may 30, 2013

1Mastering “…the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”May 30, 2013

CAVELearning to Serve

Ministries

IN ATHETRINITY

2Mastering “…the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

Background• Pronouncement of three-year famine for idolatry• End of famine – Elijah asked for a summit on Mt. Carmel

– Political overtones were high – if Baal didn’t win, King Ahab loses favor with the people…

• What happened? (450 prophets of Baal)• The order came to kill Elijah by noon the next day• The 40-day, 40-night journey to Mt. Horeb (Sinai) – let’s

read about it


1ST KINGS 19:1-18 Let’s

Read


Elijah and Moses• Elijah, like Moses, fled to the desert as a wanted man by

pagan government leaders to escape death after killing someone

• Elijah was exiled for 40 days in the desert before meeting efei at Mt. Horeb– Parallels Moses’ exile of 40 years in the desert before meeting

efei at the same mountain


Elijah and Moses• An angel led and directed both Moses and Elijah in the

same desert (cf. Exodus 14:19 et al; 1st Kings 19:5-7)• On the mountain, Elijah, like Moses, spoke to efei out of

deep frustration and desperation for speaking on His behalf to Israel (cf. Exodus 33)

• Elijah, like Moses, sought refuge inside a cave (or cleft) in the side of the mountain (cf. Exodus 33:21-23; 1st Kings 18:9)


Elijah and Moses• Elijah, like Moses, was called by Yahweh to see Him pass by

(cf. Exodus 33:19, 22; 1st Kings 19:11)• Elijah, like Moses, experienced a fierce wind, an earthquake

and fire on the mountain, but the voice of efei was not in any of them (cf. Exodus 19:16-19; 1st Kings 19:11-12)


Elijah and Moses on Another Mountain• By divine revelation, the apostle Peter confessed Yeshua’s

identity and role as the True Messiah– With this admission, the countdown had begun– Soon osfei would face death by crucifixion– Time had entered a critical phase for Him– Though some saw Him connected to Moses and others to Elijah,

the link to each of them was clearly revealed on the mountain


MATTHEW 17:1-8 Let’s

Read


Let’s go back to Elijah at the cave…


Elijah and efei• In verses 9 – 11, we see someone appear in a very subtle

reference– The Word of efei

• Where do we first see Him in Scripture?

Genesis 15:1


• In verse 11, efei passes before Elijah in a “great and strong wind”

• Why is there a “Word of efei” and a “efei”– Why is God revealing Himself to Elijah in different ways?

Elijah and efei


• The solution lies in Exodus:“And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as efei had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And efei descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of efei. And efei passed by before him, and proclaimed, efei, efei Elohim, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,…”

Exodus 34:4-6

Elijah and efei


• We recognize osfei as the Word of Yahweh in the flesh• The belief that “the Word of Yahweh” was a distinctly

separate and simultaneous manifestation of the One True God of hosts is well attested in ancient Jewish thought

• In this holy hint (remez) of a distinct, but simultaneous, revelation of Yahweh, Elijah is linked not only to Moses at Mt. Sinai, but also to the coming Messiah osfei

Elijah and efei


• Elijah is told by “the Word of efei” to stand outside the cave on the mountain like Moses did in his own desperation when Yahweh passed by him (cf. Exodus 33)

• The dynamic tie to Moses is reinforced

Elijah and efei


• We’ve established that inside the cave Yahweh spoke to Elijah as “the Word of efei” (cf. 1st Kings 19:9, 11)

• Outside the cave we learn that God spoke as efei (19:15)• These two instances are straight-forward to understand• But efei spoke to Elijah in a third way…

The voice of efei


• First “the Word of efei” spoke to him plainly in the cave• Next, the voice of efei – a voice of awesome silence –

spoke to him– There occurred three circumstances on the mountain involving

1. a powerful wind2. an earthquake3. a fierce fire

The voice of efei


• While Elijah is safely hidden in the cave, he hears a voice so incredibly difficult to explain that the Hebrew language of the Bible makes it difficult for the translator to translate it– Nowhere else in Biblical Hebrew do we find this peculiar

description of how the voice of efei sounds, or, rather, how it does not sound

The voice of efei


• The voice of God is depicted as being silent, but it can penetrate the soul such that its impact is greater than if the voice of efei was heard audibly

