The Four Spiritual Stages (2)
Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; . . .” Exodus 6:6-7 NASB
Will deliver you – Hebrew verb tenses are not like Indo-European verb tenses. We have past, present and future (and more). Hebrew has finished and unfinished – and variation about how these two states affect the subject. Hebrew verbs are modified in order to express various relationships between actor and action. The basic form of the usual three consonant verb is called the Qal. Modification of the Qal form creates all of the actor-action relationship that we express in our verbs. But something unusual is apparent with this particular verb, in Hebrew natsal. It never appears in the Bible in its primary Qal form. This verb always appears in some modified form. In fact, most of the time this verb is found in the Hiphil form, a form that describes a causative relation between actor and action. “I will deliver” means that God is the actor, the children of Israel are the objects of the action and the action causes something to happen to them. TWOT notes that this verb is closely related to three other verbs: ga’al – to redeem, set free; halats – to break away, deliver; and pada – to redeem, rescue, ransom. In fact, there are even more Hebrew verbs with overtones of redemption, rescue, revive and return. Obviously, Hebrew explores the full range of meaning of this concept.
What do we learn from this glance at the language? First, we discover that deliverance is still God’s action. We are the beneficiaries of His benevolence. God delivers us from our condition as slaves. We have nothing to do with it. Whether we respond to His deliverance by accepting Him as our new sovereign is up to us, but we do not execute our own deliverance. As the AA boys tell us, “Will power is not enough.” We must realize that left to ourselves deliverance is not available. Acceptance and response – Yes! Self-deliverance – No!
Secondly, we learn that God desires to deliver. His action is not motivated by our worthiness but rather by our need. He comes to deliver because we cry out in pain. He wants to deliver because we express our desperation for liberation. This means that God acts on our behalf because His action reflects who He is whether we are aware of His character or not. This also means that we may not accept His graciousness toward us because we believe that we are the solution to our problem or we just don’t know who He really is. In other words, our misconceptions about God affect our acceptance of His rescue but they do not affect the offer He makes. The same relationship applies when we say that Yeshua died for the ungodly even if they don’t know it.
A. W. Tozer said:
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.”[1]
All of this raises questions about what we think of the character of God. Is He lax concerning His desire to deliver? Is He interested only in the deliverance of His elect? Does He restrain His grace in order not to waste it on those who don’t appreciate His action? Answer these questions and then put yourself in the role of the Creator. How about you? Do you reflect Him?
Topical Index: natsal, deliver, grace, Exodus 6:6
The Gift That Keeps On Giving!!
~ For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
~Much more (!) then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. ~ (Romans 5.7-9)
~Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends ~ (John 15:13)
~He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.~ (Romans 4:25)
~For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, the Messiah died for the ungodly ~ (Romans 5.6)
~For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son, how much more (!), having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! ~(Romans 5.10)
Who then is the one who condemns? No one.
~ Christ Jesus who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us ~(Romans 8:34)
~ He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? ~ (Romans 8:32)
~And you has He made alive, who were (once) dead in trespasses and sins:
(I prefer this translation)
~ And He fills even you who were dead in your sins and in your stupidity ~ (Yes, Sin IS stupid!!!)
~ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts ~ ( Ephesians 4:18)
“The ignorance that is in them” due to what?
It seems ol’ Pharaoh had the exact same problem- even millennia ago!
“due to the hardening of their (own) hearts!”
Immediately, I see a problem! And immediately I have a “personal prayer request!”:
Please, please, please!- I beg You, my LORD and my God and my Savior and my Redeemer: Rescue me, redeem me,- do NOT allow my heart to be hardened, deliver me from my own self, selfishness and stupidity!
According to the Torah of YHWH: ~ Ask, and YOU will receive.. Seek.. and YOU will find.. Knock (patiently-persistently) and YOU will find.. This is the never-failing promise of the One who hears and answers prayer.
Pardon for sin? Freely given. Provision for life? Freely given. Protection from evil? Freely given. Peace like a river? Freely given.
Amazing (lavish!, unending!) Grace!
Even “repentance” or the ability to repent is the gift of God, “freely given.” YHWH, make my heart ever be ready, willing and able to repent (quickly!). Amein!
