What do you see - grasshoppers or giants?

What do you see, grasshoppers or giants?

 

What do you see, grasshoppers or giants?

Twelve men were sent to scout out the land promised repeatedly to the nation of Israel. They saw exactly the same land, but came to vastly different conclusions! (Num 13:26 - 14:10)

Majority report:
- Surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
- BUT the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great.
- We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
- The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants.
- They saw the inhabitants as giants, and themselves as grasshoppers.

The Majority view betrays unbelief and rebellion against their LORD!

They would rather return to Egypt or remain where they are, instead of moving forward into the blessing the Lord intended for them!

Minority report:
a. Caleb: Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
b. Joshua:
- If the LORD delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
- Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us.
- Their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

Minority view reflects faith in, and submission to the LORD's will for them!

Joshua's perspective is LORD-centred, not man-centred:
- "if the LORD delight in us..." that's all that counts, and matters!
- "only rebel not ye against the LORD..." that's what it amounts to! Unbelief is rebellion!
- "and the LORD is with us..." thus we are those giants that shall eat up the grasshoppers! (they shall be bread for us!)

What a man perceives is to a great extent determined by his faith in the LORD, and His word, or lack of it.

He who has eyes to see, let him see rightly.

======

 

Sing F Lau
Unbelief speaks from both sides of the same mouth:
- "Surely it flows with milk and honey" from right side, and "the land... is a land that eats up the inhabitants."

Unbelief speaks from both sides of the same mouth:
- "BUT the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great"... how could such be found in "a land that eats up the inhabitants"?

Dellis Worsham Sr.
Faith is not a confirmation of what we already see, it is believing in, what we have not yet seen.

Jerry Chapin
One of my favourite passages of Scriptures...there is so much here that are lessons for us today...Thanks for posting, Bro. Sing...

Sing F Lau
Spying has to do with the things that are seen... they saw a land flowing with milk and honey... a land the LORD has promised to give them. What they saw confirmed the LORD's word about the land.
It is their unbelief that imagined up the worst: a land that eats up the inhabitants, people as fearsome giants!

Sing F Lau
Faith is taking the LORD at His word!

Jerry Chapin
Amen!!!

Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated - popularly misunderstood

"Two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;
and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;
and the elder shall serve the younger."

 

#loved_n_hated
#jacob_n_esau

Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated

Romans 9
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 ¶ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

Here is the historical event referred to in Genesis 25;
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Q1. When did the election spoken of take place?

Q2. What was the election about, i.e. election unto what?

Q3. What did God do to Esau in that He "hated" Esau?

Q4. What did God do to Jacob in that He "loved" Jacob?

Note a few things stated in Romans 9:

i. "children not yet born":
- BUT ALREADY conceived in the womb when the said election took place... the preeminence of the younger over the elder!

ii. "... the purpose of God according to election might stand," even the election of Jacob over the firstborn Esau in the outworking of His redemptive purpose.
- divine purpose superseding the purpose of man, where the 1st born has the preeminence.
- This election has nothing to do with eternal salvation.

iii. "... the elder shall serve the younger"
- The end of that election is specifically stated: "the elder shall serve the younger"
- It is NOT that the elder was reprobated or bypassed in eternal salvation and the younger elected unto eternal salvation; the former is a popular fiction imagined by many.
- Those bypassed in the election unto eternal salvation were not hated in any sense.

iv. "Is there unrighteousness with God?"
- There is no unrighteousness with God in electing the younger to have preeminence over the firstborn!!!
- The purpose of God, according to election, might stand in spite of all the human scheming.

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month

A good knife keeps cutting,
It keeps asking apt questions.
Thus, it must be sharpened;
Sharpen it with sound Sense,
Soundbytes shall dull it fast.

 

An inquiring soul asked:

Zechariah 11 - NIV
8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 
9 and said, "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh."

Q. What do these two verses mean?

========

Let me quote from the King James's translation:

Zechariah 11 KJT
8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

KJT : 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

NIV : 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 

Do you notice the vast difference in the translations?

Shepherds are guides and protectors of their flocks, those entrusted to their care.

The three shepherds refer to the three great institutions in Israel, represented by the three offices of prophets, priests, and kings.

The LORD God instituted these three offices in Israel for the spiritual good of His people. BUT all these three had become so corrupted at the time of Jesus; it explained their great opposition and animosity against Christ.
 "... their souls ALSO abhorred me."
Christ's "soul loathed them."

