Gleanings from Obed-Edom (Part 1) - Whatever happened to Obed-Edom?

A day or so ago I was reading about King David's first attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and how his impulsive plan ended in a catastrophe. The Scripture says that David was angry (2 Samuel 6:8) and in the next verse that he was afraid (2 Samuel 6:9). So he left the Ark in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. There it stayed for 3 months. "And the LORD blessed him and his entire household" (2 Samuel 6:11). In the parallel story in 1 Chronicles it says "and the LORD blessed him and everything he had" (1 Chron 13:14).

I am curious about this guy. Edom was the name given to Esau after he rejected his birthright. His descendants settled in southern Palestine below the Dead Sea. They were Philistines. The Greeks and Romans later called the area Idumaea and its people Idumeans. It appears from history that the Herod family was the last to carry that name.

We remember the Edomites mostly because they refused to grant the Hebrews safe passage through their territory when Moses and the Jews came out of Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. (And Moses had sent the King of Edom a very nice message requesting politely that they be allowed to just pass through. "Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory") (Numbers 20).

It was a very polite request. But it was denied, and, in fact, the Edomite army came out to make sure the Hebrews got the message.

Later the prophet Obadiah pronounced judgment on the Edomites because of their mistreatment of God's people, the Israelites. And that is a reminder to all of us to not mistreat God's people, whether it be Jews or our sisters and brothers in Christ, since they are, with us, God's people.

"Obed" means servant or slave. And "Gittite" means from Gath, the area Goliath was from. So this man must have been a proselyte to Judah. His people were long-standing enemies of the Jews and he was a humble farmer. But he must have made a good impression on King David, since he entrusted him with the priceless Ark.

When David returned in 3 months to transport the Ark, he told the Levites to "appoint their brothers as singers, to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals" (1 Chron. 15:16). Obed-Edom was appointed to play one of the harps.

So now we have gleaned a little more information: Obed-Edom, a humble proselyte to the Hebrew God, maybe married to a woman of the Levite clan, was trusted by David, and he was musical. And chosen to accompany the Ark into Jerusalem with King David!

And we know that this humble man, whose family was enemies of Israel, was greatly blessed the 3 months the Ark was in his possession.

It was when someone brought up God's blessings on Obed-Edom that David decided to go back and try again to bring the Ark to Jerusalem.

Could this be a reality show on TV? When God moved into Obed-Edom's house, things changed. It was no secret. Everyone saw it. His livestock produced healthy offspring.
His fields had abundant harvests. He went about his work with expectant joy and received God's extraordinary blessings with humility and gratitude. After all, who was he anyway? Just a servant, a member of a group of people who were Israel's enemies.

But when God moved in everything changed. God's presence, in the Ark, radically affected his whole household. That always happens when God moves in. Nothing will ever be the same. In those days God symbolically inhabited the Ark.

Today God inhabits us.

You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? ...God's temple is sacred, and you are the temple. (1 Corinth. 3:16)

In those days God spoke to the people from the Ark, not inside with the broken law, but outside, above the mercy seat. It is the same today. He walks and talks with us, not in judgment, but in mercy and grace. He does not punish us. He is eager to give us His blessings -- poured out -- with our cups overflowing -- because we have invited Him to come in and live in us. We are His house.

He is not a visitor. He lives in us.

He wants to use all of His power to bring blessings into our lives. The greatest miracle we will ever experience on this earth, is to have the Sovereign, Supreme Lord of the Universe, Creator of all that is, come, through the Holy Spirit, into our hearts to live.

And it will not be a secret. Just as Obed-Edom's blessings were evident to everyone around him, so God's presence in our hearts will be evident, visible, to everyone around us. We will have more energy, more joy, more peace, more comfort, when He comes to live in our house.

But He has to be invited. He does not barge in and "crash" the party. Remember the picture of Christ knocking at the door? The handle is on the inside. There is no way He can get in, except to be invited, and the door opened for Him. Have you done that? Or is He still outside?

(US) Hitler's Plans for the Bible

                         Hitler's Agenda for the Bible....

Hitler, during the 1930's, had his own agenda for the future of the Church (National Church), to be implemented when he gained control of the government. There were 30 points. Here are a few:

13. The National Church demands immediate cessation of the publishing and dissemination of the Bible in Germany.

14. The National Church declares that to it and therefore to the German nation, it has been decided that Fuhrer's Mein Kampf, is the greatest of all documents  It...not only contains the greatest but it embodies the purest and truest ethics for the present and future life of our nation.

