Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "witness"
Lord Houdini? – Part 1
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Lord Houdini? – Part 2
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenecian widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deteuronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenecian widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deteuronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak – Part 1
He (i.e., Elisha) left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he (i.e., Elijah) said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” [1 Kings 19:20]
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:61-62]
Judging by those three verses, we’ve found a contradiction in the Bible. On the one hand, it was okay for Elisha to turn back from following Elijah as the Lord’s chosen prophet-in-training. On the other hand, it was utterly inexcusable for someone else to want to turn back from following Jesus, in order to bid a fond farewell to his family. Hmm. What to make of this. Is it a contradiction or not?
This demonstrates the absolute necessity of reading the Scriptures in context, dear friends. Chapter and verse divisions have cultivated in us the habit of grabbing words and phrases and sentences out of context, as if they occurred in a vacuum. They don’t, and we shouldn’t interpret them as if they did.
In Elisha’s case he was at home, plowing the field with twelve pairs of oxen. This means that Elisha had eleven other men working under him, each person having a plow and a pair of oxen to pull the plow. Elisha was an affluent gent, you see.
Elijah came walking along and tossed his mantle on Elisha. The mantle symbolized the office, and Elijah’s office was that of the Lord’s prophet. In other words Elijah extended to Elisha the Lord’s call to be His prophet.
Elisha was plowing his field, remember. He wasn’t praying for the Lord to call him. He didn’t send his résumé to Elijah or the Lord, applying for the office. The call came to him out of the blue…in more ways than one.
Notwithstanding this context, Elisha straightway embraced the call. Then he requested of Elijah permission to tell his relatives that he had accepted the Lord’s call to be His prophet. This consisted of going back to the house with his pair of oxen and his plow, slaughtering the oxen, then cooking them on the wood from the plow.
Can a more vivid picture story be imagined to declare, “I will no longer be a farmer, dear family. I am leaving that occupation permanently. From now on I will be on the road ministering as the Lord’s prophet!” Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned up his plow. Obviously he was not intending to farm again!
This is known as being the Lord’s witness, dear people. The Lord calls all Christians to be His witnesses. Elisha did a good thing. No wonder Elijah gave his blessing to this proposal.
Oh, but we’re out of time! We’ll continue the tale tomorrow. For now chew the cud on what we’ve studied today. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and move the knowledge down into your heart.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:61-62]
Judging by those three verses, we’ve found a contradiction in the Bible. On the one hand, it was okay for Elisha to turn back from following Elijah as the Lord’s chosen prophet-in-training. On the other hand, it was utterly inexcusable for someone else to want to turn back from following Jesus, in order to bid a fond farewell to his family. Hmm. What to make of this. Is it a contradiction or not?
This demonstrates the absolute necessity of reading the Scriptures in context, dear friends. Chapter and verse divisions have cultivated in us the habit of grabbing words and phrases and sentences out of context, as if they occurred in a vacuum. They don’t, and we shouldn’t interpret them as if they did.
In Elisha’s case he was at home, plowing the field with twelve pairs of oxen. This means that Elisha had eleven other men working under him, each person having a plow and a pair of oxen to pull the plow. Elisha was an affluent gent, you see.
Elijah came walking along and tossed his mantle on Elisha. The mantle symbolized the office, and Elijah’s office was that of the Lord’s prophet. In other words Elijah extended to Elisha the Lord’s call to be His prophet.
Elisha was plowing his field, remember. He wasn’t praying for the Lord to call him. He didn’t send his résumé to Elijah or the Lord, applying for the office. The call came to him out of the blue…in more ways than one.
Notwithstanding this context, Elisha straightway embraced the call. Then he requested of Elijah permission to tell his relatives that he had accepted the Lord’s call to be His prophet. This consisted of going back to the house with his pair of oxen and his plow, slaughtering the oxen, then cooking them on the wood from the plow.
