SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/19/2014
10:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Lord’s
Discipline PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Lamentations
4:13-19
Message of the
verses: We will be looking at two
sub-points under this main point from the fourth chapter of Lamentations.
Blood (Lamentations 4:13-16): “13 Because of the sins of her prophets And
the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;
14 They wandered, blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with
blood So that no one could touch their garments. 15 “Depart!
Unclean!" they cried of themselves. "Depart, depart, do not
touch!" So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, "They
shall not continue to dwell with us." 16 The presence of the LORD has
scattered them, He will
not continue to regard them; They did not honor the priests, They did
not favor the elders.”
We will first look at what the Law has to say about shedding
innocent “blood” from Numbers 35:30-34 “30
’If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the
evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of
one witness. 31 ’Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer
who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 ’You shall not
take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to
live in the land before the death of the priest. 33 ’So you shall not pollute the land in which
you are; for blood
pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that
is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 ’You shall not defile the land in which you
live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD am dwelling in the midst of
the sons of Israel.’"” Looks like
capital punishment is the answer from the Lord on those who kill innocent people,
unlike what is popular in today’s society.
Now we know that the Bible has much to say about blood but I want to
talk about the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for us as He died
on the cross. Blood is what causes us to
live, which is the way that God designed mankind as so it is very important to
say the least, and the blood of our Lord was shed for us as He died on the
cross. There are many different hymns
written about the blood of our Lord, and rightly so, for as the Bible says “without
the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin.” The sacrificial animals in the OT were a forerunner
or a picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ would do for us.
The priests and false prophets were those who kept the
Law concerning blood, but they were the ones who were having innocent blood
shed because of the fact that they were not following what God’s prophet had
told them to do, for they were telling the people lies and this was the cause
of the city and temple to be destroyed. In chapter 26 of Jeremiah these false prophets
and priests were even going to shed the blood of Jeremiah, for they wanted him
dead because they could not stand hearing the truth.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Because they rejected the light of
God’s law, the people were defiled and unable to see the truth, groping about
like blind men in the streets, and crying out like lepers, ‘Unclean, unclean!’
(See Lev. 13:445-46.) Not only would
they wander in the city streets but they would become wanderers in the world at
large, with no place to call home (Deu. 30:1-10; Isa. 11:11-12; Jer. 23:3-8).”
Watchmen (Lamentations 4:171-9): “17 Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was
useless; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save. 18
They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew
near, Our days were finished For our end had come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in
ambush for us in the wilderness.”
We remember from our study in Jeremiah that the people of
Judah did not want to trust in the Lord to care for the invasion of the
Babylonians and so they went to other nations, especially Egypt to help
them. These other nations are called “lovers”
in the Scriptures, and God was not pleased with what they did. The watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem were
watching in vain for help to come but none would arrive for those nations were
also being defeated by their enemies and would not come to rescue Israel. There was a time when the Babylonians would
stop their attack on Judah and the false prophets stated to the people that
what Jeremiah was telling them was a lie, but eventually they returned to
fulfill the words of Jeremiah, for he received his prophecies from the Lord and
they are always right.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It was good to be
reminded of what the Lord did from me in shedding His blood for me on the
cross, and all of those who will accept His payment for their sins. The Lord’s Table reminds us of this precious
event and it is good to be reminded for we humans have a tendency to forget
things, and this is one we dare not forget.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I do have a medical issue that is affecting
me at this time and my prayer is that the steps that I am taking to care for
this will be blessed by the Lord.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-9.
1 Therefore if you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set
your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who
is our life, is revealed, they you also will be revealed with Him in
glory. 5 Therefore consider the members
of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
greed which amounts to idolatry. 6 For
it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of
men; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But not you also, put them all aside:
anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid
aside the old self with its evil practices,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: Peter, James, and John”
(Matthew 17:1).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said ‘Sing ye to the
Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he thrown
into the sea’?”
Answer in ours next SD.
9/19/2014 10:48 AM
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