Out of Bondage - Day 208 Through the Bible

The 57th Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair will be held this coming weekend - August 2 and 3 - on our historic town square in Burnsville NC - near Mt. Celo Church.  Over 50,000 people are expected to attend the annual event that includes 150 juried crafters, live music, clogging, many food vendors, and more.  It is one of the largest craft fairs in the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.

My Lessons and Applications for Today's Readings

Back to the Word of God / Back to Confession, Repentance and Covenant with God - Nehemiah 8 and 9 - The nation of Israel is devastated and its people despondent.  All the bounty of the land, of their families, their lives  - all is for the kings who dominate them...because of their sins. "Here we are, servants today!  And the land that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its bounty, here we are, servants in it!  And it yields much increase to the kings...You have set over us....because of our sins.   Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure...and we are in great distress."(Ellipses are mine and are for contemplation.) So Nehemiah, the governor, Ezra, the priest, the Levites and the people have gathered...as one...to hear and learn and do the Word of God.  One-fourth of the day is spent on this hearing, preaching, and teaching.  One-fourth is spent on confessing, repenting and covenanting with merciful God once again.  HIS story in their story is recounted before God and before the people from the time of Abram to the present.  The pattern is always there.  Goodness, blessing, enjoying the fat of the land, rest from enemies is followed by forgetting...not heeding God's Word, rebelling...acting proudly...until God brings destruction upon them again and gives them over to their enemies again.  Then they weep...mourn...fast...pray...humble themselves before God...confess...repent...covenant to return to God and His laws.

My Lessons and Applications - 1) We still continue this pattern of turning away from God and His word during times of wealth, health, and prosperity today or never believing in God in the first place. I have mentioned this before, but this always brings me back to September 11, 2001, and the months following that when churches were filled beyond capacity, people desperate for the Word of God regarding those almost apocalyptic events.  Peace was restored, and the disregard of God, of collective worship became the norm once again. Perhaps this is Spurgeon's "professing vs. possessing" Christianity or likely something much deeper. I read this in the Geneva Study Bible notes today during our sermon on the ABC's of Sin and God's Grace (ABC - Author, Birth, Consequences) that explains to me why so many turn from God during times of blessing (Cast out from Paradise / "your seed and her Seed" - Genesis 3), "Humanity is now divided into two communities:  the redeemed who love God, and the reprobate, who love self (John 8:33,44, 1 John 3:8).  2) Revelation is gained by recalling our  life walk with God - His blessings, His withdrawing of them, our response, 3) We gain physical and spiritual release from confessing particular sins, 4) True repentance  requires humility and deep soul-work 5) There is comfort, help and hope found in personal and communal study of God's Word, 6) I am in awe of the unfathomable mercy and patience of Holy God with sinful man, with me.

Paul's Final Journey in Fulfillment of His Mission - Acts 27: 27-44 - The captain and centurions have refused to listen to Paul's warning about bad weather and shipwreck.  Now caught in horrendous winds, weak from no food for 14 days, Paul urges the crew to eat for their survival. The Apostle offers thanks to God as he breaks bread.  All provisions are thrown overboard after the meal, and the crew attempts to drive the ship onto land.  The violence of the waves breaks up the stern when the ship is caught where two seas meet, the soldiers plan to kill the prisoners - including Paul - but the centurion intervenes and commands that all aboard swim or drift to shore on parts of the boards.

My Lessons and Applications - 1) As the OT promises material prosperity and peace on earth while following God's Word, the NT promises those in the spiritual realm now, their fulfillment for us eternally.  A study of Jesus's (Isaiah 53 and the gospels), Paul's (2 Cor. 11), the apostles' lives certainly gives lie to the material wealth and prosperity gospel preached by so many today, 2) We are warned by Jesus and the Apostles that we will suffer many trials, that our pilgrimage on earth will be difficult. 3) We must speak discerned truth even when it is not heeded (short-term vs. long-term consequences), 4) Remember the commandment to give thanks in all things - including trials and tribulations, 5) We must follow the command to "keep our eyes on Jesus, the author of our faith", in order to persevere to the end, through God's grace, for His glory.

It is our wisdom, in all our affairs, to follow Providence, and folly to force it.

Matthew Henry