MOAB DEFICIENCY

“Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed” (Jer. 48:11NKJV).

Moab, located east of the Dead Sea, was a neighbor to Israel. They were very deficient in character. This can be seen in the raising of Moab and the ruin of Moab.

Raising of Moab - “Moab has been at ease from his youth.” The problem with Moab’s character started in his youth. Like a child, he had been raised in an easy life. Our verse speaks of three ways in which this easy life occurred. They involved no work, no withholding, and no warden.

No work: “He has settled on his dregs.” The picture is of wine setting on its lees. Settling on your dregs here speaks of laziness. Many young people today despise the notion of work. Instead they prefer to sit in laziness before the TV doing nothing.

No withholding: “Has not been emptied from vessel to vessel.” Pouring wine from vessel to vessel is done to separate it from the dregs of the wine. Moab was never separated from anything bad. Nothing was withheld from them. Many youth today have the same experience. They do what they want; we withhold nothing from them.

No warden: “Nor has he gone into captivity.” Captivity here speaks of authority. Young people today have a problem submitting to authority. And we do not put a warden over them. Parents do not exercise authority over them, and teachers have little authority over them in the classroom.

Ruin of Moab - “Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed.” Moab never matured. When we mature our tastes change. We like vegetables instead of just cookies. We also smell (scent) better. On the other hand, immaturity continues to prefer interest in toys and not the soul. It does not like the meat of the Word. And it smells of the filth of evil habits. If our life is like Moab, change is necessary. Change start by coming to Christ for salvation, then surrendering our will to His way

(Adapted from Butler's Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“The real strength of a man is not physical but moral and spiritual!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Dragged

In Acts 17:6 we read, “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, these who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (NKJV).

Dragged is the Greek word surō (σύρω = soo'-ro). It means to draw, pull, drag away, to lead by force (against a person’s will). Surō may involve the notion of violence, and of dragging a heavy object with great effort. Metaphorically, surō is used to means be dragged or drawn. In classical Greek surō denotes an effort to draw or drag away someone or something. Its use also includes persons crawling and waves or rivers sweeping away objects. In the Septuagint surō carries the idea of drawing and dragging. And in the New Testament, surō also has the idea of drawing and dragging. In John 21:8 the disciples were “dragging” a fishing net to shore. In Acts 8:3 Saul, the persecutor of the Church, was literally “dragging” men and women to prison for their faith. The reverse takes place in Acts 14:19 where Paul was stoned by the Jews of Lystra and “dragged” outside the city.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would be the Stone that shall break the kingdoms (Dan. 2:44-45)

New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 21:44

Did You Know…

In the Bible it states that the Lord Jesus rendered the devil powerless (Heb. 2:14)

Bible Quiz

Why were the other disciples angry with the brothers James and John?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: According to Numbers Chapter 1, which Israelite tribe did God say should set up their camp around the tabernacle? The Levites (Numb. 1:50).

Names of the Lord Jesus Found in the Bible

“The Way, the Truth and the Life”

"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me!” (John 14:6).

1. Meaning – The Lord Jesus is our path to God.

2. Insights – The Lord Jesus is the way to God. He is the path to truth and life. No mere human teacher, the Lord Jesus is the map, the road, the destination, and the One who has gone ahead of us.

3. Related Titles – Forerunner (Heb. 6:20); Stairway to Heaven / Jacob’s Ladder (Gen. 28:12; John 1:51).

Did You Know – Christian History

Thomas Bilney was born around 1495 in Norfolk, England. He was an English church reformer and martyr.

Bilney was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1519, and like many others, he sought to win God’s approval by fasts, penance, masses, and vigils. However, he found that these were powerless to relieve his conscience. Finding no satisfaction in the religious systems of the day, he turned his attention to the Greek edition of the New Testament published by Erasmus. During his reading in the Epistles, he was struck by the words of 1 Tim. 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief.” Suddenly, he felt “a marvelous comfort and quietness, inasmuch as my bruised bones leapt for joy.”

Bilney believed that salvation was through Christ alone. He stated that rites, rituals, and works were empty unless done in Christ. His gentle character and devotion to scripture soon won over Hugh Latimer, John Lambert, Matthew Parker and Robert Barnes to Christ. Freed from the need to work to attain salvation, Bilney worked even harder. He slept seldom, ate little, prayed much, and was licensed to preach throughout the countryside.

What got Bilney into trouble was denunciation of the worship of relics and saints. Pilgrimages to Canterbury could do nothing for the soul, he said. He stated that the idolatry of Christendom had kept the Jews from Christ. Cardinal Wolsey became alarmed and had Bilney arrested. Confronted by the weight of church authorities against him and dreading his fate, Bilney recanted. After a year in prison Bilney was freed.

Returning to Cambridge, Bilney felt guilty about his apostasy in London. Salvation is by faith, not works. Relics are helpless to save. After two years of deep despondency, he began to preach again, gathering boldness and openly displaying a forbidden Bible translation. With churches no longer open to him, Bilney preached openly in the fields, finally arriving in Norwich, where the bishop, Richard Nix, had him arrested.

Bilney was tried and sentenced. As a lapsed “heretic” the law allowed him to be burned. To prepare his mind for the ordeal he burnt his finger in a fire. After he had urged a large crowd to godliness and admitted error in preaching against fasts, the fire was lit beneath him. He cheerfully went to his death on August 19, 1531 crying “Jesus” and “I believe!”

A Little Humor

A minister in Florida lamented that it was difficult to get his message across to his congregation. It’s so beautiful here in the winter, he said, that heaven doesn’t interest them. And it’s so hot here in the summer that hell doesn’t scare them.

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“No one who ever followed Christ ever went astray”