ECCLESIASTES 7
Proper use of time verse 1- 4
A good name is better than precious ointment
AND the day of death than the day of one’s birth
It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting
for that is the end of all men
AND the living will lay it to his heart
Sorrow is better than laughter
for by the sadness of the countenance
the heart is made better
the heart of the WISE is in the house of mourning
BUT the heart of FOOLS is in the house of mirth
Proper use of rebuke verse 5- 6
It is better to hear the rebuke of the WISE
THAN for a man to hear the song of FOOLS
for as the crackling of thorns under a pot
SO is the laughter of the FOOL
THIS also is VANITY
Wrong use of money verse 7
Surely oppression makes a WISE man mad
AND a gift destroys the heart
Proper use of work verse 8
Better is the end of a thing THAN the beginning thereof
AND the PATIENT in spirit
is better than the PROUD in spirit
Wrong emotion verse 9
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry
for anger rests in the bosom of FOOLS
Wrong desires for past verse 10
Say not you What is the cause that
the former days were better than these?
for you do not inquire wisely
concerning this
Wisdom gives life verse 11- 12
Wisdom is good with an inheritance
AND by it there is profit to them that see the sun
for wisdom is a defense
AND money is a defense
BUT the excellency of knowledge is
that wisdom gives life to them that have it
Proper understanding of work of God verse 13- 14
Consider the work of God – for who can make that straight
which HE has made crooked?
In the day of PROSPERITY be joyful
BUT in the day of ADVERSITY consider
God also has set the one over against the other
to the end that man should
find nothing after him
Extremes wrong way to live verse 15- 18
All things have I seen in the days of my VANITY
there is a JUST man that perishes in his righteousness
AND there is a WICKED man that prolongs his life
in his wickedness
Be not RIGHTEOUS over much
NEITHER make thyself over WISE
Why should you destroy yourself?
Be not over much WICKED
NEITHER be you FOOLISH
Why should you die before your time?
It is good that you should take hold of this
YEA – also from this withdraw not your hand
for he that fears God shall come forth of them all
Leadership needs wisdom verse 19
Wisdom strengthens the WISE MORE THAN ten mighty men
which are in the city
All humans are sinners verse 20
For there is not a JUST man upon earth
THAT DOES GOOD – AND SINS NOT
Time to not listen verse 21- 22
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken
lest you hear thy servant curse you
for oftentimes also your own heart knows that you
yourself likewise has cursed others
Searching for wisdom verse 23- 25
All this have I proved by wisdom – I said – I will be wise
BUT it was far from me – that which is far off
and exceeding deep who can find it out?
I applied mine heart to know – and to search – seek out wisdom
and the reason of things – know the wickedness of folly
even foolishness and madness
Temptations of a woman verse 26
And I find more bitter than death the woman
whose heart is snares and nets – and her hands as bands
whoso pleases God shall escape from her
BUT the sinner shall be taken by her
Conclusion:
God created man to be upright verse 27- 29
Behold – this have I found says the Preacher – counting one by one
to find out the account – which yet my soul seeks
BUT I find not one man among a thousand have I found
BUT a woman among all those have I not found
LO – this only have I found – that God hath made man UPRIGHT
BUT they have sought out many inventions
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: In the O.T. reproof is honored as a source of wisdom (Prov 12:1, “Whoever loves correction loves knowledge; but the one who hates reproof is stupid”; see also 13:1, 18; 17:10). But v. 5 does not exalt the value of reproof as much as it ridicules the “song of fools.” Thus it picks up the theme of frivolity expressed in v 4a (“house of joy”). [Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 23A, 64.] To Solomon the foolish merriment was similar to the crackling of thorns in the fire, noisy but temporary. Often the flare and excitement of foolish activity is short lived and hollow when compared to the solid accomplishment well researched production. Although it may appear that the results are similar it becomes evident quickly which product is superior!
Students need to recognize study is difficult but rewarding; workers also need to understand the diligence of their labor. Parents must make difficult choices and rebuke or discipline as necessary in order to educate children properly.
CHALLENGE: Accept the counsel of godly mentors and not the TV or radio stars that give quick fixes to problems! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 9 Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools. (926 “hasty” [bahal] means to act or move at high speed, afraid, rash, to make haste, be hurried, learn information and so respond, do something in a swift manner, with an implication of associated energy)
DEVOTION: We are sometimes individuals who are incompetent in our ability to follow through on our responsibilities to others. Then when they ask us about it we get angry instead of saying we are sorry for not being as competent as we can be.
On the other of a relationship we need to realize that sometimes people we love are not able to get things done as fast as we would like them too and we need to be willing to give them the benefit of doubt regarding something they promised to do but didn’t do as fast as we would like it done.
