Genesis 11
Whole human race had one languageverses 1-2
And the whole earth was of ONE language and ONE speech
and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east
that they found a plain in the land of Shinar
and dwelt there
Whole human race wants to build city togetherverses 3-4
AND they said one to another
Go to – let us make brick – and burn them thoroughly
and they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar
And they said
Go to – let us build us a city and a tower
whose top may reach to heaven
And let us make us a name
less we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth
Godhead changes languageverses 5-9
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower
which the children of men built
And the LORD said
BEHOLD – the people are ONE – and they have all ONE language
and this they begin to do – and now nothing will be
withheld from them which they have imagined to do
Go to – let US go down – and there confound their language
that they may not understand one another’s speech
SO the LORD scattered them abroad from there on the
face of all the earth – and they left off to build the city
THEREFORE is the name of it called Babel
BECAUSE the LORD did there confound the language of
all the earth – and from there did the LORD scatter
them abroad on the face of all the earth
Descendants of Shemverses 10-26
These are the generations of Shem – Shem was an hundred years old
and begot Arpachshad – two years after the FLOOD
and Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad
five hundred years – and begot sons and daughters
And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years – and begot Salah
and Arpachshad lived after he begot Salah
four hundred and three years – and begot sons and daughters
And Salah lived thirty years – and begot Eber
and Saleh lived after he begot Eber four hundred and three years
and begot sons and daughters
And Eber lived four and thirty years – and begot Peleg
and Eber lived after he begot Peleg four hundred and thirty years
and begot sons and daughters
And Peleg lived thirty years – and begot Reu
and Peleg lived after he begot Reu two hundred and nine years
and begot sons and daughters
And Reu lived two and thirty years – and begot Serug
and Reu lived after he begot Serug two hundred and seven years
and begot sons and daughters
And Serug lived thirty years – and begot Nahor
and Serug lived after he begot Nahor two hundred years
and begot sons and daughters
And Nahor lived nine and twenty years – and begot Terah
and Nahor lived after he begot Terah an hundred and nineteen years
and begot sons and daughters
And Terah lived seventy seventy years – and begot
Abram – Nahor – Haran
Family of Terahverses 27-30
Now these are the generations of Terah
Terah begot Abram- Nahor – Haran
and Haran begot Lot
And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity
in Ur of the Chaldeans
And Abram and Nahor took them wives
the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai
the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah
the daughter of Haran
the father of Milcah – Iscah
BUT Sarai was barren – she had NO CHILD
Terah moves family to Haranverses 31-32
AND Terah took Abram his son – and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son
and Sarai his daughter-in-law – his son Abram’s wife
and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldeans
to go into the land of Canaan
and they came unto Haran – and dwelt there
And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years
and Terah died in Haran
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven: and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth. (8034 “name” [shem] means standing, reputation, fame, the general estimation and recognition of a person, memorial, monument, or memory)
DEVOTION: Here is a group of people who want to make a name for them. They wanted to build something that would make people stand up and cheer them for their great accomplishment. They wanted to be important. They wanted people to look up to them.
That goal has not changed since the beginning of time. Many high school and college students want to make a name for themselves. They want to see their names in print or on television. They want to be famous.
Sometimes that goal can get in the way. Their minds are so set on a goal that if they don’t reach it they will consider themselves to be a failure. This can have a bad result in some people’s lives. They can never seem to find another goal to reach that will satisfy them.
God looked at this goal and knew that it was wrong and did something about it. We can sometimes make goals for our life that is not pleasing to the LORD and doesn’t bring glory to HIS name.
Each believer has to realize the gifts and talents the LORD has given them and then ask HIM to open the right doors for them to go in to give glory to the LORD. To set unrealistic goals for our life and then blame God if we don’t reach them is a sin. Our prayers should be each day to ask the LORD what HE wants us to accomplish with our life in our service to HIM.
What people think of us does matter sometimes but what God thinks of us matters the most to those who are genuine believers. What does the LORD think of where you are today? Where does the LORD want you to be next year?
CHALLENGE: Always keep your eyes on the LORD regarding your goals in life. You want your name in the book of life in heaven more than in any other place in this world.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. (1219 “restrained” [batsar] means to clip off, to be isolated, fenced, wall up, or withhold)
DEVOTION: Can you imagine if our world had one language and one people? If everyone could communicate with each other what would happen? If everyone worked together to build our world into a united front for God what would our world be like?
