Today, the New Testament reading is about cleaning hands before eating. I think we’re all more conscious about cleaning our hands these days, thanks to Covid-19.
The religious leaders had come from “Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus and saw some of His disciples eating food with hands that were unclean, that is unwashed.” (Mark 7: 1-2) They questioned Jesus about this and wanted to know why they were not observing the law of ceremonially washing before eating. The tradition of the Jews was that the Gentiles were unclean.
Jesus answered them by quoting Isaiah saying, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” (Mark 7: 6)
- Lip service to God is not received by Him.
- He sees beyond and within.
He explains further by addressing the crowd saying, “Listen to me and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him, Rather it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.” (Mark 7: 14-15)
- Jesus was replacing the normal Jewish traditional thinking saying, that what makes a man unclean, is from an impure heart.
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 15: 18) Whatever is in the heart, comes forth in our speech.
If we want to sharpen our listening skills, just sit and listen when someone is talking. It becomes easy to hear what’s in their heart. Anger, slander, jealousy, arrogance, folly, and other unhappy thoughts will be coming out.
(Shared from Mark 7: 1-13, Paraphrased)
Daniel is listening to things coming forth. He is listening to the prophecies being spoken. He is getting revelations about the end times. This time he is getting words, not just visions and dreams that need interpretation. His gift is increasing as he grows. The words coming forth are about the kings of the north and the south. Some of the prophecies came forth already, some are still yet to come.
(Shared from Daniel 11: 1-19, Paraphrased)
Ahithophel is still advising Absalom to attack his father, David. Husahi, another counselor for Absalom, disagrees with this plan and advises to raise a huge army and get David in person. David gets word of this sneaky attack. So he and his people cross over the Jordan and he escapes the immediate danger from Absalom.
David has been running his whole life. He ran from Saul in his younger years, now he is running from his own son.
Ahithophel decides that taking his own life would be better than being caught in a conspiracy. If this happened, he knew all was lost. “He put his house in order and then hanged himself.” (2 Samuel 17: 23)
What happens next? Absalom and his army cross the Jordan in pursuit of David.
What’s in a person’s heart is displayed by their actions, which are revealed in all of these stories. War, fighting, hatred, and revenge seem to spew from the hearts of people, so rooted in evil. They come straight from the pits of hell.
- Evil actions are usually invoked from an evil spirit.
It’s not the people, it’s the spirit behind them working. Being wise and discerning can prevent battles before they erupt. Ask God to give you weapons to avert these evil schemes. David averted many attacks on his life because, in the process, God was making him a discerning warrior. Being an overcomer, causes us to look beyond.
(Shared from 2 Samuel 17, Paraphrased)
UNBROKEN LOVE SERIES
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