There are times we think that something as not been done in a proper time and we react to find out that it was done and we just didn’t have enough information. We need the patience of Job at times and ask the LORD to help us wait on HIM to get things done by HIM or others.
Too often I have had someone complain that something wasn’t done when it was done and the person didn’t see it. Sometimes some things are out of my control and I get accused of something I had no power over.
This has happened to all of us at times when we get yelled at for something we didn’t have control over while others thought we did have control.
I need to make sure that I am not responding too soon after I think something should be already done. Also, I need to make sure that the person I am blaming has control over the situation I think they should have handled.
CHALLENGE: Job had more patience than I will ever have but he also went through more things than I have ever gone through and still waited on the LORD. Please pray for me and you regarding our ability to have patience with other people. Thank you.
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: 20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sins not. (6662 “just” [tsaddiyq] means lawful, blameless, upright, innocent, righteous, right, or pertaining to being a person in accordance with a proper standard.)
DEVOTION: One of the problems we have in our world is that those who look at believers and see that they still sin after they become a follower of the LORD call them hypocrites. They don’t understand that the Bible teaches that believers are forgiven but not sinless once they become followers of the LORD.
Solomon is giving us advice regarding what is better in the life of an individual. It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into a house of celebration. It is better to be rebuked by a wise man than to live the life of a fool. The end of a matter is better than the beginning. Wisdom is good. Righteousness is good.
He warns that over righteousness is bad. What does he mean by that? Some people seek righteousness in a legalistic manner. They think by doing things they can earn more righteousness. In the process of doing more things for God, they tend to think they are better than others. He also states that over much wickedness will lead to a premature death.
This verse comes after those thoughts. The word describing the man in this verse gives the idea that some think that they are blameless in the sight of God. Some think that they are innocent in the sight of God. However, Solomon tells us that there is not one individual that is sinless on this earth.
Those who consider themselves righteous are still sinners that need a Savior. There is no one who can always do good or the opposite of evil. Everyone sins daily. There is only one man who walked this earth that has never sinned and that is Christ.
HE was God/man who came to save us from our sins. HE is the only substitute God is willing to accept as payment for our sins. Not good works. Not baptism. Not giving of our money to HIS work. All these are part of saying THANK YOU to the LORD for the blessing of salvation. We can’t pay for our salvation.
It is in our nature to sin. No matter what your standard may be, we are still not measuring up to God’s standard. The only way we can be righteous is through the blood of Christ. We are declared righteous because of what Christ did on the cross.
So there were righteous men and women in the Old Testament. These men and women were in right relationship with God. God listened to their prayers. One thing was true of all of them. They didn’t always do what was right in God’s eyes. They were individuals who daily had to make choices.
They had made a choice to follow the LORD but they also were still sinners. It would be great, if once we made the choice to follow the LORD, we stopped sinning. It doesn’t happen. We can sin less as we stay in the presence of the LORD. It is a daily moment by moment choice.
We have to remember that even though we walk with the LORD and are declared righteous, we still sin. We are not to live in sin. We are not to think we are better than other people.
Sometimes after we have followed the LORD for a while we can get an air about us that we are better than others. NOT TRUE. There is only one who is better than others and that is Christ. HE was sinless. Only the God-man was sinless.
CHALLENGE: Communicate to those you are witnessing to that you are not perfect or claim perfection but that you are a believer struggling to follow the LORD daily. Then ask them to join you.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (2810 “inventions” [chishshabown] means device, plans, results or scheme.)
DEVOTION: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In six twenty four hour period HE created the rest of the world. On the sixth day he created man and woman. Adam and Eve were the first married couple. They made choices. They named animals. They walked in the garden with the LORD.
The LORD set one rule in front of them. That rule was that they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden. They disobeyed. Sin entered into the world and has not left yet. Every child born after this occasion is born with a sin nature. They have a human nature as well. So there are two natures in us: a human nature and a sin nature.
When Christ was born HE had a human nature without a sin nature. HE was born of the woman, Mary. She had a sin nature and human nature because she had a human father. Christ didn’t have a human father.
Each one of us is born into a family that has with both natures.
This verse informs us that God created man to be upright. Adam was without sin until he took of the fruit of the tree. Since that time he has been guilty of many schemes. Throughout the history of Israel we find that these Israelites are full of schemes to get around the laws of God. Not all Israelites were saved. Many rebelled against the LORD. They thought they could get away with sin.
Today we find that there are many people who claim Christ as their Savior but live as if they have no Savior. They do as they please and not what the LORD expects of them. They are rebellious. They are selfish. They scheme for power both in the church and in society. Their claims are not evident in their actions.
