A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

Without the Camp


"And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount" (Exodus 19:17).

Most of the vital activities of Israel as they were camped in the wilderness took place at the tabernacle in the midst of the camp. On the other hand, there are in the Scriptures about thirty references to things that had to take place "without the camp." The event described in our text is the first of these. The people had not yet come into covenant relationship with God, but were just about to encounter Him at Mount Sinai.

Once they had committed themselves to the covenant of law, the only events required to take place outside the camp had to do with keeping intact the holiness of the camp itself. For example, lepers were made to remain "without the camp" (Leviticus 13:46), because of both the infectious nature of the disease and also the fact that leprosy is used in the Bible as a type of sin. Those who were convicted of blasphemy against God were stoned "without the camp" (Leviticus 24:14), and this was also done in the case of those who ignored God's Sabbath rest day (Numbers 15:35). All the bodies of animals slain as sin-offerings had to be "burned without the camp" (Hebrews 13:11).

All of these were also types of the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate sin-offering for the sin of the whole world. "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate" (Hebrews 13:12). In Jesus' time on Earth, there was no camp as such, so He was taken outside the city walls for execution.

As a result of the willingness of the Lord Jesus to die for us, we are exhorted to die to self and live unto Him. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come" (Hebrews 13:13-14).

[Soldier4Christ]

Mockers -- Ancient and Modern


"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews" (Nehemiah 4:1).

The art of mocking God and His people has changed little through the ages. The pagan enemies that surrounded the Jews as they were trying to rebuild Jerusalem 400 years before Christ, tried various means to defeat them -- essentially the same devices used by God's enemies today.

They tried political and sociological means, after their efforts at infiltration failed, but these also failed (see Ezra 5:6,17; 6:6-7; 9:1; 10:11-12). Then, when Nehemiah actually began work on the city's wall, they tried discouragement by ridicule (Nehemiah 2:19; 4:1-3), by threat of violence (4:7-8), and by attempted treachery (6:2).

Likewise, the enemies of God's Word and God's plan today are trying all these devices in a modern format. They use political means (such as the ACLU), compromising infiltration (liberal teachers in once-sound Christian schools), and even persecution (as in communist countries).

The strategy of "mocking" is often especially effective against Christians in education, science, or other professional fields. Such people place a high premium on peer recognition, and thus are sensitive to snide remarks about the Bible. Thus when, in the words of II Peter 3:4, latter-day scoffers come saying: "Where is the promise of His coming? . . . all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (which is essentially a denial of God and creation), there is great pressure to tacitly agree with the scoffers, and many Christians will seek some compromise.

But Nehemiah did not compromise, and neither should we. The Bible says that those who ridicule God's Word are "willingly ignorant" (II Peter 3:5), and there is no need to pander to willful ignorance of God's invulnerable truth.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Eternal God


"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalm 90:2).

This verse was written by Moses as the children of Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land. Perhaps the most basic of all the attributes of God is that He "inhabiteth eternity" (Isaiah 57:15). He is "from everlasting to everlasting," the God who ever was and ever shall be.

As creatures of time cannot really comprehend the idea of past eternity. "But who made God?" children ask. "Nobody made God," we answer. "He always was." The alternative would be to believe in the eternity of "space" and "matter," but these in themselves are utterly incapable of producing our complex universe. God, however, is an adequate First Cause to explain all the effects of our infinite, intricate cosmos.

There are many other Scriptures assuring us that God has always been. "Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting" (Psalm 93:2). He is "the everlasting God, the Lord" (Isaiah 40:28). And this truth applies to God the Son as well as to God the Father. The Lord Jesus could say; "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Revelation 22:13).

We find it somewhat easier to contemplate the fact that God will live forever. Still certain foolish men have imagined that God is dead, but "the Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting king" (Jeremiah 10:10).

The most glorious fact of all is that this living God did also become man, in the person of Christ Jesus, and He did die. But He soon defeated death and now can say: "I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18).

And now, since "we believe that Jesus died and rose again, . . . so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:14,17).

[Soldier4Christ]

Submission


"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God" (Ephesians 5:21).

Normally in today's world we are told to strive for the top. Desire to be "Number 1" overshadows the Biblical injunction of submission. But when we are truly in a right relationship with God, we will be submitting to one another. Christ taught that servanthood was of much greater value in the eyes of God than mastery.

We all know too many examples of churches which have been split by conflicts arising from selfishness among the believers or an unwillingness to serve. "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" (James 4:1). A Spirit-filled Christian (Ephesians 5:18) desires to submit and serve, rather than to assert and rule.

