Daily Manna 17 August
KEY VERSE: “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.” – (1 Samuel 21:10)
TEXT: Exodus 23:1-13
“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.
6 “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 “Also you shall not oppress a [a]stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The Law of Sabbaths
10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your [b]olive grove. 12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
13 “And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
One of the Anabaptists who died during the sixteenth century persecution was Dirk Willems. Dirk was captured and imprisoned in his hometown of Asperen in the Netherlands. Knowing that his fate would be death if he remained in prison, Dirk made an escape, and a guard chased him. Frost had covered a nearby pond with a thin layer of ice. Dirk risked a dash across it. He made it to safety but the ice broke under his pursuer who cried for help. Dirk believed the Scriptures that a man should help his enemies. He immediately turned back and pulled him out of the frigid water, only to be arrested by the same guard, condemned and burnt to death on May 16, 1569.
Similarly, the passage under consideration presents a catalogue of actions that fits into the new life and the righteous requirements of truly converted saints. One of those commands required God’s people to help rescue the livestock of their enemies and avoid oppressing and taking advantage of the poor and the strangers. The same command was given through Christ’s sermon on the Mount on the need to pray for those who hate and persecute us (Matthew 5:43-48).
Clearly, it will be difficult to obey these laws without a corresponding deep change within. The unregenerate man is carnal, selfish, self-centred and sinful. After the experience of salvation, we need to proceed to have the experience of sanctification or holiness which removes the adamic nature or the root of sin and circumcise our hearts to love the Lord and our fellow men.
The new prayer genre of ‘the enemies must die by fire’ does not enjoy the support of Scriptures. God wants His people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of salvation (1 Timothy 2:3,4). When grace comes into our lives, it produces the fruit of love, peace, joy, longsuffering, sobriety, justice and mercy.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: True grace makes you pray for your enemies.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 21-25
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – It Takes Grace – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 17 August 2021
