Heralds Digest

  “ And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went .” Genesis 35 : 1 - 3 KJV Since the family altar provides a sacred and united meeting of family members with God, it is usually the first target of attack in the enemies’ strategy for family invasion. Like the people usually say, a family that prays together stays together. And while the family altar in this age can either be physical or virtual, Jacob in the Old Testament age was asked to go back to Bethel for a refreshing recollection of God’s faithfulness and Jacob’s consecration. It is...

  “ Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, And equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, And knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, Understanding shall keep thee :” Proverbs 2 : 9 - 11 KJV The pride of substantial souls is the use of carnal wisdom and intelligence to accumulate wealth, material affluence and social influence. Jacob, with the use of his pre-Penuel strategies, could afford to throw up his deceitfully accumulated wealth to appease Esau; but he quickly realized the limitations of carnal wisdom and intelligence in vacating the vengeance of Esau. It is always pathetic that king Solomon here knew about the sacredness of sound souls, but still got distracted and deceived by the avalanche of substantial souls. Obviously, the secret of retaining sound souls is simply the continuous reverence of the fact that “ For the LORD giveth wisdom: Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2...

  “ Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O LORD: That the nations may know themselves to be but men . Selah.” Psalm 9 : 19 - 20 KJV Before the Lord says to His children “ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee ( Isaiah 60 : 1 )”, wickedness and unrighteousness do often steal the show in the affairs of the people of God. It implies that there are always moments of darkness when heaven waits for believers’ cry for judgment over the wickedness of men. And when the Lord tarries, both the wicked and the righteous often are tempted to misjudge the uniqueness of the intersection of the mercy and judgment of God in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The wicked do readily pride in their arrogance and sophistication, while the mercy of God knocks at the door; and the righteous do frustratingly plead for revenge and retaliation, while the judgment of God tarries at the do...

  “ And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: For thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee .” Psalm 9 : 10 KJV Since knowledge is power, the knowledgeable in our world are readily regarded as powerful. Unfortunately, with increase in knowledge according to divine revelation, many people have denied the existence of God. Even among those who practically claim the worship of God, the sovereignty of God is usually ignored. It does seem that life is simply a wrestling ground between the knowledge of God and human knowledge. Until there is a knockout of the knowledge of our financial capabilities, political sagacity, social influences, etc, we often cannot submit to the sovereignty of God. Knowing the name of the Lord implies living daily with practical acknowledgement of His superiority and sovereignty over principalities and powers, especially when it appears the pride of these principalities and powers is becoming domineering. And by the practical exposure...

  “ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. ” Genesis 28 : 15 - 16 KJV Just as leadership expects follower-ship, leadership suggests companionship. Meanwhile, while follower-ship falters on the account of trust, leadership fails with time for sustainability constraints. For example, even while Rebekah and Isaac’s leadership on Jacob promises amazing blessings and companionship while encouraging his internship with Ladan, they both couldn’t wait for Jacob to return home after the internship. It just shows that the best of human promises of companionship, be it the affection of parenthood, appreciation of stewardship, and attraction of partnership, cannot endure the test of time. Whereas, the love and the companionship...

  “ But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, And shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Proverbs 1 : 33 KJV The existence of evil and the activities of wickedness in almost all settings of life is the reality of human lifestyles. And the normal response to this reality is fear, anxiety, and a sense of insecurity. Even in the assembly of a believer's like-precious faith, faithful disposition is readily supervised by fearful display of caution. The enemies and agents of darkness now recruit ‘saints’ on dirty duties. Those who live by the social settings of social media, cable news networks, peer groupings, and associations are bound to express their unsafe dispositions with different kinds of vices, rather than the pursuit of vision. For example, unlike Isaac who stayed safe in Gerar amidst the citizens’ hostility to earn respect, Jacob had to steal the birthright of Esau to feel safe with his divinely ordained favour and prosperity to earn disrespect. The truth is that beli...

  “ O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger .” Psalm 8 : 1 - 2 KJV In the human economy, success is measured by the metrics of political sagacity, financial capability, and physical machismo; but those who care to learn from history can attest to the unfortunate limitations of this type of success. For example, success on the basis of human strength led Pharaoh in a collision course with the God of Israel and he ended up consumed in the Red Sea with the host of his chariot-dependent strength. Whereas, by the inspiration of God, king David was made to see the divine perspective of success as simply made of a suckling’s strength. In divine economy, the suckling’s strength becomes the sovereign’s strength with believers’ knowledge of the excellency of the King of kings and the L...