CHALLENGE: True followers of the LORD are trying daily to be upright. You will never be sinless but watch out for being a schemer.)
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 13, 14, 18, 26, 29
Work of God verse 13
Maker of straight and crooked things verse 13
God gives prosperity and adversity verse 14
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Birth verse 1
Man verse 2, 5, 7, 14, 15,
19, 20, 28, 29
Fools verse 9
Wise men are strengthens by wisdom verse 19
Mighty men verse 19
Servant verse 21
Woman verse 26, 28
Preacher verse 27
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Heart of the fool verse 4
Hear song of fools verse 5
Laughter of fools verse 6
Vanity verse 6
Bribe verse 7
Proud in spirit verse 8
Anger rests in the bosom of fools verse 9
Wicked verse 15, 17
Wickedness verse 15, 25
Foolish verse 17
Sin verse 20
Curse ` verse 21, 22
Wickedness of folly verse 25
Foolishness verse 25
Madness verse 25
Woman whose heart is snares and nets verse 26
Sinner verse 26
Inventions verse 29
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Good name verse 1
Heart of the wise verse 3, 4, 19
Hear rebuke of the wise verse 5
Wise man verse 7, 10- 12, 16,
19, 23, 25
Patient in spirit verse 8
Slow to anger verse 9
Inquire wisely verse 10
Inheritance verse 11
Wisdom is a defense verse 12, 23
Knowledge verse 12
Wisdom gives life verse 12
Day of prosperity be joyful verse 14
Day of adversity verse 14
Just verse 15, 16, 20
Righteousness verse 15
Righteous verse 16
Fear God verse 18
Wisdom strengthens the wise verse 19
Do good verse 20
None are sinless verse 20
Please God verse 26
Upright verse 29
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Solomon verse 1- 29
Day of prosperity be joyful
Day of adversity consider
All things have is seen in the
days of my vanity
Be not righteous over much
Neither make yourself over wise
Just men sin
Take no heed to all words spoken
Applied heart to know and to search
and to seek out wisdom
and reason of things
To know the wickedness of folly
Preacher
God has made man upright
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Death verse 1, 26
Perish verse 15
Die before your time verse 17
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QUOTES regarding passage
God made man (Adam) upright, but Adam disobeyed God and fell and now all men are sinners who seek out many clever inventions. Created in the image of God, man has the ability to understand and harness the forces God put into nature, but he doesn’t always use this ability in constructive ways. Each forward step in science seems to open up a Pandora’s box of new problems for the world, until we now find ourselves with the problems of polluted air and water and depleated natural resources. And beside that, man has used his abilities to devise alluring forms of sin that are destroying individuals and nations.
Yes, there are many snares and temptations in this evil world, but the person with godly wisdom will have the power to overcome. Solomon has proved his point: wisdom can make our lives better and clearer and stronger. We may not fully understand all that God is doing, but we will have enough wisdom to live for the good of others and the glory of God. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Satisfied (p. 19). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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G. The search for wisdom (7:25–8:1). When Qoheleth learned that he could not achieve the ultimate meaning of wisdom, ultimate reality, he tried to understand the common and mundane experiences of life. Note how Qoheleth associates wisdom and meaning together, and stupidity, wickedness, madness, and folly together.
While Qoheleth, as other sages (Prov. 31:10–31), can be positive about women he can also be as negative as other sages. The language used here indicates that Qoheleth is expressing his personal observations from experience. Care should be exercised not to insist that his experiences are normative. Even worse than death is the woman who entraps and who clutches man. One cannot help but think of Joseph when Qoheleth affirms that the man who pleases God will escape her.
In verse 28 Qoheleth extends his assessment both to man and woman. The picture is no more encouraging. While he could not find one upright woman, his results with man were not much better—one upright man among a thousand. Righteousness is rare in both genders.
In verse 29 Qoheleth locates the blame for this perversity in mankind itself. God created mankind upright, but man has corrupted himself by his scheming.
There is nothing like a wise man. Such a man knows the meaning of things. Further, such a man is gracious and gentle. (Elwell, W. A. (1995). Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, Ec 7:25). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)
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29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but bthey have sought out many inventions.
This only have I found; though I could not find out all the streams of wickedness, and their infinite windings and turnings in the world, yet I have discovered the fountain of it, to wit, original sin, and the corruption of nature, which is both in men and women. God hath made man, God made our first parents, Adam and Eve, upright, Heb. right, without any imperfection or corruption, conformable to his nature and will, which is the rule of right, after his own likeness, understanding, and holy, and every way good. They, our first parents, and after them their posterity treading in their steps, have sought out many inventions; were not contented with their present state, but aimed at higher things, and studied new ways of making themselves more wise and happy than God had made them, and readily hearkened to the suggestions of the devil to that end. And we their sinful and wretched children, after their example, are still prone to forsake the certain rule of God’s word, and the true way to happiness, and to seek new methods and inventions of attaining to it, even such as Solomon hath discoursed of in this book. (Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 2, pp. 295–296). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.)
