Micah 6
In this chapter we read about the charge God had against his people. God saw all the sins and wickedness that was going on in Israel. The kingdom was already split into the northern and southern kingdoms at this time. The sins of the northern kingdom had spread down into the south. Micah prophesized to the southern kingdom, so they knew where God stood and where they stood with God. The same God that punished the northern and southern kingdoms, is the same God that punishes wickedness today. God doesn’t punish without first teaching how to live obediently to his standard. In verse eight, Micah reminds the people in Judah what God’s standard is. God wanted them and he wants us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with him. God wants a relationship with us as individuals. We can have one through faith in his only son Jesus the Christ. We can live a life bringing God glory through the Holy Spirit that lives with all the children of God that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior. God still watches to see how we treat each other. Nations rise and fall based on how they treat each other. People are still punished for their sins. Some people repent and are forgiven. Others refuse to repent, and their sins aren’t forgiven. Each day we have a choice. Do we live in a way pleasing to God or do we live however we want? Have you been living in a way pleasing to God this week?
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Ruth 2
Injustice happens to everyone at some level. If you go back and read chapter one of Ruth, you will see that the death of their husbands caused Naomi and Ruth to become poor. It took away their security and caused them to have an uncertain future. In the chapter for this week’s message, we see Ruth working in the fields belonging to Boaz. Ruth already made her pledge to Naomi in chapter one and was actively keeping it by working in the fields during harvest to provide for Naomi and herself. In verse twelve Boaz said this to Ruth, “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Having good characteristics is important. Having good characteristics can help us find favor in the middle of uncertain times. Having good characteristics can help us find favor in the middle of hard times. Having good characteristics can help us find favor from people we don’t know personally. Ruth was an honest, hard working woman who kept her word. The Lord repaid her pledge to Naomi and faith in him with favor from Boaz. Ruth was blessed in her relationship and later marriage with Boaz. Ruth would become the great grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. We must look to God as our refuge when we face injustice and hard times. We must also accept God’s only son Jesus the Christ as our Lord and savior. Jesus will provide for us regardless what is going on in the country we live in. Jesus will create and is creating a better future for us. When injustice happens, there will be things we can’t control. However, we can control how we respond and who we place our faith in. When life is hard, and injustice happens respond with good character. Working hard, being honest and humble will help us through those times. Placing our faith in God and Jesus will allow us to overcome any injustice we face. Can people list more good characteristics or bad characteristics that you have? Who do you place your faith in when you face injustice and hard times? Leviticus 25
This is a challenging chapter to read in the middle of a study on social justice. There are parts to this chapter that can be difficult to accept if we aren’t willing to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.” It is a fact of life in this world that people are treated differently. This chapter highlights some differences that would separate the nation of Israel from the rest of the world. In verse twenty-three God tells the Israelites that the land is his and they are just tenants. The reason God established a sabbath year and Year of Jubilee was to remind the Israelites that God provided them with all they had. They weren’t to take advantage of each other, because they weren’t owners of their property. Their property was God’s and they could use it if they obeyed his laws. Slavery was more accepted back then. God didn’t want the Israelites enslaving other Israelites. In verse forty-two God reminded them they were his servants that he brought out of slavery in Egypt. When Israelites became poor, they could hire themselves to another Israelite as a hired worker until the Year of Jubilee. Also, they could sell themselves to a foreigner as a slave, but only until the Year of Jubilee. God allowed the Israelites to own foreigners as slaves for life and to pass them down as an inheritance to their children. Foreigners weren’t part of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his descendants. There was a difference in how the Israelites were to treat each other versus how they would treat foreigners. This seems unfair and wrong looking at it now. However, God already gave the Israelites commands about how they should treat their foreigners fairly. Today there is a difference in how we are to treat children of God and how we treat people that aren’t. The same way God commanded the Israelites to treat foreigners fairly, Jesus has commanded children of God to treat others with love. We aren’t living in a culture that accepts slavery. We don’t read this scripture and say that we can do what God allowed the Israelites to do back then. That would be ignoring what Jesus taught and would put us on a path to destruction. Children of God should look back on this chapter and realize that even when God chose to grant favor to the Israelites, he still didn’t want them treating others wickedly. When God grants his children favor today, he doesn’t want them treating others wickedly. Children of God should be a blessing to others because they have been blessed by God. Only by being blessed by children of God and not cursed by them will some choose to become a child of God. Does the favor God has given the children of Israel bother you? Does the favor God has given his children bother you? Have you blessed someone this week or cursed them? |
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May 2024
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