The Lord redeemed Israel out of Egypt for the purpose of worshipping Him. Instead of willingly serving Him, the nation of Israel turned to vanities. In doing so, they ignited the fire of God’s anger (Deuteronomy 32:21-22). Ultimately, God chose to provoke Israel to jealousy with a people “which are not a people” – the Gentiles. Since Israel had provoked the Lord to anger with their vanities, He was going to use Gentiles, whom Israel knew to be “not a people,” to provoke Israel to anger. The Lord expects the redeemed to flee vanity and give themselves wholly to His work, worship, and will. The Lord has now redeemed Jew and Gentile “for his name” (Acts 15:14), and He expects the same from each of us.
Though the means of worldly safety have changed throughout time, people have always put their trust in various things to offer temporary safety. The Bible depicts those who trusted in fenced walls (Deuteronomy 28:52), nations (Isaiah 30:2-3), horses, horsemen and chariots (Isaiah 31:1), weapons (Psalm 44:6), and mountains (Amos 6:1). People today place their trust in weapons, security systems, governments, insurance policies, and even medicines. Though the sources of trust have changed, the Lord remains just as grieved today when men place their trust upon the things of this world rather than upon Him. Ultimately, every source of worldly safety will fail, often in the moment we perceive as our greatest time of need.
Most people in the world would not consider themselves rich. For this reason, they might think it impossible to trust in riches. They might point to their meager bank accounts as evidence. Yet, a person does not have to be rich in order to trust in riches. No matter the amount of riches or treasures that one might have, there is a very real danger in trusting in those things. Riches, however, are of little value. According to Psalm 49:6-8, riches are of no assistance in man’s greatest need, the redemption of his soul. Not only can riches not help, but they are uncertain (1 Timothy 6:17). Those who trust in them will be disappointed and will ultimately fall (Proverbs 11:28). Even if riches increase, man should not set his heart upon them (Psalm 62:10).
Throughout history, various motives have moved men to sing unto the Lord. Some men sang as a testimony of some specific thing God had done for them (Exodus 15:1; Psalm 126:1-2). Others sang in order to teach truths set forth in the word of God (Colossians 3:16; Psalm 101:1). Some even sang songs that would testify against them in times of disobedience (Deuteronomy 31:19). Though some things have changed throughout history, God’s people still should sing songs of personal testimony like My Jesus, I Love Thee; songs that teach like Holy and Reverend Is the Name; and songs that witness against disobedience like He Was Not Willing.
On the sabbath day, the Lord Jesus stood to read the scriptures. This was a common practice in New Testament times as the Jews would read the scriptures every sabbath day (Acts 13:27; Acts 15:21). Publick scripture reading was not uncommon and appears to have also been a practice of the Israelites in the Old Testament (Exodus 24:7; Deuteronomy 31:11; 2 Kings 23:2; Nehemiah 8:3). The Bible also records that publick reading was common in the early church. Unlike today, believers did not own personal copies of the scriptures. Believers learned the scripture from publick reading (1 Thessalonians 5:27; 1 Timothy 4:13). Even now, believers should make an effort to publickly read the scriptures.
The Bible is not meant to be read merely for the sake of reading. God intends for the Bible to be read with a deliberate purpose! Sometimes that purpose may be learning, while at other times it may be for purification. There will be times when one might not know the purpose for reading, but there can be no doubt that the Lord has a purpose. In Deuteronomy 17:18-19, the Lord states that His king should spend time in the law of God so that “he may learn to fear the LORD his God” and “keep all the words of” God’s law “to do them.” In Ephesians 5:26, the Lord describes one of these purposes when He speaks of “the washing of water by the word.” God’s purposes may be missed when one indiscriminately hastens through the scriptures.
The prevailing philosophy today seems to be that each person should be allowed to do what is right in his own eyes. With this philosophy, anything goes! Unfortunately, even Christians have bought into this wicked mindset as they raise their children and allow them to decide what to believe to be true. This contradicts the very foundation of biblical faith that teaches believers to pass on the truths that they have received. The Lord called Moses to the mount to receive commandments with the end purpose that he would teach the people what he had received. This theme was quite common in the history of the nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:9-10). God gave His truth to His people with instructions to give those truths to others. The New Testament follows this same pattern. “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
The Bible clearly proclaims that believers have full access to the throne of God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, the Bible also identifies circumstances that can and will hinder a believer’s prayer life. According to James 1:6-7, a lack of faith hinders the Lord’s response to a person’s prayer. According to 1 John 3:22, disobedience can also be a hindrance to prayer. In 1 Peter 3:7, the Bible declares that the prayers of a troubled home will be hindered. In addition to this, the Lord acknowledges the benefit of praying according to His will (1 John 5:14). It is important to pray but also important to insure that your prayer life is not hindered by your personal walk and ways.
The 2,000-year history of the church reveals that there have been teachers and whole religions who have rejected the biblical teaching of the coexistence of a Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Others have accepted their existence but rejected the fact that these three are one with each being fully God (1 John 5:7). Some have simply been unable to comprehend or unwilling to accept that God could exist as one God in three persons. Regardless of man’s intellectual inadequacies, the Bible reveals that each member of the Godhead works together on our behalf in prayer. The Lord told us that every believer should pray to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 15:16). The prayers are directed toward the Father with the Son acting as the mediator (Hebrews 7:25). The book of Romans further reveals that the Spirit of God makes intercession for us in our prayers (Romans 8:26).
In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, the Lord expressed His great love for the nation of Israel. In the midst of this declaration, the Lord provided reasons why He placed His love upon this particular nation. In Deuteronomy 1:27, the people began to murmur and their murmurings bred lies. They stated that the Lord brought them out of Egypt to destroy them because of His great hatred for them. Their statements were completely false. This is true in most circumstances when people turn to murmuring. The problem gets exaggerated and the truth corrupted. Fabricating lies helps the one murmuring to feel better about voicing the complaint. Interestingly, the truth is usually not worth murmuring about.
