OceanSide church of Christ

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UNUSUAL OBJECTS USED BY GOD

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.  We have all heard the phrase:  “God works in mysterious ways.”

1.    What people mean by this statement varies from person to person.

2.    God’s ways definitely cause us to say:  “How?”  or, “Wow!” or, “Why?”

3.    God’s ways definitely amaze us.

 

B.   Sometimes God uses unique, or small, or weak, or unusual things to accomplish His will.

 

C.  In this lesson, let’s look at some of the things God has used that fall into these categories.

 

I.         DUST

 

A.  Numerous verses remind us that we are created from the dust of the ground.

1.    Genesis 2:7

 

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground…

 

2.    Genesis 3:19

 

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

3.    Psalm 103:14

 

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

 

B.   Qualities of dust:

1.    Particles of dry earth (matter)

2.    Not very strong

3.    Perishable

4.    Created

 

C.  How this applies to us:

1.    It should humble us.  We are but dust.

2.    It should unite us.  All humans are composed of dust.

3.    It should remind us of our dependency on God.

4.    It should sober us.  We will all return to the dust.

 

II.       A RIB

 

A.  Genesis 2:21-22

 

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:  and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

 

B.   The significance of being formed from man’s rib.

1.    She is a unique creature, but is intimately linked to the man (Gen. 2:23).

 

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:  she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

 

2.    “That the woman was made of a rib of the side of Adam; not out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved” (e-sword, Henry).  See Ephesians 5:28-29

 

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.  He that loveth his wife loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his how flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.

 

III.      GOPHER WOOD

 

A.  One of the most famous woods of the Bible is “gopher wood.”

1.    We do not know what kind of wood this is.

2.    We do know that it was the wood Noah was commanded by God to use to build the ark (Gen. 6:14).

 

Make thee an ark of gopher wood…

 

B.   Lessons we learn:

1.    When God specifies what is to be done, only that is to be done.

a.    Some refer to this as “the law of inclusion.”  We can only do that which is included in the command and nothing else.

b.    Some refer to this as “the law of exclusion.”  We can only do what is included in the command.  All else is excluded.

2.    Two questions:

a.    T – F  Noah was free to use other wood in building the ark.

b.    What would have happened if Noah would have used a type of wood other than gopher wood to build the ark?

3.    Application:  In the New Testament, we are commanded to sing in our worship to God (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

a.    Sing is all that is included.

b.    Sing excludes all other forms of music in worship to God (instruments, clapping, humming, etc.)

 

IV.      A ROD

 

A.  When Moses was called to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage in Egypt, He made many excuses.  One is found in Exodus 4:1-2.

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice:  for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.  And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thy hand?  And he said, A rod.

 

1.    God placed power in Moses’ rod that day (Ex. 4:21).

 

And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return unto Egypt, see that thou doest all the wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thy hand…

 

2.    When that rod was cast upon the ground, it became a serpent.  When Moses took it by the tail, it became a rod again.

3.    This rod became known as “the rod of God” (Exo. 4:20).

 

And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt:  and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

 

B.   There are numerous times this rod is mentioned.

1.    The rod was cast down before Pharaoh and became a snake and it ate the snakes of the magicians of Pharaoh (Exo. 7:9-12).

2.    The rod was stretched out over the waters of Egypt and they were turned into blood (Exo. 7:19-20).

3.    The rod was stretched out over the waters of Egypt and frogs came forth from the waters and invaded the land of Egypt (Exo. 8:5-6).

4.    The rod was stretched forth, and smote the dust of the earth in Egypt, and the dust became lice (Exo 8:16-17).

5.    The rod was stretched out to bring forth hail and fire from heaven (Exo. 9:22-23).

6.    The rod was stretched out over Egypt to cause the east wind to blow that brought locusts upon Egypt (Exo. 10:12-13).

7.    Moses lifted up his rod to cause the waters to divide the Red Sea (Exo. 14:16).

8.    Moses smote a rock twice with the rod to bring forth water out of the rock (Exo. 17:60.

 

C.  In Moses’ day, men of power and authority carried scepters as symbols of their power.  God insured that His leader, Moses, had not only a symbol of power, but a rod endowed with divine authority as he stood before Pharaoh, and, as he led the children of Israel in the wilderness.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.  God uses interesting things in His plans:  dust, a rib, gopher wood, and a rod.

