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DELIVERANCE, DELIVERER
Rescue or redemption and the agent of such a rescue. Scripture teaches that God’s ultimate goal in history is to rescue people from the curse of sin, death, Satan, and hell. The OT depicts God as delivering his chosen people from Egyptian slavery, from Babylonian captivity, and from oppression at the hands of various Palestinian tribes. To Christians those deliverances foreshadow the coming of Jesus Christ as supreme deliverer.
The noun “deliverer” occurs a number of times in the OT. Three times the word refers to a human being. Othniel delivered Israel from subjugation to Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia (Jgs 3:8-10). Ehud delivered Israel from Eglon, king of Moab (vv 15, 30). Judges 18:27-29 states that “there was no deliverer” to protect Laish from conquest by Dan’s tribe. Other uses of “deliverer” refer to God himself as personal deliverer of his people (2 Sm 22:2; Pss 18:2; 40:17; 70:5; 144:2).
The basic OT concept of deliverer is expressed in a Hebrew word for “next of kin.” A close relative was responsible to aid an individual in distress and to redeem him or her from slavery. God sent deliverance when his people were in danger, or God himself acted as deliverer, uniquely and forcefully in the exodus from Egypt (Ex 3:7-8).
In the NT, Jesus quoted a messianic passage (Is 61:1-2) as describing his own mission to proclaim release (or, deliverance) to the captives (Lk 4:18). In Acts 7:35 Moses is called a “deliverer” of Israel. In Romans 11:26 the apostle Paul paraphrased Isaiah 59:20, saying “A Deliverer will come from Jerusalem”—referring to Jesus Christ.
See also Messiah; Redeemer, Redemption.