When God
first created the world it was perfect. Genesis 1:28 tells us that God saw
everything that He had made, “and indeed it was very good”. Genesis 2
recounts how God planted a beautiful garden in the east, in Eden, and in it he
put every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food. In this
paradise he put Adam and Eve and their task was to tend and keep the garden.
God told them they might eat of every tree of the garden except one, the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, lest they die.
As we
know, they disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil, and sin entered the world. The result of this disobedience was a curse,
which fell on mankind and the world as a whole. Everything was changed. We call
this event the Fall. The curse fell on the Serpent, or Satan, who had tempted
Eve, on Eve and Adam and all their descendants, and on the ground itself. All
of creation was subjected to the bondage of death and corruption (Romans 8:19-22).
Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden lest they eat of the Tree of
Life (Genesis 3:22-23) and gain eternity thereby perpetrating the curse and
corruption forever.
Yet,
even as God cursed the Serpent, he sowed the seeds of the hope of redemption,
saying “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her Seed, He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis
3:15).This is the first Biblical hint of the Messiah, who would come to
redeem the world from the Curse. Thus even as God subjected the world to
bondage and death, he began to work out its salvation.
Here too
we see the beginnings of enmity, the deep hostility of Satan towards the seed
of Eve, mankind, and the Seed of Eve, the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus). From the
very beginning Satan was working in opposition to God, and throughout all of
history, we see Satan doing his very best to destroy God’s redemption plan. I
call this the Great Enmity.
Before
we can go further and examine in more detail God’s redemption plan, we must
first understand what ‘redemption’ means. ‘Redemption’ is one of those
esoterically Christian words we throw around a lot, although many of us have
only a fuzzy understanding of its meaning. To non-Christians it probably has
little meaning at all.
The word
is first used in Scripture in Exodus 6:6 when God speaks to Moses, saying, “Iwill bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue
you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm
and with great judgements” (my emphasis). The Hebrew word used here is וגאלתי
(vega’alti) and it can be understood as simply ‘to set free’ or ‘to liberate
from bondage’. Yet there is a deeper connotation too. Elsewhere in the Old
Testament the concept of redemption is linked with the shedding of blood. In
Numbers 35 the Hebrew word,גואל (go’el), from the same root is used for the Avenger of Blood, who was
appointed to put a murderer to death. Redemption is therefore linked to
judgment and vengeance. When Israel was set free from Egypt there was a
shedding of blood when the firstborn of Egypt were slain by the LORD. When we
are set free from the bondage to sin it is also by means of the shedding of
blood that occurred when Jesus’ was crucified. In Ephesians 1:7 we are told
that “In Him (the Lord) we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins…”
In the
New Testament the Greek words used to denote redemption contain the meaning of
the buying out, or ransoming, of a slave in order to obtain his freedom1.
The price paid for our deliverance is the shed blood of Jesus, “Not with the
blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood he entered the Most Holy
Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).
Isaiah 35:10 also describes those who, in the last days, return to Zion with
singing as the ‘ransomed of the LORD’.
In short then, the concept of redemption includes connotations of deliverance from bondage, judgment, vengeance and ransom. So now, let us consider what is God’s plan for redemption and how he is executing it?
References:
Torah, Prophets and the Writings : Volume 1 Genesis . 1987. Orenstein, Y. Yavneh Publishing House, Tel Aviv (in Hebrew)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.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, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Ephesians 6: 10-18
Ever since I came to live in Jerusalem so many people have told me how spiritually dark it is here and how strong the opposition of the Enemy (Satan) is against God’s people. They often say this with fear in their countenance and trembling in their voices. I lived for a while in one particularly dark part of the city, on the aptly-named Hill of Evil Counsel, and many terrorist attacks and murders took place in that neighborhood during the time I lived there. More than one well-meaning person told me that I should leave. While it is true that believers in Yeshua (Jesus) face fierce spiritual attacks in this city, where Satan’s energies are so strongly focussed, there is no need for us to walk in fear. Our God is greater than Satan and all his minions (I John 4:4), and the Word of God says that if we resist the Devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7).
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
I John 4: 4
So why is it that so many believers in this land experience such devastating attacks especially in the realm of health and finance? Of course we are in the very front line of the spiritual battle here and this is especially true at this time as world events are drawing us closer to the end times during which Evil grows and the spiritual battle comes to a climax. All the more reason that we who live here must know how to stand against the Enemy and know how to protect ourselves against the inevitable attacks that come our way. The Enemy is prowling around like a hungry lion seeking any prey he can catch (I Peter 5:8). We need to be watchful and we especially need to protect the young and the weak of the flock.
Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
I Peter 5:8
When the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God gave them victory over the occupants of the land, the various tribes of the Canaanites, as long as they were obedient to Him. When they turned away from God however, they were unable to overcome the Canaanites and they permitted them to live in their midst. Consequently, the Israelites were corrupted and began to worship the Baals and the Asherahs, the gods of the Canaanites (Judges 1 and 2). In Judges 3 we can read that God allowed the Canaanites to remain in their midst to teach the Israelites the arts of warfare, and as a test of their obedience to God.
These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
Judges 3: 1-4
I see a parallel in this account to the situation of the Body of Yeshua in the Land today, and indeed of the church in the world as a whole. We have been promised an inheritance through Yeshua’s death and resurrection, but we are still living in the fallen world, inhabited by unbelievers and pagans. In our midst are those who can lead us astray. God has allowed this in order to teach us spiritual warfare and also as a test of our faith. Troubles come our way to teach us, test us and to strengthen us.
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
I Peter 1: 3-7
However some of the trials we go through are not sanctioned by God. I believe we sometimes bring trials upon ourselves because we do not take up our spiritual armor and we allow the Enemy access into our lives. How can we protect ourselves from the attacks of the Enemy? The passage in Ephesians quoted above describes the armor and the weapons the LORD has given us.
The breastplate of righteousness
Although our sins are all forgiven in Yeshua (Jesus), we all from time to time fall into sin. Yeshua told his disciples that ” He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean” (John 13: 10). In Yeshua we have been bathed and made clean before God, but in this life we walk in a fallen world and from time to time we all fall into sin and ‘our feet get dirty’. If we ignore the sin, or allow it to continue, we give Satan license to attack. Fortunately, God has given us a way of ‘washing our feet’ and receiving forgiveness and purification. We can confess our sins before God and man, and receive forgiveness and purification.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I John 1: 8-9
The belt of truth
Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), and the source of all spiritual deception. He is prowling around looking for the weak and unprotected. We need to put on the ‘helmet of salvation’, and protect our minds from Satan’s deceptions. In our midst are ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ (Matthew 7:15), those who appear to be believers but teach error and dangerous philosophies that can draw us away from God.
Jesus warned us about the tares.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Matthew 13:24-30
Tares are a weed that commonly grows in wheat fields. Tares look just like wheat but are actually poisonous. It takes an expert to discern the tares from the wheat.
The parable of Yeshua tells us that the Lord sowed good seed but the Enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. In the church God has sowed good seed, true believers, but the Enemy has sneaked in and sown in our midst those who are poisonous tares. It takes spiritual discernment to know the wheat from the tares. Furthermore it is hard to pull up the tares without damaging also the wheat. For this reason, God allows them to grow together until the harvest. Only then will they be separated, the tares to be burned and the wheat to ‘be gathered into the barn’.
We need to pray for discernment in this matter. The tares may be individuals but they may also be destructive philosophies and teachings.
One such area of deception I want to focus on is the matter of alternative medicines and other new-age philosophies and practices. Many believers seek help from alternative medicines, such as acupuncture, shiatsu, homeopathy, yoga, meditation techniques, and so on. Very often this quest is fueled by frustration and a loss of faith in traditional Western medicine, and the attractiveness of what is presented as non-invasive treatments with no harmful side effects. Most of these alternative or complementary medicines however are based on occult or pagan beliefs in ‘life forces’ or ‘energies’, and do have serious ‘side effects’. Satan is quite capable of transforming himself into an ‘angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14), appearing attractive and even beautiful. These alternative treatments and practices often appear attractive and even ‘work’ bringing relief of symptoms and sometimes healing . Some of this can be accounted for by the placebo effect, the healing effect of belief in itself, but I believe that Satan can also work miracles of healing. When Moses was confronting the Pharoah in Egypt the sorcerors of the Eygpt, by their occult powers, were able to copy many of God’s miracles (Exodus 7 ff). However Satan’s healing comes with a price. It is a lie that there are no side-effects. By opening ourselves to Satan in this way we also can give him license to come into our lives, bringing further attacks on our health, both physical, mental and spiritual. In the most extreme case they can also lead us to turn away from God altogether.