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Ver. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright, &c.] The first man Adam, as the Targum and Jarchi interpret it; and not Adam only, but Eve also with him; for these were both made by the Lord, and on the same day, and in the same image, and had the same common name of Adam given them, Gen. 1:27 and 5:2. And they were both made upright; which is to be understood, not of the erectness of their bodies, but of the disposition of their minds; they were “right and innocent before him,” or in the sight of God, as the Targum; which is best explained by their being made in the image and likeness of God, Gen. 1:26, 27 and which, according to the apostle, lay in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, Ephes. 4:24; Col. 2:3 agreeably to which Plato makes likeness to God to be righteous and holy, with prudence: for this likeness of Adam and Eve to God, lay not in the shape of their bodies, for God is a spirit, and not a corporeal being, as the Anthropomorphites imagined, and so fancied men to be made like unto him in this respect; but in their souls, and it consisted of knowledge; of the knowledge of the creatures, their nature, use, and ends for which they were made, and put under their government; and of God, and his perfections, as made known in the creatures; and of his mind and will, and manner of worshipping him, he revealed unto them; and they might know the trinity of Persons in the Godhead, who were concerned in the making of them, though they seem not to have known Christ, as Mediator and Saviour, which was not necessary previous to their fall; nor evangelical truths suited to a fallen state: also this image lay in righteousness and true holiness, which was original, natural, and created with them; it was with them as soon as they were; not acquired, but infused; not a habit obtained, but a quality given; and this not supernatural, but natural; it was perfect in its kind, and entirely agreeable to the holy, just, and good law of God; it had no defects in it, yet was but the righteousness of a creature, and loseable, as the event shewed; and so very different from the righteousness of Christ, man is justified by. Likewise, this uprightness is no other than the rectitude of human nature, of all the powers and faculties of the soul of man, as they were when he was created; his understanding clear of all errors and mistakes, either about divine or human things; his affections regular and ordinate, no unruly passion in him, no sinful affection, lust, and desire; he loved God with all his heart and soul, and delighted in him, and communion with him; the bias of his will was to that which is good; the law of God was written on his heart, and he had both power and will to keep it; and, during his state of integrity, was pure and sinless; yet he was not impeccable, as the confirmed angels and glorified saints are; nor immutable, as God only is; but being a creature, and changeable, he was liable to temptation, and subject to fall, as he did. Now Solomon, with all his diligent search and scrutiny, could not find out the infinity of sin, the boundless extent of it among mankind, the exceeding sinfulness of it, which he sought after, ver. 25 yet this he found out, and this only, the fountain of all sin, the origin of moral evil; namely, the corruption of human nature through the fall of Adam: this he found by reading the Scriptures, the three first chapters of Genesis; and by consulting human nature he found some remains of the image of God, and of the law that was in man’s heart; whereby he perceived that man was once another man than he is now; and that this corruption is not owing to God, who is not the author of any thing sinful, he made man upright; but to himself, his own sin and folly: and this he found confirmed by sad experience, in himself and others, and by observing the history of all ages, from the times of the first man; and as this was notorious, it was worth knowing and observing, and therefore he calls upon others to take notice of it; lo, behold, consider it, as well as what follows. But they have sought out many inventions; that is, Adam and Eve, not content with their present knowledge and happiness, they sought out new ways and means of being wiser and happier than God made them, or it was his will they should be. They sought out the inventions of the many, or great things, or of the mighty and great ones, as it may be rendered, the eternal Three in One; they sought to be as wise as God himself; or, however, as the great and mighty ones, the angels, who excelled them, as in strength, so in knowledge; see Gen. 3:5 or they sought out thoughts of sin, as Jarchi says it is interpreted in the Midrash. Sins are the inventions of men, and these are many and numerous; they sought to gratify their senses, on which followed innumerable evils; and then they sought for shifts and evasions to excuse themselves; the man shifting it from himself, and throwing the blame upon the woman, and the woman upon the serpent: and so sinning, they lost the knowledge they had; their righteousness and holiness, the rectitude of their nature; the moral freedom of their will to that which is good, and their power to perform it; and they lost the presence of God, and communion with him: and so their posterity are not only inventers of evil things, of sins, but of new ways of happiness; some placing it in riches; others in honours; others in pleasures; and some in natural wisdom and knowledge; and some in their own works of righteousness; the vanity of all which Solomon has before exposed. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 4, p. 598). London: Mathews)
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7:23–29 Verses 23–29 are in effect further reflections on the fall of humanity. Verses 23–25 bespeak the Teacher’s determination to understand human behavior and are comparable to 1:17–18. Verses 26–28, which appear outrageously antiwoman, are incomprehensible if two factors are not considered: (1) Ecclesiastes was originally written for a male audience, and (2) these verses look back to the early chapters of Genesis.
