May 31, 2012

"She Was Deeply Stirred Over Her Son" (5/31)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Kings 3-4; 2 Chronicles 1; Psalm 72.

Solomon is remembered for his wisdom which was given to him by God. The first example in the Scriptures of him using his wisdom was in the dispute of two women arguing over which one of them was the mother of a particular child after the child of the other woman had just died.

“Then the king said, ‘The one says, “This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one”; and the other says, “No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.”‘ The king said, ‘Get me a sword.’ So they brought a sword before the king. The king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.’

“Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, ‘Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.’ But the other said, ‘He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!’

“Then the king said, ‘Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother’” (1 Kings 3:23-27).

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May 27, 2012

Children are a Gift of the Lord (5/27)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Chronicles 26-29; Psalm 127.

Listed among the gatekeepers was a man named Obed-edom. This man was blessed by the Lord because he kept the ark at his house for three months while David determined how to bring it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:10-12). This passage explains how he was blessed.

“Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh and Peullethai the eighth; God had indeed blessed him” (1 Chronicles 26:4-5).

This passage does not speak of Obed-edom being blessed with riches, long life, or success in his endeavors. It is possible he might have received these things, but this passage does not mention any of them. Instead, his eight sons were given as proof that “God had indeed blessed him.”
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May 2, 2012

The Older Women Must Teach the Young Women

Mother, daughter, and baby

In many ways, our society’s norms and values are quite different from those found in the Bible, particularly in regard to the role and responsibilities of women. Paul instructed Titus to teach the older women about what they were to teach to the younger women. These lessons are still needed today.

“Older women likewise are to be… teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored” (Titus 2:3-5).

Paul mentioned seven lessons the older women were to teach to the younger women. Let us consider each one briefly.
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March 30, 2012

There Arose Another Generation Who Did Not Know the Lord (3/30)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Judges 1-2.

“The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

“All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done in Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals” (Judges 2:7-11).

In the days of Joshua, the Israelites were, for the most part, faithful to the Lord. This faithfulness continued to the next generation. But sadly, the following generation did not exhibit such faithfulness and dedication to the Lord. What happened?
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March 13, 2012

When Your Son Asks You (3/13)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 5-7.

Knowledge of God’s word and obedience to it are not just for one generation, but they are to be passed down to the next. The Israelites were to remember this when they entered into the land of Canaan.

“That you might do [the commandments] in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2).

But the people were not just to teach their children to obey the Law. They were to teach their children why they should obey the Law.
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February 24, 2012

"From a Month Old and Upward" (2/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Numbers 3-4.

In the previous reading, we noticed that the men of Israel, “from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war” (Numbers 1:3), were to be numbered. The exception to this was the tribe of Levi because they had a special duty to perform for the Lord (Numbers 1:49-50).

However, when we get to chapter 3, we find instructions given regarding the numbering of the Levites:

“Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number” (Numbers 3:15).

Instead of numbering the males who were twenty years old and upward, as was done with the rest of the tribes, the Lord wanted the Levites to be counted beginning at one month old.

Furthermore, instead of being counted for war, the Levites were set apart and counted for a spiritual work.
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February 20, 2012

A Daughter Eating of Her Father’s Food (2/20)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 22-23.

In Leviticus 22, instructions were given regarding who could and could not eat of the gifts that were offered to the Lord. One of these rules affected the daughters of the priests:

“If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the gifts. But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s food; but no layman shall eat of it” (Leviticus 22:12-13).

A rule was given that no layman was to eat of this food that was dedicated to the Lord. This food was reserved for the priests. A priest’s daughter could eat only under certain conditions.
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