Deliverance

“The Spirit of MASTER YHWH is upon me and because of this, He has anointed me to declare hope to the poor: And He has sent me to heal the brockenhearted and to preach release to the captives and sight to the blind. And to free those who are oppressed (by the power of) forgiveness. And to preach the acceptable year of Master YHWH.” (Luke4:18:19)

Y’shua Mashiyach is quoting Isaiah 61 in this verse and revealing his awesome power to bring about true deliverance. This also contains a very powerful revelation of who Mashiyach is. Here’s the passage:

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of YHWH, that he might be esteemed” (Isaiah 61:3).

Mashiyach brought forth beauty for ashes and replaced despair with hope. In this same chapter in Luke (verse 33) Y’shua is delivering a soul from an unclean spirit (demon), so that there is no mistaking his absolute power over the demonic. Millions of souls can and will testify to being delivered from oppression and torment by the power of Mashiyach. We can put our full and complete trust in Mashiyach Y’shua who epitomizes righteousness, goodness, fairness and wholeness with the greatest of love and compassion, and who brings great joy and comfort to our souls. Although we are able to experience tremendous peace and joy whenever we praise YHWH for what He has done through His Mashiyach, we are also called to be “trees of righteousness” which means that each one of us is responsible to co-labor in righteousness with Mashiyach.

Trees of righteousness refers to people of righteousness: “the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12), “And all the trees of the field shall know that I YHWH have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the try tree to flourish: I YHWH have spoken and have done it” (Ezekiel 17:24).

YHWH has planted His trees (souls) of righteousness all over the Earth. These are souls who are being formed in the Image of Elohim and who live according to righteousness rather than the pleasures of sin for a season. These souls are “trees of righteousness,” not spectators or vendors of righteousness, but a Kedoshim (Set Apart People) who practice and experience righteousness (the nature of Mashiyach) every day.

“I will greatly rejoice in YHWH, my soul shall be joyful in my Elohim; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a kahan (priestly dress), and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10). The imagery of Mashiyach being covered with a robe of righteousness as priestly dress also applies to all who are “priests of Elohim and of His Mashiyach” (Rev 1:6, 5:10, 20:6) who are the Bride of Mashiyach.

A “bride adorns herself with jewels” is a picture of the Kehillath (congregation) of Mashiyach who wears precious jewels that depict the fruits of her righteousness. Mashiyach is clearly establishing a “righteous bride” who is known by her righteousness. “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:9). “Let us rejoice and exult, and give esteem to him: for the marriage supper of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. And it was granted her to be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean: for fine linen is the righteousness of the Set Apart Believers” (Revelation 19:7-8).

This righteousness is set forth in Torah which is “deep extensive learning in righteousness.” “All Scripture that was written by the Spirit is profitable for instruction and for decisive refutation, and for correction, and for deep extensive learning in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Torah and Mashiyach are One Truth, and herein lies the basis of all deliverance; however, there are three basic perspectives of Torah observance:

Deliverance through Obedience

Obedience to the Word of YHWH is evidence of true deliverance. Mashiyach says that those who do not do the will of his Father will not partake of the Kingdom of Elohim (Matt 7:21). The judgment of all peoples and nations is according to the same Standard which is revealed in the Word of YHWH and that the Set Apart believers obey: “And the temple of Elohim in heaven was opened; and the aron (ark) of the Covenant was seen in his temple: and there were flashes of lightning and thunders, and voices and an earthquake, and great hail” (Rev 11:18). There is a clear and future judgment on the horizon. The aron of His Covenant contains all of the Ten Commandments that are to be “written upon the hearts” of YHWH’s people. Those who don’t have Torah written upon their hearts will not be able to excuse themselves by suggesting that “Jesus did it all for them” or that their Rabbi or Pastor promised them that they would be in heaven.

“For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so YHWH Elohim will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations” (Isaiah 61:11). YHWH says that He will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations; this is very clearly stated within the original Tanakh reference regarding the Renewed Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Therefore, it is clearly a great deception to think that a person is fully delivered from the clutches of the enemy while they continue to transgress against Torah. All sin is transgression of Torah (1 John 3:4); without Torah we wouldn’t know what constitutes sin (Romans 7:1-12).

There are plenty of indicators that point to the need for deliverance. The spiritual fruit within our souls, or lack thereof, is one good way in which to evaluate ourselves: “Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Each of these attributes manifest themselves within those who walk after the Spirit of Mashiyach. Many view these attributes as being relative to their current situation in life; yet others compare and judge their spiritual and emotional status against the rest of the populace. Unfortunately, the most popular attitude is to define spiritual fruits according to religious and cultural tradition rather than the Word of YHWH. Regardless as to how accurate the personal assessment of our needs, deliverance is something that we all require over the course of our lives. No one is immune or exempt; even Mashiyach endured temptation and manifold trials.

Deliverance is won when a person turns away from carnal habits and actively pursues righteousness, and this is also a good definition of Faith; this is beyond just belief or intellectual acknowledgment of righteousness or the knowledge of good and evil. If this were not the case, then Adam and Chawwah (Eve) would never have been expelled from Gan Eden as their “knowledge” about the Tree of Life would have been sufficient to keep them in! Instead, it was their direct disobedience to YHWH, that changed their status. The fact remains that Adam and Chawwah’s story originates in the oldest part of the Tanakh, but their fall from esteem because of their disobedience remains very much a current problem today and for the Good News writers! (Romans 5:12-21, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45) So, if the earliest part of the Torah remains relevant, binding and in need of resolution for every current believer, how then can later parts of Torah become irrelevant? NO, it’s impossible, it can’t! The deliverance from sin that Adam and Chawwah experienced was through Mashiyach. Torah therefore details and elucidates elements of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that were birthed in Mashiyach!

