Daily Meditations

Psalm78:49 Angels of destruction The Scriptures teach us that the angels of heaven are created beings,  “All things were made by Him, without Him nothing was made that has been made.”  John 1:3. Colossians 1:15-17 tells us,  “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together .” We believe that there was some kind of revolt in the heavenly corridors of power and up to one third of the created, angelic beings left God’s presence under the leadership of Satan. These beings work tirelessly, as angels of darkness, to serve their devilish master and to bring disruption and death to the created world.  It seems therefore, that not all angelic beings are messengers of light and life, some have destructive powers. It

Psalm 78:47-48 The plague of hail I love that fact that this Psalm gives us some additional details about a plague that even the original account of events in the book of Exodus does not mention. The Egyptians vines were ruined. Their sycamore figs were destroyed, and the cattle were killed by the icy torrent which was accompanied by bolts of lightning. It was absolutely terrifying and brought enormous destruction on the land although Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, was hail-free! The Egyptian goddess of the sky was named “Nut”. Again, warning is given before the enactment of the plague takes place. Pharaoh is warned of the impending doom that will be faced if he does not listen to the Lord and turn away from his own Egyptian gods and goddesses. Hail of unspeakable size and ability to destroy, would rain down from the sky and turn to fire as it hit the ground. The Lord, in showing Pharaoh that  "there is none like Him in the Earth",  allows those who are willing to hear H

Psalm 78:46 Grasshoppers and locusts The next plague mentioned here in the Psalm is a confrontation with Seth, the Egyptian God of Storms and Disorder. Locusts and grasshoppers were sent from the sky to attack the crops of the Egyptians. But still Pharaoh would not listen to the message of the Lord, he still relied on the gods and goddesses of Egypt. The eighth plague issued by the Lord had an even greater purpose than all the others, it was to be so influential that future generations of Hebrews would tell even  "their  sons and son's sons"  the mighty things of the Lord, thus teaching them about the power of the  "strong hand of God"  over all the other Egyptian deities. Exodus 10:1-2. Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh with the same request,  "Let my people go so that they may serve me”  and they pronounced the judgment of locusts, if not heeded.  This is the second wave of destruction to follow the hail, and whatever crops were left intact after that di

Psalm 78:45 Flies and frogs The second plague, bringing frogs from the Nile, was a judgment against Heket, the frog-headed goddess of birth. Frogs were thought to be sacred and not to be killed. God allowed the frogs to invade every part of the homes of the Egyptians, and when the frogs died, their stinking bodies were heaped up in offensive piles all through the land. Exodus 8:13-14. With the fourth Egyptian plague, which consisted of flies, begins the great miracle of separation when God shows that He deals differently with His chosen people. The flies were a direct exposure of Khepri the Egyptian god of creation who had the head of a fly. Moses met Pharaoh at the Nile River in the morning and made the demand, speaking on behalf of the Lord,  "Let My people go, that they may serve Me."  Again, Pharaoh hardened his heart and disregarded the request, resulting in a pronouncement of swarms of flies. This time, however, only the Egyptians were affected by the judgement, or plag

Psalm 78:44 Rivers into blood We are going back to the beginning of the story of the Israelites and to their time of slavery in Egypt. However, the subject of the writer’s recall is not the chosen people but Egypt, their aggressors. Instead of a story of deliverance and hope, the events that are about to unfold speak of trouble and God’s wrath revealed by His plagues upon the Egyptians.  It all started with the River Nile, the place where Pharoah’s daughter bathed, where Moses had been saved from certain death and where God’s first judgement upon the land was carried out. The Nile was the “lifeblood” of the country, there was no other source of fresh water, it irrigated the crops, watered the animals and allowed the people to drink, wash and live civilised lives.  The first plague, turning the Nile to blood, was a judgment against Apis, the god of the Nile, Isis, goddess of the Nile, and Khnum, guardian of the Nile. The Nile was also believed to be the bloodstream of Osiris, who was re

Psalm 78:42-43 Do not forget! These two verses are really a variation on what we read in verses 11-12. What so incensed the writer is that the people simply forgot what God had done for them! As the years unfolded, the past slipped from their memories. The glorious acts of the Lord God were lost in the dimness of time, the stories of deliverance belonged to a previous generation and the people of the present confiscated them to the basket of history.  This indictment of God’s people is a powerful reminder to us of the importance of returning again and again to the events of the past. God has put no limits on time, everything that happens is in the “now”. “ Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:8-9. That is why the

