Bible League: Living His Word The LORD your God will force those nations to leave your country little by little. You will not destroy them all at once. If you did, the wild animals would grow to be too many for you.The Old Testament contains many symbols or shadows of New Testament realities. The nation of Israel, for example, is a symbol or shadow of the New Testament Church. The reason why the Old Testament contains mere symbols while the New Testament contains the realities is that life in Old Testament times could at best merely foreshadow what life would be like in the future through Christ Jesus, but life in New Testament times is actual experience of the reality of Christ. Given the relationship between symbol and reality, one can see how study of Old Testament symbols and shadows can illuminate New Testament realities. The exodus of Israel from Egypt and its conquest and possession of the Promised Land, the context of our verse for today, is a case in point. The exodus symbolically prefigures salvation; the conquest and possession symbolically prefigures the expansion of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Further, we can see from our verse that the expansion of the Kingdom will take place "little by little" less "the wild animals would grow to be too many for you." What does this mean for us today? After a person becomes a Christian (i.e., leaves Egypt), the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit begins to transform that person into someone ready to expand the Kingdom (i.e., conquer and take possession of the land). The expansion, however, takes place little by little. If it happened sooner, the person might not be mature enough to handle the problems, cares, and concerns (i.e., the wild animals) that come with a greater level of responsibility. So don't be downhearted if your advancement to greater levels of responsibility only happens little by little. God wants to keep you from being eaten alive by its problems, cares, and concerns. When it finally comes, you will be ready. And you will be happy that you didn't try to make it happen in your own strength and in your own timing. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingGenesis 12, 13, 14 Genesis 12 -- God Sends Abram to Egypt NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Genesis 13 -- Abram and Lot Part Ways; Abram Promised Many Descendants NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Genesis 14 -- Abram Rescues Lot and Receives a Blessing from Melchizedek NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Matthew 5:1-26 Matthew 5 -- The Sermon on the Mount; Beatitudes; Salt; Law; Murder; Adultery; Divorce; Oaths; Enemies NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.Insight Saying that Noah was “righteous” and “blameless” does not mean that he never sinned. Rather, it means that Noah wholeheartedly loved and obeyed God. For a lifetime he walked step by step in faith as a living example to his generation. Challenge Like Noah, we live in a world filled with evil. Are we influencing others or being influenced by them? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light.This morning we noticed the goodness of the light, and the Lord's dividing it from the darkness, we now note the special eye which the Lord had for the light. "God saw the light"--he looked at it with complacency, gazed upon it with pleasure, saw that it "was good." If the Lord has given you light, dear reader, he looks on that light with peculiar interest; for not only is it dear to him as his own handiwork, but because it is like himself, for "He is light." Pleasant it is to the believer to know that God's eye is thus tenderly observant of that work of grace which he has begun. He never loses sight of the treasure which he has placed in our earthen vessels. Sometimes we cannot see the light, but God always sees the light, and that is much better than our seeing it. Better for the judge to see my innocence than for me to think I see it. It is very comfortable for me to know that I am one of God's people--but whether I know it or not, if the Lord knows it, I am still safe. This is the foundation, "The Lord knoweth them that are his." You may be sighing and groaning because of inbred sin, and mourning over your darkness, yet the Lord sees "light" in your heart, for he has put it there, and all the cloudiness and gloom of your soul cannot conceal your light from his gracious eye. You may have sunk low in despondency, and even despair; but if your soul has any longing towards Christ, and if you are seeking to rest in his finished work, God sees the "light." He not only sees it, but he also preserves it in you. "I, the Lord, do keep it." This is a precious thought to those who, after anxious watching and guarding of themselves, feel their own powerlessness to do so. The light thus preserved by his grace, he will one day develop into the splendour of noonday, and the fulness of glory. The light within is the dawn of the eternal day. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.Psalm 130:3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Psalm 106:33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips. Matthew 15:11 "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends. Proverbs 12:18,19 There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing. • Truthful lips will be established forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment. James 3:8,10 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. • from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Colossians 3:8,9 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. • Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; Revelation 14:5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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