Year 2 Day 253

Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 28


Message - Scott Woodburn
Despite the abundant disobedience and trouble in Isaac’s family, the old man was still prepared to direct his son Jacob’s steps. Jacob was to go and stay with his uncle Laban until Esau’s anger lessened. As he went his father urged him not to marry a woman from the Canaanites but instead to marry a woman from his own people. The Christian is still not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. We would see the problem in the life of Solomon who despite his wisdom married all sorts of wives. The Word says that “when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 11v4) Jacob wasn’t to follow his heart but instead he was to guard it by following the Word of God.


With his father’s words ringing in his ears, Jacob began his journey to Paddan-aram and one night after the setting of the sun he fell into a dream. Jacob saw a ladder upon the earth which reached all the way up into heaven (v12). Amazingly the angels of God were going up and down the ladder but more amazing still was the fact that Almighty God stood above the ladder.


In his dream Jacob heard the voice of the Lord who said “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (v13-14)


By this stage we should be familiar with the covenantal language used. God promised once more that the descendants of Abraham and his descendant Jacob would be numerous and by their offspring all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. Jacob might be fleeing from his brother’s wrath but the Lord would bring him back to the land. The Covenant would be kept - God Himself ensured it!


Jacob woke in awe and fear. “Surely the Lord is in this place” he said and immediately used his stone pillow as a stone pillar. He poured oil over the top of the pillar and named the place Bethel which means the house (Beth) of God (El). Jacob vowed that he would respond to God’s graciousness with worship. He would one day return, there would be a house of God in the land and Jacob would tithe (give a tenth) of his possessions to the Lord.


What had Jacob done to deserve such a visitation? NOTHING. The picture we have encountered thus far has not been wonderful. Jacob means “he takes by the heel” or “he cheats”. His name was appropriate for just as he was born grasping at his brother’s heel so too he would cheat his brother and supplant him. Yet God takes the initiative and meets Jacob in a dream showing him a ladder between heaven and earth and promising blessing.


What have we done to deserve God’s grace? NOTHING. We may not be called Jacob but we are just as sinful and just as tricky. Yet in our lives God has taken the initiative. He has met sleeping sinful scoundrels with his abundant grace and by faith in Christ we have been awakened to the riches of the Gospel. How can any of this be so? Christ is Abraham’s promised seed and Christ is the ladder of Jacob’s dream. Jesus is the God-man who bridges the span between heaven and earth. He has paid the price at Calvary and by Jesus all the Jacobs of this world can be saved.


None of this is new but all of it is true. Respond to the Lord this day in fearful reverence. Worship Him and fulfil all that you vow for the initiative is His and salvation belongs to the Lord!


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q19 What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.

Year 2 Day 252 


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 9:1-14


Message - Alan Burke 


This weeks has been quite ordinary, so far that is. It may have been that way for me but what about you? You could have faced much that is anything but ordinary, the reality is though that for most of us, most of our weeks are filled with the pretty normal, run of the mill stuff. We may even be able to write a whole week schedule within nothing out of the ordinary happening at all, for we generally know what our days are going look like and there are few surprises. Here as we are introduced to Saul there is a sense you could say that it was just another day on the farm, nothing really out of the ordinary. 


As the passage starts off and we are told is who Saul is, it seems totally unrelated to what happened before other than Saul’s name literally means ‘asked for’ and the people had asked for, or rather demanded a king. Then we are told the donkeys belonging to Saul’s dad and wondered, so he has to go look for them. Loosing a few donkey’s might not sound like a big deal to us, but there were no horses around in Israel at that time and definitely no John Deers or New Hollands or any other machines, the donkeys were it. Even the poorest families would have had at least one.


All in all this was just another day on the farm except he wasn’t on the farm he was out looking for the donkey’s. Finally Saul faces up that the done sys are gone and his dad will be more worried about him (v5). We might be excused for wondering where this story is going, why on earth are we being told about the donkeys, but as we continue, as the servant of Saul tell him to go see the man of God we begin to see that there is more going on. Saul was looking for the lost donkeys but God was using what seemed like ordinary events to bring Saul to the place where he wanted him.


