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Bible Commentary: “Mother’s Day”

“Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 2:19 NKJV)

Today is Mother’s Day and we would like to pay tribute to all the women who are Mothers or who one day will be Mothers. Where would we be without our mothers? It is our mothers who raise us and nurture us.  When we are sick or in crisis it is our mothers who we cry out for. For all the mothers The Word Of Encouragement team would like to say we honor and respect you for the terrific work you do day in and day out.

Hannah was a woman who was barren. She was one of two wives to a man named Elkanah and the other woman gave him children. So Hannah had grief in her spirit because she could not produce children for her husband and then her grief was doubled because the other woman could and that woman provoked her on this account. So one day as she was alone at the temple in Shiloh she poured out all her grief to God. “Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head” (1 Samuel 1:11 NKJV). After a discussion with Eli, the high priest, Eli blessed her, “Eli answered, ” Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him” (1 Samuel 1:17 NKJV).

Hannah left Shiloh with her husband and they returned to their home in Ramah where they were intimate, ” Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:19-20 NKJV). When Samuel was weaned she brought him to Eli at Shiloh and left the boy with him there.

But just because she dedicated the boy to the Lord and left him in the care of Eli, the high priest at Shiloh, did not mean that she was not the mother of Samuel. Every year, when the time of sacrifice came, Hannah and Elkanah came from Ramah to Shiloh to sacrifice and every year Hannah made him a robe to wear. “Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice” (1 Samuel 2:19 NIV). Think about that for a moment. Hannah only saw her first-born son once a year so she really had no idea of how fast or how tall he was growing until she saw him. Yet every year she made him a robe to replace the one from the following year that he had outgrown. Each year, to prepare for her visit with her son, she estimated his rate of growth from the previous year and how much he
would grow for another year and made a robe that he would only use for one year and she did it faithfully each and every year. It was a unique robe, one of a kind, and it was hand-made with love.

Child of God – Just like Hannah made special robes for her son God makes special robes for us, ” After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9 NKJV). All before the throne were wearing white robes made clean by the washing in the blood of the Lamb. There is no greater love than a mother except that of God toward us.

Our prayer:
Lord, thank you for cleansing my robes by the power of your blood. You have clothed me with your righteousness and I am a new creature in you. You have honored me and taking me to a place that is higher than I. And is not that I deserve any of this but for your great love for me. Amen.

If you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior pray: “Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that out of love for me you willingly sacrificed your life so that I may live. I repent of all my sins and open my heart to you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time or if you have any questions please contact us. We would love to hear from you.

Bible Commentary: “Two Silver Trumpets”

“The LORD said to Moses: “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set
out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. If only one is sounded, the
leaders–the heads of the clans of Israel–are to assemble before you. When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to
set out. At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the same signal. “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. Also at your times of rejoicing–your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals–you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God” (Numbers 10:1-10 NIV).

God told Moses to make two silver trumpets that would be used by the sons of Aaron as a communication system for the three million Israelites. This makes sense as Aaron had two sons and only they could blow the trumpets so they made two of them. They hand crafted these trumpets out of silver.  Now silver is a precious metal but there is something about the sound that is made by something silver. The bell that the elite use to call the servers from the kitchen is made of silver, they call great singers “silver throated”; there is something about the sound that is made by something silver. It is identifiable.  Both trumpets meant that the people were to assemble, one trumpet meant the leaders were to assemble, other sounds meant different things but each was
identifiable to the group that the sound was assigned to. There is something about the sound that is made by something silver.

Child of God – God has said, “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1 NIV).  Your voice, to the assembly, can warn of sin and call for repentance; your voice has a unique sound. Just like the purity of silver and the high value of it your voice has a certain sound and pitch that is unique to you; your sound is identifiable just like a note from the trumpet. Just as the note from the trumpet was identifiable to those that it was intended for your voice is identifiable to the one who it was intended for; the one who made your voice: God. God told the people, “When you go into
battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. Abijah, the king of Judah went to war with Jeroboam, the king of Israel. This was a civil war and Abijah
recalled to the northern kingdoms the sound of the trumpets, “God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed” (2 Chronicles 13:12 NIV), “Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah” (2 Chronicles 13:14-15 NIV).

