July 12 Don't Listen to Your wife!

  

July 12

Don’t Listen to Your Wife

Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:

Don’t listen to your wife? What! That sounds like a recipe for disaster. A man that has been married for a while has learned that ignoring his wife is bad advice. No, it’s worse than just bad advice, it is terrible advice. Don’t even go there.

          Then why the title “Don’t Listen to Your Wife”? The answer is because it is such an important, essential truth for both men and women to learn. How can it be terrible advice and an essential truth at the same time? Some examples may help us unravel this seeming contradiction.

          In Genesis God gave Adam some instructions.

Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:

for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

          Where was Eve when that commandment was given? The next verse answers that question.

Ge 2:18 ¶ And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone;

 I will make him an help meet for him.

Eve wasn’t there because she doesn’t arrive on the scene until verse 21. It seems likely that Adam told her about not eating from the forbidden tree. He may have emphasized the warning by telling her to not even touch it. That was what she understood God had said when she answered the serpent.

Ge 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

  "You won't die!" was all she needed to hear. 

Ge 3:6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 We know the events. The serpent lied to her, she believed the serpent, ignoring what Adam had told her and ate the forbidden fruit.

The New Testament brands them both as transgressors.  In Romans 5:14 “…Adams Transgression…” and in 1st Timothy we find,

1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived,

but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

If Adam was not deceived why did he eat of the fruit?

Gen 3:6…she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

“Adam, this fruit is really good. You should take a bite.”

“Yes dear” and with that he listened to his wife instead of what God had told him.  He should not have listened to his wife.

In Genesis 16 we find another time a man should not have listened to his wife. In the previous chapter Abram was concerned he did not have a son to inherit the wealth. So in chapter 16 we find his wife Sarah has figured out a solution.

Ge 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid;

 it may be that I may obtain children by her. …

Hind sight is 20/20.  It was a bad idea. In Genesis 15:4 Abram had been told by God that he (Abram) would father an heir to his estate, but how that was to be done was not revealed until chapter 21. Meanwhile Abram decided to listen to what his wife had said. 

Gen 16:2….And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

14 years later Sarai gave birth to Isaac, the Son God wanted to bless. It is a sad story to see Abraham sending the bondwoman and his 14 year old son away into the wilderness.

          The final portion of scripture we will consider is of a righteous man who refused to listen to his wife. Her advice to her husband was

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him,

Dost thou still retain thine integrity? 

curse God, and die.

Job did not listen to his wife. Instead he explained why her advice was short sighted and narrowly focused. We shouldn’t be too hard on his wife. All ten of her children had died in a windstorm, her wealthy husband was now broke, and they had lost standing in the community. Perhaps she reasoned if Job cursed God he would be killed and put out of his misery.

What is the lesson for us today? In spite of the title men should listen to their wives. Wives are a source of blessing.

Pr 18:22 ¶ Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing,

 and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

Are their times when men should not listen to their wife? Yes. Three circumstances come to mind when a man should not listen to his wife.

         First, Obviously if a wife advises anything that is contrary to scripture or would compromise the integrity of the family the husband has an obligation to explain why he cannot, will not, do what she wants him to do.

      Secondly, when a man senses God wants him to do something and the wife is opposed. Here the opposition of the wife is a warning sign. Usually when God calls a man He also calls the wife, as when couples both feel the call to the mission field. That doesn’t mean if the wife opposes something the husband feels called to do that he should ignore her. It just means he needs to redouble his efforts to determine if what he feels is really a calling from the Lord and/or he should wait for God to speak to him or his wife. 

Lastly a man may be going through the fires of affliction; health, wealth, integrity, whatever,  may be under attack.  The wife in an effort to end the affliction may give what she thinks is good advice. She may not realize that when God puts a person in the furnace of affliction he provides grace to endure. But the wife does not get grace for the trials of her husband. Such was the case with Job’s wife. In those situations we should remember how Job understood his situation. He saw the hand of God working. He didn’t know why or to what end but his faith never wavered.  

   The meditation for today is for men to realize their wives are a blessing and were given as a help mate. Women should recognize that when men are under affliction that God will care for them, provide them grace for the burden, and teach them how to be the spiritual leader of the house. Job had it just right. We should meditate on his marvelous response to affliction.