Can a more vivid picture story be imagined to declare, “I will no longer be a farmer, dear family. I am leaving that occupation permanently. From now on I will be on the road ministering as the Lord’s prophet!” Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned up his plow. Obviously he was not intending to farm again!
This is known as being the Lord’s witness, dear people. The Lord calls all Christians to be His witnesses. Elisha did a good thing. No wonder Elijah gave his blessing to this proposal.
Oh, but we’re out of time! We’ll continue the tale tomorrow. For now chew the cud on what we’ve studied today. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and move the knowledge down into your heart.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak – Part 2
He (i.e., Elisha) left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he (i.e., Elijah) said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” [1 Kings 19:20]
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:61-62]
Yesterday we watched Elijah extend the call of the Lord to Elisha to be His prophet. Elisha accepted with relish. Then he went home and announced to the family that he would no longer live with them and be a farmer. To act out this truth—as the prophets were wont to do—he slaughtered his pair of oxen, cooked them over a fire which burned on the wood of his plow, then fed the family (and Elijah) a hearty meal before departing. This made Elisha the Lord’s witness to his family.
It was quite otherwise with the man who volunteered to follow Jesus. On his own unsolicited initiative, he claimed he wanted to be Jesus’ disciple and serve Him. But then he added a condition to keeping his word to the Lord. First he wanted to return home and tell his family good-bye.
Do you see the difference? This man wasn’t Elisha. He had ties to the world from which he wasn’t prepared to make a clean break. He should have kept his mouth shut and fulfilled his commitments at home. When he was truly ready to leave the world and its lifestyle, then he could request of Jesus permission to be His disciple.
Jesus wasn’t much impressed with this man. Ostensibly the man wanted the glory of “following Jesus”. He wanted the praise of other men for his selfless sacrifice. He wanted to appear holy, you see, but he didn’t really want to be holy. That would entail giving up his own dreams and plans, and laying down his life as a whole burnt offering in service to His Lord.
This is heavy stuff, my dear friends. Let’s hie off to the prayer closet a while and visit with Jesus now. Let Him reveal the truth of our hearts to us. Do we really want to walk with Jesus as His disciples? Are we prepared to leave all the things of the world which we cherish so dearly, in order to be His willing bond slaves? That is heavy…not some quixotic promise to be uttered by our lips.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:61-62]
Yesterday we watched Elijah extend the call of the Lord to Elisha to be His prophet. Elisha accepted with relish. Then he went home and announced to the family that he would no longer live with them and be a farmer. To act out this truth—as the prophets were wont to do—he slaughtered his pair of oxen, cooked them over a fire which burned on the wood of his plow, then fed the family (and Elijah) a hearty meal before departing. This made Elisha the Lord’s witness to his family.
It was quite otherwise with the man who volunteered to follow Jesus. On his own unsolicited initiative, he claimed he wanted to be Jesus’ disciple and serve Him. But then he added a condition to keeping his word to the Lord. First he wanted to return home and tell his family good-bye.
Do you see the difference? This man wasn’t Elisha. He had ties to the world from which he wasn’t prepared to make a clean break. He should have kept his mouth shut and fulfilled his commitments at home. When he was truly ready to leave the world and its lifestyle, then he could request of Jesus permission to be His disciple.
Jesus wasn’t much impressed with this man. Ostensibly the man wanted the glory of “following Jesus”. He wanted the praise of other men for his selfless sacrifice. He wanted to appear holy, you see, but he didn’t really want to be holy. That would entail giving up his own dreams and plans, and laying down his life as a whole burnt offering in service to His Lord.
This is heavy stuff, my dear friends. Let’s hie off to the prayer closet a while and visit with Jesus now. Let Him reveal the truth of our hearts to us. Do we really want to walk with Jesus as His disciples? Are we prepared to leave all the things of the world which we cherish so dearly, in order to be His willing bond slaves? That is heavy…not some quixotic promise to be uttered by our lips.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Vegetarian Delight – Part 1
Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see [Daniel 1:12-13].
