For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The proverb writer continues his advice on choosing our words with care. Soothing words can bring life to someone on the edge, by saying the right words at the right time we may keep someone from committing suicide. Even if things are not so desperate, well chosen words may lift them from despair into life. On the other hand, perverse, uncaring words may break someone’s spirit so that they lose the desire to go on living. Let us choose our words to be fountains of life, not sources of despair.

    It is with God’s help that we obtain victory over our foes, whoever, or whatever, they may be. If God is not helping us human help will do us no good. I will put my confidence in God and sing His praises.

    Jesus’ brothers tried to convince Him to go up to Jerusalem for the Festival of Shelters. Their reasoning is not clear, but it has long seemed to me that they wanted to bask in the glow of being the brothers of a man the crowds were flocking after. Jesus told them to go on without Him, implying that He was not going to go to Jerusalem for this Festival (the English reads as if He outright said He was not going, but I have always suspected that the Greek is more ambiguous). After His brothers had gone to Jerusalem, Jesus also went, but quietly so that no one knew He was there at first.
    The crowds at the Festival were buzzing about Jesus, probably more than they would have been if He was there. There was a lot of disagreement about who Jesus was and what type of person He was. Some said He was a good man, while others said He was a fraud. Then comes the line that reminds me of the world I see around me, “no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble…” While we are not quite there today, I keep seeing efforts to create that sort of atmosphere in our society.
    When Jesus finally began teaching at the Festival, everyone was initially surprised at how knowledgeable Jesus was because He had not been trained by any of the respected scholars (or, in modern understanding, because He did not have a degree). I think this is an important reminder that we often put too much credit in human credentials. It is important to note that this was not a case of the country bumpkin confounding the scholars. This was the case of the self-taught (and God trained) Man demonstrating greater knowledge than the people who had been trained by the system and had the credentials. Jesus did not confound the teachers of religious law with “country wisdom”. He confounded them because He had greater knowledge in their area of specialty than they did.

    When Samuel completed Saul’s re-coronation he told the people of Israel not to rebel against God’s commands. If they failed to listen to God’s commands, His hand would be heavy upon them. Further Samuel told them to worship God with all of their hearts and not turn their back upon Him.
    Shortly after this Saul summoned the Israelite army to battle against the Philistines. Saul waited with the army at Gilgal for Samuel. While they waited for Samuel to come, the men became fearful of the Philistines and began to slip away from Saul. After seven days, Saul became afraid that he would lose his entire army, so he offered sacrifices to God himself. One thing I never noticed before is that the people, the men of Saul’s army, stopped listening to God’s commands before Saul did. They had asked for a king, and had accepted Saul as that king. Therefore Saul had God-given authority over them. They lost their faith in both Saul and in God. Saul then went against the instructions he had received from Samuel because he did not believe that God could grant him victory if he waited any longer to act. The failure of Saul’s kingship was a failure of both the people and of Saul. If the people had remained faithful, Saul’s faith would not have wavered. If Saul had remained faithful he would have been able to lead the people back to faith. Most failures of leadership are like this.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Today’s proverb continues on the theme of choosing our words with care. What we say can build others up and help thrive. It can also tear others down and destroy them. Let us strive to do the former and not the latter.

    Let us place our confidence in God, because with His help we are able to overcome the mightiest of foes. Not only that, but it is Strong>only with God’s help that we can be successful. Human aid will not help us if God is not aiding us as well. Let us always pray, not that God will be on our side, but that we will be on God’s side.

    Jesus’ brothers tried to convince Him to go to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Shelters because that was the way for Him to become truly famous. It appears that, at this point, they wanted Him to be famous so that could ride His coattails to a position of honour. However, Jesus did not think it was time for Him to attract the attention He would receive if He arrived at the beginning of the Festival. So, He sent His brothers without Him. Once His brothers had gone, Jesus also went to Jerusalem. However, He arrived without attracting attention and did not seek publicity.
    The Jewish religious and political leaders were looking for Him at the Festival and asked people if they had seen Him (which probably explains why Jesus led His brothers to think He was not coming to the Festival). Jesus was the talk of the Festival with people arguing about whether or not He was a good man, or a fraud. Those who defended Him were afraid to do so publicly because they were afraid of getting into trouble with the Jewish leaders (as opposed to the Roman authorities). Do we allow this to happen to us today, when speaking up for Biblical teachings on certain subjects have cost people their jobs?
    Midway through the Festival Jesus began teaching in the Temple. People were amazed at His knowledge of Scripture considering that He had not been the disciple of any great rabbi. Although, based on Jesus’ reaction to their surprise, there appears to be an element of rejecting His teachings because He did not have the proper credentials. Later, the people questioned whether He could be the Messiah because they knew where He was from. On the one hand the people questioned His teaching because He had not been taught by a recognized “institution” (He had not gone to an accredited Seminary). On the other hand they questioned His authority because they knew where He was from and they believed that no one would know where the Messiah came from. Do we get caught up in only listening to teachings from someone with the correct credentials? Do we insist that the pastor of our congregation have the proper credentials?

    Samuel stood before the assembled people of Israel and turned over the job of leading the people to Saul, their new king. He recounted how time after time the people of Israel had turned from worshiping God to worship idols. This resulted in foreign powers oppressing the people of Israel. Each time, when the people turned back to God and cried out for His deliverance, God sent them a leader to deliver them and lead them back to Him. Yet this time when they were threatened they demanded more. They wanted a king. Samuel tells them that they had done wrong to demand a king, but now they had one. He told them that the important thing was to fear the Lord and faithfully serve Him. If they did this, God would continue to do wonderful things for them. However, if they turned back to worshiping idols and sinning, God would sweep them away.
    We all make mistakes like the one the people of Israel made in asking for a king. We must live with the consequences of our mistakes, just as Israel had a king as a result of their mistake. However, if we turn back to God and both fear and trust Him, He will bless us and protect us. It is my desire to fear the Lord and to serve Him with my whole being.

     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

     After Saul’s victory at Jabesh Gilead, Samuel addressed the people of Israel. He summed up the history of Israel from the Exodus to the then current time. He told them how when they cried out to God for rescue from oppression, God sent leaders to overthrow the oppressors. Yet time and again the people returned to worshiping idols, despite having seen the mighty works of God. Finally when threatened by Nahash, they asked for a king, even though God was already their king. God granted their request and gave them a king. Samuel went on to tell them that if they listened to God and obeyed His commands, all would be well with them under their new king (and his successors). But if they rebelled against God and refused to listen to Him, then God would bring judgment against them as He had against their ancestors.
     Samuel then pointed out that it was the time of year when it did not thunder and rain before telling them that thunder and rain would come up to show how sinful they had been in asking for a king. Thunder and rain came at Samuel’s prayer. The people were frightened and asked Samuel to pray for them, they acknowledged their sin in asking for a king. Samuel told them not to be afraid, as long as they worshiped the Lord with all of their heart, and did not worship idols, God would not abandon them. But if they continued to sin, they would be swept away. When I read this passage, I see a warning to all peoples. If a nation of people listen to God and follow His commands, they will have a good government that looks after the interest of all of the people, no matter what form it takes. On the other hand, if they rebel against God and refuse to listen to His commands, they will have an oppressive government, not matter what form it takes. In either case, it does not matter if the government is a monarchy, a democracy, a dictatorship, or some other form of government. The key factor is whether the people listen to and obey God’s commands.
     After this Saul kept approximately one percent of the men he had mustered to go against Jabesh Gilead (3,000 men) as his professional fighting force. Saul divided the force between himself and his son Jonathan. Shortly after this Jonathan took his force and attacked a Philistine garrison. The Philistines mobilized for war and Saul once more summoned the entire Israelite army. Saul was camped at Gilgal with the army, waiting for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices to God for their victory. On the seventh day, when Samuel had not yet arrived and men were slipping away from the encampment to go into hiding, Saul called for the sacrifices to be brought and offered them himself. Just as Saul completed the sacrifices, Samuel arrived. Samuel confronted Saul for what he had done. Saul explained to Samuel that the men were abandoning his army, he needed to make a sacrifice to God to bolster the morale of his army and Samuel had not yet come. Samuel told him that if he had kept God’s command in this, God would have established his throne over Israel for all time. But because he had violated God’s command, his kingdom would not endure and God would find Himself a more faithful servant to be king over Israel.
     Here we see in clear light that Saul acted according to what he perceived as his political advantage. Just as when he invoked Samuel’s name when he mustered the Israelite army to battle against Nahash of the Ammonites, here he did what he thought he needed to do to bolster his power. In the first case, he did nothing wrong, he merely claimed the mantle of Samuel’s authority when Samuel was not actually involved. In this case, he did that which he knew was wrong in order to shore up his short term power. He offered the sacrifices in order to keep his army from deserting him and even there it failed. When he took a count of the men who were still with him, he was down to a force of 600. There is an important lesson here for us. we cannot accomplish God’s purpose, or advance His cause, by acting against His commands. When planning an activity, we must first ask what actions are within God’s will before we address the question of what will accomplish our goals. If we are start examining how to accomplish our goals before we have carefully examined what the parameters God calls us to operate in, Satan will get us to convince ourselves that the only way to accomplish our goals is something that goes against God’s commands. We will then convince ourselves that it does not go against God’s commands.

