TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 1:24-31
Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. - Genesis 1:28
TODAY IN THE WORD
Laoshou Mountain in Yunnan Province, China, had become an environmental problem as a result of quarrying, so the local government decided to take action. Rather than plant more trees or try to reseed the deforested mountain, they instead hired workers to spray paint the entire mountainside green! The workers told nearby villagers it was to improve the view from a new government building. One villager noted, “We thought the workers were here to spray pesticides before planting saplings. But it turned out to be green paint.”

Obviously, this is a negative example of human stewardship of the created world! Our reading today covers the sixth day of creation, as well as the “creation mandate” or “creation blessing,” which despite the Fall was never revoked. When God created human beings, He decreed that we are to “rule over” the animal kingdom (v. 26). This is just what it sounds like—men and women as kings and queens in the natural realm. But our “rulership” is contingent, not absolute, meaning that we kings and queens are held accountable by the High King of all. We rule as stewards, not tyrants. We can't forget that it was God who put the “crown” on our heads: “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands” (Ps. 8:5-6).

The “creation mandate” describes the stewardship that we are responsible to carry out. Nature provides our food, as an explicit gift from God (vv. 29-30). To “subdue” and “rule over” (v. 28) doesn't mean that we have the right to exploit nature for our own selfish gain. In Near Eastern cultures, kingship implied something like a caretaking or shepherding relationship—a relationship of authority, to be sure, but a close and mutually beneficial relationship. People have been given the charge to govern for the benefit of the entire created world.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Back on April 2, we encouraged you to make a list of all the items or resources of which you are a steward. Why not revisit this list today? Based on our month's study, can you expand it? What resources had you not previously included in your stewardship area? How can your list help you apply the themes and principles encountered this month in the Word? If the Lord brings a particular area to your attention, be sure to carefully pray about and evaluate your stewardship there.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 41:41-57
God sent a man before them-Joseph. . . . the word of the Lord proved him true. - Psalm 105:17, 19
TODAY IN THE WORD
An inaugural ceremony for a U.S. President is an impressive affair. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 began the tradition of attending a worship service to open the day, which also includes a procession with both old and new Presidents, swearing-in ceremonies for the Vice President and President presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, an Inaugural Address by the President, a luncheon with both houses of Congress, an inaugural parade, and any number of inaugural balls in the evening. George Washington set the record for the shortest Inaugural Address in 1793 with just 135 words. Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949 was the first to appear on television, and Bill Clinton's in 1997 was the first to be broadcast live on the Internet.

No doubt pomp and ceremony attended Joseph's elevation to second-in-command in Egypt. (Pretty good for a foreigner who started the chapter in jail!) God gave him stewardship responsibilities on a grand scale. At the age of 30, he had authority to manage time, money, and other resources for a nation in ways that made an impact on that entire region of the world. Though it was Pharaoh who gave Joseph the signet ring, robes, and chariot as symbols of his authority and power, in truth it was God who orchestrated events within His plan for history. God put him in a key position at a key time. Joseph served Him first, Egypt second.

Joseph administered the food resources in the same way he interpreted the king's dream, in faith and reliance on the Lord. Using a simple stewardship principle, planning ahead, he stored up crop surpluses from the years of plenty to provide for the years of famine. His authority and influence didn't inflate his ego—they were simply tools to be used for the good of others and the glory of God. The Lord's plan led to a family reunion and the physical preservation of the Hebrew people.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Whom can you influence? Think about this question in terms of larger spheres of responsibility. Probably you're not second-in-command over a whole nation with a serious crisis looming, but no doubt there is some specific area of responsibility or authority that God has given you. You are a steward of the opportunities to act in godly ways that come along with this particular area or sphere. Pray for the grace to be a steward with the integrity and faithfulness of Joseph.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 44:1-17
God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. - 1 Timothy 2:4
TODAY IN THE WORD
A recent study identified a generational shift in priorities. Generations X and Y, that is, workers under age 40, are more likely than the Baby Boom generation to put family ahead of careers and money. They want flexible work schedules and family-friendly employee policies more than they want financial success or professional advancement. One researcher said, “What I hear all the time from young men is that they want to be different than their fathers, who often worked long hours. They want to be more involved in their children's lives.”

