June 26, 2011
Scripture:
Turn back to the book of Ruth, this time the second chapter. We know this story well; read vv. 8 & 9 : “Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.” Now, notice her response in v. 10: “Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?” Certainly this should be the feeling that is in each of our hearts!
Hymn 231 - Jesus that name is love
Prayer
1 Samuel 25:1-33
We’re going to move along in 1 Samuel, but today, we are going to take a break from Saul.
Today’s chapter opens with the death of Samuel. Samuel had, no doubt, brought much blessing on Israel. All Israel came together to mourn his death. David was there, but afterwards he returned to the wilderness.
Next, we get introduced to a man named Nabal. It seems that Nabal was a very rich man, by the amount of sheep and goats he had. Back in Bible times, the number of animals you had was an indication of your wealth. Nabal had a wife, whose name was Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance. However, Nabal was churlish and evil in his doings.
So it came time for Nabal to shear his sheep; this was usually followed by a feast. What we aren’t told right now is that David—before this time—had sent some of his men to watch Nabal’s men and sheep while they were in the wilderness, to protect them from harm. So, at the time of the shearing, David sent some of his men to talk to Nabal. He told them to ask Nabal for some food in return for the protection he and his men had given Nabal’s men.
Nabal answered David’s men quite rudely. He said, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.” Many people knew who David was, because he killed Goliath. Nabal was saying that he didn’t think David deserved anything.
So, David’s men returned. After hearing what Nabal had said, David told four hundred of his men to gird on their swords. To gird on your swords means to put your sword on your belt. David wanted revenge; he felt that all that he had done for Nabal was now a waste of time.
Next we go back to the sheepshearing scene. One of Nabal’s men heard what he had said to David’s men, and he went and told Abigail. He told her how it was true that David and his men had protected them while they watched the sheep. He also said, “Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.”
Abigail wasn’t one to waste time: after she was informed of what Nabal had said and done, she collected two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five dressed sheep, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She put all that on some asses and went to meet David. When Abigail came in sight of David, she hasted off her ass. Abigail seemed to be a woman who hasted. She hasted when she was getting ready the food for David and then she hasted off her ass to meet David.
David was a rejected king and Abigail knew this. She knew that David’s intention in coming was to fight with Nabal and she had to get to him before he got to Nabal if she were to stop him. Nabal means fool. Nabal is a picture of the world and he had the attitude of the world. He didn’t see who David really was. In God’s eyes, Nabal was a fool.
Back to David and Abigail: Abigail told David that they were her inquities and she confessed them to him. She was doing this to prevent David from shedding blood. After she appeased David, she asked him to remember her when he became king. That reminds me of the thief on the cross when he asked the Lord to remember him when He came into His kingdom. David then blessed Abigail; he saw that the Lord had provided Abigail to stop him from shedding blood. May we each have the heart of Abigail and not of Nabal.
Luke 5:27-35
Levi’s story is the fourth (and final) main story in this chapter. He is brought before us as a publican, or a tax collector. As such, he was a Jew working for the Roman government. There was good money in such a job. The tax collectors had to collect a certain amount of money for Rome from their district, and they got to keep whatever else they collected. Therefore, it was very easy to over-charge people and keep the extra money. Not every publican did this; and we know that Zacchaeus gave back money that he had taken illegally. Either way, Levi would have been despised because he was a Jew that represented Rome. It was appalling to the Jews to be under Roman rule (they weren’t masters in their own homes, and had to pay their hard earned money to the government), and so they looked down on anyone who joined Rome.
So Levi was in the money business. He was in the riches of this world. While Levi was sitting there at the receipt of custom, Jesus came by and said two words to him: “Follow me”. How do we explain this? Levi rose and followed Him. There was power in those words. There was power in the words that Jesus spoke to the palsied man; power to save, heal, and give strength. But you wonder if there was something more than just power here. There was something that attracted Levi more than his money. His heart was wrapped up in money, but our Lord said, “Follow me”, and he left it all. It was as if the Lord had a magnetic property. He was able to draw multitudes, and pack houses full of listeners. There was something about Him that attracted folks. We can’t see or hear Him physically today, but the Spirit shows Him to us; and there is something in Him that attracts.
What does “follow me” mean? At first it seems simple, but what was Jesus asking Levi to do? Does He ask us to do the same? This is the practical side of Christianity. A follower is a disciple; and, in this case, that makes the Lord the leader. You think of John 10 where Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (V.27) That leads us to Psalm 23 where we have the Lord as the shepherd, and we are in the green pastures and beside the still waters and all the other blessings that are there. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1, (paraphrased) “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” These are words that deserve meditation. 1 Peter 2:21 tells us that Jesus is our example to follow: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” This means that we must stop having ourselves as the center of our life, and instead have the Lord as the center. The Lord told people, “ If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
The Lord worked conviction of sin in Peter; He cleansed the leper; He forgave, healed, and strengthened the palsied man; and He gave Levi a new object for his heart.
Levi then threw a feast for the Lord. He didn’t invite the scribes and the Pharisees, but rather the publicans and others like them. This was suitable, because the Lord later said, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” One of the meanings of the name Levi is “joined in harmony”, and we find that Levi joined in harmony with the work of the Lord. We don’t get any details about the feast, but it shows the change in Levi. First we find him seated at the receipt of custom; then we see him seated with Jesus and a group of sinners at a feast. The Gospel is a feast. In Matthew it’s presented as a wedding feast, and Isaiah 55:1 says, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” So Levi throws this great feast, in his own house, and enjoys the Lord.
As you can imagine, though, the scribes and Pharisees murmured to the disciples saying, “Why do you eat with publicans and sinners?” They thought that the Lord would seek out the nice, religious people to spend time with. Jesus told them, “I’m a doctor, the sick people need me.” “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” People don’t want to think that they’re sinners, but that is the best qualification that they have for the gospel. The scribes and Pharisees were so self-righteous. They thought that they knew how to run their own lives. They could put on a good show of prayers and fasting; but it was the leprous man, and the palsied man, that came to Jesus. They knew they were sick, and they wanted to be healed; and we can see the Lord’s grace in each situation. It’s a great story.
Hymn 350 - I will make you fishers of men
Prayer