Genesis 34
Rape of Dinahverses 1-5
And Dinah – the daughter of Leah – whom she bore to Jacob
went out to see the daughters of the land
And when Shechhem – the son of Hamor the Hivite
prince of the country – saw her – took her
lay with her – defiled her
And his soul clung to Dinah – the daughter of Jacob
and he loved the damsel
and spoke kindly to the damsel
And Shechem spoke to his father – Hamor saying
Get me this damsel for my wife
And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter
now his sons were with the cattle in the field
and Jacob held his peace until they were come
Hamor asks for Dinahverses 6-12
And Hamor – the father of Shechem
went out to Jacob to speak with him
And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it
and the men were GRIEVED – and they were very ANGRY
BECAUSE he had wrought folly in Israel
in lying with Jacob’s daughter
which thing ought not to be done
And Hamor spoke with them saying
The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter
I pray you give her him as his wife
And make you marriages with us
and give your daughters to us
and take our daughters to you
And you shall dwell with us
and the land shall be before you
dwell and trade you therein
and get you possessions in it
And Shechem said to her father and to her brethren
Let me find GRACE in your eyes
and what you shall say to me I will give
Ask me ever so much dowry and gift
and I will give according as you shall say to me
BUT give me the damsel as my wife
Jacob’s sons gave deceitful answerverses 13-19
And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor
his father DECEITFULLY and said –
BECAUSE he had defiled Dinah their sister
And they said to them
We cannot do this thing
to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised
for that were a REPROACH to us
BUT in this will we consent to you
IF you will be as we be that every male of you
be circumcised
THEN will we give our daughters to you
and we will take your daughters to us
and we dwell with you
and we will become one people
BUT IF ye will not hearken to us – to be circumcised
THEN will we take our daughter
and we will be gone
And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem Hamor’s son
and the young men deferred not to do the thing
BECAUSE he had delight in Jacob’s daughter
and he was more honorable than
all the house of his father
Hamor & Shechem present proposal to villageverses 20-24
And Hamor and Shechem – his son came to the gate of their city
and communed with the men of their city
saying
These men are peaceable with us
THEREFORE let them dwell in the land
and trade therein
FOR the land – BEHOLD – it is large enough for them
let us take their daughters to us for wives
and let us give them our daughters
Only herein will the men consent to us for to dwell with us
to be one people
IF every male among us be circumcised
as they are circumcised
Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of
theirs be ours? only let us consent to them
and they will dwell with us
And to Hamor and to Shechem his son hearkened all that
went out of the gate of his city
and every male was circumcised
all that went out of the gate of the city
Simeon and Levi kill all menverses 25-26
And it came to pass on the THIRD day – when they were sore
that two of the sons of Jacob
Simeon and Levi – Dinah’s brethren
took each man his sword
and came upon the city BOLDLY
and slew all the males
And they slew Hamor and Shechem
his son with the edge of the sword
And took Dinah out of Shechem’s house – and went out
Other brothers spoiled the cityverses 27-29
The sons of Jacob came on the slain – and spoiled the city
BECAUSE they had DEFILED their sister
They took their sheep – oxen – asses
and that which was in the city
and that which was in the field
and all their wealth
and all their little ones
and their wives took they captive
and spoiled even all that was in the house
Jacob confronts Simon and Leviverses 30-31
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi
You have troubled me to make me to stink
among the inhabitants of the land
among the Canaanites and the Perizzites
And I being few in number
they shall gather themselves together
against me – and slay me
and I shall be destroyed
I and my house
And they said
Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, anddefiled her. (6031 “defiled” [‘anah] means to depress, abased, afflict, chasten, humble, hurt, or ravish. 2930 “defiled” v.5,13,27 [tame] means to be foul, pollute self, or unclean)
DEVOTION: Family matters. It is hard for some of us to understand Family Honor. This was something that is still happening in other nations. We have read about people who kill their children and use family honor as a reason.
Here we have the beginning of the nation of Israel. We have discussed the besetting sin of the family. It is lying. It is deceit. Jacob deceived his father to get the blessing. Here we have Jacob’s sons deceiving the people in the village of Shechem. Why were they deceiving them? It was because of what had happened to their only sister.
The morals of the day are much the same as today. Shechem saw a woman he liked and he simply took her for his own. This is breaking the laws of God but not the laws of men. There are two laws that are in effect here. The first is the law that there should be no relationships between a man and a woman unless they are married. The second is the law that tells us that we are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
The children of Israel were the chosen people of God. They were to keep themselves pure. The brothers told Hamor that they would give their daughters in marriage to the men of the city if they were circumcised. This was a lie. They killed them as punishment for defiling their sister. They knew that they were to keep the family pure.
