How Weak Is Thine Heart?
Today’s Passage – Ezekiel 14 – 16 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – 2 Corinthians 9 – 13;Psalms 11 – 15; Proverbs 3)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
Read the “0903 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Thy Sister Sodom”
“How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;” (Ezekiel 16:30)
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:” (Galatians 1:6)
In today’s reading from Ezekiel 14 – 16, God is pronouncing judgment upon His people for turning their back completely on Him. He reminds them in chapter 16 how that He blessed them more than any other nation on the face of the earth. He took them from nothing and gave them everything. Yet, they soon bit the hand that fed them: they forsook God and turned to the idols that were worshipped by the Heathen nations that surrounded them, even going as far as sacrificing their own children (burning them). In the midst of chapter 16, God says, “How weak is thine heart…seeing thou doest all these things…”.
I got to thinking about my own weakness. God has blessed me above anything that I could have asked for; and He has convinced me over and over again regarding surrendering my life to Him completely. However, I continue to forsake His principles and do things (or not do things) that I have committed to do. Why is it that we have no willpower to resist evil. The other verses listed above share the same principle: the disciples were too weak to stay awake at a prayer meeting; and the Galatians were easily swayed from the doctrine of Grace. Our flesh indeed is weak. Our hearts are desperately wicked.
I don’t think the solution to this problem, however, is an increase in our fleshly will power. Paul gives us the solution in Galatians 5: ”walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh”. Do you want to have more spiritual willpower? Walk with God: walk in His word; spend time communing with Him in prayer; gather with His children; and serve Him with all of your heart. I can look back at my life and clearly see that the times that I struggled the most with my thoughts and actions were times that I was not walking with God as I should have been. The closer I get to God, the farther away goes the desire to sin.
By the way, notice what it says about the cause of Sodom’s fall:
“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49)
We can see here that Sodom had the same problem that Israel (and America) has. They are too proud to acknowledge that God is the source of their blessing; they have too much free time on their hands and they are not using this time to serve God; and they are very prosperous, yet they will not share their wealth.
Posted in Thoughts from Ezekiel by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
What Have They Done?
Today’s Passage – 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 also read – John 17 – 18; Psalms 61 – 65; Proverbs 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
Read the “0513 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read previous posts from today’s passage in 1 Chronicles – “Get Busy” and “The Threshingfloor of Ornan“
“And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it…. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.” (1 Chronicles 21:1 – 2. 7)
“Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee: Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.” (1 Chronicles 21:10 – 13)
“And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.” (1 Chronicles 21:17)
In our reading passage today from 1 Chronicles 21, we see that David made a very bad leadership decision to number the people of Israel. His purpose for doing this was to determine the strength of his army. God was very displeased with this decision because David was not supposed to trust in the strength of his numbers and the size of his military force; he was supposed to trust in God. David should have known better. He had already seen many miraculous victories wrought by God even when Israel was facing substantially superior forces. David should have known that it didn’t matter how many people he had on his side, because if God was with him, he had all that he needed.
David’s decision resulted in the deaths of 70,000 people. My thought from this is that the decisions made by leaders affect many people and therefore ought to be taken very seriously. David was even warned by Joab not to number the people, but he did it anyway. He yielded to Satan (v. 1), instead of listening to wise counsel and submitting to God. People who are given a position of leadership must not take their responsibility lightly. They need to make sure that every decision they make is according to the will of God. It would do leaders well to stop and pray before making any major decisions, and wait until they are sure that they have the mind of God.
You and I are all leaders in some respect. I lead a church, and a family. Nearly everybody will be called upon to lead others in some capacity. We need to be very careful about the decisions that we make. I have already made many bad decisions in my ministry that have hurt people, but I don’t want to hurt anybody else. I need to heed my own advice here and take very seriously my position, and very prayerfully make decisions that will be a blessing to the people I love and minister to.
By the way. If the decisions of our leaders are so important, and can affect our lives in such tangible ways, it would certainly be good for us to pray for our leaders, and encourage them to follow God in everything they do. We have many people that lead us in all areas of our lives. There are leaders in the family, in the church, and in our government. These folks will decide things that will either help us or hinder us, so we had better help them by praying for them, and supporting them as they follow the Lord.
Posted in Thoughts from 1 Chronicles by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Who Were The Nethinims?
Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 9 – 10 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – John 9 – 10; Psalms 41 – 45; Proverbs 9)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
Read the “0509 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read another post from this passage – “Too Big for His Britches“
“Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.” (1Chronicles 9:2)
I decided to do a little study on these people and I discovered that the Nethinims were a group of people that were actually slaves or servants to the Israelites. The Gibeonites were such a people (see Joshua 9). Apparently these folks were assigned to serve the Levites in the temple. These folks are mentioned by name several times; but only in two other books of the Bible: Ezra, and Nehemiah. It is apparent that the books of the Chronicles were actually written after the captivity years, and may have actually been written by Ezra. Nevertheless, it appears that these Nethenims existed as bondservants before the captivity, early in Israel’s history; and then chose to retain their position as servants in the temple when the Israelites returned to the land from Persia.
These Nethenims must have been a dedicated people to willingly be slaves to the God of Israel and servants to the Levites in His temple. I would like to be that kind of a servant. Not the guy with the robes on that is always in front of the people; but the guy who just loves and humbly serves the Lord; the Lord’s House; and the Lord’s people. Would to God we had more Nethenims today in our churches who are willing to work behind the scenes; people who are willing to quietly serve the Lord without the applause and honor of men.
Posted in Thoughts from 1 Chronicles by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Deborah and Jael – Women of God
Today’s Passage – Judges 4 – 6 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – James 1 – 5; Proverbs 21; Psalm 101 – 105
Scripture Memorization for March – Verses About the Bible
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
Read the “0321 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this morning’s reading passage in Judges – “Gideon’s Fleece”
“And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.” (Judges 4:4 )
“Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.” (Judges 4:21)
In Judges 4, we read about, not one, but two remarkable women who were greatly used of God. The first is Deborah who was a prophetess in Israel during the time of the judges. All of Israel came to her to receive judgment, and it was she whom the Lord directed to lead the children of Israel into battle against the oppressive army of Hazor and Sisera.
We next meet Jael, a woman who lived with her family in a plain outside of the city of Kedesh. Sisera, the general of the Canaanite army was on the run, and sought refuge in the tent of Jael, but when he fell asleep she took a tent peg and drove it into Sisera’s head, thus ending Israel’s campaign against the Canaanites.
These two women were both bold and decisive women who were mightily used by God during a time when the children of Israel were doing evil in the sight of the Lord . The men who should have been leading the people of God spiritually were failing in their responsibility, but God raised up a couple of women who stood in the gap and did what they could in service to God.
Today, we are also living in a culture where the men are not fulfilling their God-given roles of leadership. Too many men are neglecting their responsibilities in the home, the community, and the church. Thank God, however, that there are many women who are willing to do the work of God that their male counterparts are reluctant to do. In our church, we have some great and godly men, but if the truth is to be told, I would have to admit that we have more women involved in the ministry here. I thank God for their willingness to step in and do some of the things that perhaps the men should be doing. I have been praying for God to give us some more men who will step up and be the godly husbands, fathers, and church and community leaders that they should be, but at the same time, I want to keep these godly and diligent women right where they are where they can continue to be used mightily by the Lord.
Posted in Thoughts from Judges by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
God Sent Them a Deliverer
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.
“But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.” (Judges 3:15)
In these first three chapters of the Book of Judges, we read that the children of Israel had already gotten away from what the Lord had commanded them, and had begun to worship and serve the gods of the Canaanites and the other previous inhabitants of the Land. God had expressly warned them that if they were to do so His hand of provision and protection would be removed. It seems like throughout Israel’s history a familiar pattern could be clearly observed. The people of God would be in the place of blessing, which depended upon their devotion to God. However, their prosperity would often cause them to forget about God, and go in their own direction, which always eventually led to immorality and idolatry. God’s blessing would ultimately cease, which would open the gate for the enemies of God’s people to get in and be allowed to oppress them, oftentimes placing them in bondage. But, then the people would wake up and realize the error of their ways, and cry out to God in repentance. And then God would send them a deliverer.
In our story this morning, Judges 3, we see: “the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.” (Judges 3:12) For eighteen long years the people of God lived in bondage being subject unto the Eglon, the king of Moab. But, all of a sudden, the people came to themselves, and turned to God for help. (v. 15) And God did what He always does when His people cry out to them: He helped them. This time through a man named Ehud. Ehud dramatically kills the king of Moab, and leads the people of God in victory, ridding them of the Moabites and all other enemies for eighty years.
