Seeds For Thinking

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* The Foolish One
* Scripture: Abigail said, "For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him!"
1 Samuel 25:25, NKJV

Chip on the shoulder, and very lightly balanced! Wouldn't take much to knock it off, or set off the wearer, for that matter. Some people are like that - primed to explode, and a short fuse to boot. Perpetually angry at the world and all within it.
Now I'm not sure that this description fits Nabal the Carmelite, but from the account in the book of 1 Samuel, he certainly lives up to his name, which means "Fool." (1 Samuel Ch. 25)
He was blessed with riches; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. His wife, Abigail, is noted as being a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance. Nabal was harsh and evil in his doings. Quite a contrast!
David and his band of men had been hiding in the wilderness of Maon and the strongholds of En Gedi. King Saul pursued David relentlessly, seeking to take his life. Saul unknowingly entered a cave in which David was hiding, yet David restrained his servants from harming the king. The opportunity was there; the sword was in David's hand, but he used it only to cut off the corner of Saul's robe.
After Saul had exited the cave, David made his presence known, and displayed the piece of cloth from the robe as evidence that his hand was not against the king.
Saul lifted up his voice and wept (24:16b)
Of such was the character of David. But Saul was not the only one he protected. David and his men provided security for the shepherds foraging their flocks in the wilderness, even the flocks and shepherds of Nabal.
David sent ten young men to Nabal, seeking presents for their protective services, coming in peace to "him who lives in prosperity." Nabal not only refused to pay from his largess, but also insulted David and the messengers. He has repaid David "evil for good.: (Vs. 21)
David set out to redress Nabal's foolish insult with four-hundred armed men. Caught between their scoundrel of a master and a revenging army, the servants alert Abigail to the coming danger.
Taking matters into her own hand, Abigail went out to meet David with food and wine. Apologizing for her husband, "The Foolish One", she convinces David to refrain from bloodshed.
Later, when Nabal had sobered up from the wine of the feast enough to understand what he had done, he suffered a stroke, and died ten days later.

"Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, Lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul." Proverbs 22:24, 25, NKJV
February 5, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Gamaliel said, “If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. Acts 5:38b-39, NIV.

If you have been involved with a male child within the past several years, you have possibly come into contact with a rather ingenious toy that means “change” with a capital “T” - “Transformer®”. And change it does! What looks to be one object becomes quite different in appearance and function in the hands of the one who “transforms’ it.
Now that I have established “transformer” as my operative word for the day, let’s proceed to the main topic, the Sanhedrin. It was the highest Jewish tribunal during the Greek and Roman periods in Israel/Palestine, rather like our supreme court. Many versions of the Bible do not use the actual name Sanhedrin but follow the form of Matthew 16:21, which mentions the “elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.” This body, composed of seventy members drawn from the leaders mentioned above, plus the high priest, who was president of the Sanhedrin, was the final court of appeal for all questions connected with Mosaic law, including blasphemy.
The Sanhedrin quite naturally has a negative connotation for most Christians, for it was this body that convicted Jesus of blasphemy, and condemned Him to death. Convened by the High Priest Caiaphas, the night-time session of the Sanhedrin did not follow established protocol (See Mt. 26:57-66.)
However, it was this group of Jewish elders, chief priests and teachers of the law who in actuality, brought God’s work to completion! No, I am not suggesting that you come to revere these men, but to so transform your thinking that you appreciate how God can “transform” the actions of men to accomplish His purposes. (See Mt. 26:56)
First of all, consider that God sent Jesus to reconcile all His people to Himself. Under Mosaic law, reconciliation required sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. As Hebrews 10:1-18 explains, Jesus became that once-for-all-time sacrifice, the propitiation for our sins. Tell me, how would YOU have made this happen? If it were not for the crucifixion, we might still be under the Old Testament sacrificial system. Something to indeed think about.
Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin (John 3:1) was the one to whom Jesus spoke the words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world . . .”, the same Nicodemus who helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus (John 19:39)
A man named Gamaliel, a Rabbi honored by all the people, counciled the other members of the Sanhedrin to let the Apostles go. (Acts 5:38) One of Gamaliel’s students just happens to have authored more books of the New Testament than any other person, one Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a. Paul, the Pharisee God transformed to become the missionary to the Gentiles.
Let the Greatest TRANSFORMER of all go to work on your life. You will be amazed at what He can do!
April 6, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”
Romans 8:31,
The Disciples were with Jesus in midst of a very popular ministry; they experienced the crowds following him everywhere he went.
And why shouldn’t people seek him out! For one thing, Jesus had the power of healing.
The gospels gives us many examples:
The lame walk; the blind see;
Hearing and power of speech are restored -
The paralyzed were given full mobility. They ‘took up their beds, and walked.’ after encountering Jesus. In some cases, this marked the first time ever, in their lives, to be able to hear, to talk, to walk.
The Disciples have seen: shriveled hands made functional;
Leprosy cured . . .
The outcasts, the ‘unclean’, the untouchables - restored to live full lives in society.
Jesus had the power to exorcise demons, to drive out evil spirits - spirits who recognized Jesus as the Son of God - when most people didn’t know who he truly was.
People crowded around just to see Jesus, to touch him.
Mark records that a woman in the press of a crowd was healed of an issue of blood that had been going on for many years - after touching him.
Jairus’ daughter was brought back to life.
They experienced all these things - and more - first hand. However, all these things did not make the Disciples into the Apostles we see in the Book of Acts. What brought about the Big Change?
Let’s turn to a man who came face to face with Jesus ... and lost his sight.
Saul of Tarsus, whom we know best as Paul,
writing to the church at Rome - advises:
Set your priorities on the most important thing of all; Think of the best that can happen;
Nothing else will matter!
His actual words contained in his letter to the Romans, Ch. 8:31-39 are these:
“If God is for us, who can be against us.
He goes on to say, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, nor the present nor the future, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Holy Spirit is a helper: “The spirit helps us in our weakness” - vs 26 - “We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.“
So what is the very last thing you want to lose? Hopefully you will say. ”The love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How much do other things matter?
March 9, 2003