Jesus the Messiah (Christ) summed up His Ministry in Luke 4 by quoting from the prophet Isaiah, as a ministry of bringing healing, deliverance and salvation to the needy. The New Testament extensively uses the Greek word “Sozo” (Strongs G4982: to save, i.e. deliver or protect – used 103 times in KJV: heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole ) to encompass and describe the Ministry of Christ.
Unfortunately,
today the glorious Gospel of the Kingdom has mostly been reduced to a “sinners
prayer” which people are told, repeating it causes them to be saved. Maybe some
have made it so easy to be “saved” because in this way they hope to gather more
people around themselves and so increase their fame, influence and monthly
income (2 Timothy 4:3). They are, of course, involved in the very sacred and
righteous work of “saving souls”, so who would dare to challenge them?
Actually
when we use the word “saved” we should be referring to the Greek work “Sozo”
which actually refers to the deliverance process from the power of satan to God.
Jesus used these words to commission the Apostle Paul ‘I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by
faith in me.’ (Acts 26:18).
Biblical
deliverance involves much more than having a positive confession. As the Lord
says, “These people honor me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mark 7:6). Biblical Deliverance
involves being taken out of one situation of suffering and oppression and then
being established in the Kingdom of Christ – in covenant relationship and with
a steadfast dedication to serve and worship only the Lord.
One
of the greatest and most dramatic biblical deliverances involves Moses leading
the children of Israel out of Egypt and concluding with their arrival in the Promised
Land under the leadership of Joshua. I have structured this deliverance process
in three phases to assist in understanding the complete process and I have attempted
to identify important lessons of deliverance in each phase.
The 3-Phase
Deliverance Process
Then said Yahweh, I have, seen, the humiliation of my people, who are
in Egypt,––and, their outcry, have I heard, by reason of their task–masters,
for I know their pains; therefore have I come
down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to take them up out of
that land, into a land good and large, into a land flowing with milk and
honey,––into the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and
the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. (Exodus 3: 7 - 8)
I have
identified the following three distinct Phases of deliverance that were initiated by God
resulting in His deliverance He promised in Exodus 3:
Phase 1 – Israel brought out of Egypt
Phase 2 - Egypt is removed from Israel
Phase 3 – Destroying the giants and taking possession of the Promised
Land
This complete deliverance process was “written down for our instruction,
on whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10: 11). Let us therefore investigate and understand
what the Lord desires to teach us about deliverance.
Phase 1 – Israel brought out of Egypt
The
children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, working as slaves and serving
Pharaoh’s building projects. The Lord heard their cry and sent a Prophet called
Moses to deliver them. Moses was to go down to bring the Israelites out of
Egypt and lead them into the Promised Land.
Lessons
from Phase 1:
- The children of Israel did not have to fight to get out of Egypt; the Lord did this for them with His outstretched Hand, by demonstrating His Power and through the Blood of the Lamb.
- They had to endure persecution. When Moses challenged Pharaoh, things first got much rougher for the Israelites. There was retribution and they got extra burdens placed on them, like having to gather the straw they needed for building that had previously been supplied.
- This Phase removed them from the Kingdom of Pharaoh. If Moses had come and just healed afflicted Israelites and just cast demons out of them, but had left them in Egypt – their condition of slavery would be unchanged and we could not say that they had been delivered.
- The Israelites had to make a decision to leave Egypt and everything in Egypt, and to follow the Lord. It was their decision to trust and obey the Lord rather than remain as slaves in Egypt.
- The deliverance of Phase 1 was sealed through their baptism into Christ (1 Corinthians 10:2 – Moses being a Type of Christ) whereby they symbolically died to Egypt and were raised into Life through confirming their covenant relationship with the Lord. They were witnesses of the destruction of their enemies.
Phase 2 - Egypt is removed from Israel
In this
Phase the children of Israel were brought by Moses to Mount Sinai. They were afraid to enter into a direct relationship and a deeper personal revelation of the Lord
because they recognized that this would mean their “death” (Exodus 20:19), that
is, of self. Instead they preferred to send Moses up the Mountain to hear what
the Lord would say, so that he could come back and tell them.
Lessons
from Phase 2:
- Rejecting a deeper walk with the Lord is easily justified and is a refusal to die to self. Entering into this relationship with the Lord could have saved the nation 40 years of desert wandering.
- Because the Israelites had not died to self they entered into idolatry and could not discern the Way of the Lord. They said Moses was not coming back so they created their own idolatrous religious system centered around a golden calf and “they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry“ (Exodus 32: 5 - 6). Their leader (Aaron) had said that this was honoring to the Lord.
- Because they had not died to self they were fearful when they saw the giants that had to be defeated in the Promised Land – this fear (of man) was the root of their rebellion against the Lord. After a while their hearts longed to return to Egypt.
- The graciousness of the Lord, made manifest in provision, healing and protection, was continually evident. This was not an indication that He was pleased with them, because scripture is explicit that He was displeased with them. (1 Corinthians 10: 5)
- We need to embrace our death with Christ which we publically confessed through our baptism. As Paul explains, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4) The more we embrace this and enter into unity with the Lord, the sooner will the new resurrection Life in us become evident and the shorter the “desert” phase.
This “desert” phase only ended when Egypt was
removed from the people. Egypt “died” in the desert, that is, the entire
generation that had rebelled against the Lord died in the desert without
entering the Promised Land. Basically this was the “stinking” thinking – the
carnal mindsets – with which they had grown up in Egypt. Removing Egypt from
them was only attained through the dying of the old and embracing the new by
renewing their minds with the desire of the Promised Land. The promises of God became
an internal reality within the new generation. As Paul later explains, those
that maintain their sinful nature will not enter the Kingdom of God (1
Corinthians 6:9) and because we have been raised with Christ, we should “set our
minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).
Phase 3 – Destroying the giants and taking possession of the Promised
Land
This Phase
starts with a new generation that is completely sold out to the Lord. They are
fully obedient and desire strong leadership to lead them into the fulfillment
of the promises of God. (Joshua 1: 16 – 18)
Lessons
from Phase 3:
- The Lord does not take the side of flesh and blood. He is come to fulfill His Plans and Purposes (Joshua 5: 13-14). We cannot twist the Lord’s arm through confession, fasting or prayer to get what we want. (James 4:3)
- The new generation had internalized the promises of God. The unbelief of the older generation had no more place in them. (Joshua 14: 10-12)
- The Lord expected that the new generation leadership to be bold and courageous and that they would obey all the Lord had commanded. (Joshua 1: 7-9)
- The new generation was expecting bold and courageous leadership that would obey everything which the Lord commanded. (Joshua 1: 16-18)
- Even though there was formidable opposition, for example, from the king of Moab who warred against them and called Balaam to curse them – they had victory as long as they walked in Unity with and obedience to the Lord. (Numbers 25:1-3 & Revelations 2:14)
This Phase of
deliverance concludes with Joshua affirming all the Lord has done, how the
children of Israel had been able to take hold of their inheritance because the
Lord was with them. At the same time he admonishes them, “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful
nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of
you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just
as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God.” (Joshua
23: 9-11)
They are
established on the Promised Land, but this does not mean that they can relax
and do what they want. No, there is still work to be done and an enemy that is
active that hopes to deceive, distract and defeat them. The Process of
Deliverance continues ….
