Wound of Betrayal
In my journey with the Lord He is also healing my wounds. Like every human being I have been through experiences and situations where I was hurt and offended, spoken harshly at, judged, blamed, laughed at and mocked, accused and much more. I have forgiven people and daily choose to move on and seek reconciliation. However the Lord knows my heart needs healing.
When the Lord started healing my wounds He begun to show me what needs to be healed in my heart. I remember the day when He showed me my bitterness and resentment towards people who hurt me.
I gave these bad fruits to the Lord and asked Him to heal my wounds. I did not know what wound I had in my heart. One of these wounds is the wound of betrayal.
When the Lord begun to heal my wound of betrayal He showed me a huge open wound that had never been healed in my life. I looked at people through my own blurry glasses which had never been wiped clean. Because of this wound you move in fear in your relationship with people. It is difficult to trust people to love you. There are expectations that they will hurt you so you build walls around your heart to protect yourself. You start something fearing it will end. You give up easily and you quit or leave before others quit on you or leave you. It’s a form of control but it falsely makes you feel safe.
This wound of betrayal was festering in me since early childhood as the person who was supposed to love me, abused me physically and emotionally almost daily. The wound had been planted there from a very early age. I grew up never believing that anyone will ever love me. When I finished high school I fell in love with a man who became my boy friend and we were dating for 13 years. He also betrayed me with other women and when I found out I was completely devastated. My heart was broken and shattered. I felt like my entire world was collapsing from under me. I removed my love for him and a love-hate relationship developed. I loved him and hated him at the same time. I could not find the way to forgive him because I did not know the Lord back then. I lived completely in the world.
Going back to what the Lord wanted to do in my life, I asked the Lord to heal this wound of betrayal.
The Healing of the wound of Betrayal
I wanted to know how the Lord heals the wound of betrayal so I went to the Bible and this is what the Lord showed me as I was studying His word. I encourage you to study more because there is much more the Lord wants to speak to us and share with us.
The Lord speaks to us about betrayal through the Bible, showing us how He was betrayed by His beloved bride. He knew His nation will be unfaithful to Him (betray Him) and be hostile to Him.
Leviticus 26:40-42 NASB 40 'If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me-- 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies--or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.
Leviticus 26:40-42 HOT והתודו את־עונם ואת־עון אבתם במעלם אשׁר מעלו־בי ואף אשׁר־הלכו עמי בקרי׃ 41 אף־אני אלך עמם בקרי והבאתי אתם בארץ איביהם או־אז יכנע לבבם הערל ואז ירצו את־עונם׃ 42 וזכרתי את־בריתי יעקוב ואף את־בריתי יצחק ואף את־בריתי אברהם אזכר והארץ אזכר׃
The Lord mentions for example in Ezekiel 14 that betrayal in the land of our heart will lead the ones who betray to a season of famine in their life. It will lead to a season of hunger for the Word, and having destroying beasts pass through our land (heart). They will destroy the land (heart) and it will be like a desert. Only by righteousness the soul can be delivered.
Ezekiel 14:12-16 MKJV The Word of Jehovah came again to me, saying, 13 Son of man, when a land sins against Me by traitorous betraying, then I will stretch out My hand on it, and will break the staff of its bread, and will send famine on it, and will cut off man and beast from it. 14 And though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Jehovah. 15 If I cause destroying beasts to come through the land, and they spoil it so that it is deserted, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, 16 though these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters. They only shall be delivered, but the land shall be deserted.
This means that by receiving the righteousness of the Lord and coming under His Lordship, we will find deliverance for our souls.
We might think that this scripture only speaks about those who betray others. However, let me suggest that if we were betrayed in our life, this wound of betrayal will yield fruits of betrayal in our hearts.
In other words, both the one who betrays and the one who was betrayed need healing for their hearts. I believe that people who betray have gone through betrayal in their own life, and their betrayal reveals an existing wound.
The wounds of our hearts cause us to wound others because they bear bad fruits which we offer to others ad Eve had done with Adam. These fruits can be anger, bitterness, resentment, rejection, fear, loss of trust, accusations, judgment, removing love.
The Bible speaks about building fortified walls around our hearts when we are wounded. This means there is no way to give anything or receive.
If we want to be healed we need to forgive and let go of these fortified protections we have been using to shield ourselves. This means any tactic we use to defend ourselves needs to come down. These may include blaming, judging, accusing, pointing a finger, justifying, or avenging, rejecting, avoiding, denying, or hiding our true feelings.
In Isa 1:4 the Lord speaks about His nation who has turned their back to Him and has forsaken Him.
