But,
Preacher, how would you pray that for someone? What does it
mean? Place it in context please.
This
precise term for "shoes," which is "manal" in Hebrew, is used
only this once in all of Scripture! Don't misunderstand me
please. The word "shoes," in the plural number, is found 21
times in the Bible. Its singular, "shoe," another 9 times. But
on none of those occasions is it the word "manal" but this once.
That makes
this pair of shoes special, unique, one-of-a-kind. Some folks,
apparently including the children of Asher, had a rough and
rugged road to walk in their days ahead! It is believed by some
of the old-time scholars that Asher was settled in a part of the
Promised Land that literally had such a terrain, mountainous and
jagged and rocky!
God is
saying this. I can provide you shoes appropriate for the road
you must take!
Those
going to a wedding do not need tennis shoes for the event.
People at Church will not generally be wearing combat boots
either! But the farmer plowing in his field certainly will not
wear sandals!
And the
man or woman hiking on foot-slicing quartz will be sure to adorn
protective footwear.
Why, God
must be in the shoe business!
He indeed
can provide long-lasting shoes! In Deuteronomy 29:5 it is
reported that during the Jews' forty years in the wilderness
"their clothes were not waxen old" nor "their shoes upon their
feet!"
Have you
ever heard anywhere else of a pair of shoes that lasted forty
years?
Only God
could so provide!
We too,
yet today, can ask the Lord to provide our loved ones ... or our
Pastor ... or our Church Family with appropriates shoes for the
journey they must take! Yes,
"Thy shoes shall be iron and brass."
Then, back
to Asher, our Text.
"And as thy days, so shall thy
strength be."
The noun
"days" is typical, being translated this same way 2,008 times in
Scripture! Its root verb means "to be hot!" That's an accurate
description of a Middle Eastern day too!
Here
"days," inclusively speaking, constitute one's life! All his or
her days are in view.
The clause
is asking God for strength as long as this loved one lives!
May the
Lord bless you with stamina and ability and vigor every day you
live. In fact, the noun "strength" is spelled "dobe" and means a
quiet determination and ability that is unusual, singularly
given of God! The Hebrew word is again here a hapax legomenon.
This means it appears only once in a corpus of literature.
So, only
two requests appear in this verse. But they are powerful!
Pray them
for someone you love today!
Beseech
the Lord to give such blessings to your Church too!
The God of
Asher, whose very name means "blessed," is still on the Throne
yet today!
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3:
Moses’
prophecy concerning Asher, which is so easily voiced as a prayer
for someone we love, focuses not merely on earthly blessings …
but on Almighty God too!
All true
prayer does so.
Let’s read
verse 26 of Deuteronomy 33. “There is
none like unto the God of Jeshurun, Who rideth upon the heaven
in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky.”
How can
the earlier aspects of this great blessing ever be fulfilled?
Who is
able to do such?
Only the
“God of Jesurun!”
“God” here
is spelled “el” in Hebrew, just “el.” It is a Name that suggests
power, ultimate power, all power! This normal prefix is an
abbreviated form of “Elohim.” This we believe is God’s Name that
accents His Triune Being!
We are
dealing with Deity here, absolutely so!
There is
“none” like Him. This adjective in
English, but adverb in Hebrew, is spelled “ayin” and means “nought.”
Nothing can compare to our great God! Like Isaiah says, quoting
Jehovah Himself: “I am the Lord, and
there is none else, there is no God beside Me.”
Furthermore this word “ayin” appears at the head of the sentence
in Hebrew too, first place. Its meaning must therefore be given
preeminence.
But, who
is “Jeshurun?”
The name
means “upright one.” Obviously here it’s a synonym for the
Jewish people, at least the Tribe of Asher.
But
nobody, absolutely no one, can be called “upright” apart from
the Grace of Almighty God. This concept, though Old Testament to
the core, surely sounds like New Testament Truth, like
imputation. That means Christ’s righteousness being reckoned to
our account!
This great
God can ride the clouds too! The verb
“rideth” translates “rakab” and means to mount and sit
upon a beast, ready to gallop away into the distance! The
“heaven,” or “shamayim,” is rendered “air” 21 times in
Scripture. But it is “heaven” or “heavens” 398 times! Low
altitude or high, atmospheric or galactic, God is present … in
power! Psalm 104:3 says God “walketh
upon the wings of the wind!”
Amen!
“Help,” that’s why God is riding so
majestically, to be of aid to Asher, is spelled “ezer” and twice
in the King James Bible means “help meet!” Do not take this too
far, but God just called Himself our “Help Meet!”
