Lessons #309 and 310
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Israel’s Shared Blessings (1 Cor 10:1-4)
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Recall that the message of this section of 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 that we have been considering is that You should under the right spiritual leadership enjoy God’s blessing through Jesus Christ. This message, we said, is to be expounded by focusing on three blessings a believer should enjoy in this planet through Jesus Christ. We do so base on the three blessings Israel enjoyed in the desert under the leadership of Moses. The first blessing of Israel in the desert under the leadership of Moses consists of God’s presence with them, evident in His guidance and protection. This blessing is based on the clause of verse 1 that our forefathers were all under the cloud. We considered this first blessing in our last study and applied it to believers in Christ. So, we proceed with the second blessing of Israel in the desert.
The second blessing of Israel in the desert under the leadership of Moses consists of God’s deliverance. It is possible for someone to think that this blessing is indeed a part of the first blessing that involves protection of the Lord but that is not really the case. Protection is concerned with safekeeping from harm or injury while deliverance concerns being rescued or set free from something. Thus, the second blessing is different from the first although in some situations, it may be possible to conceive deliverance as related to protection. Anyway, the second blessing of Israel in the desert under the leadership of Moses is God’s deliverance. This deliverance of Israel is conveyed in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:1 and that they all passed through the sea. The word all refers to everyone that left Egypt under the leadership of Moses.
The word all supports our interpretation that the phrase our forefathers should be taken to include both Jews and Gentiles in the church of Christ as those who share in the spiritual heritage of Israel. “How?” You may ask. It is because of the composition of those that left Egypt under Moses’ leadership. The group that left Egypt included Gentiles who, no doubt, believed in the God of the Israelites. That Gentiles are included in the word all is supported by what is written in Exodus 12:38:
Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.
The phrase other people is translated from a Hebrew word (ʿērěḇ) that is related to a Hebrew verb that means “to mingle” but in Exodus 12:38, the Hebrew word is used to describe a mixture of group of people who were non-Hebrews that joined the Israelites as they departed Egypt. Thus, even in the exodus experience, we see that the forefathers of Gentiles in a sense were among those who left Egypt under Moses’ leadership. The point is that the word all in in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:1 and that they all passed through the sea includes everyone that left Egypt without distinction that we know involved non-Hebrew people.
Be that as it may, the apostle wrote they all passed through the sea. The word “passed” is translated from a Greek word (dierchomai) that may mean “to pierce, penetrate” as it is used in the prophetic words of Simeon to Mary about Jesus Christ in Luke 2:35:
so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
The word may mean “to travel through” as in the narrative of the travels of Paul and Barnabas in their first missionary journey as we read in Acts 13:6:
They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
The word may mean “to go through” as it is used by Apostle Paul to communicate his request to the Corinthians regarding his travel plan in 1 Corinthians 16:5:
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:1, it is in the sense of “to go through or across” that the word is used.
Apostle Paul in writing the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:1 and that they all passed through the sea was thinking of the miraculous deliverance of Israel and the other people who accompanied Israel in their departure from Egypt. This deliverance of Israel involved the dividing of the Red Sea as stated in Exodus 14:19–22:
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
The miracle of dividing the sea is an act of God’s deliverance. This is because Israel was hemmed in by the sea and by the advancing army of the Egyptians. The Israelites were terrified hence they blamed Moses for freeing them from slavery. Their freedom from slavery was in danger or short-lived if the Egyptian army were to catch up with them. Consequently, God protected Israel by standing between them and Egyptian army. To complete Israel’s freedom, required deliverance from the hands of the advancing army of the Egyptians. Thus, we can state that the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:1 and that they all passed through the sea is concerned with the blessing of deliverance of the Israelites by the Lord. This blessing was enjoyed by all who were under Moses’ leadership in the desert.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
The implication of the factor of faith is that you should also act in faith to experience some of God’s deliverances. A second factor is that passing through the sea may in application be viewed in light of the figurative usages of the word “sea” in the Scripture. We are saying that some of our deliverances should be viewed not necessarily from literal “sea” but also from the perspective of the figurative usages of sea in the Scripture as we will mention. Figuratively, the roar of the seas refers to tumult of peoples as in Psalm 65:7:
who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
Waves of the sea could be viewed symbolically as referring to fullness and regularity of something as implied in Isaiah 48:18:
If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Here righteousness is compared to waves of the sea while peace is compared to a river. Figuratively, the sea is used for a troubled state as we read in Jeremiah 49:23:
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled like the restless sea.
