HEBREWS – Undefiled

 

tāmiym

 

Psa_119:1 also stands out as a verse that speaks of being blessed: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way.” The Hebrew here for undefiled is tāmiym (H8549), an adjective that speaks of being “blameless, complete, and without blemish.”

 

In more than half its OT occurrences, tāmiym describes an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord, whether a ram, a bull, or a lamb, since such animals were required to be “without blemish” (e.g., Exo_29:1; Lev_4:3; Lev_14:10). It is also used to refer to time, as in a “whole” day (Jos_10:13), a “complete” seven Sabbaths (i.e., “weeks,” Lev_23:15), and a “full” year (Lev_25:30). When used in a moral sense, as it is here, tāmiym speaks of truth, integrity, virtue, uprightness, and righteousness. It appears, for example in Psa_18:23, where the psalmist again declares, “I was also upright before [God], and I kept myself from mine iniquity.” Solomon echoes this principle in Pro_11:5 : “The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.” (See also Jos_24:14, “sincerity”, and Pro_2:21, “perfect”).

 

Added to this word is the word way (derek, February 23), once again a marked-out pattern of life. True bliss and contentment, then, come when our pattern of life is characterized by unblemished behavior. How ironic (and tragic) that the world looks for happiness in the exact opposite, pursuing it in lawlessness and just living their own way, but they will never find it there. Every young person should be challenged with this principle. They might think they will be happy by doing what they want, but they will not. Hopefully, they will not have to find out the hard way that true contentment, bliss, meaning, purpose, and peace will come by a life of unblemished behavior, a lifestyle that is characterized by purity. Charles Spurgeon put it well when he wrote in his classic The Treasury of David: “Doubtless, the more complete our sanctification the more intense our blessedness.” In other words, and let us mark this down: The holier we live, the more content we will be.

 

Scriptures for Study: Who is spoken of as being undefiled (“perfect”) in Gen_6:9; Gen_17:1? In Psa_15:1-5, what other traits characterize those who will abide with God (“uprightly” is tāmiym)?

 

 

 

Dedication of David’s House

 

Psalm 30:1-12

 

“Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper,” Psalm 30:10.

 

I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of helplessness as I held our firstborn son in my arms for the first time. At first, I was not thinking about how awesome fatherhood is or how blessed I was to have a son. No, my very first thought was, I do not know what I am doing, and I have no idea how to be a dad! Since then, God has blessed us with three more children, and each day we are reminded that we are walking in uncharted territory, desperately dependent upon God to be patient with us, to protect us from ourselves and to intervene when we make mistakes.

 

As David sang this song at the dedication of his home, the verse that rings out the loudest is verse 10, in which David cried out, “Have mercy on me.” History tells us that David did not always make the best decisions, and his erroneous choices caused much hurt to himself and others. David was familiar with pain and understood the importance of God’s mercy.

 

Today, as we seek to build our homes and dedicate them to God’s honor and glory, may we never forget to daily cry out for God’s mercy. As long as we are in the flesh, we will make mistakes that cause hurt and pain to us and to others. We need a God who is patient with us and who will intervene on our behalf because of His steadfast love.

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT

 

Will you cry out for God’s mercy today?

 

Mark Clements

 

 

59 – February – 28 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

 

An aged man stands true

1644 – On this day William Witter of Lynn, Massachusetts was arraigned before the Salem Court for “entertaining that the baptism of infants was sinful.”  Later, on Dec. 18, 1645, he was charged with saying that, “they who stayed whiles a child is baptized do worship the devil.”  On June 24, 1651, he was accused of “absenting himself from the public ordinances nine months or more and for being re-baptized.”  In time he united with the Baptist church in Newport, R.I. where Dr. John Clarke was pastor.  However, because of his age and the fact that he was blind, it was impossible to travel that far for services, so on June 19, 1651 Pastor Clarke, Obadiah Holmes, and John Crandall, as representatives of the Baptist church in Newport, upon the request of Bro. Witter, arrived at his home after walking the eighty miles in two days.  Spies informed the authorities of the Mass. Bay Colony that services were conducted on Sunday morning at the Witter home without the authority of the Congregational Church, which caused the three men to be arrested and hauled away to a tavern.  Then to cleanse their souls they were taken to an afternoon worship service at an established church service, and then they were imprisoned, and a great miscarriage of justice followed which ended in the brutal beating of Holmes.  Witter was not arrested, no doubt because of his advanced age.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 82.