“Excellency” is another glorious
word too! “Gaavah” means something like “a swelling up” or “a
highness.” In its negative contexts in Scripture it is even
translated “pride” 9 times and “haughtiness” 2 times and
“arrogancy” 1 time! I suspect there is a Holy Sinless Pride and
Perfectly Pure Majesty that belong to God … and Him alone!
Isaiah 42: 8 says of God: “I am The
Lord, That is My Name: and My Glory will I not give to another,
neither My praise to graven images.”
Amen
again!
The
verse’s final noun, both in English and Hebrew, is
“sky” and is represented by the
word “shachaq.” It means fine as “dust.” Something like water
vapor is in view I suspect. In the King James Bible “shachaq” is
translated four different ways, all similar: “cloud, sky,
heaven” and then “small dust!” The “small dust” expression is
used in Isaiah 40:15 where God views the nations of earth as “a
drop of a bucket” and counts all of them as “small dust” on His
giant scales!
Any truly
great people are just that, great, because they know God and
love and worship Him sincerely!
Such is
the case with Asher!
God be
praised!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4:
This last
verse of our Text, I think, will have to be subdivided. It is
just too precious to gulp down all at once!
Nevertheless, let’s read it all anyway.
“The eternal God is thy Refuge, and
underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the
enemy from before thee; and shall say, destroy them.”
Deuteronomy 33:27
What a
verse!
What a
prayer that would make for a loved one in Christ!
“The eternal God is
thy Refuge!”
Let’s
study!
The Name
for God here, as most of you can tell, is “Elohiym,” the God of
power and might and strength! All power and all might and all
strength! The Triune God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit!
But,
furthermore, notice that God is not merely Almighty! What an
understatement that is!
He is also
“eternal.”
This
unusual word, “qedem,” means something like “the front” of
anything! At the “head” of the line! First in position or place!
First in time also! Temporally preeminent!
“Qedem” is
based upon its parent, “qadam,” which suggests “going ahead” of
another, just to be there to help him or her in a time of need!
To “prevent,” the old timers would have said.
That’s
beautiful!
The very
lexicon is preaching to us!
God’s
inspired Words produce life and strength!
As far as
the history of “qedem” in the King James Bible, it only is used
87 times. About 50 of those times, 49 if I’ve counted exactly,
it is rendered as “east or eastward or east side.” This refers
to the place where the sun rises, early in the morning!
God is never late! He is eternally young! He is always awake
and refreshed! You will never wake up before God does! He never
sleeps or slumbers! See Psalm 121:4.
Then
another few times, 9 I think, it is translated as “ancient or
ancient time” or just “aforetime!” God is as young as the
Sunrise … yet as old as the most ancient man! He is thus the
Beginning and the End. The First and the Last. As the New
Testament words it, the Alpha and the Omega. Only once, right
here, is it written as “eternal!” Oh, I just noticed. It is
translated “old” 17 more times!
“The eternal God ….”
He thus is
both old and young! And yet never tiring and never sleeping!
Almighty! Three-In-One! Divine and Holy! But This God is also
... our “Refuge.”
Now this
noun is spelled “meonah.” It means “a dwelling place!” This is
thrilling! The man or woman who has God as his or her
Habitation, can always go home! Is never far from Home! Is
always in his Home!
“Meonah”
is only found 9 times in the Old Testament. As we already know
it is translated “refuge,” but only once! It is “habitation”
also once. “Dwelling Place” once. Just “place” one time also.
But “den” five times!
Den, the
English noun, may have a background that suggests “small room.”
God is so Big the Heavens can’t contain Him! Yet so Small He can
live in my heart! Technically a “den” is a resting and sleeping
and feeding place for a wild animal of some kind. It has been
used that way in English since 1771 according to the etymology
dictionary.
God, in a
wild animal’s den?
He is the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah!
The true
Christian is so thankful that he has a place to run and hide
when danger lurks!
“The
eternal God is our Refuge!”
Praise the
Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5:
Perhaps it
sounds strange, but we are working our way through a Verse of
Scripture!
Yes, just
one verse!
But it is
a great one!
Of course
all the Bible’s 31,102 Verses can be called great because they
are the Word of God!
Our Text
reads: “The
eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and
shall say, Destroy them.”
Today we
shall examine the great metaphor of the Lord’s “everlasting
arms!”
They are
said to be “underneath” the children of God.
In this
exact context, the sons and daughters of Asher, one of Israel’s
ten Tribes, are being blessed.
The Lord
is here depicted as having arms, mighty and comforting arms!
This kind of theological terminology is often called
anthropomorphism. It attributes to the Almighty some trait or
quality of mankind, just to help us better comprehend Him in His
Essence.
The noun
for “arms” here is “zeroa” and can mean not only the arm,
including the forearm, but also the shoulder. Just to give you
an idea of the qualities the “arm” suggests, our King James
Bible translates “zeroa” as “power” three times and “mighty” one
time and “strength” one time.
