My prayer is that you read and study these devotionals with an earnest desire to seek the Lord
¨¨¨ These devotionals are much easier to read on-line ¨¨¨
THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
When in a discussion with a fool, do not bring yourself to their level with a foolish response
“4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
Proverbs 26:4-5 (KJV)
Genesis 20
Genesis 20:1 (KJV), “And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.”
Abraham did not want to cause a ‘situation’ with Abimelech because Sarah was a beautiful woman
Genesis 20:11 (KJV), “And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.”
Genesis 20:2 (KJV), “And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.”
Though Abraham was married to Sarah, he did not lie when he told Abimelech that Sarah was his half ‘sister‘
Genesis 20:12 (KJV), “And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”
Such unions were later explicitly banned in the Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 18:9)
Leviticus 18:9 (KJV), “The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.”
Abimelech was a righteous man
Genesis 20:4-5 (KJV), “4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.”
Isaiah 7
King Ahaz
Ahaz an abbreviation of Jehoahaz II, “Yahweh has held” was the twelfth king of Judah, and the son and successor of Jotham. Ahaz was 20 when he became king of Judah and reigned for 16 years. He did not do what was right in God’s eyes.
Ahaz – King of Juda
Rezin – King of Syria
Pekah – King of Israel (Ephraim) – son of Remaliah
The rulers of Judah treated other people poorly, but they treated the LORD even more poorly
Isaiah 7:10-12 (KJV), “10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.”
Ahaz refused to ask for a sign, because when God fulfilled the sign, he would be “obligated” to believe
Do not be afraid to ask God for a sign and, more specially, do not be in haste to ignore it
This was not tempting or testing God in a wrong way. It is never testing God to do as He says, and if the LORD invites us to test Him, we should
Isaiah then spoke against king Ahaz and Judah for not trusting in God
Isaiah 7:13 (KJV), “And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?”
Though Ahaz refused to ask God for a sign, Isaiah told him that the Lord Himself will give you a sign
The most famous prophecies regarding the birth of Jesus the Messiah in the Bible
Isaiah 7:14 (KJV), “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
- Brown-Driver-Briggs – Proper name, masculine Immanuel (with us is God).
A continuing prophecy of the demise of Judah
* Speaking of Jesus
Isaiah 7:15 (KJV), “15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
* These things will occur before the Christ comes
Isaiah 7:16-17 (KJV), “16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 17 The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 7:23 (KJV), “And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.”
Psalms 7
LOOK TO THIS PSALMS WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE EVERTHING IS GOING AGAINST YOU
A Meditation of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite
David is from the tribe of Judah and both Cush and Saul are from the tribe of Benjamine. There was a civil war between the two tribes and Cush hated David and constantly lied to Saul about him.
David was being pushed against the wall and all things were going bad for him. We should reflect on how David approached God for refuge and strength
Psalm 7:1 (KJV), “O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.”
If David was truly guilty of the things that were said about him, he asked God to indeed punish him
Psalm 7:3-5 (KJV), “3 O Lord my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust.”
Psalm 7:8 (KJV), “… judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.”
With our free will from God, we make our choices towards good or evil. Those who pursue evil, make their own decision of where they will end up.
Psalm 7:14-16 (KJV), “14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.”
Proverbs 26
Proverbs 26:4-5 (KJV), “4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
When reading Proverbs 26 verses 4 and 5, does it appear to you to be contradicting each other?
Proverbs 26:4 (KJV), “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.”
When a fool pours forth his foolishness, it is often right to not answer them. Sometimes contending with a fool can make one just like the fool.
Proverbs 26:5 (KJV), “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
Other times the right thing is to answer a fool. Sometimes a wise answer to a fool will expose his folly and prevent him from becoming wise in his own eyes.
Those who think Proverbs 26 verses 4 & 5 contradict each other, are unfamiliar with the nature of practical wisdom in life.
[2] “They are put together to show that human problems are often complicated and cannot always be solved by appealing to a single rule.” (Ross)
Understanding Proverbs 26:8
When David went out to slay Goliath, he placed a stone loosely in a sling so that when he whipped it around and threw it, the stone would easily be released or lifted from the sling and sail through the air. If David were to bind the stone in the sling, when he whipped the sling around and let it loose, the stone would not release from the sling, it would be stuck (bound) to it.
Proverbs 26:8 (KJV), “As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.“
So, as compared to giving honor to a fool, one would tie or bound (adhere, etc.) a stone to a sling before you would use it (the result is useless)
Grow in the Word of the Lord 