Bible Insights

Nehemiah 3:28 - Above the horse gate repaired the priests, everyone over against his own house. “Everyone over against his house.” The priests and others (verses. 10, 23, 29, 30), whose houses were near the wall, repaired that part of the wall opposite each of their dwellings. This suggests an important rule for Christian workers. Let every one do the work which lies nearest to him. Let him begin with his own family. No amount of good work elsewhere will compensate for neglect there. Christian parents can do their best for the community by training their children well. Then, as ability and opportunity permit, let each seek the good of his dependents, friends, neighbours, the congregation he worships, the city or town, the country, the Church at large, the world. There is a reason for doing this order- 1. That which is nearest is usually best known. Its needs can be best perceived, and how to meet them. 2. It appeals most powerfully to our hearts. Partly because best known. The ...

  𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘋 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰...

  𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐭.”—𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯. 𝟐𝟐:𝟔 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑜, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑. 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠,” 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑛, “𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑.” (𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑣 22 15.) “𝐴 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒.” (𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑣. 29:15.) 𝑂𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑; 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠. 𝐻𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 ...

  𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑢𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑖𝑚, 𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 “𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑” 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑: “𝑆𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡” (𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 10:14). 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑑𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡’𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑑𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡. 𝑊𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠: 𝑊𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑜 𝑛...

  𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 64, 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑁𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑝 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑚𝑠. 𝑁𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤. 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑠, 𝑁𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒. 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎?...

  𝑊𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔— 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑, 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛, 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦, 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒. 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒. 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ?...

  𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐼𝑛 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑠 6, 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 4:2-34, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛, 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ...

  Ezekiel 22:30- "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none". The people of Israel fell into sin when they worshiped the golden calf. It would not be the last time God's people would fall into idol worship. They had forgotten the great things God had done for them. This angered God so much that He was going to destroy the whole nation. Only one thing changed God's mind in the matter -- Moses. Psalm 106:23 says, "...had not Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to keep His wrath from destroying them." Moses was a man willing to stand in the gap, sacrificially, for those who were not deserving of such sacrifice. This sacrificial love by Moses is called for among His people today. The prophet Ezekiel described another situation in which God's people fell into sin. God was ready to destroy the nation when He spoke to Ezekie...

  𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑒𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 10:46-52 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑒 18:35-43, ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡’𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ...

  𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑. 𝑆𝑜, 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠…𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ. (𝑇𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑠 1:10,11) 𝐼𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛, 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 ?...

  Joshua 7:12"That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies.... That is why….. This plain statement disposes of the idea that the repulse before Ai was simply the result of Joshua’s rashness in sending so small a body of troops. The vivid narrative of the detection of Achan, obviously taken from contemporary records, precedes the account of the final capture of the city, although Joshua, who, as we have seen, does not neglect to employ human means, resolves to take greater precautions before making a second attack. Not a hint is dropped that the former number of men was insufficient, or that Joshua had been misled by the information brought by the reconnoitering party. In the mind of the historian the defect is entirely owing to the existence of secret sin in the Israelitish camp. Battle commanders want to know the vulnerabilities of their enemies. Companies want to know the vulnerabilities of their competition. We also need to know our spiritual vulnerability. Thi...

  𝑅𝑜𝑚. 5:2-4 "𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒; 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟; 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟, ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒" 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜, 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒; 𝑛𝑎𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒 ℎ...

  𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 , 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 ? 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛 ’ 𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 ' 𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 ? 𝐼𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 , 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛 , 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 . 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 . 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 , 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐸𝑙𝑖𝑗𝑎ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ...