These are trouble times for
Israel. It reminds us of another time in
Jewish history. During the time of the Maccabees, the heroes of the Hanukkah
story, there were those in Israel who trusted in God and there were those who
sided with the Greek oppressors. The second group of Israelites embraced the
Greek culture, although it contradicted the Word of God, and considered
themselves “enlightened.” They had Greek art, philosophy, mathematics, and
science. Who needed the Word of God?
Mattityahu, the head of the Maccabees, issued this cry: “Whoever is for
God come to me!” The time had come to make a choice. Times were dark in
Israel. Everything seemed to be falling apart. Who would save them? Would it be
God? Would they have faith in Him and trust Him to be their light leading them
through the darkness? Or would they side with the Greeks, trusting in that
which they could see, instead of having faith in He who is hidden?
The reward of those who sided with the Maccabees is that God led them
to victory. The few defeated the many; the weak defeated the mighty. As an
additional gift, God took the tiny flask of oil that the Maccabees found in the
Temple, and while that light should have only lasted one day, it burned for
eight nights until new oil was ready. God was demonstrating that those who let
Him be their light will be blessed with everlasting light!
When we go through darkness in
our lives, we may be tempted to go against the Word of God. But the prophet
continued and wrote that those who made their own torches – their own source of
light instead of trusting the light of God – would not succeed.
So let’s establish God as our
guiding light today. Make these your verses to live by today: “Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be
my light” (Micah 7:8), and “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I
fear?” (Psalm 27:1).
No comments:
Post a Comment