Finally Saul ends up going to see the man of God, arriving just at the time a religious sacrifice to the LORD was about to be observed (11) and at that time, the same time as Saul arrived the prophet Samuel had just arrived to bless the sacrifice (v14). An ordinary occurrence had led Saul to this place and at just the right time, just as Samuel was at that very place at going to offer a sacrifice. God was using the ordinary things of Saul’s life to bring him to Himself, it’s more than a remarkable coincidence rather it is a God-incidence, God in his providence was working together what seems like the ordinary occurrences in the life of Saul. 


Providence, God’s most holy, (Ps. 145:17) wise, (Ps. 104:24, Isa. 28:29) and powerful preserving, (Heb. 1:3) and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. (Ps. 103:19, Matt. 10:29–31). In the midst of hardships, trials, joys, celebrations and everything in-between the Lord is at work. My week has been quite ordinary so far anyway, my donkeys haven’t escaped for thankfully I don’t have donkeys, but the Lord uses the pretty normal, run of the mill stuff in our lives according to His purposes, for His glory and in His providence. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q18 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’ s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it. (Rom. 5:12,19, Rom. 5:10–20,
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Year 2 Day 250 


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 27


Message - Scott Woodburn
As we studied the life of Abraham we discovered that he was far from a perfect man. He knew the promise of God and yet often took matters into his own sinful hands, not least when he, Sarah and Hagar conspired together to provide an heir. Unfortunately the next generation seemed to share Abraham’s habit of disobedience.


Isaac was old and about to die and so he urged his beloved son Esau to go hunting and to make his father some delicious food. Isaac knew death was coming and so he wanted to bless his son Esau before he died. This seems like a beautiful picture of the bond between father and son and yet disobedience abounds. Isaac knew the word of God which said the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob) (Genesis 25v23). His wish to bless Esau was in direct opposition to the stated plan of God.


Esau had already acted rashly and sold his birthright and blessing to Jacob for the poor price of a bowl of stew (Genesis 25v29-34). Did his father know about this arrangement? We can’t be sure. But Esau knew and God knew. Despite this Esau hurried out hunting with his father’s words ringing in his ears. Esau wanted the blessing regardless of what he previously promised.


What about Jacob and Rebekah? We can be sure that the Lord would have kept His word. If Jacob had rested in the promises of the Lord then the blessing would certainly have come to him. Instead he and his mother conspired to trick Isaac. There was no honour in such an act. A wife sought to fool her husband and a son showed no love for his brother. Rebekah made food which pleased her husband and Jacob dressed like his brother Esau and lied to his father repeatedly. The deed was done and the blessing was won, Isaac pronounced a blessing over Jacob.


The result of these multiple acts of disobedience was tragic. Isaac shook with anger when he realised what had happened. Esau begged his father for a blessing but his father’s words only underlined that Esau would serve his brother. Esau wept and was filled was rage, so much so that he planned to kill his brother once his father died. Rebekah sent Jacob away, dividing the family and she worried that Jacob would end up marrying a Hittite. Jacob had won the victory but years later he would tell Pharaoh “Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life” (Genesis 47v9)


Brothers and sisters, we kid ourselves if we think we are doing God’s work by engaging in deceitful and wicked acts. Christ is not honoured by driving a minister out of his church by lies, rumour and deceit. Christ is not honoured when we refuse to speak to a fellow Christian without ever explaining why. Christ is not honoured when churches fight, split and divide.


The Lord will bring his purposes to pass but not by wicked means. Walk before Him in humility. Act and talk justly. Do deeds in keeping with repentance. Keep your lips from slander. Do all things under the gaze of the Lord for surely one day you will stand before Him and be called to give an account.


