Lips of Salvation
By Rich Lyons
(903) 935-1545
Genesis 11:1
1 And the whole earth was of one LANGUAGE, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one LANGUAGE; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their LANGUAGE, that they may not understand one another’s SPEECH. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Saphah is a Hebrew word used to describe the physical border of nearly anything, from a seashore, to the lips of a person. The Bible will amaze us with its consistent use of the Saphah, and where it ties in with the salvation experience. It is also translated as “tongues, language, speech, tongue, lip etc.” in the Old Testament. The words in scriptures that are typed in all upper case letters are translated from the Hebrew word “Saphah.”
Saphah Strongs #H8193
saw-FAW’: The lip (as a natural boundary); language; band, bank, binding, border, brim, brink, edge, language, lip, ([sea-]) shore, side, speech, talk, words.
Isaiah 6:5
5 Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean LIPS, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean LIPS: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy LIPS; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me.
Genesis 22:17
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea SHORE; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
1. The blessing of Abraham was typed early in the OT with the Saphah.
2. One will find the blessing of the NT, the Holy Ghost, at the Saphah.
Genesis 41:3
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the [other] kine upon the BRINK of the river.
1. Joseph escaped bondage and became royalty through his understanding of a vision at the Saphah.
2. Royalty is reserved for family, thus Joseph was “adopted” into royalty because he understood the value of what took place at the Saphah.
Exodus 2:3
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid [it] in the flags by the river’s BRINK.
Moses found salvation at the Saphah.
Exodus 7:15
Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s BRINK against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
1. A river of blood appeared when Moses obeyed God at the Saphah.
2. There is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood.
3. A river of remission was found at the Saphah.
Exodus 14:30
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea SHORE .
1. Egyptians (Biblical type of sin) died at the Saphah.
2. Moses sister felt like dancing at the Saphah when she saw the dead Egyptians (sins).
3. Sin dies when a NT believer crosses the Saphah.
4. The new believer feels like dancing.
Deuteronomy 2:36
From Aroer, which [is] by the BRINK of the river of Arnon, and [from] the city that [is] by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:
1. Strength began at the Saphah.
2. The scripture leaves us a question: Was there no strength on the other side of the Saphah of the river Arnon?
3. The answer is moot, because we’re staying on this side of the Saphah.
Joshua 12:2
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, [and] ruled from Aroer, which [is] upon the BANK of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, [which is] the border of the children of Ammon;
1. The battle of Sihon, (Numbers 21) was the final battle of a wandering band of Israelites and the first of the promised land.
2. Admission to the promised land was gained in this victory.
3. Authority to “enter in” was gained at the Saphah.
Judges 7:5-6
7:5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his TONGUE , as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 7:6 And the number of them that lapped, [putting] their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
1. Gideon’s men were separated by how they used their Saphahs.
2. The correct use of the Saphah was the test to see if a soldier was eligible to serve God.
3. The NT believer faces the test of the Saphah.
Judges 7:22
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, [and] to the BORDER of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath.
Gideon’s miraculous victory took place at the Saphah.
II Kings 2:13
He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the BANK of Jordan;
1. “Where is the God of Elijah,” cried the prophet as he sought evidence that he would receive the double portion.
2. When the river rolled back, Elisha received undeniable evidence of his double portion. None could question this experience.
3. There is miraculous evidence of the NT double portion at the Saphah.
Ezekiel 47:12
And by the river upon the BANK thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.
Ezekiel saw the tree of life at the Saphah.
Isaiah 28:11
For with stammering lips and another TONGUE will he speak to this people.
1. (lit.) With language (Saphah) of a foreigner will he speak to his people.
2. The salvation experience of the New Testament would come at the Saphah.
Zephaniah 3:9
For then will I turn to the people a pure LANGUAGE , that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
1. A pure Saphah is required that men may “call upon the name of the LORD.”
2. God will unify the people with a “pure language (Saphah)” so they may receive salvation.
Acts 2:1-4
2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
1. In our text, the people wanted three things.
a. To go to heaven.
b. To have a name.
c. To be unified in one accord (lest we be scattered abroad).
2. God said since man had one LANGUAGE or Saphah “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”
a. God prevented their progress by dividing their LANGUAGE or Saphah.
b. Since the three objectives were not restrained while the Saphah was unified, God divided the Saphah to restrain man from heaven, from a single name, and from being in one accord.
c. Man would remain restrained until the Saphah is restored and unified.
3. In Acts we see man unified as Zephaniah prophesied. He is given a “pure language.”
a. Man is now freed to go to heaven through the Saphah experience of the NT.
b. Man will have a name, JESUS, upon him.
c. Man will be unified, (one accord) through the Saphah experience.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
1. Peter told sinners how to receive the Saphah experience.
What will you receive when you cross the Saphah?
Abraham’s Blessing
Joseph’s escape
Moses’ salvation
Moses’ river of blood (Salvation)
Moses’ dead Egyptians
Meriam’s dance
Joshua’s strength
Joshua’s victory
Gideon’s separation
Gideon’s victory
Elisha’s evidence
Elisha’s double portion
Ezekiel’s tree of life
Isaiah’s stammering lips
Zephaniah’s pure language
Acts’ baptism of the Holy Ghost
Psalms 51:15
15 O Lord, open thou my LIPS; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
1. When God opened David’s Saphah, then he gave forth praise.