The point of this second factor that concerns figurative usages of sea is that different situations of life may call for God’s deliverance as we will focus later.
Deliverance in the sense of the act of setting free or rescuing someone or something is the work of God. The psalmist declared this truth in Psalm 3:8:
From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.
The three captive Jewish young men in Babylon understood this truth that God is the source of deliverance and so they were unwillingly to worship the image Nebuchadnezzar had set up, as we read in Daniel 3:16–17:
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.
The three Jewish men recognized that it is possible that it is not God’s will to deliver them from the burning furnace but that if it is within His will, He would do so. They held this view because they understood that God determines what He does not we humans. Furthermore, they recognized that God has the power to deliver them if He wanted. In effect, they recognized that deliverance comes from the true God of the universe and not from an idol or any of the gods worshipped by the nations. The officials of the king of Assyria recognized that the gods of the nations do not have the ability to offer deliverance as they said to King Hezekiah when the Assyrians were threatening to attack Jerusalem, as we read in Isaiah 36:18:
“Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
The point is that the supreme God of the universe is the only source of deliverance. He can deliver you from the hands of people or circumstances, but no one can deliver another from His hand, as He declared through Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:13:
Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
The Hebrew of the sentence No one can deliver out of my hand may be understood to mean either there is no one who can escape from God’s power or no one can prevent God from doing what He plans to do. That notwithstanding, the point is that God is the only source of true deliverance. It is because God is the true source of deliverance that He promised Israel, and so, to you, deliverance as stated in Jeremiah 15:11:
The LORD said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.
Because God is the source of deliverance and because He promised deliverance to His people, believers should pray to Him for deliverance. Thus, the psalmist prayed to God for deliverance from his enemies and evil doers as we read in Psalm 59:1–2:
1Deliver me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me. 2Deliver me from evildoers and save me from bloodthirsty men.
Likewise, the Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount taught believers to pray for deliverance from Satan as we read in Matthew 6:13:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
The blessing of deliverance of Israel involved that deliverance from the Egyptian as they passed through the sea. Consequently, we indicated that we should view the sea in a figurative way as we apply Israel’s deliverance to us. This being the case we should recognize that there are several situations or conditions that deliverance is to be expected from our God. So, let us mention four of the various kinds of deliverance we can expect from our God.
First, you can expect the Lord to deliver you from various dangers that threaten your life on this planet. David understood this because he stated that the Lord delivered him from the dangers a shepherd, at his time, had to contend, which gave him the confidence the Lord would give him victory over Goliath as we read in 1 Samuel 17:37:
The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
The dangers David faced as a shepherd are described in the phrase from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. Apostle Paul described the Lord’s deliverance from danger in 2 Timothy 4:17:
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.
Several interpretations have been given by scholars regarding the phrase the lion’s mouth such as deliverance from death by execution right after the apostle’s first hearing in Rome but considering the fact he was a Roman citizen; it is probably that the apostle used the phrase to describe “extreme danger.”. Hence, the apostle indicates that the Lord delivered him from extreme danger that could refer to death or further imprisonment. That notwithstanding, the apostle indicated he was delivered from the danger that threatened his life. Because of the testimonies of David and Apostle Paul, you, as a believer, should expect the Lord’s deliverance from dangers that threaten your life such as a car wreck or a plane crash or violent weather events of tornadoes or hurricanes or some other dangers. Of course, we should be careful to recognize that deliverance from danger depends on God’s plan for our lives. By this I mean if our time is up on this planet, He will not deliver us from danger that would lead to death if the perceived danger is the means He had ordained for the believer to depart from this life.