The same thought is reflected throughout Scripture: "Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (I Peter 5:5). "Obey them [i.e., spiritual leaders] that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls" (Hebrews 13:17). We must also submit to "every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake" (I Peter 2:13).

The word "submit" is a translation of two Greek words meaning "to line up under." It usually reflects a military hierarchy, "to rank lower than." Our goal, therefore, should be to place others above ourselves and to be in submission to and in service of them.

This attitude, of course, was the attitude that Christ exhibited as He left heaven to come and serve, and die, who "took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:7-8).

[Soldier4Christ]

A Mind to Work


"So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work" (Nehemiah 4:6).

The ambitious project of rebuilding Jerusalem's wall, with all its gates and other structures, was completed in less than two months (Nehemiah 6:15), for all "the people had a mind to work." This was in spite of the danger from the external enemies who wanted to delay the work if they could.

The third chapter of Nehemiah has a remarkable list of the workmen on the wall. Men of all walks of life participated, each with an assigned portion of the work as organized by Nehemiah. The first verse of the chapter tells of the work done by Eliashib, the high priest, and all the other priests; the last verse lists the contribution of the goldsmiths and the merchants. There were the Nethinims (v.26), apothecaries (v., rulers (i.e., "mayors," vv.9,12,14-16), and various others. At least one man even had his daughters working (v.12). Only the nobles of the Tekoites "put not their necks to the work of their Lord" (v.5).

This would be a good model for any doctrinally sound, Bible-believing church, school, or other Christian ministry. It's a lesson we would do well to learn. The mission and its goal are surely more important than the special desires or interests of any individual or group. At the same time, enforced cooperation will only breed resentment and inefficiency. The people themselves must be led to understand it as not just a job to do, but as a divine calling: they themselves must have "a mind to the work." Otherwise they should probably be encouraged to work elsewhere.

The early Christians served "daily with one accord . . . And singleness of heart, . . . And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:46-47). That's the way it should be.

[Soldier4Christ]

How Does God Hear?


"Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive" (II Chronicles 6:21).

No less than eight times in Solomon's prayer of dedication for the temple does he beseech God to "hear from heaven" (see II Chronicles 6:21,23,25,27,30,33,35,39). But the obvious question is just how can God hear our prayers, especially those uttered only in silence?

The answer is in both God's omniscience and His omnipresence. Although God is indeed on His heavenly throne, He is also right here! "O Lord," David prayed, "thou hast searched me, and known me. . . . thou understandest my thought afar off" (Psalm 139:1-2). He can, and does, hear our prayers. "He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?" (Psalm 94:9).

In a manner of speaking, He hears the prayers of redeemed children today even more directly than in David's day, for we who trust in Christ have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. "God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them" (II Corinthi-ans 6:16). "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers" (I Peter 3:12).

God can indeed hear our prayers. But there are times when He refuses to hear! "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God . . . that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1-2).

Yes, but if we ask anything according to His will (and this implies first living according to His will) "He heareth us: And . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him" (I John 5:14-15).

[Soldier4Christ]

When the Boughs Break


"When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore He that made them will not have mercy on them, and He that formed them will shew them no favor" (Isaiah 27:11).

Like a mighty tree towering over the forest, God raises up a mighty nation from time to time, with a great leader, to accomplish some purpose in the divine plan. He "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17:26).

But when that nation and its leaders become proud, and its people become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, it becomes like a tree whose branches wither and whose core becomes riddled with insect-caused decay. Finally, the boughs break, the kingdom will fall, and down will come that nation, its leaders and all!

That happened even to God's chosen nation, Israel, though only for a time in her case since God's promises cannot fail. One after another, the mighty nations that God used to chastise His wayward people -- Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Rome, etc. -- have in turn been judged for their own rebellion against the God who "made them" and "formed them." God has warned that "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).

Is that about to happen to our beloved U.S.A. as well? The signs of self-seeking power and pride among our leaders and moral decay and spiritual rebellion among our people are widespread and growing worse. Our prayer should be that of the ancient prophet. "O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, . . . in wrath remember mercy" (Habakkuk 3:2). "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?" (Psalm 85:6).

[Soldier4Christ]

No Complaints


"And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp" (Numbers 11:1).

The Lord is not pleased when we complain about our circumstances, no matter how grievous they may seem to us. Our example is Christ, always. "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps" (I Peter 2:21).

The children of Israel complained once too much. Forgetting all of God's blessings in miraculously freeing them from slavery and providing all their needs, they repeatedly complained about their lot, one thing after another. "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. . . . Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer" (I Corinthians 10:5-6,10).

