Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Fail love

2 Samuel 14:21-33
Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. But the king said, "He must go to his own house; he must not see my face."
Two years later Absalom set Joab field on fire, then Joab come to Absalom's house, then Joab went to the king and told him Absalom want to see him. Then king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.
Joab wins his point, and Absalom returns from exile. But two long, frustrating years pass before his admitted to his father's presence, and the relationship is deeply damaged.
Why?
v17,v20: Knowing right from wrong/good from evil may equally mean knowing everything.
It was Absalom hair which eventually brought about his dead. The weight is about 2.3kg/5lbs.
Joab wasn't come to Absalom's house because David has said to him, it is not permitted to see Absalom.
David let his son come back but don't see his face. It is not good altitude of a father to his son.
How?
Action of love did not work through the end and recover the relationship, it is fail love.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

All of us must die in this world, but God devises a way to save us from dead

2 Samuel 14:1-20
Joab knew that the king's heart longed for Absalom. So Joab sent someone to Tokoa and had a wise woman brought from there. Joab put the words in his mouth, and she went to the king.
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises設計 ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged疏遠 from him.
Joab pierces the king's defense much as Nathan had done, but with a fake偽裝 law-suit.
The time the appeal is to waive the next-of-kin's親屬的 duty to avenge his murdered relative.
Why?
The message for David is obvious. He is willing to overrule in the case of one of his subjects; why not for his heir?
Joab is a wise man and who really knew the heart of the king. He is a nice servant of David, but he also do something selfish for his personal profit or avenge instead of king's profit.
Life like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die since we born to this world, but God loves us, does not take away life, and he devises ways to that person may not remain estranged from him. The devies way is Jesus Christ save us from the dead.
How?
All of us must die in this world, but God devises a way to save us from dead.



Monday, July 28, 2014

Be strong to face the sin and get rid of it

2 Samuel 13:1-22
Amnon has a shrewd man Jonadab, so he had done a evil thing on his sister Tamar.
After he raped Tamar, Amnon hated her with intense hatred more than he had loved her.
Two years later, these has been Absalom's expressed intention ever since that day Amnon raped his sister Tamar.
Why?
Faced with the appalling rape of his daughter Tamar by her half-brother Amnon, David, though angry, does nothing at all. The strong king is a fatally weak father. Had David taken action he might have prevented both the murder and the later rebellion.
The story of the raped of Dinah in Genesis 34 gave her no voice. Here the writer lets us feel the agony痛苦 of Tamar. Her voice is clearly heard, for its own sake and to explain Absalom's hatred, revenge and eventual rebellion against the king.
Amnon had no thought of marriage, he only wanted to satisfy his lust.
V37)Absalom went to his mother's home.
Have shrewd friend will fall into evil pit.
Don't do nothing to the evil things. The sonsequence of evil thing is dead and violence.
How?
Be strong and face the sin and get rid of it.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Put the Lord at first priority

2 Samuel 12:1-31
After the child of Uriah's wife bore to David was dead, David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him.
Despite David's anguished prayer the child dies, nor is there yet any resurrection hope to comfort him in his loss.
But this is not the end of the relationship with Bathsheba, nor is she rejected: for out of the grief and the comforting comes another life, and the Lord loved the boy.
All this time David's army has been campaigning against Ammonites. Joab has set things up for David to come in at the head of his troops and capture Rabbah/Amman.
A talent of gold is about 30 kg/66lb.
Why?
For the Lord loved David he turned to God after his sin was rebuked by Nathan. Even after his son was dead, his first thing is go into house of the Lord and worship the Lord.
When one has sin and turn to God with his heart, God will forgive him totally, but he  has to pay the punishment for his sin.
How?
Am I alway set the Lord at the first priority? anytime and any situation.





Saturday, July 26, 2014

Despised the word of the Lord is have sin

2 Samuel 12:1-15
The Lord sent Nathan to David. He rebuked David. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken the his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
The penalty from the Lord are
1)The sword shall never depart from your house.
2)Raise up evil against you out of your own house.
3)Take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
4)The child who is born to you shall die.
Davie committed his sin when Nathan revealed his sin, so he shall no die.
Uriah is dead; the wedding over; the child born. It all seems to have blown over very nicely - until Nathan arrives.
And then, by means of a simple little story with a sting in its tail, the whole sordid 污穢 episode is exposed.
The prophet's tale slips under David's guard, in the way of stories, and suddenly David sees himself as God sees him: a humbling experience for a king. God forgives him, but he is punished.
Why?
Pay four times over: Exodus 22:1 If a man steaks an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
David is humble and confess his sin so he shall not die, but the punishment is remain and he has to suffer it.
How?
One have to pay cost for his sin then his sin may be erased.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Watershed in David's life