Job 23:10 But he knoweth 

the way that I take:

when he hath tried me,

I shall come forth as gold.

O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

---Words and music by Ron Hamilton

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April 12 The Greater Light

April 12

The Greater Light

Ge 1:16 And God made two great lights;

the greater light to rule the day,…

Springtime brings a renewed love of sunshine. There is little else as pleasant as taking a spring walk in warm sunshine. Perhaps it is proof that winter is finally over and we can once again enjoy being outside without bundling up in heavy coats and trudging through snow. One of our northern states (Minnesota ?) says there is no such thing as bad weather, just inadequate clothing. But I will take sweet sunny spring time over snow drifts and howling winds anytime.

Our meditation for today is to think of the sun and all the benefits we get from “the greater light” that God provides for us.

It does not require an advanced degree in astrophysics to understand how beneficial the sun is. Obviously it provides light so we can see during the daytime and heat to warm the earth. Plants need it for photosynthesis, the ability to transform sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. This complex process is mastered by the simplest green weed yet is beyond the capabilities of our greatest scientific minds.

In humans the absence of sun can cause Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) commonly known as cabin fever. Just having sunshine on our heads can alter our brain chemistry to reduce depression and give us a sense of wellbeing. We also get vitamin D2 from the sun.

Our clocks, and calendars are all based on the sun and the time it takes the earth to revolve around it.

Nearly every form of energy we use, electricity, gasoline, hydroelectric, wind, muscle, horses, coal, and wood, comes from the sun. For example hydroelectric energy comes from water flowing down rivers, which come from rain which comes from the sun evaporating water that form clouds and then rain. There are some exceptions such as geothermal and nuclear, but nearly everything else comes from the sun. 

We are dependent on the sun for the air we breathe because plants give off oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. We need the sun for the food we eat because it requires sunlight to grow plants. Without plants for feed we would have no animals to eat.  We need the sun to heat our homes because gas, oil, and coal were once plants and/or animals that relied on the sun. We need the sun for our clothing that is made from cotton, linen and wool. Even synthetic fabrics are made from chemicals that come from oil or coal.

Stop and think of the complexities in this world and how so much is dependent on the sun. All these intertwined process that are powered by the sun are too well designed to have happened by chance. The world may grudgingly admit it was intelligent design but we know it was our heavenly father that set it all in motion.   

 Ge 1:16 And God made two great lights; the

greater light to rule the day, and the

lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Matthew Henry has made some wonderful comments on the sun. If you have not read Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentaries you are missing a wonderful treat. He was an English preacher in the 1600’s and wrote in that old style, but his comments on Bible verses is sometimes priceless and worth wading through the old English way of writing. When speaking of the sun and moon he says;

“They must be for the distinction of times, of day and night, summer and winter,…”  

Then he speaks of more practical things, such as the sun providing light for walking,

Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve

hours in the day? If any man walk in the day,

he stumbleth not, because he seeth

the light of this world. 10 But if a man

 walk in the night, he stumbleth,

because there is no light in him.

and the light was given for working.

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him

that sent me, while it is day:

the night cometh,

when no man can work.

These lights do not shine for themselves but for our advantage. Matthew Henry amazed at our gracious God continues “Lord, what is man, that he should thus be regarded!”

Ps 8:3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

 

Finally Matthew Henry closes with a powerful admonition that we too often forget.

“How ungrateful and inexcusable are we, if, when God has set up these lights for us to work by, we sleep, or play, or trifle away the time of business, and neglect the great work we were sent into the world about! The lights of heaven are made to serve us, and they do it faithfully, and shine in their season, without fail: but we are set as lights in this world to serve God; and do we in like manner answer the end of our creation?  No, we do not, our light does not shine before God as his lights shine before us.

   We burn our Master's candles, but do not mind our Master's work.”

 

Meditate on that for a while!

 

Mt 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are

in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,

and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

April 11 Just a Coincidence

April 11

Just a Coincidence

Ac 16:30 And brought them out, and said,

Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

     When they found her she was dead. She had died next to the dry bed of a little stream where she often came to get a drink. It had been a long hot dry summer, and now Bessie their milk cow was dead. Farmers were in danger of losing their crops unless there was some rain, and soon. The little farming community was suffering with no relief in sight.

