Daniel 6:26-27 ”For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” God does amazing things in our lives, and even those who believe in different things and different gods must acknowledge that He is mighty and powerful, faithful forever, and reigning over all the earth. Darius, a foreign king who worshiped idols of rock and stone understood that Daniel’s God was alive and eternal. What his god was powerless to do, the True and Living God, YHWH, was pleased to do. And as Daniel was delivered from the power of literal lions, I declare that I and my family are delivered from the power of metaphorical and spiritual lions, to the glory of God who rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth! He is faithful, kind, and loving, and I am just scratching the surface of knowing who He is! Amen, amen! ps. I love this picture because Daniel’s focus is not on his peril, but on his God. Turn away from the lions and look toward your Light!
Psalm 91:15-16 He will call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation. Want to hear something cool? Do you know that the word for salvation is yeshua? Yup, the name of the Son of God literally means salvation! I’m a teacher, and I’ve taught some students with some really unusual names… The name Salvation would have been one of them. Imagine Mary calling Him for dinner, “Salvation! Salvation, it’s time for dinner!” But in this context of this verse, it’s pretty neat, too. We can look back with hindsight and see all he different implications of seeing His Yeshua – His salvation for us. I also think it’s neat to see the things that God does for me: He answers, He’s there, He rescues, He honors, He satisfies, He reveals. I have to call on Him. Sounds like His part of the deal is much more extensive, yet how often do I forget to call? And God is faithful to answer me, to be with me, to rescue me from the midst of the storm, to honor me (this is a little mind boggling), to satisfy me, to reveal His Truth and His Light and His Way – Yeshua. That’s pretty incredible! And I all He asks me to do is call!
Psalm 91:3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. I always read this that He won’t let me fall into the snare or be attacked by the plague, but the Hebrew word for deliver means to rescue, to pluck or snatch out, to recover. It seems like David’s actually saying that God is the one who delivers us from (rescues, recovers, or plucks us out of) the snare after we’ve been caught. When we creep (or sometimes run head-long) into the trap to get the “prize,” He comes are opens the gate and sets us free again. When the plague has already hit, He rescues us or recovers us. It doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t wind up in the snare of the trapper or in the grip of deadly pestilence, but it does say that there is One who delivers me from these things in His way in His time.
Today I refer you to Skip Moen’s website to read his post. It’s awesome! Below are my comments on his post: I think that fleeing is especially hard today because we’re taught to be strong and self-sufficient and to fight for what we deem to be “right.” Fleeing takes humility, the ability to admit I can’t do it alone… That is especially difficult. Fleeing also takes trust that God will do as He says. Looking back at His past reliability and faithfulness makes that easier, but it does make me have to have faith (as in the verb, not the noun). The other day I heard someone say that the reason a person believes in Jesus is so they don’t go to hell (aren’t eternally separated from God) when they die. That made me kind of sad because if that’s the only reason a person reaches out to Yeshua, they’re missing out on so much – the relationship, the rescue in the midst of battle, and the incredible, ongoing God hunt that we are blessed with every day! Like you said, if we’re just waiting for the end, we’ll miss out on truly living. And Yeshua said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. Yeah God! If you didn’t read the one previous to this (on the same verse), you can read it here.
Numbers 10:9 “And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies…” So, some issues: first there’s a word in the Hebrew version of this verse that isn’t translated but since I don’t know Hebrew I don’t know if it’s of any importance or if it means something like “you”. It comes just before the part that says “you shall sound an alarm.” Next, the word for “sound an alarm” is split into two separate words (they’re actually the same word translated twice)… but I can’t tell if the words are repeated in the Hebrew text (if they are then it would be like an exclamation point indicating extra emphasis on these words) or if the person writing the dictionary post just though he/she would split them up. Anyway, these issues aside, it’s interesting to me that sounding an alarm is the word רוע ruwa . It means, in addition to a battle alarm: 3) to shout in triumph (over enemies) 4) to shout in applause 5) to shout (with religious impulse) And also to shout in shout in joy. It’s almost like the shout prior to battle is a shout of thanksgiving and praise of God’s greatness – all before knowing the final outcome. And, according to this verse, God will save them from their enemies. Applauding God, shouting for joy or in triumph, no matter what the circumstances, can have dramatic effects. Maybe the next time I am faced with a seemingly overwhelming problem I should remember to ruwa and then trust God to save me.
Numbers 6:24-26 The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; The LORD lift His countenance upon you, And give you peace. This is the blessing that Aaron was to give the children of Israel (which, if you accept and obey Yeshua you are grafted into the covenant, and I think this blessing is for you, too). The LORD bless you and keep you; The first part is blessing and protections, that I understand. But what does it mean for G-d’s face to shine upon someone? The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. … Okay, did a little research and found that G-d’s face shining on someone meant salvation in the midst of battle – rescue when all else seems lost and when failure is sure without reinforcements [1]. So the second part is about rescue from certain defeat and showing mercy towards them. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. Here’s a random thought, what if “lift up” actually meant to carry or bear continuously (that is part of what this word means in Hebrew) and “countenance” (being the same word as face in the previous part of the verse) meant before and behind or forward (this is the adverb meaning of the word)? I can’t read Hebrew, but it would certainly give meaning to this phrase… The LORD carry you forward/before and behind and give you peace (completeness, safety, health and welfare). That’s a lot more significant as a blessing. To receive this spoken from a priest, directed by G-d… that would be like G-d speaking it over you. It’s a beautiful blessing about protection and blessing. I wish we used it more often now. [1] Moen, Skip. “Back To The Beginning.” Hebrew Word Study | Skip Moen . N.p., 22 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://skipmoen.com/2010/03/22/back-to-the-beginning/>.
Psalm 25:15 My eyes are always looking to the LORD for help, for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies. I find that when I get in trouble and need rescuing, I look to God, but I also look to people around me. When I’m hurting, I go to people to talk. People are tangible. I can see them and touch them. I can get the comfort of a hug if I need it, too. Sometimes it’s hard to go to God for help. Not because I don’t believe He can help, but because I can’t see Him. However, this verse is a good reminder that rescue isn’t going to come from anywhere else. God is the only one who can truly set me free and keep me from harm. People are good, but God is better.