salvation

The power of the grave

In the book of Hosea, God used the analogy of a marriage to depict his relationship with the nation of Israel so that his people would understand he wanted a personal relationship with them. The prophet Hosea was chosen to model that relationship and was told to marry an adultress because Israel had been unfaithful to God and did not deserve his mercy. The only way Hosea could model God’s love effectively was to forgive his wife and redeem her from a life of prostitution.

The story of Hosea’s wife was meant to portray God’s redemption of his people, but it also showed his people that God’s love was not dependent on their behavior. In spite of their wickedness, God intended to fulfill his promise to king David that he would establish David’s throne for ever (1 Chronicles 17:12). In order to do that, God had to not only forgive his people, but provide a way for them to live eternally. Through Hosea, the LORD declared, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death” (Hosea 13:14).

As when Hosea bought his wife Gomer for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley (Hosea 3:3), God planned to ransom his people. The Hebrew word translated ransom, padah indicates that some intervening or substitutionary action effects a release from an undesirable condition…When God is the subject of padah, the word emphasizes His complete, sovereign freedom to liberate human beings” (6299). Rather than taking away his children’s freedom to choose sin, God intended to take away Satan’s ability to punish them for it.

The power of the grave was the power of Satan to separate someone from the love of God. Sin was the key that enabled Satan to lock a person in the prison called hell, or the grave. Satan was given the key to hell when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5-6), but God told them he would one day take that power away (Genesis 3:15). The message God communicated through Hosea was that the day of their redemption was about to arrive.

Although Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection was still hundreds of years away when Hosea spoke to Israel, the events were relatively close compared to the thousands of years that had transpired since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. As if Hosea had a clear picture of the process of salvation, he stated, “O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously” (Hosea 14:1-2).

The problem of sin

Israel’s first act of idolatry occurred shortly after they had been brought out of Egypt. While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving God’s commandments, his brother Aaron made a golden calf for the people to worship. As they were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminded the Israelites of their mistake and said, “You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day I knew you” (Deuteronomy 9:24). Then Moses defined God’s great requirement of his people, “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12).

The Hebrew word translated rebellious in Deuteronomy 9:24 is marah, which means to be bitter. “Marah signifies an opposition to someone motivated by pride” (4784). In the context of a relationship with God, marah primarily means to disobey. Therefore, the Israelites were guilty of sin even before they entered the Promised Land. In fact, Micah knew there had never been a period of time in their history when Israel had fully obeyed God’s commands. In an attempt to make the people realize they had a problem that would never go away, like Moses, Micah articulated the requirement for a relationship with God.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8).

Something Micah tried to make clear was that the only way God’s people could meet his requirement was through an act of salvation. Micah stated, “The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among man…Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me” (Micah 7:2,7). Micah eluded to a day of judgment in which those who had been held captive by sin, would be declared innocent. Speaking on behalf of the people of God’s kingdom, Micah said, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me” (Micah 7:9).

The key to God’s plan of salvation was an undertaking of the responsibilities for sins of others by substitution. Micah declared, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He will turn again, he will have compassion on us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19. Like Isaiah (Isaiah 1:18), Micah identified a way for God’s people to be completely free from the effects of sin. Sacrifices would no longer be necessary and God’s people would be able to overcome their problem with sin.

Self-control

When we are born again, our spirits become alive. Like our bodies, our spirits grow and mature, and must be nourished in order to develop properly. We know our spirits are healthy if they are producing fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). One of the fruits of the spirit is referred to as temperance, which is the exercising of self-control (1468).

Solomon was talking about self-control in Proverbs 25:28 when he said, “He that hath no rule over his spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” In other words, a lack of spiritual maturity leaves a person open  to attack. This is an interesting point because in Solomon’s time, people were not born again, the entire population of Israel was dead spiritually. That is why it was inevitable that the Israelites would end up in exile. They were spiritually defenseless.

Being born again doesn’t guarantee spiritual success. After I became a Christian, I read my Bible, attended church, and talked to God on a regular basis, but I still failed miserably with regards to spiritual growth. What I was lacking was spiritual exercise. The apostle Paul used the phrase “walk in the spirit” (Galatians 5:16) to describe spiritual exercise. What Paul meant was for us to allow the Holy Spirit to control our behavior. Really, self-control is not about us being in control, but the Holy Spirit overruling our sinful desires. We have to give him permission to do that.