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HEBREW – Blessed

 

’ešer

 

The very first word we read in the book of Psalms is blessed. The Hebrew here is ’ešer (H835), a masculine noun meaning a person’s state of bliss. It’s never used of God, rather always of people, and is exclamatory in emphasis, as in “O the bliss of . . .” Most of its forty-four appearances are appropriately in the poetry of Psalms and Proverbs.

 

It is extremely significant that the Septuagint translates ’ešer using the Greek makarios, which our Lord used nine times in the Beatitudes (Mat_5:3-11). Many Bible teachers say this word just means “happy,” which is always circumstantial. It actually speaks of the far deeper idea of an inward contentedness not affected by circumstances (Php_4:11-13).

 

Of the many occurrences of ’ešer, one that immediately strikes us is Psa_1:1 : “Blessed is the man,” where the unknown psalmist distinguishes two lifestyles (February 23), one that is blessed and one that is not. We find in Psa_1:1-3 three realities that produce genuine bliss and contentment:

 

First, a path that is holy. In three distinct statements, the psalmist outlines holiness. The holy person first does not stroll with the “ungodly” (rāšā‘, H7563) people. He doesn’t associate with, listen to, or join those who are guilty before God and transgressors of His Law. Second, the holy person does not stand with sinners. Way is derek (February 23), a marked-out pattern of life, and “standeth” is ‘āmaḏ (H5975), which figuratively indicates living somewhere, standing, remaining there (e.g., Exo_8:22, dwell). The holy life, then, is one that does not remain in sin (1Jn_3:9, where “commit” is present tense, to “continually habitually commit sin”). Third, the holy person does not sit with the “scornful” (liys, H3887) person, that is, one who boasts, scoffs, mocks, and derides, as in showing or expressing utter contempt, in this case for the things of God.

 

Second, blessedness comes from a passion for Scripture. The blissful and contented person is one who takes delight (February 29) in God’s Word and his meditation (January 6) on it is the rule of life and his daily priority.

 

Third, blessedness comes from a prosperity dependent upon God. The image of sitting by a river is a graphic one, picturing nourishment, growth, fruitfulness, and much more. While “prosperity teachers” promise monetary riches, true prosperity is found in the spiritual riches we have in Christ (Eph_1:3-23).

 

Scriptures for Study: Read the following verses, noting what else brings bliss and true contentedness: Psa_2:12; Psa_32:1-2; Psa_112:1; Psa_119:1-2; Psa_127:4-5; Pro_3:13 (“happy”); Pro_8:32.

 

 

 

David’s Disobedience

 

Deuteronomy 17:14-17

 

“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold,” Deuteronomy 17:17.

 

Long before the nation of Israel requested and received its first king, God prescribed the qualifications for the king. God told the people of Israel that once they had occupied the Promised Land and had begun to enjoy living there, they would desire a king to rule over them. God allowed for that provision, but with a few caveats. Their king must be an Israelite, he must not acquire too many horses, he must not lead the nation back to a dependence on Egypt, he must not have more than one wife and he must not become too obsessed with wealth.

 

At first glance, these seem to be odd qualifications, don’t they? Upon further inspection, however, we can see that the negative kingly qualities God spoke against are the same qualities that existed in every king of the surrounding nations. What did God want for the leaders of His people? He wanted them to be distinct from the world so that the light of His glory could shine more brightly.