2 Samuel 11:14-27
David wanted Uriah's wife to be his wife and hide he slept with her, he made a murdered Uriah through the cooperation of Joab.
Uriah did not know he send a letter to kill himself.
But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
The events that follow- adultery and murder - are the watershed分水嶺 in David's life. From this point on he reaps the bitter harvest of his sin. Although all seemed to be going according to plan, "The Lord was not pleased with what David had done."
Why?
The army is on campaign, under canvas, and the rule is that the men abstain戒除 from sexual intercourse交往. Had Uriah been a man of less principle he would have gone home to his wife. The child might then have been passed off as his, and he would not have been killed. But may be he already suspected the truth.
How?
God knows everything people had done. God sometimes does not stop it happen, but the judgement follow. Everyone has to take the responsibility to what he had done.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Guard your heart

2 Samuel 11:1-13
David Got up one evening from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From there he saw a beautiful woman bathing, who is Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite.
David sent messengers to get her and he slept with her. Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, " I am pregnant."
David asked Uriah came back from war, tried let him go home sleep with his wife, but Uriah refused to go home for his responsibility to his master.
Why?
His army is fighting the Ammonites, but this spring the king is not with them. He is taking an after-siesta stroll in the cool, on the palace roof. And from his vantage-point he can see down into the open inner courtyard of a nearby house, where the lovely Bathsheba is going through the monthly purification ritual following menstruation經期.
How?
David sinned for he was nothing to do and had lust, adultery mind. Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it。(Proverbs 4:23)

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Lord will do what is good in his sight

2 Samuel 10:1-19
David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father, but the Ammonite nobles thought David sending men to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it. So they shamed David's men and hired many foot soldiers from other country ready fight to David.
Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight, Joab said.
David defeated Ammonite/Syrian alliance, so Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
Hanun provoked the war by his outrageous treatment of the ambassadors. But no doubt neighbouring nations were suspicious and afraid of Israel's powerful king.
This victory marks another big extension of the kingdom and David's power over neighbouring nations.
Why?
In background the Lord helped David and let his kingdom more powerful and extension more.
Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. They were fight for the God and his people, they has faith to the Lord will do what is good.
How?
The Lord will do what is good in his sight, so I do not afraid, be strong and bravely to do the missions of God.



Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Keep covenant

2 Samuel 9:1-13
David kept his promise to Jonathan, he took care Mephibosheth life. Restore to Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to his grandfather Saul, and he will always eat at David's table like one of David's son.
Ziba and all his family and the servant are to farm the land for Mephiboshenth and bring in the crops, so that his master's grandson may be provided for.
The king's summons terrified Mephibosheth. But David's motive are wholly good, 'for Jonathan's sake'. He restore the family estates and treats the young man as his own son.
Why?
V10 This sounds contradictory, but being at court would mean an increase in general expense, even if meals were provided.
God keep covenant to us, so as we keep loving the Lord!
How?
David obeyed his covenant with his friend Jonathan!

Monday, July 21, 2014

David dedicated these articles to the Lord

2 Samuel 8:1-18
The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he ha subdued; Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek, Bobah.
David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.
Why?
Previously David was on good terms with the Moabites, so this is hard to understand. Much later, a view was put forward that they had killed his parents.
David knew his victory were blessed by the Lord so he dedicated those articles to the Lord.
For David fear the Lord and doing what was just and right, so the Lord gave him victory wherever he went.
Doing what is just and right to his people is foundation of a nation.
How?
Victory is blessed from the Lord, so all achievement are belong to the Lord!


Sunday, July 20, 2014

O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy

2 Samuel 7:18-29
There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!
O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight.
Why?
On this promise rests a hope which runs right through the remainder of the Old Testament the hope of a Messiah.
And when Christ came, the promise was fulfilled. He was born in David's birthplace, Bethlehem, and of the house and lineage of David.
The angle tells Mary: "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
How?
O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy. Trust and have faith to Thee, obey words of the Sovereign Lord!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever

2 Samuel 7:1-17
The Lord declares to David through Nathan that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
God will not allow David to fulfil his dream of building the Temple - that is for his son, a man of peace, not a warrior.
He may not build a house for God, but God will build him a house - a dynasty - which will be 'for ever'.
Why?
The disappointment is followed by a promise that goes way beyond anything David could have asked: no wonder his response is a great outpouring of love and praise.
The dynasty of David in the world did not stand longer, but the kingdom of Jesus Christ is established for ever. Jesus came from David's own body.
David talk with the Lord through Nathan, God's servant, is not directly spoke to the Lord.
How?
God does not dwelt in a house of men built, all heaven and earth is the house of the Lord.



