Get Busy
Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 19 – 22 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – John 17 – 18; Psalms 61 – 65; Proverbs 13)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17
Read the “0513 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read a previous post from this passage – “The Place of Sacrifice“
“Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee. … Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.” (1 Chronicles 22:16, 19 KJV)
“Busy” is a word that has almost become a bad thing in the day that we are living in. Most of us are already very busy people. The demands of living in the 21st century have caused us to work longer hours in order to just survive; and then we have the needs of our families, and the upkeep of our homes to consider. We are already very busy people, and the thought of becoming busier does not put a smile on our faces.
Here in this passage, David encourages Solomon and the people of Israel to “get busy” building the temple of God. David had actually already done most of the work: he provided all of the materials, and had done all of the planning and preparations. He also cleared out of the country all of the enemies that had been a threat to them. The people now had nothing else to do, but build the House of God. Everything was prepared; everything was ready. There was nothing that could stop them from fulfilling the will of God.
I believe that we can see a parallel from this passage to the will of God for us today. We are living in a time where God wants us to “be doing” as well. We are commanded to communicate the love of the Saviour through the preaching and teaching of the Truth of the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Everything has been provided for us. The Son of God has already provided His shed blood to atone for the sins of all men. By the way, I did mean it when I said, “all men”:
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.“ (1 John 2:2)
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.“ (Hebrews 2:9)
He has also given us a complete and perfect copy of His Word, which declares His will to us; and He also has given us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all truth. (John 16:3) He also has promised to individually equip (gift) each believer in the specific task that he gives us as part of His overall plan.
There is absolutely no reason, no excuse, for not “getting busy”, and abounding in the work of God. Have you found God’s particular plan for your life within His overall commission to all believers? If you haven’t yet, get busy in your local church, studying the Scripture, praying, and winning souls. Those are good places to start. Ask your pastor or Sunday School teacher what you could do to help the cause of Christ within your community. As you yield yourself to these fundamental things, God will begin to mold you and direct you into a specific area of service.
If you do already know what God has specifically called you to do, “get busy”. Re-commit yourself to give the cause of Christ 110% effort on your part.
Posted in Thoughts from 1 Chronicles by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Taking Time to Rejoice
Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 16 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – John 15 – 16; Psalms 56 – 60; Proverbs 12)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51
Read the “0512 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read a previous post from this passage – “Check With God First”
“So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God. And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD. And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.” (1 Chronicles 16:1-3)
In chapter 15, we read about David bringing the ark of God to the tent in Jerusalem. This is actually the first time the ark had been in Jerusalem, but it would remain there for many more years to come. You will remember that the ark had been taken from Shiloh in Israel by the Philistines after Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, brought it out as a good luck charm in the battle. The ark stayed a very short time in the land of the Philistines (7 months), but because of the judgment of God upon them, they quickly saw the wisdom of returning it to the rightful owners.
The next stop for the ark was to the land of Bethshemesh in Israel, but the men of that place made the fatal mistake of looking into the ark resulting in the death of over fifty thousand of them. (1 Samuel 6:19)
The men of Bethshemesh were too afraid to keep the ark with them so they sent down the road to Kirjathjearim, and it remained there for twenty years. (1 Samuel 7:2)
Saul brought the ark out once during another battle against the Philistines, and apparently it ended up in the land of Gibeah. (1 Samuel 14)
David mad a first attempt to bring the ark out of Gibeah, but they didn’t transport the ark the way that God had told them to back in Moses’ day, and instead put it on a cart. While they were on their way to Jerusalem, the ox stumbled and the cart wobbled, and Uzza reached back to steady the ark, and when he touched it he was instantly struck down dead by God.
In 1 Chronicles 15, we finally have the ark brought to its permanent place in the city of Jerusalem, and this was a great reason to rejoice.
The ark represented the presence of God, and it was a tremendous source of joy to have God’s presence with them in the City of Jerusalem. Later, Solomon would build a permanent structure, the Temple, to house the ark.
