TLEE's Daily Devotion for October {11,991 words}

Rapture means to be caught up, and it was described in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 as a future event when Christians would meet the Lord in the clouds. Some people believe in a partial rapture where not everyone will go up, while others think of multiple Raptures where Christians will be raptured at different times. The Bible, however, does not seem to support either of those views. Many people have also thought the Rapture of the church would occur after the Great Tribulation, but the Bible does not seem to support that view, either. The early church believed in a post-Tribulation Rapture, but that was only because they thought that they were already in the Tribulation.

In I Thessalonians 4:13-18, the Apostle Paul wrote about the Rapture of the church into the clouds, and in Revelation 19:11-21 and Revelation 21:1-27, the Apostle John wrote about the Second Coming of Christ to the earth. But those latter happenings of the Revelation are not related to the Rapture, and that would suggest that a Tribulation occurring between the two events is logical. In John 16:7-11, the Apostle John also wrote about the restraining work of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit, who resides in Christians, will not be as great a force during the Tribulation, and that is consistent with His having been raptured out before the Tribulation, too. In Jeremiah 30:7, the Bible associates the Tribulation with Jacob's trouble, but that clear connection to Israel would not apply to the church. Finally, in I Thessalonians 1:10, Paul wrote that the church would be spared from the wrath to come because of Jesus.

The first two chapters of the Book of Genesis present the creation of the universe and of the various life forms that existed during those early days. On the sixth day of Creation, God created man in His own image, and He called him, Adam. In Genesis 2:16-17, the Bible says, "And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'" In Genesis 3:1-6, Adam and Eve proceeded to do the very thing that the man had been told not to do, by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In response to his disobedience, God was true to His word. Adam and Eve were forced from the Garden of Eden, and in the course of time, they died just like all people today must die.

In Proverbs 13:5-9, the messages are about being lovers of truth, not being lovers of money, and about trying to live right. Solomon wrote that people should love the truth and pursue righteousness. He also said that a sign of being righteous is choosing truth over untruth. Many people have a low regard for those things that are right and proper. But as individuals draw closer and closer to the Lord, they should not be like that. Joshua 24:14 says, "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD." Psalm 33:4 says, "For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does." In Proverbs 11:5, Solomon wrote, "The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness."

Having faith in God is very important for anyone that professes to follow the Lord. In Numbers 13:1-33 and Numbers 14:6-24, Moses had already led the children of Israel out of Egypt, and he was preparing to lead them into the Promised Land. Most adults have learned to not take the promises of others too seriously, and most have also probably felt betrayed by someone that failed to keep his or her word. In marriage, couples sometimes do not keep their promises to each other, and in business, people again sometimes do not keep their promises to other business associates. But with God, one can always trust Him to do exactly what He has said He would do, and He had already promised to give Canaan to the children of Israel.

In Exodus 13:5, Moses told the people about the promise that God had made to Abraham and their fathers about a land that flowed with milk and honey. But when he sent spies into the land to see what they would have to do, ten of the twelve returned back terrified. They saw the large size of the Canaanites, and they were afraid to trust the Lord to keep His promise. Because they would not trust Him as they should, they failed to make a difference in their own world. They should have remained focused on God, but instead, they were too heavily focused on the Canaanites. As a result, God did not let them enter into the Promised Land at that time, and they spent the next forty years of their life wandering around in the wilderness. According to Numbers 14:30, only Caleb and Joshua lived long enough to enter into Canaan, and that was because they had been the only spies that had not been scared off by the Canaanites.

In II Corinthians 1:3-11, the Apostle Paul wrote that God is the Source of all comfort. In this life, people often experience difficulty, and sometimes, those difficulties seem to be overwhelming. In such situations, though, Paul taught that God is good and faithful and that He will always hold His people up through whatever may come. The above passage teaches that God not only comforts people through their current difficulties but that He is also a constant Comforter. In II Corinthians 1:4, Paul used the present tense form of the verb "comfort" to show that God is always a Comforter. He comforts people in all their troubles, and He does not leave them alone even for a moment. No matter what difficulty or trial a person may be facing, according to Proverbs 18:24, that person will always have the constant comfort and companionship of a Friend that sticks closer than a brother.