Isa 1:5-8 the Lord mentions their unhealed wounds and sores that cause them to rebel against Him. Turning their back and forsaking Him means they have betrayed the Lord. In these verses the Lord shows us the reason for our own rebellion and betrayal. He says it is because of our injured head, afflicted heart, lack of soundness, wounds, welts and open sores that have no been cleansed, bandaged or soothed with oil. Meaning they have not been healed and probably caused infection.
Isaiah 1:5-6 NIV Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
It is the healing of our minds, hearts, the foundation we stand on, and our open wounds and sores that will result in faithfulness to the Lord and more love for Him. The more we're healed, the more we will be able to receive His love and therefore love Him back. Our intimacy with Him grows as a result of our healing hearts. This means love grows in our hearts for others, and even the people who wounded us.
This means we can only love with the Lord's love in us. In other words, we need to experience God's love and let Him heal our minds and wounds in order to receive more of his love and give Him back the love He pours out upon us.
How will the Lord heal your wound of betrayal?
Let’s see what the Hebrew reveals.
There are two main words in the Bible that express betrayal in Hebrew:
1. B'gida בגידה
2. Me'eela מעילה
These two words both mean "Betrayal" in Hebrew although they each come from a different root.
1. B'gida בגידה comes from the root בגד (ba'gad).
2. Me'eela מעילה comes from the root מעל (ma'aal).
The interesting thing is that each of these roots also have the meaning of "garments".
1. Ba'gaad בגד means betrayed, but also garment.
2. Ma'aal מעל means betrayed, but also a robe, coat, cloak - it is the same robe the high priest would wear in Ex 28.
Exodus 28:31-32 NASB "You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 "There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn.
Exodus 28:31-32 HOT ועשׂית את־מעיל האפוד כליל תכלת׃ 32 והיה פי־ראשׁו בתוכו שׂפה יהיה לפיו סביב מעשׂה ארג כפי תחרא יהיה־לו לא יקרע׃
These two words also appear as clothes and garment (robe) in Isaiah 61:10.
Isaiah 61:10 MKJV I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul will be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the robes of salvation, He covered me with the robe of righteousness like a bridegroom adorns himself with ornaments, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10 שׂושׂ אשׂישׂ ביהוה תגל נפשׁי באלהי כי הלבישׁני בגדי־ישׁע מעיל צדקה יעטני כחתן יכהן פאר וככלה תעדה כליה׃
When I was thinking about the two different meanings of these two roots, I asked the Lord why are betrayal and garment the same word in Hebrew?
This brought me to the understanding of how the Lord heals the wound of betrayal.
The healing from betrayal comes as the Lord replaces one garment for another.
Isaiah 61:10 MKJV I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul will be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the robes of salvation, He covered me with the robe of righteousness like a bridegroom adorns himself with ornaments, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:6-11 HOT ואתם כהני יהוה תקראו משׁרתי אלהינו יאמר לכם חיל גוים תאכלו ובכבודם תתימרו׃ 7 תחת בשׁתכם משׁנה וכלמה ירנו חלקם לכן בארצם משׁנה יירשׁו שׂמחת עולם תהיה להם׃ 8 כי אני יהוה אהב משׁפט שׂנא גזל בעולה ונתתי פעלתם באמת וברית עולם אכרות להם׃ 9 ונודע בגוים זרעם וצאצאיהם בתוך העמים כל־ראיהם יכירום כי הם זרע ברך יהוה׃ 10 שׂושׂ אשׂישׂ ביהוה תגל נפשׁי באלהי כי הלבישׁני בגדי־ישׁע מעיל צדקה יעטני כחתן יכהן פאר וככלה תעדה כליה׃ 11 כי כארץ תוציא צמחה וכגנה זרועיה תצמיח כן אדני יהוה יצמיח צדקה ותהלה נגד כל־הגוים׃
These two garments of Salvation and Righteousness both represent who the Lord is and His covering for us.
It is the Lord Himself who is our garment. He is Salvation and we are clothed with Him.
Galatians 3:27 NASB For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
2 Chronicles 6:41 MKJV And now arise, O Jehovah God, into Your resting-place, You, and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O Jehovah God, be clothed with salvation (Jesus), and let Your saints rejoice in goodness.
2 Chronicles 6:41 HOT ועתה קומה יהוה אלהים לנוחך אתה וארון עזך כהניך יהוה אלהים ילבשׁו תשׁועה וחסידיך ישׂמחו בטוב׃
The betrayal which also means garment is something that covers us. The Lord removes the false covering (garment of betrayal) with His covering which is His garments of Salvation. He replaces it with Himself as He is Salvation (Yeshua). He also replaces the robe of betrayal we were wearing, with His robe of righteousness.
