My prayer is that you read and study these devotional passages with me in an earnest desire to seek the Lord (Phil)
¨¨¨ These devotionals are much easier to read on-line ¨¨¨
THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The praise to the Lord we should give Him and ask for daily
“13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:13-14 (KJV)
Genesis 32
God presented Himself as an Angel (Theophany)
Genesis 32:1 (KJV), “And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.”
Brown-Driver-Briggs – 2. angel, as messenger of God, with God in theophanies.
Theophany, derived from Greek words meaning “appearance of God,” refers to a visible manifestation of God or a god to humans.
Genesis 32:30 (KJV), “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
No one can actually see the fullness of God
Exodus 33:20 (KJV), “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
John 1:18 (KJV), “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
God is Spirit and cannot be physically seen
John 4:24 (KJV), “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
God is not human
Numbers 23:19 (KJV), “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
Jesus is the ‘image’ of the invisible God
Colossians 1:15 (KJV), “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”
1 Timothy 1:17 (KJV), “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Some question why the Bible sometimes speaks of God as if He has a body
Hand & Ear – Isaiah 59:1
God’s “eyes” – 2 Chronicles 16:9
God’s “mouth” – Matthew 4:4
God’s “arms” – Deuteronomy 33:27
These are anthropomorphism—a way of describing God with anatomical or emotional terms so that humans can better understand Him. The use of anthropomorphism, a form of figurative language, does not imply that God has an actual body
Isaiah 23
Isaiah 23:1 (KJV), “The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.”
The burden
Lexical Summary (4853) – massa’: Burden, load, oracle, prophecy. Brown-Driver-Briggs – III. noun masculine utterance, oracle.
Tyre – Southern Lebanon
The term “ships of Tarshish” appears frequently in the Bible, often referring to large, long-distance trading vessels. These ships are associated with wealth, trade, and the power of Tyre.
Tyre would be punished with Israel for their tyranny and banished to Babylon
Isaiah 23:15 (KJV), “And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.”
Daniel 9:2 (KJV), “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
Psalms 19
The praise to the Lord we should give Him and ask for daily
Psalm 19:13-14 (KJV), “13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”
Proverbs 30
Proverbs 30:1 (KJV), “The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal.”
This proverb is a divine message given by The Holy Spirit to someone identified as Agur. Nowhere in scripture is an Agur ever mentioned.
If The Holy Spirit is the teacher implied here, it would make sense that Ithiel and Ucal are the students. The name Ithiel is derived from two Hebrew words: אֵת (eth, meaning “with”) and אֵל (El, meaning “God”). The name Ithiel means “God is with me” or “God is with him.” It is used as a personal name in the Hebrew Bible, signifying a recognition of God’s presence and support.
Ithiel
Brown-Driver-Briggs – Proper name, masculine (probably with me is God: see Ol§ 82 c) usually taken as name of a son or pupil of Agur; but most moderns read O God, I have wearied myself, O God, and am consumed.
The likes of any of us not under the guidance of The Holy Spirit
Proverbs 30:2-3 (KJV), “2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. 3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.”
God warns us at least 3 times not to add to or take from His Word
(1) Deuteronomy 4:2 (KJV), “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”
To the entire bible… yes, Moses was speaking of the “entire Bible” available at that time. When Moses gave the instruction, Genesis through Deuteronomy were the entire Bible—that’s all the revelation God had given to that point.
(2) Proverbs 30:6 (KJV), “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
This particular verse refers to interpretation. Often times we hear that God’s Word is open to interpretation. Here, the students are being told not to interpret God’s Word to fit any or your specific needs.
(3) Revelation 22:18-19 (KJV), “18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
These verses refer to the bible in its entirety. Anyone who adds to, takes away, or modifies the Word of God, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and God shall take away his part out of the book of life
The words of repentance: The student (us) to their master (God)
Proverbs 30:7-9 (KJV), “7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Verses 11 – 14 discusses four different generations or types. In these instances, the word generation refers to classes of people.
Proverbs 30:11-14 (KJV), “11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. 12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. 13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. 14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”
Brown-Driver-Briggs – I. period, Generation, dwelling; of different classes of wicked.
Though we tend to think the generations of people in the world seem to get worse and worse over time, the different class types of people we have today have always been around
Proverbs 30:11-14 (KJV), “11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.”
“12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”
“13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.”
“14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”
Grow in the Word of the Lord 