The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 15 June 2020 – Confusion Through Covetousness
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TOPIC: Confusion Through Covetousness
READ: Judges 18:1-10 (NKJV)
- In those days [there was] no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day [their] inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them.
- So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
- While they [were] at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this [place?] What do you have here?”
- He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.”
- So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”
- And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the LORD [be] with you on your way.”
- So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who [were] there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. [There were] no rulers in the land who might put [them] to shame for anything. They [were] far from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone.
- Then [the spies] came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What [is] your [report?”]
- So they said, “Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it [is] very good. [Would] you [do] nothing? Do not hesitate to go, [and] enter to possess the land.
- “When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where [there is] no lack of anything that [is] on the earth.”
THE MESSAGE:
The tribe of Dan descended from Jacob’s fifth son, born of Rachael’s handmaid, Bilhah (Genesis 30:1-6). Though not a large tribe, it was given choice territory when the tribal boundaries were assigned (Joshua 19:40-48). The Danites, however, weren’t able to defeat and dispossess the enemy, thus they decided to go north and relocate. Most of the other tribes were able to conquer the enemy, dispossess them and claim their land, but the Danites coveted somebody else’s land instead and took it in a violent manner – yet they seemed religious by consulting a hired priest. The elders of Israel should have put a stop to the men of Dan as they abandoned God’s assigned place and headed north to kill innocent people and steal their land.
Covetousness is strong and once people get an appetite for it, it will be difficult for them to control. You are therefore warned to desist from every form of covetousness. It ruins one’s life and creates confusion. Let us, by God’s word and Spirit, guard our hearts and desires. Godliness with contentment is great gain.
PRAYER: Lord, deliver me from the spirit of covetousness.