18. The National Church will clear away from its altars all crucifixes, Bibles, and pictures of saints.

19. On the altars there must be nothing but Mein Kampf (to the German nation and therefore to God the most sacred book) and to the left of the altar a sword.

30. The Christian Cross must be removed from all churches, cathedrals and chapels...and it must be superseded by the only unconquerable symbol, the swastika.

I read this list in Eric Metaxas' book, Bonhoeffer.

I decided to do some research and find out what happened to the Bible after Hitler's death.

This is what I found out about the German Bible Society:

1. Though its roots go back to 1710, the modern German Bible Society was officially organized in 1965.

2. The purpose of the GBS is twofold: (1) publishing the Bible and important Bible studies
and (2) spreading the message of the Bible.

3. At this time the GBS publishing operations cover more than 700 books and other products, of which 300 are Bible editions.

4. It distributes more than 400,000 Bibles annually, mainly Martin Luther's translation of the Bible and the modern Good News Bible.

5. The GBS also publishes internationally accepted base texts for Bible translation.

6. The GBS also publishes children's Bibles, electronic Bibles and Bibles in all other modern formats, with the intention of providing new ways to access the Bible.

7. The GBS, along with 145 other Bible societies around the world, works to translate, publish and distribute the Holy Scriptures throughout the world.

8. The GBS World Bible Support initiative has been raising funds in Germany to support projects in less wealthy countries that make God's Word available to all people.





"...I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Mathew 16:18).

"..so is My word that goes out from My mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11.)

I challenge myself to remember to thank God every day for our country, for the freedom that allows us to gather and study God's Word openly and publicly.

One of the 145 Bible societies that works with the GBS is the American Bible Society, founded in 1816.

Its first president was Elias Boudinot, who had served as the president of the First Continental Congress. Other people of note who worked in the early days of the ABS were John Jay, John Quincy Adams, James Fennimore Cooper, Dewitt Clinton, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, Francis Scott Key...and many more....

In 1776, the year of our nation's birth, an atheistic leader of France, Voltaire, predicted, "100 years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth, except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker."

After his death, the presses used to print his books began printing Bibles, and Voltaire's house was used by the Geneva Bible Society to distribute Bibles.

 In 1876, one hundred years after his prediction, the first edition of his work sold for 11 cents in Paris, but the British government paid the Czar of Russia half a million dollars for an ancient Bible manuscript.

            And the gates of hell shall not prevail...

Interesting Quote from Dean Koontz - Worry

Without faith to act as a governor, the human mind is a runaway worry generator, a dynamo of negative expectations. And because your life is yours to shape as you wish with free will, if you place no trust in Providence, what you fear will more often come to pass. We make so many of our own troubles, from mere mishaps to disasters, by dwelling on the possibility of them until the possible becomes inevitable.....hope and trust will more reliably keep a man afloat, while fear is more likely to sink him.

--From Odd Apocalypse, by Dean Koontz

Anointed - Sarah Young

Let Me anoint you with My Presence.

I am King of Kings and Lord of Lords, dwelling in unapproachable Light.

When you draw near to Me, I respond by coming close to you.

As My Presence envelops you, you may feel overwhelmed by My Power and Glory.

This is a form of worship: sensing your smallness in comparison to My Greatness.

Man has tended to make himself the measure of all things.

But man's measure is too tiny to comprehend My majestic vastness.

That is why most people do not see Me at all, even though they live and move and have their being in Me.

Enjoy the radiant beauty of My Presence.

Declare My glorious Being to the world!

     -- From Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

...until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in His own time -- God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, who no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might for ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:15-16


Come near to God and He will come near to you.
James 4:8


No one can see the kingdom of God
unless he is born again.
John 3:3

 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;

his greatness no one can fathom.

Psalm  145:3

The Beauty of His Holiness - Sarah Young

Worship Me in the beauty of holiness.

I created beauty to declare the existence of My holy Being.

A magnificent rose, a hauntingly glorious sunset, oceanic splendor -- all these things were meant to proclaim My Presence in the world.

Most people rush past these proclamations without giving them a second thought.

Some people use beauty, especially feminine loveliness, to sell their products.

How precious are My children who are awed by nature's beauty; this opens them up to My holy Presence.

Even before you knew Me personally, you responded to My creation with wonder.


This is a gift and it carries responsibility with it -- Declare My glorious Being to the world.

The whole earth is full of My radiant beauty-- My glory!

---From Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His Name;

Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.

Psalm 29:2

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

The whole earth is full of His glory.

Isaiah 6:3