Finally they decided to join together at their country church and have an old fashioned prayer meeting. They would pray for rain. But unfortunately they were like many people today and only one saintly old woman had brought an umbrella.

Today in our fast paced high tech culture we seldom depend on God for a miracle. So we often miss the miracles that God sends our way. But that was not the case in the 16^th chapter of Acts. Paul and Silas had driven a demon out of a girl. The owners of the girl hauled Paul and Silas to the magistrates and complained about their teaching.

Ac 16:19 And when her masters saw that the hope of

their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas,

and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

The authorities beat them and threw them in jail.

Ac 16:23 And when they had laid many stripes

upon them, they cast them into prison,

charging the jailor to keep them safely:

So the jailor put them into the innermost part of the prison and for good measure locked their feet in stocks.

We are familiar with this story. They were singing at midnight, loud enough for the other prisoners to hear them, an earthquake shook all the doors to the cells open and loosened everyone’s restraints. The earthquake woke the jailor who saw the doors were opened and would have killed himself but Paul hollered “don’t hurt yourself, we are all here.” And when the jailor came in and saw they were still there he then asked "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

Afterwards the jailor cleaned their wounds and took them to his house for a meal. He had witnessed a miracle and recognized it was from God.

I once heard an evangelist tell the story of three generations. Gramma and Grampa were God fearing, Bible reading dedicated Christians. They had experienced several miracles in their lives and God was a very real part of their lives.

They took their children to church and taught them Bible stories and impressed on them the need to be faithful Christians. They told their children all about the miracles God had used to supply their needs.

When the children were grown and married they attended church like they had been raised. But they didn’t see any miracles in their lives. They were what you might call lukewarm Christians. They attended church and did religious things like they had been taught, but it was all for appearance sake.

When they had kids they struggled to make their kids go to church. the kids heard the stories about the miracles God had performed for their grandparents. But they didn’t see any miracles in their home when they were growing up. As the became young adults they still did not see any miracles. What they saw was their parents going through the motions of Christianity and decided it was all phony religious stuff and they weren’t interested in pretending to be religious. They became rebellious toward church related rules and practices. They had seen no miracles and had grown up in a house without miracles.

The purpose of that story is to emphasize the need for every generation to have their own miracles. When the jailor experienced a miracle it changed his whole life and the life of his family.

But what about today? Does God still perform miracles? I can tell you from personal experience that God is still in the miracle business. There have been at least 3 very specific events in my life which were the results of God opening doors that were closed to me. No, it was not a coincidence or good luck that something happened. In one instance I had tried every way I knew for years to do something. When I told God I had given up, within a couple months the doors were opened and what I had wanted fell on me with little effort on my part.

Another time when my wife and I were in college and money was tight, God arranged events so the college had to violate their own rules and give us both a scholarship. We knew the college rules and had not even considered what God provided for us. There are others, many others, but those were “big” miracles for us.

The meditation for today is to pause and think of the miracles God has given you. No, not just coincidences that happened but miracles that cannot be explained any other way than to realize they were from your heavenly Father. If you cannot think of a single time when God did something for you it is either because you weren’t paying attention, and missed what He had done for you, or perhaps you never had any miracles in your life. Either way you have some spiritual needs you might want to work on.  

May we all be attentive to what God is doing in our lives, recognize it is from Him, and respond according to His perfect will, as instructed in Romans 12:1-2.

Just imagine how powerful our witness and our churches would be if we all recognized the God given miracles in our lives. May it be so with both you and me.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible

to please him:for he that cometh to God

must believe that he is, and that he is a

rewarder of them that diligently seek him.   

Jan 15 Hard Questions Women Ask

Jan 15

Hard Questions Women Ask

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love,...

He was an eyewitness and now was being called on for his testimony. He understood the question but did not answer. His mind raced as he considered the repercussion of his answer. He could not lie but feared to tell the truth.

It was an advertisement I saw during which Honest Abe Lincoln was being questioned by his chubby wife. The question she had asked was “Does this dress make me look fat?” Watching Honest Abe struggle with how to answer was hilarious. Most men have had a similar experience.