I love pizza. But it’s got to be the real thing, if you know what I mean. No, I don’t mean it has to be genuine Italian-made, or deep dish from Chicago. I mean it has to be sausage…period. Well, okay. It can have crust too, and cheese and sauce. But anything else on pizza nullifies the “pizza” part of the food!
Daniel and his three friends were minding their own business in Jerusalem back in the day. For you novices, that would be the day of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’m sure those four dudes were enjoying some kosher sausage pizza. Well, maybe not because sausage isn’t kosher! This is especially so for Italian sausage, er, I mean Babylonian sausage.
Anyway, along came ol’ King Cole, er, I mean ol’ King Neb. Accompanying our king-of-the-day was his army, a formidable bunch to be sure. When the dust cleared Daniel & friends no longer lived in Jerusalem. They had moved to Babylon, where they had the not so enviable job of waiting on ol’ King Neb and fulfilling his every fickle whim.
As slaves of the king their food came from the king’s kitchen. The king even assigned one of his stewards to be in charge of Daniel & friends. The steward was responsible to see that Daniel & friends learned the ropes of living in Babylon and waiting on ol’ King Neb.
Part of this responsibility required the steward to be sure Daniel & friends were strong and healthy. He had to make them brush their teeth before bed and wash behind their ears. Okay, I made that part up. But the steward did have to provide the four Hebrews with food from the king’s table. After all, if it kept ol’ King Neb healthy, it had to be good for his foreign slaves too.
Here’s the thing. Ol’ King Neb and all the Babylonians were idolators. They presented their food to idols as offerings of worship. The false gods of Babylon received their portion of the food, and the remainder was enjoyed at the table of ol’ King Neb and his servants.
This created a major conflict for Daniel & friends. They were Hebrews who worshiped the one true God Whose name is YHWH (or Yahweh or Jehovah). As any card-carrying Hebrew could tell you, only YHWH could be worshiped. He alone is God and He demanded to receive all the worship from His people. It was on pain of death for any Hebrew to partake in pagan worship of idols.
Still, ol’ King Neb was in charge of Daniel & friends, now that they had been carted off from Jerusalem as slaves to ol’King Neb. And he was quite content to worship his idols, thank you very much. So it wouldn’t have been wisdom for Daniel & friends to denounce Neb’s gods and refuse to eat the food offered in sacrifice to those false gods. Not because the idols would wreak their vengeance on the Hebrews, mind you. But ol’ King Neb would!
This presented a real conundrum for Daniel & friends. They just couldn’t bring themselves to desert the one true God YHWH, but they still had to get along with ol’ King Neb and his pantheon of gods. What to do? What to do? Hmm. That’s a toughie.
We’ll return same time same station tomorrow to finish the show. See you then. Enjoy some time with the Lord Jesus in the interim.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I love pizza. But it’s got to be the real thing, if you know what I mean. No, I don’t mean it has to be genuine Italian-made, or deep dish from Chicago. I mean it has to be sausage…period. Well, okay. It can have crust too, and cheese and sauce. But anything else on pizza nullifies the “pizza” part of the food!
Daniel and his three friends were minding their own business in Jerusalem back in the day. For you novices, that would be the day of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’m sure those four dudes were enjoying some kosher sausage pizza. Well, maybe not because sausage isn’t kosher! This is especially so for Italian sausage, er, I mean Babylonian sausage.
Anyway, along came ol’ King Cole, er, I mean ol’ King Neb. Accompanying our king-of-the-day was his army, a formidable bunch to be sure. When the dust cleared Daniel & friends no longer lived in Jerusalem. They had moved to Babylon, where they had the not so enviable job of waiting on ol’ King Neb and fulfilling his every fickle whim.
As slaves of the king their food came from the king’s kitchen. The king even assigned one of his stewards to be in charge of Daniel & friends. The steward was responsible to see that Daniel & friends learned the ropes of living in Babylon and waiting on ol’ King Neb.
