July 12 - Evening
"When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers,
but a ruler with discernment and
knowledge maintains order.
A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.
Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them.
Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully."
- Proverbs 28:2-5
A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.
Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them.
Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully."
- Proverbs 28:2-5
The Discerning Citizen
What timely insight we receive in the series of wise sayings preserved in Proverbs 28:2-5.
28:2 – A wise ruler does not leave any reason for people to desire to rebel and overthrow his leadership.
28:3 – In contrast to a wise ruler who promotes the people’s production and ingenuity, the oppressive ruler prevents people from rising social standing, productivity and wealth. Instead, the oppressive ruler beats the people down like “driving rain” which makes it impossible for the people to flourish, produce and prosper.
28:4 – This verse returns to the rebellion of 28:2. Citizens without wisdom sill not understand the downside of the wicked, oppressive government, because for a brief season they will gain money and status. Because of this and because of their lack of insight those without wisdom will praise the wicked government’s evil philosophy. But, because of insight and in an attempt to avoid the failure of their society the wise will resist the very government and evil philosophy the people with no insight praise.
The difference between wisdom and foolishness, between understanding and ignorance, between insight and deception is the knowledge of the Lord. Those who seek the Lord will have the knowledge to discern, those who reject the Lord will not be able to discern good from evil, right from wrong. This is the central theme of Proverbs:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Proverbs 1:7
The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge, growth and prosperity the:
- Man
- Business owner
- Citizen
- Friend
- Governmental leader
Without the fear of YHWH evil philosophies will lead the man into becoming a wicked business owner, citizen, friend and leader.
Mulos (Gr) – millstone (Eng) – the Greek word mulos is a hand mill that is made of two circular stones. The top stone rotates on the lower stone that does not move. Grain is dropped into a hole
that extends through the top stone and is crushed as the upper stone rotates on it until it appears
as powder on the lower stone. Mulos is used in Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2.
I will seek the Lord and receive his wisdom so that I might be a wise man, a wise business owner, a wise teacher, a wise husband, a wise employee, a wise citizen, a wise father, a wise governmental leader, a wise friend, a wise community member.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Efficient at work
Church
Humility among workers
Nation
Cultural Values
World
Indonesia
Palm trees at Jericho. The source of their water can be seen in the middle of the photo coming from the Springs of Elisha. This water source has always made Jericho an oasis in the Judean Wilderness.
The location of Calvary marked on the floor plans of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
(Details)
(Details)
Someone to Quote
“He became what we are that He might make us what He is.”
- Athanasius, 295-373 AD
Something to Ponder
In Israel during the Old Testament times men were chosen to fill three basic offices:
• king
• priest
• prophet.
Each generation of Israelites would have one or more king, priest, or prophet anointed with oil. The oil represented the Holy Spirit coming upon these men to enable them to serve in these offices. Once these men were anointed into an office they also entered into a new type of relationship with God. They were no longer just men, they were men who stood before God as the king, or the high priest, or as a prophet.
• king
• priest
• prophet.
Each generation of Israelites would have one or more king, priest, or prophet anointed with oil. The oil represented the Holy Spirit coming upon these men to enable them to serve in these offices. Once these men were anointed into an office they also entered into a new type of relationship with God. They were no longer just men, they were men who stood before God as the king, or the high priest, or as a prophet.
Here’s a Fact
The pinnacle of the Temple Mount mentioned in Luke 4:9 where Jesus was tempted by Satan was likely the southeast corner of the Temple Mount Wall or the south east corner of the building that stood along that same south wall. The height of either location would have increased the height of Mount Moriah and its view looking down into the steep Kidron Valley. Concerning this location, Josephus wrote, the “height of the portico standing over it was so very great that if anyone looked down from its rooftop, combining the two elevations, he would become dizzy and his vision would be unable to reach the end of so measureless a depth.
(View 1, 2) (Diagram)
(View 1, 2) (Diagram)
Proverb
"From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him."
- Proverbs 12:14
- Proverbs 12:14
Coach’s Corner
The greatest miracle is salvation. The godliest spiritual manifestation is the transformed soul.
Ezekiel 8
New International Version (NIV)
Idolatry in the Temple
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there. 2 I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. 3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. 4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.
5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.
6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”
7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”
16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
New International Version (NIV)
Idolatry in the Temple
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there. 2 I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. 3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. 4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.
5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.
6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”
7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”
16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
Amos 8-9
New International Version (NIV)
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
4
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,
“When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
6
buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
8
“Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10
I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
11
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.
14
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
Israel to Be Destroyed
9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
“Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape.
2
Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.
3
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them.
“I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.”
5
The Lord, the Lord Almighty— he touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt;
6
he builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.
7
“Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” declares the Lord. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
8
“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord.
9
“For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10
All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’
Israel’s Restoration
11 “In that day
“I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins— and will rebuild it as it used to be,
12
so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the Lord, who will do these things.
13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills,
14
and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.
“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15
I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
New International Version (NIV)
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
4
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,
“When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
6
buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
8
“Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10
I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
11
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.
14
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
Israel to Be Destroyed
9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
“Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape.
2
Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.
3
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them.
“I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.”
5
The Lord, the Lord Almighty— he touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt;
6
he builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.
7
“Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” declares the Lord. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
8
“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord.
9
“For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10
All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’
Israel’s Restoration
11 “In that day
“I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins— and will rebuild it as it used to be,
12
so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the Lord, who will do these things.
13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills,
14
and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.
“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15
I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.