13. My Envisioner

Names of God Meditations No.13:  My Envisioner

Prov 29:18 (Mg) ”If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.”

Envisioner? This is another of those words that does not appear in the descriptions of God, but which surely apply to Him, even as God is an Initiator. The reality is that God is working constantly to redeem His world, working to call us back to Himself and to live according to His design.

Initiating = Envisioning: So every time we see God in Scripture initiating something new with someone, He is envisioning them, sometimes directly, sometimes partially, and sometimes indirectly, bringing to them a new possibility.

Examples: Observe the Patriarchs. He comes to Abram and calls him to leave his home and go to a land that He will show him, (Gen 12:10), He gives him the possibility of his childlessness ending and becoming a great nation, (Gen 12:2), and an occupier of this new land for his descendants forever, (Gen 13:14,15). He gives Jacob a dream, (Gen 28:12), promising him blessing, (v.13-15). He gives Joseph prophetic dreams, (Gen 37), and leads him to become savior, not only of his family but of the whole region.

Later He calls Moses, (Ex 3 & 4), and gives him a vision of delivering Israel out from Egypt; at Sinai He gives His new people a vision of being His special people on the earth, (Ex 19:5,6). When eventually Israel want a king, He takes the initiative through Samuel to set Saul up, then when he fails, He calls David, (1 Sam 16). And so it goes on and on.

Vision includes Correction: Now one has to be realistic and acknowledge that often in the life of Israel, His words to them were of correction, rebuke, challenge, and warning. We see Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, all painting pictures for Israel, of the awful things that WILL happen if they continue in their apostasy. Envisioning can be corrective as well as simply portraying good outcomes, which is what we normally expect of such visions.

Vision = God’s will: But there is also a sense that whenever the Lord brings instructions, (the Law in the OT), He is also revealing His will, His design for His people, a vision, if you like, of what He wants for them. The Law of Moses very clearly does that, and all the teaching of the New Testament does that even more, revealing to us why Jesus died. It’s also what are now the possibilities opening to every person who will hear and respond to the Gospel, and then live according to the teaching of the apostles and prophets, and the guidance, direction, and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. ALL THE TIME He is laying out before us a vision of what can be, for visions always speak of the future, and reveal God’s desires for us.

Vision for the Church? So I wonder what sort of vision of Church life do we have? At one end of the spectrum there is the institutionalized Church with its great buildings and people in apparent positions of authority in unusual dress, and at the other end you have a small local congregation of believers who have received the Gospel and who meet together to share in it further.

Locally? But what is our vision, I wonder of the local congregation? Well at the very least it will be a place where the Lord raises up spiritual leaders of vision, who can see where He is calling them to go and be, leaders who are versed in the truths of Scripture and can convey them to the others. They will be people of prayer, people of compassion (as shepherds), people of authority who learn what spiritual warfare is about in order to protect and train their flock (as overseers); people of spiritual maturity and wisdom (as elders), people who are open to receive the wider ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist etc. (Eph 4:12) who will come with a stronger anointing (see Acts 19:1-6) of releasing and equipping.

In Worship: But how does the flock, the congregation, see itself, what vision has been conveyed to them? Are the worship leaders merely performers who lead the people in a happy, clappy time using religious words, or do they open heaven and lead the people in by the Spirit, to know the wonder, the beauty, and the power that comes when the people are open and available to the Spirit’s moving.

Participation: But are the congregation just there to watch and listen to others leading in prayer or are they just being fed the Scriptures, or do they leave lifted up with those truths:

– enabled to see who they are in Christ, seeing how they are part of the body of Christ,  

– empowered with Holy Spirit gifting, with ministries enabled and called by Him; part of the whole worshipping and ministering body, there to bring the blessing and the word of God to one another and to whoever might join them,

– to bring salvation, deliverance, releasing, healing and, yes, envisioning, through both the written word and the live revelatory word?

Is revelation able to be imparted regularly to both individuals, groups within the church, and indeed the whole church together? In other words is life imparted and is vision imparted that reveals more of what is on the Lord’s heart for us individually and corporately?

And So: THIS is what the Church SHOULD be but, tragically, in the West at least, if not elsewhere as well, it feels more like the days of Samuel “the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions,” (1 Sam 3:1) which should challenge us to see that the ‘word’ of the Lord is all about revealing and applying and living God’s truth, and that is all about bringing change and transformation. Vision reveals the possibilities of me being transformed, you being transformed, the Church being transformed, and then the world being transformed. Oh yes, God is an ‘envisioner’!

12. My Challenger

Names of God Meditations No.12:  My Challenger

1 Kings 19:3,9  “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life…. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

God the Challenger: Now just in case the modern cynic may say, in the light of the previous study about God being out Comforter, that Christianity is all about personal comfort and ease, we perhaps need to bring a balance that shows the bigger picture. Now nowhere in my Bible do I find the word ‘challenge’ or ‘challenger’ in respect of God, but I would suggest that any careful reading of Scripture reveals Him as just such a Being. He does not let us sit on our laurels, so to speak, but challenges us because He always has something better for us.