Part of this responsibility required the steward to be sure Daniel & friends were strong and healthy. He had to make them brush their teeth before bed and wash behind their ears. Okay, I made that part up. But the steward did have to provide the four Hebrews with food from the king’s table. After all, if it kept ol’ King Neb healthy, it had to be good for his foreign slaves too.
Here’s the thing. Ol’ King Neb and all the Babylonians were idolators. They presented their food to idols as offerings of worship. The false gods of Babylon received their portion of the food, and the remainder was enjoyed at the table of ol’ King Neb and his servants.
This created a major conflict for Daniel & friends. They were Hebrews who worshiped the one true God Whose name is YHWH (or Yahweh or Jehovah). As any card-carrying Hebrew could tell you, only YHWH could be worshiped. He alone is God and He demanded to receive all the worship from His people. It was on pain of death for any Hebrew to partake in pagan worship of idols.
Still, ol’ King Neb was in charge of Daniel & friends, now that they had been carted off from Jerusalem as slaves to ol’King Neb. And he was quite content to worship his idols, thank you very much. So it wouldn’t have been wisdom for Daniel & friends to denounce Neb’s gods and refuse to eat the food offered in sacrifice to those false gods. Not because the idols would wreak their vengeance on the Hebrews, mind you. But ol’ King Neb would!
This presented a real conundrum for Daniel & friends. They just couldn’t bring themselves to desert the one true God YHWH, but they still had to get along with ol’ King Neb and his pantheon of gods. What to do? What to do? Hmm. That’s a toughie.
We’ll return same time same station tomorrow to finish the show. See you then. Enjoy some time with the Lord Jesus in the interim.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Vegetarian Delight – Part 2
Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see [Daniel 1:12-13].
Daniel and his three friends were slaves to ol’ King Neb of Babylon. He fed them food offered in sacrifice to his idols, a violation of God’s commandment against idolatry. They wanted a menu of only vegetables and water, but the person in charge of their food was afraid it would leave them sickly and he’d lose his head for it.What to do? It was a toughie.
Actually it wasn’t. It just took a bit of godly wisdom on Daniel’s part. He knew the Lord would help them not to defile themselves with the king’s food because they belonged to Him first and to ol’ King Neb a distant second. So Daniel asked the king’s steward in charge if he would feed him and his three Hebrew buddies only vegetables and water.
It’s like this. The heathens didn’t offer their gods vegetables and water. Ergo, any vegetables and water eaten by Daniel & friends would not have been sacrificed to the false gods of Babylon. Hence Daniel & friends would not be defiled by eating vegetables and drinking water. They would maintain their ritual purity, thus maintaining their relationship with the one true God YHWH.
But anyone of us who has lived for more than a day knows things seldom go as planned. The steward was loath to agree to Daniel’s menu request, notwithstanding how tactfully it was presented. He feared that vegetables and water alone would leave the Hebrews weak and sickly in appearance. In that case the Queen of Hearts, er, I mean ol’ King Neb would demand, “Off with his head!”
Refusing to take “No!” for an answer, Daniel deftly offered a test to prove the validity of his request. “Allow my three friends and me, O steward, to eat only vegetables and water for ten days. Then examine us to determine if we are healthy or sickly.” The steward took the bait, and the Hebrews had their kosher food for ten days.
Ten days came and ten days went, and the steward came too. He eyeballed the four Hebrews and couldn’t believe his eyes. The Hebrews ate only vegetables and water for ten days, while all the other slaves-in-training feasted on the rich food from the king’s table. Nonetheless the four Hebrews appeared much healthier than the other slaves, sporting a ruddy complexion and a sanguine disposition.
The steward figured he just hit the mother lode! It was a free pass into the good graces of the king. By his own astute judgment and wisdom the four Hebrews excelled all the others. He was a master chef par excellence. The king would be so proud of him…or that’s the way he planned to spin the tale anyway.
So the steward persisted with fetching vegetables and water as the Hebrew’s victuals, and the Hebrews persisted in growing healthy and wise. In fact it wasn’t long before Daniel was second in command in Babylon, and his three friends were not far below him either.