We are the people of God today and we are supposed to keep ourselves pure. Christians should only marry other Christians. The laws of our land don’t require this but the LORD does. The sons of Jacob took the law into their own hands and killed the whole city. We need to remember the laws of God and try to practice them the best we can with the help of the LORD. Remember pornography is against the law of God. Too many Christians are looking at the wrong things. The computer can be used for good or bad. There are many good ministries that use websites and blogs to help people better understand the Word of God. This is a good use of the computer. It would be good to have all those who are followers of Christ, learning more about the Word of God.
Continue to share the Word of God with all those who are in your address book. Every Christian should know what is expected of them as they live their daily life trying to serve the LORD.
CHALLENGE: The Bible gives us the standard the LORD has set down for HIS people. This standard is in question in our society today. The Bible needs to be the final authority in all genuine believer’s lives.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 9 And make you marriages with us, and give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you. (2859 “marriages” [chatham] means to become a son-in-law, make oneself a daughter’s husband, to intermarry with, to marry outside of one’s own ethnic, social, or family group, or become related by marriage)
DEVOTION: The world makes this proposition to believers all the time. The world wants us to think there is no difference between them and us. They want us to work with them regarding all social issues. They want there to be a compromise between what God expects and what should really happen. They think it should be done and we are just intolerant if we don’t go along with them.
Separation should never happen in the human race according to the liberals in our society we should all be the same. The problem is that the standard of God are different from the standards of the world.
This chapter gives us an idea of this truth even though it was not handled correctly. The truth is that only those who are believers should marry those who are believers. There should be no mixed marriages. They only cause problems.
The solution to this problem was wrong in this chapter. It seems that some religions teach that if you don’t believe the way we believe you need to die. It is either their way or death.
Christians are not to have that attitude. Those who are believers can let those who don’t believe the same way have their beliefs but understand that the Biblical standard is what we believe and spread to all those who will listen.
We will allow those outside of Christ to marry each other but we reserve the right for those who are believers to marry each other only. The Bible teaches separation in regard to all areas of life where the standard of God is different from the standard of the world.
We can be part of the world but we are not to allow the world to dictate to us regarding our following of the standards of the Bible.
CHALLENGE: We should be able to practice our beliefs both publicly and privately.
: 13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister (4820 “deceitfully” [mirmah] means false, guile, subtlety, treachery, fraud, trick, deception, dishonesty, or deliberately misleading)
DEVOTION: The brothers of Dinah were angry. They wanted to get even with these people that had defiled their sister. They were outnumbered. They had to think of a plan to get even. They didn’t want to wait on the LORD. They chose their own devises to get even.
What did they do? They told them that it was a religious thing. They told them that their sister and any of their female relations couldn’t marry any of the men of the city unless they were circumcised. It was required by the LORD.
So the men of the city listened to them and consented to being circumcised. The whole idea was done in a manner that was deliberately misleading. They intended to kill the men of the city. Apparently, their father knew nothing of their plan.
They thought their goal was righteous but they were not consulting the LORD regarding their actions.
We sometimes plot to get even with someone who has hurt us. We try to think of a way to do it without including letting the LORD work in our life. We just want to get even with someone or a group of people who has hurt us.
Satan loves it when believers think this way. He wants us to think and act dishonestly in our world. It causes those who don’t know Christ to think that Christians are just like everyone else. Being a Christian doesn’t mean anything when it comes to getting even with people. Or does it? The answer is that we are to act differently than these children of Israel. We are to let the LORD deal with our enemies in HIS time and in HIS way.
At times it seems like the world is winning but we know that the LORD only allows them to go so far before there is judgment. HE sometimes uses those who are not believers to judge those who are that are not acting correctly.
The incident in this chapter seems like they were right in their actions because of what one man had done but they killed an entire community for the action. What seems right and what is right in the sight of the LORD many times are not the same.
CHALLENGE: Look to the LORD for wisdom regarding a personal injury to your person or reputation. HE knows what is going on and HE will deal with it in HIS time and in HIS way. Patience is a virtue we are all still trying to conquer.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore, let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. (802 “wives” [ʾishshah] means 1 woman, wife, female. 1a woman (opposite of man). 1b wife (woman married to a man). [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: Have you ever wanted to do God’s will your own way? All of us would have to admit that we have tried to do this at some time or another. Some compromised at the point of our marriage by marrying an unbeliever, thinking that that person would change or become a believer after we got married.
