-------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------- [which seeks to be guided solely by the NT Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian info. To God be the glory!] [eMail Moderator: ben@...] [The Moderator would welcome your comments/feedback] [<SUNDAY-GLEANINGS> archives/read online: http://associate.com/groups/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <SUNDAY-GLEANINGS> <12 January 2003> Contents: ----------- 1) <Devotional> "Treasury of David - Psalm 19:5"- C.H. Spurgeon 2) <Bible-Study> "Peace offerings" (Pt-4)-Charles E.Wigg 3) <Bible-Study> "Dispensation of Human Government" - J. Stephen 4) <From-the-Gleaner> "Top-stories-of-the-week" - Ben 1) <DEVOTIONAL> TREASURY OF DAVID - PSALM 19:5 C. H. Spurgeon Verse 5. "Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." A bridegroom comes forth sumptuously apparelled, his face beaming with a joy which he imparts to all around; such, but with a mighty emphasis, is the rising Sun. "And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." As a champion girt for running cheerfully addresses himself to the race, so does the sun speed onward with matchless regularity and unwearying swiftness in his appointed orbit. It is but mere play to him; there are no signs of effort, flagging, or exhaustion. No other creature yields such joy to the earth as her bridegroom the sun; and none, whether they be horse or eagle, can for an instant compare in swiftness with that heavenly champion. But all his glory is but the glory of God; even the sun shines in light borrowed from the Great Father of Lights. "Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul, Acknowledge Him thy greater; sound his praise Both when thou climb'st, and when high noon hast gained, And when thou fall'st." _______________________________________________________ 2) <BIBLE-STUDY> THE PEACE OFFERING LEVITICUS CHAPTER 3 AND CHAPTER 6:11-37. (PART-4) Charles E. Wigg THE BEST IS FOR GOD In verse three of our chapter, we are told that they were next to remove from the sacrifice the fat that covered the inwards, the two kidneys, and the caul above the liver, ( that is the diaphragm,) and to burn these upon the altar as a sweet savor to God. As we have seen in an earlier chapter, the fat reminds us of the richness of the inward moral excellence of Christ. The kidneys are those organs that filter from the blood stream those acids and poisons that are harmful to the body, that may be present in the food and drink that we consume. This again points to the sinless character of Christ. Isaiah speaks of Him as Emmanuel, knowing " how to refuse the evil, and to choose the good," ( Isa.7;15.) The diaphragm is that muscular membrane that divides the chest cavity from the digestive system, and which enables us to breathe. This would remind us that the very breathing of Jesus, by which His word was conveyed, was delightful to God. John tells us that the Lord Jesus breathed into His disciples before sending them out to witness for Him, in the world that had crucified Him. Then when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, the sound of a rushing mighty wind was heard. J.N. Darby translates this as " Hard breathing" and the Greek word for wind, is "pneuma", which means breath. Not only was God glorified in the breathings of Jesus, which conveyed His utterances, but we His disciples are quickened and warmed by that breath, by which He imparts His own life, warmth, compassion, His own Spirit. Just as God breathed into Adam and he became a living soul. However what He breathes in, we must breathe out, first in worship, then in witness to the perishing. These parts of the sacrifice were first offered to God, before the priest or the offerer was to take his portion. This shows that what is for the pleasure and satisfaction of God must come first in all our gatherings. This is why all of the gatherings of believers should begin with the believers' uniting their hearts and voices in singing the praise of God, and the assembled gathering being led in prayer and worship. After this the believers may feast their souls on the richness of Christ in the word of God. I might add, that some of the modern "hymns" are not suitable for this purpose. Before we leave chapter three of Leviticus, it may be of value to point out what is said in verse 9. There it is mentioned that the "whole rump" of the lamb was to be taken off " hard by the backbone". What is referred to here is not the hindquarters of the lamb, but the fat tail. In eastern countries the varieties of sheep that they have, even today , have a very wide fat tail. I have seen such sheep in Egypt. This fat tail is still considered to be a delicacy, the choicest part of the lamb. This only confirms what we have been saying, that the very best is to be for God. The two sons of Eli, ( 1 Sam.2;12-17,) show us the solemn consequences of disobeying what God has said regarding this matter, They put themselves first, and took the best of the sacrifices, even before God's portion had been offered. Even Eli himself had been guilty of making himself fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel God's people, verse 22 of the same chapter. Let us now turn to chapter six of Leviticus where further instructions are given, and there we learn what was done with the rest of the body of the animal. Here we learn that each peace offering was to be accompanied by the oblation, along with the fat etc., the handful or memorial of it was offered to God. The flesh of the peace-offering was then eaten by the offerer and his family or friends, it was an occasion of feasting. