SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/15/2020
9:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Confrontation”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 3:7b
Message of the
verse: “he said to them, ‘You brood
of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’
John
actually uses the same words that the Lord Jesus will use later on in two
occasions: “Mt
12:34 “You brood of vipers, how
can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which
fills the heart. Mt 23:33 “You serpents,
you brood of vipers, how will
you escape the sentence of hell?”
In
our last SD we looked at some possible reasons why these two sects came to see
John, and one thing for sure hypocrisy was on the top of the list. It does not say if John baptized them, but my
thought is that he did not. John
MacArthur writes “Gennema (‘brood’)
may also be translated ‘offspring,’ signifying descendants of children…Vipers (echidna) was small but very poisonous
desert snakes, which would have been quite familiar to John the Baptist. They were made even more dangerous by the
fact that, when still, they looked like a dead branch and were often picked up
unintentionally. That is exactly what
Paul did on the island of Malta when he went to gather wood for a fire after
the shipwreck. As indicated by the
response of the natives who were befriending Paul and the others, the bit of
the viper was often fatal, though Paul miraculously ‘suffered no harm’ (Acts
28:3-5) 1/15/2020 9:58 AM 1/15/2020
10:51 AM
When
one thinks about vipers they probably think about Satan and how he caused Adam
and Eve to sin as seen in Genesis 3:1-13.
I have mentioned many times in my Spiritual Diaries that there are only
two kinds of people in this world as John the Baptist describes in the gospel
of John 3:36 “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who
does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’” The Pharisees and Sadducees, as John, and
later Jesus points out are ones who are not believers and therefore are against
the Lord.
Let
us now look at the question that John asks these people “Who warned you to flee”
as this continues the viper figure.
MacArthur writes “A brush fire or a farmer’s burning the stalks in his
field after the harvest would cause vipers and other creatures to flee before
the flames in order to escape. It was a
common sight in many of the Mediterranean and Arab regions, and on that John
the Baptist doubtlessly had seen many times.
The implication is that the Pharisees and Sadducees were expecting John’s
baptism to be a kind of spiritual fire insurance and conversion do protect from
God’s wrath and judgment, but superficial and belief, giving a false sense of
security.” We know the character of John
and the fact that Jesus said that he was the one who was the greatest up until
his time, and so we know that John was not going to fall for what the Pharisees
and Sadducees were trying to do.
The
indictment that John gave to these men must have stung them for they thought
that they were God’s gifts to the human race.
Both John and later Jesus characterized them as deceivers rather than
leaders, perpetuators of spiritual darkness rather than spiritual light,
children of the devil rather than sons of God.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I, as a believer am to look out for people
like these men and also not pick up any of their traits that they have in my
walk with the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to work on my lesson for this Sunday
on the 23rd Psalm and look for joy as I study God’s Word. I don’t want to just learn facts, but I want
to learn what the Holy Spirit has for me as I study His Word.
1/15/2020 11:07 AM
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