 |
|
Vol. 11 No. 7 July 2009 |
Page 5 |
|
|
Vol. 11 No. 7 July 2009 |
Page 5 |
Mark McWhorter
Have you ever seen a swarm of bees? Have you ever seen someone chased by a swarm of bees? I ran over a nest of bees with my lawnmower one time. The bees nest was underground. The bees came flying out and were very mad. It seemed like there were hundreds of them. They were flying all around me and stinging me. I left the lawnmower and ran as fast as I could to get away. All the time I was running I was slapping at the bees. The bees were intent to let me know to stay away from their nest.
In Deuteronomy 1:44, we read, “And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.”
This occurred after the Israelites believed the bad report of the ten spies who returned from the land of Canaan. After they decided that they did not want to go into the land because of giants, and after they decided that they would go back to Egypt and be slaves, God told them he was going to allow all of the adults over 20-years-old to die in the wilderness over the next 40 years. So, the next morning, the people were up early and ready to go into Canaan. Moses asked them what they are doing. They said they have decided they will go into Canaan. They decided they wanted to fight for their new land rather than die in the wilderness.
Moses told them that it is too late. He told them that God was not with them for this battle. He told them they will lose and many will die. However, they decided to go anyway. You can read in Numbers 14 and the last part of Deuteronomy 1 the result of their decision. The Amorites came at them like a swarm of bees, and they chased the Israelites out of Canaan. Just imagine the Israelites running for their lives from those bee-like Amorites.
Read your Bible. Study it. Learn all you can about what to do to obey God. Then obey Him. Do not be like the Israelites. They decided too late to obey God. Make the decision every day to obey Him, and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
Mark McWhorter
God, many times, refers to Himself as the Light of the World. Those that live in sin are pictured as living in darkness. They, many times, are depicted as being in the dark and needing the light of God.
In Isaiah 50:10, God called for all people to turn to Him. He told them to trust in His name. They were told to dwell upon Him and His Word. They were told to fear God.
In verse eleven, we read, “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
Verse Ten refers to the words and philosophy of God. Verse Eleven refers to the words and philosophies of man. Man’s philosophies are pictured as the fire and sparks that man starts. Many people look to man’s philosophies and so-called wisdom. They expect these to light their way as they travel through life. They think these will guide them through their lives.
Man comes up with all kinds of thinking on how to be happy in life. There are millions of books written telling people how to be happy, but there is a Book that was written by God. It tells us how to be truly happy. The Bible is God’s wisdom. It is the true light. It is what will start the true spark of life for us. It will give us the proper guidance.
Study God’s Word. Obey it, and if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.