This was a big day in the history of Israel, and it was certainly appropriate for the people to take some time out of their schedules to rejoice and praise the Lord for bringing the ark to where it was supposed to be. There is a great lesson to be learned here for Christians today. God has given us many wonderful blessings, and we need to take some time out as well to praise and thank him for his goodness, and to rejoice. Sometimes we get too busy looking for the next thing that we want God to do that we forget to praise Him for what He has already done. Let’s learn to take time out to rejoice and praise the Lord for His many wonderful blessings.
Posted in Thoughts from 1 Chronicles by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Double Heart
Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 11 – 12 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – John 11 – 12; Psalms 46 – 50; Proverbs 10)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 47:1
Read the “0510 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read a previous post from this passage – “God Spotted Him First“
“Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.” (1 Chronicles 12:33)
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.“ (James 1:5-8)
1 Chronicles 11 and 12 tell us about all of the brave and mighty men that recognized the call of God upon David, and followed him as he lead the people of God. In a previous post from this passage, I discussed the fact that it took a long time for the nation of Israel to realize that God’s hand was upon David. It actually took about twenty years from the time that Samuel anointed David to the time that the people anointed him as their king. However, there were some men from all of the tribes of Israel that God raised up to follow David, and these men were known as “David’s Mighty Men”. They were strong, brave, and well trained and equipped for the battles. They were also fiercely loyal to David, because they knew that David was God’s anointed.
1 Chronicles 12:33 contains an interesting description about the men of Zebulun that followed David. It says, “they were not of double heart”. That is a great phrase. It means that these men were not wishy-washy in what they believed and where they stood. They were completely committed to their cause. They loved and served David because they knew that he was the man ordained of God to lead the people, and they were not ashamed of him.
In this passage, David is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians, we serve Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Our loyalties ought not be divided. We need to fully commit and surrender to the Lord. Let’s not be double-hearted, or double-minded. Let us yield to Him completely, wholly. There are so many things in this world that lure our loyalty away from the Lord. We need to be more like these men of Zebulun, completely devoted to our King.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
Posted in Thoughts from 1 Chronicles by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
Be In Your Place
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 8 – 11 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 19 – 20; Proverbs 10; Psalms 46 – 50
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
Read the “0410 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” (2 Samuel 11:1-2)
This morning I want to pass along a very simple but important truth. In our passage today, in chapter 11, we read about the very familiar yet tragic story of David and Bathsheba. David is out on his rooftop and from his vantage point spots a beautiful woman who is bathing. David, who already has a few wives, sends a servant to bring the woman to him so he can sleep with her, but the woman is married. David takes the woman anyway, and ends up adding murder to his sin of adultery because he has her husband sentenced to death by placing him on the front lines of Israel’s war with the Ammonites. There is more to the story, but I have covered enough here to deliver my point.
We would all agree that adultery and murder are two very serious sins that were both punishable by death according to the Old Testament Law, but I would like to point out here that the sin precipitated these was David’s sin of not being where he was supposed to be. David was the king, and should have been fighting the battle with his men, but instead, he was home relaxing on his rooftop. Had David been leading his army in battle, this adultery and murder would have never taken place.
I find that we often get ourselves into trouble by not being where we should be. Did you know that there is a specific place where God wants you to be at any given moment? For instance, God has a time and a place where He wants you to meet with Him in devotion (Bible reading and prayer), and we need to be very careful to keep that appointment. There is also a time and a place when we need to be with other Christians, gathered in fellowship around the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. We also need to be busy at the place of our employment. These are just examples. We all have different responsibilities with different schedules, but we all have a specific place where we need to be at any given time, and being where we need to be will help us to be what we need to be and to do what we should be doing. Just a thought.
Posted in Thoughts from 2 Samuel by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
Hold the Line
Today’s Passage – Judges 1 – 3 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Hebrews 10 – 13; Proverbs 20; Psalms 96 – 100
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34
Read the “0320 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “God Sent Them A Deliverer”
“And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.” – (Judges 2:7)
“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” – (Judges 2:10)
“And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.” – (Judges 2:12)
Years ago, my wife and I took a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to see the place where that great Civil War battle took place back in 1863. On the second day of the battle there were a group of men from Maine, lead by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who were entrusted with holding the southern end of the Union line at a place called Little Round Top. If the Confederate army could breach that line, or somehow get around it, they would have been able to defeat the Union army that day, and may have been able to win the war. Colonel Chamberlain, and the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment held the line, and held back the Confederate Army. Toward the end of the battle, the Union army had run out of amunition, and were forced to repel their attackers with a charge down the hill with only their bayonets as weapons.