Scriptural Challenge: When we take one of the phrases we’ve considered previously, that “God knows best”, hang that above what we know of the human race – we’re always falling short (Rom 3:23) – and it is no surprise that the apostle Paul says that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. Indeed we might say that a function of Scripture is to challenge us to get our lives in line with God’s will.

Examples: In fact we might go further and suggest that there are various New Testament scriptures that challenge us. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” (Mt 6:33), a challenge to put God’s will first. This is followed by, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,” (v.34), a challenge not to worry which is echoed in Phil 4:6. Or there is, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” (Rom 12:1,2), bringing challenges to live lives of sacrifice and right thinking. Perhaps one more, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” (Phil 2:10), a challenge to comply with God’s preplanned will for us, and we could add lots more.

Command = Challenge: Of course all we have been doing is laying out just a few of the commands or instructions that come from heaven as to how we are to live our lives, everyone a challenge. Each of these things may come to us as a small question from heaven – or a major ultimatum, depending on how confident we are in God’s love.

Conversion Challenge: When we have reigned supreme in our life up to the point when the Holy Spirit first brings conviction and challenge, that leads us to submit our lives to Christ bringing conversion. Unless that conviction comes clear and strong, we will have difficulty overcoming the objections of ‘self’. It is always a challenge when the gospel is first presented.

Sanctification Challenge: But something many of us have never realized is that that initial challenge is but the first challenge. Sanctification means the gradual change to conform our lives to Christ and that change will continue right the way through our lives until we go to heaven. God is so often gentle with us and knows that if He poured out all the things in us that needed changing, we would become discouraged and flee, and so there is a sense where He drip-feeds these changes on us when He sees we can handle them without fleeing.  At this moment I am sure there are no doubt things that stop me being perfect, yet perfection is His call on my life (Mt 5:48) and so it becomes a general aim that will take the rest of my life.

Perception challenges: There will be times when He sees us and knows we are ready to face a challenge, and this is what happened in respect of Elijah in our starter verse. There he was, exhausted after a major spiritual battle and then a subsequent threat, and when God challenged him, he declares he is the only believer left in the country, (1 Kings 19:14), and the Lord has to correct his wrong perception (v.18). Again and again we struggle with wrong perceptions about the Lord, about ourselves, about others or about the state of the world around us, and the challenge comes in order to realign us with the truth.

Part of Christian life: So yes, He is a constant, or at least regular, challenger of His children because He is constantly seeking to bring us in line with the truth. So don’t be put off by this concept, we need Him to challenge us and correct us, to stop us getting in a mess from having wrong ideas or maintaining wrong behaviour. Oh yes, just one more thing: when He challenges us with His word and His will, the wise person obeys and conforms!   

11. My Comforter (2)

Names of God Meditations No.11:  My Comforter (2)

2 Cor 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all COMFORT.”

Moving On: In the previous study I focused on the possibly unusual approach of thinking about our need for comfort in respect of coping with the ‘bad news’ that so often adorns our TV screens with the news. Now  I realise that there may be some who are struggling with the anguishes of life which, at the time, vastly outweigh the things covered in that previous study. I say ‘at the time’ because when we suffer deep anguish, and we’ll look at causes in a moment, such things cannot be dealt with by some trite words.

Facing Anguish: We perhaps need to face this reality, that sometimes things happen in life that really cause such deep anguish that at the moment no words will diminish the pain. Job’s comforters, although getting things wrong later, at least started off well by sitting with Job in silence for a whole week (Job 2:13) “they saw how great his suffering was.” (v.13c) I think we can sometimes be a bit clueless when it comes to observing the pain of others, but if you have just lost a new-born baby, a child at whatever age, or your partner who you’ve spent a lifetime with, the anguish can be so deep that trying to explain how it fits ‘God’s will’ is a waste of time – for the moment. It may be in a year’s time, that some semblance of sense may come but for the moment, as with poor old Job, words won’t help; there is just pain.

Don’t be trite: With this said, I suspect anything I write here about God’s comfort will be largely for those not in such a depth of anguish, or for those who might find themselves in the role of comforter. If you are in the latter category, be warned that well-meaning words such as, “I know just what you are going through because I went through it,” are going to sound trite and meaningless to the one in anguish. Their pain is unique to them, don’t try and emulate it. Simply express love, concern, and sympathy.

God’s Comfort: So am I saying God can’t comfort such people? Definitely not, but I believe this tends to be somewhat an area of mystery. How does God comfort? Well, no doubt in numerous ways but my feeling is that somehow the Lord intimately draws alongside us in such times in inexplicable ways that bypass mere words. Somehow His very presence, which always emanates peace, seems to be able to envelope us. Yes, the pain is still there but somehow the anguish seems like it is being absorbed by His Presence. He, of course has known anguish, as He look on the torture and death of His perfect Son at the hands of sinful mankind. He knew what it was to be separated and to lose the apple of His eye (Psa 17:8)

The shadow of death: David, shepherd boy and psalmist, knew something of this in his often-difficult life: “Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.” (Psa 23:4 Amp).  Death isn’t our portion, but its shadow hangs over us as we have to walk this current path, but somehow, we sense God is walking it with us, somehow – yes, in inexplicable ways – we have a sense of His guiding hand over us, a hand that also protects us in our feelings of vulnerability. Our enemy may be death and grief may threaten to overwhelm us, yet again with Moses we sense that, “The eternal God is your refuge and underneath, are the everlasting arms.” (Deut 33:27).

