אֵל שַׁדַּי/El Shaddai/God Almighty is the Father’s name of provision fulfillment; while יהוה/Adonai, His name of compassion and mercy, speaks of promise fulfillment.
You will find no expiration date on the promises of God, only dates for fulfillment: as His Word is forever settled in heaven (Ps. 119:89). In Hebrew, דָּבָר/davar/word/matter/thing, also means promise; therefore, His Word is His promise, and His promise is His Word.
The Word and Promise of God became flesh in the person of Yeshua/Jesus, the promised Lamb, Who came in the name of יהוה/Adonai (Jn. 5:43; 17:26). He returns as the Lion of Judah – and that’s a promise with no expiration, only a quickly approaching date of fulfillment (Jn 1:14; II Cor. 1:20; Jn. 1:29; Rev. 5:5).
The promises of God are a revelation of His nature. He spoke the promises in His Word (In Hebrew “word” and “promise” is the same: דָּבָר/debar.) not for us to hold over His head; but rather, because He wants to do the thing promised.
In Exodus 15:26 we find a promise:
כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה, רֹפְאֶךָ
“For I am the Lord who heals you.”
Another way, “For I am the Lord who mends your wounds.” The picture of closing a gaping wound, or pulling a thorn.
Wherever the Lord is, there He is the healing Lord. Yet, at times, our physical weakness in illness or exhaustion distracts us from the object of our faith. To this Paul writes, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Ro. 10:17).
Paul was prompted to write these words, specifically with the unfaithfulness of Israel in mind, after quoting Isaiah 53:1 in Romans 10:16, “LORD, who has believed our report?”
He is bringing to mind the watch word of biblical faith, in Hebrew שְׁמַע/shema, hear. In essence, he is saying: start hearing, and faith will come when the hearing is of God’s Word. His promise.
In Matthew 17:5 on the mount of transfiguration, the Lord tells Peter to “hear Him” (Deut. 18:15), meaning, hear the incarnate promise, Yeshua/Jesus (II Cor. 1:20).
The revelation of the Lord’s nature to heal came to its fullness in Messiah. Yeshua did not heal to prove anything. He healed as a revelation and outflow of His nature.
In Matthew 8:16-17, we read the promise:
“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
Matthew, as Paul does, relies on Isaiah (53:4), the great expositor of the messianic hope, to explain the literal and spiritual healing of the sick and afflicted by the hand and word of Yeshua. In the exchange of word and/or touch, Messiah, “took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (cf. II Cor. 5:21).
Are His promises still for today? Yes. The author of Hebrews writes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8); therefore, He will not leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5). He writes this after explaining that God the Father now speaks to us by His Son (Heb. 1:2) – at the time ascended and seated.
By speaking through His Son, the Lord fulfills every promise contained in the written Word in the person of the incarnate Word/Promise. The One who is ever with us. Remember, wherever the Lord is, there He is the healing Lord. And when we confess, “Yeshua/Jesus is Lord” (Ro. 10:9), we are acknowledging His sovereign authority to do the thing promised.
When doubt comes: hear the Word. When fear comes: speak the Word. When sickness comes: lay claim to the promises of the Word. Because when the Word is spoken, and is heard in expectation, faith will come with it.
“For I am the Lord who heals all your wounds.” There are many wounds in this life, and He heals every one of them.
Many years ago I read a book about horse trainer Monty Roberts, The Man Who Listens to Horses. Working with animals at the time, his approach fascinated me.
Often a very stressful endeavor for both horse and human, Roberts “listened” to horses by observing their body language, applying natural, and postural communicative pressure; in effect, speaking their herd language, and quickly accomplishing what often took many hours and days: introducing bridal, saddle, and rider to a horse.
Humility.
In Numbers 12:3, in this week’s Torah reading, the Lord testifies regarding Moses, when accused by Miriam and Aaron:
“And the man Moses was very humble, above all men that are on the face of the earth.”
Translated “humble,” עָנָו/anav, in this context, means to “bow down,” not in a sense of forced submission or subjection, but the bringing of will and strength into alignment with the greater will, that of the Shepherd.
If we were to apply our ideas of humility to Moses, we may wonder what the Lord is seeing that we are not?
Moses was a man of great strength, and mental acuity. He led Israel. He instructed Israel. He rebuked Israel. Yet, all his faculties, in their fullness and without diminishment, were strengths under control by the will of the Lord; and in that way Moses served Israel.
Going Deeper.
In Matthew 5:5, Messiah Yeshua/Jesus taught:
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5; cf. Prov. 37:11).
The Greek translated above as “meek,” πραΰς/praus, can be rendered as either humble or meek, which for many suggests a weakened, gentle or timid disposition. The text, however, may be taking us in a different direction.
The root of πραΰς/praus, means strength under control. In Ancient Greek literature it first appears in a book about taming horses, specifically for war. The horse, full of vigor and power, was taught to be meek, receptive to direction, and obedient to that direction; a taming and refining of its wild disposition.
Meekness is not necessarily to be gentle or reserved in temperament; rather, it is the harnessing of strength, in every respect, in a controlled manner in alignment with the will of God, preparing one to be used by Him.
To be meek, or humble in the manner described above is to recognize limitations, authority, the value of others, and tending to the prudent and necessary, albeit uncomfortable action.
It takes strength to be a humble servant, as paradoxical as that may seem; strength, not arrogance or self-assertiveness.
Taught in meekness by the working of the Holy Spirit, Messiah says the meek will have a portion in the earth, which is to say that they are sharing in the original purpose of man – tending the Father’s creation, now in faithfulness (Gen. 2:15).
Meekness is not weakness, as they say; it is strength controlled under the direction of the Father’s will, as He speaks to us, and draws us, from our uncontrollable wildness, to Himself, then prepared and sent out to a wild world.
“And whatever you do, do it heartily (with the vigor of life) as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23-24).
the mountain mensch 