Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:6-7 (emphasis added)

The sages teach that these verses describe the thirteen attributes of Elohim’s character. This gives us thirteen ways of looking at the things Elohim does and says. It also gives us thirteen ways of filtering out things that are NOT in accordance with Elohim’s character. It gives us a great tool when looking at the Word and an indispensable tool when looking at things outside the Word. When he was tempting Jesus, the devil quoted the Word BUT he did not quote it in accordance with Elohim’s CHARACTER. The Word does you no good when you try and twist it to your own ends. These verses show us what Elohim is like and they show us what things He is likely to approve of and disapprove of. Taken with the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians-the chapter on the nature of love-and the words and actions of Jesus in the Gospels and Acts, we have a VERY clear picture of who Elohim IS. And what His very nature is against.

“The Lord, the Lord” are TWO attributes: Divine Mercy. How is that two? Rashi (Jewish scholar and French Rabbi 1040-1105) teaches it the clearest. The first alludes to Elohim having mercy on the sinner before he sins. The second alludes to Elohim having mercy on the sinner after he has sinned and REPENTED. We can deduce this because Adonai also deals stern justice. But in Psalm 22:1 (also quoted by Jesus on the cross) it reads “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.” Why would you cry to stern justice why have you abandoned me? It makes no sense. Stern justice arrives when the mercy has been spent (ignored by the guilty). His mercy MUST be ignored for the sinner who is called to repentance to continue sinning. Why? Because Elohim doesn’t change. It is US who use our free will to REFUSE CHANGE. “But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, and is faithful to their descendants” (Psalm 103:17). The Mercy of Adonai NEVER changes. It is ALWAYS available to the truly repentant.
He watches over them (the repentant, the believer) so that they do not fall (Psalm 103:13). It speaks to His approachability both before and after we sin. When we THINK of the sin, that is the moment we start to consider doing it. The considering, the meditating on it instead of rejecting it (no matter how many times it pops in there, we are to turn away from it) is what is sinful thought. “If I had harbored sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18). We cannot be tempted by what we have not considered. If we don’t consider it, we won’t commit it. That’s why we are called to dwell on HIM and His WORD, not our own thoughts or stray thoughts or sent thoughts. “Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6).

Not just having mercy toward sinners and the repentant, Mercy in abundance is another attribute of His character. He isn’t just merciful to those two categories, but He is ABUNDANTLY merciful. He is merciful to those who need it because they cannot be saved on their own merits. This is something the Law was given to teach us. That we CANNOT do it without a SAVIOUR. “For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). If we learn that He IS (see the next point) and that we cannot get to Him ourselves, we naturally should look for who can get us there. “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). His Mercy leads us to the idea of trust in Him and opens the door to us reaching out and taking the trust (His trust) that He offers us (Mark 11:22).

The word ‘El’ or ‘God’ is in itself an attribute. I AM that I AM. He is powerful. He wisely does that which is proper. It does not say He HAS these things, it says that He IS these things. They ARE who He is. “God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”” (Exodus 3:14). He IS Elohim. The fact that He IS Elohim gives Him the right to say what is what. These attributes would be just great things if it was anyone or anything else. But because He is Elohim, The Living One (Revelation 1:18). There are NONE life Him (Psalms 86:8-10). These attributes aren’t simply character. They are the foundation of creation because ALL of EVERYTHING in ANY realm made from ANY substance are ALL IN HIM. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36). Because HE is, WE are. Because we are IN HIM, it is only HIS point of view that matters. “Yet, Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the product of your labor” (Isaiah 64:8). When we see His character manifested, we are seeing Him. When WE manifest His character, the world is seeing Him (Matthew 5:14-16).

The root meaning of El is ‘might, strength, power’ which adds up to a GREAT God. “For the Lord is a great God, a great king who is superior to all gods” (Psalm 95:3). He isn’t stingy with His might. “I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:2). “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power; your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy” (Exodus 15:6). Read Job 38:1–41:34. See the power, the works, and the WONDER of El laid out for the human mind to ponder. He IS.

