THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Always allow the Lord to guide your tongue
“2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence. 3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.”
Proverbs 13:2-3 (KJV)
Genesis 17
Shekhinah is a Hebrew word that means “dwelling” or “settling” and is used in Jewish theology to refer to the presence of God in the world
Genesis 17:1 (KJV), “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”
God’s intent initially was to populate the world via Adam and Eve
Genesis 1:28 (KJV), “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
But Adam and Eve failed by their own free will
Then Noah was summoned to populate the world
Genesis 9:18-19 (KJV), “18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.”
Genesis 9:21 (KJV), “And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.”
God then chose Abram
Genesis 17:1-4 (KJV), “1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.”
“Abram” is the original name of the patriarch later known as “Abraham,” and the change in name signifies a new covenant and promise from God, where “Abraham” translates to “father of a multitude,” signifying that he would become the ancestor of many nations, whereas “Abram” simply means “exalted father.”
Genesis 17:5-6 (KJV), “5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”
The establishment of the Jews and the Jewish faith
Genesis 17:7-8 (KJV), “7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
God’s covenant with Abraham; circumcision
Genesis 17:10-14 (KJV), “10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.”
“Sarai signifies my lady, or my princess, which confines her dominion to one family; but Sarah signifies either a lady or princess, simply and absolutely without restriction, or the princess of a multitude.” (Poole)
Genesis 17:15-16 (KJV), “15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”
God will use Isaac to establish the nation of Israel
Genesis 17:19 (KJV), “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.”
Matthew 1:2 (KJV), “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren.”
Genesis 32:28 (KJV), “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
Isaac‘s name means “he will laugh”, reflecting the laughter, in disbelief, of Abraham and Sarah, when told by God that they would have a child. He is the only patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move out of Canaan.
God blesses Ishmael and makes him the father of the Arab nations but only establishes a ‘covenant’ with Isaac
Genesis 17:20-21 (KJV), “20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”
Isaiah 4
Because of the sin of Israel, God would punish them and many men would fall
Isaiah 3:25 (KJV), “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.”
Now there were 7 women to each man and women would wrongly marry one man for comfort
The women would them circumvent the marriage covenant and not depend on their husbands to provide for them
Isaiah 4:1 (KJV), “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
In the biblical context, the word ‘tsemach’ is frequently used to symbolize the coming of the Messiah, who is depicted as a righteous branch that will sprout from the line of David, bringing justice and salvation
Isaiah 4:2 (KJV), “In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”
Isaiah 11:1 (KJV), “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Zechariah 3:8 (KJV), “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.”
The Branch
Strong’s Lexicon (6780) – tsemach: Branch, Sprout, Shoot.
“For the remnant preserved through judgment, the promise of the Messiah would be all the more beautiful, dear, and life-giving.” (Guzik)
Isaiah 4:2b-3 (KJV), “…2a and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem. ”
Through this war and captivity, the Lord will cleanse the filth of Jerusalem
Isaiah 4:4-6 (KJV), “4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.”
Psalms 4
A shout (prayer) to God in a time of need
Psalm 4:1 (KJV), “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.”
God will always watch over and protect the godly (the righteous)
Psalm 4:3 (KJV), “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.”
Psalm 4:5 (KJV), “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.”
Psalm 4:8 (KJV), “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.”
Proverbs 10
One of many scripture verses encouraging mankind to work hard in life to provide
Proverbs 10:4-5 (KJV), “4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. 5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.”
God will truly bless the leader of righteous people
Proverbs 10:6 (KJV), “Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.”
God wants us to work hard to earn a living for our families but working hard for evil will be justly rewarded
Proverbs 10:16 (KJV), “The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.”
No truer words of wisdom
Proverbs 10:19 (KJV), “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.”
This particular verses does imply that only God’s blessings can make someone rich or wealthy. If we have an abundance of wealth, we should give God all of the glory. Often times, the gaining of wealth can lead to misery if that wealth is not blessed by God.
Proverbs 10:22 (KJV), “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
The whirlwind indicates the power and might of Yahweh
Proverbs 10:25 (KJV), “As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.”
Nahum 1:3 (KJV), “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
Job 38:1 (KJV), “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said.”
2 Kings 2:11 (KJV), “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
Grow in the Word of the Lord 