The children of Jacob propose the same solution after the rape of Dinah. They suggest that the sons of Hamor intermarry with them, especially Shechem who had raped Dinah. This was the same solution that Esau had proposed earlier when he married the Canaanite wives rather than ask for his parents’ approval for a marriage like Jacob. While this proposal by Jacob’s sons was deceitful (they knew what they were going to do if the Canaanites went along with the proposal to be circumcised), nonetheless it stands as a sad reminder of the fact that the world is all too ready to compromise with Christians on the area of marriage.
God’s plan was always for His children to be distinct and holy. There are those who do not come to faith until after they have been married, but for the believer God’s desire is that they marry another committed Christian. For those who are currently in a marriage with an unbeliever, Paul tells them that they should stay in that marriage and continue to witness to their unbelieving spouse by means of their holy lifestyle.
CHALLENGE: Have you compromised with God’s standards in any area? If you are married to an unbeliever, pray today that the Lord would allow you to be a light to that person. If you are single, resolve now only to date and marry believers in Jesus Christ. (BM)
: 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi. You have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. (5916 “troubled” [‘akar] means stirred, disturb, make(someone) taboo, to disturb a person or situation, conceived of as bringing trouble, to entangle, put in disorder or to bring disaster)
DEVOTION: What was Jacob concerned about? It was only thinking of what the people around him would do when they acted the way they did. He was afraid. He thought he and all of them would be killed by the neighbors. He was concerned about losing everything. He was thinking like the old Jacob not as Israel.
God had made a promise to Jacob regarding his future and the future of his children. HE had made the promise a number of times but it seems like Jacob wasn’t listening.
Would God have promised anything that HE couldn’t do? NO!! God can do anything. HE is omnipotent. There was going to be no killing of all his sons and their families. God knew what Simeon and Levi had done and HE would deal with them.
We sometimes worry about things that will never happen because of a promise God has made to us. HE has provided salvation through HIS Son Jesus Christ. All those that have repented of their sins and have committed themselves to follow HIM will be saved and given power to live a Spirit-filled life. That is a promise of God.
We have to believe the promises of God in order to live the life that the LORD wants us to live. If we doubt HIS provisions, we will be weak followers of HIM. Jacob was still weak. He didn’t believe God regarding his future.
Do we believe the promises of God regarding our future? Should this give us boldness to come to HIM with our requests at all times? Should this give us boldness to be a witness for HIM at all times?
CHALLENGE: Doubt is our enemy – Faith is our friend!!!
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)
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)
Daughters of the land (Canaan)verse 1
Shechem verses 2-26
Son of Hamor the Hivite
Prince of the country
Saw Dinah
Took her
Lay with her
Defiled her
Loved the damsel
Spoke kindly to her
Spoke to father about her being his wife
More honorable than all the house of his father
Uncircumcised
Hamorverses 2, 4, 6, 8-26
Told by son that he wanted Dinah
Went to speak with Jacob
Asked Jacob for Dinah for son
Proposed intermarriage between people
Asked for grace
Offered to pay dowry
Told to be circumcised
Told they could be one people
Killed by Simeon and Levi
Gate of the cityverses 20-25
Talked to men of city
Proposed intermarriage with
Israel
Promised possessions would be
Theirs
Men of city agreed
Men circumcised
Third day when they were sore
All men killed by Simeon and Levi
Canaanitesverse 30
Perizzitesverse 30
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Lay with someone not his wifeverse 2
Defileverses 2, 5, 13, 27
Love (lust)verse 3
Follyverse 7
Marriage between saved and unsavedverses 8, 9
Deceitfullyverse 13
Reproachverse 14
Uncircumcisedverse 14
Promised one peopleverse 16
Harlotverse 31
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Grieved over sinverse 7
Righteous angerverse 7
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Dinahverses 1-31
Daughter of Leah
Leahverse 1
Jacobverses 1, 5-31
Heard that Dinah was defiled
Sons in the field
Sons grived
Spoke with Hamar
Answered deceitfully
Told Hamar they would leave area
Speaks with Simeon and Levi
YOU Sons of Jacob about murdering people ofverses 5, 7, 13-15, 27-29
In field when Dinah defiled
Grieved and wroth
Folly in Israel
Answered deceitfully
Israelverse 7
Circumcisedverses 15, 17, 24
Simeon verses 25-31
Leviverses 25-31
Killed the people of
Spoiled the city of Shechem
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
25–31 When the sons of Jacob carried out their deception to the end, the writer is careful not to let their actions go unrebuked. Jacob’s words apparently express the writer’s own final judgment on the actions of the sons: “You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land” (v.30). The writer then lets the sons’ reply stand as the last words of the narrative, apparently to show that their motive had not been mere plunder but the honor of their sister (v.31). (Sailhamer, J. H. (1990). Genesis. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (Vol. 2, pp. 215–216). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
34:25–31. The outworking of the plot was tragic. Simeon and Levi (and no doubt their households) slaughtered the Canaanite males while they were in pain from the circumcision and still weak from healing. The brothers then rescued Dinah and plundered the city and the fields for the Shechemites’ property, livestock, wealth, and women and children. This all struck fear into Jacob, for it could bring serious repercussions on him and his family. But the brothers simply replied, Should Shechem have treated our sister like a prostitute?