‘El’ has ANOTHER meaning which is another attribute. El is the ETERNAL. “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called Wonderful Adviser, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). “Everlasting Father” has another translation which is ‘Father of Eternity’. Adonai Elohim is so ever-lasting that He had to create the concept of ETERNITY in order for the human mind to grasp the IDEA of how long-lasting He is except He is GREATER THAN THAT because He FATHERED eternity. He IS that He IS that He WAS that He WILL BE. Only in Messiah Jesus can we hope to understand the concept He birthed for us to hold onto. Compared to THAT, compared to a being whose nature is THAT, what can people and institutions that last for decades do to us (Psalms 118:6-7)? He is ETERNAL and IN that eternalness, He is constant. That is PART of eternity from His point of view. A sameness that never gets dull. A sameness that never falters. A sameness that never pulls back what is offered to those who choose to accept the conditions. A sameness that can be counted on. A sameness that runs throughout the WHOLE of who HE IS. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!” (Hebrews 13:8).

Gracious. He saves the one who falls and is unable to rise (Ex. 22:25-26). In a darkened room, a light is a HUGE benefit. Even a tiny flicker of flame makes the difference between blindness and sight. Elohim’s Grace is so powerful, there is benefit to it simply shining in our direction. “The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25). Almost every aspect of Elohim is tied into His Grace. His Grace is the manifestation of His Love (the ultimate expression of which is the cross: John 3:16-18), which is why we see it in His face. “O God of Heaven’s Armies, restore us. Smile on us. Then we will be delivered” (Psalm 80:7). It speaks of favour. It speaks of Blessing. It speaks of giving to those who have no merit, who don’t deserve it, because it is shining from His love to us instead of our works to Him. It is part of who He is to show to us Himself. Because He wants us in a place that we get to see and interact with Him. He comes to us because we CANNOT go to Him. Without Jesus, we cannot face Him. In Jesus, we can go boldly with thanksgiving for what He did to make the Way we walk. His Love is Gracious. His Grace is Love. “Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

Long-suffering/Patient. He does NOT become quickly angry at the wicked. He defers His anger and doesn’t hasten to punish because a sinner may respond to the call and repent. Why doesn’t He immediately punish our wrongs? Because none of us would be left. It’s that simple. Adonai imposes partial punishments. He delays the balance. He imposes it because it is just and right. And punishment makes us listen to His call to repentance better than if He said nothing and punished us or said something without punishing us. If there were no negatives, we’d get the idea that either He doesn’t care what we do or He is unable to exact penalties. He exacts our sins gradually if we do not repent, but forgives completely and utterly if the sinner repents. Look at the Amorites. “In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit” (Genesis 15:16). That’s a MINIMUM of four hundred years that Adonai held back their punishment. They had ALREADY behaved in such a way that judgment was coming. But Adonai wasn’t through trying to reach them. He wasn’t through trying to get them to repent. He kept it up until over four hundred years had passed. THAT is a long-suffering character.

Abundant in Goodness. He fulfils and keeps His word. Abundance means present in great quantity; more than adequate; over sufficient. It means marked by great plenty (as of resources). Amply supplied or abounding. Existing or occurring in large amounts. This is the state of His Goodness. “How great is your favor, which you store up for your loyal followers. In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter in you” (Psalm 31:19). “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him” (Psalm 34:8). There is a purity to the Goodness of Elohim. A foundational standard by which all OTHER goodness is measured-and falls short. “Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:19). “The Lord is good—indeed, he is a fortress in time of distress, and he protects those who seek refuge in him” (Nahum 1:7). Much like His Love, His Goodness is ample and informs much of what He does. The motivation for the actions of Elohim are always based in His Goodness. Correction is needed for those who stray. Punishment is merited for those who are wicked. His Goodness ensures we NEVER get all that we deserve. “He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve” (Psalm 103:10). He is too GOOD to do to us as we deserve. He is too GOOD not to bless us. He even blesses the wicked now while they are alive, knowing the judgment they have chosen. “so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change” (James 1:17). He is a GOOD God.

