MAP DETAILS - Verbs

26/02/24 10:41
There are all kinds of ways that the text emphasizes something. One way it emphasizes is through VERBS.

There are a few ways we need to look at verbs and we're going to look at those. Buckle up, we're going back to grammar school.

When looking at verbs notice if they are past, present, or future tense. Past tense vers are verbs that point backwards while present is happening now. Future tense are things that will come.

“In him we were also chosen (PAST), having been predestined (PAST) according to the plan of him who works out everything (PRESENT) in conformity with the purpose of his will,”
Ephesians 1:11

Right there, in that one verse, we see how God, in the past, has chosen us for a work in His will; and He is presently working in our lives today to accomplish that well. Just by asking what the tense of the verb is, we open up this verse into a three dimensional view.

Besides the tense of the verb we need to ask if it's imperative? For a verb to be imperative it has to be the vital importance to the subject of the text.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
Matthew 28:19

There is one imperative in this verse and many people believe it is the verb "go". Yet, what happens after we go? The only imperative in this verse is "make" disciples of all nations. Understanding the imperative transforms the way we understand Matthew 28:19. That is the only imperative that Christ gives in the great commission, but it's the one that we tend to ignore the most.

Is the verb active or passive? An active verb is something the subject is doing. A passive bird is something the subject is having done to them. Take a look at the verbs in the following text and see them in a sense of active and passive.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation (PASSIVE) and I will bless you (PASSIVE); I will make your name great (PASSIVE), and you will be a blessing (ACTIVE). I will bless those who bless you (PASSIVE), and whoever curses you I will curse (PASSIVE); and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (ACTIVE)”
Genesis 12:1-3

By taking a look at the verbs in this text, we see God saying, "I will pour out all these blessings on you, and the result is, all the peoples of the earth will be blessed by you." God has poured out His blessings upon us, so that, other people will be affected by us. That is why if we sit back and just soak up the blessings of God, and we don't take the blessings given us to the nations, we miss out on the very point that God intended for the blessings of His people to affect those around us.