The problem is explained in this verse. The problem is that people would think that they didn’t need God. They would think they could do anything without God. That is what happens when the human race is left to itself. Our sin nature wants to leave God out of our life. We want to be independent of HIM. HE knows this. HE acted on this knowledge when the human race decided to leave HIM out of their life.
Noah and his family came out of the flood and were told what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to multiply and replenish the earth. They were not told to stay in one area and live together. They were not to isolate themselves to one area of the earth.
They wanted to set up a false religious system. God didn’t want to allow that to happen right then. God doesn’t want it to happen now. However, we realize that during the Tribulation there will be one world government led by the Antichrist. He will be helped by the False Prophet who will have people worship the Antichrist instead of the TRUE Son of God.
The goal of all humans was to bring honor to themselves. This goal was not a Godly goal. The LORD had to do something and HE did.
HE mixed up the language and some thought changed the pigment of the skin and caused the continent to divide into many continents at this time. This mixing up of the languages was to scatter them around the world. HE wanted them to depend on HIM and not on each other for spiritual guidance.
The same is true today. Too many people are depending on men to be their spiritual guides when the LORD has chosen men to point everyone to HIM not to each other. We can get into trouble if we start following one preacher or one pastor. We can get into trouble if we fight over what version of the Bible we should use rather than another. We are to focus on worshiping God and bringing glory to HIS name. Too often we worship men or a certain translation.
If we look at each other, we are in trouble. People will let us down. God will never let us down. Sometimes we think HE has let us down but HE never does. We have to correct our thinking in this regard. HE wants only the best for us. Sometimes that includes mixing things up and this causes us to wander for a while but only toward HIM. HE sometimes turns our world upside down to make it RIGHT side up.
CHALLENGE: Is there confusion in our thinking? Unity isn’t wrong when it is focused on the LORD. Unity is wrong when we focus on someone or thing other than God. Keep our focus on the LORD alone!!!
: 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (1101 “confound” [balal] means to mix up, to make unclear, indistinct, blurred, or cause difficulty for understanding)
DEVOTION: Who is God talking to in this conversation? Is HE talking with the angels? Is HE talking those who are waiting in Paradise for Jesus to come and take them to heaven? Is HE talking with someone else in heaven?
The answer is that HE is talking to the other persons of the Godhead. There is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit who are eternal. They are without beginning or end. They are all omniscient. They are all omnipresent.
Here we find that heaven is up in relation to the earth. They are going to come down to earth to confuse the language of the people. It didn’t take long for humans to forget God and all HE has done.
There was now a rainbow in the sky to remind them of the flood and HIS promise to never flood the earth again. Yet, they found a place they liked and wanted to build something to bring glory to themselves rather than God. Humans forget so easy.
God wants us to always look to HIM for guidance and direction regarding what we should do with our life and what we should do in our world. We can have goals as long as they are pleasing to HIM.
These individuals were not thinking about what is pleasing to HIM. They were only thinking of themselves and had to pay the consequences of their actions.
CHALLENGE: There are always consequences when we leave God out of our decisions.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. (6135 “barren” [aqar] means sterile, without offspring, or with no descendants)
DEVOTION: In the culture of Abraham women wanted to have babies for their husband. It was something that every woman wanted. Further into the Old Testament we find Hannah, Samuel’s mother, crying over the fact that she had no child.
Many of the women who loved the LORD wanted to have a male child because they thought they might be the mother of the coming Messiah that was promised to Adam and Eve. Even Eve thought she might have the Messiah that was promised.
Today things are different. I just read about a sports figure who make made his girl friend sign an agreement that if she got pregnant that she would abort her baby and he would pay her a price. There is another group of women who want to become pregnant just for the benefits the government gives for each child.
Some women think that babies are a burden rather than a blessing from the LORD. The Bible teaches that babies are a blessing from the LORD and Christian parents should raise them in the nurture and admonition of the LORD.
Children are an awesome responsibility. It is hard to be a parent today. I had it easier than parents have it today even though I was never taught how to be a good Christian parent.
God has been gracious to us as parents. Our children and grandchildren are believers who are trying to follow the LORD. That doesn’t mean that we were perfect parents or they are perfect children. It means that we tried to honor the LORD in our raising of our children and HE honored our effort.
