Who Comes to Rescue?
He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. Psalm 57:3 NASB
Save me – Send and save. That’s the action of YHWH. I can’t ascend to heaven to grab deliverance. He has to send it. What He sends is entirely up to Him, but whatever He sends, it will save me. David’s assertion begs the question, “What does God send?”
Let’s see. God sends the Torah. He delivers it from heaven to His people. It contains rescue and deliverance. It saves. Ah, before you object that this is “works righteousness,” consider what is meant by Torah. Torah is the revelation of God’s own character displayed in human actions. If I do what Torah commands, am I not saved? Moses makes it pretty clear. “Choose life!” Choose to follow Torah and live. There is not a hint that this is independent of grace. After all, God has to send it. Without grace there is no delivery. God’s desire to rescue His children is the motivation behind Torah. Grace produces instruction. “Choose life” means choosing to accept God’s grace and living accordingly.
But as if that weren’t enough, God sends Yeshua. Actually, if we read this verse in Hebrew, we would see the intimate connection between Yeshua and yoshieni (save me). Both come from the verb yasha, “to help, to save, to receive, to accept help, to be victorious.” God sends the embodiment of His Torah so that if we have seen Him (His actions), we have seen the Father who sent Him. There is no Yeshua without Torah for they are one and the same. “In the beginning was the Word,” says John. And what Word was that? Torah – God’s word of life’s instructions. What Yeshua demonstrates we were already given. What Yeshua accomplishes we were already assigned. What Yeshua provides we were already promised. Does that mean His coming wasn’t needed? Of course not! (Or as Paul would say, “God forbid!”) What God sends from heaven is always needed. In the greater purposes of God, only He can determine our real need. When Yeshua comes, the rest of yasha is captured. Help brings victory. Victory brings salvation.
David wants rescue from an enemy. But David’s request is much larger than his present circumstances. David needs to see the glory of the Lord revealed in the world of men. Then he can climb out of his hole in the earth. David’s idea of salvation is not about entry into heavenly mansions. It is about God here and now, God among us, Immanuel. “For my eyes have seen Your salvation,” said Simeon. That’s what we need to see. It isn’t a plan to get us out of here. It is a person, a living embodiment of God’s rescue. For “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men.” Perhaps we need to change our question from “Have you been saved?” to “Have you seen God’s salvation?”
Topical Index: save, yasha, salvation, Torah, Psalm 57:3, Philippians 2:6-7
Excellent. Amen and Amen.
Hallelujah # (?)
“There is no Yeshua without Torah for they are one and the same ~ Absolutely! – and..
There is no Torah without Yeshua! Amein.
~ for without Me, you (sir or m’am) can do nothing! ~ (John 15.5)
Without Him I could do nothing
Without Him I’d surely fail
Without Him I would be drifting
Like a ship without a sail.
Jesus, O Jesus
Do you know Him today?
Do not turn Him away
O Jesus, O Jesus
Without Him, how lost I would be!
Without Him I would be dying
Without Him I’d be enslaved
Without Him life would be hopeless
But with Jesus, Thank God
I’m saved!
Jesus, O Jesus
Do you know Him today?
Do not turn Him away-
O Jesus, O Jesus..
Without Him, how lost I would be!
~ For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost ~ (Matthew 18.11)
Who (we must ask) is lost- and in need of this (available) salvation?
Is it the Jew (only?) ~ He came unto His own..
Or is it the (pagan/heathen) Greek? –
~ For ALL have sinned …~ ” ALL? ”
Shall we list them? Adam? Did he sin? Eve? Did she sin? Abraham? Moses? David? Isaiah? Jeremiah? ” ALL ” the “heroes” of the faith? “All” who are listed in the Hebrew hall of fame? (Hebrews chapter 11). Yes.- ALL.
May we “fast-forward” several millenia? What about in today’s modern times..- the days of enlightenment.. Can culture “save” us? Or education? Or wealth? Or health? Or “mammon?” Really, the question must be asked.. Do we (today, yes, “right here”- and “right now”- need a Savior? Is Christ “necessary?”
That was “then,”- and this is “now?” It may have worked in “that” culture, or in that “day” or with “those” people, but (peeps)- what about “us?” Do we (you and I) need “deliverance?” or “salvation”- in this present moment?