Scriptural comfort: These things aren’t rational; at such times we don’t work these things out with our intellect, yet deep down we know these truths and maybe can cry, “The eternal God is my refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Psa 57:1) Just maybe some of your experiences with Him from the past, bring echoes into the present: “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life,” (Psa 119:50) indeed somehow, almost mysteriously we sense a reality that enables us to pray, “May your unfailing love be my comfort,” (Psa 119:76), remembering that the Messiah comes “to comfort all who mourn.” (Isa 61:2)

Yes, the apostle Paul refers to our God as “the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials,” (2 Cor 1:3 TLB) but when a friend just draws us to themselves and hugs and holds us in silence, it’s not a time for long descriptions, just of experiencing it. Yes, He is our Comforter, wonderfully, marvelously, inexplicably. Thank you, Lord.

10. My Comforter (1)

‘Names of God Meditations No.10:  My Comforter (1)

2 Cor 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all COMFORT.”

New focus or… Now you might think it strange that we turn to the God of Comfort after we have just done two studies on the God who is Sovereign Lord,  but there is a chain of thoughts here that I find increasingly requires me to know God in this way. (I will deal with the usual applications of ‘comfort’ in the next study but this one will have a wider focus.)

Recap-Continuation: Consider, we have been thinking of God who is sovereign, who has both the authority and power to do as He will. Yesterday we considered the God who dealt with ‘big men’ (at least in their own eyes) and brought them down to the level of the rest of us, feeling very human and weak. He can do that. In passing we might note that at times He surprises us with His compassion for those who fit those descriptions but are needy. I think of Naaman, army commander of Aram who had to go cap in hand, so to speak,(if not a bit belligerently) to see if Elisha could heal him of his leprosy – and he did! But perhaps it is whenever repentance and humility go hand in hand that God delights to help and bring change.

And Jesus who reigns: But I also add into this equation the fact that there is a prophetic word in the psalms about the coming Messiah – “The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.  The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” (Psa 110:1,2) and then I turn to 1 Cor 15 where, speaking of Jesus, I read, “the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor 15:24,25) So Jesus, under his Father, is Sovereign in this world, ruling in the midst of his enemies, working to bring the rule of the kingdom of God into being on the earth.

Extending the need: Now this isn’t about the usual things we think of when we need comfort, when things are going wrong in our lives, illnesses, accidents, mishaps, losses of jobs, relational upsets. Yes, we need His comfort in all those things and He brings it when we turn to Him, but I want to lift our eyes higher than such things because IF we do genuinely take in these things that the Bible says about His Lordship, we find ourselves with a problem and I think it is one that  believers and unbelievers alike struggle with – His inactivity.

God’s Inactivity? When I see the things of the world going wrong, and clearly appearing to get worse, I am tempted to doubt, to grumble and to wonder – where is this Supreme Sovereign God who can speak a word and a man is driven mad, or can send angelic armies to deal with enemies, why isn’t He acting to bring godliness and righteousness into His world, it would be so easy for Him? Then I realise I am forgetting several things that Scripture seems very clear about

i) The curse of free will:. The first is that God has given mankind free will; that is the cost of allowing us to be human with great potential for good AND bad, and it’s the bad bits that cause the rest of us anguish, whether it is atheistic despots of an atheistic religion in Europe, or culture-war divisive angst in America. We look at these goings on – which in the past decade seem to get worse and worse – and wonder, where are you Lord? I need some intellectual and emotional comforting.

ii) Judgement? But then, second, there is the Bible’s teaching that God judges unrighteousness but that is not only unrighteousness of communist regimes, or pseudo-religious extremist regimes, but also of materialistic so-called democracies who are equally good at ignoring God. But Paul taught us (Rom 1 and the whole book of Judges) that God often brings judgment by simply removing His hand of restraint off a society, nation, or continent, and letting the foolish sinfulness of mankind run amok, bringing self-destructive pain upon itself until it comes to its senses and cries out to Him. It’s NOT Him, it’s US! So when I see all this folly, I need comforting.

iii) We were warned! And then, third, of course, it is all written there as a warning in the book of Revelation. Yes, it has Jesus, the Lamb of God (Ch.5) opening the scrolls of end-time history and overseeing it all and working into it (so people are still being saved and the saints still being built up, and who knows what else he might be doing behind the scenes), but it doesn’t make it any easier to handle. I still need the comfort of the Father who just brings these reminders and allows me to know the comfort of His presence and His ongoing words of assurance.   

And so: So when I see the daily news pouring out more about the world’s conflicts, literal wars and wars of words, it brings me back to what we considered earlier about Him being my Rock and my Fortress and as I wait in His presence, both those realities become clearer and peace descends and just maybe, sometimes, wisdom to know not only how to handle it, but perhaps contribute good into the middle of the mess that is modern so-called civilizations. He IS my Comforter.   