Churches have an awesome responsibility regarding the training of the children that walk through their doors. Many might not have Christian parents, so they are the only source of Biblical training they might have.
CHALLENGE: Remember that children are an heritage from the LORD. Prayer changes circumstances. It did for Sarai and for Hannah.
: 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. (2771 “Haran” [Charan] means 1 a son of Caleb by his concubine Ephah. 2 the city to which Abraham migrated when he left Ur of the Chaldees and where he stayed until his father died before leaving for the promised land; located in Mesopotamia in Padan-aram at the foot of Mount Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates. Additional Information: Haran = “mountaineer”. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: Have you ever had the Lord tell you something to do, and you proceeded to obey Him half-heartedly? Too often this is the case with regard to our obedience to God. In this case, Abram was given specific instructions to leave Ur and head to Canaan. Along the wayside, something made him stop in Haran.
Haran is the place of half-hearted obedience. It is on the way to full obedience, but it is stopping short at some point. Maybe it was the wrong season of the year for Abram and his family to travel. Maybe it was Terah, Abram’s father, who caused the caravan to stop where it did in Haran. In any case, Abram was called to move to Canaan, but ended up in Haran instead. He may have rationalized that leaving Ur was close enough, and that it was difficult relocating.
When we start to make excuses in our obedience towards God is the time that we are closest to sinning. God is not interested in our partial obedience. Rather, He is looking for us to take a radical step of faith which would be outside of our comfort zone. Perhaps in this New Year as you are evaluating your life last year and looking forward to the coming year you can identify one bold step of obedience that God is asking you to complete.
CHALLENGE: Is there any area of your life that you have been half-hearted in your obedience toward God? If so, confess this, and ask Him to complete the obedience through radical faith in your life today. (MW)
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)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 5, 6, 8, 9
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)
Usverse 7
Confound languageverse 7
Scattered the peopleverse 8
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
One language & one speechverses 1, 6
Land of Shinarverse 2
Build a cityverse 4
Tower to heavenverse 4
Make a nameverse 4
Children of menverse 5
One peopleverse 6
God confounded their languageverses 7, 9
Babelverse 9
Generations of Shemverses 10-28
Arphaxad
Salah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Nahor
Terah
Abram, Nahor, Haran
Haran begat Lot and died
Lived in Ur of the Chaldees
Abram took Sarai as his wifeverse 29
Nahor’s wife Milcah – daughter of Haranverse 29
Milcah
Iscah
Travel from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaanverses 31, 32
Dwelt in Haran
Terah died in Haran
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Make us a nameverse 4
Imagine to do against Godverse 6
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
11:27–32. This brief section accounts for the three sons of Terah, and their marriages. (See the chart “Terah’s Family.”) It also accounts for Lot, Abram’s nephew, who figures prominently in the narratives about Abram.
Terah was an idolater, worshiping other gods (Josh. 24:2). Perhaps the home of Terah was originally in Haran because many of Terah’s ancestors’ names are similar to place names in the land of Aram where the city of Haran was located. If so, then the family had migrated southeast approximately 600 miles to Ur, capital of Sumer, where Terah’s youngest son Haran was born and (Gen. 11:28) died. God’s call to Abram (12:1) initially came in Ur, and the family then moved back to Haran and settled there (11:31), where Terah died (v. 32). Because that was not the Promised Land, Abram moved on to Canaan, where God appeared and confirmed the location. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 46). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
First steps of faith are not always giant steps, which explains why Abraham did not fully obey God. Instead of leaving his family, as he was commanded, Abraham took his father and his nephew Lot with him when he left Ur; and then he stayed at Haran until his father died.
Whatever you bring with you from the old life into the new is likely to create problems. Terah, Abraham’s father, kept Abraham from fully obeying the Lord; and Lot created serious problems for Abraham until they finally had to agree to part. Abraham and Sarah brought a sinful agreement with them from Ur (20:13), and it got them into trouble twice (12:10–20; 20:1–18).
The life of faith demands total separation from what is evil and total devotion to what is holy (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1). As you study the life of Abraham, you will discover that he was often tempted to compromise; and occasionally he yielded. God tests us in order to build our faith and bring out the best in us, but the devil tempts us in order to destroy our faith and bring out the worst in us.