The moral of the story is a good one. Serve the Lord regardless of the consequences. He alone is God. There is none other. At the same time don’t be obnoxious in serving Him. Our service to the Lord Jesus is to be done in a way which represents Him, not our bad attitudes! If we reflect Him to others, they will be given two choices: either receive Him as their Savior or else reject Him.
In any case their decision will be vis-à-vis Him, not us personally. If they refuse to receive, it will be Him they reject. And the chances of them accepting Him go up exponentially, if only we have the wisdom to keep self in the background and Jesus on the front burner.
So let’s learn the moral to this story and exalt the Lord Jesus. Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Daniel and his three friends were slaves to ol’ King Neb of Babylon. He fed them food offered in sacrifice to his idols, a violation of God’s commandment against idolatry. They wanted a menu of only vegetables and water, but the person in charge of their food was afraid it would leave them sickly and he’d lose his head for it.What to do? It was a toughie.
Actually it wasn’t. It just took a bit of godly wisdom on Daniel’s part. He knew the Lord would help them not to defile themselves with the king’s food because they belonged to Him first and to ol’ King Neb a distant second. So Daniel asked the king’s steward in charge if he would feed him and his three Hebrew buddies only vegetables and water.
It’s like this. The heathens didn’t offer their gods vegetables and water. Ergo, any vegetables and water eaten by Daniel & friends would not have been sacrificed to the false gods of Babylon. Hence Daniel & friends would not be defiled by eating vegetables and drinking water. They would maintain their ritual purity, thus maintaining their relationship with the one true God YHWH.
But anyone of us who has lived for more than a day knows things seldom go as planned. The steward was loath to agree to Daniel’s menu request, notwithstanding how tactfully it was presented. He feared that vegetables and water alone would leave the Hebrews weak and sickly in appearance. In that case the Queen of Hearts, er, I mean ol’ King Neb would demand, “Off with his head!”
Refusing to take “No!” for an answer, Daniel deftly offered a test to prove the validity of his request. “Allow my three friends and me, O steward, to eat only vegetables and water for ten days. Then examine us to determine if we are healthy or sickly.” The steward took the bait, and the Hebrews had their kosher food for ten days.
Ten days came and ten days went, and the steward came too. He eyeballed the four Hebrews and couldn’t believe his eyes. The Hebrews ate only vegetables and water for ten days, while all the other slaves-in-training feasted on the rich food from the king’s table. Nonetheless the four Hebrews appeared much healthier than the other slaves, sporting a ruddy complexion and a sanguine disposition.
The steward figured he just hit the mother lode! It was a free pass into the good graces of the king. By his own astute judgment and wisdom the four Hebrews excelled all the others. He was a master chef par excellence. The king would be so proud of him…or that’s the way he planned to spin the tale anyway.
So the steward persisted with fetching vegetables and water as the Hebrew’s victuals, and the Hebrews persisted in growing healthy and wise. In fact it wasn’t long before Daniel was second in command in Babylon, and his three friends were not far below him either.
The moral of the story is a good one. Serve the Lord regardless of the consequences. He alone is God. There is none other. At the same time don’t be obnoxious in serving Him. Our service to the Lord Jesus is to be done in a way which represents Him, not our bad attitudes! If we reflect Him to others, they will be given two choices: either receive Him as their Savior or else reject Him.
In any case their decision will be vis-à-vis Him, not us personally. If they refuse to receive, it will be Him they reject. And the chances of them accepting Him go up exponentially, if only we have the wisdom to keep self in the background and Jesus on the front burner.
So let’s learn the moral to this story and exalt the Lord Jesus. Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Lord Houdini? – Part 1
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all-time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all-time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Lord Houdini? – Part 2
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenician widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenician widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak – Part 1
He (i.e., Elisha) left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he (i.e., Elijah) said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” [1 Kings 19:20]
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:61-62]
Judging by those three verses, we’ve found a contradiction in the Bible. On the one hand, it was okay for Elisha to turn back from following Elijah as the Lord’s chosen prophet-in-training. On the other hand, it was utterly inexcusable for someone else to want to turn back from following Jesus, in order to bid a fond farewell to his family. Hmm. What to make of this. Is it a contradiction or not?