It is natural to do what we want to. God made man with a free will, therefore, he respects our right to choose for ourselves what we do with our time on earth. When we choose to follow Christ, we are in essence saying that God knows better than we do what choices to make, and yet, most of the time we still do what we want to. It wasn’t until I became “like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25:28) that I decided to exercise self-control and actually do what God told me to.

A perfect heart

David prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers…give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart” (1 Chronicles 29:18-19). David’s prayer for his son Solomon was a request for God to change Solomon’s heart so that he could rule over Israel effectively. The word translated perfect, shâlêm (shaw – lame´) means complete (8003) and is derived from a Hebrew word that “denotes perfection in the sense that a condition or action is complete” (7999).

What David was referring to was obedience and his intent was that Solomon would fulfill the law of God, that he would “keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes” (1 Chronicles 29:19) perfectly. In other words, David hoped that God would enable Solomon to live a perfect life.

God designed the human heart so that man could experience freedom. Our motives, feelings, affections, and desires drive us to act and we are able to learn from the outer world. The only way we can enter into a relationship with God and obey his commands is by choosing to do so. Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus had the freedom to choose to go to the cross or not. His prayer indicates that he did not want to, it was not Jesus’ desire to die for the sins of the world.

Although David thought it was possible for his son Solomon to live a perfect life, it was not Solomon, but Jesus that God gave a perfect heart to. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus declared, “Think not that I come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I come not to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). The Greek word translated fulfil means to finish or complete (4137).

While Jesus was hanging on the cross, he spoke several important last words, one of which was, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus spoke to several people while he was on the cross, but it is unclear to whom this particular message was directed. It could be that it was a universal message to all that were listening. We know that is was not directed to his Father because Jesus had already stated that God had forsaken him.

I think Jesus’ statement regarding completion was directed to all the believers he was dying for. As he hung on the cross, Jesus was aware of what it felt like to be rejected by God. For a brief period of time, Jesus was a sinner as well as a Savior. Jesus understood what David was longing for when he prayed that his son Solomon would have a perfect heart and Jesus answered David’s prayer with the words, “It is finished.”

 

He will answer

A personal testimony is a unique attestation to the truth of a particular scripture based on individual experience. When we share our testimony, we are validating God’s word. I can personally attest to the verse, “They called upon the LORD, and he answered them” (Psalm 99:6) because I have experienced it.

On the night I overdosed on sleeping pills, I called upon the LORD and he answered me. I said, “God, all I want to do is come and be with you in heaven and take care of the little babies there.” Immediately, I heard a voice, not my own, say, “Some day you will come and be with me, but until that time, I have much work for you to do where you are.”

My own experience validated the words found in Psalm 99:6, therefore, I believe they are true. This truth is what I would describe as a foundational truth. Much of the Bible is based on the fact that we are able to communicate with God. When we speak to God, he can hear us. He listens and he responds in an understandable way.

The purpose of a personal testimony is explained in Psalm 98:2. “The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.” When the LORD saves a person, he expects him to talk about it, but often times a person that has been saved doesn’t have to talk about it because people can see what God had done, “for he hath done marvelous things” (Psalm 98:1).

The word translated marvelous, pala’ means to “be beyond one’s power to do” (6381). On the night I overdosed on sleeping pills, I took two handfuls of pills and laid down to go to sleep. I listened to music for about half an hour. Just as I was about to fall asleep, knowing I would never wake up again, that I was about to die, I spoke to God for the first time in my life. I didn’t expect him to answer. The fact that he did answer could be a miracle, I don’t know if the same thing has ever happened to anyone else but, what I am certain of is that I am alive today because God kept me from dying. If he had not responded, I would have fallen asleep and never woke up.

It says in Acts 2:21, “and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I believe this verse is true, but I can’t personally attest to its validity. The word whosoever means everyone (3588, 3739, 3956). I can only say that I am one of the everyone and it is true for me.

Famous last words

Recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 23 are what are described as the last words of David (2 Samuel 23:1). I think it is interesting that we find in David’s discourse that it is not his own words, but those of the LORD that David is speaking. David said, “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me” (2 Samuel 23:2). The Spirit of the LORD that David refers to is probably the Holy Spirit and his message a prophetic utterance meant to encourage David before he died.

It is possible that the message David received was a response to his psalm of praise that is recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 22. David opened his psalm with the statement, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer: the God of my rock; in him will I trust” (2 Samuel 22:2-3). The message David spoke through the Spirit of the LORD stated, “The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3). In his psalm of praise, David referred to the LORD as his rock with a lower case “r.” In his prophetic utterance, David refers to “The Rock” of Israel using a capital “R” indicating it was a reference to the Rock as God.