Since the Garden of Eden, God has dealt with people differently, and theologians have defined those times of different treatment as dispensations. A dispensation is a temporary period of time. It has always involved a test, and it has always contained a covenant. Every dispensation has ended in failure, and each one has also always ended with a type of judgment. Dispensations describe how God deals with the people of the world at a particular time, and currently, the world is in the Dispensation of Grace or in the church Age. The covenant, which was mentioned above, is an agreement between God and man for the particular dispensation, and it reveals what God will do individually and collectively with the people of that dispensation. His covenants can be either conditional or unconditional.

The Bible describes seven dispensations and seven covenants. The first is the Dispensation of Innocence with the Edenic Covenant. The second is the Dispensation of Conscience with the Adamic Covenant. The third is the Dispensation of Human Governments with the Noahic Covenant. The fourth is the Dispensation of Promise with the Abrahamic Covenant. The fifth is the Dispensation of the Law with the Mosaic Covenant. The sixth is the Dispensation of Grace with the New Covenant, and the seventh is the Dispensation of the Kingdom with the Davidic Covenant.

To understand Psalm 3:3 and understand the meaning of the phrase "lift up my head," a person must use some hermeneutical techniques. With Scriptures, the individual should always try to take the meaning out of what is being read rather than inject his or her own meaning into what is being read. An important first step is to read for genre or type. Not all types of Scripture were written the same, and not all are interpreted the same way. The historical Books, for example, were written in narrative or prose, and they tended to be more cognitive and literal. The Book of Psalms was written largely as poetry, and poetry is usually written to express experience. Some psalms were written to praise the Lord by someone that was unencumbered by illness or other hindrances. Some were written to lament over a bad experience or over the plight of the wicked, and some were written to ask God for protection.

A person can ask three questions about prophets and prophecy. First, who could be a prophet among all the Israelites? Second, how could the Israelites know a genuine prophet? Third, what is prophecy? Some common answers to those questions are that a prophet would have to be of a particular age and gender, he would have to have had certain training, or he would have to be of a certain family. Those criteria would have been consistent with being a priest because one had to be a Levite and of the family of Aaron. But in the matter of prophets, the Bible says that a prophet simply had to be called by God.

In Amos 7:12-13, Amaziah told the Prophet Amos to go back to the south to be a prophet because he thought that Amos was poking his nose where it did not belong. Amaziah also did not appreciate Amos' being so negative towards those in the Northern Kingdom. But in Amos 7:14-15, the prophet responded to Amaziah by saying that he was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. He, then, told the people that he had not been trained to be a prophet. He had simply been called by God to do so, and he was reacting to his calling.

In Ephesians 4:1-16, the Apostle Paul wrote about maintaining unity within the church through the bond of peace. Christians are supposed to get along with each other, and they are supposed to work together to advance the cause of Christ. The church is supposed to be a living organism where races and cultures are overlooked and where believers are assembled together in eternal unity. Before Calvary, people did not understand that the eternal promises to the Jews also applied to the Gentiles, but the Apostle Paul presented that truth in the above passage. In Ephesians 4:7, he spoke of the Grace of God that had been given to every person within the church, and that included everyone whether they were Jew or Gentile. At the same time, though, he also denounced some of the former habits of the Gentiles in Ephesians 4:17, when he wrote, "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking."

Proverbs 13:10-12 teaches the importance of choosing godly wisdom, of working hard, and of maintaining one’s hopes for a better day. Solomon wrote that people should seek wisdom and put away pride. Pride leads to contention, and that leads to strife. Proverbs 17:19 says, "He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction." Some people look for trouble, and false pride, in addition to leading someone from the Lord, will also cause a person to find that trouble. Psalm 10:4 says, "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." Wisdom comes from the Hebrew word that means prudent, shrewd, ethical, or religious, and Solomon wrote that wisdom is with the well advised.