The portrait of woman as snare and trap does not refer to a prostitute or to Woman Folly of Prov 9:13–18. Instead, it refers to domestic conflict between husband and wife as given from a man’s perspective and based upon Gen 3:16, “You will try to trap your husband, but he will dominate you.” In other words, because of sin, married life will be a war instead of a joy. Women will try to ensnare and control men; but most men, often through sheer brutality, will dominate their wives. Yet it will be miserable for all. The Teacher, a man writing for men, looks at it from the masculine perspective: many men are made wretched by their wives. The man who is righteous before God, however, escapes this fate (v. 26b). This does not mean that such men never marry (!) but that God gives them women who are loving and who are not human traps.
Verse 28 does not mean that men are slightly better than women. It describes the reality that although most men can find at least one man who is a true friend, they never find a woman with whom they can enjoy such companionship without competition.
It is important to note that it is equally possible and legitimate to reflect on Gen 3:16c from the woman’s perspective. For many women a husband is a hard, cold taskmaster. Human history has no shortage of examples of emotional and physical brutality against women. Similarly, many women find at least one true female friend even though they can never find a loving man. The one who teaches this text must present it from both perspectives.
The passage concludes with a final reflection on the fall (v. 29): “God made ʾādām upright, but people have gone in search of many schemes.” A more succinct yet complete statement of “total depravity” could not be given. (Garrett, D. A. (1993). Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs (Vol. 14, pp. 324–325). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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7:29. Solomon, however, quickly noted that the reason for man’s universal perversion was man’s devising, not God’s. God made mankind (’āḏām; cf. v. 28) upright, but men (lit., “they,” i.e., men and women) have gone in search of many schemes (cf. “scheme” in vv. 25, 27 and “schemes” in 8:11). In other words, though people cannot know God’s “scheme of things” they do follow their own schemes, which causes them to lack true uprightness, true righteousness, and true wisdom, and to fail to please God. (Glenn, D. R. (1985). Ecclesiastes. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 996). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem in hopes of fostering a livelihood.
INSIGHT
When Boaz, a noble and godly man, hears of Ruth’s noble and godly actions, he is moved with appreciation for the kind of person she is.
When he finds her gleaning in his fields, he bestows kindnesses on her. Ruth asks why he should take notice of her since she is a foreigner. Boaz replies that it is because of all that she has done for Naomi. The way we live our everyday lives communicates a “life message” to others. When we live for the Lord, that message is a beacon of light to others. (Quiet Walk)
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GOD’S JUDGMENT
…should not perish… John 3:16
Jesus taught about God the Father by showing God’s wrath against sin. “But what about John 3:16?” asks someone.
Listen to John 3:16, my friend. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish,” but apart from Him they would have perished; that is the only way to avoid perishing. Indeed, we also find in John 3 a statement that if a man does not believe, “the wrath of God abideth on him” (verse 36).
Part of our Lord’s teaching about the Father is that the Father is absolutely holy, that He hates sin and had pledged to destroy it and punish it with everlasting destruction. “Blessed,” He said, “are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). No one else can see God because only the pure in heart could stand the sight of Him. To look at God is hell to a man unless he has been made pure in heart—“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). So He revealed the character of the Father as a holy Father.
But Christ also told us about the Father’s love and compassion. That is why, He tells us, He came into the world—it was because of the love of God. He shows us this same love and compassion in His life. That is why He worked His miracles, not simply to heal the people, but to reveal, to manifest, His glory and the love and compassion of God. He said in effect, “If you do not believe My words, then as I do these things, see the Father in Me.” For this holy God is a God of love and compassion. As our Lord went about healing the sick and doing good, He told us that God is like that.
A Thought to Ponder
The Lord Jesus Christ revealed the character of the Father as a holy Father.
(From The Heart of the Gospel, pp. 128-129, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Moderation
“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Philippians 4:5)
There are three important aspects to this instruction. First, we are to be “moderate,” the core meaning of which is to be equitable or fair, with further associations of mild and gentle.
The Greek word rarely appears in the New Testament. Twice the qualifications of church leaders include this characteristic (1 Timothy 3:3 and Titus 3:2), both times stressing the “gentle” aspect of the term. Once, and importantly, the term is used in a broad sweep of adjectives outlining the “wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17)—all aspects, incidentally, fleshing out the idea of “fair” or “equitable.”
