DAY 100 Read 1 Samuel 4 through 7.
Today's reading: The ark of God, irreverently taken out to battle as a sort of good-luck token, is captured by the enemy. God's judgments of the captors cause them to return it by unusual means.
Memory gem: "The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods" (Psalm 95:3).
Thought for today:
The people of Beth-shemesh were glad when the ark of God returned. They stopped their harvest work and offered a sacrifice. But they did something else--they looked into the ark, against the plain teachings of the Word of God. Even the heathen Philistines had not dared to remove its coverings. The irreverent daring of the people of Beth-shemesh was speedily punished and many were smitten with sudden death.
The survivors, however, were not led by this judgment to repent of their sin, but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. They wanted to be rid of its presence. So they sent a message to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim and asked the people to come and take the ark away. It remained there in the house of Abinadab about seventy years.
The ark was the symbol of the presence of God. Is God in your home today? Is your home blessed with the presence of the ark of God? Is it like the home of Obed-edom, with all the children gathered around the Word of God for morning and evening worship? Do they love Jesus? Is Christ the head of your house? Is He your best friend, loved by all.
If you wish your home to be a place where angels love to dwell, a little sanctuary, a harbor in the storm of life, then believe in Christ. By God's grace your home will be a place blessed with the presence of God.
----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
1 Samuel 6:19. "Fifty thousand and threescore and ten men"--The Hebrew of this verse is difficult to translate. Literally, "seventy men, fifty thousand men;" or perhaps, "seventy men, fifty families." Beth-shemesh was a small town, with a total population of not much more than fifty families. Some Hebrew manuscripts omit the words "fifty thousand." Most commentators believe that only seventy men died.
Today's reading: The ark of God, irreverently taken out to battle as a sort of good-luck token, is captured by the enemy. God's judgments of the captors cause them to return it by unusual means.
Memory gem: "The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods" (Psalm 95:3).
Thought for today:
The people of Beth-shemesh were glad when the ark of God returned. They stopped their harvest work and offered a sacrifice. But they did something else--they looked into the ark, against the plain teachings of the Word of God. Even the heathen Philistines had not dared to remove its coverings. The irreverent daring of the people of Beth-shemesh was speedily punished and many were smitten with sudden death.
The survivors, however, were not led by this judgment to repent of their sin, but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. They wanted to be rid of its presence. So they sent a message to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim and asked the people to come and take the ark away. It remained there in the house of Abinadab about seventy years.
The ark was the symbol of the presence of God. Is God in your home today? Is your home blessed with the presence of the ark of God? Is it like the home of Obed-edom, with all the children gathered around the Word of God for morning and evening worship? Do they love Jesus? Is Christ the head of your house? Is He your best friend, loved by all.
If you wish your home to be a place where angels love to dwell, a little sanctuary, a harbor in the storm of life, then believe in Christ. By God's grace your home will be a place blessed with the presence of God.
----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
1 Samuel 6:19. "Fifty thousand and threescore and ten men"--The Hebrew of this verse is difficult to translate. Literally, "seventy men, fifty thousand men;" or perhaps, "seventy men, fifty families." Beth-shemesh was a small town, with a total population of not much more than fifty families. Some Hebrew manuscripts omit the words "fifty thousand." Most commentators believe that only seventy men died.
RSS Feed
