Friday, January 6, 2012

Preoccupation or Diligence

Ezra 6:11-13 - Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem. I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence. Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence.


Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Haggai 1:6,12 - You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”… Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.

Application:

· Hanging on a tree (which could include impaled on a beam) symbolized divine judgment and rejection. Christ was divinely judged and rejected.
· Does God not bless me because of my preference for personal comfort? Am I frustrated because I care more for myself and my family than what God wants from me?
· Do I revere and respect the Lord? Do I obey the voice of the Lord provided by His messengers?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

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