9. Sovereign Lord

Names of God Meditations No.9: Sovereign Lord

Psa 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

Recap & Continuation: We started on God as Lord yesterday as a background, if you like, to Him also being our leader, seen most clearly through Jesus and his disciples. But now I want to consider a wider aspect, if I may put it like that, of His Lordship. We’ve noted previously that when printed with capital letters, LORD refers to His disclosure as the “I AM”, the eternal one, and that seems to strengthen more simply the Hebrew word that is used in other places for ‘Lord’, Adonai, which, as we said before, speaks of His power and authority and ownership of His people.

Sovereign: After Melchizedek (Gen 14:9) had blessed Abram using God’s description, Abram himself took hold of that name: “Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,” (v.22) linking the name of “I AM” with the compound name, comprised of ‘El’ (which simply means God in Hebrew) with ‘Elyon’ meaning ‘Highest’ or ‘God Most High’ AND then ‘Creator’. It thus emphasizes God’s supremacy, transcendence, and sovereignty over all other gods and powers (Psalm 47:2), the ultimate and only true God, Lord of all, and creator of all.

Assurance & Challenge: Now in terms of personal application, as we considered in the previous study, this should both reassure us that we have a relationship with the One who is unchanging, and challenge us, in that He is all-wise and all knowing (as well as all-powerful) and therefore, without doubt, “knows best!”

His dealings with humanity: But I now want us to go further and consider what the Bible tells us about His authority and power in the way He deals with people. He reaches out to all of us to redeem us from our sin, from ourselves, and from our submission to the enemy. The NLV says it well: “The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” (Isa 57:15)

But then that doesn’t just apply to the ordinary people, the common citizens but also rulers, and the Bible gives us four good examples of His might and abilities.

i) Pharaoh: The first example is that of Pharoah who withstood Moses. His problem was that he was all powerful (he thought), possibly a god, and certainly occult-driven. Therefore he brooks no opposition and when Moses starts coming with the request from God, “Let my people go,” (Ex 5:1, 7:16. 8:1,20, 9:1,13) he resists, even when the plagues start – and get worse and worse. The end of the story is that he assumes he can take advantage of a miracle (the Red Sea being held back) and perishes. God is Lord of all.

ii) Nebuchadnezzar: The second example is that of Nebuchadnezzar who similarly thinks that he is all powerful but God sees his potential and he appears to have lost his mind for a year (Dan 4:28-34), i.e. was driven mad, and is then restored and praises the Lord (v.34,35). Pliable in the hands of the Lord Almighty.

iii) Manasseh: The third example was Manasseh who was spiritually the worst king going (2 Kings 21:1-16), and so was given over by the Lord to the Assyrians, in a pitiable state (2 Chron 33:10,11), where he eventually, amazingly, completely repented and the Lord took him back to Israel where he worked to restore the Land to the Lord (v.12-16). Again pliable.

iv) Cyrus: But then the fourth example has to be that of powerful Cyrus of Persia who took over Babylon and found himself simply being prompted by the Lord to end the Exile and send Israel back to their land to rebuild the temple, previously destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (in his earlier days.) A man who could apparently be easily prompted by the Lord.

Different expressions of power: In each of these four examples we find the Lord exercising power: plagues for Pharaoh, madness for Nebuchadnezzar, painful exile for Manasseh, and gentle nudging for Cyrus, to bring about His desired end goals – the blessing of His people.

God knows: Before we finish, a brief mention of Joseph in the New Testament, who always amazes me with his openness to being led simply by dreams. The point is that the Sovereign Lord knows exactly what it needs to prompt His servants, from dreams and a gentle nudge, to much more severe impositions!

And so: This leaves me with complete confidence in the Lord who knows exactly what I need, how much and when to encourage me on, and His guidance, correction, and teaching always comes with a helping of love. Hallelujah!  

8. My Lord & Leader

Names of God Meditations No.8: My Lord & Leader

2 Chron 13:12  “God is with us; he is our leader.”

Leaders? It is interesting to note that the word ‘leader’ or ‘leaders’ occurs nearly 280 times in the NIV and yet in a search the above verse is the only one I can find that calls God our leader. But this large number of uses of the word shows us that God has delegated leadership of people to other people; there will always be a need for someone to rise up and lead, as the many examples in the book of Judges show us.

God who leads: But the fact is that God IS a leader. He led the people of Israel through the wilderness (Ex 13:21) and he showed them where to go and when to move. The fact is that again and again, the Lord called people and directed them (e.g. Abram, Moses) and they followed His calling and found He was with them the whole way. When we come to observe the Son of God with his disciples, we see his call to them was, “Come, follow me,” (Mt 4:19) and “At once they left their nets and followed him.” (v.20) i.e. he led them. Discipleship is all about following Jesus, about being led by him.

Trustworthy leader: But there is something about the Father and the Son being leaders that is different from any human leadership – they know everything (about us and the world, and not only what could happen but what will happen) and their wisdom is unlimited, so link that to the fact of their love, and we see that they are utterly trustworthy, never making a mistake.

