Shamar
Good Morning Friends,
Today we look at the role of the prophet as a worker, a watchman, a guardian, a look out for the community, the country, the church… Today we look at ….the role of God as protector…and our role as stewards in relationship with God as we study the Hebrew word Shamar.
Scripture: The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15 (NRSV)
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26 (NRSV)
And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Acts 2:17-18 (ESV)
Message: In today’s text the Hebrew word shamar is translated to keep. We get to keep the earth for a time then God keeps us…but there is more to this word. The Hebrew word shamar appears 468 times in 440 verses in the King James Version of the Bible. There is some depth to this word. For example, one aspect of the role of the prophet is revealed through this word. Here we might just see the role of protection as part of the covenant of love. Here we might just see that from the very beginning and then continuing in the life, death and resurrection of Christ, God has taken great intention in connecting us and helping us to relate to the divine through Creation itself but also through history. It is what God does but also what is shared with us in and through the purpose and power and the promise of the Paraclete in prophets. It is the work we are to be about.
Pray we keep the Sabbath Holy. Pray we preserve and conserve…perceive and receive. Pray we keep ourselves ready. Pray we keep watch. Pray we keep the faith. Pray we keep storing up treasure for the Kingdom. Pray we understand work as the image of the divine in us. Pray we watch for the intercession of Jesus. Pray we accept our assignment to love. Pray we dream dreams and see our children prophesy to the truth of God. Pray we are our brother’s keeper. Pray the Lord bless us and keep us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 