The Four Spiritual Stages (3)
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
Redeem you – What does it mean to be redeemed? Today we probably think of removing our sin guilt or providing forgiveness or, by extension, getting to heaven. In fact, if you listen carefully to Protestant evangelical sermons, you will probably hear something about “paying for your sin,” or “taking away your guilt.” The expressions are usually cast in judicial or legal terms and imply penal substitution atonement. But this Hebrew word, used more than 100 times in the Tanakh, moves in a completely different direction.
Ga’al is the primary term for the action of the kinsman. The word finds its meaning within the context of tribal expectation and mores. Within the tribe, someone who is a blood relative was expected to act on behalf of another relative when trouble or catastrophe befell him. In other words, ga’al expresses family practice. A good relative comes to the aid of one of his kinsman. This is not only the expected norm, it is also an example of deep cultural values. A redeemer provides a substitute for the debt of his kinsman. He offers restitution in the other’s place and in some cases, acts as the one who brings justice to the situation (as in the case of capital punishment for the life of a murdered relative). In many cases in the Tanakh, exercising the obligation of the go’el means purchasing property for another, fulfilling commitments for another or honoring the debt of another. But all of this happens within the confines of a family relationship.
This raises an important question for us. Who does God redeem? The Exodus account suggests that redemption is the exercise of the go’el; that God portrays Himself as the go’el of Israel. Why? Because He has a covenant family relationship with the patriarchs of Israel. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The children of these men are related to Him. Therefore, He acts on their behalf. God redeems those who are connected to Him as members of the family.
Who are members of God’s family? Well, certainly those who are connected in some way to the men God chose when He created this family. The sons of Abraham are part of the family. God is their go’el. But adopted sons and daughters are also members of the family, even if their origins do not begin with Abraham. (Ruth is a good example.) God is their go’el too. God is go’el to all who belong to the family He created. That family, by the way, is the family of Abraham. This has an interesting and uncomfortable implication. If I am not related to Abraham, God is not my go’el. It matters not if I am related to Augustine, Luther or Martin Luther King. Unless I belong to the family of Abraham, I don’t belong to the family. Obviously that does not mean that I must trace my physical lineage to Abraham. Almost no one alive today can do that. But it does mean that if I don’t act like Abraham, think like Abraham, worship like Abraham or honor the God of Abraham, you are free to raise a question about my claim to be one of his children. God chose Abraham. God acts as go’el for those in Abraham’s family. If I want God to act as go’el for me, I’d better be sure that I am in the family.
Topical Index: go’el, ga’al, redeem, kinsman, Abraham, family, Exodus 6:6
Amen. Much to chew on during this week of Sukkot.
Well said.Paul said we must be grafted into Isreal.So if the people who follow replacement theology (the church has replaced Isreal), what on earth are they grafted into? I am waiting for the day when history will repeat itself and Hashem will again Redeem his people Isreal with a mighty hand and bring all of his remnant from Isreal back to the land.(The second Exodus).
Thumbs up!!! Amein, Brian, that is an exciting time to look forward to.. Shalom!
In considering these messages about who God counts as family, I am led to ponder these:
1) The prodigal son – both of them are natural born into the family. One is obedient, one is not but comes back into the family with humility.
2) The story of Ruth – she is like us. Gentile. She chose God, to obey the rules of the family of God and God chose her back and adopted her in.
The point that I get from these three characters – very simplistically, is that if you want to be adopted in, you need to act in a way that reflects well of the family all along, before and after you are adopted.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
To do justly seems to me to mean that one would follow the rules set forth, the scales of justice measure obedience/disobedience. We all want mercy, so we should be merciful, and humility is an expression of respect, putting others before yourself (in this case God’s wants and desires for you and for how you will conduct your life)
When I first started my journey to “know God” in a more formalized manner, my two questions were, what is sin and what does God want of me? (not to be confused with How can I please God, because honestly that was not what I wanted to know at that point).