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced by permission] _______________________________________________________ 3) <BIBLE-STUDY> "DISPENSATION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT- Gen 8:15-11:9" J. Stephen STEWARD: Noah and his sons (Gen 9:1) TEST: Man has now seen the goodness and severity of God. God gives man complete dominion over all creatures and over one-another. What will man do now? Will he learn from the prior dispensation or will he still rebel? How will he use his new responsibility and power? CHARACTER OF ENVIRONMENT: Noah and his sons and their wives come through the flood and thus have the experience and knowledge of the prior dispensation. They know of the utter depravity of man and they know that God's Word is final and His judgment severe! God adds the following new commands: "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you ..." (Gen 9:3), They were not to eat the blood though, (Gen 9:4). Fear and dread of man was upon every living creature (Gen 9:2) . Death penalty and man ruling over man was introduced (Gen 9:5-6). God reminded them of one of the first commandments: be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth (Gen 8:17, 9:1, 9:7). Noah offered blood sacrifices of every clean beast and fowl after the pattern of Abel. This was a sweet smelling savour to God (Gen 8:20-22). (We also see somewhat of God's character, He responds to Noah's offering in a very interesting way ...) God made a covenant between himself and man (Gen 9:8-17). God gave the rainbow as a perpetual token of this covenant which would last all dispensations from then on. Human government was then seen in the huge multiplication on the earth and the many cities and lands which were built and ruled by the families which built them (Gen 10:5, 10:10-32, also 1 Chron 1:5-27). Something divided the earth (Gen 10:25). Whole earth was of one language (Gen 11:1) Man did not learn from the prior dispensation and quickly forgot their creator. There is no record of any walking with God or pleasing God in this dispensation. THE FAILURE OF THE TEST: Noah got drunk on the wine of his own vineyard and was naked in his tent and thus began the next roller-coaster ride to destruction. Ham disgraced his father by revealing his nakedness to his brothers and Shem and Japheth had to cover him (Gen 9:21-23). Noah then cursed Ham, the father of Canaan and blessed Shem and Japheth (Gen 9:25-27). Ham began the next evil line. One of his descendents, Nimrod is claimed to be the founder of cults and idolatry which are still practiced widely today, such as the wafer god offered on the altars of millions of Roman Catholic churches every Sunday (Gen 10:8). Men then banded together and with pride announced that they wanted to make a name for themselves (glorify themselves) and make a city and a tower which may reach Heaven (this sounds like us today who leave God out of the picture wanting only to glorify and make a name for ourselves) (Gen 11:4). Note also that the command was to replenish the earth and yet these people banded together to avoid this (Gen 11:4). They had forgotten God! THE JUDGEMENT: God confounds (confuses) their language and scatters them over the whole earth (Gen 11:6-9). GRACE AND SALVATION: God did not destroy man but simply scattered them over the earth for their own good (only their pride was injured). WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS DISPENSATION? Even after we know of the goodness and severity of God, we will still forget Him and go our own way. We learn that from one generation to the next, there is no remembrance. God declares man evil from his youth (Compare Gen 8:21 with Eccles 12:1). We also learn that God will not share His glory with another. There was nothing inherently wrong with man building a tower or cities, they had built plenty of cities already. The thing which was wrong was that they did it without God in their lives. They had utterly left Him out and instead of glorifying Him, they sought to glorify themselves and the work of their own hands. _______________________________________________________ 4) <FROM-THE-GLEANER> A-GLANCE-AT-THE-TOP-STORIES-OF-THE-WEEK Ben SADDAM TO IRAQI FORCES: DON'T FEAR US: Iraq said it was ready for war with the United States, as President Saddam Hussein met with army and militia commanders to encourage them not to fear a technologically superior foe. BUSH IS FACING MOUNTING CHALLENGES TO HIS IRAQ PLANS: As Bush and his administration confront opposition to their drive against Iraq, the timetable for a possible war has changed. U.S. officials had previously said they would be ready to fight Iraq as early as February, but now officials tell ABC NEWS that March is more realistic. EUROPEANS SEEK TO REIN IN AMERICAN WAR MACHINE: Europe moved to stay America's hand over Iraq on Friday, as top officials spoke out against a rush to war on the basis of inconclusive weapons inspections. US WAR STAFF ASSEMBLES IN PERSIAN GULF: War may not be at Iraq's doorstep yet, but American war planners soon will be. Amid an accelerating flow of U.S. troops and weapons to the Persian Gulf region, the battle staff that would run a military campaign against Iraq is beginning to assemble at a command post in the central Gulf. IRAQ BUYS GPS SCRAMBLERS: Iraq has obtained global positioning satellite scrambling devices that could play havoc with U.S. smart bombs, the Pentagon says, according to a Fox News Channel report. ARMY DEPLOYS BIOWEAPONS LAB TO PERSIAN GULF: The Army is deploying its sole tactical bioweapons laboratory to the Persian Gulf region, a service official said Wednesday. US ARMY SENDS HEAVY EQUIPMENT TO GULF FROM EUROPE: The U.S. army started sending heavy equipment to the Gulf from its combat training grounds in Germany on Thursday, a new phase in its build-up of military might in the region ahead of possible war with Iraq. SAUDI MILITARY GOES ON ALERT: Saudi Arabia is said to have placed its military on alert amid the expectation of a U.S.