In addition to emphasizing the importance and wisdom of seeking sound counsel, Solomon also taught that people should avoid get rich quick schemes. Men and women were intended to work for their increase, and when wealth comes too quickly and too easily, it also disappears too quickly and too easily. When wealth comes by hard work, then the individual is much more cautious about what and how he or she consumes. Hard work helps a person be prosperous, and it also keeps him or her out of trouble. In Joshua 7:2-4, one of the reasons that the little town of Ai defeated the children of Israel was because the children of Israel had gotten too lazy. Hence, it is good for men and women to work hard and to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

In II Kings 5:1-14, Naaman was the commander of an army for the king of Aram. Everyone that knew him regarded him as a great man and a great leader, but he had the very dreaded disease of leprosy and was in great need. In II Kings 5:2-3, a young Jewish girl, that had been taken captive from her homeland, told Naaman’s wife about a man of God in Samaria that could heal Naaman. Because he wanted so much to be healed, Naaman set out for Israel to find the prophet of God that could make him whole.

When Naaman arrived in Israel, the king of Israel was very frightened. He did not know how to satisfy Naaman’s request, and he was afraid of what the angry commander might do. II Kings 5:7 says, "As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, 'Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!'" The king did not know what to tell Naaman, but in today’s society, Christians should know enough about their faith in Christ to point others to Him. Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise."

In II Corinthians 4:4-18, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about overcoming difficulties. He emphasized the importance of not becoming discouraged, of depending upon God’s power for strength, of living in the light of Christ’s resurrection, and of focusing on the realities of eternity. Everyone has hurts and pains in life, but the above passage teaches that overcoming those hurts and pains can be as simple as developing a more positive outlook and of leaning on God for strength. When a person has done those two things, then he or she can better endure their trials and also better serve the Lord.

The Apostle Paul lived a unique life. In Acts 9:1-6, the Bible says that, while travelling on the road to Damascus, he had an encounter with the Lord. That event changed him and his life forever, but it also gave him a good reference point to where he could always look for encouragement. When a Christian is discouraged or in the midst of some great trial, he or she can also remember back to when they first yielded their heart and life to the Lord. Nothing in life is more positive than personally knowing Christ as Savior, so no event in life should hold more meaning to the child of God than when he or she first met their Savior. In II Corinthians 4:10-12, Paul never forgot what God’s mercy had done for him, and Christians today can do the same.

In John 16:7-11, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come and that He would reprove or convict the world in three different ways. He would reprove of sin, He would reprove of righteousness, and He would reprove of judgment. John 16:9 says that the Holy Spirit would reprove of sin because people do not believe on Him. John 16:10 says that He would reprove of righteousness because Jesus was about to go to His Father and because they would not see Him anymore. In I Corinthians 1:27-30, written by the Apostle Paul, Jesus was identified as a person’s Basis for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So, those verses mean that the Holy Spirit, Who took Jesus’ place, would reprove unrepentant sinners and cause them to see themselves in the light of the Lord’s righteousness.

John 16:11 says that the Holy Spirit would reprove of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. The prince of this world is the devil, and the judgment to which Jesus was referring was that of being eternally lost. The Holy Spirit would reprove lost sinners and show them their eternal doom without Christ, and though not mentioned explicitly by the Apostle John, the Holy Spirit would also restrain evil. Based on II Thessalonians 2:7-8 and to a lesser degree on John 16:7-11, the Holy Spirit’s work since His arrival has been to restrain evil and to hold back the man of sin. When Christians are raptured out of the earth, then the restraining power of the Holy Spirit will be gone, too, and Satan will have his time to wreak havoc on those left behind.

I Corinthians 12:1-31 talks about the spiritual gifts that are given to believers by the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12:4 says that there are many kinds of spiritual gifts, but no one receives all of them. I Corinthians 12:8-10 says that one person is given the word of wisdom, another the word of knowledge, another the gift of faith, another the gift of healing, and to others are given the gifts of miracles, prophesying, the discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. I Corinthians 12:15-26 talks about the relative importance of spiritual gifts, and according to the Apostle Paul, no one gift is exalted above another. He wrote that all parts have equal importance in the Lord’s work and that no one should view himself or herself as better or worse than another based upon their spiritual gifts. Instead, every Christian should try to use his or her time, treasure, and talents in ways that will exalt Christ as Lord and Savior and bring lost sinners to Him.

