Today’s Scripture Reading (September
2, 2013): Psalm 46 & 47
Israel existed
in a bad position in the ancient world. If there was a place where you were
going to plant a new kingdom, this was not the spot to do it. Ten of the twelve
original spies that scouted out the Promised Land were afraid of the giants
living in the land. But the giants living in the land were actually the least
of the problems that this small piece of land on the east shore of the Mediterranean
Sea contained. The land that Israel
occupied was at the crossroad of the world. All of the ancient kingdoms
gathered around its borders. To the south laid the Egyptians, to the north were
the Assyrians and the Medes, to the east were the Babylonians and the Persians,
and to the west were the Greeks and the Romans. And Israel’s reality was that
for these powers to confront each other, the road went through the Middle East
and Israel. The tract of land that Israel occupied was the perfect launching
ground for an attack on any of the major empires. And that meant that national
security meant defeating Israel and occupying the land.
But there is
another side to the story. Israel was also in the perfect place from which to
be an influence on the world. And King Solomon proved it. Solomon was able to
influence the world partially because of the position of his country. Yes, he
possessed a wisdom that had been given to him by God, but the reality is that
there are lot of people that possess a God given wisdom that die in obscurity.
Solomon happened to be the king of a nation that sat at the crossroads of the
world, and therefore more people could be influenced by his wisdom.
And all of
that was the design of God. He had placed Israel, the nation he loved, in a
very dangerous place, because that was the very place they needed to be if they
were going to have the influence on the world that they were intended to have.
Israel would have been safer hidden away in a corner of the world, but they
would also have been impotent. And God had not created them to be powerless.
And he has
not created us to be powerless either. We may be placed in some very
uncomfortable situations, but it is exactly in those situations that we can
have an influence on our world. We need to remember that that is the inheritance
that God has given to us.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 48
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