Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category


Under Gods Command

Judges 18:31 They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. 

The true worship of God should have been maintained through the Levitical priests scattered throughout the land and the influence of the tabernacle in Shiloh.  This shows how pagan influences and moral depravity had crept into every corner of Israelite culture.  Although 300 years had passed since they entered the Promised Land, they still had not destroyed the idolatry and evil practices within it.

Lets Bring it Home: There may be a tendency in your life to allow “harmless” habits to have their own small corners, but they can become dominating forces.  The values, attitudes, and practices you have adopted from the world’s system can be exposed by applying the light of God’s truth to them.  Once you see them for what they are, you can begin to uproot them.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 19:08 – He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers. 

Is it good to love yourself? Yes, when your soul is at stake! This proverb does not condone the self-centered person who loves and protects his or her selfish interest and will do anything to serve them.  Instead it encourages those who really care about themselves to seek wisdom.


Under Gods Command

Judges 18:30-31 – There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priest for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.  They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.    

The tribe of Dan had stolen Micah’s idols, and now they set them up in Laish.  Although the Danites were actually denying God by worshipping these images (Exodus 20:1-5), they probably assumed they were worshiping God through them.  Worshiping images of God is not worshiping God, even if it resembles true worship in some ways. 

Lets Bring it Home: People repeat the same mistake today when they claim to be Christians without really believing in God’s power or changing their conduct to conform to his expectations.  Godliness cannot be merely a claim.  It must be a reality in our motives and in our actions.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 18.8 – The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts. 

It is as hard to refuse to listen to gossip as it is to turn down a delicious dessert. Taking just one morsel (piece) of either one creates a taste for more.  You can resist rumors the same way a determined dieter resists candy-never even open the box.  If you don’t nibble on the first bite of gossip, you can’t take the second and the third.


Under Gods Command

Judges 18:25-27 – The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us or some hot-tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”  So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.  Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people.  They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 

Did the tribe of Dan have the right to kill the citizens of Laish?  No, God had commanded Israel to clean out and destroy certain cities because of their idolatry and wickedness, but Laish did not fall under that judgment.  It was not within the assigned boundaries of Dan,, and its people were peaceful in contrast to the warlike Canaanites.  But the tribe of Dan had no regard for God’s law.  God’s law said to destroy a city for idolatry.  The Danites themselves were guilty of this sin.  This story shows how far some of the tribes had wandered away from God.  Just because the Danites successfully defeated Laish doesn’t mean their actions were right.  Their idolatry show that God was not guiding them.

Lets Bring it Home: Today many justify their wrong actions by outward signs of success.  They think that wealth, popularity, or lack of suffering is an indication of God’s blessing.  But many stories in the Bible indicate that evil and earthly success can go hand in hand (See, for example, 2 Kings 14:23-29).  Success doesn’t indicate God’s approval.  Don’t allow personal success to become a measuring rod of whether or not you are pleasing God.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. 

“I was wrong” or “I need advice” are difficult phrases to utter because they require humility.  Pride is an ingredient in every quarrel.  It stirs up conflict and divides people.  Humility, by contrast, heals.  Guard against pride.  If you find yourself constantly arguing, examine your life for pride.  Be open to the advice of others, ask for help when you need it, and be willing to admit your mistakes.


Under Gods Command

Judges 18:18-21 When these men went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word.  Come with us, and be our father and priest.  Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household? Then the priest was glad.  He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.  Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left. 

 Through this entire incident, no one desired to worship God; instead, they wanted to use God for selfish gain.  Today some people go to church to feel better, be accepted, relieve guilt, and gain business contacts or friends.

Lets Bring it Home: Beware of following God for selfish gain rather than selfless service.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 12:21 No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. 

This is a general, but not universal, truth.  Although harm does happen to the righteous, they are able to see opportunities in their problems and move ahead.  The wicked, without God’s wisdom are ill-equipped to handle their problems.


Under Gods Command

Judges 17:5-6 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.  In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as he saw fit. 

Today, as in Micah’s day, everyone seems to put his or her own interests first.  Time has not changed human nature.  Most people still reject God’s right way of living.  The people in Micah’s time replaced the true worship of God with a homemade version of worship.  As a result, justice was soon replaced by revenge and disorder.  Ignoring God’s direction led to confusion and destruction.  Anyone who has not submitted to God will end up doing whatever seems right at the time.

Lets Bring it Home: This tendency is present in all of us.  To know what is really right and to have the strength to do it, we need to draw closer to God and his Word.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 7:1-5 My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.  Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.  Say to wisdom, “you are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words. 

Sons often neglect their father’s instructions and warnings. If they forget them, they will not be ready, when temptation is in their eyes, ears, heart, and loins. And the temptation here is dangerous and powerful – a beautiful and skilled adulteress (7:5-27). The same lesson applies to young women, when they are infatuated with a handsome man. Solomon begins and ends his warning with appeals to remember his advice (7:1-4,24).

The dangers of not remembering are great. How will a young man resist, when his eyes are full of her beauty, his ears full of her flattery, his heart full of her offered love and submission, and his loins full of desire (5:3;6:24-25; 7:13-21)? How will a young woman resist, when her eyes are full of his manliness, her ears full of his flattery, her heart full of his attention and affection, and her body craves his full embrace (Gen 34:1-3)?

By nature, a son does not value his father’s warnings. He deceives himself to believe that his father is out of touch with the world, that his father overstates the danger, that his father wants to deprive him of pleasure, that his father never met a desirable woman, that his father did not have sexual lusts, or that he can escape the consequences his father describes. All these are damnable lies from a foolish youthful heart and the father of lies.

Sons must trust fathers and esteem their advice and warnings. Every father was once a young man with the same desires and temptations. But a father has survived youth and reflected much on what is best for his son. He has long-term success in mind, not short-term pleasures that will ruin his life! Fathers love their sons more than any woman will ever love them, even a virtuous wife! Young man, keep your father’s commandments!

Young men must resist the attraction and temptation of a whorish woman by having their minds firmly established in their fathers’ commandments long before they encounter this very dangerous creature. Once they are even slightly captivated by the appearance, flattery, or offers of a seductress, it becomes almost impossible to recall any warnings.

But what will a young man do, whose father does not teach or warn him about such a woman? He will be helpless before the drawing power of her body and wiles. Such fathers are accomplices in the destruction of their sons! Though he may have advised and warned about many dangers, he neglected the most harmful. Fathers, save your sons!

Reader! God your Father has given His commandments and law to you. Do you keep them as the apple of your eye? Do you read them daily? Do you meditate upon them? Do you tremble before their warnings and rejoice at their instruction? Or do you deceive yourself that you can forget or neglect them and survive? Do not be a fool!