In polite society we are confronted with times where flattery is substituted for the unflattering truth. We may meet an old friend we have not seen in years. What we see is thinned hair that has turned gray, wrinkles, a few extra pounds, maybe a hearing aid, but the same welcome smile. Our response is “Hey you look great!” and they do because it is so great to see them again.  

The verse for our meditation today is not talking about telling people the naked truth, but doing it in love. This verse does not require you to tell your wife “Yes, that dress makes you look fat, but I still love you”.

Ok, what does this verse teach? First we have to look at the context. What is being talked about? How are we to respond? The verse starts with “But” which alerts us that it is a response to what has gone on before. The previous verse is about not being children who are not mature enough to respond to cults and false doctrine.     

A simple outline of Ephesians is to view the first three chapters as doctrinal (talk) and the last three as practice. (walk) The fourth chapter begins the “walk “ section by pointing out there is one Lord and one faith. Then the different gifts are listed. One faith but differing gifts. All of that points to verse 14 that says;

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children,

 tossed to and fro,

and carried about with every wind of doctrine,

by the sleight of men,

and cunning craftiness,

whereby they lie in wait to deceive;  

The verse above is formatted to emphasize the individual parts. What does it mean when it says we should “be no more children”? It means we should be growing to maturity. We should be so grounded in the Scriptures that we have a solid foundation of Biblical knowledge. We should know our Bible well enough to not be tossed to and fro by silliness that pretends to be spiritual. We should be able to speak the truth to combat false teachings, but do it in a loving manner. Our own studies should guard us against doctrines that blow like the wind, this way and that. Cults, false missionaries, and bad preachers may want us to agree with their twisted ideas about how to please God. They can be very convincing because they resort to crafty ways of talking and have learned ways to confuse and confound the uninformed Christian. Their goal is to deceive you into accepting the same lie they believe.

Then we come to our verse for today.

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Here we find a summary of what has gone on before. Growing up, becoming mature, learning how to live a Christ like way of living, and doing it in truth and love.

Wiersbe, in his Exposition Commentary on this verse said

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy”. 

The remainder of the chapter talks about not walking as other Gentiles walk. Their walk is described in a few verses and the chapter ends with specific instructions on how we should be walking.

The road to maturity starts with a rebirth. As a dear old saint used to say “You gotta get borned again”. Doctrine, knowledge, religious practice are all worthless without our receiving Christ and His love.  Corinthians 13 says if we can speak like an angel, understand all mysteries, know everything, have deep faith, sell everything we have and give it to the poor, and then give our bodies to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

The love of Christ is not gained by what we do, what we know or what we give. Salvation is seeing ourselves as sinners, understanding we cannot help ourselves and accepting Christ’s gift of salvation. The starting place of maturity is to be “borned again”

Once we are blood bought Christians our responsibility is to study the Scriptures.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.

That verse occurs in the middle of some verses that discuss not striving over words or listening to vain babblings. It is a reminder that we should become mature in the scriptures. Maturity involves more than head knowledge. Little children may know they should share toys, but may not always do it. So with adults. So how mature are we anyway. If we scan through the last ten verses of Ephesians four we may have a simple, if incomplete, list of some marks of maturity.

Don’t be like other gentiles (the world)

Stop lying

Speak the truth

Don’t get so angry you do sinful things
Don’t fall asleep planning revenge  (Wrath)
Don’t give the devil a foothold in your thoughts and actions.
Don’t steal when you are able to work.
Don’t be selfish, give to the poor.
Don’t let dirty talk come out of your mouth (corrupt = rotten, filthy)
Do talk to edify others by your graceful speech.
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit.
Put away bitterness
Put away wrath
Put away anger
Put away continued loud insistent demands (clamour)
Put away evil speaking
Put away badness, naughtiness, wickedness (malice)
Be kind
Be tenderhearted
Be forgiving to one another

     I suspect that you have found something in this list to meditate on. None of us are perfect, which means there is always room for growth in both our talk and our walk. May God bless each of us as we endeavor to become more Christ like.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus:

 

Jan 14 - Memory Problems

Jan 14

Memory Problems

 Php 3:13 …forgetting those things which are behind,…

Where are they? They had to be here someplace. Think…think!  Where did you put them.

