Judges 4
After Ehud’s death Israel did evil in sight of LORDverses 1-2
And the children of Israel again did EVIL in the sight of the LORD
when Ehud was dead
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin – king of Canaan
that reigned in Hazor
The captain of whose host was Sisera
which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles
Israel cried out to the LORDverse 3
And the children of Israel CRIED to the LORD
for he had nine hundred chariots of iron
and twenty years he mightily
oppressed the children of Israel
Prophetess Deborah tells Barak of the LORD’S planverses 4-7
And Deborah – a prophetess – the wife of Lapidoth
she JUDGED Israel at that time
And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah
between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim
and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment
And she sent and called Barak – the son of Abinoam
out of Kedesh-naphtail and said to him
Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded
saying
Go and draw toward mount Tabor
and take with thee ten thousand men
of the children of Naphtali
and of the children of Zebulun?
And I will draw to you to the river Kishon Sisera
the captain of Jabin’s army
with his chariots and his multitude
And I will deliver him into you hand
Barak wants Deborah to go with him to battleverse 8
Barak said unto her
IF you will go with me
THEN I will go
BUT IF you will not go with me
THEN I will not go
Barak calls troops togetherverses 9-10
She said
I will surely go with you notwithstanding the journey
that you take shall not be for your honor
FOR the LORD shall sell Sisera
into the hand of a woman
And Deborah arose and went
with Barak to Kedesh
And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh
and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet
and Deborah went up with him
Heber the Keniteverse 11
NOW Heber the Kenite which was of the children of Hobab
the father-in-law of Moses
had severed himself from the Kenites
and pitched his tent to the plain of Zaanaim
which is by Kedesh
Sisera gathered troops and chariots against Barakverses 12-13
And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to
mount Tabor
And Sisera gathered together all his chariots
even nine hundred chariots of iron
and all the people that were with him
from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon
Barak given victory by the LORDverses 14-16
And Deborah
said to Barak
Up – For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera
into your hand IS not the LORD gone out before you?
So Barak went down from mount Tabor and ten thousand men
after him and the LORD discomfited Sisera
and all his chariots – and all his host
with the edge of the sword before Barak
So that Sisera lighted down off his chariot
and fled away on his feet
but Barak pursued after the chariots
and after the host
to Harosheth of the Gentiles
and the host of Sisera fell on the edge of the sword
and there was not a man left
Jael – wife of Heberverses 17-21
Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael
the wife of Heber the Kenite
for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor
and the house of Heber the Kenite
And Jael went out to meet Sisera
and said to him
Turn in – my lord – turn in to me
Fear not
And when he had turned in to her into the tent
she covered him with a mantle
And he said to her
Give me – I pray you – a little water to drink
for I am thirsty
And she opened a bottle of milk – and gave him drink
and covered him
Again he said to her
Stand in the door of the tent
and it shall be when any man does come
and inquire of you and say
Is there any man here?
that you shall say
No
Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent
and took an hammer in her hand
and went softly to him
and smote the nail into his temples
and fastened it into the ground
for he was fast asleep and weary
So he died
Barak comes to Jael’s tentverse 22
And – behold – as Barak pursued Sisera
Jael came out to meet him
and said to him
Come – and I will show you the man
whom you seek
And when he came into her tent
behold – Sisera lay dead
and the nail was in his temples
Israel defeated Jabinverses 23-24
So God subdued on that day Jabin
the king of Canaan before the children of Israel
And the hand of the children of Israel prospered
and prevailed against Jabin – the king of Canaan
until they had destroyed Jabin – king of Canaan
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. (5869 “sight” [ayin] means eye, before the eyes, in the eyes, look, presence, understanding, face, or of mental and spiritual faculties)
DEVOTION: Humans have a problem. They think that there is NO GOD. They think that this God if he exists can’t see all the things that we are doing. They think HE has a limited ability to see everyone doing what they are doing.
When we learn that God is omniscient it is hard for us to understand. We think that there has to be a limit. This is a lie that the enemy wants us to believe. Our enemy is the Devil who is real as well.