God may not deal with a complaining Christian as severely as He did with His chosen people Israel, but we can be sure He is displeased when we, who have received the blessing of eternal salvation by His gracious gift through Christ, forget His benefits and complain about His testings. "Do all things without mumurings and disputings" He has commanded (Philippians 2:14) -- that is, without complaining and arguing about our treatment.

We can be confident that He is allowing these difficulties for some good purpose in preparing us for our service for Him in eternity. We should not forget what happened to the complainers in ancient Israel. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition" (I Corinthians 10:11).

[Soldier4Christ]

National Righteousness


"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).

Modern Christians place great emphasis on personal salvation, but we must remember that God is also the God of the nations. That being so, our own nation, so greatly blessed of God in the past, may well be in great peril, for "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).

Our nation was founded by men who had strong faith in God, and its laws were based on the laws of God. The schools all honored the Lord and His Word, taught the truth of special creation, and enforced Biblical morality among the students. Today, God and anything associated with Him are banned from the classroom, His laws are no longer taken seriously in the courts and legislatures, and evolutionary humanism is, in effect, the state-endorsed religion. Divorce and immorality are affecting most of the nation's homes; business and finance are ubiquitously plagued with greed and dishonesty; the sins of homosexuality, drunkenness, dishonesty, and drug use are rampant, and pantheistic New Age globalism is an imminent threat at our gates.

God would even have spared Sodom, though, if there had been ten righteous (Genesis 18:32), and America has evidently been spared thus far because it is still the nerve center of world missions and Christian literature, as well as aid for the sick and needy. The modern revival of true creationism is centered in this nation, and serious Biblical interest is growing in many places, yet worldliness, apostasy, and compromise are eating away at the heart of American Christianity, and there is great need for a revival -- not of religious emotionalism, but of genuine commitment to the integrity and authority of God's Word. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12).

[Soldier4Christ]

Almighty God


"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" (Genesis 17:1).

This is the first of forty-eight occurrences of the designation of God by the term "Almighty" in the Old Testament. There are also nine times in the New Testament where God is called "Almighty" plus once where He is called "omnipotent." The last time it occurs is very near the end of the Bible, telling us that there is no special temple in the holy city, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Revelation 21:22).

Thus, in the first and last books of the Bible, and often in between, we are reminded that our God is an omnipotent God. As Jeremiah prayed; "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" (Jeremiah 32:17).

Sarah "laughed" when God said that she would bear a son in her old age, but God responded: "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14). Many years later, the angel told the Virgin Mary that she would have a son, and she said: "How shall this be . . . ?" (v.34.) The angel replied: "With God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37).

Some things God cannot do, of course, for "God cannot be tempted with evil" (James 1:13) and He "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2), so whatever He does is right and whatever He says is true. We may not always understand just why He does or says something, but in eternity we shall learn that He was indeed able to do what He says. He is omnipotent!

God did create the cosmos in all its macroscopic complexity and all the living kinds with their microscopic complexity. "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).

[Soldier4Christ]

Leviathan


"In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea" (Isaiah 27:1).

There is a remarkable animal called a "leviathan," described in the direct words of God in chapter 41 of Job. It is surprising that most modern expositors call this animal merely a crocodile. Our text plainly calls it a "piercing serpent . . . the dragon that is in the sea." He is also said to "play" in the "great and wide sea" (Psalm 104:25-26). God's description in Job 41 says "a flame goeth out of his mouth" (v.21), and "he maketh the deep to boil like a pot" (v.31). The entire description is awesome! Whatever a leviathan might have been, it was not a crocodile!

In fact, there is no animal living today which fits the description. Therefore, it is an extinct animal, almost certainly a great marine reptile with "terrible teeth" and "scales" (vv.14-15) still surviving in the oceans of Job's day, evidently one of the fearsome reptiles that gave rise to the worldwide tales of great sea dragons, before they became extinct.

But that is not all. In ending His discourse, God called leviathan "a king over all the children of pride" (Job 41:34), so the animal is also symbolic of Satan, whose challenge to God instigated Job's strange trials. He is "the great dragon . . . that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). Perhaps, therefore, the mysterious and notorious extinction of the dinosaurs is a secular prophecy of the coming Day of Judgment, when God "shall punish leviathan" (Isaiah 27:1), and the "devil that deceived them" will be "cast into the lake of fire . . . and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10).

[Soldier4Christ]

Partakers of the Promise


"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).

There are many Christians who regard themselves as almost exclusively New Testament believers, arguing that the Old Testament was for the Jews under the dispensation of law and thus not applicable to Christians today.