Second, you can expect God to deliver you from all your fears. This declaration is based on the testimony of the psalmist in Psalm 34:4:
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
The sentence requires further clarification so we understand what it means that you should expect the Lord to deliver you from all your fears. To begin with, we should recognize that the word “fear” is not used in a positive sense. We say this because “fear” as a concept may be used in a positive sense. For example, fear can refer to reverence of God that is commanded in the Scripture as we read, for example, in Ecclesiastes 12:13:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Fear can be a good thing in the sense that it serves as a deterrent from doing something wrong as we can gather from the instruction of the Lord to Israel regarding how to treat a false witness in legal situation, as we read in Deuteronomy 19:16–20:
16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, 17 the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, 19 then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you.
The punishment given to a false witness is supposed to cause people to be afraid of lying in a witness stand. It is also fear of punishment that keeps people from going against the laws of the government as conveyed in the fact that a person who does the right thing does not fear the government but the one who does wrong fears her as we read in Romans 13:4:
For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Anyway, the examples we have cited enable us to recognize that fear can be a good thing depending on the situation. Nonetheless, we have indicated that you should expect God to deliver you from all your fears because of the testimony of the psalmist in the last sentence of Psalm 34:4 he delivered me from all my fears. So, what are “all fears” you should expect God to deliver you from?
The word “fear” as a concept refers to an unpleasant emotion in form of anxiety or distress caused by the threat of anticipated danger, pain, or harm. Fear could also be associated with the future or the unknown. This aside, the word “fears” in Psalm 34:4 is translated from a Hebrew word (meḡôrāh) that means “fear, dread.” The Hebrew word is used to describe the fear the wicked has that he would experience a disastrous end as we read in Proverbs 10:24:
What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.
Thus, the sense of the Hebrew word as used in the Scripture is usually a reference to “an entity that causes terror or pain.” Consequently, the phrase all my fears of Psalm 34:4 is not concerned with internal feelings or anxiety of dread and insecurity, but to external terrors which threaten a person. This understanding is reflected in the translation of the LEB that instead of the reading he delivered me from all my fears of the NIV reads and from all my terrors he delivered me. This understanding helps us to recognize the kind of fear the psalmist indicates God delivered him from and which we should expect from God to deliver us.
A fear we should expect deliverance is that of natural phenomena such as violent storm. The Lord in a sense delivered his disobedient Prophet Jonah from such fear that he was able to fall into deep sleep despite the violent storm the Lord brought on the ship through which he was attempting to circumvent the responsibility of preaching to the Ninevites as we read in Jonah 1:4–5:
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
Another fear that we should expect deliverance is that of death as implied in Hebrews 2:14–15:
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Believers can be delivered from the fear of death since Christ has conquered it. Another fear we should expect deliverance is that of persecution. It is for this reason the Lord exhorted the believers in the church in Smyrna not to be afraid of the persecution they would suffer as recorded for us in Revelation 2:10:
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
It is certainly because the Lord delivered the apostles from fear of persecution that despite threats to their lives, they continued to preach the gospel in Jerusalem and beyond. Anyway, fear as an emotional response to adverse situation is something that we face in this life as Apostle Paul expressed his fears in 2 Corinthians 7:5:
For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.
It is because we have the tendency for emotional response of fear that we are commanded severally in the Scripture not to be afraid. When Jacob was apprehensive about moving his family to Egypt primarily because of the fear of the unknown or of the future in Egypt, the Lord calmed his fear with a promise as we read in Genesis 46:3:
“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
During Israel’s conquest of Canaan, God commanded Moses several times not to be afraid of those they were about to fight, as we read, for example, in Numbers 21:34:
The LORD said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”
When Jeremiah was afraid because of the commission he received of ministering the word of God to people of Judah, the Lord encouraged him not to be afraid as we read in Jeremiah 1:7–8:
7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.
In the midst of windstorm that eventually caused the shipwreck of the vessel taking Paul to Rome to stand trial, the Lord encouraged him through an angel with the instruction not to be afraid as we read in Acts 27:23–24:
23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’
The point is that we often face situations that may cause us to be afraid; when we do, we should respond by trusting the Lord as the psalmist stated in Psalm 56:3:
When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
When we put our trust in the Lord, we should remember some declarations of the Lord about not being afraid. For example, we should not be afraid of disasters like unbelievers as we may gather from Proverbs 3:25–26:
25Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, 26for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.