-led war against Iraq EUROPEAN UNION BECOMING MORE INVOLVED AND OUTSPOKEN IN MIDDLE EAST PEACE EFFORTS: Mr Solana says Europe and the US are growing further apart. The reason, he says, is a "cultural phenomenon" that goes beyond the pattern of US foreign policy swings between unilateralism and multilateralism. This time, says Mr Solana, the unilateralist pendulum is being driven by religion. FRENCH JEWS CITE ANTI-SEMITISM AS EMIGRATION TO ISRAEL DOUBLES: French Jews are emigrating to Israel in record numbers, according to official figures, many blaming a climate of insecurity exemplified by two attacks in the last few days on a Paris rabbi. ISRAEL TIGHTENS TRAVEL BAN ON PALESTINIANS: Israel has barred senior Palestinian officials and all other Palestinians under 35 from leaving the West Bank or Gaza Strip, according to a chief Palestinian negotiator. AL-AQSA OFFSHOTT CLAIMS TEL AVIV BLASTS: The latest attack in Tel Aviv was carried out by an Iranian-funded breakaway faction of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, a spokesman for the group said Monday. AL QAEDA'S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PROGRAM MORE ADVANCED THAN THOUGHT: Discoveries in Afghanistan show that Al Qaeda's research into biological weapons was more advanced than previously estimated by the United States, a new intelligence report says. RICIN FIND PUTS BRITONS ON WAR FOOTING AT HOME: Britons, readying for possible war with Iraq as reserve troops were mobilized, were troubled by fears of a battle at home on Wednesday after the seizure of the deadly toxin ricin sparked fears of a looming terror campaign ANTI-TERROR POLICE FIND POISON IN LONDON; SIX HELD: Britain's anti-terrorist police said Tuesday they had found a quantity of the potentially fatal poison Ricin after a raid in London. INDIA DEVELOPING LONG-RANGE MISSILES: India is developing a powerful, nuclear-capable missile with a range of 1,800 miles, said a government adviser, expanding its military reach to more targets in rival Pakistan and some parts of China. INDIAN WARNING TO PAKISTAN OVER NUCLEAR WAR: Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes has said that Pakistan would be wiped out in the event of a nuclear conflict with India. PAKISTAN VOWS TO TEACH 'UNFORGETTABLE LESSON' IF INDIA LAUNCHES NUKE ATTACK: Pakistan on Wednesday said it would teach an unforgettable lesson to nuclear rival India if it ever launched a nuclear attack N. KOREA THREATENS 'THREATENS 'THIRD WORLD WAR': North Korea warned the United States on Friday that a "new Korean War will finally lead to the Third World War" and dared the Americans to engage it in a "fire-to-fire standoff." CRACK-UP LEAVES RUSSIANS IN COLD: Tens of thousands of Russians were facing temperatures below -22F yesterday without any heating, as the coldest weather for 15 years cracked hot-water pipes across the country. INADEQUATE RESEARCH FACILITIES FAIL TO TACKLE MYSTERY DISEASE: A "mystery" disease in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, that has so far affected 112 children and resulted in 43 deaths continues to baffle medical researchers. The most they are able to say after three months is that the disease is caused by viral encephalitis-but the identity of the virus remains elusive. A lack of suitable research facilities in the country has added to the problem. US FLU DEATHS MUCH HIGHER THAN THOUGHT, CDC SAYS: Nearly twice as many people have been dying of influenza in the United States as previously thought -- 36,000 instead of 20,000 a year -- health officials said Tuesday. BIZARRE WEATHER RAVAGES AFRICA CROPS: The crops here in the rugged mountains of Lesotho are failing because the rain came much too early. And much too late. CONGOLESE REBELS PRACTICING CANNIBALISM: U.N. investigators have found credible evidence that Congolese rebel troops have killed and eaten pygmies in north-eastern Congo. HOLY SMOKE LIFT HOLY SMOKE LIFTS TO REVEAL VATICAN CRIME WAVE: A bid by the Vatican to expose some of its workings to public scrutiny backfired yesterday when La Stampa, a respected Italian daily, concluded that "the population of the Vatican would appear to be the most criminal and litigious in the world." DOCTOR TO UNVEIL DEATH MACHINE: Australia's leading euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke, who has helped several terminally ill people end their lives, will fly to the United States on Wednesday to unveil his latest death machine. ---------------------------<BrethrenVoice>--------------------------- Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: www.brethrenvoice.net <eFellowship> Home: http://groups.msn.com/BrethrenChristiansForum/ "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." 2 Cor 13:5 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jn 8:32