     Jesus was traveling around Galilee and teaching there. He wanted to stay out of Judea because the Jewish leaders in Judea were looking for a way to kill Him. When the Jewish Festival of Shelters approached, Jesus’ brothers told Him that if He wanted to become known, He should go to Jerusalem for the Festival. Jesus replied that it was not time for Him to go, His brothers should go on without Him. When I read this passage, I get the impression that Jesus’ brothers wanted to bask in the reflected glory of being the brothers of this celebrated teacher. How often do we promote someone, not because we truly believe in what they do, but because we want to shine in the reflected glory of being the person to introduce others to them?
     After His brothers had gone to the Festival, Jesus also went. But He went secretly and kept a low profile. The Jewish leaders were watching for Him, fully expecting that He would show up for such a high profile event. The crowds were buzzing with speculation about Him. Some people were saying that He was a good man, while others contended that He was a fraud and a deceiver. However, no one spoke publicly about Him because they were afraid of the religious leaders.
     It was not until half way through the Festival that Jesus began to teach in the Temple. When people heard Him speak, they were amazed because by this time everyone knew that He had not studied under any of the religious teachers of the day. Jesus replied to this amazement by telling the people that His message was not His own, but came from God. He further told them that those who desired to do the will of God would know if His message was from God, or merely His own. He then gave us a tool we can use to determine if a teacher is preaching a message from God or from themselves. Those who speak from themselves want glory from preaching the message they bring. Those who are sent from God seek to honor God and the truth. I actually see two things we can use to test the message that someone preaches. First, do they attempt to use their message to gain glory for themselves? If so, their message is not from God. Second, do they avoid lies and deception and strive to speak only that which is true? If they do this, their message is from God. On the other hand, if their message contains deception and lies, no matter how much it seems to contain good elements, it is not from God.

     Another uplifting psalm. “My heart is confident in you, O God;” Yes, yes it is. I will praise God among the people. I will not hide my love for God, nor my trust in Him. I will not reject human help, but it is only with God’s help that I, or anyone else, can accomplish great things. I pray that God will lead me to serve Him according to the gifts He has given me. May He use me to bring glory to His name over all of the earth (or just this corner and use someone else to bring glory to His name elsewhere).
     I am not much of a singer, but this psalm makes me wonder if I should sing more as I work on these devotions.

     If we speak gently and soothingly to those who are struggling we can bring life to them. Actually, I prefer the King James translation of this proverb. “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” Let us strive to speak wholesome words and wholesome messages, so that we might bring life to those around us. And let us avoid perversion in our speech because that will cause a breach in our very own spirit and may crush the spirits of those around us. Speaking wholesomely brings life to ourselves and to others, speaking perversion splits apart our very spirit and damages those who hear it.