 

B.   We can’t always give the exact “why” when God uses these things.

 

C.  LESSON:  Small, insignificant things can become great and power in the hands of the Almighty God.

 

UNUSUAL OBJECTS USED BY GOD

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

D.    We have all heard the phrase:  “God works in mysterious ways.”

4.      What people mean by this statement varies from person to person.

5.      God’s ways definitely cause us to say:  “How?”  or, “Wow!” or, “Why?”

6.      God’s ways definitely amaze us.

 

E.      Sometimes God uses unique, or small, or weak, or unusual things to accomplish His will.

 

F.      In this lesson, let’s look at some of the things God has used that fall into these categories.

 

V.                DUST

 

D.    Numerous verses remind us that we are created from the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Ps. 103:14).

 

E.      Qualities of dust:

5.      Particles of dry earth (matter)

6.      Not very strong

7.      Perishable

8.      Created

 

F.      How this applies to us:

5.      It should humble us.  We are but dust.

6.      It should unite us.  All humans are composed of dust.

7.      It should remind us of our dependency on God.

8.      It should sober us.  We will all return to the dust.

 

VI.             A RIB

 

C.     Genesis 2:21-22

 

D.    The significance of being formed from man’s rib.

3.      She is a unique creature, but is intimately linked to the man (Gen. 2:23).

 

4.      “That the woman was made of a rib of the side of Adam; not out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved” (e-sword, Henry).  See Ephesians 5:28-29

 

VII.          GOPHER WOOD

 

C.     One of the most famous woods of the Bible is “gopher wood.”

3.      We do not know what kind of wood this is.

4.      We do know that it was the wood Noah was commanded by God to use to build the ark (Gen. 6:14).

 

D.    Lessons we learn:

4.      When God specifies what is to be done, only that is to be done.

c.       Some refer to this as “the law of inclusion.”  We can only do that which is included in the command and nothing else.

d.      Some refer to this as “the law of exclusion.”  We can only do what is included in the command.  All else is excluded.

5.      Two questions:

c.       T – F    Noah was free to use other wood in building the ark.

d.      What would have happened if Noah would have used a type of wood other than gopher wood to build the ark?

6.      Application:  In the New Testament, we are commanded to sing in our worship to God (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

c.       Sing is all that is included.

d.      Sing excludes all other forms of music in worship to God (instruments, clapping, humming, etc.)

 

VIII.       A ROD

 

D.    When Moses was called to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage in Egypt, He made many excuses.  One is found in Exodus 4:1-2.

4.      God placed power in Moses’ rod that day (Ex. 4:21).

5.      When that rod was cast upon the ground, it became a serpent.  When Moses took it by the tail, it became a rod again.

6.      This rod became known as “the rod of God” (Exo. 4:20).

 

E.      There are numerous times this rod is mentioned.

9.      The rod was cast down before Pharaoh and became a snake and it ate the snakes of the magicians of Pharaoh (Exo. 7:9-12).

10.  The rod was stretched out over the waters of Egypt and they were turned into blood (Exo. 7:19-20).

11.  The rod was stretched out over the waters of Egypt and frogs came forth from the waters and invaded the land of Egypt (Exo. 8:5-6).

12.  The rod was stretched forth, and smote the dust of the earth in Egypt, and the dust became lice (Exo 8:16-17).

13.  The rod was stretched out to bring forth hail and fire from heaven (Exo. 9:22-23).

14.  The rod was stretched out over Egypt to cause the east wind to blow that brought locusts upon Egypt (Exo. 10:12-13).

15.  Moses lifted up his rod to cause the waters to divide the Red Sea (Exo. 14:16).

16.  Moses smote a rock twice with the rod to bring forth water out of the rock (Exo. 17:60.

 

F.      In Moses’ day, men of power and authority carried scepters as symbols of their power.  God insured that His leader, Moses, had not only a symbol of power, but a rod endowed with divine authority as he stood before Pharaoh, and, as he led the children of Israel in the wilderness.

 

CONCLUSION

 

D.    God uses interesting things in His plans:  dust, a rib, gopher wood, and a rod.

 

E.      We can’t always give the exact “why” when God uses these things.

 

F.      LESSON:  Small, insignificant things can become great and power in the hands of the Almighty God.