In other words, the healing of our wound of betrayal comes as the Lord shows up in our life and replaces the spirit of betrayal with Himself as our garment of Salvation בגד ישע and with Himself as our robe of righteousness מעיל צדקה
He heals by embracing us with His presence. It is His protection, His refuge, His Hiding Place, His wings which are His own arms that embrace and hide us in Him to heal our fears and insecurities. His perfect love casts out all fear. He makes us feel safe and secure. This is why the Bible says "there is healing in His wings" (see "Under His Wings" post). It is the Lord's loving presence that heals the wound of betrayal.
Notice in Isaiah 61:10 that the Lord speaks about GARMENTS of Salvation, in plural.
Meaning the Lord has many garments of His presence to cover us with, not only one. This means He knows exactly what kind of covering we need. He will show up to heal us by covering us with His presence according to what we need of Him.
We need to respond to the Lord's voice and His love when He comes to heal us and bring us under His covering (wings) as He calls us by name. "Adam, where are you?", "Peter, do you love Me?"
Adam and Eve chose a false covering and a false hiding place for themselves after they betrayed the Lord. It was their chance to receive repentance (return) for their betrayal, and come back under His covering. However, they acknowledged they were hiding, but would not give up the covering they made for themselves - their own garments of betrayal. They kept holding on to the garment of accusations and became like the accuser. They refused to let the Lord uncover them from the garment of betrayal, and did not forgive one another. The Lord, therefore, could not cover them with Himself as their righteousness.
1. The garment of Salvation means we need to receive the Lord as our Salvation when He asks us "where are you?". We need to receive Him as the one who can deliver and heal us. Even if we were not the ones betraying, we need to be healed from the fruits of this wound to make sure we do not yield betrayal.
2. The robe of Righteousness means we need to choose and accept the Lord's righteousness and walk in His right ways (forgiveness, love, grace, patience) - instead of accusing and blaming the ones who hurt us.
This means Adam could have come under the Lord's covering garment (arms) and could have chosen to walk in righteousness. He could have forgiven his wife for allowing death to enter their relationship, and he could have thanked the Lord for giving him his bride with all her mess. Eve could have admitted she allowed death to enter instead of accusing the enemy for her choice.
We fight evil with good.
When God heals our wounds He replaces the evil spirit that opposes Him with His spirit. The same way He replaces rejection with the spirit of adoption.
We learn to fight evil with good. This means as God fights our battles He teaches us to move in the opposite spirit that comes against us. We fight offense with forgiveness. We fight rejection with acceptance.
This is why the weapons we use to fight betrayal is faithfulness and NOT removing our love and our arms (covering, shelter, refuge, protection) from the ones who betray us.
We see how the Lord teaches us to move in the opposite spirit in Isaiah 61. He replaces the negative with the positive. Lack with giving and sickness with healing.
· God feeds (preaches) the poor
· Binds up what's broken
· Releases the captives
· Opens prisons
· Comforts mourners
· Beauty for ashes
· Joy for mourning
· Praise for heaviness (depression)
· Builds wastes
· Raises up ruins
· Repairs waste places and ruins
Isaiah 61:1-11 MKJV The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me; because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to preach the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He might be glorified. 4 And they will build the old wastes, they will raise up the ruins of former times. And they will repair the waste cities, the ruins of many generations... 7 For your shame you will have double; and for disgrace they will rejoice in their portion; therefore in their own land they will possess double; everlasting joy will be theirs..... 9 And their seed will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them will acknowledge them (no more being rejected or betrayed), that they are the seed Jehovah has blessed.
When God replaces one piece of clothing (betrayal) with another (garment of Salvation), and His presence replaces the covering of the enemy, He says...
Isaiah 51:6-8 MKJV Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment; and its inhabitants shall die in the same way. But My salvation (the garment I gave you) shall be forever, and My righteousness (My right ways) shall not be broken. 7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My Law; do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be forever, and My salvation from generation to generation.
God is saying...lift your eyes to Heaven because on Earth you will see judgment. He says, look at Me when I judge the earthly fleshly things, because the earthly things will become old like a garment, and I gave you a garment (Salvation) that never gets old. I am faithful to save and deliver you over and over because My Salvation is forever and My righteousness will never be broken.
I pray the Lord will heal minds and hearts and we will bear good fruits through repentance and be able to strengthen others as they are being healed.
Blessings and God’s favor,
Elana
No comments:
Post a Comment