Meditation

11/25/2020

“She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.” (Genesis29:35)

The Name “Judah” (Hebrew- yehudah) was intended to suggest the Hebrew word for “praise” (yehodeh). His very naming was a prayer of gratitude. God worked in history many ways to accomplish His purposes, miracles being one of His ways. The passing of he promise to the younger son Jacob occurred through ht e deceptive practices of family members.

God did not cause the deception but worked out His purposes in it. In the midst of life’s moral and physical complexities God mysteriously works out His historical purposes. Faith testifies to God’s working through human freedom but does not claim to know how God works.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, Leah ended up having four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. The Bible does not hold the actions up as a moral example but reveals how God can accomplish His purposes despite the weaknesses of His people. Thus, it is up to us to give God all our ourselves, and let Him use them for greater glory, than we can ever imagine. It is in Jesus’s name that we pray. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“Plant the Word of God in your heart and your life will grow and produce a good harvest, rain or shine, that’s a promise!”

KNOWING GOD:

“Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” (Deuteronomy34:10)

To make Himself known to His people, God empowered human leaders to lead in historical acts and to interpret those acts as God’s acts. God entrusted His revelation to human agents so other humans could identify with it, trust it, and witness to it.

As the prophet like Moses, Jesus knew God in intimate prayer. Jesus as Son of God revealed us God’s face. The greatest example of an historical agent of revelation for Israel was Moses, leader of the central event of old Testament revelation—-the Exodus.

I AM

“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, Lead these people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know your by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.; The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of he earth?’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you ans I know you by name.’” (Exodus33:11-17)

Beloved, prayer is a conversation between friends. Moses was intimate with God, “face to face”. The seeing was spiritual, not literal. Abraham was also called the friend of God.

Prayer involves human search for direction, instruction, and confidence of God’s presence. It brings identity to God’s people. God responds to the personal requests of His friends.

SECOND THOUGHT of the DAY:

“She said, ‘Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.’ ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ he said, ‘not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.’” (2^nd Samuel 14:11)

The woman from Tekoa obtained a promise from the king, that, “if anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not bother you again.” Her response was, “Then let the kin invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger of blood fro adding to the destruction, so the her son will not be destroyed.

In Genesis 28:20-21 a vow or an oath is a pledge of faithfulness expressed in specific ways. A covenant originates in God; a vow is a human response of faithfulness to God’s faithfulness. Later, the Law made the taking of a vow entirely voluntary, but if a vow was made, it was binding. Thus, the king had made a binding vow to her.