Well, let’s look at this passage in 2 Samuel 21. There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. The land itself was hungry. The Hebrew word for famine is ra’ab. It’s the same word used when people are desperate for food. Year after year the crops failed, and the people felt it. After the third year, David did something wise. The text says he inquired of the Lord. In Hebrew it is stronger than a quick question: way-baqqesh David et-pene Yahweh — David sought the face of the LORD. He was not just asking for information. He was seeking God’s presence, His favour, His mind on the matter.

Folks, something grabbed me as I was reading through “The Acts of the Apostles” and want to share it with you. When the disciples stood on the Mount of Olives and watched Jesus go up into the cloud, the Scripture records a quiet but important moment. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:10-11, NKJV).

God’s Promise, Our Inheritance, and the Coming Kingdom

Well, folks as we’ve been going through Deuteronomy, that phrase keeps coming up—“a land flowing with milk and honey.” I love this picture. It’s one of the most repeated descriptions God gives of the land He promised to His people. It’s simple, down-to-earth language so they could understand what kind of place the Lord was bringing them into. And it still speaks to us today.

A Character Study from 1 Chronicles 5 and Genesis

Well, as we come to 1 Chronicles 5, the genealogies of Israel turn to the tribes that settled east of the Jordan River: Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Before the lists of names begin, the chapter pauses to explain why Reuben, though he was the firstborn, did not keep the rights that normally belonged to him.