When you walk by faith, you lean on God alone: His Word, His character, His will, and His power. You don’t isolate yourself from your family and friends, but you no longer consider them your first love or your first obligation (Luke 14:25–27). Your love for God is so strong that it makes familylove look like hatred in comparison! God calls us “alone” (Isa. 51:1–2), and we must not compromise. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). Be Obedient (p. 16). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Ver. 31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, &c.] Many words are made use of in describing Lot and Sarai, and yet still we are left pretty much in the dark who Sarai was; for, as Aben Ezra observes, if she was the sister of Abram and daughter of Terah, the Scripture would have said, Terah took Abram his son and Sarai his daughter, and wife of Abram; and if she was the sister of Lot, it would have said, and Sarai the daughter of his son, as it does of Lot: and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, Terah and Abram went forth with Lot and Sarai, or with them may mean with Nahor and Milcah: for Josephus says, that all went into Charan of Mesopotamia, the whole family of Terah; and the Arabic historiani is express for it, “Terah went out from Chorasan, and with him Abram, Nahor, Lot, his children, and their wives, and he went to Charan, where he dwelt:” and it is certain, if Nahor and his wife did not set out with them, they followed them afterwards, for Haran was the city of Nahor, where his family in after-times dwelt, see Gen. 24:10, 15 and 27:43 and 29:4, 5 what moved Terah to depart from Ur of the Chaldees seems to be the call of God to Abram, which, though after related, was previous to this; and he acquainting his father Terah with it, he listened to it, being now convinced of his idolatry and converted from it, and readily obeyed the divine will; and being the father of Abram, is represented as the head of the family, as he was, and their leader in this transaction; who encouraged their departure from the idolatrous country in which they were, and set out with them to seek another, where they might more freely and safely worship the true God. Though Josephus represents it in this light, that Terah hating the country of Chaldea, because of the mourning of Haran, he and all his went out from thence: and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there; which Josephus calls Charan of Mesopotamia, and yet Stephen speaks of Abraham being in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charan; but then Mesopotamia is to be taken both in a more general and a more limited sense; in general, it took in Mesopotamia and Chaldea, and in the eastern part of it was Ur of the Chaldees, and when Abram came from thence to Haran, he came into Mesopotamia, strictly so called. Stephen calls it Charran; it is by Herodiaul called Καρραι, by Ptolemy Carræ, by Plinyn Carra, a city famous in Lucan for the slaughter of Crassus, by whom it is called an Assyrian city. Benjamin of Tudelap speaks of it as in being in his time, and as two days’ journey from the entrance into the land of Shinar or Mesopotamia; and says, that in that place where was the house of Abraham, there is no building on it, but the Ishmaelites (the Mahometans) honour the place, and come thither to pray. Rauwolff, who was in this town A.D. 1575, calls it Orpha; his account of it is this, that it is a costly city, with a castle situated on the hill very pleasantly; that the town is very pleasant, pretty big, with fortifications well provided; and that some say it was anciently called Haran and Charras: a later travellerr says, who also calls it Orpha, “the air of this city is very healthful, and the country fruitful; that it is built four-square, the west part standing on the side of a rocky mountain, and the east part trendeth into a spacious valley, replenished with vineyards, orchards, and gardens: the walls are very strong, furnished with great store of artillery, and contain in circuit three English miles, and, for the gallantness of its sight, it was once reckoned the metropolitical seat of Mesopotamia.” What detained Terah and his family here, when they intended to go further, is not said. Aben Ezra suggests, that the agreeableness of the place to Terah caused him to continue there; but it is very probable he was seized with a disease which obliged them to stay here, and of which he died. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 92). London: Mathews and Leigh)
Last of all, as an introduction to the entire story of Abraham (a story so significant in the counsels of God that the Spirit of God devotes 25 percent of the book of Genesis to its details), Moses records Abram’s initial venture as a pilgrim. Again, the immediate narrative does not record how or when the true and living God revealed Himself to Abram, the pagan idolator of Ur, but evidently He did, because in response to that revelation not only Abram but also Terah his father, Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew all took the first step. Together they left Ur of the Chaldees migrating northward until they came to Haran. Evidently, too, God’s initial revelation of Himself to Abram was of such a powerful and convincing nature that Terah was not only persuaded to join the pilgrimage but actually took the lead.