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q17 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
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Year 2 Day 249


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 8:9-22


Message - Alan Burke 
Forewarned is forearmed you could say, but that’s only the case if you listen to what your being told! Here the Lord tells Samuel (9) to warn the people solemnly, let them know what the king who will reign over them would do. What we are given here isn’t on one hand two surprising, most of the things listed are needed in any form of central administration. Yes much of what is here is predictable, but others indicate that the king will use and abuse the power he would have. 


What were are told that the king would make a permeant fighting force, a professional army and they would need supported. Up to this point they didn’t have an army, it was as and when needed assembled to fight. The king will also take, their daughters, to be perfumers, cooks, bakers, he’ll take their fields, vineyards and olive orchards. 


This is going well beyond what is needed for the administration of government, imagine it, the people are in effect demanding that they have someone who’s going to plunder them. We imagine our elected representatives are servants of the people, that’s what we think, or that’s what we like to think, well here the king was going to not serve the people but serve his own interests. As he does so he’s going to give the best of what his people had to his attendants, his servants. 


By getting a king, everything for the people of Israel was going to be turned on its head, from a fairly level playing field, where there wasn’t a social elite, to a hierarchal system of those who had much, and who had taken it from those who do not. The final result of having a king, and its there at the end of verse seventeen, the people will become his slaves! 


Most of us in hearing all of this would be thinking to ourselves, I like my freedom, I like my stuff, I like what I have, I don’t want to be a slave, to be a possession of another, to be conscripted for labour, I want to do what I want to do without being at the whim of someone else! Well this would be their king, he was going to take what belonged to the Lord and also create a tax burden on the people, this was a time of substance farming, all of it, was going to be burdensome, and the reality for them is that this would be a return to slavery which they faced in Egypt, it just would be a different type of slavery. 


What is most surprising in all of this is that whey are warned of what would happen, they refuse to listen. Look what they say “we want a king over us” (v19), a more literal translation would be “there shall be a king over us”! It’s a sad act of rebellion, they thought what the needed was a king just like the nations around, they wanted a king just like the nations around, they longed for a king like the nations around, they wished for it but even when they were forewarned they didn’t care of the consequences, or that this sin would lead to this point. 


The Lord has said that he would give his people a king, but it was not a king like the other nations that he wanted for his people but that was the kind of king that his people choose. Yet the Lord God by accepting their demands would use it for his purposes, for the Lord God works all things together for the good of those who love him and his purposes. So he gave them a king, and from one of those kings would come the true king, a king that was not a fallen sinful man but a king who was while fully man was also fully God, the Lord Jesus, the true King. He is not like those who demand much from us, instead he is the King of grace, for his yoke is not burdensome, and all those who are weak and heavy laden can come to him and know his rest. He is a King who doesn’t impose on us but instead offers us his mercy as we repent and believe in him, as we are saved from our sins and trespasses, to be part of a new kingdom, a kingdom not of this earth but the kingdom of heaven.  


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’ s first transgression?
The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression. (Gen. 2:16–17, Rom. 5:12, 1 Cor. 15:21–22)
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Year 2 Day 248


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 26


Message - Scott Woodburn
The end had come, a mighty figure had breathed his last and Abraham no longer walked the earth. Now that the man of faith had died what would become of the promises of God? We see quickly in today’s chapter that even though humanity is in a state of constant change, our Lord never varies. God is immutable. He is unchanging. His promises never falter.


As the Biblical story moves to Abraham’s son Isaac we see great similarities between his life and that of his father Abraham. Just as the Lord had revealed Himself to Abraham bringing commands and promises, so He now reveals Himself to Isaac. Isaac is commanded not to travel to Egypt (v2) and he hears once again the mighty promises of the covenant of grace (v3-5)


Just as Abraham made mistakes in his life so too did Isaac. Like his father before him, Isaac pretended that his wife Rebekah was his sister. Just like his dad, Isaac feared the men of the land and so took matters into his own hands. This time however, king Abimelech wasn’t fooled by the lie and commanded his people not to touch either Isaac or his wife Rebekah (v6-11).