Psalm 78:41 Again and again they put God to the test When we began this Psalm it was exciting to anticipate the catalogue of events that accompanied Israel’s travels as the Lord God provided for and watched over His chosen people. You will remember that each story was a parable “an earthly story with a spiritual meaning that can only be understood by revelation”. Sadly, the narrative has moved away from the faithful provision of the Lord to the fickle unbelief and rebellion of the people, and their constant failure to stay true to their God. The whole point of the Psalm was to provide an account that could be passed on so that successive generations could hear about the marvellous acts of their God. We have now discovered that God never failed to live up to His promises and provision, but the people failed miserably in their devotion and obedience to Him.  So, we learn that parables can be stories of human failure as well as divine excellence. The lesson for us all is simple, we should

Psalm 78:40 Rebellion in the wilderness The Hebrew language has a number of words for “wilderness” or “desert” or “wasteland”. These places are very real and the word wilderness for instance, occurs nearly 300 times in the Scriptures. Quite rightly, we are prompted to think of desolate landscapes and wild natural environments where sensible people do not go! In Genesis to Deuteronomy the most used Hebrew word is “Midbar” and it describes uninhabited land where humans are just nomads, they have nowhere to settle. It’s possible to have pastures in such a wilderness because, of course, nomadic people took their animals with them and grazed them on route.  In Genesis 36:24 we read of a desert and the word to describe it is “arabah”. So in Isaiah 35:1  “The land that was desolate (midbar) and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness (arabah) shall rejoice.” There are two other Hebrew words that are used to describe waste places, “chorbah” literally means waste and “yeshimon” is land wit

Psalm 78:39 A passing breeze There’s one thing that some of the ancient Bible writers could do better than us, they were able to put their lives into a proper perspective. They knew their time on earth was short, that they were not really that important in the bigger scheme of things, and they realised that mortality was a finite gift from God. They had no awareness of resurrection; it had not been invented yet! They were only vaguely aware of what lay beyond the grave, but one thing was sure to them, when you leave this world, you do not come back. Man is just a  “passing breeze that does not return.”  Put it another way , “For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”  Psalm 103:14-16. Apologies to Hindus and the like, you are not going to return to this world in some form or other, the only returnees are those who w

  Psalm 78:38 He restrained His anger This verse should make us stop still for a moment and take in the importance of what is being said. The times that Moses had to plead for God’s people, that His wrath might be removed and that He would not fulfil the threats of punishment over their unbelief and wrongdoing. After the episode with the Golden Calf, God wanted to destroy the people, but Moses prayed fervently and begged Him  “To turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.”  We read that,  “The Lord relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened.”  Exodus 32:12-14. We humans are fickle folk, we make promises and break them, we have good intentions and fail to fulfil them, we apply self-discipline but cannot keep to our own rules. We are constantly picking up the pieces of our own waywardness. Our relationship with the Lord God should be plain sailing, but it never is. We try so hard to please Him but end up flat on pour faces b

Psalm 78:36-37 Flattery and lies Oh, the arrogance of men! The last few verses have given us a very honest portrayal of the ways of human beings in their relationship with Almighty God. He shows them His righteousness and His anger but also His kindness and His faithfulness. People take note but they have no intention of changing their ways, they keep on sinning. Despite all that the Lord has done for them, the majority chooses not to believe in Him. Instead, they continue to live their days in self-serving and accumulating wealth and reputations in this world, whilst ignoring the God who awaits them in the next. God sends more punishments and for a short while they seek Him and remember all that He has done in past ages. And what does that produce? Hypocrisy! Most state religion is just this, men and women attending a Service and saying the right things, singing the right tunes and lying through their teeth about how great God is and how much they believe in Him. As soon as the ordeal