And while I was mostly in evangelical/doctrinal congregations, the what was sin question was skirted around because if you look at what the Bible says, sin is lawlessness. Once I realized that, the paradigm shift became much easier. It is difficult to reconcile lawlessness and the grace/law divide puppet-ed in most protestant settings. The result is that they take something that is straight forward and orderly and make it chaotic.
When I encountered Micah 6:8 it was like “here you go, this is what I expect of you”. Don’t you love it when God answers your questions in direct easy to understand ways? I’m a simple person, I can do what I’m directed as long as the directions aren’t contradictory or confusing. God is neither.
All In The Family
I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God
I’ve been washed in the Fountain,
Cleansed by His blood,
Joint-heirs with Jesus
As we travel this sod,
For I’m part of the family,
the family of God.
~ and when you pray, say, “Our Father..” ~
And if (we are) sons, then also (we are) heirs; heirs of God and co-heirs with Yeshua The Messiah, for if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him ~
~For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ~ (2 Corinthians 1:5)
~ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us (and in us) a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal ~
(what are you lookin’ at?)
Fix your Focus!!
~ Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith ~
Skip! This is off topic,i am studying youre Mathew teaching,and a question keeps comeing up in my mind.Is there a difference between kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God,or are both a term used for a relationship with Yah?
Brian,
It is reasonably clear in the Scriptures that kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven mean the same thing. Both Catholic and Protestant / Evangelical have done a great job of messing this theology up, though I do not doubt their sincerity. Fact is, their minds are veiled to the truth in this. I mean,why does the catholic church teach that the church is the kingdom of God since the second or third century as at that time, they experienced huge growth in spreading their apostate faith around the Roman Empire. The Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God???!!! What a joke to claim that – with their abominable history of corruption, sin and genocide. Who do they think they are fooling? Well, about a billion people plus, I guess! Protestantism is not much better with all their confusing teachings on the subject – most everything but the real truth. Plug ‘kingdom of God’ into a Google search and you will see what I mean.
Truth is, there is one Kingdom that Yahshua came to announce the first time around and that is His grand Millennial reign as “king of kings” here on planet earth for 1000 years. He will rule from Jerusalem with His first fruit resurrected saints. See Isaiah chapter 2, Daniel chapter 2, the synoptic gospels, Paul’s letters and Revelation etc etc etc The evidence is all over the Scriptures for those who have eyes to see that this is a literal physical kingdom on the earth with a mission to restore God’s theocracy and Torah to all of Planet Earth, and to prep the planet for the great white throne judgment at end of the Millennium. It will be a time and experience not to be missed, if you are being called to be a first fruit priest king:
“He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father;” (Rev.2:26-27)
The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom out of heaven coming down to be established on the earth, not a kingdom IN heaven. True followers of Yahshua should be leading Kingdom focused lives, living as bond slaves of Yahshua in this age, looking forward to the awesome age to come!
Amein, John!
Mustn’t miss the prep time we are in now! That is good, sound exhortation! Thank you.
Shalom!
I agree John
Psalm 114:2 “Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel HIS DOMINION.” His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven? This is one of the verses that settled it for me.
Hi Brian,
I’ve heard a lot of different explanations on this and they’re mostly pretty good. However, if you want to look at it in a different direction, here’s a consideration.
It’s been suggested that the difference between the term, Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven, is simply a consideration of the audience to which the letter was originally intended. (i.e. Jewish vs. gentile) I would however suggest that it goes a bit deeper than this.
Heaven(s) is a term that denotes “authority”, so that the term “Kingdom of Heaven” is relevant to (obviously) God’s authority. The alternate term, “Kingdom of God” refers to God Himself. That may sound a bit confusing insofar that God and His authority can’t be divided, however, if you think about it like this it may help. One certainly cannot experience God, in all His attributes, without experiencing the authority inherent in Him. However, one can certainly experience His Authority without experiencing God Himself. As an “unbeliever” or believer, if I act contrary to the Authority already placed in creation, I am in danger of being destroyed. Without repentance I may experience an “attribute of God, but not the very Presence of Him. (all His attributes, not only authority and justice, but mercy and grace for example)
If considered this way, the difference in terminology is between God revealing His authority to men and revealing His Presence to them.