Abundant in Truth. He faithfully rewards those who perform His will. Remember those definitions of abundance? They apply to His TRUTH as well. In fact, there is NOTHING but TRUTH in Elohim. “in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before time began” (Titus 1:2). “so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?” (Numbers 23:19). Elohim is faithful in His promises. He is faithful in His Word. In fact, Adonai Elohim is completely and totally and absolutely sovereign – until He speaks. He chooses to bind Himself by His Word so that we can TRUST in it. It is that much of an absolute. He does not go back on His Word. EVER. If WE choose in our free will not to obey, He will go for another human (male or female) who will (2 Chronicles 16:9). His truth is so much a part of Him and the creation that He created that it will sanctify us. To sanctify is to set apart as or declare holy/consecrate. To make legitimate. Elohim makes us LEGITIMATE by His Word. “Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). This was the prayer of Jesus for us all. It continues to be His prayer. That the fundamental truth which is the nature of Elohim that has been made as an expression in/through the Word will penetrate us, renew us, and set us apart as Elohim’s legitimate children and heirs to His promises. It is TRANSFORMATIONAL truth (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2-3; Isaiah 54:15-17).

Keeping Mercy to the thousandth generation (or as the Sages teach, two thousands - meaning the minimum thousand group is two, but implied countless). “So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, but who pays back those who hate him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve!” (Deuteronomy 7:9-10). He provides the roots from which MUCH growth will come. This is why He could make the promise to Abraham that He made. “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.”” (Genesis 12:1-3). He doesn’t NEED to show us Mercy. He does it because it is part of who He IS. By choice. He MADE it part of Himself before we were even around. He made it part of Himself as He was mulling us over. We were an idea-not yet a word-and He made KEEPING MERCY part of His character. He keeps (guards) His Mercy. He also guards OURS. He keeps and stores up all the mercies we show so that He can bless us. “For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15). The mercies we do in His presence are precious to Him. They are a reminder to Him of the mercies that He desires to show us. His KEEPING of Mercy enables the sprouting that leads to such abundance.

Forgiving (removing) Iniquity. He will bear them. He forgives them because He bears them for us. He clears the sinner by visiting this upon Himself. He bears our iniquity. He bears our transgressions. He clears sin. They are intimately connected, but also three separate things. Iniquity can be forgiven and the penalty erased. A debt can be forgiven. Erased as if it never was. “Wash away my wrongdoing. Cleanse me of my sin” (Psalm 51:2). Of course, that doesn’t change the behaviour that initiated the debt (sin). But the debt itself, the record of the iniquity can be totally sponged away until it is as if it never was. “I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake; your sins I do not remember” (Isaiah 43:25). He does it for us, but He does it for HIS sake. He LOVES us (John 3:16-18). HE wants fellowship with us. HE wants relationship restored. HE wants us back to where we should be, and THAT is why in Mercy through Grace He made the plan before anything happened (Revelation 13:8) so that we COULD go back. He made a way to erase our sin from us. He walked it through. He didn’t balk. It went ALL the way through. “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). That JOY was restored covenant between us and the Father IN JESUS.

Bearing (‘forgiving’) Transgression. Adonai cannot forgive transgression. Transgression is the sin of rebellion. You cannot forgive rebellion. They are sins committed presumptuously (with premeditation), knowing that they are wrong. It is a deliberate violation of Elohim’s command. Humanly speaking, we cover it up. But Adonai doesn’t cover things. He deals with them. So what does He do with transgression? He bears it. Through His visitation of Jesus as man, He bore our transgression and did not destroy us as was His right. Instead He bore them and Jesus took the penalty. “As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us” (Psalm 103:12). He REMOVES them, instead of forgiving. He TAKES them, so they cannot impact us any longer. It is the only way to deal with it. Adonai made a type and shadow of this in the Law. They put the guilt on the scapegoat, they took that scapegoat way out of the camp into the desert to a specific mountain, took it up the mountain, and then pushed it off so that it would NEVER come back to the camp (Leviticus 16: 21-22). THAT is how transgression is dealt with. It happens ONLY in, by, and through Messiah Jesus. It is the ONLY way there is.

