Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
The verse pictures deliverance from a trap as a bird escaping the fowler's snare, with the snare broken and the soul set free. The fowler's snare is Satan's control, deception and false teaching, specifically doubt and unbelief toward God and His Word, with Satan standing at the head of doubters to beguile souls into his ranks. People deceived by false teaching are caught in a deceptive influence that nearly carries them away.
They entangle themselves by distrusting the Word because it reproves sin, by reading or hearing it only to find fault, by becoming unbelievers to excuse neglect of duty, and by criticizing from pride, indolence, love of controversy, and desire for a reputation for superior wisdom. They do not realize they are entangling themselves, but having openly expressed unbelief they feel they must maintain their position, so they unite with the ungodly and close to themselves the gates of Paradise. Those so caught can still be rescued and return to the truth when they recognize their error and take their stand for the truth again. The Lord delivered the church from deception shaped by Satan's attributes, where the supposed happiness offered by McCullagh and Hawkins was the serpent's enchantment, not the Spirit of God.
The verse describes Luther's deliverance at Augsburg when his enemies plotted to seize and imprison him despite his safe-conduct. He left the city before daybreak on horseback with only a guide furnished by the magistrate, moving with foreboding through dark and silent streets in anxiety and earnest prayer while vigilant and cruel enemies prepared traps for his destruction. He passed without hindrance through a small gate opened in the city wall and hastened away so that before the legate learned of his departure he was beyond the reach of his persecutors. The broken snare pictures the defeat of Satan and his emissaries who had thought him in their power.
The verse describes Brother Chapin's narrow rescue from spiritual danger, when God reached him while he was in darkness and brought him into the light. His work at Hamilton had to be undone before he could make progress, and his rescue gave him the chance to recognize his former condition and act rightly for eternity. The escaped soul makes Christ a refuge as a repentant sinner, but Satan works intensely to entrap the freed soul again. It expresses the hope that physicians and ministers under a harmful influence would be freed from it, so that precious souls could escape its hold.
The verse pictures deliverance from a trap as a bird escaping the fowler's snare, with the snare broken and the soul set free. The fowler's snare is Satan's control, deception and false teaching, specifically doubt and unbelief toward God and His Word, with Satan standing at the head of doubters to beguile souls into his ranks. People deceived by false teaching are caught in a deceptive influence that nearly carries them away.
They entangle themselves by distrusting the Word because it reproves sin, by reading or hearing it only to find fault, by becoming unbelievers to excuse neglect of duty, and by criticizing from pride, indolence, love of controversy, and desire for a reputation for superior wisdom. They do not realize they are entangling themselves, but having openly expressed unbelief they feel they must maintain their position, so they unite with the ungodly and close to themselves the gates of Paradise. Those so caught can still be rescued and return to the truth when they recognize their error and take their stand for the truth again. The Lord delivered the church from deception shaped by Satan's attributes, where the supposed happiness offered by McCullagh and Hawkins was the serpent's enchantment, not the Spirit of God.
The verse describes Luther's deliverance at Augsburg when his enemies plotted to seize and imprison him despite his safe-conduct. He left the city before daybreak on horseback with only a guide furnished by the magistrate, moving with foreboding through dark and silent streets in anxiety and earnest prayer while vigilant and cruel enemies prepared traps for his destruction. He passed without hindrance through a small gate opened in the city wall and hastened away so that before the legate learned of his departure he was beyond the reach of his persecutors. The broken snare pictures the defeat of Satan and his emissaries who had thought him in their power.
The verse describes Brother Chapin's narrow rescue from spiritual danger, when God reached him while he was in darkness and brought him into the light. His work at Hamilton had to be undone before he could make progress, and his rescue gave him the chance to recognize his former condition and act rightly for eternity. The escaped soul makes Christ a refuge as a repentant sinner, but Satan works intensely to entrap the freed soul again. It expresses the hope that physicians and ministers under a harmful influence would be freed from it, so that precious souls could escape its hold.