This reminds me of another story. 2000 years ago, sin and the devil were kicking around and oppressing the people of God, but God sent His Son to deliver them:
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Colossians 1:13)
“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10)
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
I like what it says in 1 Corinthians 1:9 – 10: God has delivered us, does deliver us, and will keep delivering us.
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10)
Someday, praise God, Christ is going to come and deliver us completely from this old, sinful flesh, and this world full of iniquity!
“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:” (Galatians 1:4)
“And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:18)
Thank God for our Deliverer!
Posted in Thoughts from Judges by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Get to Work
Today’s Passage – Joshua 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 – Titus 1 – 3; Proverbs 17; Psalms 81 – 85
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 18:3 & 46
Read the “0317 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.” – (Joshua 17:15)
In Joshua chapter seventeen, we see the land of Israel being divided up among the twelve tribes. The two half tribes that belonged to the sons of Joseph were a little concerned because they felt that they needed more land than what was given to them. They reasoned that because they were a “great people”, one portion of land would not be sufficient for them. The leader of Israel, Joshua, basically tells them that there is plenty more land available, but they would have to work a little to get it. The land he offered them was very mountainous and wooded, and needed to be cleared; and it also contained some pretty heavily armed Canaanites that also needed to be removed. I think the tribe of Joseph really wanted to just move right into a place where they would not have to put forth too much effort.
There is a great lesson to be learned here for us today. We often have desires for great things in life, but we usually are reluctant to work for those things. I know a man who today is very wealthy. He and his family enjoy many material possessions, and are very well off. However, those things did not come easy to him. He worked very hard over the course of many years to accumulate the wealth that he enjoys today. In fact, I knew this man when he was a boy in school. He studied hard, and applied himself. He continued to work hard through college; and when he received his first employment opportunity, he applied himself diligently there as well. Nobody handed his wealth to him. He had to work for it. He is envied by many people today who want what he has, but most of those people would not want to pay the price that he paid in time and sweat in order to achieve what he has.
As Christians, we need to get away from this entitlement mentality that everything is owed to us. There are plenty of opportunities out there for us to take advantage of, but few of them will come without a sacrifice on our part. We can see this lazy attitude in the ministry today. Some preachers, right out of Bible college, want a large ministry handed to them. They look for the perfect opportunity. Yet, there are millions of people out there who need a preacher. I remember when I came to Jersey Shore, there was no parsonage,there was no salary. We did have a beautiful little building, and a good group of people gathered together, but there were few perks that would attract many prospective preachers today. I was just thrilled that somebody wanted me to be their pastor. The church has grown some since then. By God’s grace we have been able to add on to our building, purchase more land, and add new ministries. But it took work. We had to cut down the woods, and drive out some of the Canaanites. It wasn’t easy, but God has blessed us all through the process.
Don’t expect all of the good things in life to be handed to you. Our God is a wonderful, gracious, and very giving God; but aside from our salvation, He often doesn’t hand us things on a silver platter. What He does do, however, is offer us opportunities to fight and work for things. Do you want something more in life? Go get it. Work for it.
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
The Choice Is Yours
Note – The post for today’s reading passage was mistakenly placed on the site yesterday. This post was actually supposed to be for yesterday. The reading schedules, however, are correct for both days.
Today’s Passage – Numbers 1 – 2 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click hereto view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Acts 1 – 3; Proverbs 14; Psalms 71 – 75)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 51
Read the “0214 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read “Ten Ways to Extend Grace to Hurting People” by Pastor Paul Chappell
“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;” – (Leviticus 26:3)
“But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;” – (Leviticus 26:14)
In our passage today, in Leviticus 26, the Lord places a choice before His people. In verses 3 – 13, God promises all kinds of wonderful things to His people if they would continue to love Him, and be faithful to Him. Beginning in verse 14, the Lord explains what will happen to them if they forsake Him. You will notice that the latter portion is much larger than the former. God goes to much greater lengths to clearly explain and warn the people of what would happen to them if they were to disobey.
First, let’s look at the blessings. God promised to:
1 Provide for them.
“Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.” – (Leviticus 26:4-5)
Everything they needed, and even much of what they could desire, God promised to give them.
