that we believe the words and thoughts of the prayer and sermon are true.
Twelve times in the book of Deuteronomy, the people responded with an amen. Three times a psalm ends with two amens as in Psalm 41:13, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.” The Apostle Paul often ended his books or comments in his books with an amen. He wrote in Romans 11:36, “To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
In the book of Revelation, Jesus calls himself the “Amen”: “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation” (Revelation 3:14). And the last book of the Bible makes it very clear, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” (Revelation 22:20,21).
The next time you end a prayer or hymn with that little four- letter word, remember you are putting a seal on everything you are saying. Amen! These words are truth!
From the book “Precious Words of he Bible” by Reynold R. Kremer