Wednesday, 2 Kislev 5784 / November 15, 2023
Day 319 Readings
Torah: Toldot, 4th Portion Bereshit (Genesis) 26:23-29
Genesis 26:23-29
New American Standard Bible
23 And he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said,
“I am the God of your father Abraham;Do not fear, for I am with you.I will bless you and multiply your [a]descendants,For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Covenant with Abimelech
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar [b]with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We have seen plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken [c]by us,’ that is, [d]by you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you [e]and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.”
Bible Study Together
1 Samuel 12
Samuel Addresses Israel
1 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice for all that you said to me, and I have appointed a king over you. 2 Now, here is the king walking before you, but as for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. And I have walked before you since my youth to this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you.” 4 And they said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us, or taken anything from anyone’s hand.” 5 So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who [a]appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7 Now then, take your stand, so that I may enter into judgment with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord that He did for you and your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron [b]who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God, so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10 They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ 11 Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal, [c]Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and saved you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.
The King Confirmed
12 But when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us!’ Yet the Lord your God was your king. 13 And now, behold, the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has [d]put a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the [e]command of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the [f]command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, even as it was against your fathers. 16 Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord is going to do before your eyes. 17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, that He will send [g]thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord, by asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent [h]thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we do not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, by asking for ourselves a king.” 20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Indeed, you must not turn aside, for then you would go after useless things which cannot benefit or save, because they are useless. 22 For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. 23 Furthermore, as for me, far be it from me that I would sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. 24 Only [i]fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 But if you still do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
1 Timothy 1:1-11
New American Standard Bible
Correcting False Teaching
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,
2 To Timothy, my true [a]son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 Just as I urged you [b]upon my departure for Macedonia, to remain on at Ephesus so that you would instruct certain people not to teach strange doctrines, 4 nor to [c]pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation rather than advance [d]the plan of God, which is by faith, so I urge you now. 5 But the goal of our [e]instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith. 6 Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and worldly, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the [f]sexually immoral, homosexuals, [g]slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
365 Daily Kingdom Living
Guard Our Master
Many people gossip about their bosses and show no respect to their seniors. Don’t engage in such practices. We will reap the results of our words or actions. Let us therefore be mindful to protect and safeguard the interests of our elders, as that will bring good consequences to all.
Prayer: Lord, teach me to guard my mouth so every word that comes out will advance the interests of my seniors. Specifically, in my workplace I will not cut corners but serve my earthly masters with a good attitude and a cheerful heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture
Ezekiel 31
10 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord [k]God says: “Because [l]it is tall in stature and has put its top among the [m]clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness, 11 I will hand it over to a [n]ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have driven it out. 12 Foreign tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it. 13 All the birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will [o]rest on its fallen branches, 14 so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the [p]clouds, nor will any of their [q]well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the earth beneath, among [r]mankind, [s]with those who go down to the pit.”
15 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the [t]deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 I made the nations quake from the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the [u]well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath. 17 They also went down with it to Sheol to those who were slain by the sword; and those who were its [v]strength lived in its shade among the nations.
18 “To which among the trees of Eden are you so alike in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 32
31 “These Pharaoh will see, and he will find consolation regarding all his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God. 32 “Though I inflicted the terror of him on the land of the living, yet he will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised along with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.
Hebrews 12:18-29
Contrast of Sinai and Zion
18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not [a]cope with the command, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of [b]angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
The Unshaken Kingdom
25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, [c]much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns us from heaven. 26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s [d]show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Psalms 114
God’s Rescue of Israel from Egypt.
1 When Israel went forth from Egypt,The house of Jacob from a people of a foreign language,
2 Judah became His sanctuary;Israel, His dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;The Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,The hills, like lambs.
5 What ails you, sea, that you flee?Jordan, that you turn back?
6 Mountains, that you skip like rams?Hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, before the Lord,Before the God of Jacob,
8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water,The flint into a fountain of water.
Proverbs 27:18-20
New American Standard Bible
18 One who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,And one who cares for his master will be honored.
19 As in water a face reflects the face,So the heart of a person reflects the person.
20 [a]Sheol and [b]Abaddon are never satisfied,Nor are the eyes of a person ever satisfied.