Exodus is a perfect picture of God’s plan for our deliverance from the hands of evil. Hands that are made of flesh and blood. There will be no denial or excuses or accusing others, when we stand before Almighty God. Mankind has allowed themselves to be used as an instrument to perpetuate evil on the earth for far too long. But God, He knows those who belong to Him and He has been on a mission of Rescue and Recovery since the clock of time began ticking.
And His mission has nothing to do with death; instead, that we would recover our sight and be filled with Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17), Who is our Teacher, our Comforter, the One, Who will refresh and restore our soul (Lamentations 1:16). Who helps us and encourages us to work hard so we can present ourselves to God and receive His approval for being a good worker, who does not need to be ashamed because we understand and are correctly dividing His Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15 NLT).
Yes, the purpose of God’s mission of Rescue and Recovery is for us to not only receive His Word but also His Spirit of Grace, Who teaches us what is right. For He teaches us all things about the ways and the will of God through His Word so we can understand how corrupt and deprived of Love and Power and Soundness of Mind is our human condition. For Holy Spirit is the Truth, Who says we must live in God’s Word so we never depart from the Lord (1 John 2:26 TLB).
Through God’s Word, Holy Spirit equips us with every piece of God’s armor to be used for resisting the enemy whenever he attacks. There is no question the enemy will attack, the question – will we remain standing when it is all over (Ephesians 6:13 TLB)? We don’t just need to know God’s Word. We need to fully clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14). Why? Instead of thinking about gratifying those desires that exalt the father of lies, we can train ourselves to lean on the Spirit of Truth for support.
We can discipline ourselves to rely on the Way He always reveals so we can experience the newness of Life as our faith and hope and love for God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – deepens as we wait expectantly for the Lord. Praising Him, Who is the help of our countenance (Psalm 43:5 AMP), our confidence, our tranquility, our assurance when we proclaim God’s Word as Jesus did, “It is written,” the enemy will always flee from the Truth.
And as we continue delving a little deeper into the first few verses of Exodus, we will discover how the meaning that applies to the name of Simeon proclaims a message of our heavenly Father’s Mission of Rescue and Recovery, and how it will also wrap us securely with a covering of the Truth:
Simeon – hearing, to tell, call, (gather) together, certainly, carefully, attentively, consent, consider, be content, declare, diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear, indeed, listen, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim (-ation), regard, report, recount, shew (forth), (make a) sound, surely, tell, understand, whosoever [heareth], witness.
SURELY: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones all those God sends to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let Me. And now your house is left to you, desolate. Surely, I tell you this, you will never see Me again until you are ready to welcome the One sent to you from God,” Matthew 23:37-39
Surely: Assuredly, undoubtedly, unquestionably…
Jesus told Peter most assuredly I tell you will by what death you will glorify God
CERTAINLY: God’s mission to Rescue the lost – to send a mighty Savior to guide us into truth and teach us (Psalm 25:5), for certainly the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophies, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him, to save those who believe – who cling to and trust in and rely on Him and His Word (1 Corinthians 1:21)
Certainly – Unagreeably, Indeed…
Jesus said to the Samaritans, “indeed the time is already here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth
CAREFULLY: There are those who carefully study the Scriptures thinking they will give them eternal life. These same Scriptures tell of Jesus! But they refuse to come to Him to have that life, Sadly, the Father’s teaching does not live in them, because they simply don’t believe in the One the Father sent.. John 5:38-40
Carefully – Cautiously, deliberately, purposefully…
Paul wrote, Awake, O sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will give you light to live purposely as wise people understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is
CALLS: God’s mission of Recovery, the sanctifying work of Holy Spirit, Who calls to those who believe the Truth, who stand firm and hold to the teachings passed on to them through the Gospel so they may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
Calls – Summons, beckons, invites…
The promise of Holy Spirit is for as many as the Lord our God invites to come to Himself
REGARD: God sends His Spirit to convict the world of guilt in REGARD to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to SIN – because people do not believe in Jesus; in regard to RIGHTEOUSNESS – because Jesus has gone to the Father, where we can no longer see Him; and in regard to JUDGMENT – because the prince of this world now stands condemned! (John 16:7-11). Amazingly, sadly, unbelievably though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord. (Isaiah 26:10).
Regard – Consider, study, discern…
And this is how we may discern we are coming to know Him if we keep in mind and practice His teachings.
TELL: These people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. What sorrow awaits them! (Jude 10-11)
DECLARE: Yet, the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard (Psalm 19:1-3)
HEARING: Pridefulness and self-interest makes a heart dull, ears heavy, and shuts our eyes so we keep on hearing, but do not understand; we keep on seeing, but do not perceive the Truth so we could see with our eyes, hear with our ears and understand with our heart and return and be healed (Isaiah 6:9-10)
TO HEAR: “Assemble the people before Me to hear My words so they may learn to revere Me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children,” Deuteronomy 4:10
CONSENT: “Incline your ear – submit and consent to My divine will – and come to Me; hear, and your soul will revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercy, kindness, goodwill and compassion promised to David,” Isaiah 55:3
GIVE EAR: “Give ear, you who know what is right, you people who have My Word in your heart, My salvation will last forever, My righteousness will never fail,” Isaiah 51:6-7
LISTEN: Listen my beloved: Has not your heavenly Father chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith in their position as believers, and to inherit the Kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him? (James 2:5)
UNDERSTAND: At the beginning of your prayers, the Word went forth, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, consider the matter (Daniel 9:23), know – perceive, recognize and understand with approval – the Lord is God! It is He Who made you, you are His! (Psalm 100:3)
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE: God is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! Come! Let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation (Psalm 95:1-2,7)
TO TELL: You are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful Light (1 Peter 2:9)
GATHER TOGETHER: “Gather together to Me My saints – those who have found grace in My sight – those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice,” Psalm 50:5
PERCEIVE: Everyone who has ears to hear, let them be listening and let them consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing (Matthew 11:15)
BE CONTENT: Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
PROCLAIM: We can boldly proclaim: “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear! What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
DILIGENTLY: Without faith it is impossible to please God. For whoever would come near to Him must necessarily believe that He exists and our heavenly Father is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)
ATTENTIVELY: Look attentively and carefully then at how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16)
DISCERN: For who can discern their errors? Father, forgive my hidden faults (Psalm 19:12)
OBEDIENT: The Lord humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:8-11)
OBEY: The Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with the children’s children – with those who keep His covenant and remember to trust and obey His Word. The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His Kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:17-19)
WITNESS: Jesus Christ is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father – to Him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen! So be it! (Revelation 1:5-6)
SHOW FORTH: I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will show forth – recount and tell aloud – all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds! I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits; I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High! (Psalm 9:1-2)
WHOSOEVER SHALL HEAR: And whosoever shall hear and confess Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in them, and they in God (1 John 4:15)
Lord, stretch out Your hand to heal
And perform miraculous signs and wonders
Through the name of Your holy servant Jesus
Acts 4:29-30
To listen to the podcast of this blog post, click below:
https://ForGodForeHisGlory.podbean.com/e/episode-20-simeon-clothing-us-with-the-lord/