2 Protect them from their enemies, and from natural calamities.
“And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” – (Leviticus 26:6-8)
3 They would proliferate (multiply)
“For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.” – (Leviticus 26:9)
4 They would be in partnership with God.
“And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.” – (Leviticus 26:10-13)
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Almost sounds too good to be true, but it was. God held up to His end of the bargain. Unfortunately, the people of Israel didn’t choose to continue to follow the Lord. Slowly, but surely, they began to get away from the comands of God, and go their own way. Eventually the land was filled with idolatry, apostacy, and immorality; and then God was forced to do the things that are listed in verses 14 – 46. The provision and protection that God had once given them was removed, and the people suffered the consequences of their choices.
God has a lot of the same promises to Christians today. He said that He would meet our needs, and that He would never leave us nor forsake us. Yet, many of His churches and children today are forsaking Him, just as the Israelites did. Why are we so foolish? Let’s draw nigh unto God; let’s love Him and submit ourselves to His will for our lives. He has our best interests in mind. Choose God. He is the wise choice.
Posted in Thoughts from Numbers by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Following Through With Revival Decisions
Today’s Passage – Exodus 22 – 24 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 9 – 10; Proverbs 27; Psalms 131 – 135)
Scripture Memorization for January – Joy in Serving Jesus
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Ephesians 4:32
Read the “0127 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Living in Canaan“
“And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.” (Exodus 24:3)
In chapter 24 of our reading today in the Book of Exodus, we see Moses telling the people the words that God had given Him, which included the Ten Commandments. (See Exodus 20 – 23 for Moses account of what God told him to tell the people.) God had given many laws for the people to live by, and the people were very pleased with what the Lord had said, and at the time they committed to cheerfully obey what God had commanded them. However, we will soon discover that when Moses goes back up to meet with God, and is gone for a long period of time, the people will completely forsake God, and create their own idol to worship. (If you want to read ahead, you can see the story in Exodus 32.) The point is that when God was with them and all the excitement of smoke and thunder and lightning was in front of them, they were perfectly willing to follow God, but after 40 days of Moses’ absence, and none of the excitement they had previously experienced, they decided that they would try to create some excitement of their own, but they abandoned God.
Right now at our church, we are experiencing some wonderful days. People are getting saved, and many lives are changing. It certainly is exciting to see and experience what God is doing. His presence has been felt in our services, and I am looking forward to what God is going to do in the days ahead. Right now, it seems that everybody at our church wants to do right and live for the Lord. However, I know that there will come a day when the excitement will recede, and we will have days when the crowds will be smaller and the zeal will not be as strong. My question is this: will the people still want to follow through with the decisions that they made in the exciting times when the excitement goes away?
Our kids just came back from camp and they are excited. God spoke to them in wonderful ways and they made decisions to do right. But, will they follow through with those decisions when the excitement of snow camp is a distant memory?
My point is that we need to develop our Christian character to the extent that we follow through with what God wants for us regardless of the emotional temperature of any given day. We need to do right and continue to follow the Lord’s will for our lives, even when the crowd is not with us, cheering us on, and regardless of how we feel. I hope and pray the spirit of revival continues and increases in the days ahead. I love living on the mountaintop, but I also pray that if I have to go through a valley that I will remain faithful to the decisions I made back on the mountain.
Posted in Thoughts from Exodus by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
The Unloved – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Passage – Genesis 29 – 30 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read –Matthew 21 – 22; Proverbs 11; Psalms 51 – 55)
Read “Four Eternal Priorities of a Renewed Church” by Pastor Paul Chappell
“Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.” (Genesis 29:27-35)
Good morning. Did you ever have the feeling that you were unloved, that nobody cared about you, or maybe that everyone hated you? Maybe it’s your fault, maybe it’s not. Leah was hated. The Bible states that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, but when the Lord looked at the heart of Jacob, He could see that Leah was hated. What did God do? He opened her womb, and she conceived. She bare Jacob his first four sons. At the birth of the fourth son she said, “Now will I praise the LORD.”:therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
Her fourth son was Judah. Judah is the tribe that the Lord chose to come to earth through: the King of Kings, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, our Emmanuel: God with us.
How do you feel about harlots? God used a harlot to hide the spies sent into Jericho, saved her and her family, then used her in the line of Jesus. Rahab the harlot was King David’s great, great grandmother (Joshua 2, 6:22-25; Matthew 1:5).