 

How did David stack up against the other kings? He started humble but ultimately caved in to the temptations of power, prominence and wealth. He was still a man after God’s own heart, but imagine how much greater God’s glory would have shined had David been able to resist the temptations of lust, money and power.

 

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT

 

Will you resist the temptations of this world so that God’s glory can shine through you today?

 

Mark Clements

 

 

58 – February – 27 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 07:20 PM PST

 

Dunster House

 

Erected 1930

 

He wouldn’t bend or bow 1659 – Henry Dunster died on this date February 27, 1659.  He was born in England around 1612 and came to know Christ as his savior.  He graduated from Cambridge in 1630 and then received his master’s degree in 1634.  He was ordained as a minister in the Church of England but was grieved with its corruption and sailed for America where he was soon installed as the President of Harvard College in 1640.  In those days some in the Anglican Church practiced immersion, as did Dunster.  In 1641 Dunster married a widow of a minister and took her five children as his own.  Two years later she died, he remarried and she had five more.  During this time he came to the conclusion that visible baptism of believers alone was correct Biblically.  When he refused to have an infant son sprinkled he was indicted and put on trial and convicted for disturbing the ordinance of infant baptism.  Because of these firm convictions Dunster left Cambridge. Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 80.

 

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The Kind of Christian I Am!

 

IT’S STILL ALL ABOUT ME!

 

Author – William Andrew Dillard

 

The Kind of Christian I Am!
Some folks believe that trusting Jesus, and becoming His disciple is surrendering life and its potential to a static life of religion. Oh, how the devil delights in spreading that lie! The truth is that in Christ, nothing is lost but the condemnation of sin, and the new life in Him is continuous gain upon gain. Joyfully, in Christ, life is still all about me, but in a much better way! Think with me about this.
Why did God leave heaven and become a man? It was to fulfill the types and promises of the Old Testament, and to pay the penalty of sins on behalf of mankind. He did this for me! You see, it really is all about me!
Why did He provide an everlasting salvation for all who repent of sins and trust Him as the personal Savior, especially me? Oh, yes, it is all about me!
Why did He create the living organism known as His body, the church? He did it that I might learn of Him, grow in grace and knowledge. Yes, it is all about me!
Did He not promise His dear children new life, and a new, incorruptible body, even me? Oh, yes! It is about me!
Does He not give us the opportunity to mature in the faith once delivered to the saints? Will that not qualify us to rule and reign with Him in the age that is about to happen? Does this include me? Indeed! It is all about me!
He will show me how an entire universe may be destroyed and return to the unseen state? I will see how creation is done. Because once resurrected I will ever be with the Lord, I will have a bird’s eye view of the creation of new heavens and a new earth! Hallelujah, it is all about me!
Who then will get to live in the New Jerusalem on the new earth, but his disciples of every age? That includes me! It is indeed all about me! Who then has the joy of studying, praying, coalescing the rightly divided Word that takes one from mountaintop to mountaintop? Among others, it is I! Thank the Lord it really is about me!
Dear reader this is for you, too, because of God’s love. I claim all these blessings for myself within the constraints of the Blessed Word of God because that is the kind of Christian I am!

 

 

HEBREW – Day

 

yôm

 

As if the evolutionist’s challenge of divine creation were not bad enough, there have been some Christians who compromise with evolution by actually allowing for “millions of years.” The idea of the “geologic column” was literally invented by the God- and Bible-hating amateur geologist Charles Lyle (1797–1875). It exists nowhere except in the textbooks, and has not even the smallest shred of empirical evidence to support it, but has nevertheless become “gospel” to the evolutionist.

 

Inexplicably, Christian leaders became so intimidated by evolution that they concocted theories that would accommodate both the Bible and the “millions of years” of the geological ages. The “Gap Theory,” for example, was created for the sole purpose of fitting the geological ages into the Bible, teaching that Gen_1:1 indicates complete creation, while Gen_1:2 and what follows is the recreation after a “gap” of millions of years between the two verses. Similarly, the Day Age Theory teaches that each “day” of Creation consisted of millions of years, which again allows for the geological ages.