Secondly, today’s verse tells us to make our moderation “known unto all men.” That is demanding, since it is more difficult to apply equity to all people rather than just attempt to be fair and gentle in our dealings. Surely the Holy Spirit is insisting that our inner character be “moderate” so that the resulting actions will flow from a person’s character rather than his circumstance. As noted of those of the Corinthian church, they were “manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:3). Everybody “reads” us, and what others decide about us must include the reputation of fair and gentle behavior to all.
Finally, the reason that this requirement is so significant is because “the Lord is at hand.” Although a quick application might lead one to think “the Lord is coming back soon,” the time element is not at all implied in the sentence. A better translation may be “the Lord is alongside,” “He is close,” or even “the Lord is with you.” It is easy, sometimes, to forget that God indwells us through the Holy Spirit and that our every action and thought are known by our Creator (Psalm 139:3-4).
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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The Fierce Struggle
Our struggle is . . . against the powers of this dark world. Ephesians 6:12
In 1896, an explorer named Carl Akeley found himself in a remote section of Ethiopia, chased by an eighty-pound leopard. He remembered the leopard pouncing, trying “to sink her teeth into my throat.” She missed, snagging his right arm with her vicious jaws. The two rolled in the sand—a long, fierce struggle. Akeley weakened, and “it became a question of who would give up first.” Summoning his last bit of strength, Akeley was able to suffocate the big cat with his bare hands.
The apostle Paul explained how each of us who believe in Jesus will inevitably encounter our own fierce struggles, those places where we feel overwhelmed and are tempted to surrender. Instead, we must take our “stand against the devil’s schemes” and “stand firm” (Ephesians 6:11, 14). Rather than cower in fear or crumble as we recognize our weakness and vulnerability, Paul challenged us to step forward in faith, remembering that we don’t rely on our own courage and strength but on God. “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” he wrote (v. 10). In the challenges we face, He’s only a prayer away (v. 18).
Yes, we have many struggles, and we’ll never escape them by our own power or ingenuity. But God is more powerful than any enemy or evil we’ll ever face.
(By Winn Collier, Our Daily Bread)
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1 Peter 3
Husbands and wives should be sensitive to the responsibilities and needs of each other.
INSIGHT
In a Christian marriage, the wife should submit to her husband and live an exemplary life which validates her faith. The husband should love his wife unconditionally, be sensitive to her, and seek to understand her. When both spouses assume a proper role before God and each other, a harmonious and satisfying relationship will result. If not, conflict or alienation can result
(Quiet Walk)
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VICTORY OVER THE WORLD
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:5
Faith enables us to have victory over the world and to overcome it directly—passively—by the resting of a naked faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I am increasingly convinced that this is the greatest lesson that we as Christian people can ever learn in this world. It is the possibility of directly and immediately and passively resting upon the power and the ability of our risen Lord. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (verse 4)—my faith in Him, my belief in Him, that He is the Son of God. The result of that is that I go to Him and rest upon Him.
This is something of the meaning that you will find enunciated everywhere in the Bible. Let me give you just one quotation that will illustrate it perfectly and represent all others: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). That is it! Read the various Psalms too, and see how those godly men of old were struggling against the world and its temptations and insinuations, and they will all tell you that was the only thing they could do. They say that the forces were too great for them. They might have failed, but they said, “There is only one thing to do—I will run into the tower, and there in the tower I am safe.”
Or if you like it in New Testament form, it is the doctrine of the vine and the branches, as seen in the statement of our Lord: “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). It is put positively by the apostle Paul: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13); and “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20).
A Thought to Ponder: I will run into the tower, and there in the tower I am safe. (From Life in God, p. 56, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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God’s Ways Are Best
“And the word of the Lord came unto [Elijah], saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” (1 Kings 17:8-9)
The leading of God is not always clear to our understanding or satisfying to our pride, but it is always directed to God’s glory and our good. Elijah had been supernaturally fed by ravens until the brook of Cherith dried up due to the very drought that Elijah had prophesied. Then, instead of supernaturally providing water, God told Elijah to move to a village in Zidon to stay with a poor widow who would feed him.
But Zidon was the home of the idolatrous queen, Jezebel, who would soon become Elijah’s implacable enemy. Furthermore, he would have to so humble himself as to request that the widow share what she thought would be her last meal with a stranger whom she had never met and who had claimed to be the prophet of a God she did not know. What a strange way for God to deal with His servant!