Things that make us afraid should provide us the opportunity to exercise faith in the Lord and watch His deliverance as in the words of Moses to Israel in Exodus 14:13:
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
In any event, the second area that we should expect God’s deliverance concerns our fears as we have explained.
Third, you should expect the Lord’s deliverance from troubles you face as we gather from the promises of Psalm 34:17, 19:
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
There are two observations I want to make about these two verses. The promise of deliverance in them is directed to the believer since the righteous here does not mean one who is perfect but one who lives in accordance with God’s word. So, if, as a believer, you strive to live in obedience to God’s word then you can claim the promise of deliverance from troubles and difficulties of this life. Another thing we note is that there is no indication that believers would not have problems as some of us think. I mean that many of us believers have the mentality that because we are believers striving to live holy and righteous life that we should have no difficulties in life. That is a misconception of what it means to be a believer in a world that is still controlled by sin. That aside, what we are promised is deliverance from all our troubles. Hence, you should expect deliverance from whatever difficulties you face. Consequently, when you are in trouble, do what the psalmist stated in Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry out, that is, pray to the Lord, and expect God to answer you as in the next clause of verse 17 and the LORD hears them.
Fourth, you should expect the Lord’s deliverance from illnesses. The psalmist describes the Lord as believer’s forgiver and healer in Psalm 103:3:
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
I will come back to this verse later but meanwhile, it is worth noting that the psalmist stated the forgiving work of the Lord before His healing work. We can understand this because there is a connection between illness or disease to sin. Illness or disease can be traced to original sin since the fall into sin drew the punishment that involves pain, as we read in the punishment pronounced on Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:16–17:
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
That illness or disease is because of sin may further be demonstrated by God’s action on those who sin. Pharaoh, although ignorant of the true relationship between Sarah and Abraham, took her into his harem. The result was God inflicted diseases on him and his household, according to the record of Genesis 12:17:
But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
The same judgment for attempting to have sexual relation with Sarah, Abraham’s wife, led to Abimelech being inflicted with disease of the type that prevented pregnancy of his wife and slave girls although he was eventually healed, as we read in Genesis 20:17–18:
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
When Miriam maligned Moses, the result of such a sin was leprosy inflicted by the Lord although she was later healed but her leprosy was due to sin as we read in Numbers 12:10:
When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy.
It is true that every disease or sickness is because of the effect of original sin on humans, but we should be careful not to associate every illness or disease to immediate sin committed by the sufferer. We say this because of the man born blind. The disciples of the Lord Jesus, correctly assumed that disease is a result of sin, but they were incorrect in their application of that truth to the man born blind as we may gather from John 9:2–3:
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
The fact that the psalmist described the Lord as forgiver of sin before describing Him as healer indicates that forgiveness of sins indeed precedes physical healing. The Lord Jesus on one occasion during His earthly ministry demonstrated that forgiveness of sins does indeed precede physical healing as in the statement recorded regarding the healing of a paralytic in Luke 5:20:
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
The Lord said the sins of the paralytic were forgiven before healing him primarily because He wanted to convey that He has the authority to forgive sins, as we read in Luke 5:21–25:
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
The implication of our assertion that forgiveness of sins precedes healing is that if you want the Lord to heal you of your illness then you must deal with sins in your life. We will say more later about healing of our illnesses.
Be that as it may, the believer can expect deliverance from illnesses or diseases. God can do this directly or He may heal through means, that is, through medicine and physicians. The Scripture indicates that God can heal through means. Thus, King Hezekiah, was healed using poultice of figs as we read in Isaiah 38:21:
Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
The phrase a poultice of figs refers to a paste made from crushed raw figs that were applied to the boil of Hezekiah that resulted in his healing. Prophet Jeremiah referenced the use of balms by physicians for healing as we read in Jeremiah 8:22:
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?
Balm here is used to describe something that has medicinal purpose. Thus, in ancient Israel God healed people using means. The point is that God can heal you using means or directly.
