DCLM Daily Manna 22 October 2021 — Limited Power Of Great Men
DCLM Daily Manna 22 October 2021 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Limited Power Of Great Men
TOPIC: Limited Power Of Great Men (DCLM Daily Manna 22 October 2021)
📜 TEXT:EZEKIEL 17:1-10📜
1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
🔑📖KEY VERSE: “Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof” (EZEKIEL 17:9).
Human history has shown how great men have lived and acted as if they were all in all. They possess, prosper and spread their empires as if no one could question or stop them.
This parable paints the picture of some of the powerful kingdoms that took Judah in captivity but forgot that God was only using them as instruments to punish the Jewish nation. They behaved as if their power and skill had given them the victory over God’s people. They were deceived by their speedy victory, prosperity and success which brought them great influence and fame! In their privileged position and power, they oppressed, afflicted and tortured their subjects. Their manner of rulership was devoid of honour and reverence for God.
Also Read: Open Heaven 22 October 2021 – The Power To Get Wealth
God is Master and King over all. He controls and reigns over the whole universe, hence men should tread in awe, fear and reverence irrespective of whom or what they are. He gives all the privileges, prosperity and success that we have. Thus, we must always recognise this so that we can remain humble.
When man behaves and acts as if there is no God over the universe, He shows up in wrath, judgment and punishment. The only guarantee of continual privileges, prosperity and happiness is to acknowledged God and give Him the first place in our hearts. We should honour and reverence Him always and make Him the Lord of our lives.
✍🏽THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: He who owns and gives the privileges, prosperity and power can take it away by the wind.
📜THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JEREMIAH 3-4📜
MEDITATION
UNDERSTANDING BIBLE PARABLES
God, at times, uses figures of speech, pictures, parables, coded messages, dreams etc. to speak to people especially His children. Like the parable or riddle in the text, the meaning or messages require some efforts to understand. Failure to understand may be costly.
1. Why God speaks in parables
a. It is part of figures of speech: God speaking to man in the language of man.
b. It forces the mind from distraction to concentrate on divine messages because slipshod or casual readers will not understand. Will Moses had bothered to hear a voice calling him were it not that the burning bush was too unnatural to ignore.
c. It teaches man to meditate on divine messages which will not make meaning otherwise. Only a meditating heart will appreciate and understand divine messages clearly, Joshua 1:8.
d. In order to use day to day occurrences to explain spiritual things which may not be understood otherwise, Psalm 78:2.
e. Some parables code many messages in a concise form. Can you see how many messages were coded into a simple image for Nebuchanezzar?
f. To compel man to seek His face so as to understand His messages. Daniel needed to take time off to seek God’s face before he could decode Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Job 33:14-18. God wants us to cultivate the habit of seeking His face👌
g. To humble man before God as he sees his limitations in understanding, Job 33:14-18.
h. To make divine or spiritual messages very real to the recipient. Many who receives such revelations are restless until they get the meaning because the messages look too real than to ignore.
I. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”, Proverbs 25:2. Sacred things are not given to dogs but to those who value them and take the pains to discover them.
Matthew 7:6
2. How to decode God’s parabolic messages
a. In most cases, what God is passing across is related to what occupies your mind around that period of time. Before and after the text, God was talking about the impending doom over Israel and her kings. So the parable must be related.
b. The interpretation is never far away as to be looking for an interpreter if you are a true child of God. For example, the interpretation to the text is in vv11-21 of the same chapter.
c. The keys to the interpretation are in the word of God. A “great Eagle” and “another” great eagle in vv3,7 obviously refer to kings. Jeremiah 48:40 had already used an Eagle to denote Nebuchadnezzar. The “another great eagle” is not as well decorated as the first great Eagle, vv3,7. Pharaoh at that time was inferior in might to Nebuchadnezzar. The “vine” has been used before to denote Israel, Isaiah 5:7. The identification and interpretation continue this way.
d. In most cases God gives revelations to address a burning issue in your mind. The thoughts and concern that preceded your sleep matter in your dreams. Nebuchadnezzar was given his revelation because of the thoughts of his heart while on bed.
e. Think and pray for the interpretation immediately the revelation comes. A delay may make you to forget the revelation or miss the interpretation.
f. Finally settle it that God wants you to know the meaning. It will be difficult to accept that God is giving you a message which he does not want you to undertand🤷♂️
Question
Looking at the parable in the text and the interpretation in vv11-21, can you now understand the parable?
PRAYER POINTS
1. Ask for spirit of wisdom and understanding to always know the meaning of coded messages from God🙏
2. Pray for a noble mind that will always take time to dig deep and understand divinely coded messages🙏
3. Ask God for a meditative heart in the noisy world so that you will not be missing the meaning God’s messages🙏
4. Pray that all in the church will be spiritually sound and sharp in understanding God’s messages 🙏
HYMN
LORD SPEAK TO ME
1. Lord, speak to me that I may speak
In living echoes of your tone.
As you have sought, so let me seek
Your erring children, lost and lone.
2. Oh, lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wand’ring and the wav’ring feet.
Oh, feed me, Lord, that I may feed
Your hungry ones with manna sweet.
3. Oh, teach me, Lord, that I may teach
The precious truths which you impart.
And wing my words that they may reach
The hidden depths of many a heart.
4. Oh, fill me with your fullness, Lord,
Until my very hearts o’erflows
In kindling thought and glowing word,
Your love to tell, your praise to show.
5. Oh, use me, Lord, use even me,
Just as you will, and when, and where
Until your blessed face I see,
Your rest, your joy, your glory share.
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
