Deut. 26:8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm (z’roah), and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Right now, around the world, many are celebrating the holiday of Pesach (Passover) reminding us of the time that the Lord led His people out of slavery in Egypt.
As it applies to us today, there is a spiritual Egypt from which we all need deliverance. The spiritual Egypt symbolizes worldliness, carnality and spiritual bondage and the Lord wants to redeem us from those with His outstretched arm. He wants to lead us out of the burdens of this world and bring us into a place of freedom in Him!
In Hebrew, the word for arm is “z’roah”. His z’roah is a picture of His might and His strength and His z’roah is mighty and able to bring us out of any bondage that hinders our spiritual walk. When the z’roah of the Lord led Israel out of Egypt He displayed great signs and wonders and He is more that able to do the same for us today.
Be encouraged! Whatever situation we may be in, whatever bondage has us enslaved, the z’roah of the Lord desires to display great signs and wonders in our lives and lead us out of our Egypt! Let’ give our all to Him again and be FREE at last!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The Bible seems virtually redundant on the theme of courage. More than 125 exhortations for God’s people facing overwhelming trials and dilemmas, resound against fear, notwithstanding how natural that response may seem. Courage based on faith is the universal attitude for saints in all situations. Our omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere) Father says, and repeats, “Fear not! Be of good courage! Be strong and courageous!”
As my wife and I have been redeployed to the United States for a season we’ve traveled over 150,000 miles since 2020. Vehicles which deliver the kind of distances we travel need regular oil changes to stay reliable. So, our vehicles have enjoyed innumerable pit stops.
As we continue to inspect our hearts and take spiritual inventory of our lives during this month of Elul in preparation for the fall feasts, we should stay particularly aware of Yeshua’s prediction in Matthew 24:12, “The love of many will grow cold.” He warned that a sign of the last days would be abounding lawlessness and that callousness and hardness of heart would characterize the end times. The evidence of this is everywhere.
Traditionally in Jewish spirituality, these 40 days of prayer and repentance beginning the 1st of Elul to Yom Kippur parallel the 40 days that Moses spent on the mountain [Exodus 34:28] pleading God’s forgiveness for Israel’s sin of creating and worshiping the golden calf. Interestingly, Psalm 27 is read each day of the month of Elul, along with the shofar blast in preparation for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
As we continue our study for Elul, a month set apart for repentance in preparation for the fall feasts, we find a message hidden in the four Hebrew letters spelling the name of this special month. Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed form an “acronym” for a well-known passage in the Song of Solomon: Ani l-dodi v-dodi li or in English, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”
I happened (on rare occasion) the other day to see a CNN headline, “Health Officials Brace for Three Major Viruses this Fall”. Immediately, I thought, “Not again!” Yet, scouring the headlines, it now appears that several colleges are instituting mask mandates even though there isn’t a case of illness yet. While the world is being prepared for an “outbreak” of disease, I’m hoping we may learn a lesson from history so that, perhaps, we’ll see an “outbreak” of revival!
As we enter this season of Teshuva (Repentance) during the month of Elul, we enter a unique season approaching the Fall Feasts. This month initiates a 40-day countdown to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and is traditionally known as the time the King would visit His people.