Friday, July 18, 2014

Humiliated in my own eyes in presence of the Lord

2 Samuel 6:1-23
David was afraid of the Lord that day for God struck Uzzah down and he died there beside the ark of God.
The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.
Now David was told, "The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God with rejoicing. Those were carrying the ark of the Lord, instead brought it and set the ark of God on a new cart.
Michal daughter of Saul despised David in her heart when she saw David leaping and dancing before the Lord.
David said to Michal, " I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes."
It indicate a severance of the relatioship between Michal and David. Consequently there will be no grandchild of Saul through Michal to lay claim to the kingdom.
Why?
After the Philistines returned the Ark, it remained at Kiriath-Jearim. Now David brings it to his new capital.
The occasion is marked with all the exuberance豐富 of Jewish worship. Even the king dances or joy. Only Michal stands aloof遠離 and outside it all, cold and unmoved by the presence of God.
Uzzah took hold of the Ark: It is sacred: not even the Levites were allowed to touch it. This is the reason for the severe punishment. David blames himself for not following the instructions Moses laid down. At the next attempt the Levites carried the Ark on poles.
How?
Fear the Lord, humble myself before the Lord and I will be blessed when God is with me.



Thursday, July 17, 2014

God is the fountain of blessing

2 Samuel 5:17-25
David defeated the Philistines, because David inquired of the Lord, and David did as God commanded him, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of  David to strike the Philistine army.
Why?
Consulting God seems to have become second nature to David, though how David asked and God answered is not made clear.
How?
Victory is inquire of the Lord and did as God commanded. Pray to the Lord and obey his commandment is the fountain of blessing.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

God gives us that no one can take it away

2 Samuel 5:1-16
David becomes king over Israel, all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and made a compact, and they anointed David.
David conquers Jerusalem. David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.
After David left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
The writer makes it clear that David is no usurper篡位. God has given him his title to the throne: a fact recognized by Saul.
Although part of Jerusalem fell to Judah at the conquest征服, the fortress itself had never been taken. The ground for their boast that a garrison駐軍 of blind men and cripples could hold it. But they underestimated David.
Why?
Jerusalem was a first-rate choice of capital. It was centrally situated, tribally neutral, had a distinguished pre-history from Abraham's time and could therefore provide the 12 tribes with unifying centre. It was held by Judah until Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it 400 years later.
The writer wrote David took many concubines and wives leads him astray to his kingdom.
David is no usurper, it is God has given him the title of the throne.
How?
God gives us that no one can take it away.


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Mercy and righteousness

2 Samuel 4:1-12
Two leaders of raiding bands in Saul's son, they went into the inner part of the house of Ish-Bosheth as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach.
Those two took head of Ish-Bosheth traveled all night to David at Hebron. They thought they can get reward from David. But David killed them for they killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed.
David gave an order to his men, and they cur off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron, But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried ti in Abner's tomb at Hebron.
Once again David's supporters completely fail to understand his attitude to Saul and the royal family. Ishbosheth is given honourable burial, the two murderers are publicly disgraced.
Why?
Good king respects the king's family, even Saul's treated him worse. David's mercy and love make him more honor and respected by his people.
David clarify the good and bed things, make judgement between right and evil men.
How?
Mercy and righteousness are both important!

Monday, July 14, 2014

The taint of the murder

2 Samuel 3:22-39
Joab murdered Abner. David said to his men, "Do you not realized that a price and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!"
David leads the nation's mourning for Abner. Despite a public declaration of innocence, the taint污點 of the murder remains with him all his life.
Why?
Abner's death is to David's advantage, just as the death of Ishbosheth will be; both weaken the support for Saul's family.
No matter what it was, to be king have to do the public declaration of innocence to this event. And somehow it is uneasy to erase the taint in memory of people.
How?
Taints of the evil are remain with us in our life when we did it. The Lord knows the heart of each one.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

The king of God's favor

2 Samuel 3:1-21
Abner angry over the words of Ish-bosheth for a woman.
There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
Saul had a concubine: A king's harem閨房 normally passed to his heir, which makes Abner's action tantamount無異 to a claim to the throne. Compare Absalom's action.
Why?
Ishbosheth is not the man his father was. Abner is the real power. If he transfers his support to David, he carries the nation with him.
David asked Abner and Ish-bosheth bring his wife Michal back, one is he thought that Michal is loving him, another reason is David hope Saul's daughter may lead him to be the king of whole Israel.
How?
The final king is the one God loved who is obey the word of the Lord

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter?