Lord: Now when we add a further factor to all this, that the Bible reveals to us, that God is all-powerful and has no limitations beyond those He imposes on Himself (e.g. that rain falls not rises), putting all these things together, there is only one word to describe God – Lord. The use of ‘Lord’ speaks of His sovereignty, His authority, His power, that makes Him unique, unlike anyone or anything else we know of in all of existence.

Human versus Divine: Also when we might speak of someone as ‘Lord’ we are acknowledging they are the supreme ruler or controller. If it is used of a human it is always very limited; they may rule as long as they remain alive and as long as their people tolerate their rule, but when it comes to God there is no limitation to His Lordship for He is eternal and His power and wisdom are unlimited and never change. It is no wonder that heaven acclaims Him, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.“ (Rev 4:11)

So why do we take time to ponder such things? Well I suggest there are two main reasons, and bear in mind it is in the light of all the revelation from the Bible that we have referred to so far.

He knows best: The first might be summed up as, “He knows best!” Now we describe Sin as self-centred godlessness because our thinking, before we submit to Christ, is both self-centred (not God-centred) and godless (we ignore or reject Him). Now do you see how this conflicts with, “He knows best”? So often children are in conflict with their parents because the parents, with years of experience and knowledge, act on the basis of “we know best” and that is a challenge, especially to teenagers being brought up on an information world who think they know more than their non-tech-savvy parents, but that fails to realise that ‘wisdom’ is far more than gathering data. And so we fallible human beings get deceived into thinking, “I know best” and so we ignore God – to our peril. And the world reveals that in every direction.

Trustworthy, again: But there is also a second reason why we should ponder these things: because He is utterly trustworthy. So teenagers might see the mess of life their parents are making, or very simply challenge whether they do indeed ‘know best’, but when it comes to God, if we will believe what the Bible says of God from cover to cover, then we will trust Him, and when we consider He IS love (1 Jn 4:8,16 & Ex 34:6,5, Num 14:18, Neh 9:17, Psa 86:5,15, 103:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2), clearly testified to again and again in the Scriptures, we have every reason to trust Him and have utter confidence in Him.

A Tricky Necessity: When we first turned to Christ, we surrendered to him as both Saviour and Lord. In fact he can’t go on saving us (as a daily operation) if we don’t let him be Lord. It’s when we forget him things go wrong. The example of Jesus’ disciples with him is both helpful and not. It is helpful in that it shows us that Jesus led and they followed; very clearly that’s how it worked. But when it comes to us and thinking how we may apply that, mostly we do not get a call to leave our jobs and so aren’t going around following a physical Jesus. Instead we have to allow his Holy Spirit to lead us and that is very much a case of learning to be sensitive to Him and being alert to His leading. This we will do to the best of our current ability (because hopefully we will get better at it as the years pass), but it only becomes easier with time. Nevertheless, He is ‘the God who leads’.

7. My Redeemer

Names of God Meditations No.7: My Redeemer

Job 19:25 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”

Oldest reference? As with all of these descriptive-title names of God they have their origins in the Old Testament and are then brought into New Testament usage. Job’s amazing declaration in our starter verse would appear to be the oldest appearance of the concept, as many scholars think it is the oldest book in the Bible. As he faced death he came out with this incredible statement, incredible in that he had nothing previously to base it upon. The historical contexts for the word is seen in the Exodus and the Law of Moses that followed on there.

Moses again: In Moses’ song of triumph after the Passover, it declares, “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.” (Ex 15:13) Later, again in the context of the Exodus the psalmist wrote, “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer,”  (Psa 78:35) both verses speaking of how God had brought them out of Egypt by the death of a lamb.

In the Law: The concept of redemption arises in the Law of Moses in respect of servants (Ex 21:8) although the ‘redemption’ referred to appears to be without money, so it simply means being set free, and also generally in respect of slavery or servitude (Lev 25). It also applied to selling certain property (Lev 25:30,31).

Guardian-Redeemer: However, perhaps the strongest and clearest use of the concept arises in the short book of Ruth where it appears NINE times, such as, “I am a guardian-redeemer of our family,” (Ruth 3:12), words spoken by Boaz as the head of their family. The concept meant the guardian-redeemer was to provide an heir for a deceased brother or close relative This meant that the guardian-redeemer might marry the widow, ensuring the continuation of the family line (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). He was ‘redeeming’ her by his own life, giving himself to ensure an honourable future for her.

And Isaiah: When Israel were in trouble, Isaiah brought a word that was supposed to be encouragement that even though they were currently in a bad position, the Lord would redeem them: “Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isa 41:14). A little later, prophesying about the Exile that would happen some way into the future, he declared, “This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride”. (Isa 43:14). So in all these cases the concept of ‘deliverance’ is expanded upon, in that redemption always involved a person, the redeemer.

Christ & Redemption: Thus when we come to the New Testament and Christ’s work on the Cross, we find both Paul and Peter applying this concept to Christ: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us;” (Gal 3:13), and, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  (1 Pet 1:18,19).