Jesus tried to minister to others, and He was not a respecter of persons. He tried to minister to the affluent, but He also tried to minister to the down and out. In John 3:1-21, He spoke to a religious man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and also a member of the Jewish ruling council. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, his lack of knowledge about spiritual things was very evident, so finally, in John 3:10, the Bible says, "'You are Israel's teacher,' said Jesus, 'and do you not understand these things?'" Jesus scolded Nicodemus a little, but more importantly, He gave him the answers that he had sought.

In John 4:1-34, Jesus ministered to the woman at the well in Samaria, and on that occasion, He was dealing with someone that had not lived such a great life. In John 4:18, He said, "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband." Jesus had the ability to speak to people in ways that got through to them, and in the cases of Nicodemus and the woman at the well, He helped both learn the truth about themselves and come to God. He was firmer with the religious Nicodemus than with the worldly woman. Plus, Nicodemus had gone to Jesus seeking answers, while Jesus had gone to the woman at the well with answers.

Most people assume that the girl mentioned in Matthew 9:18-26 was dead, but there is some reason to believe that she was comatose rather than dead. In Matthew 9:18, the Greek word used for dead was "teleutao", and that word means to finish, bring to an end, or to close. The ruler probably thought that his daughter was either dead or very near death, but he also clearly believed that Jesus could heal her. In Matthew 9:23-24, when Jesus said that the girl was not dead, he used the Greek word "apothnesko", which means to die a natural death or to perish from something. That word comes from the two Greek words "apo", which means separating, departing, or fleeing, and "thnesko", which means to die or to be dead. Jesus told the crowd that the girl had not experienced natural death or perished from something (apothnesko), whereas the ruler had said that his daughter was coming to an end (teleutao). But neither individual ever confirmed for certain whether or not the girl had actually died.

In Proverbs 13:13-17, Solomon wrote about the importance of regular Bible study and of seeking the mind of Christ. Christians should love the Bible because it is God’s love message to humanity. They should try to learn from it, and they should do their best to live by its principles. Solomon indicated that people would pay dearly if they despised instruction. But when they study God’s Word and ingest its teachings, then according to Proverbs 13:13, they will be rewarded and blessed. In Proverbs 13:14, he wrote that those that are wise will see the law as a fountain of life because, with the law, there is peace, order, and harmony. He also taught that the Bible should be the primary source of information and guidance for people because it will keep them from the harmful paths of life and help them acquire godly understanding.

The lesson of Acts 18:1-28, I Corinthians 16:19, and Romans 16:3-4 is that Christians can make a real difference in this world by actively promoting their Faith. Many would say that followers of Christ should simply be trying to be better people, but that is not completely true. In a very real sense, they should also be trying to reach others for the Lord, as they try to become better people. The real focus of Christianity should be on ministering to one another, plus it should be on evangelizing the lost because people’s lives naturally become better when they have a closer walk with the Lord. An example of some faithful Christians in the New Testament, who tried to make a difference for Christ, was recorded, in Acts 18:1-28, with the account of Aquila and his wife, Priscilla. They had come to Corinth from Rome, and they quickly became friends and co-workers with the Apostle Paul. Each Sabbath, Paul spoke at the synagogue, and together, the three ministered to their community.

The Apostle Paul was a great motivator, and in II Corinthians 5:11-21 and II Corinthians 6:1-2, he was trying to motivate those in the Corinthian church to reach others for Christ. He used the term "reconciliation" as a way to describe what happens to a person when he or she places his or her trust in the finished work of the Lord. In Romans 6:23, he had spoken about the death that has been brought upon each person because of sin, and he had essentially shown that people’s sins have separated them from God. In and of themselves, individuals cannot do anything to bring themselves back to God. But through Jesus, any person can be returned to or reconciled back to the Lord. By offering Himself on the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid the sin debt for each person that will receive Him by faith, and in so doing, He made a way for all unbelievers to come to God.