Shem
Ur of the Chaldees where Abram lived was an important city of Babylonia. It was a city of luxury and attainment, and a center of moon worship. The pilgrim family journeyed until they came to the city of Haran, and there the sojourners made their first stop. Haran was a frontier town of the Babylonian Empire and, like Ur of the Chaldees, was devoted to the worship of the moon god. There the whole pilgrimage bogged down and, it would seem, remained inert and inactive for about twenty-five years until the death of Terah. After all, the old nature, as represented by Terah, can make only token responses to divine things. Abram greatly erred in not fully obeying God (12:1) and in allowing the world and the flesh to insert themselves between him and the divine call. But God is patient. Abram was very young in the faith. He had much to learn, and God could afford to wait. So the wasted years slipped by until, at last, upon the removal of the hindrance to further progress by the death of Terah, Abram began to take those giant steps forward that lifted him from the darkness and obscurity of paganism into the spotlight of faith. (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Genesis: An Expository Commentary (Ge 11:27–32). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)
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!!)
IMPOSSIBLE PEOPLE by Os Guinness IVP press 2016
The global era demands that leaders think globally, multicausally and holistically, and respect the entire ecology of human ideas, values and institutions, nations, and the earth itself. (p. 116)
I would put forward three different but separately powerful trends that in the case of the United States are causing the cultural damage, the middle one being at the heart of the mudslide effect.
The first trend is the deliberate and systematic rejection of the foundational place of the Jewish and Christian roots of American society. (p. 117)
Unquestionably, only a century later the “completest revolution” has taken place. Neither the Christian faith nor any other religion or ideology holds that position in America now. And today’s conditions of ever-expanding diversity, now including an absurd and bewildering range of possible sexual identities, have also seen a fateful loosening of any point of genuine unity. The original American motto has been knocked off its balance, so that the unum has been downplayed and the pluribus has run riot. Americans have even squandered the genius of their traditional understanding of religious freedom and its significance for knowing how to live with the deepest differences. (p. 119)
And the historians Will and Ariel Durant seconded the motion. “there is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.” (p. 121)
Theology, if it is genuine theology, is lived theology. It moves from the intellect to the realm of daily life. It moves from the intellect to the realm of daily life. Genuine theology is translated into character. The church of Ephesus, according to John in Revelation 2:1-7, was a church marked by doctrinal purity, yet they still were in danger of being judged severely by God for they had lost their first love. They no longer loved God or loved people. They were sound in theology but anemic in practice. While doctrinal purity and correct biblical theology are important, they do not affect the spirituality of the church until they dictate practice … In other words, love is the foundation for character and action. This love is not the emotional giddiness or experiential feelings that often characterize our view of relationship and spirituality today. Instead, this love is a commitment of the will that results in self-sacrifice and the desire to serve others. It is a love that is grounded in obedience rather than emotions.
(p.104, Developing Leaders for the Small Church by Glenn C. Daman)
2 Kings 4
Elisha saves a Shunammite widow from economic disaster and revives her son from death.
INSIGHT
Elisha’s ministry is not startling; it is redemptive and constructive. Elijah was a prophet of fire and judgment; Elisha was a prophet of mercy and compassion. Elijah was a man on the move; Elisha enjoyed a tranquil life at home. Elijah’s miracles were destructive; Elisha’s were constructive. It must have been tempting for Elisha to want to be like Elijah. But he resists it; that is not what the Lord has for Elisha. He is his own man before the Lord. It is often tempting for us to want to be like someone else, to be dissatisfied with who we are and what we can do. Yet God made us to be what He wanted us to be. We must be content with who we are. It is so liberating. Accept yourself. God does.
(Quiet Walk)
CONSECRATION
And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. Exodus 33:7
There is another element in revival that I must emphasize. It is clear that in putting the Tabernacle outside the camp, Moses had another motive and a very important one. It is this whole idea of consecration. Moses felt that this could not be done in the midst of the camp. The camp had become unclean, and he deliberately took the Tabernacle out, “afar off from the camp.” It was a very deliberate action. But by doing it, he said in effect, “We must do this thing in God’s way; we must get out of the impurity and this sinful atmosphere. We must get together here instead.” Yes, that is consecration. That is, if you like, the call to holiness.
