March 29, 2017
Farming in Egypt involved the use of irrigation. The river Nile was the source of water for the region and the fields were “watered by foot,” meaning they were watered by the effort of those who either carried the water or dug the irrigation ditches.
But the Promised Land was not like the land of Egypt. It was not a huge plain watered from a river, but a land of hills and valleys, fed by the rains of heaven. It was a land that the Lord Himself would water and care for; therefore, the people would need to focus on obeying and worshiping Him in order for their fields to prosper.
The Lord wanted to raise up a people that would learn to completely depend on Him. He sought a people that would Him to supply all their needs. They were not to trust a land, or a river, nor their own ingenuity for irrigation, but the Lord.
The Lord still seeks those who will fully trust Him.
March 28, 2017
This psalm of David found its fulfillment in Christ’s suffering on the cross. Reading the four gospels together, it appears that Jesus was offered at least two drinks and perhaps three.
The first drink offered, according to Matthew and Mark, was wine mixed with gall or myrrh. This was offered as He arrived on Golgotha to be crucified. According to tradition, a narcotic drink was offered to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain. Jesus refused this drink, choosing to suffer with complete consciousness.
The second drink was offered by the Roman soldiers in mockery when the crowd thought He was calling for Elijah (Luke 23:36). He did not drink it.
The third drink was requested by Jesus. He said simply, “I thirst” (John 19:28). And the soldiers used a branch of hyssop to lift a sponge full of sour wine or wine vinegar to His lips.
Jesus, Son of David, Son of God, endured the thirst and drank the vinegar of which David prophesied centuries before. Then, He cried out, “It is finished,” and gave up His spirit (John 19:30).
March 27, 2017
Moses told the Israelites that the Lord would deliver seven nations greater and mightier than they over to them when they entered the Promised Land. He would do this because He had chosen them to be His “special treasure” in all the earth. Yet, Moses quickly corrected any misconception this might imply, lest they think God saw something inherently special in them. He didn’t. In fact, they were the “least of all peoples.” They weren’t special because of who they were. They were special because of who God is. They were special because He had “set His love” on them. God’s love made them special.
Not many of us were special or wise or noble before we were called. But the Lord has chosen the “weak things of the world,” that He might get the glory (1 Cor. 1:26-31). Therefore, let us glory in the Lord!
March 26, 2017
After Moses reminded the people of the “words,” which were the Ten Commandments and other instructions from the Lord, he commanded them to teach their children what he had taught them. They were to be diligent in teaching them, both formally and informally, as a way of life. They were to weave this teaching into every facet of their day together with their kids.
This is still the job of parenting. The responsibility for educating our children belongs not to the school, nor the church, but to us. We may include the school and church in our efforts, but the primary role belongs to fathers and mothers.
Are you teaching your children and grandchildren the “words” of God as a part of your everyday life?
March 25, 2017
American coinage was first inscribed with the motto, “In God We Trust,” in 1865, after a feeling of thanksgiving swept the nation that had survived the Civil War. In 1957, American currency was inscribed with the same motto. Yet, putting the motto on our money isn’t the same as writing it on our hearts.
Where we put our trust matters. Those who put their faith in money will eventually experience disappointment. As the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:9-10). Instead, put your love and trust in the Lord.
March 24, 2017
The word “Deuteronomy” means “second law.” Moses wrote this fifth book of the Torah to remind the Israelites of what they had learned from the Lord during their wilderness travels and to prepare them to enter the Promised Land.
But Moses would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. He had disobeyed the Lord at Kadesh by striking the rock when God had told him to speak to it to bring forth water. He blamed the people for driving him to anger. He pleaded with the Lord to let him go into the land, but the Lord told him to stop asking. Instead, the Lord instructed him go to the “top of Pisgah,” whose peak was called, Mt. Nebo, so that he might see the land beyond the Jordan. This was as close as Moses, who had led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness for 40 years, ever got to the land flowing with milk and honey.
I stood on Mt. Nebo in 2005 while visiting missionaries in Jordan. From its height on a day with a clear blue sky, I could see the land that Moses was never allowed to enter. It was beautiful. Moses must have thought so too.
March 23, 2017
This was Christ’s response to those who questioned why he associated with sinners, even eating and drinking with them. He had come to call sinners to repentance. Those who thought themselves righteous, as the Pharisees did, would not answer the call. Only those who admitted their sin would hear and obey his call.
This is still Christ’s ministry. As the Father sent him, he sends us (John 20:21). Having repented of our sins and believed in Jesus, we are sent to call sinners to repentance too.
March 22, 2017
What would “defile the land?”
The blood of unatoned murder is a defilement of any land. Not just the murder itself, but the murder that isn’t justly punished. As the Lord told Cain after he murdered his brother, “Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10).
The Lord gave authority to human government to both limit and punish sin. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, The ruler “does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” The Lord will not long dwell with a nation that does not execute justice.
March 21, 2017
The city of Capernaum embraced the ministry of Jesus. He made this fishing and marketplace crossroads, located on the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, His base of operations. The ruins of the synagogue in Capernaum still remain to this day, a testimony to the Word of Jesus which went out from there, and across the world. Those who heard His teaching were “astonished,” or as literally stated in the Greek, “thunderstruck.” Today, we might say, “blown away.”
There are still people groups and cities today that are ready to receive the Word of Christ and be astonished by it. All that is needed is for someone to go in the authority of Christ and preach there (Matt. 28:18-20).
March 20, 2017
David wrote of his strong desire to be “satisfied” and “joyful” in the Lord. He sought to bear the fruit of one who knew the “lovingkindness” (Psa. 63:3) of the Lord. The word “satisfied” speaks of contentment. David lifted his soul up to the Lord, determined to find a deep abiding contentment like one feels