Wed.’s Devo - The Battle of Words

Read: Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21 God made provision for the vows of a woman. If the husband or father of the woman agrees, then her vow stands, but if he disagreed, he could void it. Thank God for this! This is such a great promise. Every silly vow we have said about ourselves or others goes through God’s filter and he can void the ones we said out of ignorance or that went against his plan for our lives. *** The Midianites were the ones who tried to get the children of Israel to worship Baal in the wilderness. Midian means “strife”. God told them to avenge the Lord by fighting them. Moses sent a thousand from each tribe to fight. Eleazar the priest went with the holy instruments (the ark) and blew the trumpets. They went against Midian and killed all their males. They slew the five kings of Midian and brought down lust, deception, and their doctrine of demons. All the women and children of Midian were taken captive as well as the spoil. They brought them to Moses and he was very upset that they let the women live since it was the women that caused them to sin. He commanded that they kill every woman that wasn’t a virgin and all the male child. All who had killed in the war was to stay outside the camp for a week. They were to be purified on the third and seventh day of their week. Everything they got in the spoils was to go through the fire to be purified. What would burn (like their clothes) would have to be washed in the water of purification. Then they were allowed to enter back into the camp. *** Jesus was baptized and led into the wilderness. There he was tempted of the devil for forty days. He fasted the whole time. The devil tempted him to turn a stone into bread. he told him that the Word said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. *** Then the devil took him up on a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. He told him that he would give him all the power and glory of the nations if he would worship him. Jesus told him to get behind him because he was not worshiping anyone but God. *** Next, the devil brought Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and told him to cast himself down and let God’s angels catch him. Jesus told him not to temp the Lord. The devil left him for a time. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit and wen to Galilee. He taught in the synagogues and was esteemed by everyone. *** When he went home to Nazareth, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up to read. He was given the book of Elijah and found the place where it said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” He gave the scroll back to the minister and sat down. Then he began to tell them that this scripture was now fulfilled in their ears. When they wanted him to do what he had done elsewhere, he told them that no prophet was accepted in his own country. Then he told them that there were many widows in Israel when Israel shut up the heavens and it didn’t rain. But God went to a Gentile in Sidon and saved her. And there were many lepers in Israel when Elisha cleansed the Gentile Syrian. *** When the people heard this they were so angry that he would say this parable to them. They threw him out of the city and tried to throw him over a cliff, but he passed through the crowd and went his way. *** Lord, may our words bring life and healing as yours did.