My platoon had just returned from our annual war games. They had lasted a month and were 400 miles from our barracks. Although I was just out of my teen years I had the common sense to know that during a month of sleeping in tents with mud floors I might lose my keys, again, like the previous year.  The keys went to my wall locker, foot locker and another unused wall locker. So I hid the keys somewhere in the barracks where no one would ever find them. It was a great plan and so well executed that I never did find those keys.   

 Our verse for today does not tell us how to improve our memory. It encourages us to improve our forgetter. My forgetter works pretty good already, but it could work better. That doesn’t mean my memory would improve, but rather my forgetter would forget even more things. That is what Paul is saying Christians should do. If you are like me, you may not remember people’s names, or why you went to the grocery store, or other things you need to remember. But chances are you still remember some uncomfortable moments when you were growing up. Or perhaps you have memories of a bad experience in a church, which may have happened years ago. You remember bad things, but can’t remember where you parked your car at the mall!

Paul could not know what injustices you’ve had. How someone said something untrue about you. How you were misunderstood and lost some friends because it. Some pastor may have done or not done something that irritated you. No one really understands how badly you were treated, so why does Paul tell you to “fo-get about it!”

None of us have suffered like Paul. Read 2 Cor 11:23-27. There we find a list of his sufferings.

40 lashes 5 times  -  Beaten with rods 3 times – stoned once and left for dead – Ship wrecked 3 times – once spent a day and a night floating in the ocean – and his travels put him in danger of robbers, Jews, heathens, cities, the wilderness, false brethren, and in addition to all that he had the daily care of all the churches. For most of us the problems in one church are enough, let alone the kind of churches Christ mentions in Rev chapter 3.

But in Phillipians he isn’t talking about all the bad things that happened to him. In the verses from Philippians 3:4-13 he is listing his many accomplishments. He was circumcised the 8^th day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew, educated enough to be a Pharisee, a zealous Jew that persecuted the early Christians, and blameless when it came to following Jewish laws. That kind of resume would get him a job in any synagogue. But he said they meant nothing to him now, nothing more than excrement.

Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss

for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Instead of looking back on all the bad things that happened or glorying in how wonderful his qualifications were he wanted to look ahead.

Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things

which are behind, and reaching forth unto

those things which are before,

His focus was on the future. That was because his goal was not to get even for past injustices. Nor did he want recognition for his great achievements. All he wanted was to be a faithful follower of Christ.

That is the reason Paul said to stop thinking about our past hurts and stop thinking we have arrived as one of the best Christians in our church. Both are like driving a car by staring into the rear view mirror. If we look at the mirror to continually be reminded of past hurts it may result in our spiritual injury. Likewise if we stare into the rear view mirror to admire how nice we look we are bound to have collisions with other people.  

Paul did not spend time focused on either past hurts or present glories. He was looking ahead. It would be good for us meditate on where we focus our attention and be sure we are looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

       Php 3:13 Brethren, …this one thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of

the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 

   

 

Jan 13 Home Made Sin

Jan 13

Home Made Sin

Judges 17:1-6

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel:

every man did that which was right in his own eyes

He came from somewhere deep in the mountains of Tennessee. I met him while in the Army. His dog tags said his first name was Smokey. His speech reflected the common sense wisdom of mountain folks and their way of speaking. When confronted with an especially stubborn person Smokey would say “He’s so stubborn he would argue with a sign post”.  The mental image of a guy arguing with a curve sign while  pointing in the opposite direction always made me smile.

One night the guys in the barracks asked him “How was your blind date, Smokey” his response has always amused me. He said “Man, she was uglier than homemade sin!”  Now I don’t know exactly what homemade sin is, but I understood what he meant.

Our verse for today is a little like Smokey’s answer. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes”.  That sounds like a good definition of “homemade sin” and an explanation of what is wrong with Christianity today.

The structure of our verse is itself instructive. Of the 11 words in the phrase we are considering, 8 of them are very positive and only 3 are somewhat negative. “Every man did that which was right in” is a wonderful statement. But the addition of  “his own eyes” turns the entire phrase into a recipe for disaster. So while the parts of the phase are 80% good the whole phase is 100% bad.