The children of Israel thought they could get away with evil because they thought they could hide from the LORD. The judge had just died that gave them victory over the enemy but they still went back to their old ways. They thought that no one would care, not even God, how they acted.
They were wrong and we are wrong if we think that God doesn’t care how any human being acts in their relationship to HIM. All humans have a choice as to whether they will be a follower of the LORD or not.
The Bible tells us that HE wants us to understand the truth of the Gospel and now that we have to follow HIM if we want eternal life in heaven. If we choose not to follow HIM, we will spend eternity in hell. There is no third option.
Christians need to be genuine in their relationship with the LORD. We know when we are doing evil. We know that the LORD can see us at all times.
Are we counting on the forgiveness of the LORD instead of being genuinely concerned with our actions in HIS site? HE is forgiving but HE is also a just God who will allow things in our lives to get our attention.
CHALLENGE: What is your relation to the LORD? Are you honestly trying to do what is good in HIS sight or satisfied with doing evil and hoping HE won’t judge you?
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 3 And the children of Israel cried to the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. (6817 “cried” [tsa’aq] means call together, cry for help, to make outcry, to cry out with an appeal for something or some action, or summoned)
DEVOTION: Throughout the book of Judges there was a solution to the captivity the children of Israel faced. It was simply to call on the name of the LORD. However, they didn’t want to call. They put up with twenty years of captivity because they were stubborn.
They were supposed to conquer the Promised Land but settled for living with their enemies and worshiping their false gods instead of doing what the LORD told them to do. They were looking for the easy life instead of a life committed to the LORD. The result being that they were always afraid of what was going to happen next.
We are the same way many times. We don’t want to admit we are wrong in the eyes of the LORD and so we wait until we can’t handle it anymore and then we call on the LORD for help.
Stubbornness is part of our old nature. Remember that we are lazy and rebellious in our old nature. We want what we want when we want it. So we wait a long time before we turn to the LORD for help.
Parents need to teach their children to turn to the LORD when they need help. They are not to count a human source for a solution. The LORD gives answers through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of a genuine believer.
The nation of Israel was one that didn’t want to trust the LORD first. It is in our human nature to look to ourselves for a solution to all our problems. Adam and Eve did it when they make clothes out of leaves.
CHALLENGE: Are you following their example? Are we waiting too long before we call on the name of the LORD?
: 14 And Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand: is not the LORD gone out before you? So Barak went down from mount Taber: and ten thousand men after him. (5414 “delivered” [nathan] means give, put, set, bestow upon, to surrender someone to another, present, appropriated, or conferred)
DEVOTION: One of the great truths about the working of God in the life of Israel is that HE made a promise and HE was going to keep HIS promise.
Deborah wanted Barak to lead the people but he refused unless she came with him. He was afraid. Deborah told him that he was not going to get the victory over Sisera because he was not willing to lead the people. The victory over him was going to come at the hands of a woman.
So we see that the LORD wants obedience and when it is not given HE doesn’t give the victory to the one who will not fight. We need to fight for the LORD.
Today we have many nations that don’t want to honor the LORD. America was founded on Christian principles. Many of our laws come right out of the Old Testament. This is changing. There is a movement to strike down anything that comes from the Bible.
If we as nation want to have victory over our enemies we need to honor the LORD. Once we start going in the wrong direction we will find that every man will do what is right in his own eyes just like the time of the judges in the Old Testament.
As individual believers we have to make sure that we are honoring the LORD with our actions even if no one else does in our nation. Our families are counting on us to set a good standard for them. Our churches need to have a good standard in them.
Are you willing to fight for your beliefs? Are you willing to serve in the LORD’S army?
CHALLENGE: Cowards are not what the LORD needs in leadership in our nation, churches and homes.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 20 Again he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man her? That you shall say, No. (7592 “inquire” [sha’al] means to ask, interrogate, consult, demand, request, ask intently, or to seek)
DEVOTION: Here is a heathen general asking Jael to lie. He wants to not be caught by the army of Israel. He wants rest. He thinks she will protect him. He is wrong. He asks for water and she gives him milk.