If true, this is a positive cultural shift representing better stewardship of time and influence. The life of Joseph illustrates that just as we're sometimes given stewardship responsibilities on a large scale, so also we're sometimes given them on a small scale (or at least what people might think of as small). But the principles of stewardship remain the same. Faithfulness with little is as important as faithfulness with much, not to mention that “little” and “much” are not always the same in God's eyes as in the world's.

We see this lesson in today's reading by looking at it from the perspective of Joseph's chief steward. He had seen his master's plan unfold, from putting the silver back into the sacks of Joseph's brothers on their first trip to arranging hospitality and a special dinner on their second trip. He had seen Joseph's deep feelings (43:30) and may have been told the whole situation (see 43:23).

In today's reading, he did all the legwork needed to bring matters to the culmination of Joseph's revelation of himself to his brothers. Over a period of years, the steward saw his master's faith (in a foreign God), spirit of forgiveness, family love, and wisdom (testing his brothers' attitudes). Joseph was faithful not only in his public responsibilities but also in his private affairs. He was a light to his own steward, and in God's eyes that mattered too (1 Tim. 2:4).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Whom can you influence? In a way different from but complementary to yesterday, think about this question in terms of individual people. They might be colleagues, subordinates, friends, neighbors, or others. Like Joseph's chief steward, they might be “hidden individuals” whom no one notices, but they are part of your life and thus you must be a steward of the influence you might have upon them. Choose three specific people to pray for, focusing especially on what you might say or do to point them toward Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 90
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. - Psalm 90:12
TODAY IN THE WORD
A peat bog in southern Ireland recently yielded a rare treasure. Two summers ago, a peat cutter happened across a manuscript dating back to a.d. 800. It turned out to be a psalter, a copy of the Psalms, preserved through the centuries from total decay by certain special properties of peat bogs. Probably it had been hidden there to keep it safe during a Viking raid. The Faddan More Psalter is now in the National Museum of Ireland's conservation laboratory, as scientists work to recover the text, which is in a somewhat decayed and fragile condition.

Somewhere in those 1,200-year-old pages is Psalm 90! This psalm teaches us that in the end, stewardship is stewardship of life. Moses made at least three points here that are key in concluding our study of stewardship: First, the Lord is our dwelling place (v. 1). While taking our responsibilities seriously, we don't need to worry obsessively over stewardship. That's because it's not about achieving success based on our own resources, but depending on our gracious and faithful Provider.

Second, the same fate awaits us all (v. 10). Our stewardship must be pursued in light of our finiteness and the reality of death. We must remember our limitations and accountability to the One who has no limitations, Almighty God. The fact that “we can't take it with us” should profoundly affect how we choose to use our time, money, and other resources. And third, God is glorious (v. 16). This is what our stewardship is ultimately all about! Enjoying His blessings, having our prayers answered, experiencing His love and compassion—we enjoy all these goods that He might be glorified.

From these perspectives, our most precious resource is time, making today's verse a very appropriate prayer in concluding our month's study. If we sit at Christ's feet, grow a “heart of wisdom,” and are godly stewards of all God has given us, surely the Lord will “establish the work of our hands” (v. 17).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
To begin this month, we asked you to pray about a specific area in which you need to improve or develop your actions and habits of godly stewardship. How has the Lord answered your prayer? What has He shown you? To conclude this study, try to commit this psalm—or at least today's verse—to memory in order to guide your thoughts about your stewardship of life. The Lord loves to answer our prayers for wisdom, especially in this important area.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Jeremiah 17:5-10
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23
TODAY IN THE WORD
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.” That will be our challenge this month as we study the “bad boys” of the Bible. The simple part is identifying the most infamous sinners in Scripture and pointing out what they did wrong; the difficult but crucial task will be relating to their weaknesses and recognizing how we can and do commit similar acts.

What makes this humble caution so daunting is our tendency to imagine a division between ourselves and the really bad sinners. We use words like they and them instead of we and us to describe people like Goliath and Ahab who blatantly opposed God, or like the Pharisees and angry crowds who rejected Jesus. But their sins are not as easy to avoid as we think.

Today's passage tears down the walls of classification built up to distinguish levels of sinfulness in humanity. Verse 9 paints humanity with a broad brush. Some people believe that deep down, we're all basically good people. But Jeremiah teaches here that deep down we are all helplessly depraved. The phrase “beyond cure” in the niv is elsewhere translated “desperately sick,” “desperately wicked,” “hopelessly dark,” and “exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick!” It's hard to put a positive spin on that.