Later the nation of Israel was instructed to avoid defilement with the Canaanites. Israel’s foreign policy was to destroy them completely before they could defile the Israelites (Deut. 20:16–18).
In this story the instinct of Simeon and Levi was correct, but because of their unbridled passion they were later passed over in Jacob’s blessing (Gen. 49:5–7). Moreover, a deceptive covenant was not to be dangled before the pagans. On occasion, however, God used a Simeon and a Levi, and a Jehu (2 Kings 10:11–14, 17–31), as His instruments of judgment. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 83–84). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Vengeance (vv. 25–31). At a time when the males in Shechem were in too much pain to defend themselves, Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah’s full brothers, rallied some men from Jacob’s camp and attacked the Shechemites, killing Hamor and his son and all the males in the city. Then they looted the city and took captive the women and children. It was an evil thing to do, and when Jacob heard about it, he was both angry and frightened. But during his lifetime, since he had done his share of scheming and fooled his father, he couldn’t rebuke his sons without incriminating himself.
Simeon and Levi certainly went too far by slaughtering the Canaanites and looting their city in order to avenge their sister, and Jacob never forgot it (49:5–7). By their deception and ruthless destruction, they ruined Jacob’s testimony before the people of the land. What good was it for Jacob to build an altar and worship the true God before his pagan neighbors if his children were going to act like pagans? But it’s sad to see that Jacob’s greatest concern wasn’t the vindication of purity or even his witness in the land, but rather his own safety. Had Jacob and his family been in Bethel where they belonged, this tragedy might not have occurred.
But true to His promise (28:15), God wasn’t finished with Jacob. There were still heartaches and joys to come, but the God of Jacob would prove Himself faithful through it all. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1997). Be authentic (pp. 64–65). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
34:25–29 A massacre of all males and the wholesale plunder of the city went way beyond the reasonable, wise, and justly deserved punishment of one man; this was a considerably more excessive vengeance than the Mosaic law would later legislate (cf. Dt 22:28, 29). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ge 34:25–29). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Ver. 25. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, &c.] Or in pain, when their pains were strong upon them, as the Targum of Onkelos; or when they were weak through the pain of circumcision, as the Targum of Jonathan; for it seems that the pain of circumcision was more intense on the third day, and the part the more inflamed, and the person more feverish, and which is observed by physicians of other wounds; and therefore Hippocrates advised not to meddle with wounds on the 3d or 4th days, or do anything that might irritate them, for on those days they were apt to rankle or be inflamed, and bring on fevers; and in this case, not only the wound was sore in itself and distressing, but being in such a part of the body, motion must give great uneasiness: nor could persons in such circumstances easily arise and walk, and go forth to defend themselves; and of this Jacob’s sons availed themselves: so that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren; by the mother’s side as well as the father’s, being Leah’s children, and so most provoked at this indignity and abuse of their sister: took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly; not fearing the inhabitants of it, and their rising up against them to defend themselves, knowing in what circumstances they were: or upon the city that dwelt securely; as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; for the men of the city had no suspicion of any such attempt that would be made upon them, and therefore were quite easy and secure, not expecting nor fearing anything of this kind: and slew all the males; the males that were grown up, for the little ones are after said to be carried captive, ver. 29. Josephus takes no notice of this circumstance of their being circumcised, but represents them as surprised in the night of their festival, overcharged with feasting, and their watch asleep, who were first killed. Though only two of Jacob’s sons were mentioned, they might be assisted by the rest; at least, no doubt, they were attended with servants, who were aiding in accomplishing this cruel and bloody attempt. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 227). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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
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)
The death of God was far more than a crisis for theology and theologians. It was an all-encompassing catastrophe that touched the whole of culture and all the values and disciplines that had depended on God – including such important things as truth, reason, knowledge, morality, right, wrong, good, evil, art, philosophy and the humanities. (p. 122)
The opposite of the weightlessness that leads to a nation’s collapse is revival, a return to the glory and therefore the reality and weightiness of God. (p. 126)
Social constructionism is a theory that seeks to analyze the way in which we are shaped by our shared beliefs and ideas as we live together in our different societies, so that it can be said that we all take part in constructing the reality we share in our own society. (p.128)
In short, the term socially constructed is now a bugle call to arms. When radicals use it, the term is shorthand for an open invitation to an assault on tradition and on long held ways of seeing and doing things. First, there must be a liberation from God and therefore from meaning and ethics, from solid institutions such as marriage and the family, and from all inhibiting categories such “the binary opposites” of “male” and “female.” And second there must be a liberation from nature and even from what was considered our own nature, so that we can be truly free. (p. 130)
Just so do our contemporary social constructionists set about dismantling marriage and the family, shifting their responsibilities to the state and the market, neither of which can or should handle them, and so triggering what bids to become one of the most disastrous social revolutions in all history. (p.131)
Nehemiah 9
Upon hearing the Law, the people publicly confess their transgressions.
