July 19th, 2006
Side Study – Group Mentality
Genesis 4:9
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don't know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
You know, in the great country that I live in, the mentality, the society that we have is generally a mentality of survival of the fittest. So here are some thoughts…
Matthew 7:15-23
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
What good does the fruit do for the tree? It doesn’t do squat for the tree. But the fruit is the reflection of the tree and that is an important sign. Fruit isn’t just baptisms, although as a church, people like to see others get baptized. Galatians 5 says the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
2nd Samuel 24:1-17
Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”
But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
The king's word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.
After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.
David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
Before David got up the next morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer: “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’”
So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come upon you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”
David is the one who sins, but who feels the consequences? The whole group suffers.
1st Corinthians 12:12
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.
We are one group. We are one body. We are one. And we function differently and when one part stumbles, the other part feels it. As a body part, there are nerves that go throughout the body, so the whole body knows what is going on, or at least should know. The only way you can techniquely fool the nervous system is through drugs, and even then, there is reasonable doubt. If the eyes are open, the brain may still be functioning. But my point is this… I AM my brother’s keeper. David counted the soldiers, but you may not understand that this just followed chapter 23, which contained David’s Mighty Men and all the stellar things that they did. Guys jumping in a pit and fighting hungry lions and stuff… guys you don’t walk into a bar and pick a fight with, you know? Of course, walking into a bar isn’t all that bright to begin with, I mean, you should probably walk around the bar. Walking into things tend to sting. So David’s got these “super-hero” type fighters, planting their legs in the middle of fields and knocking off entire armies by themselves. It shows that God is with David. But David wants to know how many guys he has “just in case”. And does God take it out on David? Not directly. He takes it out on the group. As a group, we ARE our brother’s keepers. I need to be saying the opposite of verse 21.
1st Corinthians 12:21
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
It should be my motto. I need you. I need Jenny. I need Ben. I need Mackenzie. I need you. I am my brother’s keeper. What can I do for my brother today?
Answers to the first eleven questions: Joshua, 1st Samuel, Exodus, Psalms, Deuteronomy, Genesis, Ruth, Numbers, Job, Judges, and Leviticus.
Side Study – Group Mentality
Genesis 4:9
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don't know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
You know, in the great country that I live in, the mentality, the society that we have is generally a mentality of survival of the fittest. So here are some thoughts…
Matthew 7:15-23
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
What good does the fruit do for the tree? It doesn’t do squat for the tree. But the fruit is the reflection of the tree and that is an important sign. Fruit isn’t just baptisms, although as a church, people like to see others get baptized. Galatians 5 says the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
2nd Samuel 24:1-17
Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”
But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
The king's word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. Then they went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.
After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.
David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
Before David got up the next morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer: “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’”
So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come upon you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”
David is the one who sins, but who feels the consequences? The whole group suffers.
1st Corinthians 12:12
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.
We are one group. We are one body. We are one. And we function differently and when one part stumbles, the other part feels it. As a body part, there are nerves that go throughout the body, so the whole body knows what is going on, or at least should know. The only way you can techniquely fool the nervous system is through drugs, and even then, there is reasonable doubt. If the eyes are open, the brain may still be functioning. But my point is this… I AM my brother’s keeper. David counted the soldiers, but you may not understand that this just followed chapter 23, which contained David’s Mighty Men and all the stellar things that they did. Guys jumping in a pit and fighting hungry lions and stuff… guys you don’t walk into a bar and pick a fight with, you know? Of course, walking into a bar isn’t all that bright to begin with, I mean, you should probably walk around the bar. Walking into things tend to sting. So David’s got these “super-hero” type fighters, planting their legs in the middle of fields and knocking off entire armies by themselves. It shows that God is with David. But David wants to know how many guys he has “just in case”. And does God take it out on David? Not directly. He takes it out on the group. As a group, we ARE our brother’s keepers. I need to be saying the opposite of verse 21.
1st Corinthians 12:21
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
It should be my motto. I need you. I need Jenny. I need Ben. I need Mackenzie. I need you. I am my brother’s keeper. What can I do for my brother today?
Answers to the first eleven questions: Joshua, 1st Samuel, Exodus, Psalms, Deuteronomy, Genesis, Ruth, Numbers, Job, Judges, and Leviticus.
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