But God does. He holds the cure for our sin. Jeremiah sets up the great division of sin, not between the terrible sinners and the not-so-bad sinners, but between the sinners who rely on their own power and those who put their trust in God to save them.

Dostoevsky claimed nothing was more difficult than to understand an evildoer, and Jeremiah supports that idea completely. Indeed, we can't (v. 9)! We must not depend on an innate sense of morality to save us from evil. Our basic sin nature leads us down the same roads that consumed the worst evildoers. But God understands the heart (v. 10). His Word will reveal our sin, and point us to the cure.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Why focus on bad boys? In their extremes, they reveal the darkness we think we can cover up. This month we'll look at three main groups: those who chronically rebelled against God, those whose lives were destroyed by one critical bad decision, and those whom God redeemed from the depths of badness. Prepare your heart to see what Scripture wants us to learn from these men. It is by His grace alone that we can avoid such colossal failure.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 4:1-11
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. - Psalm 29:2
TODAY IN THE WORD
President Lyndon Johnson once grew agitated during a lunchtime prayer given by his press secretary, Bill Moyers. Unable to hear, President Johnson loudly interrupted, “Speak up, Bill! I can't hear a thing!” Before resuming his prayer, Moyers responded, “Mr. President, I wasn't addressing you.”

Johnson wasn't the first, nor will he be the last, to ascribe to himself that which truly belongs to God. Satan, the author of the bad-boy mentality, made it his mission to steal attention from God and feed his obsession to be worshiped. Satan blatantly displayed his greed for glory when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. The specific temptations listed in the Gospel of Matthew walk us through the stages of Satan's own wickedness, a circuit of self-centeredness that can be so appealing and so deadly to us all.

Satan's first tactic was to tempt Christ to focus on His own needs and wants instead of His God-given mission. What an easy trap to fall into when masked by something as innocent as meeting basic needs for survival! But the test wasn't really about bread or survival. Satan wanted Jesus to use His supernatural power to gratify His own desires, a routine practice for Satan and a form of self-worship.

Satan then tried to persuade Christ to doubt God, but he disguised the motivation of doubt as an expression of faith: cast yourself toward the ground if You are the Son of God. There was no “if” in Jesus' mind, so no test was necessary. He quoted Deuteronomy 6:16, a reference to Israel's quarrelsome demands for water in Exodus 17. The question the Israelites had asked was, “Is the Lord among us or not” (Ex. 17:7). Their demand for proof was the product of doubt. Again, to doubt God is to esteem your own understanding above His Word, a dangerous expression of self-worth.

Finally, Satan tempted Jesus to worship him, a ploy that only could work on someone who had fallen for the first two temptations. This last plea revealed the depth of Satan's wicked delusions.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We all run the risk of making Satan's mistake, and if we're not careful, it can become a lifestyle. Examine your service, your trust, and your worship. Who is the beneficiary of your efforts? Do you rest assured in the Lord's promises, or are you repeatedly asking God to prove Himself? Finally, whom do you worship in your heart? The answers begin and end with worship. When you praise God for all He is and does, serving and trusting in Him follow.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 8:31-59
Save me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. - Psalm 120:2
TODAY IN THE WORD
Sometimes the only thing harder than telling the truth is being willing to listen to it. How else could it be that a group of religious people, claiming to be believers of God's Word and descendants of Abraham, would refuse to believe the words of Jesus, exhibiting instead the Devil's pattern of deceitful behavior? Our concept of truth goes much deeper than the words we say. It determines what we believe. It ultimately decides who we are.

Satan is the extreme example. We must understand him if we are to avoid being like him. Before you dismiss the idea that you could ever sink to such a low, remember Jesus' audience thought the same thing—right before they tried to stone Him. According to Jesus, those who refused to believe were similar to the father of lies, so much so that they more closely resembled Satan than their human ancestor Abraham. So what was it that drew such harsh criticism from Jesus? The answers are found throughout the passage.

These people had no room for the Word of God (v. 37). They were unable to hear (v. 43). They didn't belong to God (v. 47). Those were the fundamental causes of their unbelief. In the battle for truth, they joined the Devil's side. They willfully closed their minds to the message of Jesus because it directly opposed their own beliefs. That's what happens when you believe in a lie. And in no uncertain terms, that's exactly how Jesus describes Satan. He is a liar.