The apostle Paul clarifies God’s purpose in taking the Israelites to the Promised Land via the desert. He wanted to show the Israelites that spiritual sustenance was necessary for their faith to grow. Paul stated:

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

The statement, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3) indicated that David did not measure up to the standard that God required for his king. The ruler that God was referring to was the Messiah, one that would not be made just, but would be just by nature. He was described as follows:

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. (2 Samuel 23:4)

What the LORD was telling David through his prophetic utterance was that his salvation, from a spiritual standpoint, was not yet complete. During his lifetime, God had been David’s deliverer, a rock that could protect him from harm. After he died, David would go to sheol or hell, the resting place of all who died, until Christ came and paid the penalty for his sin. Then, David would be justified and able to rule and reign with Christ for ever according to God’s covenant with him (2 Samuel 23:5).

Healing for the soul

As we get older, there is a tendency to reflect on our accomplishments and our mistakes. I think it is easier to see mistakes and regret them when you have several decades of accomplishments to weigh them against. One of the things that older people seem to have more of than younger people is insight, the ability to look at outcomes and determine why they happened.

In David’s later years, he saw that his sin with Bath-sheba had caused many things to happen that he hadn’t expected. Looking at sin as a disease, David knew that he needed healing or eventually it would kill him. David prayed, “LORD, be merciful to me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee” (Psalm 41:4).

One of the meanings of the word translated soul is vitality (5315). David said, “The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (Psalm 41:3). David was confined to his bed as a woman when she is menstruating. David was experiencing weakness that he felt was associated with sexual impurity.

The Hebrew word raphah means to heal. It represents a restoring to normal, “an act which God typically performs” (7495). David’s request for God to heal his soul was motivated by David’s understanding that he needed to be transformed or turned back to the way he was before he sinned against God. David’s life was no longer filled with happiness and joy. He could not get things back on track as he once had.

Thinking about his many accomplishments, David said, “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday” (Psalm 42:4). David knew from many years of experience that the way to fix his problem was to get right with God, to restore the relationship that brought him joy.

David’s statement in Psalm 42:1, as the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God, is based on David’s awareness that fellowship with God brought refreshment to his soul. Over the years, David had been revived when he connected with the LORD and trusted him for deliverance. David concluded Psalm 42 with the questions, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” (Psalm 42:11). At that point, David realized that the LORD had not left him, but was waiting for David to turn to him for help. David’s belief in God was the real issue. David said, “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

The word translated health is yeshuw’ah. It means deliverance or salvation and is a synonym for the word yasha’, which means to be saved (3467). The name Jesus is a Greek form of the word yeshu’ah indicating that David was looking to his Messiah for restoration of health to his soul. The word countenance refers to the face or the look on one’s face (6440). David may have been thinking about the time when he would see his Savior face to face and would praise him for his gift of salvation and the completed work that would provide deliverance from his sin.

Lead me to the Rock

Waiting rooms are sometimes associated with difficult circumstances. One place everyone would like to avoid, but we usually all end up in is a hospital waiting room. If you have ever been in one, it might have seemed like an ominous place, one that you felt was shrouded in darkness. David said, “When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).

The word translated overwhelmed, ‘âtaph (aw – taf´) means to shroud, as with darkness (5848). The feeling of being overwhelmed comes when we are dealing with the unknown or are uncertain about our future. It can be related to a holding pattern that we have to control over and seems as if it will never end.

God’s waiting rooms may be more pleasant, but not necessarily any easier to deal with. David said, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation” (Psalm 62:1) and “My soul, wait thou only upon God: for my expectation is from him” (Psalm 62:5). The concept of waiting from God’s perspective may be nothing more than silence, not hearing anything from him or getting a response to your prayer.

Along with silence, when we are waiting on God, there may be a need for stillness, to not do anything. Although doing nothing is easy for some, king David was a man of action. He was regularly engaged in warfare and was not afraid to risk his life; but, when his army went out against Absalom, David found himself on the sideline, waiting to see how things turned out.

Expectation is important because often what we expect actually happens. Expecting a good outcome makes waiting easier, or at least not as stressful, and it is a sign of faith. David said, “The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him: and all the upright in heart shall glory” (Psalm 64:10). A righteous person is someone who has been made right with God. The Hebrew word for righteous, tsâdaq (tsaw – dak´) is also translated as justified. “This word is used of man as regarded as having obtained deliverance from condemnation, and as being thus entitled to a certain inheritance” (6663).