That may be an explanation of what has happened to our Bible believing New Testament churches in the United States. In their parts they are 80% or more good. But churches who do what is right in their own eyes or more correctly, what is right in the eyes of our modern culture may have good intentions but they have a bad foundation. It is easy and popular to say our church is a Bible based New Testament church. But talking and walking are two different things and may explain why the church is having a minimal impact on our culture.

That is what was happening in the book of Judges. When Joshua and his generation died a new generation rose up and began to do evil.

Jg 2:12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers…

Surrounding nations began to invade and conquer the tribes of Israel who eventually would cry unto the Lord for deliverance. God would send a judge to deliver them, but once delivered they would go back to idolatry and forget what God had done and would be enslaved again by other nations. It didn’t happen overnight, but over the years they repeated that same pattern. Sin, servitude, suffering, supplication and restoration. Often the good times lasted until the judge died, and then they would leave serving God and return to the idols of other nations. According to Leon Wood in “Distressing days of the Judges” the time of the Judges lasted about 340 years, roughly from Joshua to David. It is the dual story of men’s hearts being evil and God being faithful and patient.

The last chapters of Judges are a good example of how deeply the culture was saturated with ungodly thinking. For today we will meditate on Judges 17:1-6. Here we find an abundance of “Homemade sin.”

A man named Micah stole silver from his mother. She put a curse on whoever took it, which must have bothered Micah, because he returned the silver and admitted he had taken it. Instead of anger she blessed him. She was so happy with her good son she took about 20% of the silver, gave it to a the local foundry man, who melted it and made idols for her. She gave the idols to her son’s collection of idols in his home made “House of gods”. He made his son a priest to serve in his house of gods. Here is a fine example of homemade religion and homemade sin.

This family violated several of the ten commandments as well as other prohibitions from scripture. He coveted his mother’s silver. (#10 Thou shalt not covet) He stole the silver. (#7 Thou shalt not steal) Thus Micah did not honor his mother. (#4 Honor your father and mother)  He would have lied to his mother about who took the silver. (#8 Thou shalt not bear false witness) . He only admitted his crime when she placed a curse on the thief. His mother had graven images made from the silver she had dedicated to the LORD

Jdges 17:3…his mother said, I had wholly dedicated

the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son,

to make a graven image …

Her idea of worship was so messed up I don’t know what to say!

 He had an idol filled little ”home shrine”. But the proper place of worship should have been in Shiloh, where God had established His tabernacle. Needless to say it should not have been filled with idols.

Jg 18:31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Micah ordained his own son to be a priest.  But neither he nor his son were Levites. Micah was an Ephraimite.

Jg 17:1 ¶ And there was a man of

mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

   Warren Wiersbe commented on all their sins by saying “Breaking 7 of the 10 commandments without leaving home is quite an accomplishment.” Indeed this was homemade sin.

But the greatest evil they committed was mingling ungodly worship with their view of Jehovah. The mother’s response to learning her son was a thief was to bless him.

And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.

Micah's kind of home made religion was as messed up as his mother's. Micah hired a real Levite (Judges 17:10) to serve as priest in his homemade shrine and thought he had done Jehovah a favor. 

Jg 17:13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

For our meditation let us consider if the sins of that time are being repeated in our Christian homes.

In Micah’s family the child stole from parents, lied about it, when caught was not punished but blessed. His mother encouraged his idolatry by buying him expensive toys (idols). She was probably proud of her grandson when he was made a priest in their little home chapel. And all the time they expected God would bless them for their faithfulness.

It is obvious to us that Micah’s family had a corrupted, ungodly and wholly unacceptable form of worship. It is not so obvious to us today when we use worldly methods and ungodly philosophy in our worship and expect God to bless us. May God help us see ourselves as He sees us!

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

 

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

 

 

  

 

 

January 10 - Philistine Expedient

Jan 10

The Philistine Expedient

2Sa 6:3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart

 “Why are you doing that?”

When someone asks that question it is usually because they don’t understand why you are doing something. You may be involved with something that is outside the experience or knowledge of the person asking, such as the thousand questions children may ask.

Or the question may come from one who is more experienced or informed. When they see you are doing something that they know won’t work, or even worse, may lead to big problems they may ask “Why are you doing that?”