“Everlasting” translates “olam” and literally means a “vanishing
point.” In other words that which is so far removed that it
“vanishes” from sight! In both directions! Think of these two
extremes in a time context, and you have an idea of eternity!
My arms
some day will shrivel and die, all strength gone. So will yours,
dear friend. But God’s arms, His mighty arms, will never do so.
Forever stout!
Always
supportive!
Continually available!
Endlessly
helpful!
And where
are these arms?
In
relation to me and you?
“Underneath” is “tachath” and simply means the “bottom” of
something, its very lowest point!
This helps
me!
I always
thought of God’s arms being under me, keeping me from falling.
And there is nothing wrong with that picture either! God can
keep us from falling according to Jude Verse 24.
But this
"bottom" concept says even more! Now, at our "very lowest
point," we find that His everlasting arms suggest to us that
even if we fall, even if we are in the "pits," even if we are
depressed, even if we are temporarily defeated, still … still …
still … there under us, having not forsaken us, are those
almighty arms of God! Hugging us and supporting us and affirming
us all along life’s way!
Praise His
good Name!
And of
course God’s arms are attached to God’s hands! Hands that enfold
us in security and safety, those of us who are saved! Hands that
are engraved with our very names! That’s what Isaiah 49:16 says!
God does
many other things with those arms too. With them He even
redeemed us according to Exodus 6:6 and Psalm 77:15. And you
can just know that the arms that redeemed us will also do
everything else we need … all the way to Heaven!
The Lord
can even scatter His enemies … with His arms! See Psalm 89:10. I
reckon He can take care of my enemies too!
No wonder
we love to sing about those hands and arms and shoulders!
“Leaning
on the everlasting arms!”
"What a
fellowship!"
"What a
joy divine!"
"Leaning
on the everlasting arms!"
Hum a bit
of it today as you work!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6:
The Lord’s
blessings upon His children certainly include one benefit after
another. So many in fact that one hymn writer encouraged us to
“Count our Blessings.” Name them one by one, suggesting that it
would surprise us what the Lord has done!
But think
about this too. The Lord’s blessings might not be restricted
just to the things He does to us or for us!
His
blessings might extend in a more outward direction as well.
God can
bless us … by what He does to our family for example!
Or by what
He does to our Church and Pastor!
But, did
you ever think of this? God can also bless us by what He does to
our enemies!
Yes, part
of the Asher blessing in Deuteronomy 33, spoken from the lips of
Moses and inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, includes such an
anti-enemy clause!
Read it
here. It is said of the Lord ... “He
shall thrust out the enemy from before thee.” Deuteronomy
33:27
The noun
“enemy” is spelled “oyeb” and means one’s foes. The Greek word
is built upon the root idea of “hatred,” one who hates you!
Twice in the King James Bible “oreb” is translated “foe or
foes,” but the rest of its 282 appearances it is rendered “enemy
or enemies.”
This does
not necessarily mean harm to your enemy! It could come in the
form of a friendly takeover! The first time “oyeb” is used in
Scripture such is the case. God says to Abraham,
“In blessing I will bless thee … and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies.” Genesis 22:17
To “thrust
out,” in Hebrew “garish,” means to expel or drive away someone.
Here the verb is placed in the Piel stem, showing drastic and
intensive action!
“Before
thee” is “paneh” and means one’s "face!" God can get those
pesky little rascals out of you face!
What a
promise!
What a
prayer for a loved one this would be too!
God can do
it … deport the enemy!
Now that
we have seen the promise, listen to some of the Jews turning
this little “nugget” into a prayer.
God said,
“I will thrust out the enemy!”
Therefore
Moses prayed, every single day: “Rise
up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that
hate Thee flee before Thee.” Numbers 10:35
And now in
Psalm 83:13 … “O my God, make them
like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.” That’s
thrusting them out for sure!
Then Psalm
58:9 … “He (the Lord) shall take them
away (the enemies) as with a whirlwind, both living, and in His
wrath.”
Sounds
like this promise about the enemies took root!
And do you
remember what Jesus said to the devil during that forty day
ordeal, Christ’s Temptation? “Get thee
hence, Satan!” Matthew 4:10 just says "Get out!"
What a
blessing!
The
enemies … “thrust out” … by our Heavenly Father!
Oh, by the
way, here’s one creative way God did that, thinned the enemy
population. He promised to “send the
hornet among them” until they that were left hid
themselves from Israel!” Deuteronomy 7:20
Hornets
are wonderful scattering devices!
One or two
of them could probably empty the cockpit of an F-16 fighter,
even with all its state-of-the-art technology!