Clear sin. He clears our sin. He does NOT leave it unpunished. He is not indulgent to sin. Little by little it WILL have an effect on us. That is the GRACE of repentance. He clears those who repent. He does NOT clear those who will NOT repent. The word sin here is ‘chatta’ah’ (khat-taw-aw’). The word takes in all sins committed in thought and in error. It is a noun. This THING was placed on Messiah so that the full punishment could come upon Messiah for SIN. By HIM taking payment, WE don’t have to pay. He took our marker. We don’t have it anymore. Clear. “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). We MUST repent. We MUST accept the conditions of the cleansing. He isn’t cleansing whomever wants it (Matthew 7:22-29). He isn’t cleansing all who He wants to cleanse (2 Peter 3:9). He can ONLY cleanse those who truly REPENT. Without repentance, it is only lip service. You could not render lip service to a king and be considered a faithful vassal. Neither can we. Either we submit to HIM as our KING, SAVIOUR, and LORD . . . AND . . . live accordingly. Trust in Him produces fruit in our lives. Trust in Him produces works in our lives. They are the evidence of what has happened and continues to happen on the inside (James 2:17-20). When we live a life of repentance, we enjoy a life cleansed. Cleansing us is part of who He IS. Repenting to Him needs to be a part of who WE ARE.

Who is Adonai Elohim? He is merciful to sinners, merciful to the repentant, abundant in mercy and the keeping of mercy to give us more for thousands of generations, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness, abundant in truth, forgiving by removing iniquity, bearing away our transgressions, and clearing sin from us. The being with these character attributes is also THE God who LIVES. The ONLY true God. He exists beyond all our thinking and reason and experience. He is eternal and everlasting. None of His character changes. No attribute falters. He IS.

Quite a picture, isn’t it? Why do we think this person with this character would even for a MOMENT be the cause of anything bad that comes upon us? That He would choose THIS PATH to teach us anything? That He would even NEED to. Remember who He IS! Think on it a bit. Think of what it would take to go against ALL that mercy (four types), goodness, patience, and forgiveness (three types). If He is TRUTH, He couldn’t. If He was eternal, He couldn’t. His constancy. His consistency. His PURITY would prevent it. Elohim IS love and life and the abundance of Himself is found in those rivers that flow from His Throne to us (Revelation 22:1).

This is a God who heals (Exodus 15:26). This is a God who adopts (John 1:12). This is a God who does not stand afar off ignoring what He made (Hebrews 4:15-16). We have a God who CARES. Who LOVES. Who made a WAY back home when WE ran off. He is GENEROUS. He is MERCIFUL. He is MIGHTY. He is GLORIOUS. He is LOVING. He is PATIENT. He is KIND. He is JOYFUL. And He wants us to be like that too! He wants us to have that too! “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). Make THIS your mindset. That He is the One who Healed you with His bearing of ALL that brought you down and away from Him (1 Peter 2:24). That He is the One who made you like Him IN Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). That HE wants YOU completely, totally, consistently, and absolutely WHOLE inside and out, body, mind, and spirit with NO EXCEPTIONS! Get NEAR to THIS God! Get NEAR to THIS Saviour! Get NEAR to THIS King and Lord! And NEVER EVER move away!

“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive” (Jeremiah 29:12-14). He is waiting. He is loving. Go seek Him with all you have. The reward will be beyond your current understanding and you’ll get to spend all of forever learning the depths of His Love for YOU! Don’t wait! Go now! Go today! And don’t look back!

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 53:6

“All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.” Messiah would be the sin-bearer for all mankind (male and female). Some sin can be forgiven. Some sin has punishment that can be delayed. Some sin cannot be forgiven, but must be borne by someone. Messiah would take ALL sin and bear it. Bear it and take ALL the penalty due. Not for one or a few elect, but for all humanity that ever was and ever would be. Messiah would bear it ALL. “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4). Jesus took the payment. Jesus bore our sin. Jesus saved us from all of that and gave us a Way to the Father. A Way to return to rightness with Him. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b