Old Example: Preachers have long used the example of the old fashioned pawnbroker where a person could come and hand over an item in return for money (a loan) and could then later come back and ‘redeem’ the article by paying back the money with interest. In every case there are a number of commonalities or features in what was happening.

Features: First in the biblical examples there are always people (or property) that have been sold into servitude – Israel into slavery in Egypt, servants into service, Israel into slavery in Babylon. The apostle Paul is adamant in his teaching that before we came to Christ, we were slaves to Sin: “the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (Rom 6:6) and later, “though you used to be slaves to sin…” (v.17) and, “When you were slaves to sin…” (v.20). In chapter 7 of Romans Paul spells out how he wanted to be good but Sin within him stopped him so eventually he comes out with that almost desperate cry, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body?” (7:24)

Second, there is always a deliverer or redeemer. Then comes his answer for Paul, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v.25) and in chapter 8 he explains how that works.

And so: The truth is that without Christ, I can be a wreck. I needed him to save me over fifty years back, and I have needed him to save me every day since. Things go wrong when I do my own thing without reference to him and when I ignore his word, and that’s apart from the stuff the enemy will try to dump on me that we considered earlier when we thought about the Lord being my fortress. No, I need a saviour today and every day I have on this planet – and you do too!

6. My Saviour

Names of God Meditations No.6: My Saviour

2 Sam 22:3 “He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour.”

Psa 18:46 “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Saviour!”

Saviour uses: As Christians we tend to always focus the word ‘Saviour’ on Jesus (and rightly so) but actually the concept of God being Israel’s Saviour is used 35 times in the Old Testament in the NIV and only 24 times in the New. So we’ll come to Jesus shortly but for the moment, I want to focus on the wider picture of God being Israel’s Saviour.

Moses’ Song: In Deut 31 the Lord is getting Moses to prepare Israel for when he will soon leave them and the Lord gives Moses a song to teach them that will challenge them in the days to come when they forsake Him. It will remind them of what had happened, and in that song was the line, “They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Saviour.” (Deut 32:15)

Israel’s Experience: In their present context, the concept of God being their Saviour must refer back to ALL He had done for them so far – delivering them from Egypt, leading them to triumph over enemies who had sought to withstand them as they made their way up the east side of the Dead Sea until they arrived there on the Plains of Moab, getting ready to enter the Land. The song will come to their remembrance and on their lips in years to come when, having turned from God they were being oppressed by enemies. In those times of discipline, for that is what they would be, they would not think He was their Saviour, only in the past, but the truth was that that disciplining was in order to save them and get them back into a place of safety and security with their Lord – who was always there for them.

More Examples: So in this picture we see the concept of Saviour being used to speak of God’s initial deliverance out of slavery, His acts of provision in the desert, His giving them victory over their enemies, AND indeed His acts of discipline when they had turned from Him. The use of the word ‘Saviour’ is much bigger, therefore, than simply that initial act of deliverance.

Jesus our Saviour: Now when we turn to Jesus in the New Testament, we first see an angel declaring to shepherds, “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord,” (Lk 2:11), telling them that down in Bethlehem they will find their long-expected Messiah who is also their Saviour. In Samaria, some of the Samaritans testified to the woman who had met Jesus, “now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.” (Jn 4:42) Wow, not just the Messiah of the Jews, but the Saviour for the whole world!

Paul with Timothy & Titus: Intriguingly when Paul is writing to Timothy he refers to God as their Saviour, several times (1 Tim 1:1, 2:3, 4:10) as well as Jesus (2 Tim 1:10), so as a good Jew he is still holding on to that concept that it is God the Father who is our Saviour and the Son is His instrument to bring it to us. Similarly when Paul writes to Titus, he alternates between ‘God our saviour’ (Titus 1:3, 2:10,13, 3:4) and Jesus our Saviour (Tit 1:4, 3:6).

And others: Peter in his writing is more inclined to simply refer to Jesus our Saviour (2 Pet 1:11, 2;20, 3:18). John sums it up, “the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.” (1 Jn 4:14)

Save from? Now of course of any talk about Saviour of the whole world, takes the concept of Saviour beyond purely a Messiah (deliverer) of the Jews and there is a further clue when we read, “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins,” (Mt 1:21) for this suggests that he is not coming to save his people from their oppressors but from themselves. Do you remember back in Study No.4 we cited the Message version of Mt 6:16: “Keep us safe from ourselves.” The truth is we need saving from ourselves. Paul in Eph 2 spells out our state before we were saved by Christ: spiritually dead because of disobeying God (v.1), living a life of sin led by Satan (v.2), being led by our own desires, and subjects of God’s anger (v.3). Yes, we really did need saving from all that.

