Obedience with Excellence

“So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years” (2 King 8:2 NKJV).

The Shunammite woman who had helped Elisha was given a Divine warning by the prophet that a famine was coming. Elisha told her it would last seven years and that she needed to move to some place where she and her household would be provided for. The woman’s action show an excellent response of obedience to the Divine warning. Her response was prompt, painful, prudent, and patient.

Prompt - “The woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God.” As soon as the Divine warning was given she obeyed. This required considerable faith because the famine had not happened yet and the land was still in good condition. Obedience to God often requires action when circumstances do not seem to justify it.

Painful - “She went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines.” As in the case of this woman, obedience is often difficult. Apart from being a widow, she had to leave the home she loved, and move her household. For her, obedience had lots of difficulties, yet she obeyed. Obedience may come with a high price tag, but it is always worth it.

Prudent - “Dwelt in the land of the Philistines.” Normally in Scripture, going to Philistia was symbolic of backsliding. But not here. Philistia was on the coast of the Mediterranean, and was a land of plenty compared to the highlands of Palestine. And if food failed there, it could easily be brought by sea from Egypt. The woman made a wise choice. Faith and obedience enhances our wisdom.

Patient - “Dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.” Elisha told the woman that the famine would last seven years. That is a long time to be inconvenienced away from home. But the woman stayed the full seven years as per the warning. Obedience to God will require patience. Obedience is not to be only for a moment; it is to be forever. We may get tired in obedience but we are not to get tired of obedience.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Our obedience to God today determines what we'll be for God tomorrow!”

Anonymous

Word Study

"Depth"

In Romans 11:33 we read, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (NKJV)

Depth is the Greek word bathos (βαθος). The word means deep, to the bottom. Literally, it describes a distance below a surface and to the depth or a deep place. Figuratively, bathos describes a great or extreme degree of anything and as a quality in relation to God it describes His inexhaustibility, His profundity, and His inscrutability (Rom. 11:33; 1 Cor. 2:10). We get our English word bathysphere from this word. A bathysphere is a spherical steel vessel for use in undersea observation, provided with portholes and suspended by a cable from a boat. In military usage bathos indicates the number of men standing behind one another.

In the Septuagint, bathos is used to describe the depths of the ocean (Zech. 10:11), and also to denote the distance between God and a person in deep need because of sin. In the New Testament, bathos is used for the depths of the earth in Matt. 13:5, and the depths of the sea in Luke 5:4. In Rom. 8:39, Paul employs bathos to describe the depth of God’s love which is so strong, nothing can separate the believer from it.

Bible Facts

“Fifty” is the number associated with celebration and ceremony - the Feast of Weeks was fifty days after the Passover (Lev. 23:15-16); the fiftieth year was to be a jubilee to Israel (Lev. 25:10); Absalom appointed fifty men to run before him (2 Sam. 15:1); Pentecost occurred 50 days after Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2).

Bible Quiz

The Lord Jesus gave James and John the surname “Boanerges.” What does this name means?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: When Jonah finally went to the city where God sent him, how long was that city given to repent? 40 days (Jonah 3:4).

That’s in the Bible

“Stone’s throw”

“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed” (Luke 22:41 NKJV).

The Lord Jesus was a short distance, or a stone’s throw away from His disciples just before Judas arrived and gave Him the infamous ‘kiss of death.’ This is also the incident where Jesus ‘sweated blood.’ Despite our modern measurements, we still say something is a “stone’s throw” away, which is about 50-75 yards.

Did You Know – Christian History

Jonathan Goforth was born February 10, 1859. He was the first Canadian Presbyterian missionary to China with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. Goforth grew up on a farm in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. After hearing Presbyterian missionary to Taiwan George McKay speak, he sensed a call from God to go to China. Further, after reading Hudson Taylor’s book ‘China’s Spiritual Need and Claims,’ Goforth ordered a number of copies and mailed them to pastors he knew in order to promote missionary work in China. During his training at the University of Toronto, he met and married Rosalind Bell-Smith.

The Goforths were sent to pioneer the North Henan mission in 1888. The work was difficult and they lost five of eleven children to sickness. In 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, the Goforths had to flee for many miles across China. Jonathan was attacked and injured with a sword, but they both survived and escaped to safety. In spite of this he returned to China in 1908 and was instrumental in the ‘Manchurian revival.’ It was the first such revival to gain nationwide publicity in China as well as international repute. It literally transformed Goforth’s life and ministry; from then on he was primarily an evangelist and revivalist, not a settled missionary. He also became one of the best known of all China missionaries, admired by many, but criticized by some for ‘emotionalism.’

In spite of their age and frailties, Jonathan and Rosalind were then sent by the PCC to begin work in Manchuria in 1925. Jonathan Goforth remained active into the 1930s, especially in Manchuria. In 1931 the Goforths coauthored ‘Miracle Lives of China.’ After Jonathan’s death, his wife Rosalind wrote the popular ‘Goforth of China,’ as well as her own autobiography, ‘Climbing: Memories of a Missionary’s Wife.’

A Little Humor

After a church service on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, “Mom, I’ve decided to become a minister when I grow up.” “That’s okay with us, but what made you decide that? “Well,” said the little boy, “I have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell, than to sit and listen.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“No one ever got lost on the straight and narrow road!”