2 Samuel 2:12-32
Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men arise and compete before us."
Then Abner called to Joab,"Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter?"
Joab said,"As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning."
Joab were missing 19 men from David's servant, but the servants of David's men had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner's men.
Abner did not intend to kill Asahel. But the butt was sharp to that it would stick in the ground, and the blow proved fatal.
The Arabah:The long rift valley from Galilee to the Dead Sea and beyond; here , the Jorden Valley
Why?
An attempt to settle the issue by representative single combat at Gibeon is inconclusive, and full-scale civil war follows.
A joke or a compete led a battle and brought bitter. The end of war is our loved one lost their life and property.
There is peace in Jesus Christ only.
How?
Sword shall not devour forever, it has to be ceased. The end of war is bitter.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Blessed king who shows mercy to his people and inquire the way from the Lord

2 Samuel 2:1-11
David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah" and "Where shall I go?" The Lord answered to him.
The men of Jabesh Glead who had buried Saul, so David sent message to bless them and show them kindness and favor.
David was anointed as king of Judah at Hebron.
Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, brought Ish-Borheth son of Saul to Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, and all Israel.
Only Judah acclaims David as king. The other the tribes follow the lead of Abner, Saul's army commander, and give allegiance to Ishbosheth, Saul's son. For two years the nation is divided.
Why?
David inquired of the Lord for his way to go. Obeyed the command of the mighty  God.
David to be a king of Judah only, Israel was more bigger and he showed his respective to Saul's family, he sent message to the men of Jabesh Glead. David showed the kindness to all Israel men.
How?
A good king follow the command of the Lord and show love to his people, no matter they knows him or not.
Blessed king (leader) who has mercy to his people and inquires the way from the Lord.




Thursday, July 10, 2014

Deep and genuine friendship

2 Samuel 1:17-27
David wrote lament of the bow concerning Saul and his son Jonathan.
Saul and his son Jonathan are the mighty have fallen in battle.
I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful than that of women.
The lament for Saul and Jonathan is one of the most moving and beautiful of all David's poems.
His regret for the king seems wholly sincere; his distress at the loss of Jonathan, deep and genuine真誠.
Why?
Saul had led Israel for a few years, he is the king of Israel, he was God's anointed king. David fear the Lord, so as he respected Saul.
Jonathan had used bow to indicate the way of David.
This was a unique friendship which David valued more highly even than the love of women, which he was never short of. The words do not imply more: homosexual practices were in any case forbidden in Israel. We know that Jonathan had a son even though there is no mention of a wife.
How?
David filled with love to his friend and his king in Israel. The freindship with Jonathanis deep and genuine.


Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Fear the Lord and respect anointed one; 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 1:1-16
David hears of Saul's death. The reported is the son of an alien, an Amalekite. He said he killed Saul for Saul asked him," Stand over me and killme! I am in the throes of death."
David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them when they heard this news. They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and the house of Israel, because the had fallen by the sword.
David said to him, "Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ' I killed the Lord's anointed.'"
It was 100 miles from Gilboa to Ziklag.
Why?
The Amalekite's story differs from the account of Saul's death in 1 Samuel 31. If he twisted the facts hoping for a reward, he did not know David.
After the Amalekite raid on Ziklag David had no cause to love this race. Nonetheless it was not racial discrimination but his strong conviction that the king's life was sacred that let to the death sentence.
David loved and respected the God's anointed one. David fears the Lord.
How?
Learn from Davie that even he is a victor in the war, but he fears the Lord, he respects an anointed one.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Fear the Lord and be patient, surely the day is coming with fire!

Malachi 3:16-4:6
God listens and records what he heard from those who feared the Lord.
In the day when God make up treasured possession. God will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.
And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace.
I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with curse.
There are still come who encourage one another in the love of the Lord; and he knows and honours them.
They look forward to a new age of joyful freedom, when evil will be totally destroyed and all ills healed.
With Malachi the voice of Old Testament prophet falls silent.
Why?
God listens everyone says in the world, in that day, all will be reveal in front of the Lord.
The day of the Lord is coming with fire, it will burn like a furnace, "Not a root or a branch will be left to them." Totally be destroyed..
Prophet Elijah is John Baptism.
Jesus Christ came to this world, who turn the heart of the fathers to their children and the heart of the children to their fathers. It is not only reconcile the family together, but also let people return the heavenly father and let God have mercy on his children through Jesus Christ.
How?
Fear the Lord and be patient, surely the day is coming with fire.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Return to me, and I will return to you

Malachi 3:7-15
Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
Man robbed God in their tithes and contributions.
Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Why?
God gives them all they have, yet they rob him even of his legal dues. Anything given to God is only a small return on all that people owe him. To hold back from giving, through self-interest, is to deprive themselves of all the good things God would otherwise give them.
First man has to return to God, then God will return. Actually God will send messenger to proclaim his message.
All I have is the blessing from the Lord, so legal to sent tithe to the Lord. This is the responsibility to a Christian and the faith behavior to the Lord.
Put God at the first priority, God will put me at first priority. God is the fountain of blessing.
How?
Return to God and send tithe to the house of God.

