Asignment for Greatness

“And Joshua answered them, if thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee” (Joshua 17:15 KJV).

Each of the tribes of Israel was assigned land in Canaan by Joshua. Some of the tribes began complaining about the land assigned to them. Their complaint was that the land was either too small, too hard to conquer or both. In our verse Joshua answers one of the tribes. In his answer, he addresses the claim of greatness, the complaint of greatness, and then gives them a charge for greatness.

Claim of greatness – “If thou be a great people.” This particular tribe informed Joshua that they were great (Joshua 17:14). While the primary reference to “great” here refers to numbers, they wanted recognition and privilege as well. However, true greatness does not call attention to itself; people can tell when someone is great.

Complaint of greatness – “If mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.” The complaint of these people was that their portion of land was too small. Yet, as can be gleaned from earlier verses, this tribe had not done a good job of driving out the enemy from their inheritance. Part of their problem was not lack of land but lack of labor in completely driving out the enemy.

Charge for greatness – “If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants.” Joshua’s answer to this tribe was that they prove their greatness by doing a great work. They were to conquer the tough land and tough people of “the wood country.” The problem with this tribe is very much like some people today – recognition of greatness but not the responsibility of greatness. They wanted the privilege of greatness but not the production of greatness. We should not demand recognition, but show that we deserve it.

(Adapted from Butler’s Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“In an age of false superlatives, only God is truly great!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Conceived (arrest)

In James 1:15 we read, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (NASB).

Conceived (arrest) is the Greek word sullambano (συλλαβουω). It is made up of two words: “sun” which means together with, and “lambano” which means to take, or to seize. Literally, the word mean to seize or take together and conveys the picture of clasping, to bring together, to enclose, to seize, to trap or capture.

The most common meaning of sullambano is to arrest someone, or take them into custody (to apprehend someone by virtue of a warrant from authority). The next most frequent use of sullambano is to conceive (become pregnant). Here in our verse, James is using sullambano in the metaphorical sense (picturing it as childbirth) to describe lust as a woman who conceives and gives birth to a horrible child, sin. When it comes to lust, there can be no ‘stillbirth.’ Lust is always going to bring forth something. When the evil thought in the heart is joined to the outward temptation, there is a birth – birth of sin. The heart is where sin always begin

Bible Facts

Alleluia is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Hallelujah meaning, “Praise ye Jehovah,” or “Praise ye the Lord.” This phrase begins or ends several of the Psalms (106,111, 112,113).

Bible Trivia

Who is the first woman in Scripture to wear a veil?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: The first instance of kissing in Scripture involves a son kissing his father. What is the name of the father and son? Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 27:27).

That’s in the Bible

“Lord and master”

“Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:13-14 KJV).

The expression to “lord and master” is often used as a sarcastic expression for the husband. Today, if a man says he is “lord and master” of his house, he would be laughed at. Yet, in the truest sense, God has made man the head of the household. When the wife recognizes the man as the “master of the house,” there is no problem obeying him. Men are called the masters of the house several times in Scripture (Judges 19:23, Luke 13:25; 14:21), but women are never referred to this way. At the job, we obey our bosses because they have the final authority. Why then do some people have a problem with God placing the final authority in the home with the husband? After all, we do not have two masters at home or on the job.

Did You Know – Christian History

Paul Gerhardt was born March 12, 1607 in Grafenhainichen, near Wittenberg, Germany. He was a pastor and hymn writer. Gerhardt is considered Germany’s greatest hymn writer. He is called the ‘Wesley of the Fatherland,’ not because of the number of hymns that he wrote but for their quality. Of Gerhardt’s one hundred and twenty-three hymns, all show the mark of real genius, and nearly forty are still in common use. Among his most famous hymns are “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” and “Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me.” Paul Gerhardt is commemorated on October 26 in the Calendar of Saints used by some Lutheran churches in the United States.

A Little Humor

When the new monk arrived at the monastery, he is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old texts by hand. He notices, however, that they are copying from copies, and not from the original books. So, the new monk goes to the head monk to ask him about this. He points out that if there was an error in the first copy, that error would be continued in all of the other copies. The head monk says, “We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.” So, he goes down into the cellar with one of the copies to check it against the original. Hours later, nobody has seen him. So, one of the monks goes downstairs to look for him. He hears sobbing coming from the back of the cellar and finds the old monk leaning over one of the original books crying. He asks, “What’s wrong?” “The word is ‘celebrate’ not ‘celibate’” says the old monk.

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Toying with sin invites disaster!”