1 – “A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 4:42-44, ESV)

RAF: This precursor to Jesus feeding the 5000 & the 4000, is a great reminder of God’s good provision for us. And, how it is He often makes what we have sufficient, rather than our needing more. How we need to trust Him for sufficiency. Temptation is warded off when we look to Him to make sufficient what we already have.

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1 – ” In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.” (1 Kings 16:29, ESV)

RAF: And still God tolerated Ahab to reign in Israel for 22 years. His patience is displayed toward Ahab, and His provocation against the Israelites in leaving them to the whims of such a wicked man. There is always more going on that just the one circumstance.

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1 – 1 Samuel Chapter 26.

RAF: While Jesus walked the earth, though the anointed King to come, nevertheless, He did nothing to overthrow or harm those authorities the Father had set in place. He bids His disciples to submit to them, in spite of their corruption. He could have come and judged all. But He did not come the first time to judge – rather to save. He will come again. The next time it will be to judge the earth in righteousness. But how He treated the lives of those who hated Him as precious. How He did not revile them when reviled. How He remained harmless, though they sought His life to take it. How He called to them and sought to have them reconciled. But they would not.

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1 – “And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”” (1 Samuel 15:20-21, ESV)

RAF: Like Eve in Eden thinking it was better to add that the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil shouldn’t be touched either, so here, they thought they could do one better than just following what God commanded. Whether it be subtracting or adding to what God says, either makes us God. And He will not stand for it. Many believe it is good and right to add works in salvation, that it is noble and higher than simply believing God to be justified. But in the end, it isn’t what He commanded. We cannot make His Word better.

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1 – “ Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:12, ESV)

RAF: It is not enough that our children are “our” children in that we know the Lord. It is not enough that they be the children of priests, or even priests themselves. Do they know the Lord? This is the critical thing. This is what we need to raise them to, to know God for themselves.

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1 – ” And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” (Judges 13:1, ESV)

RAF: It is amazing in this book to see how long the People of God can walk in obstinance before they feel the pain of their fall and cry for recovery. Over and over. – Heavenly Father, give me a heart that repents at the drop of a dime. Do not let me grow so hard and cold that long times pass before I feel the woeful state of my soul and fly back to you.

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1 – “ Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 27:1, ESV)

RAF: The whole of God’s words to them is seen as a unity. It is spoken of here as the “whole commandment” in the singular. While the New Covenant believer is not “under the Law”, nevertheless, every word God speaks is precious, and to be considered. By it, we know His heart and mind in a vast variety of situations and circumstances.

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1 – “Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)” (Deuteronomy 10:9, ESV)

RAF: Now, as we are a “royal priesthood” 1 Peter 2:9, and we receive the “earnest of our inheritance” Ephesians 1:14 in the Holy Spirit – we see that the Levitical priesthood was a type of the Christian. As their inheritance is God and not earthly plots of ground – so ours. Imagine, we inherit the fullness of God.

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1 – ““But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.” (Numbers 35:16-21, ESV)

RAF: Murder is distinguished from manslaughter by these 3 things. To be “murder” it must bear at least one of these elements:

a. Use of a weapon. b. Predisposition of hatred or enmity. c. Premeditation by lying in wait.

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1 – “”Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”” (Numbers 27:16-17, ESV)

RAF: What a beautiful prefiguring of Christ. Even though he is about to face death, his heart is concerned for the people – that they might not be Shepherdless. Though it was on their account that he would not be crossing over, nevertheless, he loves them – as they are God’s people. And one cannot truly love God, and not love those upon whom He puts His name and calls His own. Moses could only consign them to the care of another like himself – Joshua. But Jesus consigned us to another like HIMSELF, the Holy Spirit. John 14:18 / 1 John 2:7-11

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