Guard yourselves in your spirit. Justice and right will prevail

Malachi 2:10-3:6
Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
The Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless.
For the man who hates and divorces, says the Lord, covers his grament with violent.
Guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
God's people can always look around and see godless men and women flourishing. It seem unfair. But in the final winding up of thing justice and right will prevail.
The Lord is coming first to purify, and then to judge. First a herald-messenger will come to prepare the way. Then a messenger will come who is the Lord himself.
God does not change, Nor sadly, do his people..
Why?
Judah has profaned many sins, include abandoned his youth wife and married with foreign woman.
People may though God has forgotten them, the Lord says again, I the Lord do not change.
How?
Guard myself in my spirit under the way of the Lord!

Saturday, July 5, 2014

My covenant is one of live and peace and fear

Malachi 1:6-2:9
If I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord.
You say 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that the Lord's table may be despised.
For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
My covenant with Levi was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.
True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips.
The lips of a priest should guard knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth.
Why?
Because the heart of priest to the Lord is turned away.
Israel enjoys a unique Father-child relationship with God. God is in a special sense their Lord. But not even the priests have honoured him.
The rule for the sacrifices is the very best for God.
It would be better to close the Temple and stop the sacrifices altogether than show such contempt.
How?
As a ministry today in church, what should I do is set life apart from the world, guard knowledge and be sought instruction from my mouth.


Friday, July 4, 2014

Great is the Lord - even beyond the borders of Israel; Malachi

Malachi 1:1-5
The Lord says, "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated."
Edom will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wraths of the Lord.
Great is the Lord - even beyond the borders of Israel.
The name Malachi means 'My messenger'.
From the book itself we can deduce the historical setting. It would seem be around 460-430 BC either just before Nehemiah became Governor of Jerusalem, or during his absence later on.
It is a difficult waiting time, and disillusion has set in. Times are hard, the people are poor, ground down by foreign powers. The prosperity promised by Haggai if they get their priorities right has not materialized, and Zechariah's glorious predictions of the future messianic king and the day of God's judgment and restoration have not come to pass. It is hard to hold on to hope as the waiting drags on. The people are beginning to double the words of the prophets, to feel God has forgotten them and let them down.
Malachi's starting-point is God's love. His people, struggling with economic hardship, cannot see much evidence of it.
In answer they are told to look at their brother-nation Edom- overrun like themselves by Babylon, but not restored.
Why?
Love.. Hate: The Hebrew idiom is over strong in English. It means, not literal love/hate but the special choice of one and not the other.
Waiting time is hard, but suffering gets patient, patient gets hope.
How?
God loves us, yet we have not seen any evidence, but his word never fail. The time of the Lord is beyong our time.


Thursday, July 3, 2014

He is mighty to save

Zephaniah 3:1-20
Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, her prophets are arrogant, her priests profane the sanctuary.
The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong.
But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.
Wait for me, for the day I will stand up to testify, declares the Lord.
I will leave within you the meek溫順 and humble, nor will deceit be found in their mouth. The remnant of Israel will do no wring; they will speak no lies.
The Lord my God is with me, he is mighty to save.
Why?
The 'tyrant city, filthy骯髒 and foul卑污' is none other than Jerusalem!
Zephaniah enlarges on God's purpose for the humble, faithful few who will remain when all human pride and self-sufficiency is done away and the nation is purged and purified.
To be an official, ruler, prophets and priest have to do the right things according to the word of the Lord.
Wait for me: thd day of judgement will come soon! All what people has done the Lord knows it.
How?
God is mighty to save, even this world will be consumed by fire, but his honest people will be saved! Rejoice with the Lord in my life.


Wednesday, July 2, 2014

See the Lord and see righteousness, seek humility

Zephanian 1:14-2:15
The great day of the Lord is near near and coming quickly.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humilityperhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.

The only hope for God's people is to seek him, and begin living by his standards.
If they do not, they will share the fate of the nations around: Philistia to the west; Moab and Ammon to the east; Ethiopia to the south; Assyria to the north.
Why?
The day of the Lord is a judgement day, no one can escape his angry and justice.
How?
Seek the Lord and seek His righteousness, seek humility. Follow God's words and humble ourselves.