He wanted her to guard the entrance of the tent so he could sleep. He was tired of running from the army of Israel. Little did he know that once he fell asleep, she would take a tent peg and drive it through his temple. Some of us don’t think a woman could do this but she did. She did and she received the honor for killing an enemy of Israel.
War is something that we sometimes wonder about regarding those who are believers. However, throughout the Bible we find that war was common because rebellion was common. The LORD promised Israel that if they were faithful to HIM, HE would be faithful to them. There were many times in the history of Israel when they were not faithful to HIM. They were slow learners. We are slow learners.
Lying is a sin for those who follow the LORD. The heathen didn’t have any problems lying every chance they get. Our goal in life is to work on not lying. It sometimes doesn’t happen but we should confess it to the LORD and try again to live the way the LORD wants us to live.
CHALLENGE: One of our standards for life should be that we are not lying to ourselves or God or others. It is not always easy to tell the truth but that is what the LORD wants of us.
: 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. (7186 “prevailed” [qasheh] means harder, obstinate, difficult, rough, stiff, cruel or churlish)
DEVOTION: There continues to be the cycle throughout the book of Judges. The cycle continues throughout the life of each judge at this time in Israel: a cycle of sin, defeat, prayer, deliverance, sin. Now we have the death of Ehud and the LORD selling Israel into the hands of Jabin the king of Canaan because of the sin of the children of Israel.
The oppression of Israel was great and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD for deliverance. The LORD gave instructions through the prophetess Deborah to contact Barak to lead an army against Jabin.
Barak wouldn’t consider it unless Deborah went with him. She agreed. They gathered an army to go against Jabin. Jabin’s general was Sisera. He came with nine hundred chariots and a great army.
The children of Israel didn’t give up on winning the victory with the LORD on their side. The two tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun went with Barak against the army of Jabin and won the victory. They pressed the army of Jabin to the point of complete defeat. It got to the point that Jabin was destroyed as a king.
The children of Israel won because they were obstinate and destroyed the enemy to the man. The LORD used a woman to help them have the victory. The LORD uses all those who are available and willing to be used of HIM.
Deborah told Barak because he was not willing to go alone that a woman would win the victory. Enter Jael, the wife of Heber, who was responsible for the death of Sisera.
Too often men are not willing to step up to the plate to serve the LORD. The LORD wants the men to be the leaders in the church. We have the command regarding the requirements for those in leadership in the church to be “the husband of one wife.”
The Pastor, Elder, Shepherd is to be a male. The Deacons are to be male. What is happening in our world is that the church is trying to be a politically correct instead of Biblically correct. What is happening in the church is that there are no men in leadership by choice. There are men but they choose not to lead.
Is it wrong for a woman to lead? NO! Is a woman to be in the position of pastor or deacon? What does the Bible say??? Are there other positions of leadership for women? YES!!
We can praise the LORD for victories in our battle against the world, flesh and devil. Christ wants us to have victory over our enemies. In order to have victory over the enemy, we can only do it when we obedient to HIS word. If we stop and do it our way, we will lose. God uses HIS people – men, woman and children to reach our world for Christ. Praise HIS name.
CHALLENGE: Are we pressing harder and harder to win a victory over the enemy in our personal lives? Are we pressing harder and harder to win a victory in our community? Obedience is the key to any victory.