I am suggesting to you that the history of every revival brings out this same factor in exactly the same way. What is it that has happened to these men whom God has used? Take any one of them, and you will find almost invariably that their first concern has not been the state of the church—it has been the state of their own souls. It has been the holiness of God. The Methodists said, “We must meet to study the Scriptures together, we must pray together, and we must live methodically in everything.” Methodists, yes; but what they were searching for was holiness. And that has always been God’s way. One man or a number of men suddenly become awakened to their distance from God, to the fact that they are in a far country. And their first concern is to be holy as God is holy, and to come into His presence, and to know His glory.
A Thought to Ponder: Their first concern has not been the state of the church—it has been the state of their own souls.
(From Revival, pp. 168-169, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Created
“Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:7)
There are three main verbs used to describe God’s work of creation in Genesis. These are “create” (Hebrew bara), “make” (asah), and “form” (yatsar). The three words are similar in meaning but each with a slightly different emphasis. None of them, of course, can mean anything at all like “evolve” or “change” on their own accord.
All three are used in Genesis with reference to humans. “And God said, Let us make man in our image.…So God created man in his own image.…And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7).
Although the subject of creation is commonly associated with Genesis, it is mentioned even more frequently by the great prophet Isaiah. The words bara and yatsar are used twice as often in Isaiah as in any other Old Testament book and are applied uniquely to works of God. All three verbs are used together in Isaiah 45:18 in order to adequately describe God’s purposeful work in preparing Earth for humans: “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”
God created, formed, made, and established the earth that it might be the home of men and women. But what was God’s purpose for the people who would inhabit it? Our text answers this most fundamental of questions, and once again all three key verbs are used: “I have created him…I have formed him,…I have made him…for my glory.
This biblical perspective alone provides the greatest of all possible incentives to live a godly and useful life. The reason we were created is to glorify God!
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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Naaman is healed of leprosy when he obeys Elisha’s directives.
INSIGHT
It is God who has power to move in the realm of the spiritual and miraculous–not man. So whether God asks us to do something difficult or simple, it doesn’t matter. He will do the work behind our faith. Naaman learns this the hard way. His heart is open to God, for he goes to Elisha hoping that God will heal his leprosy. But when Elisha tells him to wash in the Jordan seven times, Naaman roars: “Are not . . . the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?” (v. 12). He misses the point. The point is not clean water or unclean. The point is: Does he believe God? The Jordan is merely a test of his faith in God. When Naaman realizes that, he washes and is healed. Quiet Walk)
LOOKING ON
And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. Exodus 33:8
I am rather interested in what we are told about the remainder of the people. They say that Moses and one or two individuals used to go out of the camp to the Tabernacle to pray. In Exodus 33:8 we read, “And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.”
There is something very wonderful about this. All they did was to look on with interest. They were aware that something was happening, but they did not know what it was, and they did not understand it. They did not go out of the camp with Moses into the tent of meeting with God and pray and intercede. All they knew was that Moses had taken the tent outside the camp and that he and certain others periodically visited it. So they just stood at their tent doors, watching Moses as he went and talking about him, wondering what he was doing and what exactly was happening. Now the appalling thing is that the right place for the tent was in the midst of the camp. But it was not there.
As you read the history of the church, you will find this repeated. At first just a few people feel the call and separate themselves, and then the others begin to say, “What is happening to so and so? Have you heard about this man or that woman?” They stand at their tent doors, and they look on. They have a feeling that something is happening. But they do nothing at all. Oh, if we wait until the whole church moves, revival will never happen.
A Thought to Ponder: If we wait until the whole church moves, revival will never happen. (From Revival, p. 170. By Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Useless Prayers
“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)
There are some prayers that God hates, strange as that may seem. In fact, our very prayers can even “become sin” (Psalm 109:7). When one who has deliberately “turned away his ear” from the Word of God (preferring his own way to God’s revealed will as found in His Word) attempts to ask God for blessing or direction, his prayer becomes presumption. God hates such prayers, and those who pray them should not be surprised when He does not give them their request. “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
No Christian is sinless, of course. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). The obvious remedy is to ask the Lord, through His Word, to “see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:24), and then to confess and forsake any sin so revealed and known. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Then, having been cleansed from our unrighteousness, we are again made righteous, not only through Christ’s imputed righteousness, but also in righteous, daily living. Then the gracious promises of answered prayer can again become wholly effective, for “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).
How vital it is to know and obey the Word of God, and how dangerous it is to turn our ears away from it. God will not be mocked for long! “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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