Just as the Lord had blessed Abraham abundantly, so too did Isaac know the Lord’s blessing. He reaped a great harvest and became rich in flocks, herds and servants, so much so that he was envied by the Philistines and told to leave the region by king Abimelech (v12-16).


Just as Abraham had dug wells of water in Gerar so too did Isaac dig his father’s old wells and just as these wells had caused his father trouble, so too did Isaac see strife over the ownership of the water (v17-22).


Just as the Lord had often reiterated his promises to Abraham, so too does the Lord remind Isaac of His covenant faithfulness (v24) and just as Abraham had worshipped the Lord, so too does Isaac build an altar and call upon the name of the Lord (v25).


Just as Abraham had known family trouble with the saga between Sarah and Hagar and Isaac and Ismael, so too does Isaac’s son Esau make life bitter for him (v35) by marrying a Canaanite.


It’s almost as if we’ve seen everything in today’s chapter before. Perhaps Moses repeated himself as he was writing Genesis? Perhaps he confused the story of Abraham with the story of Isaac? Not at all. As we work our way through the familiar stories of Genesis 26 we learn again what Abimelech recognised. He told Isaac “the Lord has been with you…you are the blessed of the Lord.” (v28-29)


Isaac’s father had died but God’s promises remained resolute and unchanging. The Lord was not going to abandon his people and not even death could halt or hinder the progress of the Gospel. This truth remains. Generations rise and fall, people come and go but he Lord’s work never halts. One generation follows the example of the last and many sons resemble the good and the bad of their fathers. The Lord has seen it all and still He is faithful to all that He promises. As another year draws to a close He declares to His church “I am with you, you are the blessed of the Lord.”  


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q15 What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.

Year 2 Day 247


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 8:4-9


Message - Alan Burke 
In short, where we are is that Samuel’s sons whom Samuel had made judges (1) were using their position for their own benefit (3), the whole thing was a mess and the elders of the people came to Samuel to complain and they want a king to lead them (4-5). What they say is true, we might even think that they are justified in their desire for a king, but it was just a pretext for becoming like the nations around them. 


Think about it, they were saying Samuel’s sons were the issue, well Samuel could have sacked his sons, but your not going to get that with a king. Kingship is hereditary, if Samuel’s sons were bad and he was a godly leader of the people, what would it not be like if the King’s son/sons were hellions, who was to say that the son or grandson of the king that they wanted wouldn’t just be a shambles. 


Clearly what they had in mind was more than a change of leaders, what they wanted was a change of institution, they wanted a king because they wanted to be like everyone else. They were God’s covenant people, but this request is saying that they are unhappy with the way things work, the way God works, they wanted to be like everyone else. They had lived surrounded by the nations for two centuries and now they wanted to be like them, no longer were they happy to be different, to be set apart by God they just wanted to be like everyone else, but the problem is they in their desire they don’t want to do it God’s way, to live as God’s people they wanted to live like everyone else. As Samuel goes to the Lord it clear that they have not rejected Samuel but they have rejected God. 


The bible not only reveal Lord God to us and our need for him, but also reveals how the human heart works and how we are. This is God’s people wanting a substitute for God, they had done it before when they served their Ashtaroths and Baals (7:3-4), they had substituted him for something else and that was false gods, now they want to substitute God for a king.