What do
you think?
One more
time ...
“He, the Lord, shall thrust out the
enemy from before thee.” Deuteronomy 33:27
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 7:
The Bible, both Old and
New Testaments, clearly presents the fact that as Christians we
will have enemies.
It just as
clearly promises that God can deal with them!
Deuteronomy 33:27, part of Moses’ last blessing upon the Hebrew
Tribe of Asher, illustrates what I mean.
"The eternal God is thy Refuge, and
underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the
enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them."
The last
two clauses of this Passage read: “He
(the Lord) shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and
shall say, Destroy them.”
The God of Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob here just promised to expel Israel’s enemies, but that’s
not all! He further instructs Asher to
“destroy them!”
This verb is an imperative, thus a
command is being issued “Shamad” means “to exterminate, to
annihilate, to devastate” and once “to overthrow” something or
someone.
Of course the enemies being discussed
here are vile and reprobate people. God’s Grace has tarried and
pled with them for hundreds of years, at least four centuries.
They have spurned it at every opportunity. These people have
sinned away their day of Grace, as the old timers used to
express it. Crossed God’s deadline.
Now let me make one thing clear, very
clear. We today in the New Testament era, in the dispensation of
God’s manifold Grace, do not destroy anyone! Not even the devil!
Vengeance belongs to God. He will handle such things … at the
right time and in the right way!
But the fact remains. God empowered
the children of Asher to overcome and decimate those wicked
people. I cannot change that Bible fact. I do not want to do so.
I dare not so “touch” the Word of God!
But, wait a minute.
While I cannot and will not today
harm anyone, a person, I can and should “destroy” certain sins
that track me!
They are enemies too!
I can “kill” old habits that would
sap strength from my spiritual life, my walk with God. I can
“sever” relationships with people who are leading me astray!
Jesus even suggested that I amputate a rebellious hand or arm or
excise an eye that would have wrought my damnation! That’s
“destruction” for sure!
Listen to Paul:
“Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth.” Then he
explains: “Fornication, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence,” all of which are sexual sins! To “mortify”
means “to put to death! It’s “nekroo.” But lest we
misunderstand, Paul adds coveteousness to the “hit” list of sins
as well.
The “spirit” of today’s verse can be
applied to the enemies of your spiritual health!
Slay that giant of laziness, the one
that hinders or forbids your reading the Bible as you should!
Choke that sin of gossip or slander
that grips you so tightly.
In Romans 8:13 Paul adds:
“Mortify the deeds of the body.”
Same idea.
And, thankfully, just as God
empowered Asher to defeat his enemies literally, we can do so to
our besetting sins spiritually!
“Destroy them!”
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8, CONCLUSION:
I just noticed something
about Asher, the Blessed Tribe, that is exciting.
When Israel marched,
following the Ark of the Covenant and the Cloud of God’s Glory, Asher
with all his multitudes marched between two other Tribes. Dan apparently
went first, then after Asher, came Naphtali.
Asher, the Tribe of
blessedness and happiness and victory, traveled between the Tribe whose
name means Judgment … and the Tribe whose name means Wrestling!
Do you see the principle
taught here?
Delight in the Christian
life comes because we keep our sins confessed and judged and
forsaken … and because we are always ready, vigilantly so, to wrestle
with the devil and his cohorts!
Therein is victory!
Also this honored Tribe
inherited some mighty good land … and some mighty bad land! Twenty-two
cities were theirs according to Joshua 19:24-31.
Good cities like Beten
which means “womb” and Amad which means “enduring” then on to Carmel
which means “garden land” thus including Neiel which means “moved by
God!” Hebron was theirs which means “fellowship” and Rehob which means
“broad place” and Hammon meaning “warm springs” all the way to Tyre
which means “rock” and Hosah meaning “refuge” and Ummah meaning “union!”
But bad cities like
Achshaph which means “bewitched” and Bethdagon, “the house of Dagon!”
Achzib was included in their lot, meaning “deceit.”
The Asherites could dip
their feet in oil, so rich and good was some of their holdings! But they
had to wear shoes of iron and brass so treacherous was some of their
terrain. So it is in the godly life! We must learn to cope!
Good and
bad will come our way! Hold to the good, spurn the bad! Asher learned
successfully to do so!
Lastly, notice that Asher
lives rather quietly, producing no King or great Prophet that’s
mentioned in Scripture. However, there is Anna! A lady of pure
reputation who loved being at God’s House. It was she who saw Baby Jesus
in the Temple and recognized in Him the coming Redemption of God!
So, the people of Asher
were sensitive and discerning of Jesus our Lord!
That alone is blessing
enough!
In fact, Jesus, He is THE
BLESSING!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