Nevertheless, Elijah obeyed God without question, and so did the widow of Zarephath, and thus the Lord was able to perform two of His mightiest miracles of creation. At the same time, He was able to meet the deep spiritual needs, as well as the physical needs, of this unlikely duo—the greatest spiritual leader of his age and an insignificant widow. An amazing daily miracle of continuing the creation of oil and meal took place as long as the drought continued. And then an even more amazing miracle was accomplished, when, for the first time in all history so far as the record goes, one who was dead (the widow’s son) was restored to life (1 Kings 17:20-24), and the woman came to believe that Jehovah was the true God. God’s ways may not be our ways, but they are always best. May He give us the grace always to obey His word, whether or not we fully understand. (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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The Brightness of the Glory
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)
This verse constitutes one of Scripture’s most magnificent declarations of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us examine the phrase “the brightness of his glory.”
The word for “brightness” is used only this one time in the Bible and means, literally, “out-radiating.” The word picture conveyed is of the energy overflow from the sun. The sun constitutes a tremendous generator of energy, more than adequate to sustain all processes on Earth. However, these energies would be utterly useless for any such noble purpose if they could not somehow be transmitted from sun to Earth. They are transmitted, however, through the remarkable radiant energy known as sunlight, or solar radiation.
It is this figure which the writer is using. As the sun’s rays are to the sun itself, so is Christ to the Godhead. He is “the light of the world” (John 8:12). It is He whose “goings forth” have been “everlasting” (Micah 5:2). His glorified countenance is “as the sun shineth in his strength” (Revelation 1:16). The Lord Jesus Christ is the life-giving radiation of the ineffable glory of the eternal One, from whose face one day the very heaven and earth will flee away (Revelation 20:11). “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings [or ‘outspreadings’]” (Malachi 4:2).
And through this One who mediates God to us, we can enter boldly into His presence. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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The Names of God
The system God established for dealing with sins had been abused for too long. The death of innocent animals was not enough for guilty humans to see the error of their ways (Hebrews 10:4). The status quo wasn’t working. Isaiah called for change in the present, and pointed to a bigger change in the future (Hebrews 10:10).
Isaiah 9:6 introduces Israel to powerful names for a son who was yet to come. Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.
The people of Israel didn’t crack open their New Testaments to John 3:16 and say, “Hey, that’s Jesus!” They looked to the current line of David for an immediate answer—someone who could live up to these prophetic titles.
The Faithlife Study Bible reminds us that “the prediction of a future ideal Davidic ruler point ultimately to the Messiah, but immediate hopes for Judah’s future would have been directed at the Davidic line, continued through Hezekiah.”
But there was a problem. Some of these titles could only be attributed to God. No man could measure up to names like “Mighty God”—that’s blasphemy (John 8:58–59). As he so often does, God had a different plan than man.
Mighty God
People can’t overcome sin by their own power. The sacrifices which were once acceptable to God had become useless buckets on a sinking ship. God needed to intervene, or the world would drown in sin.
No matter how mighty God made a man, man could never escape sin and death (Romans 3:23). Christ overcame both in his death and resurrection, making a way for man to overcome both through him and him alone.
Wonderful Counselor
People couldn’t find their own way out of sin, either. They had not the wisdom.
They needed a Wonderful Counselor, someone who could give them the wisdom they needed to truly repent (James 1:5, Hebrews 2:18). Christ not only gives us wisdom by the Spirit through the word, he is our wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Everlasting Father
With Abraham, Israel was entitled to an earthly inheritance, but then what? As goes the earth, so goes the inheritance.
But through their Everlasting Father, they had an eternal one to aspire to (Hebrews 9:15, Romans 8:16–17).
Prince of Peace
And to abolish the old sacrificial system which put a bandage on their sin, Israel needed the Prince of Peace to restore them to God perfectly and once-and-for-all (Ephesians 2:13–18, Philippians 4:6–7; Hebrews 10:1-18).
The Christmas season is a time to celebrate the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “For to us, a child is born, to us, a son is given.” Remember where that son came from (Galatians 4:4–5), and glorify God for providing the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. – Galatians 4:4–5 (Logos Talk)
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Today, we remember that “day of infamy” that launched the United States into a world war. But it also launched two young airmen on a path to forgiveness and salvation.
Seventy-seven years ago today, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii called Pearl Harbor. The next day, President Roosevelt addressed Congress and a shocked nation:
< Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.” >
Pearl Harbor was for the Greatest Generation what September 11 is for ours: a national memory. Today, as we remember and honor those who served, I also want to tell you a Pearl Harbor story about two men who exchanged hatred for their enemies for a love and friendship.
Japanese naval Captain Mitsuo Fuchida planned and led the deadly air attack on Pearl Harbor. Astonishingly, although his plane was hit 21 times by anti-aircraft fire, Fuchida was able to return to his carrier.