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)
Children of Israel cried to the LORDverse 3
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 (Covenant keeper, Personal)verses 1-3, 6, 9, 14, 15
Sight of the LORDverse 1
God – Elohim (Creator)verses 6, 23
LORD God of Israelverse 6
I will deliververse 7
LORD has delivered verse 14
LORD discomfited Siseraverse 15
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)
Jabin king of Canaanverses 2, 3, 13, 23, 24
Nine hundred chariots of iron
Twenty years oppressed Israel
Sisera fled to tent of Jabinverse 17
Sisera – captain of Jabin’s hostverses 2, 7, 9, 12-22
Nine hundred chariot of iron
Defeated by hand of woman
Discomfited Sisera
All the host of Sisera killed
Heber the Kenite –father in law of Mosesverse 11
Harosheth of the Gentilesverse 16
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Evilverse 1
Lieverse 20
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Cried unto the LORDverse 3
Deliververses 7, 14
Prosperedverse 24
Prevailedverse 24
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Children of Israelverses 1, 3, 24
Deborah a prophetessverses 4-14
Judged
Sent for Barak
Barak -son of Abinoamverses 6, 8, 12, 14-16, 22
Wants Deborah to go with him
Take 10,000 of Naphtali and
Zebulun
Children of Naphtaliverses 6, 10
Children of Zebulunverses 6, 10
Heber the Keniteverse 11
Of children of Hobab
Father-in law of Moses
Mosesverse 11
Jael – wife of Heberverses 17-22
Gave milk instead of water
Nailed Sisera to ground
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Ehud is deadverse 1
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QUOTES regarding passage
8–10 In response to the challenge, Barak expressed his willingness to go, but only if Deborah accompanied him (v.8). Her presence as a prophetess would assure contact with the Lord, just as the presence of Moses and the ark of the covenant brought victory in battle (Num 10:35) while their absence meant defeat (Num 14:44). Barak’s lack of faith prompted Deborah to predict that the honor of killing Sisera would belong to a woman (v.9), namely Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite (see v.11). So Deborah went along, and her support helped Barak raise the necessary troops (v.10). They began the search for troops in Kedesh, Barak’s hometown. (Wolf, H. (1992). Judges. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 3, pp. 404–405). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
4:8–9. Regardless of his motivation, Barak’s conditional reply to Deborah (if you don’t go with me, I won’t go) was an unfitting response to a command from God. Perhaps Barak simply wanted to be assured of the divine presence in battle, represented by His prophetess-judge Deborah. It is noteworthy that Barak is listed among the heroes of faith (Heb. 11:32). Deborah agreed to go but said that Barak’s conditional response to the divine command (the way you are going about this) was the basis for withholding the honor of victory over Sisera from Barak (the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman). Barak no doubt thought she meant herself, but the statement was prophetic, anticipating the role of Jael (Jud. 4:21). (Lindsey, F. D. (1985). Judges. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 388). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
We aren’t told that Barak was a judge, which explains why he got his orders from Deborah, God’s appointed leader in the land. Barak was from Naphtali, one of the tribes that would send volunteers to the battlefield (v. 6). Like Moses before him (Ex. 3–4), and Gideon (Jdg. 6) and Jeremiah (Jer. 1) after him, Barak hesitated when told what God wanted him to do.
We know that “God’s commandments are God’s enablements” and that we should obey HIs will in spite of circumstances, feelings, or consequences. But we don’t always do it! Was Barak’s response an evidence of unbelief or a mark of humility? He didn’t accuse God of making a mistake; all he did was ask Deborah to go with him to the battle. Was that because she was a prophetess and he might need a word from the Lord? Or was it to help him enlist more volunteers for the army? The fact that Deborah agreed to accompany Barak suggests that his request wasn’t out of God’s will, although in granting it, God took the honor from the men and gave it to the women. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1994). Be available (pp. 35–36). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
9. Mark the unhesitating faith and courage of Deborah, and the rebuke to Barak’s timidity, “the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Jael, v. 22). For a similar use of a weak instrument, that the excellency of the power might be of God, compare the history of Gideon and his 300, David and his sling, Shamgar and his oxgoad, Samson and the jawbone of the ass. (See 1 Cor. 1:26–31.) Barak would probably think the woman must be Deborah. The prophecy was only explained by its fulfilment. Her presence as a prophetess would give a divine sanction to Barak’s attempt to raise the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. To Barak himself it would be a pledge of her truth and sincerity. She probably commissioned some chief to raise the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh (5:14, cp. Ps. 80:2), while she went with Barak and mustered Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar. (Barnes, A. (1879). Notes on the Old Testament: Exodus to Ruth. (F. C. Cook & J. M. Fuller, Eds.) (pp. 424–425). London: John Murray)
