Psalm 79:8 is one of the reasons I love Word Studies so much! The KJV says:
8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
The word "prevent" is the Hebrew word "qadam", which means: to meet, to confront, to go before, be before. That is a lot different than our usual perception of the word! The Amplified Bible says:
8 O do not [earnestly] remember against us the iniquities and guilt of our forefathers! Let Your compassion and tender mercy speedily come to meet us, for we are brought very low.
That is just one small example of why meditation in the Word is so very important!
Romans 7 addresses the Law in terms of the New Birth. Verses 9-10:
9 Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death). 10 And the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death.
Is that saying that the Law was bad? NO! Verses 11-12:
11 For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me. 12 The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good.
The Law was needful to show what was RIGHT in the sight of God, so that we could recognize that we WERE NOT! Thank You, LORD, for exposing sin so that we can recognize it and receive the free Gift of our eternal Salvation through Jesus of Nazareth and His completed work from the Cross to His Resurrection! Hallelujah!
We begin Numbers today! I know that many believers do NOT like reading in Leviticus and Numbers because it SEEMS to be so tedious! BUT, actually, it is such a testimony to the love, care, precision and completeness of our wonderful God! He does NOTHING in a hit or miss, hodgepodge sort of way! EVERYTHING God has ever done has fit entirely into His plans and purposes! Meditate through Numbers with an expectation of learning something new every day and you will be blessed amazingly! I found this in the Bible Exposition Commentary:
Numbers 1
The second month of the second year, thirteen months after the Exodus, Israel had to start preparing for battle. If Genesis is the book of beginnings and Exodus the book of redemption, then Numbers is the book of warfare. The Jews were in enemy territory, marching toward the land God would help them conquer, and they had to organize for confrontation and conflict. The phrase "able to go forth to war" is used fourteen times in this chapter. If God were to number the believers in the church today according to their ability to wage spiritual warfare, we wonder how big the army would be.
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament © 2001-2004).
I have never heard Numbers referred to as the Book of Warfare before, but it makes ABSOLUTE sense to me now! That's what serious Bible Study will do for you! Enjoy this fun little blast from the past! Ken Blount singing "I'm In The Lord's Army"!