We stated that you should expect the Lord’s deliverance from illnesses. However, this must be tempered with the understanding that it all depends on God’s will or purpose despite the surface implication of the psalmist’s declaration in the verbal phrase of Psalm 103:3 heals all your diseases. The word all should not be taken in absolute sense of every and any disease but understood as all that the Lord wants to heal the individual. You see, not all illnesses can be cured. The Lord conveyed to Israel that part of His punishment on them for not keeping the terms of His covenant with them is inflicting of incurable diseases as we read in Deuteronomy 28:27:
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
This truth of God inflicting incurable diseases for ignoring His word was demonstrated with King Jehoram that was involved in idolatry and so one of the Lord’s punishment to him for his idolatry was inflicting him with incurable disease, as we read in 2 Chronicles 21:18:
After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels.
This notwithstanding, the believer should expect deliverance from illness unless, of course, the illness is the way the Lord had ordained for the believer to depart from this planet. This may sound strange to some, but it should not, knowing that, although in judgment situation, God has ordained means by which people die as we read, for example, in Jeremiah 43:11:
He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
The point is that a believer should expect deliverance from illnesses. God may respond with total healing of the person if the person’s time on this planet is not up or He may not remove the illness but provides grace to handle it as was the case with Apostle Paul. He prayed three times for the Lord to remove whatever the ailment that was bordering him, but the Lord did not; instead, He assured him of His grace to him during his ordeal as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:8–9:
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
We have mentioned few of the areas that you should expect the Lord’s deliverance. Regarding illnesses, we indicated that God could heal by means of medicine. This, in effect, is to convey that God can provide deliverance to the believer using different ways. The Lord can intervene directly to provide deliverance to His people. It was this kind of deliverance that the Lord provided to Israel as He divided the Red Sea, so they passed through on a dry land. It is the same kind of direct deliverance that He provided to an Israel king in the time of Prophet Elisha so that the invading army was routed without Israel doing a thing as God intervened directly using sounds of chariots as stated in 2 Kings 7:6:
for the LORD had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!”
The Lord may bring deliverance through angels as He has done in the past. For example, an angel was used to deliver Peter from prison, as we read in Acts 12:7:
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
The Lord can use human agents to bring about deliverance. When Apostle Paul was in danger of being killed by Jews who vowed to kill him, the Lord provided deliverance through his nephew who overheard the plot and reported to the Roman commander as we read in Acts 23:16–22:
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 19 The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?” 20 He said: “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. 21 Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.” 22 The commander dismissed the young man and cautioned him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”
In any case, a blessing of the Lord to the believer is deliverance. When we receive God’s blessing we should respond properly. Thus, when the Lord brings deliverance to you, you should respond correctly. You should take delight or be excited in His deliverance as Hannah did when the Lord gave her deliverance from childlessness as we read in 1 Samuel 2:1:
Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.
Your delight in God’s deliverance should lead to thanksgiving to Him as the psalmist promised to do because of God’s deliverance from whatever were ailing him, as we read in Psalm 30:11–12:
11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
Thanksgiving should be followed by praising of God as the crippled man did when he was healed through Apostle Peter as we read in Acts 3:8:
He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
By the way although the word “praise” and “thanksgiving” are related but it seems that praise is much more concerned with extolling the greatness of God where others hear it while thanksgiving is more concerned with personal expression of gratitude for what God has done. It is, of course, difficult to maintain a strong distinction between the two activities as the Hebrew word (hālǎl) translated “praise” has an overlapping meaning of “praise” with the Hebrew word (yāḏāh) translated “thanksgiving.” Anyway, the believer should respond with thanksgiving and praise for every of God’s deliverance. Of course, if you are profoundly grateful to the Lord for His deliverance, you should show it through obedience to His word as the psalmist indicated that deliverance of God is so he could live in obedience to His word as we read in Psalm 56:12–13:
12I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you. 13For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
In any case, we have expounded on the second blessing of deliverance for believers in Christ because of the Lord’s deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea as implied in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 10:1 they all passed through the sea. As we end our study, let me remind you of the central message of 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 we stated is that You should under the right spiritual leadership enjoy God’s blessing through Jesus Christ.
04/16//21