L
Lost in Sin!
Guest
Continuing with our look at Proverbs Chapter 30, this time looking at verses 15-16.
"The leech has two daughters. "Give! Give!' they cry. There are three things that are never satisfied; the grave, the barren womb, , the land which is never satisfied with water, & fire, which never says, 'Enough!'"
THE LEECH HAS TWO DAUGHTERS. 'GIVE! GIVE!' THEY CRY. Now this initially seems like a very strange verse. Now, I don't know a lot about leeches, but the leech, could possibly be refering to Satan. Certainly, he IS a leech on the back of the Body of Christ, especially if we are not protected by the armor of God, talked about in Ephesians 6:10-20! A leech does not let go easy, & this imagery could be looked at as to why it is so hard, (especially for backslidden Believers), to come back to the Lord. Perhaps we can look at the two daughters as being PRIDE & SHAME. PRIDE-that we find it so hard to deal with admitting that we have "screwed-up", & SHAME-being the knowledge that we have sinned against the Lord, & don't feel worthy of approaching a Holy God. Certainly, because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we DO feel inadequite to approach a Holy God, to admit that we "screwed-up!" And both PRIDE & SHAME do run very deep in a Christian's life. (I have to be so careful not to be proud of myself, & think that it was me that wrote these posts, when in reality; I am simply the vessel that God uses. The words are straight from Him! Bill ) And in regard to SHAME; so many of us have been used so powerfully by God, & yet, when we sin, the shame of it really drags us down, sometimes to the worst cases of despair. It is so vitally important to realize that PRIDE & SHAME, are INDEED, the daughters of Satan, the leech.
THERE ARE THREE THINGS, (SATAN, & HIS DAUGHTERS, pride & shame!) THAT ARE NEVER SATISFIED; FOUR THAT NEVER SAY, "ENOUGH!" Let's looks at these four things.
The first is the grave. Well, certainly Death will never say "Enough"! Let's face facts, my brothers & sisters-We are all going to die sometime. When Adam & Eve ate the the apple in the Garden of Eden, (Genesis 3:1-24), death entered the world at that point. Up to that point, I think that we can guess, (although it is never stated!), that Adam & Ever were probably immortal. (There is no indication to indicate that they weren't!) But all too painfully, we see the results of our sins between God & us! Physical Death-(".....for dust you are, & to dust, you will return."), Genesis 3:19, but also Spiritual death as well-"There is no one righteous......".
But there is GOOD NEWS on the horizon, my Brothers & Sisters! Look at Revelation 20:14-"Then death & Hades were thrown into the Lake of fire." Death, itself, both spiritual & physical, is going to be thrown into the Lake of Fire! (I do concide that I find myself very curious as to what form Death took, that John would recognize it as such! Bill) But this is irrelevant. Cross over to 1 Corinthians 15:55-"'Where, O death,, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'" Now we can take a look at this verse in two ways. One: Death IS stripped of its power, (Revelation 20:14), & Two: because we have a greater hope in each one of us! Look at Matthew 24:40-"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken, & the other one left." It is generally accepted by most Christians, that this is refering to the Rapture, that is so beautifully described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
What is the order of Death's "life" cycle?
1. There is an end to Spiritual death-2 Corinthian 5:17-"Therfore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
2. That there is the possibility that some of us will not see death-1 Thessalonians 4:17-"After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
3. Death itself, is cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14)
Now we look at the second item on the list here-the barren womb. All through the OT, we see women that couldn't have children. Most notably-Sarai, (Genesis 11:30), although there are minor characters as well-Seled, (1 Chronicles 2:30), Jether, (1 Chronicles 2:32), & Hannah, (1 Samuel 1:2). In the NT, the woman second only to Mary-Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, (Luke 1:7). But I think that we would not be amiss, if we think of the "barren womb", as our own hearts as well, without God. For a woman, (at least from what I have heard-I'm a bachelor, so I don't know a thing about this subject! ), there is no greater joy than having a baby. Well, I think that for many of us, the joy that many of us have experienced when the Lord came into our hearts, could be similar to a baby coming into the world. A woman is barren no more after she has had a child. In the same way, we are barren no more when the Lord comes into OUR lives, as Lord & Savior. (Something to think about!)
