Grains of Sand

Pixabay Complaining was one of the many negative character qualities of the children of Israel. They weren’t that long out of Egypt—accompanied by many HUGE miracles that attested to God’s provision for them—when they were grumbling about the “room service”. Several times food and water were the issues. But though God could have avoided the conflict, He didn’t, preferring to test the faith of His people and to teach them valuable lessons about that faith. He let them go hungry for a reason. In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses speaks these words to the people: “ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord ”. So important was this lesson that Jesus used the latter part of the verse in His contest with Satan in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:4) The children of Israel must have wondered about the application of the les...

“ But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me, so I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices .” So writes Asaph in Psalm 81 as he looks back at the history of God’s people and recounts how the Lord brought them out of slavery in Egypt and set them above all other nations as His chosen. Asaph only mentions one command, one warning, given to Israel. The people were not to worship any other gods (vs 9). If they obeyed this command they would be protected and provided for (vss 10, 13-16). In fact, obeying this one would ensure that all the rest of God's instructions would be kept as well. Unhappily for Israel they chose not to obey the command. That disobedience cost them a great deal. But the verse from the psalms is reminiscent of something Paul repeats several times in the beginning of his letter to the Roman church. He describes the wickedness of men who reject God in Romans 1. Three times he writes: “ …God gave them over… ” He l...

Google Images Solomon is king over Israel. But the man purported to be the wisest man that the world has ever known made at least one fatal mistake: He didn’t ask God for enough, nor did he ask soon enough. In 1 Kings 3 we have the record of Solomon’s prayer to God when he asks the Lord to give him wisdom. “ Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? ” (3:7-9) That prayer was a smart one. God responded to it by blessing Solomon with extraordinary wisdom—so much wisdom that Solomon’s fame spread throughout the world of that day, and continues to be a much quoted example today. But Solomon had already made a fatal m...

Google Images He’d been here before—different man, different circumstances. The last time Jacob had visited Bethel he had bargained with God (Genesis 28). Back then, in his flight from the repercussions of his lying and deceit, God had promised to go with him, and to bring him back to Canaan. Now Jacob was instructed to go back to Bethel, this time on his way back to Canaan, just as God had promised. This time, instead of telling God what he would do if God held up His part of the bargain, Jacob acknowledged that God had done exactly what He had promised. This, I believe, is Jacob’s true moment of “conversion.” When he fled from his father-in-law Laban, Rachel, Jacob’s wife, had stolen her father’s household gods (31:19), which tells us that Yahweh was not exclusively worshiped and served. Jacob appeared to be accepting of this practice even if he didn’t participate in it himself. But now, at Bethel, the picture changed. “ Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there a...

If it wasn't so sad it would be funny. Israel camps too close to Moab, and Balak and the Moabites are scared skinny that Israel will do to them what she has done to other nations in her path (22:2, 3). In desperation Balak sends for Balaam to put a curse on Israel to deaden the effect of her presence in his territory. Balaam refuses on the grounds that God will not allow him to curse what He, God, has chosen to bless. (22:12, 13, 18, 38; 23:12, 26; 24:12, 13). Balaam delivers several oracles ending with one that plainly warns the Moabites that God will bring on them what they want brought on Israel. On the heels of this episode we discover that what the armies of Moab couldn't do, what a prophet was held back from doing, the women of Moab succeeded in doing. " While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel ...

Jacob was on his way to his mother’s family home. He stopped for the night to rest. During the night God confirmed the covenant that He made with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham. “ I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you ” (Genesis 28:13-14, NIV). Interesting note that God didn’t say that He was the God of Jacob. He was, because He is God over all—and He wasn’t. Jacob wasn’t ready to submit to God yet. In fact, Jacob couldn’t have cared any less for the generational blessing that God was confirming with him. Jacob, typical of ...

I've had The Principle of the Path , by Andy Stanley for a while now and my long trip south on the train provided me with a golden opportunity to read it. The subtitle explains the premise of the book: How to get from where you are to where you want to be. That was Friday. On Saturday night I was working through my head what I needed to say at the church I was to speak at on Sunday morning. To be perfectly truthful I was still struggling as the congregation stood to begin their worship time that morning. Then it all fell into place. So much of the Scripture that was read and the songs that were sung hooked onto the basic idea behind the book. One particular verse reached out and went "ping" in my mind. It was the story of the path that needed to be told. Since the paths we choose result in an inevitable end—and oftentimes an end we didn't want, Stanley's reference to the famous words of Solomon in Proverbs 3:6 make perfect sense. " In all your...