6/3/2009 10:17 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The liar
Bible Reading &
Mediation Reference: Deut. 19:15-21
Message of the verses: “15
"A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any
iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three
witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16
"If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of
wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who
have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges
who will be in office in those days. 18
"The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a
false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had
intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
20 "The rest will hear and be
afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 "Thus you shall not show pity: life for
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
There are
some very interesting things in this section of Scripture that if followed
would make a difference in the lives of people and in the country where these
people live, for as the family goes so goes the nation that they live in.
Proverbs
19:5, and 9 say, “A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies
will perish.” Verse five says the same thing except for the end of it where it
says, “Will not escape.”
If a person
accuses another of doing something wrong then there is to be two or three
witnesses to confirm the wrong, however if there is not two or three witnesses
then the person who is doing the accusing is take the person before the Lord,
before the priests and the judges and they will determine if the person has
done any wrong. If there was no wrong
doing then the witness will receive the same punishment that the offender would
have got. Moses goes on to say that this
procedure would keep this kind of thing from happening.
Moses then
speaks of how the punishment shall fit the crime by repeating a statement he
spoke earlier in Exodus 21:23-25, “23 “But if there is any further injury, then
you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for
bruise.” There is a Latin phrase that
speaks of this “lex talionis” which
is the Latin for ‘The law of retaliation.’
If a person goes into a store and shop lifts something he should not
receive the same punishment of a person who rapes someone and the same in
reverse is true.
Warren
Wiersbe writes, “Jesus exhorted us not to practice personal revenge but to
leave such matters in the hand of God (Romans 12:17-21). We’re to imitate the Master and return good
for evil, love for hatred, and sacrifice for selfishness (1 Peter 2:11-25).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is a very hard thing to follow the things
that Jesus said about situations like this, and it can only be done through the
power of the Holy Spirit and having a great faith in the Lord and His Truth
that is found in His Book. By God’s
grace I will follow this.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Trust the Lord to fill me with His Spirit to do the things He has for me to do so that He will receive the glory for me doing them.
Memory verses for the week: Ephesians
3:14-16
14. For
this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15. from
whom every family in heaven and one earth derives its name,
16. that
He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
6/3/2009 10:52 AM
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