Then there is the land that, is never satisfied with water. We call this a desert. Certanly, the ancient Jews were familiar with deserts-they wandered around in one for 40 years! But I think that we can look at this more in the symbolic sense-that of the spiritual desert that our lives are, before we came to know Christ! First: even in the desert, no matter how little moisture there is, there is still life. Think of us as plants in the ddesert, with our roots buried deep in the earth, (The Word of God!). But even desert plants still need some moisture, or they WILL DIE! As the cactus raises its "arms" towards the source that helps it to grow, so to do we raise our arms to the only source that can help US grow, (spiritually)- Our Lord & Savior, Christ Jesus!
Finally, we come to the last item-fire. This is without a doubt, the most dramatic example of something that will never say enough!
Have any of you ever watched a candle slowly burn itself down? The flame is all-consuming. On a much larger scale, seeing a forrest fire-the fire can NEVER have enough! All through the OT, we see the all consuming nature of fire:
Exodus 13:21-22-The pillar of fire.
2 Kings 1:10-14-The story of Elijah & the priests of Baal.
2 Chronicles 7:1-Fire coming down from Heaven.
Daniel 3:6-26-The story of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego.
Then we see God represented in fire:
Exodus 3:2-The burning bush.
Exodus 24:10-Fire on the mountain.
And most notably-in Acts 2:3-4, the Holy Spirit as Tounges of fire.
These examples, however, are not of consuming fire, but spiritual fire-that reveals the Majesty of God! It is a fire that gives revelation, rather than creating destruction!
Let us pray.
"Heavenly Father, we give You & You alone, for being the souce that we can never have enough of. We praise Your Holy Name, for the Living water, that truely satisfies, that of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died that we may live. We sing of Your power by the power of the Holy Spirit's fire, that we are given the power to be Your witnesses! You ARE enough, Lord God! We need NO OTHER! In Jesus Name, & His Name alone do we pray! Amen!"
Bill
"The leech has two daughters. "Give! Give!' they cry. There are three things that are never satisfied; the grave, the barren womb, , the land which is never satisfied with water, & fire, which never says, 'Enough!'"
THE LEECH HAS TWO DAUGHTERS. 'GIVE! GIVE!' THEY CRY. Now this initially seems like a very strange verse. Now, I don't know a lot about leeches, but the leech, could possibly be refering to Satan. Certainly, he IS a leech on the back of the Body of Christ, especially if we are not protected by the armor of God, talked about in Ephesians 6:10-20! A leech does not let go easy, & this imagery could be looked at as to why it is so hard, (especially for backslidden Believers), to come back to the Lord. Perhaps we can look at the two daughters as being PRIDE & SHAME. PRIDE-that we find it so hard to deal with admitting that we have "screwed-up", & SHAME-being the knowledge that we have sinned against the Lord, & don't feel worthy of approaching a Holy God. Certainly, because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we DO feel inadequite to approach a Holy God, to admit that we "screwed-up!" And both PRIDE & SHAME do run very deep in a Christian's life. (I have to be so careful not to be proud of myself, & think that it was me that wrote these posts, when in reality; I am simply the vessel that God uses. The words are straight from Him! Bill ) And in regard to SHAME; so many of us have been used so powerfully by God, & yet, when we sin, the shame of it really drags us down, sometimes to the worst cases of despair. It is so vitally important to realize that PRIDE & SHAME, are INDEED, the daughters of Satan, the leech.
THERE ARE THREE THINGS, (SATAN, & HIS DAUGHTERS, pride & shame!) THAT ARE NEVER SATISFIED; FOUR THAT NEVER SAY, "ENOUGH!" Let's looks at these four things.
