KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES || Lesson 23 

KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES – Lesson Twenty-three

Text: Psalm 67:6-7 – ⁶Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. ⁷God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

The GOD OF MIRACLES desires that the land, as well as His people, be blessed.  Note:  Genesis 1:9-12 – ⁹And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.  ¹⁰God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.  ¹²The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 26:12 – Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.

2 Kings 2:19-21 – ¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”

²⁰“Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

²¹Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the LORD says: `I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'”

Psalm 65:9-13 – ⁹You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.  ¹⁰You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.  ¹¹You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.  ¹²The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.  ¹³The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

Hebrews 6:7 – Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.

Formula for obtaining the blessings of Psalm 67:6-7:  (a)  Seeking Mercy:  Psalm 67:1-2 – May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah, ²that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

See Deuteronomy 21:1-9 “Atonement for an Unsolved Murder” – We therefore need to seek the GOD OF MIRACLES concerning the many murders in our land.

(b) Praise:  Psalm 67:3-5 – ³May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. ⁴May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah

⁵May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

With reference to 2 Kings 2:19, in appealing to Elisha for the healing of the water and the land, the men of the city were, in essence, praising the Lord as Jehovah Rapha. Compare Deuteronomy 34:3 – the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

The healing of the water and the land at Jericho is an example of mercy of the GOD OF MIRACLES, in light of:  Joshua 6:26 – At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.”

1 Kings 16:34 – In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

(c) Obedience:  See:  Leviticus 26:1-13 “Reward for Obedience”

Romans 12 (V.20 – On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Parallel passage:  Proverbs 25:21-22 – ²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.  ²²In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

[AMP note on Proverbs 25:22: This is not to be understood as a revengeful act intended to embarrass its victim, but just the opposite.  The picture is that of the high priest (Lev. 16:12) who, on the Day of Atonement, took his censer and filled it with “coals of fire” from off the altar of burnt offering, and then put incense on the coals to create a pleasing, sweet-smelling fragrance.  The cloud or smoke of the incense covered the mercy seat and was acceptable to God for atonement.  Samuel Wesley wrote: / “So artists melt the sullen ore of lead, / By heaping coals of fire upon its head: / In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow, / And pure from dross the silver runs below.”]

V.21 – Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

(NLT) – Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.)

We will be enabled to accomplish the above by heeding:  Matthew 13:23 – But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Luke 8:15 – But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Application: Let us continue to seek to know the GOD OF MIRACLES and to praise Him.