Go back and track these terms through the gospels and see if it helps, and while I can’t assure you that it will satisfy your question, I can assure you of this. You’ll walk away with a lot more questions, and that’s a good thing.
YHWH bless you and keep you……
p.s. still waiting for Skip’s response. 🙂
and I also heard that they used the word “heaven ” as a substitute for the name of God, like many people use the word “Hashem” and this is also be related to the audience it was written to.
Hi Luzette,
Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in the Masoretic Text, in two books of the Hebrew Bible
In Job 1, we find him up in the Heaven with the Lord God and His sons
1-6 Now it happened on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, that Ha Satan also came among them.
7 The LORD said to Ha Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Ha Satan answered the LORD, and said, “From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”
8 The LORD said to Ha Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job?
Yes, that’s why it’s so interesting that Matthew uses both terms.
Hi Brian… I know that you have asked Skip but I have believed that the Kingdom of His dear Son ; the kingdom of GOD; and the kingdom of heaven are all and the same kingdom.
It is the elevated GOVT. of HIS kingdom above the earths kingdom.
The kingdom above and the kingdom below.
I now await Skip to answer you..smiles.
Redeem you – What does it mean to be redeemed? Who is our Redeemer?
~ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us in all wisdom and insight , having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself:…~ (Ephesians 1.6-8)
~ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ ~ (Ephesians 2:13)
Found in Ephesians 1:3-14, here are at least seven specific spiritual blessings that God has lavished upon those who are in Christ Jesus-
1. God has chosen us. (vs 4)
2. God has adopted us as His very own. (vs 5)
3. God has redeemed us from slavery to sin. (vs 7)
4. God has forgiven us of our sins. (vs 7)
5. God has made known to us the revelation of His purpose in history. (vss 9-10)
6. God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit. (13)
7. God has guaranteed our inheritance by His Spirit. (vs 14)
Who is our Redeemer? ~ Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good? ~ (Titus 2.14)
~ And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation ~ (Revelation 5.9)
Skip,
I love this topic of “redeem” and “bondslavery”. It should be taught more in the churches because of its profound implications.
I see Yahshua as the near kindsman, rather than the Father. Paul said in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.”
As I see Paul teaching in Galatians, Yahshua redeemed us and we agree to become his bondslave, meaning he now owns us and we are required to do the Master’s will rather than our own will. Otherwise we are reneging on our side of the deal and redemption is off, so to speak. But in a marvelous section of Galatians, Paul shows us what the Father is offering us bond slaves – HE is offering us SONSHIP:
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; 2 but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.”
(Gal.3:25 – Gal 4:7) RSV
A bondslave of Yahshua does not have to worry about having Abraham’s DNA in his veins! He is promised “sonship” and “heirship” and to follow later “priest kingship”. WOW! Do we have a great Father and elder brother, or what? What a royal future HE is promising to all who are faithful and true and endure to the end of the hell up ahead!
Thankyou one and all for youre coments this gives me something to chew on.
“Who are members of God’s family?”
Hmmm
It is important to know exactly who the members are
Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned in the God Father game
Is to never takes against the family
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpztPyZ5TH0
“This is not only the expected norm, it is also an example of deep cultural values.”
How I long for such family, cultural ties! No where in any nation is there such a cultural value.
The Elohim, YHWH Whom we bless and hopefully lift up in our daily walk is the most wonderful EL ever!
How blessed are we to be called into His Kingdom to be ultimately chosen as Sons and Daughters.
“Because He has a covenant family relationship with the patriarchs of Israel.”
Without a covenant with Him, there can be no Family relationship/ties, for sure.
Being grafted in, the covenant Avraham has with YHWH applies to us as well, making us the sons of Avraham.
“God redeems those who are connected to Him as members of the family.”
Members of YHWH’s Household abide by His House rules, of walking in ways that please Him, much more than simply accepting His chesed/grace and forgiveness, much more than having knowledge of Bible verses versus Scripture in the Hebrew language, and the right mindset of understanding them.
Joyful Sukkot!