Strength in the Time of Trouble

Leviticus 9:7–10:20; Mark 4:26–5:20; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 10:6-7

Glory of God
And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. – Leviticus 9:23-24

When the Glory of the Lord appears, you will fall on your face before Him.

Strange Fire
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. – Leviticus 10:1-3

These men died because they did something they were not instructed to do. It was disobedience. What is strange fire? A fire offered in your own way or for your own purposes. It is something offered in disobedience. God’s instructions are to be followed exactly.

Drinking
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. – Leviticus 10:9-11

Here good reasons not to drink – that you can distinguish between what is holy and what is unholy; what is clean and what is unclean. And that you can teach the Lord’s laws.

Kingdom of God is Like a Man that Scatters Seed
And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. – Mark 4:26-29

Growth happens day and night, and the farmer can’t understand precisely how the transition takes place, but he knows it is happening all the time, little by little, and he patiently waits for the harvest because he knows it is coming. Once the fruit is seen, he immediately gets to work to gather the harvest.

Kingdom of God is Like a Grain of Mustard Seed
And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. – Mark 4:30-32

Although in its beginning a seed is tiny, it grows as we care for it and flourishes more and more each moment, and we find it has become mighty in time.

Jesus is Our Strength
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him. – Psalms 37:39-40

Blessings of the Just
Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. – Proverbs 10:6-7