The human heart wants to take God and put something else, anything else in his place, our rebellious sinful hearts think that ‘thing’ what ever that thing is, is better! It can be any number of things, and it is what we need, we want it, we make ourselves think that we need it, we long for it, we even wished for it. But those things never satisfy, those things will always disappoint, they have consequences that we often never imagined at the time as the Israelites would find out. Instead what they needed as a people and what we need as a people is to have God at the centre of everything through Jesus Christ, knowing that a relationship with him is what we need, it is better than anything else that we can have and if he is our Lord then we will do what he says, it will be seen in our lives (Lk 6:46-49)


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q14 What is sin?
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. (1 John 3:4)
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Year 2 Day 246 


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 25


Message - Scott Woodburn
How would you define a well lived life? Let me offer some suggestions. The life we want will last for as long as possible. It will be a life full of good things and very few bad. It will be a life of good health and strength. We’ll dance at our great granddaughter’s wedding and we’ll maintain all our mental faculties. It will be a life of prosperity and wealth and when we die we’ll leave a nice little chunk of change for our family. Sounds good doesn’t it? I’ll not fault you for any of that. I hope to see 100 and get to preach at my great granddaughter’s wedding!


Yet there must be something more than earthly good. There must be something more valuable than the contents of our will. Chapter 25 sees the end of Abraham and it describes the end of his journey in this way “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.” (v8)


Altogether Abraham had lived for 175 years. After Sarah’s death he had remarried to Keturah (v1) and together they had six children and numerous grandchildren (v2-4). He was able to leave all his wealth to his son Isaac (v5) and he was so well thought of that Isaac and Ishmael were reunited at Abraham’s funeral and together they buried their father in the family tomb (v9). Indeed long after his death future descendants continued to come in the line of Abraham. Ishmael saw his family grow (v12-18) and Isaac and Rebekah were blessed with twins called Esau and Jacob (v24).


As we examine all of this we could certainly say that Abraham’s life was a good one. Yet I think a phrase easily missed is that Abraham was gathered to his people when he died (v8). What does this mean? When Abraham died he was gathered up to heaven. Ultimately we can have all the treasures of the earth but they will be of no comfort to us as we enter Hell. Abraham was a rich man but died in faith knowing that greater riches were to come. Today Abraham dwells in the presence of Christ, saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.


There’s nothing more valuable than the Gospel but sadly Abraham’s grandson Esau wouldn’t agree. He was the first born twin of Isaac and Rebekah. Therefore as the elder brother he had the place of privilege when it came to his inheritance - this was his birthright. Esau came home from hunting one day absolutely starving and so he demanded some of his brother’s stew. Jacob agreed on the condition that Esau would sell him his birthright. Esau readily agreed for after all his primary need wasn’t a birthright but a belly full of stew.


This passage invites us to see a man who has no regard for the eternal things of God and another man, not perfect by any means, who understands the significance of the promises of God. One sells his birthright for a bowl of stew and the other takes every opportunity to claim the birthright for himself.


So what does a well lived life look like? Perhaps one full of years, full of joy and full of stew? I offer you one instead that is full of Christ and His Gospel. Hear the long gone voice of R.S. Candlish on a well lived life “Is the Christian full? Is the pilgrim satisfied? Is he ready to depart? Not because he can reckon some seventy revolutions of the sun in his lifetime, or maybe eighty, or even like Abraham one hundred and seventy-five. Nor is it because he can say of the various sources of interest and pleasure upon the earth, I have drunk of them all. But it is because he has eaten the bread of heaven and drawn water out of the wells of salvation; because he has been filled with the fullness of God; because he has been made a partaker of the unsearchable riches of Christ.”


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q13 Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
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Year 2 Day 245


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 8:1-5


Message - Alan Burke 
Samuel was the man that the Lord had raised up to lead his people. If you can remember back to chapter 1, there the Lord used Hannah at her point of need by answering her prayer, giving her a son whom she gave to the Lord. Since then were told how Samuel ministered before the Lord (3:1), then how the Lord reveals himself to Samuel through his word and Samuel’s word (therefore the word of the Lord) came to all Israel (3:21-4:1). Were not given a full blow by blow account of his life, but then last week we were told of how Samuel continued to judge over Israel all the days of his life (7:15). Now as we come to chapter 8 Samuel is old, he has been a faithful leader of God’s people and all the while Samuel was Judge things were good in Israel. To help him in his role he had appointed his sons to judge in Beersheba which is about 50 miles down the road from Ramah (1-2). 