True repentance is the gift of God. Without Him we can do nothing- not even ‘repent.’ The LORD said to Solomon- “ask of me anything you want” – now there’s a blank check! “Pay to the order of”- and then we fill out the amount!- What, dear friends would you ask for? -anything,- anything at all- “ask and you will receive.” Go for it Solomon. -First of all consider the Source. This is Who saying this? The Source of everything good. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from our Giver/Lover. Did you know “Solomon”- God is a Giver and a Lover? “Ask and you will receive.” This, friends- was the invitation of YHVH. ” I would have asked for time to consider. No snap decisions here- no rushing into things.. I would have said- “can I get back to You on this?” – I need time.- May I be allowed time to make a choice? After all- wouldn’t this be the choice of a lifetime? And how many, (besides myself) have heard YHVH say- “Ask, (Solomon), and you will receive..” What is the “greatest gift?” What is the greatest gift anyone ever could receive from the hand of ONE so mighty and so able?.. -I’m thinking.. -straining the brain and seeking counsel to come up with an answer- This is absolutely the “choice of a lifetime..” I would ask- I am asking..- for the “gift of repentance.” More than wealth, more than friends, more than family, more than anything I would desire above all- “repentance.” The grace-gift of repentance. Why is this so? How about you?- What would your desire be? “Ask” and you will receive..- or so it has been spoken by the mouth of the LORD- and according to His words- “ask.” If we ask anything (according to His will)- we will receive. (It is written) -What is the will of YHVH? What does G-d want for us? What would be His good pleasure? -“Not my will, but thine be done”- are words I remember- “on earth- as it is in Heaven.” I will pray this prayer to my Father- my Heavenly Abba. I have been invited to pray- Prayer is His invitation to a feast. “Come unto me” -are the words speaking to my heart. “Bow the knee”-is the place of blessing. Repentance is the gift I desire. Change my heart, Abba. Make my heart like His heart. Give me the eyes, the mind of Yeshua the Suffering Servant. Burden my heart with the things that burden yours. Let me learn compassion and contentment. I pray for the gift of repentance. A new heart for a new start. Let this be true in my life. Incarnate you words in me. May I see , recognize and realize Your pardon, Your protection, Your peace, Your provision and Your presence- Your Providence in my life. My time, my testimony, my treasure, my teeth and my tongue I surrender in totality to You Abba Father. I know you specialize in the miracle of making a message out of a mess. I willing give my chaos in exchange for your control. I give you darkness- you give me Light. I give you my sadness- you give unto me Joy unspeakable and full of glory. I bring my foolishness unto you and you give wisdom and gladness. I come to you with humility and you raise me up to rise on eagle’s wings. I come to you a sinner and you transform me into a saint, a son, and a steward. Your words are transforming and conforming me into the likeness of the Son. Because of the gift of repentance- I am not who I was- neither am I who I am going to be- I am a work in progress. Holiness is a pilgrimage, a journey. I know You are with me, I know You are for me. I know You are above me, behind me, before me. I know that in You- I live and move and have my being. I ask that You Father- incarnate your words into the life that I now live. May I not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind because of this wonderful gift of repentance. May I remember- “repentance is not a one time event, but a daily occurrence.” I desire to repent early and often. Continue the work You have begun in me, and carry it on to completion is the petition I bring before Your Sovereign throne. Thank you Father for the privilege of prayer and this petition I offer at Your invitation and because Calvary made this prayer possible. These are my words- Amen.
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)
“The LORD isn’t slow to do what He promised, as some people think. Rather, He is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to Him and change the way they think and act.” (2 Peter 3.9)
This was the message of “both” John the Immerser and Yeshua HaMashiach. (Matthew 4:17) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Solomon prayed for/asked for wisdom. (did he receive?)
What is the wisest thing any man can do?
What is the most foolish thing any man could do?
“-Ask, and you will receive..” (why, are we NOT asking?)
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” (A. W. Tozer) What do I think about God? (thanks for asking, A.W.!)
~ Because God SO LOVED He gave.. ~
God, our ABBA Father, is “both” a Lover and a Giver!
For Love, (as we have learned) is benevolence towards another at cost to myself.
What was the final cost of Calvary? The body, blood and breath of Yeshua HaMashiach
Who gave us His life, an atonement for sin?
And (Who) opened the “life-gate” that all may go in?
~ This is Love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ~ (1 John 4.10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWX4_RRjc0k
“First, we discover that deliverance is still God’s action. We are the beneficiaries of His benevolence.”
A. W. Tozer said:
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
Speaking of AA, one could argue that nothing comes to mind when we think about God
And because it takes a lot of mental discipline to focus on nothing, we turn from God
And we focus on things that are a lot more tangible, like wine, women, and song
Especially if the current environment is full of anxiety, anger, and despair
But sooner or later we realize, in the inimitable words of Bob Dylan
“There’s no way out of here, said the joker to the priest”
And we are forced to face the fact that the only way to sobriety
Is to turn ourselves over to Nothing
For deliverance
My spiritual walk began with folks like A.W.Tozer when I was a spiritual baby. That would be the reason I am not easily misled by Christianity teachings. I received such compiled teachings by various teachers in a quarterly Newsletter-The Herald of His Coming, which has blessed me so abundantly. That was the only ‘Bible’ I had for many years. I was distributing them soon after, receiving much feedback on how good the teachings were. They moved office, and I moved as well, and we lost contact. It was a solid foundation.
“This means that God acts on our behalf because His action reflects who He is whether we are aware of His character or not…..”
If this isn’t GRACE/chesed, what else would this be? Chesed is part and parcel of YHWH’s character!
GRACE did not then begin in the “NT”!!!! Clearly many Christians DO NOT know Who Elohim is! We urge them to wake up, time is running out, time to re-read the Scriptures with a different mindset.
“His action is not motivated by our worthiness but rather by our need. He comes to deliver because we cry out in pain.” If we don’t feel pain, we don’t need deliverance. Period.
It is where we stand in the liberty made available to us through YHWH’s chesed, is there a half or full deliverance we desire?
Can’t get studies like these anywhere! Thank you, Skip! These are precious, precious studies!