More Than Words....
www.moravian.org/daily_texts/
Readings for Today:
Psalm 19:1-6
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm19&version=NIV
Genesis: 34
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis34&version=NIV
Matthew 12:33-45
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew12&version=NIV
Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
This is a psalm about the glory of Creation. It portrays Creation as if it has a personality and has human qualities. And indeed the heavens declare, or make known the glory of God. They are an ongoing testimony to how great God is. All of Creation speaks of God’s glory and how powerful He is. As the song “How Great Thou Art” sings,
“O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
See this link to see the incredible history of this tune. It was written by a Swede in 1885 originally as a poem, and then popularized by George Beverly Shea in the Billy Graham Crusades in the 50’s. It was our grandparent’s favorite hymn of the age!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Great_Thou_Art_%28hymn%29#English_translations
Genesis 34:24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where[c] their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” 31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
While Shechem’s rape of Dinah is deplorable, what Simeon and Levi do in exacting revenge is even more deplorable. Using the guise of circumcision as a means of intermingling with Hamor’s family, the boys carry out a ruthless and godless attack. Though they are right in being furious with the rape of their sister, their response in taking judgment into their own hands, which alone belongs to God, is obviously wrong. In addition, the retribution they exact is far in excess of the violence against their sister.
Jacob’s recognizes that this is not of God, and chastises his sons. Unfortunately much like their Father’s deceit, this act of violence will also come back to haunt the sons of Jacob for generations to come.
Matthew 12:43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
This is another one of those confusing passages. But if we put into the context of what we know from other passage in the bible, we can interpret it soundly. We know we are created in God’s image, and that is good. But we also know with the Fall that we are born of Adam and inherit a sinful nature. The sinful nature is ruled by sin, death and the power of the devil. When a person is born again, they are born of the Spirit, and the Spirit takes residency of a person’s entire being. They are heirs with Christ of everything that is God’s and have his power and authority to live by.
We are spiritual beings, and as Paul says in Ephesians 6, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of this present darkness. As a believer, the deposit of the Holy Spirit has been given to you, and you are completely God’s property. While Satan and his demons can try to afflict you, they can never take back ownership of one of God’s children. Jesus has bought us with a price, his own precious blood. We are covenant children of God, and we are one with Him and with Christ. If we are in Christ, we don’t have to worry about the powers of darkness, just be aware of them and realize that greater He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
But for an unbeliever, they are susceptible to the spiritual powers of darkness. While they are made in God’s image and loved by God, they are vulnerable to spiritual attack and occupation by enemy forces. When we see horrible acts of violence done through people who are made in God’s image, we see the power of evil at work. That is why it is important to pray and be aware of the evil one’s schemes. It is why we pray in the prayer Jesus taught us, “Deliver us from the evil one.” We have been delivered from him in we are in Christ, yet we will battle him until Jesus returns, and his destination in hell is sealed forever. It also gives us more impetus to pray for lost people that they can become part of God’s eternal family as well.
Lord God, as you gather your children from the ends of the earth, may we remain faithful. We know our final place will be with you in your heavenly kingdom! Amen.
Readings for Today:
Psalm 19:1-6
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm19&version=NIV
Genesis: 34
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis34&version=NIV
Matthew 12:33-45
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew12&version=NIV
Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
This is a psalm about the glory of Creation. It portrays Creation as if it has a personality and has human qualities. And indeed the heavens declare, or make known the glory of God. They are an ongoing testimony to how great God is. All of Creation speaks of God’s glory and how powerful He is. As the song “How Great Thou Art” sings,
“O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
See this link to see the incredible history of this tune. It was written by a Swede in 1885 originally as a poem, and then popularized by George Beverly Shea in the Billy Graham Crusades in the 50’s. It was our grandparent’s favorite hymn of the age!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Great_Thou_Art_%28hymn%29#English_translations
Genesis 34:24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where[c] their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” 31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
While Shechem’s rape of Dinah is deplorable, what Simeon and Levi do in exacting revenge is even more deplorable. Using the guise of circumcision as a means of intermingling with Hamor’s family, the boys carry out a ruthless and godless attack. Though they are right in being furious with the rape of their sister, their response in taking judgment into their own hands, which alone belongs to God, is obviously wrong. In addition, the retribution they exact is far in excess of the violence against their sister.
Jacob’s recognizes that this is not of God, and chastises his sons. Unfortunately much like their Father’s deceit, this act of violence will also come back to haunt the sons of Jacob for generations to come.
Matthew 12:43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
This is another one of those confusing passages. But if we put into the context of what we know from other passage in the bible, we can interpret it soundly. We know we are created in God’s image, and that is good. But we also know with the Fall that we are born of Adam and inherit a sinful nature. The sinful nature is ruled by sin, death and the power of the devil. When a person is born again, they are born of the Spirit, and the Spirit takes residency of a person’s entire being. They are heirs with Christ of everything that is God’s and have his power and authority to live by.
We are spiritual beings, and as Paul says in Ephesians 6, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of this present darkness. As a believer, the deposit of the Holy Spirit has been given to you, and you are completely God’s property. While Satan and his demons can try to afflict you, they can never take back ownership of one of God’s children. Jesus has bought us with a price, his own precious blood. We are covenant children of God, and we are one with Him and with Christ. If we are in Christ, we don’t have to worry about the powers of darkness, just be aware of them and realize that greater He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
But for an unbeliever, they are susceptible to the spiritual powers of darkness. While they are made in God’s image and loved by God, they are vulnerable to spiritual attack and occupation by enemy forces. When we see horrible acts of violence done through people who are made in God’s image, we see the power of evil at work. That is why it is important to pray and be aware of the evil one’s schemes. It is why we pray in the prayer Jesus taught us, “Deliver us from the evil one.” We have been delivered from him in we are in Christ, yet we will battle him until Jesus returns, and his destination in hell is sealed forever. It also gives us more impetus to pray for lost people that they can become part of God’s eternal family as well.
Lord God, as you gather your children from the ends of the earth, may we remain faithful. We know our final place will be with you in your heavenly kingdom! Amen.
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