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March 14 - Evening
“Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them
out of the hands of these raiders.”
- Judges 2:15-16 |
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Temporary Deliverance Does Not Produce Renewal |
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The Lord was against Israel as he was against the Canaanites. Even though Israel was chosen by the Lord and his favored people, their own volitional rebellion prevented the Lord from assisting them. The Lord cannot side with evil. Israel failed to operate in the Lord’s covenant and found themselves outside his boundaries in disorder, divided and confused. In fact, Israel’s Divine Warrior, the Angel of the Lord, is described as fighting against Israel – “the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them” in his covenant with Israel.
But, even without Israel’s repentance the Lord, in his mercy, found an alternative to help relieve some of Israel’s hardship and suffering. The Lord raised up individual men (and, women) who could bring some kind of assistance in the form governmental management or military encounter through the avenue of a human being.
The sopetim, or, judges, rulers or military heroes, whom the Lord raised up, were mere temporal deliverers who relieved Israel of some of their problems. This temporary deliverance would give Israel a chance to reorganize, seek the Lord and strengthen their soul. Not until the day of Samuel does a judge actually make some kind of contribution to their society in the form of teaching and instruction. (Deborah came the closest before Samuel.) A mere military victory or momentary deliverance from oppression does not renew the soul or transform a life. Temporal relief removes an outer burden, but does not strengthen the inner man (or, men) in a society. Thus, with mere temporal deliverance, without the filling of the soul with the knowledge of the Lord, the Israelites were simply being lifted out of the murky depths of despair by the individual judges only to be set on its banks where they would slip again into the sea of despair. And, with each deliverance, Israel would slip quicker and quicker each time back into their chaos. |
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“The article of justification must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart.” – Martin Luther |
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Events from 1800-1900
• Jehovah's Witnesses (1884), Mormons (1830),
Seventh Day Adventist (1844) Christian Science (1892)
are established.
• New philosophies emerge:
1. Marx's communism
2. Darwin's evolution
3. Freud's psychology
4. German higher criticism
of Scripture's authenticity
• By 1900 there had been sixty-two generations of people since Christ.
• By 1900 34% of the world is Christian, 51% of the world has been evangelized,
and Scripture is printed
in 537 languages. |
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Apollumi (Gr) – Perish (Eng) – apollumi is a Greek word that means “to destroy.”
In Matthew 5:29-30, Luke 5:37 and Acts 27:34 apollumi in the middle voice refers to things perishing. In Romans 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 1:18 apollumi in the perfect tense is literally “the perishing.” |
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In Acts 18 Paul is in Corinth for 18 months. While in Corinth Paul is brought to trial by the Jews and his case is heard by Gallio, the Roman Proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12-17). We know that Gallio’s biological father was Seneca the Elder, the Roman writer and rhetorician, and that Seneca the Younger, who was also a well-known writer and politician, was Gallio’s brother. Gallio was born in Spain and named Marcus Annaeus Novatus, but when he was adopted by Lucius Junius Gallio, a Roman senator, his name was changed to match that of his adopted father, Gallio. According to an inscription in Delphi, Greece, Gallio was proconsul of Achaia in 51-52 AD, the years that match the time Paul was in Corinth (fall of 50 AD until the spring of 52 AD) |
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Do I seek God for deliverance or for renewal?
Do I want God to solve my problems or do I want God to give me insight and understanding?
I will seek the Lord, who is my deliverer, so that I might know him and understand his ways.
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"The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning."
- Proverbs 14:6 |
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For joy |
Vision and Support for effective World Missions |
Military Generals |
Botswana (updates at "Nation" or "World") |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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