Verse 44 unveils a striking connection. Disbelief is rooted in the lies of Satan, which are rooted in his nature not only as a liar but also as a murderer. Satan ushered death into this world with a string of lies. The difference between the truth and a lie is the difference between life and death. That is the very worst thing about Satan—he rejects the truth with every fiber of his being. And when we take an obstinate stand against something, anything, we know to be true, we aren't just resisting God, we're joining Satan.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
When the people rejected Christ's message, they dismissed blessing along with the judgment. When they rejected an admission about their slavery to sin, they forfeited freedom. They refused to believe that Jesus had power over death, and in so doing they sacrificed eternal life. If you refuse to acknowledge a conviction from the Holy Spirit, you aren't just overlooking your sin—you are bypassing the grace of God. Confess that sin today and receive the joy of forgiveness.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 4:1-15
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. - 1 John 3:15
TODAY IN THE WORD
At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate general Robert E. Lee witnessed an impressive display of skill and brutal force by his soldiers. He remarked, “It is well that war is so terrible—otherwise we should grow too fond of it.” Indeed, in the most primal part of our inner beings, we are often attracted to the violent execution of justice, vengeance, or even pent-up anger. If the consequences of acting on those impulses weren't so severe, violence might be even more pervasive.

We should be careful when we contrast ourselves with a bad boy like Cain, mankind's first murderer. In one sense, Cain couldn't fully comprehend the magnitude of his actions, because up until that point no human had ever physically died. But ironically, Cain's primary exposure to death may have been the very act that prompted his wrath: Abel's sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock. He likely also would have been familiar with the use of animal skins as clothing, so death would not have been a completely foreign concept. Still, murder was unexplored territory, and Cain was the first to cross that frontier.

The terrible act was prompted by jealousy. Although Cain's offering was rejected, he still enjoyed communication with God and the invitation to bring an offering that would be accepted by God (v. 7). Therefore, it appears Cain was in fact angered more by the praise Abel received than he was by his own rejection.

God's warning to Cain is particularly telling, because it anticipated the struggle within him, actually providing the only evidence we have that Cain deliberated at all about the decision to kill his brother. But even though God used the picture of sin crouching outside Cain's door, we need to remember that sin was not actually an external force. Thanks to Cain's parents, sin was already an inextricable element inside the human heart. It proved to be a beast Cain was unable to master. He expected others to repay his wrath with yet more violence, but in His mercy God protected him.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Thankfully, most Today in the Word readers are not guilty of murder, but that doesn't mean we are not guilty of a similar wrath. When jealousy or contempt drives us toward hate, we face the same challenge Cain did. Stopping short of murder does not mean we've mastered the sin that threatens to consume us. We may instead use the weapons of gossip, slander, or bitterness. Today choose one person who draws your ire and ask God to replace that emotion with love.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Exodus 14:1-31
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. - Hebrews 4:7
TODAY IN THE WORD
When Dr. James Dobson's book, The Strong-Willed Child, first hit bookshelves, it triggered quite a bit of controversy. Many people embraced his views on child discipline, while others denounced his advice as too forceful. But one thing about the book has been greeted with almost universal acceptance: the title. Anyone who has ever engaged in a stare-down with a belligerent four-year-old who won't take “no” for an answer (or thinks it is the only answer) knows all too vividly what a strong-willed child is like.

That may be one reason why “Pharaoh” never caught on as a popular name for a baby. The Pharaoh in today's passage was the definition of a strong-willed person. In fact, the Hebrew phrase translated “harden his heart” in Exodus literally means to strengthen the will. That can be a helpful distinction in understanding yet another controversy: the idea of God intentionally hardening Pharaoh's heart.

God didn't change Pharaoh's heart from pliable to hard. He merely strengthened the resolve of a man who already stood in direct opposition to the will of God. He didn't flip a switch that turned Pharaoh into an enemy—the presence of God triggered a reaction in Pharaoh that intensified his resistance against Yahweh. God's brand of corporal punishment never persuaded Pharaoh to submit to the Lord's rule. Even the death of his own son could not stop him from opposing the Israelites.