Nothing could be further from the truth. While the old animal sacrifices, temple rituals, and Levitical priesthoods have indeed been superseded by Christ's "one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Hebrews 10:12), there are many "exceeding great and precious promises" (II Peter 1:4) of the Old Testament that can be properly and joyfully appropriated by Christians. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable . . ." wrote Paul (II Timothy 3:16), speaking particularly of the Old Testament Scriptures.

In the context of our verse for the day, Paul is stressing that his own new revelations, given in connection with the Christian gospel, actually involved bringing Jew and Gentile together as one body in Christ. The "dispensation of the grace of God . . . by revelation He made known unto me," he wrote, but in previous ages, it had not been "made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:2-5).

And what was it that had not been made known? The hidden mystery was simply "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs" with the Jews, and therefore "partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).

Thus Gentile believers can now share in all the gracious promises of God in the Old Testament (e.g., Psalm 23; Isaiah 26:3; etc.), except those directly dealing with the future of Israel as a nation, "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:14)

[Soldier4Christ]

The Weight of the Wind


"For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and He weigheth the waters by measure" (Job 28:24-25).

It was only discovered by scientists in modern times that the air actually has weight. This passage in Job, however, written thirty-five or more centuries ago, indicated that the two great terrestrial fluids of air and water forming Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere are both "weighed" by God's careful "measure" to provide the right worldwide balance of forces for life on Earth.

Another remarkable "weighing" act of God is noted in Job 37:16. "Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him which is perfect in knowledge?" Clouds are composed of liquid drops of water, not water vapor, and water is heavier than air, so how are they "balanced" in the sky? "For He maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapor thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distill upon man abundantly" (Job 36:27-28).

Meteorologists know that the weight of the small water droplets in the clouds is "balanced" by the "weight of the winds" -- air rushing upward in response to temperature changes. Eventually, however, the droplets coalesce to form larger drops which overcome these updrafts and fall as rain. "By watering He wearieth the thick cloud" (Job 37:11). The coalescence is probably triggered electrically in the clouds themselves, "When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder" (Job 28:26).

Although these verses are not couched in the jargon of modern science, they are thoroughly scientific and up to date. "Lo, these are parts of His ways: but how little a portion is heard of Him? but the thunder of His power who can understand?" (Job 26:14).

[Soldier4Christ]

When the Foundations Are Destroyed


"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3).

The word here for "foundations" is not the usual word for, say, a building foundation. Used rarely, a better translation of this word would be "purpose," or "basis." The fear expressed is not that the foundations of our faith might be undermined, but that we might lose our sense of purpose.

In the context of the psalm, David was in danger of becoming demoralized by the pressures of wicked desires and evil ambitions all around him, and Christians surely have the same problem today. Why should we try to maintain high standards of doctrinal integrity and moral purity when the people around us -- even most Christians -- seem to be occupied mostly with materialistic ambition and pursuit of pleasure? If we allow the devil to undermine the very purposes God has for our lives, wandering away from His will in favor of some temporal interest, then why even continue with a pretense of Christian living?

David's solution was simply to remind himself that "The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men" (v.4). He may allow the righteous to be tried for a season, but we must not forget that "the righteous Lord loveth righteousness" (v.7), and that "the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth" (v.5).

When we are tempted to wonder whether it is really worth all the effort, and when our very foundation and purpose for living seems to be crumbling, we should remember that our God is Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of all -- that He still is on His throne, and that we who belong to Him have been "predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).

[Soldier4Christ]

The Delightful Law


"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Romans 7:22).

To many people, the law of God is harsh and cruel, consisting of an unreasonable list of "thou shalt nots. . . ." But Scripture teaches that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). The "old man" -- that is the natural man, "is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" (Ephesians 4:22), and therefore it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10).

No natural man could ever truthfully say, "I delight in the law of God," and in our modern world, it is even probable that most people have broken at least most of God's Ten Commandments, and often delight in doing so. But the "old man" becomes a "new man" when he accepts Christ as his Savior, for "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Thus the "inward man" can thenceforth "delight in the law of God," as our text says. Not to earn salvation (which we could never do), but because we love to live for Him who died for us.

God's law (and we can understand this now to include even the entire Word of God) indeed becomes our delight. We can say with the psalmist, "Thy law is my delight" (Psalm 119:77). Every one redeemed of the Lord should now find that "his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:2).

The old covenant said, in effect, that we must keep the law to live. But now, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them" (Hebrews 10:16). No longer are the commandments first written "in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (II Corinthians 3:3), and we delight in them.