• Elijah heard the voice of efei so deeply without ever actually hearing a word, and he obeyed by standing up, moving to the mouth of the cave to see efei Himself pass by

The voice of efei


• What did efei say to Elijah in that still small voice?– We know what “the Word of efei” said inside the cave– We have what efei said outside the cave– But we don’t know what efei said to Elijah in that still small voice– You can bet that it was highly significant in the life of Elijah

What about you and me?How should we understand this voice today?

The voice of efei


• What we do know about this still small voice is that it came from the “Spirit of efei” – not “the Word of efei” nor “efei” but the same Spirit that we can hear and feel today

• What we need to know today, however, is, was it a still small voice?– Is this translation correct?

The voice of efei


• The Hebrew phrase used here is qol demamah daqqa• qol – voice• demamah – silence, speechless• daqqa – muted, emptied out• How can you mute that which is silenced?

– It boils down to “an exponentially intense silence”

Silencex

A Muted Silence


• Ask yourself – is the absolute, utter removal of any sound or movement or sound pattern whatsoever equal to a whisper or a blowing sound?– How can silencex equal sound?

A Muted Silence


• “a still, small voice” (KJV, RSV)• “a light murmuring sound” (New Jerusalem Bible)• “a soft murmuring sound” (JPS Tanakh)• “a sound of a gentle blowing” (NASB)• “a soft whisper” (NET)• “a sound of a gentle whisper” (NIV)• “a quiet, subdued voice” (CJB)• “a sound of sheer silence” (NRSV)

A Muted Silence


• Perhaps the best way to put it, or to literally translate it, is as a shrunken silence or a voice of sheer thought

• Elijah was hearing a sound of silence in which all silence is vacuumed out of it to an infinite and perfect degree

• The silent voice of efei taken to exponential and perfect silence, then, is God’s pure and holy thought

• It is the thought of His Spirit• Elijah heard God’s thoughts!

A Muted Silence


• Can we hear God’s thoughts?“But we speak the wisdom of Elohim in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which Elohim ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which Elohim hath prepared for them that love him. But Elohim hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of Elohim. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of Elohim knoweth no man, but the Spirit of Elohim.”

1st Corinthians 2:7-11

A Muted Silence


• Can we hear God’s thoughts?“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of Elohim; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of Elohim. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of Elohim : for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of efei, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Messiah.”

1st Corinthians 2:12-16

A Muted Silence


• Elijah heard the Spirit of God speaking to his spirit• Out of this “muted silence”, God got Elijah’s undivided

attention to speak to him in a different way from the other ways He had previously spoken to him

• Spiritual was speaking to spiritual• Is that your connection with Him?

A Muted Silence


• What is the voice of the Spirit of God like?• This is at the heart of the phrase qol demamah daqqa• The Spirit bears witness with our spirit when He testifies of

the Father and the Son

Conclusion


• In the Book of Revelation, we are told to listen to this same Spirit

• Seven times in chapters 2 and 3 we are told by none other than osfei Himself:

Conclusion

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the

churches”


?


FinallyThroughout history efei has pardoned sin by His grace based on Messiah’s work on the cross alone, not on man’s actions. Though we advocate obedience, obedience does not determine salvation. Our right standing before Him is established on one

thing only: the finished work of Messiah. We are released from our sins by His blood. He has reconciled us in His earthly body through His death. Osfei bore our sins in His

own Body on the cross so that by His wounds we are healed. We are made holy through the offering up of His body as a sacrifice. Messiah appeared once for all to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. efei sent His Son to remove the wrath that

we ourselves both created and deserve. The penalty of sin that is rightly ours is absolved by grace through faith, not by any righteous deeds of our own. Only when

we are born again, given a new life through God’s Spirit, by faith in Osfei Messiah can we be forgiven.

Will you accept Him?

may 30, 2013

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