Our Scripture passage today in the Book of Judges tells us that when Joshua and the leaders from his generation were alive, they held the line against idolatry and immorality in the land of Israel. On their watch, they kept evil from creeping into the land. However, when Joshua’s generation died off, the next generation allowed all kinds of wickedness to enter into the lives of the people of Israel. They didn’t hold the line. It seems that, though Joshua and his contemporaries were good at leading the people in righteousness, they failed at training the next generation to do the same.
I made a similar observation this morning about our generation today. In America today there are many churches that are attracting large crowds, but unfortunately they are drawing people in by making their worship services as comfortable as possible to a lost world. Now, don’t misunderstand, I am not against people being comfortable in church, and I want people to enjoy their time at our services. However, I don’t want to compromise what I know to be right, in order to make lost people, or carnal Christians, feel more comfortable at our church. I am more concerned with the Saviour’s pleasure, than with the Seeker’s. Today, our churches have become so like the world, that there is little difference between Christians and the lost people around them. My point in all this is that I believe that by watering down everything that we stand for, and by opening the church doors wide to worldliness, we are going to lose the next generation. If we have only “a form a godliness”, what will our kid’s have? If we have to tickle the ears of people now to get them to come in, or keep them from going out, what will the next generation have to do?
We need to hold the line, and we need to work to raise a new generation of godly Christians that will be more sold-our, more separated, and better soul-winners than we are. If we don’t, America will be totally lost. Somebody’s got to hold the line.
Posted in Thoughts from Judges by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
The City of Refuge
Today’s Passage – Numbers 34 – 36 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 5 – 8; Proverbs 28; Psalms 141 – 145)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Deuteronomy 32:4
Read the “0228 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.” – (Numbers 35:11-15)
I was the youngest of four brothers, and because I was the baby, I was favored by my maternal grandmother who lived with us while I was growing up. I would go and pick a fight with one of my older and bigger brothers, and when they came after me, I went and hid behind my grandmother who always protected me. She was my city of refuge. No one could hurt me as long as I was with Grandma.
In our passage this morning in Numbers 35, we read about the Cities of Refuge. These were six cities of the 48 Levitical cities that were strategically placed throughout the land of Israel. I believe there were three on one side of the Jordan River, and three on the other. Anyway, these cities were places that a person could flee to if he were “on the run”. Let’s say that a two men got into a fight, and one of the men unintentionally kills the other man. Even though in this case, this was not considered to be murder, the family of the man killed could legally exact vengeance upon the “slayer”, unless the slayer escaped into one of the six cities of refuge. Inside the city, the man could not be touched.
There is a great example of this in 2 Samuel 3. It is a long story, but in it a man named Joab kills a man named Abner because Abner had previously killed Joab’s brother in a battle between their two armies. But in order to get his revenge, Joab has to lure him out of the city, because Abner was located safely inside the city of Hebron, which was one of the six cities of refuge. It really is a fascinating story and a great example of how this system worked.
We have a city of refuge today in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we also are all guilty before God and we are all deserving of judgment; and we also have an avenger and an accuser coming after us. The devil is seeking our souls, and he wants to sift our lives like wheat. But Christ offers us refuge. As far as our eternal destiny is concerned, Christ is our city of refuge; and even as far as our earthly lives are concerned, the will of Christ is our place of protection. We are all guilty. We could all be destroyed by the avenger of blood, but praise God, we have a Place to run to: a Person to run to, who not only wants to save us, but also wants to protect and provide for us, and give us a purpose in this life.