So strong was the will of Pharaoh and the entire Egyptian army (v. 17) that they stampeded into an obviously dangerous situation. It was no longer simply a matter of resisting the commands of God. Walking between two walls of water with no means of support would require any person, Egyptian or Israelite, to exercise considerable faith. God did the convincing, and the Egyptian army marched to their doom. They turned to flee only after the gaze of God struck them with panic (v. 24). The will of Pharaoh and his army had finally been broken, but it was too late. In their foolish demise, God was glorified (v. 31).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
You may be feeling confident that the story about Pharaoh doesn't apply to you. But if you resist God in any area of life, you're entering dangerously similar territory. You may find that the more you hear God convict you—whether through His Word, the prodding of the Spirit, or the advice of godly friends—the more intently you refuse to listen. Guard against that by seeking out Scripture that challenges you, praying for conviction, and asking your trusted friends for honest, constructive criticism.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 1 Samuel 17:1-50
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. - Psalm 20:7
TODAY IN THE WORD
The 1985 Villanova Wildcats upended the defending champion Georgetown Hoyas to win the men's NCAA basketball championship. The 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey squad defeated the mighty Soviet Union team and went on to win the gold medal. The 2007 New York Giants surprised many with their Superbowl victory over the undefeated New England Patriots. All of these competitions have been compared to the most frequently used Bible illustration in sports—David's defeat of Goliath.

Like their biblical counterpart, these athletic “Goliaths” had tremendous confidence in their own power and skills. In life, just as in sports, overconfidence can be costly.

Goliath had every earthly reason to be confident. Interpretations vary among Bible scholars as to Goliath's actual height, anywhere from six feet six inches to almost ten feet tall. His armor may have weighed twice as much as David, and his spearhead alone was as heavy as a bowling ball. He was a large man, but after falling flat on the ground his statistics became moot. It was the condition of his heart that made him so different from David.

Our attention usually turns to David in this passage because his courage and valor inspire us. But if it weren't for his faith in God, and the fact that he acknowledged the victory was God's to win, David would have been no different from Goliath. He would be another defiant competitor proclaiming his own success.

Goliath turned out to be just that. He repeatedly defied Israel, and therefore God, with his arrogant taunting. He was daring them to attack him, striking fear into all but one of the Israelites. We can learn a lot from David's example of courageous reaction. But we should be clear about what transpired in this battle. Goliath wasn't defeated by a shepherd boy with a sling; he was defeated by an Almighty God with a faithful servant.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Even someone on the Lord's side can make the Goliath-sized mistake of arrogance. God equips us all with gifts and talents, but we misappropriate the glory when we admire them as our own. Make a list of the enemies, obstacles, and challenges you face in life, everything from national issues to personal matters. Acknowledge to God that you are relying on Him for victory in each of those areas—then ask Him to use you and your gifts to win the battle.

[Soldier4Christ]

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Read: 1 Kings 21:1-29
Do not love the world or anything in the world. - 1 John 2:15
TODAY IN THE WORD
Crime boss John Gotti made a fortune as one of the most notorious gangsters in history. For decades he was able to avoid incarceration through corruption and intimidation, earning him the nickname “Teflon Don.” But in 1992, Gotti's misdeeds (and his corrupt shenanigans) caught up with him, and he was convicted for conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, tax evasion, and thirteen counts of murder.

Ahab believed he was above judgment for his rampant wickedness. During a period in Israel's history filled with bad-boy leaders, Ahab stooped to further abominations in abandoning God (1 Kings 16:30). He had constructed Ashera poles, built a temple and altar to Baal, married an evil foreigner who slaughtered many of the Lord's prophets, and witnessed the rebuilding of Jericho. But the act that brought a swift proclamation of judgment on Ahab might seem trifling in comparison. It was an act of treachery and greed, another form of idolatry (Col. 3:5).

It is difficult to separate Ahab's evil ways from the influence of Jezebel, as she clearly catalyzed Ahab's proud and greedy desire for the vineyard. She literally signed off on the order to frame and murder Naboth (vv. 8-10). They both bore responsibility for hitting an all-time low.

Trading a human life for a vegetable garden was an intolerable offense, and it prompted an interesting description of Ahab's evil. In proclaiming judgment against Ahab and his descendants, Elijah said that Ahab had “sold himself to do evil” (v. 20). The idea here is that Ahab was completely committed to doing what the Lord forbade. And to understand what God hated about Ahab's actions, we can look to the one change that brought mercy.