Forgiveness: Jesus himself was later to tell the disciples at the Last Supper, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:28) This subject of our sins and needing forgiveness comes up a surprising number of times in the New Testament (Mt 1:21, 3:6, 6:15, 9:2, 18:15, 26:28, [and the other Synoptics], Jn 8:24,34, 20:23, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, 22:16, 26:18, 1 Cor 15:3, 2 Cor 5:19, Gal 1:4, Eph 1:17, 2:1, Col 1:14, 2:13, Heb 1:13, 2:17, 8:12, 9:15,28, 1 Pet 2:24, 3:18, 1 Jn 1:9, 2:2,12, 3:5, 4:10, Rev 1:5) The message should come over loud and clear. We may not be conscious of them, often because so much worse goes on around us, but the truth is that ALL of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s goodness (Rom 3:23).

Personal: OK, let’s be honest and personal. Much of the time I am a nice guy and I am not aware of being a sinner but, like Paul who described himself as the “worst of sinners” (1 Tim 1:16), I know what I’m really like, the propensity to be godlessly self-centred lurking there in the background, and like Paul I know I have to consciously put these things to death (Rom 6:12, Col 3:5, Eph 4:25-32). I need him to save me daily, to keep me from the old ‘me’, to live in the newness of his Holy Spirit. Yesterday, today and all my tomorrows until he calls me home.

The Lifeboat: I still think the old lifeboat illustration is the best. I was on a ship floundering at sea and the lifeboat came alongside and took me off. I was saved. As it fought back to shore through the waves, I was being saved. When we got to shore, I was well and truly Saved. Yes, Jesus saved me when I first turned to him; now I am being saved, and when he takes me to heaven, I will be well and truly saved. Hallelujah!

5. My Deliverer

Names of God Meditations No.5: My Deliverer

Psa 40:17 “You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God.”

And Deliverer: This morning in prayer, I found myself declaring, “you are my rock, my fortress, my deliverer”, and I realised I hadn’t factored ‘deliverer’ into these studies: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.” (Psa 18:2). Admittedly the noun ‘deliverer’ doesn’t come up as many times (just 13 in the NIV) but the verb ‘delivered’ comes up 84 times, for it is an action that figured greatly in Israel’s life.

Biblical examples: We see ‘deliverer’ first in Judges where twice we are told of God, “he raised up for them a deliverer,” (Jud 3:9) and “he gave them a deliverer” (Jud 3:15). Later when Israel, because of their disobedience, were under the pressure of Aram (from the north), when Jehoahaz sought the Lord, the Lord used him as a deliverer from Aram (2 Kings 13:4,5). After the Exile, back in their land in a time of restoration they prayed out the goodness of the Lord, recognising that He had sent them deliverers. (Neh 9:27).

The ’Big Events’: But the big events of Israel were seen as deliverances, for example from slavery in Egypt (Jud 6:8,9, 1 Sam 10:18, Jude 1:15). Although the word does not appear to be used of the Exile, it is surely what happened (2 Chron 36:22,23). In the Exodus the Lord moved on the heart of a rebellious man who rejected Him, but in the Exile He moved on the heart of a compliant king who set Israel free to return home. In both cases they were deliverances instigated by the Lord.

Familiar uses: Through Israel’s history deliverance was seen in operation. Israel delivered oppressed neighbours from the Philistines (1 Sam 7:14), David was seen, on the run, being delivered out of the hands of Saul (2 Sam 12:7, 21:1, Psa 18 intro), Job saw the Lord delivering him from death (Job 33:28) and Daniel saw that in the End Time, “everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered.” (Dan 12:1)

In the New Testament Jesus predicts he will be ‘delivered’ into the hands of men who will crucify him. (Mt 17:22, 20:18, 26:45, also Rom 4:25). Paul spoke of being delivered from death (2 Cor 1:9,10).

Meaning: Again and again the word is used to refer to a rescue, escape or liberation from one world (slavery and oppression and death) to another world (freedom and life) and invariably in the biblical context it is brought about by the Lord. Often the word deliverance is not actually used, but what is being described is nothing less than a deliverance, e.g. “he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son,” (Col 1:13) delivered out of, delivered into. Indeed the NKJV and one or two other version use that word.

Again Paul’s longer description of what has happened to us in Eph 2:1-10 doesn’t even hint at the word but describing the work of God – making us alive, raising us up, saving us – all speak of a transforming deliverance from the old life to a new life. If that isn’t deliverance I don’t know what is!

Personal: I said at the beginning of this series I would like to provide illustrations and personal examples, but that is easier to do with the ’big change’ than daily ones. So when I compare my life before I came to Christ to my life after it, I can clearly see it was without question a deliverance from one to the other, that HE brought about. That refers not only to locality (He moved me across the country) but also to the type of person I was, and to the goals and aspirations and experiences I had and now have.

Difficulties: If we have an obvious miraculous escape of some kind, it is easy to speak of deliverance but the protective, guiding (yes, even delivering) hand of God is not always so easy to discern. I have often said that at various times in my life big changes took place but at the time I was often not conscious of God’s guiding direction, but years later when I look back, I can see that it was clearly the hand of God leading, guiding and directing. Assessing the present is often difficult, assessing from a distance is easier.