Ver. 9. And she said, I will surely go with thee, &c.] She made no hesitation about it, but agreed at once to go with him for his encouragement; perceiving some degree of weakness in him, and yet an hearty and sincere inclination to engage in the work proposed, and that this might be no hinderance, she readily assents to it: adding, notwithstanding the journey thou takest; the way or course he steered, the methods he took in insisting on it that she should go with him: shall not be for thine honour; as a general of an army, who is commonly solicitous to have the whole glory of an action: for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman; meaning either herself, for she being judge of Israel, and going along with him, would have the glory of the victory ascribed to her, as usually is to the principal person in the army; and so it would be said in future time, that the Lord delivered Sisera and his army, not into the hand of Barak, but into the hand of Deborah, whereby he would not have all the honour which otherwise he would have, if she went not with him; or else Jael, Heber’s wife, is meant, into whose hands Sisera did fall, and by whom he was slain; but this seems to have no connexion with Deborah’s going or not going with him, it did not depend upon that one way or another; unless it can be thought that thus it was ordered in Providence as a rebuke of his diffidence and weakness, that because he would not go without a woman, Sisera should fall not into his hands, but into the hands of a woman; and if so, this is a clear instance of Deborah’s having a spirit of prophecy, and of a prediction of a future contingent event: and Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh; that is, they went together from the palm-tree between Ramah and Beth-el in Mount Ephraim, to Kedesh in Mount Naphtali, in order to raise the 10,000 men that were to fight with Sisera. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, pp. 295–296). 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!!)
The Watchman Held Accountable
by John D. Morris, Ph.D.
“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: . . . When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning . . . the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” (Ezekiel 3:17-18)
Our text comprises part of Ezekiel’s commission as prophet to Judah. His function was compared to a watchman on the city walls whose duty was to warn the city of impending danger. Ezekiel was to warn the apostate people of Jerusalem of the coming invasion by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. God warned Ezekiel that if he refused to pass on whatever messages he received from God, he himself would be held accountable.
On the other hand, Ezekiel was not accountable for the response of the hearer. “Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness . . . he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul” (v. 19). He would also be requested to give similar injunctions and warnings to righteous men who had fallen into sin, but again he was not held accountable for their response (vv. 20-21).
A corresponding teaching is found in the New Testament. “Obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account” (Hebrews 13:17). Church leaders, we are told, will give an account before the Lord someday as to how those in their flock have fared. They will not be accountable for the response of others but are required to see to it that each person in their care clearly and lovingly understands the truth and the consequences of disobedience. This is a heavy responsibility!
Let each of us respond properly to the truth as presented by our church leaders, that they may minister with joy and not with grief. JDM
HOW IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED?
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16
What is meant by inspiration? When we say that the Bible is divinely inspired, what exactly do we mean? I start with a negative. We do not mean that certain portions of the Bible are inspired and that others are not. There are some people who think that. There are, they say, portions and particular statements and teachings, especially those concerned with the Lord Jesus Christ, that are inspired. But, they say, the historical books and various other sections are not inspired. Now that is not what we mean when we say that the Bible is divinely inspired.
Neither do we mean simply that the men who wrote the Bible were writing in an exalted or creative way. When a poet produced a masterpiece, you have often heard people say that the poet was “inspired.” But we do not mean that the writers of the books of the Bible were inspired in that way when they came to write these books. Others say they regard inspiration as just meaning that the ideas that were given to the writers were inspired. That is true, of course, but we mean much more than that. Neither does it mean that the books–the writings as such–are the product of human origin onto which the divine breath or afflatus has come.
So what do we mean? We mean that the Scriptures are a divine product breathed out by God. Inspired really means “God-breathed.” We mean that God breathed these messages into men and through them, and these Scriptures are the result of that divine action. We believe that they were produced by the creative breath of Almighty God. Put in a simpler form, we mean that everything we have in the Bible has been given by God to man.
A Thought to Ponder
The Scriptures are a divine product breathed out by God. (From God the Father, God the Son, pp. 23-24. By Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.)
Genesis 24
Isaac takes Rebekah as his wife.
INSIGHT
A steward is one who is commissioned to oversee the welfare and execute the affairs of another. The closer a steward is able to represent the mind of his superior, the better he fulfills his role. Therefore, when a steward is on assignment, ideally he has no personal mind or will; he strives to have the mind and will of his superior.
Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, was an excellent example of a faithful steward. His complete mindset was to represent the will of Abraham as faithfully as possible. As Christians, we are stewards of Christ, and as such, we are to strive to have the mind and will of Christ. In addition, we are always on assignment (1 Corinthians 6:20). By studying Eliezer, we can gain insight into how to be a more faithful steward of Christ. (Quiet Walk)
The winter night was cold when someone threw a large stone through a Jewish child’s bedroom window. A star of David had been displayed in the window, along with a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. In the child’s town of Billings, Montana, thousands of people—many of them believers in Jesus—responded to the hateful act with compassion. Choosing to identify with the hurt and fear of their Jewish neighbors, they pasted pictures of menorahs in their own windows.
As believers in Jesus, we too receive great compassion. Our Savior humbled Himself to live among us (John 1:14), identifying with us. On our behalf, He, “being in very nature God . . . made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). Then, feeling as we feel and weeping as we weep, He died on a cross, sacrificing His life to save ours.
Nothing we struggle with is beyond our Savior’s concern. If someone “throws rocks” at our lives, He comforts us. If life brings disappointments, He walks with us through despair. “Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar” (Psalm 138:6). In our troubles, He preserves us, stretching out His hand against both “the anger of [our] foes” (v. 7) and our own deepest fears. Thank You, God, for Your compassionate love. (By Patricia Raybon, Our Daily Bread)
THE WORD OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. 1 Peter 1:23
In order to do His work, the Spirit uses the Word of God. First, He reveals, through the Word, the great love of God to sinners in general: “God…for his great love wherewith he loved us…” (Ephesians 2:4) and so on.
Second, He presents and offers salvation in Christ; through His people, He states the facts about Christ. That is the business of preachers of the gospel. It is to give the record of the life, the death, the resurrection, and the resurrection appearances of our Lord. What is preaching? It is proclaiming these facts about Christ. Not only that—it is an explanation of the fact, the meaning of the facts, how these facts constitute salvation and are the cause, the means, of salvation. So in the preaching of the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, these facts and their interpretation are presented.
Then the Holy Spirit calls us to repentance. He calls everyone to repentance, all men and women everywhere, because of these facts, because of “that man whom he hath ordained,” by whom the whole world is going to be judged in righteousness (Acts 17:31).
And finally the Holy Spirit calls us to faith in Christ. Take again those words of Paul in his farewell message to the church at Ephesus. What did Paul testify? What did he preach? It was “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). He called men and women to faith in Christ in order that they might obtain forgiveness of sins and inherit eternal life. That was the way in which our Lord commissioned Paul on the road to Damascus. He said that He was going to send him to the people and to the Gentiles “to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).
A Thought to Ponder: The Spirit uses the Word of God.
(From God the Holy Spirit, pp. 51-52, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Full
“Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.” (Genesis 25:8)
With the words of our text, Abraham ended a life of faith having walked in such close fellowship with God that “he was called the Friend of God” (James 2:23). But when he died at 175 years old, his standing in the world from a human perspective might not seem to have warranted his nomadic life of sacrifice and faith. He had sojourned in the land given to him by covenant, but he had not taken possession of it in any real sense. Although he had gained a measure of worldly possessions (Genesis 13:2), he had evidently given up a stable and satisfying life of luxury among his people to follow God into the land of promise. Once there, his nephew, Lot, had deserted him, taking the fertile land as his own (13:10-11). Abraham had seen war (chapter 14), famine (12:10), compromise (12:13; 20:2), fighting between his two wives, and had not had children until his old age (chapters 16 and 21), had lived in poor relationship with his neighbors (chapter 20), and had eventually lost his dear wife, Sarah (23:2)
But when Abraham died, Scripture says he died completely satisfied, the literal meaning of the word “full” in our text (the words “of years” added by the translators). He had learned to measure time by eternity, to weigh the value of earthly things by the Spirit. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). He had “believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
The fullness of Abraham was that of a wealth that death could not touch. The seeming fullness of those who walk by sight, and not by faith, is emptied in death. Men and women of faith carry their fullness with them. When the time comes, may we all die as Abraham died—full. (JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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