Ahab didn't repent. He didn't confess his sin. What he did was humble himself, and that desperate act of humility gave him a stay of execution of sorts (v. 29). It would seem, then, that the sin lying at the root of all that Ahab had done was a sinful, overblown pride.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Of all Ahab's offenses, the one lurking most dangerously in our culture is idolatry in the form of greed. Longing for someone else's possessions, sulking when we can't get the thing we desire, dreaming up ways we can obtain those things that lie outside of our reach . . . none of those actions have any place in a godly mindset. Materialism is, and always has been, the theology of the world. To avoid an Ahab mindset, humbly thank God for all He has given you.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Esther 6:1-7:10
The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. - Proverbs 16:5
TODAY IN THE WORD
Sports figures are notorious for using bold predictions as motivational ploys, but that approach often leads to humiliation. In the week leading up to a game against Utah, college football coach Joe Glenn guaranteed his Wyoming squad would win the contest. Just a few days later, Utah defeated Wyoming 50-0.

In the sports world, the cost of overconfidence is a lost game and a lot of negative press. But in the high court of the Persian Empire, unfounded bravado had much more serious consequences. The contrast of pride and humility is a prevalent theme throughout the book of Esther—the proud people didn't fare so well. But no one in the book met a fate more devastating than Haman. He is especially reviled as one of the worst among the Bible's bad boys because of the treacherous behavior his pride produced. In the end, he became the sole victim of his own wicked schemes.

In chapter 3, Haman had deceptively plotted to eradicate all the Jews in the entire kingdom because of the offense of one Jew, Mordecai. Haman accused them as a people of disobedience against the king (3:, but his true motives can be summarized with the single narcissistic thought expressed in today's reading (v. 6). Even as he planned the execution of innumerable thousands of innocent people, Haman couldn't imagine anyone more deserving of honor than himself.

Chapters 6 and 7 chronicle the perfect retribution of Haman's sinful pride. He was forced to honor the man he despised in the terms he dreamed up for himself (6:11), he begged for mercy from a Jew he had planned to have killed (7:7), and he was hanged just outside his own house on the exaggerated gallows he had constructed for his nemesis (7:10).

The seventy-foot drop was symbolic of Haman's incredible fall from the heights of his imagined glory to the depths of his well-deserved humiliation. Haman's arrogance was outweighed only by his ignorance.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
None of us are immune to Haman's brand of pride, even if we don't take it to the same extremes. Is there a person or type of person you routinely dismiss as irrelevant or worthless? Who is the butt of the jokes you find the funniest? Those are the victims of our arrogance, the people we place below ourselves in our mental rankings. If you find yourself looking down on the sins or weaknesses of others, ask God to reveal your own guilt in those areas, and then ask Him to give you His sense for the worth of others.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 1 Samuel 2:12-36
He who obeys instructions guards his life, but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die. - Proverbs 19:16
TODAY IN THE WORD
In 2002, George W. Bush initiated the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force to investigate and prosecute white-collar crimes like money laundering, accounting fraud, and insider trading. In the first five years of its existence, the task force secured the convictions of 214 CEOs and presidents, 53 CFOs, 23 corporate counsels or attorneys, and 129 vice presidents—over 1,200 of the most powerful people in America have been imprisoned as criminals.

What causes a leader to become corrupt? One factor is contempt for his or her position of authority. When that leader is representative of God, the punishment is far worse than prison. Hophni and Phinehas treated the sacred sacrifices like their own personal barbecue. They completely ignored the Levitical guidelines for the portions of meat reserved for the priests (Lev. 7:34) and the restrictions against eating fat or blood (Lev. 3:16-17). They desecrated their roles as priests with their immorality (v. 22). Eli correctly accused them of sinning against God, and there would be no one to intercede for them (v. 25). How could anyone associated with a divinely appointed office stoop to such lows? They weren't acquainted with God in the least (v. 12).

Eli's sons thought only of themselves. We'll focus on Eli's passive approach to their wickedness later in the month, but the sons should have known better without being told. Their actions showed no respect for the sacrifices of the people or the God to whom they were sacrificing. They effectively put themselves in the place of God as the object of worship.

