Restoration
For some time I have been studying the Biblical foundations for overcoming
sin with particular attention to drug and alcohol
issues (drunkenness). The world uses the concept
of recovery like a newly found panacea for all
of life's challenges. However, God, through His inspired Word, the Bible, has given us the concept of
restoration. Not a new process, the concept and
application of restoration, as a recurring theme, can be found in the
writings of Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Nehemiah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Zechariah, Malachi, Paul, James, Peter and
the writer(s) of Judges, Ruth, First and Second Kings, Job, and Hebrews
among others. In fact, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word shuwb is used some 1339 times in 950 verses
according to Strong's*. For example, David writes in Psalm 19:7 and 23:3
that God restores (shuwb) the soul as does
Jeremiah in Lamentations 1:16. The word can also be translated as
Recover, Restitution and Repent (literally, to turn back). In
Lamentations 2:14 Jeremiah addresses the requirement for confronting sin as a prerequisite for Biblical recovery
(shuwb). The concept of restitution
(shuwb), along with confession, as part
of the process of overcoming the effects of sin is addressed in Numbers
5:7-8. Repentance or turning back to God
(shuwb) as a prerequisite for deliverance and healing is
addressed in passages such as 1 Samuel 7:3, Nehemiah 9:28, Jeremiah 3:22,
among others. As Ezekiel 3:22 so bluntly puts it, "So
turn (shuwb) and live." I think it no
accident that this one word can have so many applications. In the Old
Testament the two concepts of restoration and repentance are inexorably
linked.
While the Greek katartizo,
translated as restore in New Testament passages
such as Galatians 6:1, does not have the double meaning of the
Hebrew, the concept of change and turning one's face back toward
God is integral to the process. In fact, Acts 3:19 uses the
Greek word anapsuxis (a recovery of breath, revival)
when stating "Repent therefore and
return, that your sins may be wiped away, in
order that times of refreshing
(anapsuxis) may come from the presence of the Lord;"
(NASB). One comes to repentance (instead of coming into
"recovery") and repents (an action) beginning the process of
restoration that both mends and equips (an identifiable
objective/goal) Together, restoration and repentance form one of
the cornerstones of the structure used to support freedom from
sin and healing of its effects.
Copyright &Copy: 1996 by R.W. Sutliff, All Rights Reserved.
*All definitions are taken from A Concise Dictionary of the
words in The Hebrew Bible and the Dictionary of the Greek
Testament by James Strong.