Faith then brings a progressive desire to live righteously, which is clearly by inspiration of the Ruach haKodesh, which in turn brings harmony between YHWH and His Creation. Furthermore, as anyone with the most basic Hebrew and Aramaic understanding knows, there is a direct linguistic and prophetic linkage in Genesis1 between “in the beginning/creation” (bereshit) and “covenant” (breet) and the verb for “to make” (bara) and “Son” (bar)!

Y’shua taught, “It is written that the Son of man does not live by bread alone, but by all the Words that proceed from the mouth of YHWH” (Matthew 4:4). It is obvious that mankind must live on this “bread” of the Word of YHWH (Deuteronomy 8:3). Y’shua declared that he as well as all of mankind are called and required to live by the “Words” of YHWH. This fact is also why Mashiyach was born in Beyt-Lechem (Bethlehem), or literally “the house of bread”!

The enemy attempts to micro-manage souls into doing his bidding; therefore, it is imperative to remember that Torah sets the Standard by which all flesh shall be judged. Torah observance protects us from becoming prey for the enemy. Although many religious people may claim that torah observance “doesn’t matter,” the evidence shows that lack of trust, faith and disloyalty towards the Word of YHWH is what is waging war against the Unity of the Body. Those who say it “doesn’t matter” are simply relying on their own religious traditions to carry them through. But Mashiyach says, “All who loosen, therefore, from one (of) these small commandments and teach thus to the sons of man, will be called little in the Kingdom of Heaven, but all who do and teach this will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds more than that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19-20).

Lies, Procrastination and Rebellion

We could examine a host of indicators, but lies, procrastination and rebellion are clearly normatives of the carnal flesh. It appears many souls will go through their entire life lying to themselves and others, procrastinating and rebelling against YHWH, while at the same time believing themselves to be “saved.” The problem is, all form of rebellion is protected by pride. The individual may think him or herself to be loving, generous and caring, but if they are ever confronted about lying, not keeping their word, or procrastination and rebellion against Mashiyach, they often indict the messenger instead of examining the status of their own souls. Y’shua said, “The spirit is ready but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Therefore when we recognize the need for change but realize we don’t have the power to do it on our own, we must realize we’re in immediate need of deliverance. Some people are wise enough to get on their knees right now and change, but most will lie to themselves and procrastinate. Y’shua said, “But if your eye should be evil, all your body will be darkness. If therefore, the light that is in you is dark, how much your darkness will be!” (Matthew 6:23). In other words, when deliverance is needed we often have no idea of the severity of the problem. If there is darkness then how much darkness? Often when a person begins to root out the darkness (hidden rebellion) they discover much more than they realized. Darkness is a constant; where there is no light there is immediate darkness. However, the good news is that darkness flees when light shines into hidden area of the soul.

A very simple and logical way to defeat darkness is to welcome the light and focus on the Truth – but what is Truth? Y’shua says, “Father sanctify them by Your Truth, for Your Word is Truth” (John 17:17). Y’shua also says that his word will judge all those who reject him (John 12:48). Mashiyach is the Standard; therefore, when the Spirit begins to convict us of sin (like lies, procrastination and rebellion) we can distinguish between the carnal man who is lazy to make change, and the spiritual man who has unlimited resources to change and become like Mashiyach. It is also very helpful to have others who are mighty in Scripture and full of discernment of the Ruach haKodesh to bear witness for our spiritual nature and against our carnal nature.

The Power of Belief

Each soul must believe that YHWH exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). This is a beautiful discipline and promise that Rav Shaul takes directly from Torah: “But if from thence you shall seek YHWH your Elohim, you shall find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the later days, if you turn to YHWH your Elohim, and shall be obedient unto his voice; For YHWH your Elohim is a merciful Elohim; He will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore unto them” (Deuteronomy 4:29, 31). Seeking YHWH with all your heart and soul means to obey His Torah and put trust in Him alone. Notice that this promise extends into the “latter days” which are the days in which we are now living.

With Faith all things are possible, as Y’shua said: “…if you are able to believe anything is possible to be for him who believes” (Mark 9:23). “By faith Enoch was translated and did not taste death…” (Hebrews 11:5). Faith is the action of “entering in” to the Word of YHWH. “So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My Mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in that which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). The Word of YHWH Elohim “quickens the dead and calls those things which are not, as if they were” (Romans 4:17). Therefore, we must think, speak and pray according to the authority of the Word of YHWH, regardless of what “the world” might send our way; this is how “the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor are given hope” (Matthew 11:5). By faith we can see things according to YHWH’s assessment and then respond to the Word of YHWH with obedient expectation. This is evidence of true deliverance. We must never look at others for what only Mashiyach can provide, and not compare ourselves to others or expect things from others that belong to the hand of YHWH, “But when Y’shua heard, he said to them, The healthy are not in need of a doctor, rather those that are badly afflicted” (Matthew 9:12).