1 Sam. 13:19-22 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.
This interesting passage speaks of a time when Israel had no blacksmiths to make weapons and was without any armament to defend themselves. The enemy had succeeded to disarm Israel by removing their weapons, and those who forged them! He’s attempting the same tactic today.
A blacksmith is someone who works with raw material and fire, and who knows how to form and shape liquid metal into powerful weapons. Anyone who works skillfully and accurately with the word of God is a spiritual “blacksmith”. The enemy, who is constantly attacking the word of God, the sword of the Spirit, also seeks to silence or remove the spiritual blacksmiths of this world. If he can get rid of them – the battle is over.
We need to pray for God’s blacksmiths because the enemy is after them. Together with the fire of the Holy Spirit they forge the raw material of His word into powerful weapons which shape and mold God’s people into His image and equip them for spiritual warfare and fruitfulness. But we are all called to be strong in the word, and to take it up as our primary weapon. Every spiritual blacksmith, himself started out as raw material which was shaped and formed by the fire of God to fight in this battle with Satan.
So, as the battle rages, pray for the protection of God’s “blacksmiths”, even as you submit to His process of shaping you into one, yourself.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The Hebrew letter mem, equivalent to our English letter “M,” has a fascinating characteristic: it has two forms. The “open mem” appears at the beginning or middle of a word, with a small opening in its design. The “closed mem,” however, is used exclusively as the final letter in a word, fully sealed in its appearance. This distinction is consistent throughout the Hebrew language—except for one extraordinary exception found in the Bible.
Yeshua (Jesus) gave a remarkable parenthetic instruction in the middle of His Olivet discourse on the time of His coming and the end of the age. While it is unlikely that He himself said this, He certainly inspired Matthew to insert, “..let the reader understand”, concerning this critical event prophesied by Daniel, the Abomination of Desolation. His exhortation intended us (the readers of Matthew’s gospel) to learn what this means.
In John Bunyan’s best-selling book, Pilgrim’s Progress, the central character, Christian, begins his journey leaving the city of Destruction and ventures on his way toward the Celestial City. Early on his journey, Christian decides to depart from the narrow path onto an easier one which leads him to the territory of Despair and its stronghold, Doubting Castle.
The United States is currently experiencing a polar vortex—a surge of frigid air from the Arctic circle that blankets the country, bringing massive winter storms in its wake. As of now, over 350,000 people are without power. This sudden and unexpected cold snap brought to mind a story I’d like to share.
During this frigid weather across the United States and the devastating fires in California, millions have been grappling with widespread electricity blackouts. Thousands of people across the country remain without power. Across the United States, many teens are experiencing life without electricity for the first time—an adjustment that also means living without their cell phones. Can you imagine?
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