1/17/2010 10:12 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: A stern warning for the skeptics
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Judges 8:4-17
Message of the verses: “4 ¶
Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came to the Jordan and crossed
over, weary yet pursuing. 5 He said to
the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who are
following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the
kings of Midian." 6 The leaders of
Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands,
that we should give bread to your army?" 7
Gideon said, "All right, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna
into my hand, then I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness
and with briers." 8 He went up from
there to Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him
just as the men of Succoth had answered. 9
So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I return
safely, I will tear down this tower." 10
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about
15,000 men, all who were left of the entire army of the sons of the east; for
the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen. 11
Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of
Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the camp when the camp was unsuspecting.
12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he
pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and
routed the whole army. 13 Then Gideon
the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a youth from Succoth and
questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and
its elders, seventy-seven men. 15 He
came to the men of Succoth and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning
whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in
your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’" 16 He took the elders of the city, and thorns of
the wilderness and briers, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them.
17 He tore down the tower of Penuel
and killed the men of the city.”
I
have stated one of the key verses in Judges in earlier SD’s, and it seems like
it is appropriate to do so here as this situation warrants the repeating of
it: “Every man was doing what seemed
right in his own eyes.”
There
is a difference between the sins of Ephraim and the sins of what the people in
Succoth and Penuel did, for Ephraim’s sin was one of pride, and Succoth and
Penuel’s sin was rebelling against the Lord’s appointed leader who was
Gideon. Gideon would harshly discipline
these two cities because they were actually traders, for they would not give
bread to the army of Israel
for fear they would not win the battle and thus have Israel’s enemies defeat them,
however they must have heard that it was the Lord who was with Gideon and He
would give them the victory.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Going against a leader that is appointed by
God is something that should not be done unless the leader is in sin, and then
it must be done.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Trust
that the Lord will give me the strength to do what is right in His eyes
concerning the cancer that is in our local church.
1/17/2010 10:32 AM
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