 

All such God-dishonoring theories are shown to be false not only by the statement that “God created,” but also by the word day. While the Hebrew yôm (H3117) at times refers to an indefinite time, such as the span of life (Psa_102:3) or even a “full” year (Lev_25:29; 1Sa_27:7), its most common and natural reference in its more than 2,200 appearances is to a normal twenty-four-hour period (Gen_39:10). This is all the more clearly demonstrated in the Creation account by the qualifiers first, “second,” “third,” etc., being coupled with “evening and morning,” which is never used in the OT in a nonliteral manner. Further, why were the sun and moon created? To distinguish between and “rule” the two parts of a solar day (Gen_1:16). Further still, nonliteral usages, such as “the day of the Lord” (e.g., Isa_2:12; Eze_30:3), a period that is longer than a single day, are always clarified by the context. This is common even in modern usage and is always clear in context. To deny such truth is not only to dishonor God but to show oneself foolish.

 

The normal use of day in the OT serves to encourage us not only to praise God as Creator “every day” (Psa_145:2), but also to meditate on His Word “all the day” (Psa_119:97).

 

Scriptures for Study: What did the psalmist do seven times a day and why (Psa_119:164)? What else should we do “from day to day” (Psa_96:2)?

 

 

A little clarification from my point of view. The author has correctly state that some that indicate a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 is to allow millions of years in there.

 

That I do not refute.

 

 

Yet there are those that believe in a young earth and still believe in this gap because of a firm belief that God does not create an earth without form and void. They believe that the original was created in perfection and a catastrophic event caused the void and no form.

 

 

They believe the rest of the chapter is the event of re-creation which took 6 24 hour days and one 24 hour day of rest. God created a mature, yet young earth.

 

Brains of elderly are slow because they know so much

By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent

5:16PM GMT 20 Jan 2014

Older people do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe.

Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full up, so to do humans take longer to access information, it has been suggested.

Researchers say this slowing down it is not the same as cognitive decline.

“The human brain works slower in old age,” said Dr. Michael Ramscar, “but only because we have stored more information over time

“The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.”

SO  THERE!!    We Are All Brilliant!

57 – February 26 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

First baptisms in the Shenandoah

 

1770 – A BAPTIST PREACHER IMPRISONED FOR PREACHING WITHOUT A LICENSE IN VIRGINIA IN 1770 – February 26, 1770, was the beginning of the three-month imprisonment of John Pickett, mentioned in the entry for January 14, in the Fauquier County, VA Order Book for 1766, pages 242 and 243.  The prison was a two room log building 18’ long and 16’ wide, dovetailed, with layered wood of good mortar between each log. There was a brick wall between the rooms with a fireplace in each room, secured with grates above and below to prevent the prisoners from escaping up the chimney.  The only ventilation was a window 12 inches square in each room.  These colonial prisons were like ovens in the summer and freezers in the winter, certainly not “country clubs” of our day in comparison.  Many of those early preachers lost their health from these conditions and never recovered their strength.  The opposition of John Pickett was at times fierce.  Some times when he would preach in a grove of trees in the Culpepper area the, Anglican Church parson would appear with his supporters, sit a few yards in front of Pickett, and take notes of what he considered to be false doctrine.  The parson would call him a schismatic, a broacher of false doctrines, and one that held up damnable errors.  This was done to hold him up to public scorn.  Often it backfired, in that it caused people to be sympathetic toward Picket.  At that time, many were disgusted with the state hirelings, among whom there were those of disrepute.  Some who were attracted by this confrontation and debate were converted to Christ.  After Pickett was released his zeal led him to continue his labors around Culpepper and over the Blue Ridge.  It is reported that the first baptisms to take place in the Shenandoah, there were as many as fifty who followed there Lord in this ordinance.

 

Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 79.

 

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