Posted in Thoughts from Numbers by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Guest Post by Justin Mears
Today’s Passage – Numbers 16 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Acts 22 – 24; Proverbs 21; Psalms 106 – 110)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 121
Read the “0221 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
A passage in scripture in which a family of the Levites named Korah, is filled with pride and begins to question the authority of the leader, Moses. When push comes to shove, God allows the earth to swallow them up whole! You would think the conflict would end there, however the next morning the people awoke with the sin of Korahs original rebellion in their hearts. God’s wrath immediately pours out in the form of fire consuming the people. As Moses and Aaron sat before the tabernacle, Moses turns to Aaron and commands “get you up”, Moses proceeds to tell him to get a censer and light incense on it quickly to make atonement! As the scripture reads “Aaron stood between the dead and the living” and the fire ceased.
As I read the passage I cannot help but see many correlations between Korah’s rebellion and exaltation over Moses and Lucifer’s rebellion and exaltation over God as seen in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-17. I also see that they both seem to be musically inclined, maybe even the leaders of praise. A number of the psalms, Korah seems to have a part in, such as Psalm 42-49,84,85,87,and 88.
Lucifer also seems to have had some part in the music as seen in Ezekiel 28, it mentions tabrets and pipes which gives the sense of musical instruments. They also are comparible in that they both were set apart for a specific duty wholly devoted to God, yet were filled with pride because of the position God gave them, and eventually were down cast down.
The story continues after this when a new day comes and the sons of man awake afresh and anew with the ability to live in harmony or give in to the temptation of eating the fruit of rebellion. They choose there fate and begin to murmur as a result of the disease passed on from the words of Korah.
This then results in condemnation by fire because the wrath of God went out on the people in their sin. In this moment Moses and Aaron sit in a safe place apart from the chaos and sin of the camp. Much like God the Father sat in heaven with God the Son at his right hand. Moses then turns to Aaron the High priest like the Father turned to Jesus our High Priest and said “get you up”. He tells him to leave this place and make an atonement for them quickly! Aaron like Jesus went out and stood in the midst of the living and the dead and burnt a sweet smelling savour unto the Lord. Only Aaron’s sweet smelling savour was incense, While Jesus’ was himself. This appeased the wrath of God and Aaron heads back to Moses just as Jesus went back to his place by the Fathers right side because it was finished!
What an amazing thought that we were in the same position. This gives us just another picture as to how great the grace of God was and is toward us! Praise the Lord!
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with 5 comments.
We Could Use Some More Spirit-filled Preachers
Today’s Passage – Numbers 11 – 13 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Acts 16 – 18; Proverbs 19; Psalms 96 – 100)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 92:1 – 4
Read the “0219 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.” (Numbers 11:26-30)
Today’s reading contains an interesting story about two men, Eldad and Medad. These men were apparently appointed by Moses to be among the seventy that God had called to help him bear the burden of the people of Israel. These seventy men were gathered together at the Tabernacle where the Lord had caused his spirit to rest upon them. However, Eldad and Medad did not go with the seventy to the Tabernacle, but the Lord caused His Spirit to rest upon them in the camp anyway, and they began to prophesy in the camp. Apparently this break in protocol concerned Joshua so he went to Moses and requested that he make them stop. Moses, however, instead rebuked Joshua, and told him that he wished there more than just these two men that were Spirit-filled and speaking for God in the camp.
There is a similar story in the Lukes gospel:
“And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” (Luke 9:49-50)
In this story it is John who is concerned about a man who is casting out devils because he wasn’t one of the twelve disciples. Jesus rebuked John stating that what the man was doing was good, and that because he wasn’t working against the cause of Christ, he was actually advancing it.
Sometimes we become a little envious, and even skeptical of other groups within Christianity who don’t dot their I’s and cross their T’s exactly the way we do. They may not run in the same circles, and they may not belong to the same denomination or fellowship, but they are doing a work for God. They may not do things the same way we do, but if they are doing something for God, we shouldn’t try to hinder them. We ought to applaud anyone who is advancing the cause of Christ. We need more people who are Spirit-filled, and preaching the Word of God.
Posted in Thoughts from Numbers by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Don’t Move Until God Tells You To
Today’s Passage – Numbers 8 – 10 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Acts 13 – 15; Proverbs 18; Psalms 91 – 95)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Joshua 1:8
Read the “0218 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.” – (Numbers 9:23)
In Numbers 9, the Bible tells us that the children of Israel only moved when God moved. They followed the cloud by day, and the fire by night. If the cloud rested, they stayed in one spot; if the the cloud moved, they followed it. This kept life pretty simple for them. They did not have to make a decision about where they were going to go, they just followed God.