Most people struggle with life’s difficulties, and even Job struggled with all the problems that befell him. To be fair to him, though, he had to endure the losses of family, possessions, and health all at one time, and those were very big difficulties for anyone to endure. The devil had made him the object of his testing, and the devil is very, very good at knowing how to inflict hurt and pain into a person’s life. Job even had to put up with friends that criticized him and who did not really understand what was happening to him. But he simply took them on, too, and added them to his list of undesirable elements.

A person can gain at least five spiritual insights from Job’s story. The first, in Job 1:1-22 and Job 2:1-13, is that the devil knows how to hurt and that he will do so without hesitation. The second, in Job 1:12 and Job 2:6, is that God will allow the devil to do a certain amount of his evil, Satanic work, but He will not give Satan complete freedom. The third insight is that the devil attacks people anonymously in that he does not leave his calling card. When Job was attacked, he did not know that he was the subject of a test between God and the devil, and during his entire ordeal, he never did find out. He also did not know who or what was attacking him. The fourth insight is that questioning God when things go wrong in one’s life is somewhat natural and even all right. Despite Job’s accepted patience, he showed that he was bothered with God and his ordeal in Job 9:3, Job 9:16, Job 9:20, Job 9:28, and Job 9:33-34.

In Ephesians 4:17-32, the Apostle Paul wrote about the importance of living one’s new life in Christ. In Ephesians 4:1-3 he said, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." He spoke about the importance of growing spiritually and of maturing into the Christian that each follower of Christ should be. Christians should be in one accord with the Holy Spirit, and they should be zealous to work for the Lord.

In Ephesians 4:17, Paul also talked about the ungodly behavior of the Gentiles, and he cautioned the people of the Ephesian church to not be like them. Christians are to put off falsehood, speak the truth, and put on their new self. Within that context, he then wrote Ephesians 4:26-27, which says, "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." Those verses do not explicitly say to refrain from all anger. In fact, when Paul wrote his epistle, he must have recognized that a person can be angry yet not wander from the law of God. Otherwise, he would have simply said to not be angry.

Proverbs 30:5-6 teaches that every word of God is pure and trustworthy and that the reader should not add to it. In terms of hermeneutics, which defines the rules and techniques for understanding the Bible, pre-interpretation of Scriptures involves grammatical, historical, and literary analyses. Christians approach the Bible with certain predetermined beliefs, and having those beliefs is part of General Introduction. General Introduction takes into account the reader’s beliefs about inspiration and canonicity, the use of variants, which are found among the different translations, and textual criticism, which considers authorship, dating, and purpose of the given Book.

In the Old Testament, the process of translating Hebrew into a target language, like English, involved looking at the one-to-one correspondence of words, at the rules for interpretation, at the uses of a base text or multiple texts, and at the ideas of formal or functional equivalents. For one-to-one correspondence, the translation was one word for one word because the words would have been the same in both languages. For the rules of interpretation, the translated text looked at an interpretation of a passage and compared it to a commentary of the same passage. Translation of a text often meant working with a single base text or with multiple texts. A formal equivalent was a direct translation and close to the one-to-one correspondence standard, whereas a functional equivalent only aimed at hitting the essence of the expression.

In Exodus 15:1-27, Moses wrote about the first few days after God had used him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Shortly after they had left Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind about letting them go, so he sent his troops to kill them before they crossed the Red Sea. Instead of the Egyptian troops destroying the children of Israel, however, God miraculously delivered His people and drowned the pursuing Egyptian soldiers in the sea. Exodus 15:1-21 recorded Moses’ celebration song to God to commemorate God’s deliverance of His people out of their trouble.

In Exodus 15:22-27, during the aftermath of Pharaoh’s attempted attack, Moses led the people around in the desert for three days. They were looking for water, but they were not able to find any. Finally, they came to a place called Marah, but they could not drink that water because it would have made them sick. So, they began to complain to Moses, and he turned to the Lord for help. Throughout history, those of little faith have always complained and grumbled when things did not go exactly right, and that was what those people were doing. God showed Moses a piece of wood that, when stuck in the water, made the water drinkable, so the people were able to drink.

