Daily Manna 13 December
KEY VERSE:
Exodus 22:23 – “IF THOU AFFLICT THEM IN ANY WISE, AND THEY CRY AT ALL UNTO ME, I WILL SURELY HEAR THEIR CRY.”
TEXT: Exodus 22:18-31
18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
19 “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
20 “He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
21 “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
25 “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest. 26 If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. 27 For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
29 “You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. 30 Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
31 “And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
It amazed a man who lived in a densely populated compound when a mother raced from the common bathroom to her room some distance away upon hearing the cry of her baby. The man wondered: “How did the nursing mother pick out the faint call of her baby in the riot of noises in the environment?” Even he who was in an apartment closer to the child did not hear the toddler. It was a mystery to him.
The text today shows us a far greater wonder than the bond between a mother and her infant. He who created the unseen link between a needy child and its absent parent, says He is always aware of the plaintive pleadings of the oppressed anywhere they may be. He makes this known to the children of Israel three months after their freedom from Egypt. He cautions them on how not to treat widows, orphans and strangers.
In His incomparable compassion towards these underprivileged persons, He says He has set up a direct channel of communication with them to enable Him attend to their cry and fight those who oppress them. While He loves the poor, He is against witchcraft, bestiality, disrespect for constituted authority, uncleanness and usury. The Lord presented the new life that would characterise the new ways of the children of Israel in a new dispensation now and in the Promised Land.
Believers are given laws in the Bible to guide them in their pilgrimage to heaven. He wants us to live by His word and explore all His promises. He is closer to us than we can imagine. We can cry to Him when we are lonely or deserted by friends and relatives and expect Him to answer us even before we call. But we must detest what He detests. That is the only way to secure an audience with God.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: He hears you when you cry!
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Micah 1-4
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – When We Cry to the Lord – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 13 December 2021
