Where is "the secret place of the Most High?"
"5 What mighty miracles and Your power at work, just to name a few. Depths of purpose and layers of meaning saturate everything You do. 6 Such amazing mysteries found within every miracle that nearly everyone seems to miss."
Believer, thank God that our life is
There's a principle called "The First Mention Principle" in Biblical hermaneutics (the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible.)
The principle shows that
For example, every Bible scholar will tell you that 5 is the number of Grace. The first appearance of "Grace" in the entire Bible is tied to the fifth time Noah's name was mentioned in the Bible: Genesis 6:8-
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."
The fifth time Ruth's name is mentioned in the book of Ruth is where we find the first mention of Grace in the book of Ruth. See Ruth 2:2-
"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."
Both were beneficiaries of God's undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour (Grace.) These examples barely scratch the surface of the layers of meaning hidden in God's word. For now, let's consider Psalm 91:1-
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
See the Complete Jewish Bible version:
Two names of God appear in this one verse:
The first mention of God as the "Most High" or "Elyon" is found in Genesis 14:18, when Melchizedek (literally King of Righteousness) brought forth what is for us today, a picture of the Holy Communion:
"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God."
The CJB says:
The first mention of God as "Almighty" or "Shaddai" is found in Genesis 17:1-
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect."
See the CJB:
Recall:
Recall The Principle of First Mention?
Recall the first mention of "Most High" is in
Something happened to Abraham between Genesis 14 when he knew God as "Most High" and Genesis 17 when God revealed Himself to him as "God Almighty." That "something" is found within the pages of Genesis 15 and Genesis 16. In these two chapters is where we find
Happy reading!
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In Genesis 15 is where God declared Abraham righteous apart from works-
God saw Abraham as righteous in His sight- long before he did the work of offering Isaac at Mt. Moriah. When Abraham connived with Sarah and slept with Hagar in a bid to hurry God's promise along, when he lied to Abimelech about the matter of Sarah being his wife in order to save his own neck, God still saw him as righteous- because He believed God. Abraham went on to do exploits by God's Grace. When your believing is right, right living will follow.
In this same Genesis 15 is where we find God making a covenant with Abram. Abram was a sleeping partner in this Agreement. In ancient middle-east traditions, the parties to a covenant would walk through the bloodied carcass of slain animals to consummate their covenant.
God knew that man cannot keep his end of the bargain or "play his part" in order to partake in or reap the benefits of the agreement. So God put Abram to sleep and Another- Jesus Christ- passed through the covenant elements on our behalf as Abram slept: where we fail, He takes the blame. Genesis 15:17 tells us:
"a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces."
All have sinned. Christ paid the penalty for our failure. This is how come we who believe in Him have the Blessed Assurance of God's everlasting love as well as His eternal salvation through Christ Jesus as it is written in Romans 5:9-
"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
In essence, dwelling in the secret place of the Most High entails believing that through believing in Jesus Christ, like believing Abraham, we have everlasting Righteousness that is apart from works.
But what about Genesis 16? Here is where we find Sarah and Abraham being unable to wait for their salvation from fruitlessness/childlessness; much like how many churchgoers cannot wait for God's salvation from their sins, addictions, earthly ills and shortcomings in general and resort to human effort at obedience (law-keeping) in a bid to bear the fruit of godliness (be like God.) By all means, we live right KNOWING that it is by God's Grace alone, NEVER in a bid to enter into the blessed position of "righteous and favoured by God" that Christ suffered and died for us to freely have.
Sarah and Abraham decided to hurry God's promise along by their own will-power; young and fertile Hagar was given to the still-virile Abraham so that they could bear fruit, this after God had already promised them that Sarah herself would bear the fruit of Isaac through His power. In Galatians 4, Hagar and Sarah are typified as the two covenants - Law and Grace. Galatians 4:24 -
“This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants:…”
Abraham here is a picture of
"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."
Ishmael was born according to the flesh aka
Isaac did not come until Abraham and Sarah knew 100% that they were POWERLESS to bear fruit by themselves. For us today, Christ says in John 15:5-
I
See The Passion Translation:
He also tells us through Paul in Romans 5:6-
In reality, everyone is as helpless and powerless as one can be when it comes to bearing the "God kind of fruit." Those human attempts at bearing fruit and "good works" that many think they are producing by their own efforts (akin to having a relationship with Hagar the law) and expect God to bless them for, they are like Ishmael- a product of young and fertile Hagar (aka human effort at bearing fruit/law-keeping) and are not recognized by God. This is how come God did not recognize Ishmael as a "united" son of Abraham in Genesis 22:2-
"Then God said,
We all know that Isaac was not Abraham's only son. Ishmael was older and still alive. He and Isaac buried their father Abraham. God telling Abraham
Isaac did not come until Abraham and Sarah knew 100% that they were utterly POWERLESS to bear fruit by themselves. This is why it is difficult for a true believer in Christ to boast that:
"I sowed my car and God gave me a jet" or
"God blessed me with riches and a child because I paid tithe and washed children's toilet."
We know that we are utterly powerless to produce anything. Christ does it all. For all that we do, we know it is Christ so our boast is in Him alone.
Beloved of God, let’s take our blessed brains to church. Many people out there who don't even know God talk less of Jesus are wildly/materially successful and have 10 kids. The idol-worshipping Philistines and others who lived in the time of Abraham and Sarah were having kids by the bucketloads. The king of Gerar that Abraham lied to concerning the matter of Sarah sent Abraham on his way with riches. Let’s stop associating God with that "trade by barter" insult that glorifies human effort aka arm of flesh in the pursuit of God’s freely-given blessing in Christ. All it produces is Hagar-type fruit that is weak and unacceptable, like Ishmael. God's mercy falls on both the righteous and the wicked; the difference between us and those who trust in themselves is that "the blessings of God makes one rich and adds no sorrow with it, neither does it come with toiling."
Good works (the Isaacs that we produce) are not CONDITIONS for righteousness or salvation. They are the EVIDENCES of God's gift of righteousness and His salvation in our lives. The mindset that one has concerning how his works come about tells one what kind of works he is doing; the Ishmael kind or the Isaac kind.
Like old Abraham and doubly-barren Sarah who is a picture of the new covenant of Grace, we know that we are utterly powerless to produce any fruit (godly living and good works) so for all the benefits that we receive from God and all of the good works that we do, Christ gets ALL the glory.
Genesis 15 -16 hold the answer to where
It is knowing that, as it was with Abraham whom God declared righteous because of his believing, there is absolutely nothing that man can do in order to be righteous in God's sight save believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 15.)
It is knowing that we can only bear fruit (produce good) that is acceptable to God when we realise how utterly barren and powerless we are to produce fruit (good works) by our human strength and trust utterly in Christ who is the embodiment of Grace - undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour.
That place where we have renounced self (human strength) aka dependence on the arm of flesh for the attainment of godliness and utterly rest in Christ's finished work for our salvation and godliness is the secret place of the Most High.
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