One of the things David inherited from the LORD was the throne of Israel. Nathan the prophet told David, “Thine house and thy kingdom shall be stablished for ever before thee: thy throne shall be stablished for ever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Unlike Saul who was killed for his disobedience, the LORD assured David that his future was secure. “But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee” (2 Samuel 7:15).

When David said, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2), he may have been referring to Jesus. David said in Psalm 62, “He only is my rock and my salvation” (Psalm 62:2). The word translated salvation, yeshuw’ah means deliverance (3444). Jesus is a Greek form of the word yeshu’ah and in 1 Corinthians it says of the rock that the Israelites drank from in the wilderness, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ.”

Good news, bad news

On the day David was told that Absalom was dead, two messengers greeted him. The first messenger said, “All is well” (2 Samuel 18:28). The word translated well is shalom which means peace (7965), indicating that peace had been restored to David’s kingdom. This was good news for David.

When the second messenger arrived, David was told, “the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee” (2 Samuel 18:31). And when asked specifically about Absalom, the messenger said, “The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is” (2 Samuel 18:32).

David’s reaction to the second message indicates he perceived it to be bad news. “And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept” (2 Samuel 18:33). The word translated moved, râgaz (raw – gaz´) means “to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear)” (7264).

Although it is possible that David was deeply saddened by Absalom’s death, it is more likely that David was angered by the news  because Joab had disobeyed his order. In 2 Samuel 18:5, it says, “And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.”

The good news that peace had been restored to David’s kingdom was overshadowed by the bad news that David’s army was no longer under his command. Joab’s disobedience was the equivalent of treason and a sign that David’s authority had been greatly undermined by Absalom’s rebellion. Corruption was beginning to permeate David’s kingdom and there was little he could do to turn the tide.

In a state of despair, David said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom: would God I had died for thee” (2 Samuel 18:33). David may have been saying that he wished things had gone the other way, that Absalom had prevailed and taken his place as king, or David may have been expressing a desire to sacrifice himself, so that Absalom’s sins could be forgiven.

Because God had pardoned David when he sinned with Bath-sheba and killed her husband Uriah, everyone probably perceived that he got away with murder. David deserved to die for his sins like everyone else, but he didn’t, therefore, the people of Israel began to test the limits of the boundaries God had established for them, and like Joab, they were willing to sin because they thought the end justified the means.

In the New Testament of the Bible, a good message, or what was referred to in 2 Samuel 18:22 as tidings, is the word gospel (2098). When Jesus said he came to preach the gospel, it meant that he had good news to share with God’s people. The good news being that the Messiah had come and salvation was available to everyone.

 

Two sides to the story

As they say, there are always two sides to every story. In order for there to be a winner, there must be a loser. Even God has chosen a side. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13). The enemies of Israel were not faceless, unknown people. They were the people that had been cursed by God. Beginning with Cain and Abel, there was an intentional effort to separate good from evil and in the end, there could be only one winner.

The struggle between good and evil started in the garden of Eden, but it was really the sons of Noah that determined the boundary lines. Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth were given the opportunity to start over after the flood. With a clean slate, they could have established a society where morality was the norm, but shortly after leaving the ark, sin began to creep in again.

“And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drunk of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without” (Gen 9:20-22). As a result of this incident, Noah cursed Canaan and said, “A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (Gen 9:25).

“The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan” (1 Chronicles 1:8) populated the area known as the Promised Land, but it was primarily Canaan that was targeted when the descendants of Jacob came to take possession of the land.

Hundreds of years passed between the time when Ham uncovered his father’s nakedness and the Israelites moved into the Promised Land. It doesn’t seem fair that a curse should affect people so many generations later. Of course, the other side of the story is that Shem was blessed because he covered his father’s nakedness and Abraham happened to be his descendant, the one on whom the blessing eventually fell.

Sometimes I’ve wondered to myself, why was I born into a family that is so messed up? Why did my dad become an alcoholic? Why was I raped? Sometimes it seems like I must have been cursed. Then I think about being saved and all the wonderful things that have happened to me since I accepted Jesus as my savior and I realize how blessed I now am. I’ve lived both sides of the story. The good news is, thanks to Jesus, we get to choose which side we want to be on.