Showing posts with label Angel of the LORD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angel of the LORD. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

David Prays for Deliverance from Enemies

Several psalms like this one is where David pleads for God's help to save him from his enemies and also to bring justice to those who have tried to harm him unjustly. David describes the actions of his enemies as they: strive, fight, pursue, seek his life, plot to hurt him. David prays that God will help him by: fight against them, provide salvation, stop them, put to shame, turn them back, bring confusion, send angels to chase them, bring destruction for them.

It seems that at the time of writing, David was in the middle of such persecution. But despite asking God to save him and destroy his enemies, David also remembered to praise God and rejoice in Him.


Psalm 35

A Psalm of David.

 1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me;
         Fight against those who fight against me.
 2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
         And stand up for my help.
 3 Also draw out the spear,
         And stop those who pursue me.
         Say to my soul,
         “I am your salvation.”
       
 4 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
         Who seek after my life;
         Let those be turned back and brought to confusion
         Who plot my hurt.
 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
         And let the angel[a] of the LORD chase them.
 6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
         And let the angel of the LORD pursue them.
 7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit,
         Which they have dug without cause for my life.
 8 Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
         And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
         Into that very destruction let him fall.
       
 9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD;
         It shall rejoice in His salvation.
 10 All my bones shall say,
         “LORD, who is like You,
         Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
         Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
       
 11 Fierce witnesses rise up;
         They ask me things that I do not know.
 12 They reward me evil for good,
         To the sorrow of my soul.
 13 But as for me, when they were sick,
         My clothing was sackcloth;
         I humbled myself with fasting;
         And my prayer would return to my own heart.
 14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
         I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
       
 15 But in my adversity they rejoiced
         And gathered together;
         Attackers gathered against me,
         And I did not know it;
         They tore at me and did not cease;
 16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
         They gnashed at me with their teeth.
       
 17 Lord, how long will You look on?
         Rescue me from their destructions,
         My precious life from the lions.
 18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
         I will praise You among many people.
       
 19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
         Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
 20 For they do not speak peace,
         But they devise deceitful matters
         Against the quiet ones in the land.
 21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
         And said, “Aha, aha!
         Our eyes have seen it.”
       
 22 This You have seen, O LORD;
         Do not keep silence.
         O Lord, do not be far from me.
 23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
         To my cause, my God and my Lord.
 24 Vindicate me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness;
         And let them not rejoice over me.
 25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
         Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
       
 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
         Who rejoice at my hurt;
         Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
         Who exalt themselves against me.
       
 27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
         Who favor my righteous cause;
         And let them say continually,
         “Let the LORD be magnified,
         Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
 28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
         And of Your praise all the day long.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Birth of Samson

One of the most famous judges is Samson. Like many of the judges, Samson came into being after Israel did evil and was consequently oppressed by their enemies. On this occasion, Israel was oppressed by the Philistines for 40 years. The birth of Samson is as miraculous as Isaac and Samuel, whereby their mothers were barren, but God favoured them and enabled them to conceive sons which will have important roles in God's History.

It was foretold that Samson, the Danite, would deliver Israel and he would be a Nazirite (one who dedicated / consecrated his life to God) so his hair shall not be cut. Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, her cousin Elizabeth, and Sarah wife of Abraham, the mother of Samson was visited by the Angel of the LORD before she conceived Samson. The Angel of the Lord also told many practical things on how to take care of herself during pregnancy.

The thing that was significantly different during the visits by the Angel of the Lord is that, the husband Manoah, actually prayed to the LORD and specially requested that the Angel appear to him to teach him and his wife what to do. And the Angel of the Lord answered the prayer and appeared to the couple.

The other interesting things is that the couple persisted in asking the name and identity of the Angel. In the passage here, the Angel is referred to as Angel of the LORD. It is apparent from the passage that the Angel of the LORD is in fact God himself, or the pre-incarnate Christ. Manoah and his wife clearly came to this conclusion after their intimate encounter with the Angel of the LORD and realised that they have seen God (the Son) face to face.



Judges 13

The Birth of Samson

 1 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?”
And He said, “I am.”
12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
13 So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah
22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”
24 So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan[a] between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Gideon Call To Arms

This chapter introduces Gideon - one of the more famous judges in the Old Testament. The background starts with explaining Israel did evil and God allowed them to be oppressed by the Midianites. The Midianites would regularly come and destroy the produce of the land of the Israelites, and thus subduing their economy.

Gideon was of the tribe of Manasseh, and judging by the description of himself, he was not in any important position in his society. He was working in the winepress when he was called. His conversation with God resembles that of Moses initially when Gideon doubts his ability. One of the things he would be remembered for was that he kept pushing God for signs.

One of Gideon's first act was to tear down the altar of Baal. It was said that he did this by night because he feared the people. The glory goes to God because not long after, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he showed remarkable leadership by calling to arms the tribes of  Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali to confront the enemy.


Judges 6

Midianites Oppress Israel

 1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. 3 So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.
7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites, 8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; 9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 Also I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’”

Gideon
  
11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,[a] if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord,[b] how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”
And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. 20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
21 Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”
23 Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace.[c] To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites
25 Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image[d] that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
  
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. 29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal,[e] saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”
33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece
  
36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

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