The Bible has many examples of reputations that were changed. For instance, Moses grew up in Egypt, specifically in the house of Pharaoh. One day, when he was a grown man, he witnessed an Egyptian smiting a Jew. Moses killed the Egyptian in order to protect his kinsman. Bad news travels fast and Moses immediately developed a reputation as a short-tempered killer. He learned of this when he attempted to intervene during a dispute between two Hebrews. After the Pharaoh found out Moses’ identity, Moses ran for his life and spent the next forty years in hiding. Eventually, the Lord spoke to Moses and called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into a land of promise. Moses failed to lead the people into Canaan, but he succeeded in changing his tarnished reputation into something that God commended (Numbers 12:3).
In scripture, a man’s name frequently refers to his reputation. The wise man values a good name far above the accumulated wealth of the entire world. Its value is priceless. A good name is what others think of a man resulting from his conduct. Unfortunately, many people throughout history have willingly sabotaged their good name in order to get gain and earthly pleasure. Yet, those who truly believe and trust the word of God know that “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” With this in mind, the believer should reflect upon the long-term effects every decision brings upon his reputation. Reaping immediate gratification takes a back seat to the prolonged benefits of having a good name among other believers, the unsaved, and especially the Lord.
Most of us would assume that the Lord laughed at some point during His earthly ministry, yet the scripture never focuses on this point. Rather, the scripture seems to focus on the fact that He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). We know very little of any laughter, yet we do know that He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). He further lamented over Jerusalem because of their rebellion (Luke 13:34). We also know that He sighed at the healing of the deaf man who had a speech impediment (Mark 7:34). Heaven affords the Lord great rejoicing, yet His earthly ministry was consumed by heartache rather than mirth. This most likely was a result of dealing with the consequences of man’s sin.
We tend to think of laughter in a positive light, generally envisioning emotions like happiness or joyfulness. Yet, far too much laughter results from things opposed to God and His will. The Bible provides this same assessment. A careful study of the word laughter in the Bible demonstrates that the connotation is overwhelmingly bad. Today’s passage shows Sarah laughing in disbelief of the promises of God. Genesis 17:17 shows that Abraham did the same when he heard the news. These were two godly people; yet, much of the laughter found in the Bible occurred when the ungodly mocked God’s people and God’s promises (Nehemiah 2:19). Our Saviour too was “laughed . . . to scorn” when He declared that the daughter of Jairus was not dead (Mark 5:40). Laughter, in and of itself, is not wicked, but the cause of one’s laughter reveals its true makeup.
Psalm 119 is the longest verse-count passage (psalm or chapter) in God’s word. Interestingly, that particular psalm focuses upon one of God’s greatest gifts ever provided for mankind, His precious word. The second longest verse-count passage is Numbers chapter 7. Interestingly, God’s word focuses this chapter upon mankind giving gifts back to God. The passage could have been dramatically shortened had God chosen to give fewer of the details. However, the Lord chose to specifically delineate each of the gifts received from each tribe. Why? Maybe God wanted to emphasize the importance of every gift from every individual given to Him. No gift represented a lesser degree of importance to God Almighty. God does not need anything from man (Psalm 50:7-15) yet finds great pleasure in receiving gifts from those whom He loves.
