July 19, 2009
Scripture:
Luke 22:14
Just a brief thought from Luke 22. Vv.14, 15. I believe that Mr. Darby puts “I have heartily desired.” We’ve been thinking of the Lord’s love; which we can see here shining out from among the surrounding darkness. If we were in the Lord’s position, and knew what would befall us the next day, we would be thinking only of ourselves. But not the Lord. He tells His disciples, “I have desired to be with you”. Vv. 19-20. This is the Lord’s supper; it was given to the disciples, and it is given to you and me. Now that the Lord has died, He has shown His love for us. We may think, “How can I return some of that love?” This is how: by keeping the Lord’s supper. What a joy and privilege it is to be able to do this! When we get to glory, we won’t have the Lord’s supper. We will have the Lamb in the midst, and will be able to praise Him and sing to Him much better. I’m thankful of that, because my voice is getting more limited everyday. We will be able to see His glory; marvelous! We will be like the Queen of Sheba who exclaimed, “The half has not been told!“. But what a joy and privilege it is to be able to remember Him here!
Hymn 341 - Jesus bids us shine
Prayer
Last time I spoke, we finished looking at the book of Daniel. Today, I’d like to start the Book of I Samuel.
In the book of Joshua, the Israelites go into the promised land. In judges, we can read about their ups and downs, and how they were ruled by different people called judges. As we start I Samuel, we’re going to see that Eli and Samuel judged Israel; also, Samuel was the first prophet that God sent to Israel.
We won’t read the entire story, but I Samuel 1 tells us about a man named Elkanah, who had two wives: one was named Peninnah, and the other was named Hannah. Peninnah had many children, but Hannah did not. Because of this, Peninnah would tease and provoke Hannah, v. 6.
Every year, this family went to Shiloh to worship the Lord, vv. 7 & 8. While they were there, Hannah was so sad that she did not have a child that she wept, and didn’t want to eat. Elkanah tried to comfort her, and encourage her to eat. She did, but she was still very sad.
After they ate, Hannah went to the temple (vv. 10 - 12). There, she cried and prayed to the Lord, promising that if he would give her a baby boy, she would give him back to the Lord. Eli, the high priest, was watching her pray; he though she was drunk. Hannah told him that she was not drunk; she was praying earnestly to God, vtv. 15 & 16. Eli then told her to go in peace, saying that the Lord would answer her prayer.
So Hannah went home, v. 18; she wasn’t sad any more. The Lord had given her grace (Hannah means “grace”), and she knew that he had heard her prayer. We can know, too, that God always hears our prayers, and delights in answering them. I heard a story recently about a Christian landscaper: while he was working, he received a call on his cell phone. After finishing the call, he put his phone down on the bumper of his truck. After he finished the job, he went home. Later, he realized that he’d left his phone on his truck, and that he had lost it. This phone was quite important to him because he had recently started this company, and the phone contained a lot of contact information. He went back along the road and tried to find the phone, but he couldn’t find it. Finally (and maybe he should have started with this), he went home and prayed that God would help him find the phone. Well, later in the day he was running an errand along the same route; he had the windows down because it was a hot day. As he drove along, he heard a phone ring. He stopped, and backed up along the road. There, on the side of the road, was his phone! The case was broken, but the phone was still working.
So the Lord does hear our prayers and He does answer them. Hannah found that out: she had a baby boy, whom she named Samuel. Just as she promised, she brought him to the temple to work for the Lord when he was about 4 years old, vv. 24 - 28.
It’s quite interesting to look at a map of Jerusalem at this time: you’ll find that the order the pieces are mentioned is this chapter goes around the city counter-clockwise; God has given us everything in order.
We find now that the Tekoites built a second piece. It shows us how some have put their heart into this job and how some have just done the bare minimum. We’ve been seeing how this is really a project for all to be involved in: some built quite a bit, some build earnestly, some compromised and didn’t do the whole piece. Is there compromise around us today? Sadly, there is.
In v. 28, we have the horse gate; horses were primarily used in warfare. Although we put up a wall to keep evil out, warring against evil is also very necessary. These priests repaired their homes near the horse gate; we’ve mentioned before how important it is to have a wall in our homes; there is so much evil around today, in printed materials, the Internet, and so many other places. If we are not on guard, it will easily slip in.
In v. 29, we have the east gate. We spoke last time about how the glory of God will return from the east (Ezekiel tells us if left going east). Shemaiah was the keeper of the gate; it was his job to maintain the gate, to not let evil spoil it. For us, the east gate is the hope of the Lord’s coming. Do we want to be keepers of the east gate? For many years, until the 1800s, few Christians had the hope of the Lord’s coming. Even today, many groups either don’t believe in it, or confuse or mix it with the Lord’s appearing. We need to be keepers of the east gate; it is our hope!
The building of the wall must be done in faith. If we just go along with other Christians, there won’t be a lock on our gate. We must build together, in faith, knowing that the wall will keep out evil because it is founded on the Word of God.
V. 30 : Here, we find that two men went at a second piece together. One of them may have had the desire to, but needed to be encouraged by the other. It’s important for us to encourage and help one another to live for the Lord. Also, we’re told that one of them, Hanun, was the sixth son of Zalaph. We don’t hear about his other siblings, but the Lord will honour even one who goes on for Him.
We’re told that Meshullum had only a chamber, or lodging: an apartment; but he repaired it. Even though we may not have much, what we do have should be strengthened and used for the Lord. “You in your small corner and I in mine.”
V. 31 : Malachiah was one of the people who took a strange wife in the end of Ezra. He is a picture of restoration to us. His sin needed to be dealt with, but once it was, he built quite a piece of the wall: maybe he was a stronger light for the Lord after he was restored than before!
V. 32 : the goldsmiths and merchants helped in the last parts of the wall. They were ones who may have had more detailed jobs, and were may not have been used to rough building. However, God took each one who put forth an effort to help.
We may wonder why the Jews put so much effort into building the temple and building the walls. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah take place at the end of the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus comes at the beginning of the New Testament, and He needed the city of Jerusalem to be there for His ministry. It was all part of God’s plan for history; they were building for a purpose. It’s still the same today: God has a plan and purpose for our lives, and we are responsible to follow that. It requires that we have a strong wall around our lives, to protect us from evil. We need to be willing to go to battle with the enemy. We need to be keepers of the east gate.
Hymn 200 - Tis the hope of His coming
Prayer