What were the words of the Apostle Paul?- (or Rabbi Sha’ul if you prefer..)- ~ Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer for Israel is that they may be saved. ~ Oh? Israel, (God’s own chosen people) need to be “saved?” Save from what? – and “saved” for what? Who, what, when, where and how? (the flying five..)
Who needs salvation?
Who brings salvation?
Whose very Name IS salvation?
But..
What is salvation?
When does this “deliverance” occur?
Where do we find this “salvation?”
How this “salvation” happen or occur?
Enter (One) beautiful baby boy- born in a barn in Bethlehem, (the city of bread) Judea. He came from Heaven to Earth. Hallelujah # 1.- But wait… there’s more! Oh..- the best is yet to come!
Yes, when God humbles Himself and becomes one of us..- this, is where it becomes very interesting.. There is a man among us, who is just like us… BUT..- except for the fact,-this “virgin born” man is entirely without sin! Not even the thought of sin has entered into his mind! Yes, I also wonder, ~ how can these things be? ~ To live as the son of a Jewish carpenter and never(?) have one wrong thought or attitude? Ever when someone spits in your face?- or while undergoing the mocking of the crowd or the scourging of the soldiers or a crucifixion on a Roman cross? What was He thinking when ALL of His disciples “up and ran away?” Yes, He did suffer and He did die.. – alone. Oh, but wait.. there’s more! So much more! For this story, His-story does not end here. For you see, for this son of man, for this “Chosen One,”- for this perfect Second Adam, for this Anointed One- God has a plan.
Buddha? dead. Mohammed? (thankfully) gone. But this One? All we need do is ask is “Who?”.. And when we begin to ask “Who”- all the what’s, why’s and where’s and how’s -all come together in resplendent glory! So many “aha” moments! This Man, this son of Adam, this (very) Jewish carpenter is not only a man (one of us) but this Man is the “Sent One,”- the “Chosen One” – the “Anointed One”- and the Savior of the world.
Is Israel included in “the world?” Oh, the scope of this salvation! Oh, the hope (expected certainty) of this salvation! ~ Whosoever will, may come.. ~ (another Hallelujah!).
~ O death, where is your sting? O grave..- where is your victory? And as for the “Accuser of the Brethren?” He has been rendered “inop.” The lion may go about and roar, and while the stench of his breath may remain, the rotted teeth have been pulled, long ago! Hmm.. Hallelujah #(?).
Yes, they were leaping and dancing and praising God!!- May it be so- amein!
Oh.. ~ and He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.. (you know.. I think I just read the words “for us all..”- could it be because “ALL” have sinned(?)
Who is left listening?
~ and He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all- how shall He not with Him,- also freely give us all things? ~ (Romans 8.32)
I’m losing track of the count here.. This is Hallelujah # (?)
Praise God from Whom “ALL” blessings flow..
Praise Him “ALL” creatures here below..
~ Let everything that has breath (are you breathing today?)- “praise the LORD!” Praise the LORD. ~
Sometimes I think you should become a preacher in a deep-South church. 🙂
Amen!!!!! Yes, this makes so much more sense!
Thanks Skip!
Acts 16:22-34 provides the wonderful story of the Philippian jailer. Recall that in the middle of the night when Paul and Silas were in chains in the center of the jail, there was an earthquake. When the jailer “saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.” Paul then cried out with a loud voice, saying “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer asks of him “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The footnote of the NASB says “The jailer had heard that these were preachers of a way of salvation. Now faced with the earthquake and his own impending death, he wanted to know about the Way.” But of course this footnote completely misses the mark. The jailer has just been informed by Paul that he does NOT need to die, because no one has escaped! The jailer is not facing his impending death, but rather his impending LIFE. He knows Paul and Silas possess something essential to real life and he wants it also. That is what “salvation” means to the jailer.
Wow!
“Have you seen God’s salvation?”
That’s awesome 🙂
“Have you seen God’s salvation?”
Indeed, if we have experienced YHWH’s touch in our lives, it is Not “have you been saved?”, rather, has a touch from HIM transformed us to seek Him more and more, to draw us closer and closer to Him, to understand Him better, to obey Him as Master and King, to walk in reverence of Him in our deeds and words. When that happens, the fruit will clearly be seen in the way we treat others with regard and respect.
Thank you for provoking us to think outside the box, Skip.