SOZO - Freedom
March 2, 2025Pastor Patrick presented today's message, "SOZO - Freedom." A video of today's message is here on YouTube.
One of Patrick's key points was "saving gets you out of something and freedom gets something out of you." Don't settle for less.
Terah, the father of Abraham, was called by God, but "settled" (for less, ostensibly). The brief story of Terah is in Genesis 11:24-32. It is clear in these verses that Terah does set out for Canaan (eventually the Promised Land), but they stopped, settled, in Haran. There is no mention here of a calling by God to go to Canaan nor is there a reason given for why he stopped in Haran (no connection to his son by the same name). Jewish tradition holds that Terah was likely a pagan idol maker and that he stopped in Haran because there was a market there for idols. This is suggested in Joshua 24:2. Their family history of "holding onto idols" seems to continue in Genesis 31:19. So whether called by God or instructed by Abraham or not, it does seem clear Terah "settled" for something other than his initial intention to go to Canaan. Don't settle by holding on to things that should be left in the past.
Getting the Israelites out of Egypt was only the first part (saved). The second part was equally important, getting Egypt out of the Israelites (freed). This is a huge Torah message. And sadly, God/Moses were not able to "get the Egypt out" of the first generation, and that was why that generation was not allowed into the Promised Land. The 40 years in the wilderness was in large part making time for that first generation to die out. They had a slave mentality. They actually spoke of wanting to return to Egypt "where at least there was meat in our pots." This was not a people with the right attitude to carry on with God's plan. Afterall, God did not take the Israelites out of Egypt just to free slaves (if that were it, there would be some explaining to do for why He did not free slaves worldwide). He had plans for the Israelites specifically to be a "light unto the nations," to carry God's revelation into the world.
That first generation had a very hard time being grateful. Prager jokes that the book of Numbers is called that because of the number of complaints. Ingratitude may be the worst of the human traits.
Patrick spoke of the triune (tri-partite) human:
- Body (physical): cravings, appetites, desires
- Soul: mind, will, emotions
- Spirit: God-like
See "Ash Wednesday" below.
Bonus
Call Upon the Name of the Lord
לִקְרֹ֖א בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְהוָֽה
The Hebrew for call is kah-rah (קָרָא). The Hebrew for name is shem. A common name for God that you'll hear in Jewish synagogues to this day is Hashem, which is literally "the name" (הַשֵּׁם).
This verb "to call" has many connotations. It can mean to call or cry out, to proclaim, to read aloud, to name someone or something, to invite, to mention, to offer, to scream, to summon, to endow (with privilege), and to shout. The word fundamentally carries a meaning or sense of intention and purpose.
"To call" is used very early in the Old Testament. In Genesis 1:5, God calls the light day. It's used over 700 times throughout the rest of the Old Testament.
The first occurrence of "call upon the name of the Lord' is in Genesis 4:26, "To Seth [son of Adama and Eve] also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord." From "at that time" to this very day, humans have called upon the Lord for every manner of petition under the sun.
As we've discovered throughout these messages and essays, there were many names given to God throughout the Old Testament, and by and large they all reflect/proclaim an attribute of God. We just talked about El Roi last week, God Who Sees.
The third of the Ten Commandments, "Do not carry the Lord's name in vain" speaks to the importance of a name, as in reputation. Do not do evil while calling on the name of the Lord.
Bonus2
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday (3/5/25 this year) and the day before, Shrove (or, Fat) Tuesday, begin the Season of Lent for many Christian denominations leading up to Easter. Its observance often involves fasting and the imposition of ashes on the forehead. The ashes are a sign of repentance. In some observances, the ashes are made by burning the palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday activities. Some accounts indicate ashes were "strewn on the heads" about 1,000 years ago.The notion of repentance is clearly a part of "getting the Egypt out of you." At its root, it's letting go and being free of sinful behavior.
It is customary to "give up something" for Lent. That may not be a bad idea for getting rid of (freeing yourself from) something undesirable in your life. If you can do without for 40 days, chances are a habit of doing without can be built - and you're free!
The date of Easter Sunday is different each year. It's set as the Sunday following the first full moon after the March equinox (March 21). Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter. In 2025, Easter Sunday is April 20th.
It's interesting to note that in the Catholic Church, there is a difference between sacraments and sacramental elements. Celebrating a sacrament is different from receiving the sacramental elements. Anyone can receive sacramental elements (e.g. ashes), even folks who have not been baptized or have been excommunicated. But they cannot celebrate the sacrament.
Psalm 51, a psalm of repentance, is often associated with Ash Wednesday.
In ancient times, ashes were used to express grief (e.g. 2 Samuel 13:19). Job spoke of ashes in the sense of returning to dust: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6).
Do note that Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and is a 40-day period. "40" is a meaningful number in the Torah (and the Bible): the flood; years in the wilderness; first years of Moses growing up in the house of Pharoah; days Moses spent on Mt. Sinai; days to spy out Canaan; Caleb, one of the spies, was 40 years old; days of taunting by Goliath; days Elijah traveled to Mount Horeb; lashes in punishment; etc. In the New Testament, Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days.