You may be annoyed with that question and ignore them. Or you might ask how they would do it. But the best response would be to ask yourself “Hmmm…What am I doing ….and why?”

The start of a new year is a good time to ask ourselves that question. “What am I doing?”  It is good to periodically review what we are doing, why we are doing it and if it works. A TV personality says it this way. “Keep doing what you’ve done and you’ll keep getting what you got!” 

That is exactly what David should have done before he moved the ark. If you recall the events of 1 Sam chapters 5-6 The Israelites had taken the ark to a battle, sort of like a good luck charm. The Philistines captured the ark, but it gave them so many problems they put it on a new cart pulled by cows and sent it back to the Israelites. Circumstances led to it being taken to the house of Abinadab, where it sat for 20 years.

David decided it was time to go get the ark and bring it to Jerusalem. He gathered 30,000 chosen men and headed up to Abinadab’s house. When they loaded the ark on a new cart pulled by oxen and headed down the road David and the people who came with him all started playing their musical instruments. It was like a big parade with bands and celebration. They were delighted in taking part in such a wonderful religious thing.

2Sa 6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels,

and on cornets, and on cymbals.

It was a splendid religious celebration. God was being glorified and honored. Such a huge crowd of people celebrating God by marching through the country with the ark would have been a powerful witness and a demonstration of their devotion to Jehovah. It was a Jehovah celebration! But it was not according to God’s word.   

Something caused the oxen to shake the ark so Abinidab’s son , Uzzah, reached over and took hold of the ark.

2Sa 6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

 

David’s initial response was to be displeased. He was not happy with what God had done. David had organized a wonderful religious event, thousands of people had joined in, they had a religious parade with a band and everyone was feeling so blessed. Then God had to go and ruin it all! David was not happy.

2Sa 6:8 And David was displeased,

because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah:

Then his displeasure turned to fear of God. If a great celebration didn’t please God then David just didn’t have any idea what it would take?

2Sa 6:9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?

David had made the kind of mistake that is sapping the strength from churches today. They keep trying to figure out better ways to celebrate Jesus. As a result some of the world’s most popular ideas are making inroads into some churches. You may know of churches that claim to be Bible believing, but are not Bible behaving. The early church overcame the Roman Empire. Christianity today seems weak in comparison.

So what had David done wrong? He had ignored God’s clear instruction on how the ark was to be carried. Levites were in charge of moving the ark. Long poles went through the rings on the outside of the ark, so they never had to touch it.

(See Exodus 25:14-15; Numbers 4:15)

Didn’t someone in that crowd with David wonder why there were rings on the ark? There must have been some who knew the Word of God was being ignored, but they didn’t speak up. They just kept quiet and joined in.

Those in charge would have known how the Philistines had sent the ark back on a new cart. So they just did what the ungodly Philistines had done. They chose the Philistine Expedient. That sounds like the title of a modern spy vrs spy book, but it isn’t.

The word expedient means they used what was at hand, what was convenient. Why bother with details when they were sincere in their religious celebration. The Philistines did it that way. So the Israelites used the same ungodly method, put a religious spin on it and just knew it would make God delighted. Their error seems so obvious to us today.   

So what are we doing? It is good to stop and ask ourselves if our understanding of God matches what Scripture teaches. Does the way we worship meet Biblical standards? How about our church, pastor, and religious holidays?  Is Easter really about bunnies and eggs, two symbols of ancient fertility cults? Is church leadership really about politics and manipulation? Finally is our modern cafeteria Christianity where we pick and choose the parts of the Bible we enjoy, really how Scripture should be used? 

It is so easy to “be conformed to the world” and so hard to “transform our minds” but that is a poor excuse to not make the effort. Let us consider how we worship, how we apply the Word of God to our lives. Let us stop and ask “What are we doing?” And that is our devotional thought for today.

 

Think about how you handle the Word of God; How you worship; What your church practices; How the leadership is guiding your church; and if what you do draws you closer to God or farther from Him.  David just used what was expedient, what was available, what was easy and what the ungodly had done. Are we repeating the same error today?

That’s probably enough for us to think about today! God bless you and give you both wisdom and strength to follow the Word of God. 

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart

out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate

therein day and night, that thou mayest observe

to do according to all that is written therein:

for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,

 and then thou shalt have good success.