Read 1 Chronicles 7-8
Verses chosen for meditation
1 Chronicles 7:20 The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, 21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to raid their livestock. 22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. 23 And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster had befallen his house.[c] 24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah.
Reflect
Some vocations are more hazardous than others. While shepherding their flock, some men from Gath came and raided Ephraim. In the course of it, many sons of Ephraim was killed. These men of Gath were likely to be Philistines; known for their cruel ways when raiding a village. Of course, Ephraim mourned deeply for the lost of so many sons and his brothers came to comfort him.
Later on, God gave grace and blessed Ephraim with another son call Beriah and also another daughter by the name of Sheerah. Ephraim did not seem to rejoice much over the birth of Beriah for the child was born in a time of mourning. Much as it is good to grieve and lament over the lost; sometimes it will be wise to learn how to cherish the present. I just wonder if Beriah would grow up with bitterness because of the name. Furthermore, Ephraim ought to also take comfort as Sheerah, the daughter turned out to be a mighty woman. One who built three cities. At that time, the might of women was not readily recognised. Yet, our God is not One who discriminates across genders or ethnicities and perhaps this was an early indication for the patriarchal society to take note.
Relate
Some vocations are more "hazardous" than others. There are times in the pastoral ministry where we are led to minister to families who lost their children. To me, this is one of the most challenging and heart wrenching ministry because a lot of wisdom and discernment are needed to be of good support to the family members. Not to mention that we will be grieving for the lost of a young one as well.
During such a time, we have learned to also watch out for the other children who are alive. Some of these younger ones might not say anything, but they could be grieving much on the inside or feel that the parents are paying too much attention to those who are lost. Hence, after a period of mourning, we will try to encourage the parents to also take notice of those who are alive and well. The caution is that we do not "over-grief" for those who are lost, so much so that we bear our anger or sadness on them. We should be reminded that those who are alive are a grace and blessing from God; despite the lost.
We also might not understand why God allowed the men of Gath to kill so many of Ephraim's sons. It could just be that we are living in a fallen and evil world and many people like to take things into their own hands. God allowed it for his own reasons which we cannot possibly fathom. For His ways are always higher than ours. The peculiar thing is that prior to the lost of these sons of Ephraim, Jacob prophesied in Genesis 48 that Ephraim would be the seed of a multitude of nations. Guess what? She did and this glorified the Lord's Name even more.
At the end of the day, in the midst of nearly drowned by 8 chapters of genealogies, i can only conclude that God's ways are not our ways. In our lament and joy, we learn how to walk with God instead of relying upon our own understanding or even experience. We learn to submit to the will of the Father and be contented in our blessings. After all, the big picture is that Jesus will come back again to make all things new and much better. This is God's promise and we can do well if we just hold on to it for our dear life.
Jason
Comments
Post a Comment