INSIGHT
Paul says in the New Testament that it was not until he heard the Law that he was conscious of sin. How true! It is not until you know the truth that the truth can set you free (John 8:32). The returning Jews experience this truth in a dramatic way. Upon hearing the Law, Israel repents of her sins and rededicates herself to serving the Lord. This repentance clears her conscience, results in rich worship, and makes her eligible for the blessings of the Lord. It sets her free! Repentance will do the same for you.
(Quiet Walk)
ENTERING THE KINGDOM
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
Revelation 21:6
We must realize that Christ brings us into His kingdom by dying for us, by bearing our sins in His own body, by being made the Lamb of God for us; that He bears our punishment, and that He is our only way of deliverance and salvation. You believe it and you say:
Just as I am, without one plea
but that Thy blood was shed for me,
and that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.
Charlotte Elliott
In other words, it means that you…cast yourself entirely into His hands….And if you do these things, the kingdom of God is within you. You have entered the kingdom, and the kingdom has entered you; you see that He is everything to you, and you are nothing. You see that Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” “He is the lily of the valley: the bright and morning star. He is the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.”
Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find.
Charles Wesley
You just give yourself to Him and acknowledge Him as the Son of God and your personal Savior….Your one desire is to know Him, to be near Him, and to follow Him in order that you may be in glory with Him in the final regeneration when He comes at the end of time.
A Thought to Ponder: Your one desire is to know Him.
(From The Kingdom of God, pp. 66-67, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Rain and the Word
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)
In these familiar verses, there is a beautiful anticipation and spiritual application of the so-called “hydrologic cycle” of the science of hydrogeology. The rain and snow fall from the heavens and eventually return there (via the marvelous process of river and groundwater runoff to the oceans), then later evaporation by solar radiation and translation inland high in the sky by the world’s great wind circuits, finally to fall again as rain and snow on the thirsty land, beginning the cycle once more.
But they do not return until they first have accomplished their work of watering the earth, providing and renewing the world’s water and food supplies to maintain its life.
Analogously, God’s Word goes forth from heaven via His revealed Scriptures and their distribution and proclamation by His disciples. It does not return void, for it accomplishes God’s spiritual work on Earth. But it does return, for it is “for ever…settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).
The fruitful spreading of God’s Word is presented in many other Scriptures. For example: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.…In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good” (Ecclesiastes 11:1, 6).Thus, as we sow and water the seed—which is the Word of God—we have God’s divine promise that it will accomplish that which He pleases.
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
The Mission of the Church Is to Reach People for Christ
When Christ set forth the mission of the church I Matthew 28:19-20, and then repeated it in Acts 1: 7-8, he made it clear that the church exists to proclaim the gospel of Christ to a spiritually dead world. Evangelism must be integrated into all aspects of the ministry of the church so that the church is faithfully and effectively communicating the gospel of Christs, inviting others to enter into a personal relationship with HIM. This happens when we are communicating the gospel to others in such a way that the person has a better understanding of what it means to accept Christ as their Savior. Without continually refocusing the church on its evangelistic mission, the church can become inwardly focused so that the congregation serves itself and no longer engages the community in which it lives.
(p 170-171, Developing Leaders for the Small Church by Glenn C. Daman)
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