There is also a more subtle risk involved. Turning to these palliative medicines and practices can sometimes relieve the symptoms or disease for a time but they do not deal with the root causes. Only God can bring true healing and true inner peace.
They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
Jeremiah 6:14
The Bible offers us a much safer and surer path to health, physical, mental and spiritual, and that is by means of prayer and the confession of sins.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 1Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5: 13-16.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not against medicine and doctors. I believe that if we are ill we should go to our doctors for help. Western medicine is based on God-given intelligence and God-given herbs and drugs. What I am saying is we should be wary and avoid opening ourselves to practices based on pagan or occult ‘energies’ or ‘life-forces.
However our FIRST and most important and effective action in the face of illness or injury, whether physical, mental or spiritual, should be prayer, both personal and by the annointing of the elders, as God has ordained. It is enough. We do not need to turn to Satanic means to find healing.
I recently sought counselling at a well-known Christian counselling center here in Jerusalem to deal with a grief issue stemming from my childhood family relationships. I was most distressed to find my well-meaning counsellor advocating the use of a visualization technique. Visualization is an occult practice which opens the practitioner to Satanic influence. There is no place for this in the Body of Yeshua. Nor is there any need. I refused to use the technique and just went to the LORD in prayer and received immediate and clear healing in this matter. Tragically my counsellor soon afterwards fell into depression and commited suicide.
The shield of faith
Of course, healing is not always complete nor immediate. Sometimes God chooses not heal us and sometimes believers die. That is His prerogative. He is God after all. This calls for great faith. At such a time, Satan will try to bring us down into doubt and despair. He will tell us that God is a liar, that he is unable to heal or that he just does not love us. This is when we must consciously exercise faith. God has told us that “ all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8: 28). Do we really believe this? It’s hard to do so when we are in the midst of suffering and pain, but that is the test. Do we really believe God? Do we really trust him?
God has a purpose in all he does in our lives. He is working to bring us into to perfection, making us better people. We do not always understand what He is doing but we do need to trust him, especially when we encounter trials.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1: 3-5
A friend of mine was the victim of a terror attack in which she sustained 13 stab wounds and her companion was killed. Miraculously she survived though she still suffers from physical problems and the effects of the trauma. It’s hard to understand why believers need to suffer such trials but my friend told me recently that she was glad she had been through this experience, because she said it had set her free from so many things and made her stronger as a person.
I personally have not had to go through such a terrible trial, yet anyway, but I have suffered from various illnesses and injuries at times, and I know that they have made me a better person, softer-hearted, more empathetic and less judgmental.
The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God
When Satan comes at us with his lies, sowing doubt and despair and tries to turn us from God, we are not defenseless. We have a sure weapon, the weapon which is the Word of God. When Satan tempted Yeshua in the desert, Yeshua deflected Satan’s temptations by means of quoting Scripture (Matthew 4). Satan knows the law of God. He knows he cannot withstand God nor his Law. We, like Yeshua, need to know Scripture well, study it and know how to use it to protect ourselves and fight against Satan.
Prayer
The passage quoted above from Ephesians closes with this advice:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Prayer is powerful and we need to pray on all occasions, bringing all our concerns and troubles before God, but note that it says, to ‘pray in the Spirit’. Not all prayer is ‘in the Spirit’. Often we pray in the mind and the flesh and our prayers are not effective. They merely bounce off the ceiling, having no power or result, except perhaps by deceiving us that we are performing some religious act which brings us merit. What does it mean to ‘pray in the Spirit’? This is hard to explain, but I know when I am praying in the Spirit. I sense the sweet and powerful presence of God, and I have a deep assurance that He is hearing me and will answer my prayer. This requires a quiet spirit, waiting upon Him, and listening for that sweet inner voice of God. It is often hard to achieve that in our busy and noisy world, but God has given us some tools to help. One of those tools is the practice of thanksgiving and worship, which will bring us into His presence, and another is the gift of tongues. Speaking in tongues, by by-passing my busy and distracted mind, can bring me quickly into the Presence and lead me into more effective prayer.
Finally we need to constantly pray for one another. I have found that when I am going through a difficult trial it is very hard to find the peace and concentration I need for effective prayer in the Spirit. It is at such times I need to humble myself to ask for the help of my brothers and sisters in the Lord. This too is ordained by God. This is what fellowship and the love of the brethren is all about. This is why He has put us in families and congregations.
So may we all remember to:
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