The judgment was appropriately harsh for Eli and his family. The Lord pronounced a shift away from the ancestral line of Levi, a transfer from the arrangement that began at the beginning of Israel's existence as a nation but in keeping with the warnings issued at the time (Num. 18:1). The Levites were responsible for sins against the priesthood, so the entire tribe suffered the consequences of Eli's sons' evil ways.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Peter calls believers members of a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5), so the question naturally arises: are we as believers ever guilty of showing contempt for our privileged position? It's a question of selfishness or selflessness. When our Christianity becomes more of a status symbol than a standard of service, we begin using our priesthood for our own benefit. The only true fix for this problem, though, isn't to increase service; it's to humbly draw closer to God.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 2 Kings 17:1-23
From our youth till this day we have not obeyed the Lord our God. - Jeremiah 3:25
TODAY IN THE WORD
Sometimes consistency can be a bad thing. Jim Leyland, former manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, heard one of his players make a dire observation about the team's performance. “Every time we hear that song,” the player said during the national anthem, “we have a bad game.”

Israel's behavior as a nation was regrettably consistent. Adopting the worship rituals of foreign nations had become a familiar refrain. Their repeated failure to remain faithful to God earns them a spot on our bad boy list, because the sin of wayward worship cannot be attributed to just one leader. It was a chronic problem that God suffered patiently until finally He allowed them to be taken into exile. Although the infractions occurred thousands of years ago, the problem behind Israel's rebellion is a modern-day reality, so let's examine the patterns of Israel's behavior, summarized in verse 15.

First, Israel continually rejected God's decrees and warnings. There was a general dismissal of the Word of God, and that opened the door for all sorts of disobedience and foolish choices. The next form of rebellion was Israel's idol worship. The text refers to these idols as “worthless”; the conclusion is that to subject oneself to something worthless makes a person worthless as well—a chilling indictment of the things that capture our attention and allegiance.

Israel also conformed to the ways of surrounding nations, a sign that they cared more about fitting in socially and culturally with other people than they cared about being accepted by God. Finally, Israel did the exact things God had forbidden them to do. They rolled their eyes at everything God had ever told them to the point that provoking God to evil was simply no big deal.

The judgment that came upon Israel was severe, but they deserved worse. God was, in effect, turning Israel away from Him or removing them from His presence. The hidden implication is that despite their rebellion, God in His great mercy had kept them in His presence all along.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Are there sins in your life that have become “no big deal” because of their prevalence? That happens most frequently when we allow the world, rather than the Word, to dictate our behavior. Write this question on a note card: “Is the Word or the world telling me to?” Carry that card with you, and at various times, ask that question about what you are doing, saying, feeling, or thinking. Whenever the answer is “the world,” consult the Word to get God's direction.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 2:1-23
He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth. - Psalm 76:12
TODAY IN THE WORD
Richard von Weizsaecker, former president of Germany, said of the Holocaust, “There were many ways of not burdening one's conscience, of shunning responsibility, looking away, keeping mum. When the unspeakable truth of the Holocaust then became known at the end of the war, all too many of us claimed that they had not known anything about it or even suspected anything.” The guilt of an atrocity rests on the shoulders of leaders, but the many who did nothing to stop it share in the liability.

King Herod the Great is the bad boy of today's passage, but the people he ruled deserve scrutiny as well. The desperate fear of losing power drove Herod to murder, but he wasn't alone in his apprehension.

The Magi don't appear to have come directly to Herod, but to Jerusalem in general—the text doesn't specifically say they came to Herod's palace. The Magi may have asked around Jerusalem looking for the newborn King before word got to Herod about the foreign visitors. We do know for certain that the entire city was troubled by the news of the birth of the Christ (vv. 3-4). But the Magi were looking in the wrong city, as the priests and scribes knew from Micah's prophecy (Micah 5:2). Then Herod acted on his own, summoning the Magi privately and covertly sending them in the hope of destroying this threat to his rule (vv. 8, 13).

Herod's reaction (and Jerusalem's as well) to the news of Christ's birth is brought into sharp relief by the generous worship of the foreign wise men. The people of Jerusalem doubted the Magi's astronomical claims; those who believed in the fulfillment of prophecy and the birth of Messiah were the Magi (who responded with worship) and the wicked King Herod (who reacted with violence).

Herod ordered the execution of all boys age two and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem, an attempt to hold on to power. But how many people who were “troubled” by the Magi's message must have complied with his atrocious demands?
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
It's unlikely that any of us wield the type of power Herod of Great had, but there are at least two applications we can draw from studying his actions. First, we should never have so tight a grip on our position or our possessions that we aren't willing to surrender to the plan of God. And secondly, a “bad boy” in power will always have accomplices—don't become a partner to their wickedness through quiet cooperation in acts you know to be wrong.