And yet: Yet there are things that I am sure the Lord has done for me, but I will cover them in a later study on God’s Provision, for I think they fit better there. I know there have been times when I have been driving in bad conditions on a motorway, say, when it was almost impossible to see more than the car immediately ahead, and we’re all travelling at seventy miles an hour in solid traffic and no one felt able to slow down. At such times I came out of the car later giving thanks for deliverance from a dire accident. Did the Lord protect me? Well I’m still alive, and I’m just grateful to Him for that.

The Big Deliverance: So yes, He has delivered me from my old life of sin, He has delivered me from past goals etc., He has delivered me into a good life, a blessed life, a contented life, all things I didn’t have before I came to Christ. Daily I continue to rejoice in these things, so yes, they still continue to flow from heaven, I have been delivered INTO the kingdom of the Son who gave his life for me, and who is working daily (Rom 8:28) to bless me, and is working to deliver me into heaven one day, and for all that I am indescribably grateful. So yes, He is my Deliverer! Hallelujah!    

4. My Fortress

Names of God Meditations No.4: My Fortress

Psa 46:7  “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Fortress & Rock: The word ‘fortress’ appears 61 times in the NIV, sometimes as a literal stronghold (e.g. 2 Sam 5:9) but often as a description of the Lord, sometimes in a direct link with ‘rock’ (e.g. Psa 18:2, 2 Sam 22:2, Isa 17:10). However, there is a difference between a rock and a fortress. You stand on a rock – secure above the crashing waves – but you live in a fortress, a fortified stronghold, a secure home. Jerusalem was described as David’s fortress (2 Sam 5:9), a place easily defended by thick, strong, high walls. And that is the difference between the rock we considered yesterday and the fortress we now consider.

A Rock speaks of enduring solidity and in the previous study we linked the fact of the Lord being a relational God with His self-revelation, as the ‘I AM’, the everlasting unmovable one. The rock provides a stability and security for us when the ground under our feet feels like it is shifting. A fortress brings us safety and security against enemies! Yes, it is solid, lasting and unmovable, but the big thing is that it protects us from whoever would come against us.

Enemies & Warfare: This takes us into the realization that there are enemies that, for us, are spiritual, even though they may be manifest in human beings. Never forget that Jesus taught us to pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” (Mt 6:13 NIV) or, “Do not let us be tempted, but keep us from sin.” (NLV) A clear reminder there is a spiritual war.

Our ultimate enemy is Satan who is a deceiver, tempter, accuser, and destroyer, and it is because of him and his followers that the apostle Paul calls us to put on spiritual armour (Eph 6). Indeed Paul gives us a clue to the primary way the enemy works when he exhorts us to, “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Eph 6:16).

Now step back a moment and note that earlier Paul had followed a logical flow, starting with, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes,” (v.11) and then, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then.” (v.13,14).

Standing your Ground: I realise we will be mixing metaphors here after referring to a fortress, but this idea of ‘standing your ground’ gives me the sense that it is like the property that I own and live in. It’s ‘my’ ground and has a fence around it, and in spiritual terms this ‘ground’ is my salvation, which Jesus has earned for me on the cross, and it’s all about truth – AND Satan is not allowed in there. All he can do is stand on the other side of the fence and shout lies over it. That is his ‘scheme’ or strategy (v.11 above) and that’s all he can do while I take my stand on this ground or, changing the metaphor, while I remain in this stronghold that is the Lord.

Impregnable: Now put these things together and see the picture as Satan firing flaming arrows against the fortress. Of course it has a strong roof and so all he is left doing is firing these lies against the impregnable walls, hoping we will take flight, come out and be brought down by those flaming lies.

Enemy Arrows: What are those flaming arrows, the things he fires at us, the things he shouts over the fence?  Well, there are pure outright lies – “God doesn’t love you, I’m stronger than Him, I’ll get you, even in there!” Or maybe there are doubts – “Really? You think you are safe there? You think I can’t send my agents to get you?” Or maybe it is out-of-date-guilt – “Ha, I know your history, I know what you did, you blew it, a total mess-up, you’re doomed because of your guilt, there’s no way out of this for you.” Or maybe it is shame – “Do you know what people think about you – failure! Pious prig! Snob! You’re a joke!”  Enough!

Kingdom ground: The land we’re living in, the kingdom, ‘my’ ground, my fortress, is all about truth. Yes, I am a failure but a redeemed one, one who Jesus died for, one whose sins have been washed away, one who is now designated a ‘child of God’, a receiver of the love of God. So we ignore these flaming arrows; they can’t hurt us in here, in fact we can laugh at them, for here inside the love of God, I can just turn my back on them and enjoy the love of God, enjoy what He thinks about me – His child – enjoy His provision for me today, blessed. ‘In Christ’, in this fortress, I am secure, loved and blessed and Satan’s endeavours are to no avail – as long as I remain ‘in Him’. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Psa 23:5) Wow, fellowship with Him.

And so: To conclude, the Message version of the Lord’s Prayer in Mt 6 has the verse 13 we considered, rendered as , “Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.” A good summary, for not only do we have an adversary, but we ourselves can be our own worst enemies if we fail to heed the wonderful word of God and the promptings of His Spirit. But the Lord is always there helping us; how wonderful! Hallelujah!