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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, March 2, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:The Israelites Unarmed Bible Verse:1 Samuel 13:15-22 (NLT) "Samuel then left Gilgal and went on his way, but the rest of the troops went with Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. When Saul counted the men who were still with him, he found only 600 were left! Even if God gives you a thousand reasons to quit . . . Saul and Jonathan and the troops with them were staying at Geba in the land of Benjamin. The Philistines set up their camp at Micmash. Three raiding parties soon left the camp of the Philistines. One went north toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, another went west to Beth-horon, and the third moved toward the border above the valley of Zeboim near the wilderness. There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn’t allow them for fear they would make swords and spears for the Hebrews. So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles, they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith. The charges were as follows: a quarter of an ounce of silver for sharpening a plowshare or a pick, and an eighth of an ounce for sharpening an ax or making the point of an ox goad. So on the day of the battle none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan. " Message:
Things keep getting worse for Saul, who must be regretting that he ever agreed to be king. He was already stuck out in the middle of nowhere, facing a Philistine army many times larger than his own, his men hiding in cisterns and caves to avoid the enemy. Now, he is down to six hundred men; the Philistines who are hunting him have perhaps fifty times that many.
And even worse, his little company does not even have weapons; they apparently have farming implements that need to be sharpened, and the Philistines have apparently killed or neutralized all the Jewish blacksmiths. They can’t even get their sickles and mattocks sharpened unless they pay a Philistine blacksmith an exorbitant amount.
On top of all that, Samuel has disavowed Saul and basically cursed his kingship.
The last sentence promises us a battle tomorrow. Is this the end of Saul’s brief reign?
It is impossible not to notice how far Israel has sunk since the days of Joshua. The Hebrews are so thoroughly dominated by the Philistines that they need permission to have blacksmiths — which the Philistines deny them. They cannot sharpen a plow without paying hard cash to a foreigner.
The number of men at arms is pitifully small. Nevertheless, anyone who has read the Book of Judges must remember Gideon and realize that the size of an army might not be determinative of its strength! God might well intend that Saul’s army be small and weak.
Meditation : Prayer : Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you direct my way unto you, and make me and all of us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end that we may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before you, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints....Amen |
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