Then after a few years later, we find Ruth in the line of Messiah…
“Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.” (Ruth 1:1-6)
Moab was the firstborn of Lot and his daughter. When Israel did evil in the site of the Lord, God had then serve Eglon, king of Moab, for 18 years (Judges 3:12-14). Israel hated the Moabites; God didn’t. So God put a woman of Moab, Ruth, in the line of Jesus also. (Ruth 4:13-22).
Come to think of it, everyone in the line of Judah, up to, but not including Jesus, was a sinner: everybody who ever was and is going to be is a sinner except Jesus. He died for the Leah’s of this world, the Rahab’s of this world, the Ruth’s of this world, and everybody else who has ever lived or died in this world. And Jesus gave His life for us because He loved us…
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:14-17)
If you feel you are one of the unloved, remember that Jesus loves you. He loved you so much that He believed you were worth dieing for. Remember Leah, Rahab, and Ruth.
How do you feel about others? Do they meet your high standards or not? Remember who God chooses to use: you just may be looking down your nose at someone who will do something great for God.
Peace. (John 13:34, 15:12 & 17; Romans 13:8; 1Thesselonians 4:9; 1Peter 1:22; 1John 3:11 & 23, 4:7 &11-12; 2John 1:5)
Posted in Guest Posts by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Savoury Meat
Today’s Passage – Genesis 27 – 28
“And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.” (Genesis 27:4)
This chapter of Genesis has always been a source of irritation to me. It is one of those passages where nothing is as it should be; and every character in the story is behaving badly. I will not rehearse the story as you can surely read it for yourself; but let’s examine the bad behavior of each character, and learn something from all of this.
First, let’s consider Rebekah. She is conspiring with her younger son against her husband. Right or wrong, her husband asked the older son, Esau, to go get him some dinner so that he could bless him. Rebekah did not want to see her favorite son, Jacob, lose the blessing, so she lies to her husband and works up an evil plan to deceive him. Wives, your husband may not always be right; but it is always right for you to submit to him unless of course he is telling you to do something against the clear command of God; and besides that, it is never right for you to lie or connive in order to get your way.
Now lets’s talk about Jacob. He was also clearly wrong. Although he did not want to do it initially, he was certainly complicit in the deception. He did what he knew to be wrong. He can not claim innocence because he was obeying his mother’s will. His mother was clearly doing wrong, and Jacob knew it; and he should have refused her.
In this story the one that seems to be the most innocent is Esau. However, we have already seen what makes Esau tick. You will remember that back in chapter 25, he sold his birthright for a bowl of chili (red pottage). Here, he claims that he was tricked out of his birthright, but he wasn’t. He gave it up willingly. Now he is trying to get back some of the blessing that comes with the birthright he already gave up.
Now we come to Isaac. At first glance it may appear that Isaac is completely a victim in this saga, but let’s carefully consider some things. First, notice how many times it states in this chapter that Isaac loves savoury meat. Now don’t misunderstand, I like savoury meat also. My wife just learned how to cook a bottom round roast with a high temperature recipe that really makes the meat tender and juicy. I love it. But when the Scripture emphasizes this point, it is telling us that Isaac’s appetite was the driving force of this whole story. I love my son, and I want to bless him; but my blessing him will not be dependent on whether or not he makes me dinner. Isaac in his birth is certainly a picture of Christ, but in his old age he seems to be a picture of the flesh.
Notice also in this story that Isaac is deceived because of his feelings. He felt the fake skin on Jacob’s hands and came to a faulty conclusion. How many times in our lives to we get messed up because we make decisions based on our feeling rather than on the clear will of God. If I only did right when I felt like it, I would rarely do it. We don’t come to church because we don’t “feel” good, or we don’t “feel” like it. Kid’s don’t go to school for the same reasons. We must do the will of God out of obedience to His word, not because of our feelings. It’s great when our feelings are in agreement with the Word, but when they don’t, we should follow God, not our feelings. Notice also that Isaac was dim of eyes. Now, I am not picking on his poor eyesight, but it is a picture of spiritual blindness. Isaac knew the will of God regarding his two sons. Jacob was God’s choice. Isaac didn’t particularly like the choice God made. Isaac preferred Esau because Esau fed Isaac’s flesh with savoury meat.
There is certainly a lot to “chew” on in this chapter isn’t there? Sorry I couldn’t resist.
Posted in Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 4 comments.