Things initially seemed to be on the up for the people of God. But then we hear about his son, it’s like history repeating itself. Do you remember the sons of Eli? Well Eli’s sons were hellions, they had shown contempt and scorn for the Lord, they had made worship a circus, when you compare it to what the sons of Samuel were up to and what they were doing it is very different. While sons of Eli had made a mockery of worship, the sons of Samuel were using their position to line their own pockets and justice was perverted. Eli’s sons were right under his nose whereas Samuel’s sons were doing this at a distance away from his watchful eye. 


What we are told is of the elders coming to Samuel and it seems encouraging. After all this is didn’t happen with Eli, it seems the elders in Eli’s day didn’t give two hoots, they were just as bad as Eli’s sons, after all they were the ones who wanted to use the Ark as a magic wand, it was their idea, then a generation or two passes and things are so different. What a change! 


Actually, not much had changed at all, here we have the elders, alright they are different elders than at the time of Eli, yet the main reason why they have an issue with Samuel’s son and there wasn’t an issue with Eli’s sons, is because Eli’s sons let them live however they wanted to live. The sins of Eli’s son’s did not impact them, whereas the sins of the sons of Samuel did, as they are putting their oar in, they are lining their pockets, they are suffering as a result. 


Samuel was a man who served the Lord, a man who loved the Lord, who led the people of God but his sons were not like their father. It’s one of those things that we see repeated time and time again, and we see the reality of it in our lives, you might see the reality of it in your life, that even though we do all that we can our for our children there will come a day that they will stand on their own two feet, and our faithfulness to the Lord does not mean that when they reach that stage they will walk in his ways. 


There comes a time that all we can do is to trust them into the hands of the Lord. In our anguish with our hearts desire, praying that they might be saved (Rom 10:1), knowing that we need not be anxious anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7).


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q12 What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?
When God had created man, he entered into a (covenant of life) with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death. (Gal. 3:12, Gen. 2:17)
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Year 2 Day 243


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 24


Message - Scott Woodburn
Abraham was entering the final years of his life and yet he was still resolutely focused on the fulfilment of God’s covenant. Abraham would soon die but he knew his son Isaac would carry forward his Gospel hope and so like all good parents he started to make plans for his son’s future.


The promise of God was centred around a child who would come to destroy the works of the devil. He would come in the line of Abraham and in order for this to prove a reality, Isaac was going to need a wife. Abraham had two conditions for his son’s bride. Firstly, she was not to be a Caananite (v3). The line of promise was not to be tarnished by those who had no regard for the Lord. The Canaanites would one day be judged and so Isaac’s wife should come from Abraham’s home in Mesopotamia and not Canaan. Secondly, although Isaac’s wife should be from Mesopotamia, Isaac should not return to that place (v6). Abraham wanted his son to remain in the land of promise and not to be making his life elsewhere.


Abraham’s servant promised his master that he would strive to fulfil his wishes (v9) and soon the servant travelled to the land of Mesopotamia (v10). But how does someone go about finding a wife? The servant was no fool and turned to the means of prayer. He said “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” (v12-14)


The Lord God would indeed show steadfast love to Abraham, his hopes for his son Isaac would come to pass. Almost like she had been dropped from heaven itself, before the servant had even finished praying, a beautiful young girl called Rebekah appeared carrying water (v15). She served Abraham’s servant (v18) and gave his camels water to drink (v20) and soon it was clear to all involved that Rebekah was to be the wife of Isaac. She received her father’s blessing (v50-51) and made it clear that she would leave Mesopotamia and follow Abraham’s servant to Caanan. Later as Rebekah’s journey neared its end she saw Isaac meditating in a field (v63-64). Soon their introduction was made and Rebekah became Isaac’s wife and quite fittingly we are told that “he loved her” (v67)


I’m challenged by this passage to broaden my horizons past the immediate concerns of the day and to consider more than 2021. Let me ask, what do you wish for your children? To pass their exams? To get a job? To settle down? These are all good things and we should pray for them to come to pass. Yet Abraham’s concerns were greater. He was mindful of the promises of God and longed for his son’s marriage so that the Gospel would not fail.