In fact, he escaped death several times during the war. On August 5, 1945, he was attending a military conference in Hiroshima when he was ordered to report to Tokyo. The very next day, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Fuchida became part of a team sent back to Hiroshima to assess the damage. Every single member of that team died of radiation poisoning—except Fuchida.
After the war, General Douglas MacArthur ordered Fuchida to testify during war trials in Tokyo. Fuchida took a cynical view towards the trials because he believed that Americans—like the Japanese—had committed atrocities against their captives. But his former flight engineer, who had been a prisoner of war, told Fuchida that the Americans had treated him humanely. Even more, he learned of a woman who had ministered lovingly to Japanese prisoners: Peggy Covell.
Covell’s parents had been missionaries to Japan and were captured and killed by Japanese soldiers in 1943. Before the Japanese beheaded them, the Covells asked for 30 minutes in which to pray—in part, their daughter believed, for God to forgive those who were about to execute them.
Fuchida was astonished at the idea that anyone would forgive their enemies—or worship a God who would not, or could not, save their lives. Why, he wondered, would the Covells’s daughter return to Japan to help POWs?
Fuchida found his answer in 1948. At a Tokyo train station, an American missionary was handing out pamphlets titled, “I was a Prisoner of Japan.” It was written by Jacob DeShazer, one of General Doolittle’s Raiders who bombed Tokyo in 1942 in retaliation for Pearl Harbor. As James Nathanial Miller writes in The Liberty Beacon, DeShazer had been “extremely vocal” about his hatred of the Japanese, “declaring that if he could only get his hands on the guy who had led the raid on Pearl Harbor, he would slit his throat.”
As it turned out, it was the Japanese who got their hands on DeShazer when his B-25 crashed in China after the raid. For the next 40 months, DeShazer was starved, tortured, beaten, and kept in solitary confinement—all of which increased his hatred for the Japanese.
But then a guard gave him an English Bible. As DeShazer read, he joyfully surrendered his heart to Christ, and began treating his captors with respect, love, and forgiveness instead of belligerence.
After the war, DeShazer returned to the U.S., trained as a missionary, and returned to Japan to share the love of Christ with his former enemies. It’s estimated that some 30,000 Japanese citizens became Christians because of his ministry—including Mitsuo Fuchida—the leader of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1950, Fuchida sought out DeShazer. The two former enemies embraced each other as brothers and spent the rest of their lives witnessing together to the power of Christ and of the need to forgive.
So today, tell your children the story of Pearl Harbor. But also tell them the story of Mitsuo Fuchida and Jacob DeShazer. Because theirs is a lesson our country sorely needs today.
BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life.
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MORE PREPARATIONS FOR THE THIRD TEMPLE (Friday Church News Notes, December 7, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The preparation for the building of the Third Temple is reaching fever pitch. On December 10, the last evening of Hanukkah, the “nascent” Jewish Sanhedrin is planning to consecrate a stone sacrificial altar and perform the daily offering that occurred every morning and evening in the ancient temple. The sacrifice will be enacted by Kohanim (Levites) dressed in biblical priestly attire. It is not known whether the lamb will actually be sacrificed at the site, but meat will be roasted on the altar. The Temple Institute’s golden menorah will also be lit. The Sanhedrin was a council of rabbis who led the Israelites before and after the destruction of Herod’s Temple. It ceased to function in the fifth century AD, but in 2004 a group of orthodox Jewish groups announced that they were re-establishing it. The “nascent” Sanhedrin’s goal is to establish a “Bible-based organization to replace the United Nations.” The announcement by Rabbi Yoel Schwartz states, “We are very close to the time about which the prophets of Israel prophesied that the God of the world who created everything will be called by the world in the name of the God of Israel, for only the people of Israel remained attached to Him. … God’s call to return his people to his land will show that the belief of some nations that Israel was in exile as a punishment was a mistaken belief. The exile was only in order for Israel to serve as an example to the nations for serving God. … Now, it is time for the Creator’s people to return to their land, and from here light will come forth to the world. And when we merit it, and the Temple will be restored and built on its place, then even more will all the nations realize that the time has come to worship God” (“Sanhedrin Invites 70 Nations to Hanukkah Dedication of Altar for the Third Temple,” BreakingIsraelNews, Nov. 29, 2018). Israel abides in the same self-righteousness that caused her to reject her own Messiah 2,000 years ago. She doesn’t admit that her dispersal was a punishment. But just before His crucifixion, Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when he shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:34-35). And the apostle Paul, trained as a rabbi at the feet of the famous Gamaliel, said of Israel, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:3-4). The “nascent” Sanhedrin who are re-enacting the daily sacrifice are blind to the meaning of that sacrifice, having rejected the testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
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