This demonstrates the absolute necessity of reading the Scriptures in context, dear friends. Chapter and verse divisions have cultivated in us the habit of grabbing words and phrases and sentences out of context, as if they occurred in a vacuum. They don’t, and we shouldn’t interpret them as if they did.
In Elisha’s case he was at home, plowing the field with twelve pairs of oxen. This means that Elisha had eleven other men working under him, each person having a plow and a pair of oxen to pull the plow. Elisha was an affluent gent, you see.
Elijah came walking along and tossed his mantle on Elisha. The mantle symbolized the office, and Elijah’s office was that of the Lord’s prophet. In other words Elijah extended to Elisha the Lord’s call to be His prophet.
Elisha was plowing his field, remember. He wasn’t praying for the Lord to call him. He didn’t send his résumé to Elijah or the Lord, applying for the office. The call came to him out of the blue…in more ways than one.
Notwithstanding this context, Elisha straightway embraced the call. Then he requested of Elijah permission to tell his relatives that he had accepted the Lord’s call to be His prophet. This consisted of going back to the house with his pair of oxen and his plow, slaughtering the oxen, then cooking them on the wood from the plow.
Can a more vivid picture story be imagined to declare, “I will no longer be a farmer, dear family. I am leaving that occupation permanently. From now on I will be on the road ministering as the Lord’s prophet!” Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned up his plow. Obviously he was not intending to farm again!
This is known as being the Lord’s witness, dear people. The Lord calls all Christians to be His witnesses. Elisha did a good thing. No wonder Elijah gave his blessing to this proposal.
Oh, but we’re out of time! We’ll continue the tale tomorrow. For now chew the cud on what we’ve studied today. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and move the knowledge down into your heart.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:61-62]
Judging by those three verses, we’ve found a contradiction in the Bible. On the one hand, it was okay for Elisha to turn back from following Elijah as the Lord’s chosen prophet-in-training. On the other hand, it was utterly inexcusable for someone else to want to turn back from following Jesus, in order to bid a fond farewell to his family. Hmm. What to make of this. Is it a contradiction or not?
This demonstrates the absolute necessity of reading the Scriptures in context, dear friends. Chapter and verse divisions have cultivated in us the habit of grabbing words and phrases and sentences out of context, as if they occurred in a vacuum. They don’t, and we shouldn’t interpret them as if they did.
In Elisha’s case he was at home, plowing the field with twelve pairs of oxen. This means that Elisha had eleven other men working under him, each person having a plow and a pair of oxen to pull the plow. Elisha was an affluent gent, you see.
Elijah came walking along and tossed his mantle on Elisha. The mantle symbolized the office, and Elijah’s office was that of the Lord’s prophet. In other words Elijah extended to Elisha the Lord’s call to be His prophet.
Elisha was plowing his field, remember. He wasn’t praying for the Lord to call him. He didn’t send his résumé to Elijah or the Lord, applying for the office. The call came to him out of the blue…in more ways than one.
Notwithstanding this context, Elisha straightway embraced the call. Then he requested of Elijah permission to tell his relatives that he had accepted the Lord’s call to be His prophet. This consisted of going back to the house with his pair of oxen and his plow, slaughtering the oxen, then cooking them on the wood from the plow.
Can a more vivid picture story be imagined to declare, “I will no longer be a farmer, dear family. I am leaving that occupation permanently. From now on I will be on the road ministering as the Lord’s prophet!” Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned up his plow. Obviously he was not intending to farm again!
This is known as being the Lord’s witness, dear people. The Lord calls all Christians to be His witnesses. Elisha did a good thing. No wonder Elijah gave his blessing to this proposal.
Oh, but we’re out of time! We’ll continue the tale tomorrow. For now chew the cud on what we’ve studied today. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and move the knowledge down into your heart.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