How then should we pray for our children? Let me suggest that we are faithful in praying that they would know Christ and love His church. That they would marry in the Lord and raise Godly children. That they would give their time, money and talents to the work of furthering the Gospel and that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the next generations who we will never know or see would trust Christ and proclaim His name. May our prayers go beyond the horizon of 2021 “for the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100v5)


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q11 What are God’s works of providence? God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.
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Year 2 Day 242


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 7:7-17


Message - Alan Burke


All bets are off! As the Israelites were confessing their sins, the Philistines heard what they were doing and thought this was the time that they could get rid of the Israelites for God. But really, you gotta wonder what this lot were thinking here, they should have had more sense, after all a golden box that belonged to the Israelites had left their god Dagon in the repair shop and the devastation that had been brought upon the people meant their cry went up to heaven because of how awful it was (ch5). Nonetheless they amass to wage war on the Israelites, the Israelites who had assembled together, men women and children, those who were infirm being supported by those whom they love, nursing infants strapped to their mothers, children all about, they had come to the Lord. This wasn’t a fighting force, this was from a human perceptive only going to be a one sided affair, with all bets off, this was going to be a complete massacre but then the Lord indeed delivered them. 


They tell Samuel to keep interceding for them, notice the change there, for the call the Lord “our” God (v8). This is a people who had strayed, but had now come back, before they had taken the ark into battle without a second thought, they had tired to do it in their own strength and had failed but now, now they look to the Lord. There Samuel offers a sacrifice on their behalf, for the first time in this book we have the people coming before God as he had commanded it, making an offering for the atonement of sin as they offer a suckling lamb (Lev 14). On one level it seems such a trifle offering, one lamb for all who were gathered there, but it is what it symbolised, what it looked forward to what mattered, for the shedding of blood pointed forward to what Jesus would later provide, by his blood a once and for all sacrifice for all who believe (Heb 9:11-18). 


Human strength was not going to defeat the philistines in this battle, a sword and a bow against an unarmed assembly of the people of God was a foregone conclusion that is until the Lord himself acted and they were routed before the Israelites. Blue skies, all of a sudden replaced by dark clouds, and the sound of thunder so loud and fearful that the Philistines were thrown into a panic and they were routed. Think back to the prayer of Hannah, the words that came from her lips as she stood before the Lord in prayer of how “it is not by strength that one prevails”(2:9c) and indeed here the people were shown that as her prayer went on as she prayed how… “those who oppose the Lord will be shattered, he will thunder against them from heaven” (v10). The Lord had shown his power, they had seen with their eyes his complete and utter control of all. 


The Lord had delivered them, the Lord had done it. He was never going to bless a sinful people, he wasn’t going bless his people when they sinned grievously, when they despised the Holy, when they just did it in their own strength, doing all the pragmatic things they could think of as they took the ark to the battle field. But when they sorted themselves out, when they turned from their sin, when they repented, God did indeed work and brought salvation to them. At the first Ebenezer they had tried to use the Lord for their purposes failed (4:1), but here the second Ebenezer (7:12) the Lord acted on their behalf because they were repentant, the Lord wants more than just a ritual, more than tradition, more than observance, he wants us to turn to him, to trust in him, they did not deserve his forgiveness and we do not deserve his forgiveness, but he shows it to us in abundance to us though the Lamb of God that all sacrifices pointed towards, Jesus Christ.


Pray (acTS)


Sing

WSC
Q10 How did God create man?
God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. (Gen. 1:26–28, Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:24)
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