The first is the grave. Well, certainly Death will never say "Enough"! Let's face facts, my brothers & sisters-We are all going to die sometime. When Adam & Eve ate the the apple in the Garden of Eden, (Genesis 3:1-24), death entered the world at that point. Up to that point, I think that we can guess, (although it is never stated!), that Adam & Ever were probably immortal. (There is no indication to indicate that they weren't!) But all too painfully, we see the results of our sins between God & us! Physical Death-(".....for dust you are, & to dust, you will return."), Genesis 3:19, but also Spiritual death as well-"There is no one righteous......".
But there is GOOD NEWS on the horizon, my Brothers & Sisters! Look at Revelation 20:14-"Then death & Hades were thrown into the Lake of fire." Death, itself, both spiritual & physical, is going to be thrown into the Lake of Fire! (I do concide that I find myself very curious as to what form Death took, that John would recognize it as such! Bill) But this is irrelevant. Cross over to 1 Corinthians 15:55-"'Where, O death,, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'" Now we can take a look at this verse in two ways. One: Death IS stripped of its power, (Revelation 20:14), & Two: because we have a greater hope in each one of us! Look at Matthew 24:40-"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken, & the other one left." It is generally accepted by most Christians, that this is refering to the Rapture, that is so beautifully described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
What is the order of Death's "life" cycle?
1. There is an end to Spiritual death-2 Corinthian 5:17-"Therfore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
2. That there is the possibility that some of us will not see death-1 Thessalonians 4:17-"After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
3. Death itself, is cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14)
Now we look at the second item on the list here-the barren womb. All through the OT, we see women that couldn't have children. Most notably-Sarai, (Genesis 11:30), although there are minor characters as well-Seled, (1 Chronicles 2:30), Jether, (1 Chronicles 2:32), & Hannah, (1 Samuel 1:2). In the NT, the woman second only to Mary-Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, (Luke 1:7). But I think that we would not be amiss, if we think of the "barren womb", as our own hearts as well, without God. For a woman, (at least from what I have heard-I'm a bachelor, so I don't know a thing about this subject! ), there is no greater joy than having a baby. Well, I think that for many of us, the joy that many of us have experienced when the Lord came into our hearts, could be similar to a baby coming into the world. A woman is barren no more after she has had a child. In the same way, we are barren no more when the Lord comes into OUR lives, as Lord & Savior. (Something to think about!)
Then there is the land that, is never satisfied with water. We call this a desert. Certanly, the ancient Jews were familiar with deserts-they wandered around in one for 40 years! But I think that we can look at this more in the symbolic sense-that of the spiritual desert that our lives are, before we came to know Christ! First: even in the desert, no matter how little moisture there is, there is still life. Think of us as plants in the ddesert, with our roots buried deep in the earth, (The Word of God!). But even desert plants still need some moisture, or they WILL DIE! As the cactus raises its "arms" towards the source that helps it to grow, so to do we raise our arms to the only source that can help US grow, (spiritually)- Our Lord & Savior, Christ Jesus!
Finally, we come to the last item-fire. This is without a doubt, the most dramatic example of something that will never say enough!
Have any of you ever watched a candle slowly burn itself down? The flame is all-consuming. On a much larger scale, seeing a forrest fire-the fire can NEVER have enough! All through the OT, we see the all consuming nature of fire:
Exodus 13:21-22-The pillar of fire.
2 Kings 1:10-14-The story of Elijah & the priests of Baal.
2 Chronicles 7:1-Fire coming down from Heaven.
Daniel 3:6-26-The story of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego.
Then we see God represented in fire:
Exodus 3:2-The burning bush.
Exodus 24:10-Fire on the mountain.
And most notably-in Acts 2:3-4, the Holy Spirit as Tounges of fire.
These examples, however, are not of consuming fire, but spiritual fire-that reveals the Majesty of God! It is a fire that gives revelation, rather than creating destruction!
Let us pray.
"Heavenly Father, we give You & You alone, for being the souce that we can never have enough of. We praise Your Holy Name, for the Living water, that truely satisfies, that of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died that we may live. We sing of Your power by the power of the Holy Spirit's fire, that we are given the power to be Your witnesses! You ARE enough, Lord God! We need NO OTHER! In Jesus Name, & His Name alone do we pray! Amen!"
Bill