Daily Lesson for Wednesday 6th of March 2024

Israel is portrayed as a vineyard that God uprooted from Egypt, the land of oppression, and transported to the Promised Land of abundance. The image of a vineyard conveys God’s election of Israel and His providential care (read also Genesis 49:11-12,22; and Deuteronomy 7:7-11).

Image © The Classic Bible Art Collection – Formerly Standard Publishing at Goodsalt.com

However, in Psalms 80:1-19, God’s vineyard is under His wrath (Psalms 80:12). The prophets announce the vineyard’s destruction as the sign of God’s judgment because the vine has turned bad (Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 2:21).

However, Psalms 80:1-19 does not ponder over the reasons for divine judgment. Given the depths of God’s grace, the psalmist is perplexed that God can withhold His presence from His people for such an extended time. The tension between God’s wrath and judgment, on the one hand, and God’s grace and forgiveness, on the other, causes the psalmist to fear that divine wrath may prevail and consume the people completely (Psalms 80:16).

The psalm’s refrain evokes Aaron’s promise of God’s perpetual blessing of His people (Numbers 6:22-27) and highlights the hope that God’s grace will triumph over the causes of the people’s misery: “Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (Psalms 80:3, NKJV; see also Psalms 80:7,19, NKJV).

The Hebrew word for “restore” here comes from a common word that means to “return,” and it is used again and again in the Bible with God calling His people, who have wandered away, to return to Him. It is closely linked to the idea of repentance, of turning away from sin and back to God. “ ‘ “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” ’ ” (Jeremiah 24:7, NKJV).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-10-the-parable-of-the-lords-vine/

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV

Are there certain Bible characters you identify with more than others? Do you find yourself sympathizing with Joseph because you’ve been bullied by your brothers too? Have you ever felt your own boss was jealous of your success just like Saul was jealous of David? Have you ever felt alone like Elijah and cried out to God, “I am the only Christian left in my community?” 

Isn’t it interesting how much we have in common with people who lived thousands of years ago on the other side of the planet? That’s because when we are studying history in the Bible or studying any kind of history, we are actually studying way more than just dates and famous events. We are studying human behavior. History keeps repeating itself on both sides of the globe because human nature is the same regardless of time or place. 

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

One of my pastimes is trying to solve cold cases. Now I try (but not always) to avoid murder cases because I just don’t need to be filling my mind with that, but there are plenty of other cold cases and mysteries that are not so morbid. A few of the cases that intrigue me are from Australia. As I read about or watch the documentaries of these cold cases in Australia I am fascinated by how similar Australian daily life was 60 years  ago with American life today. This reinforces my understanding that human nature is the same in every time and place. It also makes Australia very intriguing to me, and I hope to visit the country one day. There are no real historical places I want to visit, but I want to see the everyday places, churches and communities and meet the everyday people. I want to hear the stories of their lives and learn the lessons their experiences have taught them. 

The Bible is God’s inspired Word with many examples for us to learn from, both by the stories of faith and the stories of disobedience. Just as we have much to learn from the characters in the Bible we have much to learn from one another.  While our lives may be similar in some aspects, we all have different experiences that make our stories unique. While I have 30 years of experience as a Bible worker and pastor, a brand-new Bible worker may have encountered a situation I have never seen before. So even with my 30 years of experience I can still learn from a brand-new Bible worker. 

We all need to study this Bible with humble hearts and learn all we can from the experiences of the Bible characters. We also need to be humble enough to learn all we can from each other. No matter how old or young we are, we all have had different experiences in different stages of our lives. I have friends in their teens who have already lost a parent, while I have friends who are retired and still have both their parents. When my retired friends finally lose a parent, there will be teenagers who have already experienced what they are just now experiencing. In their young lives they may have words of wisdom for my older friends.

Let’s be humble students of the Bible, and humble students of history so we can learn all we can to become the men and women of God that He wants us to be. 

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/learning-from-each-other/