Christ LOATHED them! Why? They abused their offices and did harm to Christ's people.

Christ cut them off - those offices of OT ceased by Christ's redemptive work; He fulfilled all those three offices in Himself - He is the Prophet, the Priest, and the King - the fulfilment of what typified in the old covenant. The three great institutions of the OT converged in and were fulfilled by the promised Messiah.

Verse 9 describes the forsakenness of all represented by the three shepherds, and the horrendous desolation and utter destruction of the theocratic Israel in 70AD.

I hope the above helps.

-----

p/s
Can you spot the differences? How good is your eyesight?

KJT: 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

NIV: 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them.

1. The pronouns "them" and "their" in the KJT refer to the "three shepherds". 
- Where does the NIV's "flock" come from? 
 
2. KJT's "cut off" versus NIV's "got rid of":
- Do they convey the same meaning?

3. KJT "my soul loathed them" versus NIV's "I grew weary of them":
- Do they convey the same meaning?

--------

picture:

A good knife keeps cutting,

It keeps asking apt questions.

Thus, it must be sharpened;

Sharpen it with sound sense,

Soundbytes shall dull it fast.

SOME BASIC CHURCH ETIQUETTE

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/pfbid02EaNprsKfmNTrmwDMT73PmV4zakWsCTDfGdXkJAozmeqA2ZP92CxeLVyPwtKAHEwVl 

SOME BASIC CHURCH ETIQUETTE

1. COME. Never miss church unless it is absolutely necessary. George Washington's pastor said of him, "No company ever kept him from church."

2. COME EARLY. Rushing into the church at the last minute is not conducive to true worship.

3. COME WITH YOUR WHOLE FAMILY. "The church service is not a convention that a family should merely send a delegate."

4. TAKE A PLACE TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH. Leave the rear seats for those who may come late, and for backsliders, and mothers with children.

5. BE DEVOUT. The church is not a theatre or place of amusement. You come to worship God, not to whisper, lounge or sleep. God's house deserves our very utmost reverence.

6. HELP STRANGERS TO FIND AND FOLLOW THE SERVICE. If they have no book, share yours with them. Sing! Join in the worship! Don't just sit!

7. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT STRANGERS ARE THE GUESTS OF THE CHURCH MEMBERS. Treat them with the same courtesy as you would if they should visit your home.

8. GIVE A GOOD OFFERING TO GOD. God loveth a cheerful giver. Freely ye have received.

9. NEVER RUSH FOR THE DOOR after the benediction as though the church were on fire. Speak and be spoken to. Be congenial.

10. NEVER STAY AWAY FROM CHURCH BECAUSE THE CHURCH IS NOT PERFECT. How lonesome you would feel in a perfect church.

Author Unknown

From faith to faith

 

Initially posted here
https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/pfbid0GHKf9i1eJMB6hYvRKfDNpoaWp52j1BFS8rDrxC3diAZ2v6u1Zfhbnsf3KjjQach8l

#fromfaithtofaith

Leon
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Sir, how would you interpret "from faith to faith"?

Sing
Ask questions about the text... and the answer is obvious.
Questions like...
- what does "therein" refer to?
- what is the righteousness of God spoken of?
- how is the righteousness of God therein revealed?
- revealed from what/whose faith to what/whose faith?

The context is that Apostle Paul is not ashamed of the gospel and preaching it, v. 16.

Leon
From those who already have faith (ie the Elects) to those who have just been given faith (newbie converts)?

Sing
What is the context?
Who is not ashamed of the gospel?
Why is he not ashamed of the gospel?

Leon
The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because Christ has revealed it to him as God's truth.

Sing
Romans 1:
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16 ¶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

One who is not ashamed of the gospel is one who has faith in the gospel and is earnest to preach the gospel.

Why? In the gospel, the righteousness of God's own provision in Jesus Christ is revealed, made known,  proclaimed, heralded to the hearers in WHOM God has worked the grace of faith.

Thus, it is from faith to faith.

Deceived and deluded theologians and their gullible followers see the gospel preaching as "from faith to those dead in trespasses and sins."

1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV — For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The preaching of the cross by the preachers who have faith in Jesus Christ is perceived by those in whom the Spirit of God has worked the grace of faith as declaring the power of God in saving them.

Thus, it is from faith to faith.