In Proverbs 13:18-22, Solomon wrote about discipline, poverty and shame, about good and evil, and about the value of godly instruction. Christians should always be willing to receive instruction from the Lord, but they should also be open to instruction and correction from others. When they are, then they become better, happier people, and as a result, more richly enjoy the blessings of the Lord.

Solomon taught that people should also avoid foolish desires and foolish people. When someone wants something very badly, he or she is usually very pleased if and when they get it. But a fool, most of the time, wants things that are neither positive nor uplifting. Solomon wrote that fools think that it is an abomination to turn from evil. In Proverbs 14:9, he also said, "Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright." Those that seek righteousness have favor with the Lord. They have sweetness in their soul, they tend to live right, and they try to keep company with others that want to live right. The foolish, however, are not so wise or so fortunate, and in the end, they and their companions are destroyed.

Tough situations should always be handled biblically. In II Corinthians 7:1-16, the Apostle Paul was writing the church at Corinth to express his gladness about their repentance, after he had already written them a harsh letter about their bad behavior. Sometimes, Christians make their own problems, and sometimes, their problems are made for them. But either way, avoiding those problems will not usually solve them. For that reason, Christians should face their difficulties head on and seek the best biblical approach for dealing with each one. They have the Lord’s guidance to help them through life’s troubled waters, and that can make a big difference when they try to handle their tough situations biblically. In his writing to the church, Paul had been trying to help those at Corinth overcome some of their more serious issues.

In II Corinthians 9:1-15, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the Corinthian church and talked to them about the importance of personally sharing their abundance with others. In I Corinthians 16:1-3, he had already encouraged the Gentile churches in the area to collect money to help the needy Christians in Jerusalem, and by doing those things, he was demonstrating some important biblical teachings. In Matthew 22:37-39, when Jesus was asked to identify the greatest commandment, He told His listeners that they should love the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul. He followed that admonition by instructing them to love their neighbors as themselves. Both Paul and Jesus were talking about a type of love that is demonstrated by a deep commitment to others. Both individuals would have also said that real Christian love is always accompanied by some kind of real Christian giving.

In Matthew 5:22, Jesus said that the one who calls a brother a fool is in danger of being eternally lost. Yet, He called the Pharisees fools in Matthew 23:17-19, and He was not and is not in such eternal danger. In the first passage, He had been speaking in a progressive fashion about one’s inappropriate attitude towards a brother. First, He said that judgment awaited the person that was angry with his brother without a cause. Next, He said that to say "Raca" to a brother, which was a kind of derogatory expression, would have been grounds for bringing that person before the Sanhedrin Council. Lastly, He said that calling a brother a fool would put the speaker at risk of eternal fire.

According to the Commentator, Matthew Henry, during that time in Jewish culture, there were three degrees of capital punishment, and each form was a little more brutal than the preceding form. The first was beheading, and the lowest court pronounced that punishment. The second form was stoning, and the Sanhedrin carried out that one. The third was to be burned in the valley of the son of Hinnon, and that form of capital punishment was considered to be the most severe. Most likely, Jesus was not actually pronouncing literal doom on the person who called his brother foolish. He was much more likely speaking in those terms because His Jewish listeners would have been familiar with their own progressive judicial system, and they would have understood the progressive significance of each form of wrongdoing against a brother.

Figures of speeches involve word studies analyses, they obey the normal rules of grammar and sentence, they depend upon their emotional effects on the listener or reader, and when overused, they tend to lose their impact. In baseball, a figure of speech would be that the pitcher paints the plate or that a particular team is in the cellar. The first example means that the pitcher is throwing strikes to all parts of home plate, while the second means that the team is in last place. In relationships, figures of speeches are phrases like "he took her for a ride" or "she is walking all over me." In finance, "blue chip stocks" is a figure of speech, but the expression has nothing to do with stocks that are chips or stocks that are blue.