Psalm 78:34-35 They eagerly turned to Him again! What an indictment of Israel, these verses are. They are effectively telling us that it was only when God got angry and punished the people that they turned to Him and sought His companionship and His Will. As soon as things started to go well again and the “blessings” resumed, they turned away and resumed their old ways. It is sad to realise that the Lord needed to punish the people just to gain their attention and to remind them of all that He had done for them. He was their Rock and their Redeemer.  We need to remember that the land of Israel was God’s land and He promised it unconditionally to Abraham, for all time. The people, however, were contracted to belong to God, by a covenant that was conditional. Thus, the history of Israel is one of ups and downs, of restitution and neglect, of blessings and curses, of intimate relationship and fickle disbelief, of success and failure. The lessons are obvious and, sadly, they have been play

Psalm 78:33 He ended their days in futility As you will know, 12 spies were sent by Moses to evaluate the land beyond the Jordan and to report back on its fertility, the nature of the nations in occupation, the logistics of conquest and Canaan’s suitability as their homeland. The spies came back to the camp and reported their findings to Moses and Aaron and all the people. As you will also know, 10 spies thought the task of conquering the Land was too great and the obstacles insurmountable, only two spoke in favour. Caleb and Joshua believed it could be done – with God’s help!  The people listened to the negatives, and they saw only doom and disaster and pleaded to go back to Egypt. They then plotted to stone Moses and Aaron, until God intervened. It was Moses’ turn to plead, this time for the preservation of the people from the anger of the Lord. Eventually God promised to forgive the nation but then He uttered these ominous words: -  “ I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless

Psalm 78:32 They did not believe This is another sombre verse of Scripture. The Psalm has reminded us, again and again, of the mighty acts of God. We have travelled with the ancient nation of Israel, through seas and through deserts and time and again, the Lord God has miraculously met their needs, and their desires. But, despite all of this, the people just cannot stop sinning! They have the Law and the Commandments, they have the beneficial provision of a merciful God, they have the glorious hope of becoming a great nation and settling in the Promised Land. None of this is enough to stop wilful sin and unbelief. In all of this Israel is an example to us, as we have seen they are a parable.   “A parable is an earthly story that conceals a spiritual truth that can only be understood by revelation!” They show us the fallibility of man, the problem of the inner nature that draws us away from God and lures us into law-breaking. But even worse, Israel shows us the consequences of unbelief.

Psalm 78:30-31 God's anger rose against them “But while the meat was still between their teeth   and before it could be consumed, the anger   of the   Lord   burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.   Therefore, the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (graves of craving), because there they buried the people who had craved other food.” Numbers 11:33-34   The sin of the people was not just about giving in to their craving. Their sin was that they doubted God's ability to supply, and they doubted His concern for their welfare. Instead of withdrawing and withholding His supply chain, the Lord God deluged the people with the meat that they yearned for. He kept it coming until they were sick of it and the rotting flesh brought a plague upon them. These verses in the Psalm tell us something that Numbers 11 does not, it wasn’t the old and vulnerable who died, it was the young men, the sturdiest young fighters and fittest of the males in the camp.  You see, the

Psalm 78:28-29 God satisfies cravings! The quantities involved in the heavenly meat delivery, described in these verses, are staggering. Numbers 11 tells us that 600,000 men were in the Israelite camp in the wilderness, when the quail / grouse fell from heaven. Add the women and children, and we have a lot of people. According to the account, the birds covered the camp up to an area the size of a day’s walk in any direction! Let’s suggest that a day’s walk might be up to 10 miles, but it could be up to 30miles! In addition, the birds fell in such numbers that they piled up to a metre deep and “No one gathered less that ten homers” – that is 1 ¾ tons each or over 1 million tons of quail!!  I would imagine that the first quail pie was exceedingly good, followed by roasted quail, baked quail and then quail soup. They had quail for breakfast, lunch and supper and there was still a huge heap of the birds that were untouched. The deliveries kept arriving, every day, until the whole camp was

Psalm 78:26-27 The Winds and the Quail. These two verses have puzzled many commentators, especially the references to south and east winds. However, if you are a birdwatcher and have visited Israel in the spring and autumn, you will know quite a bit about migration. Birds that have seen out the winter months in Africa migrate north to Europe in spring and need the south wind to propel them. The converse happens in autumn. The Mediterranean coast of the Middle East is an immense airway for great flocks of birds as they move back and forth, throughout the year. The Common Quail migrates through a vast range of Asia from the Mediterranean across to India, so it is perfectly reasonable to describe the southern and eastern winds that brought large flocks to the Israelites as they camped in the wilderness. Numbers 11. These vast flocks carried on arriving for a whole month until the people were sick of the meat! Again, that bears out the migratory process and tells us that these events took