When we are in distress we are to cry out to Him and He will hear us and deliver us. If we do not cry out then we are not in distress and then we do not need rescuing, so cry out! Sing praises to God, your rescuer, your deliverer for He loves to hear the sound of your voice; it is a very special sound to Him. Let us lift up our voices to the One who loves us with our praise and worship for we have a wonderful Savior and Lord. Let us made a joyful noise like a trumpet blast for, “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:5-6 NIV).

Our prayer:
Lord, thank you that you have provided a natural instrument that I can reach your frequency with. That you are going to listen when I call you, when I cry to you, when I need you and when I praise you for what you have done in my life. Thank you for remember me and deliver me when I cry out to you. May my life be full of praise to you all the time, so your presence never leaves. Amen.

If you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior pray: “Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that out of love for me you willingly sacrificed your life so that I may live. I repent of all my sins and open my heart to you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time or if you have any questions please contact us. We would love to hear from you.

Bible Commentary: “Og, King Of Bashan”

“And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. (Numbers 21:33 NKJV)”

Moses and the people have, practically, just finished a battle with Sihon king of the Amorites when they face another battle with Og, King of Bashan, “And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.”  So they defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possession of his land” (Numbers 21:33-35 NKJV), “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan; and Og king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’  “So the LORD our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan, with all his people, and we attacked him until he had no survivors remaining.  And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.  All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns.  And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city” (Deuteronomy 3:1-6 NKJV).

The first question we have to ask is who started this fight?  And the answer is Og? The next question we have to ask is just who is this Og anyway?  Og. just like Sihon is an Amorite, only Og is much more fierce.  Og is a giant and he rules by force of power.  Anyone remember how tall Goliath was?  “And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span” (1 Samuel 17:4 NKJV), that makes Goliath, roughly, 9 feet, 9 inches tall.  Og, on the other hand is taller, “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit” (Deuteronomy 3:11 NKJV).  Og’s height is 13 feet, 5 inches and if his bed is any measurement he is 6 feet wide.  And Og is heavy, his bed is made of iron to support his weight so this is one fierce opponent. Yet God tells His people, “Do not fear him” because no matter how big the enemy God is bigger still.  And God gives them the victory, not only over Og, but over all his people so that the Israelites are able to take the cities, live in their houses, tend their cattle and reap their crops.

Child of God – What has all this to do with us today?  Well, Bashan means “fruitful” and the place where the battle takes place, Edrei, means, “goodly pasture”.  The Israelites fight and win Bashan and become fruitful; all of a sudden these wilderness wanderers have high quality cattle and sheep, “Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat” (Deuteronomy 32:14 NKJV).  Bashan truly is a fruitful place and on top of that God also gives them 60 cities and all the houses that are in them for them to occupy.  When you have been living in a tent for 40 years a house with a bed in it is a luxury.  And where do they fight to gain this fruitfullness?  Edrei, goodly pasture.  Crops grow here, seems like an weird spot for a battle but sometimes we need to fight for our good land.  God makes us to lie down in green pastures” (Psalm 23:2 NKJV) however before we can lie down sometimes, we need to fight.  Not everyone is overjoyed that we are having God’s grace showered on us and they do not want to give up what they have been living in even though they are trespassers.  So we need to evict them.  And to do that we have to battle with a very tall, very wide king.  Jesus told us, “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (Matthew 12:29 NKJV).  Whatever you are fighting for in terms of “fruitfullness” just remember you are fighting against a ruthless enemy who is a very big, strong king.  However also remember this God has, “made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10 NKJV).  So fear not, this is a battle of kings and we win, whoever the opponent is, he has already lost.  We just need to tell him so!  Then we get the fruitful land, the houses we didn’t build and the crops we didn’t plant.  So is something keeping us from being fruitful?  The let us fight the king of Bashan and utterly destroy him so that we can possess what is rightfully ours.  It’s only right!

Our prayer:
Lord, thank you for leaving the wisdom of Scripture for us to understand how to live according to your grace granted to us already through Jesus Christ. Even though it may sound odd to talk about conquering enemies and cities in the way this account tells us, increase our spiritual understanding to be able to grasp the facts of the spiritual warfare that we are a part of. We certainly have battles and giants to cast out of our way, even if we realize it or not, they are there. Teach us and strenghten us Lord so we can be soldiers that know how to fight and advance your Kingdom for your glory. Amen.

If you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior pray: “Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that out of love for me you willingly sacrificed your life so that I may live. I repent of all my sins and open my heart to you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time or if you have any questions please contact us. We would love to hear from you.