Figures of speeches are important in Hermeneutics, which is an area of study that defines the rules for correctly interpreting Scriptures. Figures of speeches were used in the Bible to decrease one thing and emphasize another. In the latter part of Genesis 18:27, Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes." In comparing himself to God, Abraham said that he was only dust and ashes. Figures of speeches in the Bible were used to emphasize. In the first part of Genesis 22:17, God said to Abraham, "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore." Finally, figures of speeches were used as metaphors and similes. In Psalm 23:1, the Lord is called a Shepherd, and in Psalm 1:3, the person that delights in the Lord’s Law will be like a tree planted by streams of water.

In trying to understand why Psalm 62 was written, one might consider having to deal with an enemy and then imagine David as he dealt with his enemy, King Saul. Before finally claiming the throne and becoming king in Saul’s stead, David was pursued by the jealous and bitter king. That being the case, David could have written Psalm 62 to express his praise for the Lord and to show his confidence in Him while in the midst of that struggle. On another occasion, after he had become exhausted from constantly having to escape from Saul, David became involved with the King of Gath, and those people were the enemies of Israel. So, perhaps he wrote Psalm 62 to express his confidence and praise in God during that difficult period of his life.

Another possibility is that David wrote Psalm 62 after his son, Absalom, had chased him from his throne in Jerusalem. In II Samuel 13:6-14, Amnon had faked being sick so that Absalom’s sister would take care of him. While she was doing so, Amnon forced himself on her sexually, and that ruined her life. Absalom became so enraged that he conspired two years later to have Amnon killed. In II Samuel 13:34, the Bible says that Absalom fled from his father’s house to avoid the possible consequences upon himself. But by II Samuel 15:14, he had returned to Jerusalem, had won the favor of the people, and was putting together troops for overthrowing his father, David, the King of Israel. David and his servants had to flee Jerusalem to save their lives. So, maybe while camped outside of Jerusalem and having to deal with the anguish of a son that wanted him dead, David might have penned the words of Psalm 62 to express his praise and confidence in God, even in the midst of that trouble.

When one Bible verse has two meanings, it is called sensus plenior. In Joel 3:18, the Messianic Age was described by the Prophet Joel, and in John 2:1-11, a connection was made to Joel’s prophecy because of the Messiah and the wine. Turning water into wine was not the fulfillment of Joel 3:18, but Old Testament people would have observed Jesus on that occasion and associated the new wine at the marriage banquet with the Joel 3:18 prophesy. In Psalm 34:20, the Bible says, "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken." That verse compares closely to John 19:36, which says that none of Jesus’ bones were broken when He was crucified. Both of the above examples are instances of sensus plenior where the verses had dual meaning.

In Isaiah 42:1-9, Isaiah 49:5-13, Isaiah 50:4-11, Isaiah 52:13-15, and Isaiah 53:1-12, similar passages were presented about God’s servant. Some non-Christians have read those passages and said that the servant was Cyrus because he allowed the Jews to return from Babylonian exile. Other non-Christians have said that the servant could have been Israel because, in other places of the Bible, Israel was called a servant and the chosen people. But the above passages were not examples of sensus plenior, where the same verses had multiple meanings. To arrive at the correct meaning of those passages, one must always look at the context. The first problem with the servant in the Isaiah song is that he was not identified. The second problem is that the figure in the song was innocent, and Israel definitely was not innocent.

While the poor usually have to work hard just to survive, the Bible teaches that any person can prosper through hard work. The "abundant food," as talked about by Solomon in Proverbs 13:23-25, does not have to be limited to only food. It can be anything of worth. Often, those that are lazy and will not work lose out because of their failure to be hard chargers. A person must be careful to not covet this world’s goods and to not love money, but a person must also be careful to avoid the opposite extreme, too. A person should work so that he or she can eat and also so that he or she can care for their family. I Timothy 5:8 says, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Working hard sets a good example for others, but covetousness does not.

When parents have a good work ethic, they set a good example for their children and for others. Parents should also practice the biblical teaching of disciplining their children. It is proper for parents to correct their kids when they have done wrong, but the parent should also be very careful. Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Loving parents should correct their children just as a loving God corrects His children. Hebrews 12:7 says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" But in correcting their children, parents should never be abusive.