Psalm 78:25 The bread of angels? How do we understand this statement that , “Human beings ate the bread of angels?”  Well, I’m not sure that there is a definitive answer but let’s look at some of the possibilities. The verse refers, of course, to the feeding of the vast family of the Israelites, as they travelled in the desert, and we thought in the previous verse, about the heavenly manna that was given to them on a daily basis. ·        Was the manna the literal food of angels? Who knows? ·        Maybe the manna was prepared by angels and delivered by them each day to the people, wherever they camped? ·        Maybe the manna was such excellent food that the people really believed that it was the same stuff that angels ate? We may never know the answers to such questions in this life and there’s little point in pondering too much but I would make one further point. When Jesus rose from the dead and walked the earth in His resurrection body, He was still able to eat! He ate with the

Psalm78:23-24 He gave them grain from heaven The idea that God opens the doors or floodgates of the heavens may seem rather fanciful, but this is not the only time the Scriptures speak of it. In Genesis 7:11 we read that it was the opening of the floodgates of heaven that led to rain falling on the earth for 40 days and for 40 nights – the Flood!  Malachi speaks of this phenomenon when he proclaims that if the Jews would simply bring the proper tithe to the Lord’s storehouse, He would open the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessing on His people. Malachi 3:10.  Heaven’s doors were opened to receive Christ at His ascension and when the Holy Spirit was poured out.  “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, that the King of glory may come in.” A door was opened for Stephen to see the majesty of God and Jesus at His right hand, just before a mob stoned him to death. Acts 7:55-57.  It is not unreasonable therefore, to suggest that the gates will be thrown wide open to receive the children of God

Psalm 78:21-22a They did not believe in God A number of these verses form couplets that cannot be separated and here is another one. The story of God’s anger and His destructive fire is not well-known so I will repeat it here;  “ Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.   When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down.   So that place was called Taberah, (which means burning) because fire from the Lord had burned among them.”  Numbers 11:1-3. God’s wrath and His anger will be repeatedly mentioned in this Psalm, as we have learned before, His wrath is an expression of His righteousness. After all that He had done for Israel, they continued to question His ability and His provision. They grumbled and complained against the One who had watched over their every need and who had kept them

Psalm 78:19-20 Can God do it? Questions! Questions! Questions! “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? Can He give us bread? Can He supply meat for His people?” These questions were asked more than once by the people and the answer, quite plainly is, “Yes He can!” Before we think a little bit more about the questions, just look at their admission of what the Lord had already done for His people. It was God who struck the rock. It was God who made water gush out. And the water flow was not just enough to fill up the pots and pans of 2 million people for a day or two. No! God gave them streams of water, that flowed abundantly and stayed with them on their travels! What a God! As we saw in v15-16, He is able to make streams flow into and out of our lives too, if we surrender to Him. “So much for the water supply” say the Israelites, “but can He provide us with bread or, even better, meat?” These questions were not unreasonable if the people were really hungry, but it is not thei

Psalm 78:17-18 They wilfully put God to the test There are two sides to these “parables” in the life of Israel. They are being recounted to teach us about the compassion and mercy of the God who provides. In each story we see something of His divine power and His miraculous care for all who trust in Him. However, the “parables” also teach us about the fickle nature of His children and their constant complaining, as well as helping us to understand how helpless and vulnerable we are without Him. If God had not provided, the Israelites would have died in the wilderness. In fact, that is exactly what they thought was going to happen when they complained about the lack of food.  “ In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Then the Lord s

Psalm 78:15-16 Water flows down like rivers There were two occasions when God miraculously provided water for His people. The first was in the Desert of Sin at a place called Rephidim, an area in southern Sinai. Here the people grumbled, probably justifiably, because there was no water for them to drink. If the population numbered around 2 million with all of their animals, then this was a very serious matter. Moses was in familiar territory here, for close by was Horeb, the place where he had come upon the burning bush and met with the Lord God. It was also known as the “Mountain of the Lord – Sinai” where the spiritual water of God’s Law would be given. Moses was ordered to “strike the rock” and water would come out for the people to drink. Exodus 17:1-7.  A similar event is described in Numbers 20. We are now in 40 th  year of the people’s desert wandering, and the people are at Kadesh near the southern borders of Canaan. The water has again run out and a new generation of Israelite

