Psalms 75

WEEK  7                                              Psalms 75

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

It will happen in God's time, not ours (verse 2). This is a great reminder to those of us who get in a hurry. God will bring justice in His time, not ours. We often think we know best, but we don't as God tried to teach Job. We only understand a small portion of the world, yet we think we know when things need to happen. We don't, God does. God will work it all out.

What is our job as we wait? To do right and to speak right.

Psa 75:1-10
(1)  To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
(2)  When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
(3)  The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
(4)  I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
(5)  Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
(6)  For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
(7)  But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
(8)  For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
(9)  But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
(10)  All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Judges 18

WEEK  7                                                 Judges 18

TUESDAY  Reflections

Up until this time the Tribe of Dan hadn't taken the inheritance God had given them. There was no central leader and this chapter describes how the tribe of Dan took an inheritance without God's help. Oh yes, they inquired of a priest but this priest was serving an idol an not the God of Israel. Thou the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh, after they got a victory they took the priest and the graven image he served and set it up to worship.

What blows my mind is thou the Levite is serving an idol, he tells the Danites that the covenant God of Israel (the word LORD)is with them. It is a sad, sad example of people who aren't following God but expecting His blessing. 

Jdg 18:1-31
(1)  In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
(2)  And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
(3)  When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
(4)  And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
(5)  And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
(6)  And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.
(7)  Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
(8)  And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
(9)  And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
(10)  When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
(11)  And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
(12)  And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
(13)  And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.
(14)  Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
(15)  And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
(16)  And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
(17)  And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
(18)  And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?
(19)  And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
(20)  And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
(21)  So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.
(22)  And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
(23)  And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
(24)  And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
(25)  And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
(26)  And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
(27)  And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
(28)  And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
(29)  And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
(30)  And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
(31)  And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 17

WEEK  7                                              Judges 17

MONDAY  Reflections

Chapter 17 and 18 tell how the tribe of Dan went astray. The interesting item here in chapter 17 is that even when these people made and worshipped idols, they expected God to bless them. The story starts with what I believe is a dysfunctional family.

A son steals his mother's silver. The mother curses the person who stole it which causes the son to return it. The mother on getting the silver returned, asks God's blessing on him. Yes, she doesn't correct him but asks God to bless him because he feared the curse. This just sounds weird to me. Then after getting her silver back she uses it to make an idol and gives it back to the thief. I mean her son. He then creates a place of worship for the idol.

Finally, the thief finds a Levite and conveniences him to be his priest, not to God but for the idol. What is so strange is this idol worshiper expects God to bless him because he has stole God's priest from God's work. 

This demonstrates when people go down the wrong path they can twist the truth to suit them. It demonstrates also the people didn't know the law of God, because if they did they wouldn't have expected God to bless these type of actions.

Jdg 17:1-13
(1)  And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
(2)  And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.
(3)  And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
(4)  Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.
(5)  And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
(6)  In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
(7)  And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
(8)  And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
(9)  And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
(10)  And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
(11)  And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.
(12)  And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
(13)  Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Jeremiah 16

WEEK 6                                              Jeremiah 16

SATURDAY  Reflections

DONE! Continued from chapter 15

NO happiness for Israel Jer. 16:1-9

Why God is Done

Jer. 16:10-13

God doesn’t take sin Lightly

YOU WILL BE CAUGHT Jer. 16:16-18

Matthew 16:26-27  “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”

Jude 1:14-15 “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones o judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

YET, there is hope.

Jer. 16:14-15; God is going to create a new reality

17:5-8; 33:14-16

Conclusion: God’s Finished – The Cross John 19:30

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

(notes from a message by  Rev. Samuel Padget)

Jer 16:1-21

(1)  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,

(2)  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.

(3)  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;

(4)  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

(5)  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

(6)  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

(7)  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

(8)  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

(9)  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

(10)  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

(11)  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

(12)  And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

(13)  Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

(14)  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

(15)  But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

(16)  Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

(17)  For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

(18)  And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

(19)  O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

(20)  Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

(21)  Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash

Ruth 2

WEEK 6                                                        Ruth 2

FRIDAY  Reflections

God had ordered the children of Israel to leave a portion of the harvest in the field (Leviticus 23:22) for the foreigner and the poor. This was God's method of giving a hand up as it were for the less fortunate in a tribal society. It provides sustenance and it provides self-estimate as one wasn't being given a handout but a job so one could provide for themselves.

Ruth chooses to go and do this hard work in order to provide for herself and her mother-in-law. This again demonstrates the character of Ruth. She volunteers to go out and then she works hard for picking up the what was left behind would have been even harder than just harvesting. Ruth demonstrates the work ethic of the woman of virtue found in Proverbs 31.

Boaz is rich but he isn't corrupt. He is a person of virtue like Ruth. He recognizes what Ruth has done in leaving her country and moving to an alien and perhaps hostile area to take care of her mother-in-law. He on recognizing her hard work provides protection and some subtle provision for her.

Boaz's provision was done in such a way (tell the harvesters to leave some stalks behind) as to give help without announcing it. His solution reminds me of Jesus command to not let your giving to be done in public (Matthew 6:3-4).    

This chapter gives us a fuller appreciation for two of the main characters in this narrative. What do you admire about these two people? 



Rth 2:1-23
(1)  And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
(2)  And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
(3)  And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
(4)  And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
(5)  Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
(6)  And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:
(7)  And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
(8)  Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
(9)  Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
(10)  Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
(11)  And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
(12)  The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
(13)  Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
(14)  And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
(15)  And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
(16)  And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
(17)  So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
(18)  And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
(19)  And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
(20)  And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
(21)  And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
(22)  And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
(23)  So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

Photo by Carina Brewer on Unsplash