We can do the same thing today when deciding where we are going to go, or what we are going to do. We can simply follow God. Determining the will of God in our time is just as easy as it was in Bible times. God guides us through his Word, through prayer, and through counsel. Let’s say you are contemplating a move to a new geographic location. You need to check out what the Bible says about that place. Is there a good, Bible believing church for your family? The Bible says a lot about people moving. Abraham moved into Egypt after being told that Canaan was the place of God’s blessing. He had some problems in his life as a result of that move. There are many other examples and principles in the Bible that will help you to make a decision. One thing is for sure, you do not want to move simply for financial reasons, or because you think the grass will be greener somewhere else. Lot moved because the grass near Sodom looked good, but he ended up losing everything, including most of his family.
Prayer and counsel are also important steps in determining a desicion. All three need to be in agreement, however; and you know what the Bible says about a three-fold chord, right? It’s not easily broken, is it? Pray about your decision, but be aware that God will never reveal in prayer something that goes against the principles found in the Word of God. Then you need to get counsel. Have some people in your life that you can go to for advice. People who will be honest with you. People that won’t tell you just want you want to hear. Don’t “shop” for counsel, either. People often will go from person to person until they find someone who will agree with them. That’s not counsel. Ask your pastor, ask your parents, or ask some godly person in your life who will tell you the truth.
When are you going to move, and where? Who are you going to marry, and when? Where will you go to college? Which church will you attend? Where will you work? These are all important decisions. You don’t have to decide these for yourself. Follow God. He will direct your path and He will light the way. I promise if you follow God all the way, you will be pleased with what He does with your life.
Posted in Thoughts from Numbers by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
The Mind of the Lord
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 24 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 17 – 18; Proverbs 12; Psalms 61 – 65)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 47:1
Read the “0212 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them.” (Leviticus 24:12)
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
In our reading passage today in Leviticus 24:10 – 16, we read about a man who had a mother who was an Israelite from the tribe of Dan, but his father was an Egyptian, presumably one of the mixed multitude that followed the Jews out of Egypt. The story tells us that this man (the son) “blasphemed the name of Lord and cursed”. The Israelites brought the man that cursed to Moses, but they were not sure what should be done to this young man by way of punishment, so they put him in prison (“in ward”) until they could find out “the mind of the Lord”. In other words, they were trying to discover God’s will.
My thought this morning has little to do with the fact that the man blasphemed. Nor does it have anything to do with the mixed nationalities of his parents. What caught my attention was the fact that Moses and the Israelites did not react hastily to the situation, they waited until they knew what God wanted them to do. They want to make sure they had “the mind of the Lord”.
What a great lesson this is to all of us reading this passage today. So many times when faced with new or difficult problems, we react rashly before we carefully discern the will of God regarding the situation. Proverbs 3:5 and 6 states:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
There is a recipe for discerning the will of God that contains four ingredients:
1 Wait – don’t do anything until you know for sure that you are doing the will of God. Too many of us rush into a decision before we have had a chance to determine what God wants us to do. My children would sometimes come to me asking for permission to go with a friend somewhere, and sometimes they would need an answer right away, and in those cases the answer would always be no. Why? Because I didn’t want to be rushed into making a bad decision.
2 Study – Go to God’s Word and see what it says about the problem you are facing or the decision you need to make. Bible principle will answer so many questions before they are even asked.
3 Pray – Ask God to give you wisdom to help you specifically apply His word to your unique situation. In our story today, the specific situation that Moses faced had not clearly been addressed in the Law, so they needed God’s help to figure out what to do in this unique set of circumstances.
4 Counsel – Seek the wisdom of others who may have already faced the situation that you are facing. Seek the he help of those who are students of the Word, and have the ability to discern God’s will through study and prayer. “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
We may be tempted to think that the punishment for this young man’s crime was kind of harsh, but at least we know that the decision to stone him did not come from Moses or one of the other elders of Israel; it came from God. Moses and the men of Israel made sure that they were doing exactly what God wanted them to do.
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