Psalm 78:14 Guided by cloud and fire The next parable that the Israelite parents must pass on to their children is the story of the cloud and the pillar of fire.  “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”  Exodus 13:21.  The cloud was present when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting and when he ascended Mount Sinai to meet with the Lord. The cloud surrounded the Tabernacle when it was built and enveloped the Holy of Holies to signify that God was present. He spoke out of the cloud and also used it to show the people when to move on and when to stay put. We noted, in verse 2, that this Psalm is full of parables, “A parable is an earthly story that conceals a spiritual truth that can only be understood by revelation!” So, what is the Lord showing us here? What is the deeper revelation for us? Surely it is that, just as a physical representation of the

Psalm 78:13 A series of miracles It is worth stopping here for a moment and pondering how the Israelites managed to cross the Red Sea. Remember, they had already experienced the miraculous hand of God through the many plagues that had come upon the Egyptians, and a stubborn Pharaoh had reluctantly given into the request for the people to go out to the desert to worship their God. These slaves had been swamped with many valuable artifacts by the Egyptians who pleaded with them to leave and presumably, to never return!  The journey had hardly got going before this vast mass of migrants were confronted by the Red Sea, or more accurately, the Sea of Reeds. There are different theories about exactly where the crossing took place, but one thing is certain, the water that stretched before them was impassable without a huge fleet of boats! God told Moses where He wanted the people to camp that day after making them turn back on themselves! In so doing, He sent a message to Pharaoh that the Heb

Psalm 78:11-12 They forgot what He had done What a terrible thing it is to forget what the Lord has done for us. We have our Bibles and the detailed accounts of God’s dealings with the Israelites and with the world. Events in the life of the early church have been meticulously recorded too and the story of the erratic journey of the church since the first century is available for anyone to read. As we noted in Psalm 70, “Starting with Bible characters of old, through the testimony of the Apostles and early saints, to the witnesses of the Reformation, to the revivals and missionary endeavours of the 19 th  and early 20 th  centuries, to attendees at Billy Graham rallies, right through to this present time, we are surrounded by a  “greater cloud of witnesses”.  Hebrews 12:1. Every one of the people included in this vast number has a story to tell and, in their stories, we see a reflection of our own salvation and we know that we are not alone. Sharing our experiences of the Lord are a vi

Psalm 78:9-10 Spiritual strength v world strength You will remember that Ephraim and Mannasseh, the sons of Joseph, were adopted by Jacob and treated as his successors. Jacob already had 12 sons but when it came to dividing up the Promised Land the Levites were not allowed to take a share, so he could only apportion the land 11 ways. By adopting Ephraim and Mannasseh he had a replacement for Levi and a son of Joseph who could represent his father. Ephraim was a powerful tribe and later came to represent the 10 northern tribes of Israel, while Judah and Benjamin later merged to become one – the Jews. There is no record in Scripture of the Ephraimites, or the northern tribes turning back on the day of battle, as described here. These men had a reputation for being fierce fighters and brave on the battlefield. Maybe the clue lies in verse 10,  “they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.”  In other words, they were physically strong and never acted in a cowardly way w

Psalm 78:8 A stubborn and rebellious generation Well, this is quite a turn-up isn’t it. The writer is effectively saying that if we relate to our children, the stories of God’s dealings in our lives, they will believe us and will not be like their predecessors who did not believe. And why not? Children generally believe everything their parents tell them, of course they question us as they get older and start to make their own decisions, but most children inherit a great deal of knowledge and commons sense from mum and dad. Thus, the endless accounts of the workings of God in our lives is a wonderful heritage to pass on. Please don’t tell me that you have no such accounts to relate? Surely, our lives of faith and trust are full of accounts of answered prayer and divine intervention, or have we never bothered to pray and seek God’s will to be done in the first place? The converse to raising children of faith is to produce offspring that are stubborn and rebellious, who have no loyalty t