Deuteronomy 15
LORD’S release brings blessingverses 1-6
At the end of every SEVEN years you shall make a release
and this is the manner of the release – every creditor that lends
aught to his neighbor shall release it
he shall not exact it of his neighbor – or of his brother
BECAUSE it is called the LORD’S release
Of a foreigner you may exact it again
BUT that which is yours with your brother your hand shall release
Save when there shall be no poor among you
FOR the LORD shall greatly bless you in the land which the
LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it
only IF you carefully hearken to the
voice of the LORD your God
to observe to do all these
commandments which
I command you this day
FOR the LORD your God blesses you – as HE promised you
and you shall lend to many nations – BUT you shalt not borrow
and you shall reign over many nations
BUT they shall not reign over you
Wealth to be shared with poorverses 7-11
IF there be among you a poor man of one of your brethren
within any of your gates in your land which the
LORD your God give you
you shall not harden your heart
nor shut your hand
from your poor brother
BUT you shall open your hand wide to him
and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need
in that which he wants
BEWARE that there be not a thought in your wicked heart
saying
The seventh year – the year of release – is at hand
and your eye be evil against your poor brother
and you give him NOUGHT
and he cry unto the LORD against you
and it be sin unto you
You shall surely give him – and your heart shall not be grieved
when you give unto him – BECAUSE that for this thing
the LORD your God shall BLESS you in all your works
and in all that you put your hand to
FOR the poor shall NEVER CEASE out of the land
THEREFORE I command you
saying
You shall open thine hand wide unto your brother
to your poor – and to your needy – in your land
Release Israelite servant in seven yearsverses 12-15
IF your brother – an Hebrew man – or an Hebrew woman
be sold to you – and serve you six years
THEN in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you
and when you send him out free from you
you shall not let him go away empty
you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock
out of your floor – out of your winepress
of that wherewith the LORD your God
has BLESSED you
you shall give to him
You shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt
and the LORD your God REDEEMED you
THEREFORE I command you this thing today
Servant who wants to stay as servantverses 16-17
And it shall be – IF he say to you – I will not go away from you
BECAUSE he loves you and your house
BECAUSE he is well with you
THEN you shall take an awl
and thrust it through his ear unto the door
and he shall be your servant FOR EVER
And also to your maidservant you shall do likewise
LORD blesses those who release their servantsverse 18
IT shall not seem hard to you – when you send him away free from you
FOR he has been worth a double hired servant to you
in serving thee six years – and the LORD your God shall
BLESS you in all that you do
Firstborn animals belong to the LORDverses 19-23
All the firstling males that come of your herd and of your flock you shall
SANCTIFY to the LORD your God
you shall do no work with the firstling of your bullock
nor shear the firstling of your sheep
You shall eat it before the LORD your God year by year in the
place which the LORD shall choose – you – your household
IF there be any blemish therein – as if it be lame – blind – have any ill blemish
you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God
You shall eat it within your gates – the unclean and the clean person
shall eat it alike – as the roebuck – as the hart
ONLY you shall not eat the blood thereof
you shall pour it upon the ground as water
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 6 For the LORD your God blesses you, as HE promised you: and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. (5670 “borrow” [‘abat] means gave a pledge, receive money from a lender, pawn, to entangle, or security for a debt)
DEVOTION: One of the blessing promised to the children of Israel when they stayed true to the commandments of the LORD was that they would never have to give security for a debt.
The children of Israel would never go into debt if they were obedient to the Word of God. HE gave commandments to be obeyed with promises of provision for the needs of the nation.
Throughout the Word of God we find God promising that HE would bless those who followed HIS commandments. It is repeated here to inform the people that they had a responsibility to HIM when they entered the Promised Land.
They would be able to lend money to other nations but it would never be their turn to become someone who had to ask for money from another nation.
The LORD promised them power over other nations because of their ability to not go into debt to other nations. Once you ask for money from another nation that nations can have some control over you. The LORD didn’t want any nation to have any control over HIS people.
So a principle was established. God wanted us to understand that if we become a nation that asks for money from other nations we will be under their control and we will not be able to control our future.
Israel became a rebellious nation and ended up being controlled by other nations because of the judgment of God on them. Our nation is becoming a rebellious nation and even with a majority claiming to be Christian we can be under the control of other nations who lend us money and we have to let them control our economy.
CHALLENGE: We need to have control over our finances. We should not be receiving money from a lender that we can’t pay back. Ask the LORD to help control your debt.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 8 But you shall open your hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wants. (1767 “sufficient” [day] means a large enough quantity, enough, able, ability, too much, or out of the abundance of)
DEVOTION: This chapter is dealing with money matters. There are two main things that affect a marriage: money and sex. The Bible speaks concerning both in many places.
Here we find that some people get into debt and in that day they were sold to repay their debt. The Hebrew people had to release those who were fellow Hebrews after the seventh year. That was the law of God. So debts were paid off every seven years.
This chapter also mentions those that are poor in the land. The Hebrews were to give to the poor and not turn them away. They were to meet their basic needs. In fact, they were to give in abundance to them. If they chose to turn them away the LORD would not bless them.
Finally, in this chapter we find individuals who serve for a time period and want to stay with their master. If they chose to stay they will have a sign on their body to show their choice.
As we deal with people today, we find that they are getting into debt. We are supposed to help them. We are to be there for the poor of the land.
The LORD says that the poor will always be with us. Jesus tells us to care for the poor. There is a promise associated with helping the poor. The promise is that the LORD will bless us. Do we want the LORD to bless us?
One way is to help those in need around us. This is especially true of fellow believers. God wants us to start at the house of the LORD. HE wants us to look within our congregations to see if there are individuals or families that need extra help during certain periods in their life. If we know of individuals or families that are in need and turn our backs on them we will have to answer to the LORD.
HE is watching what we do with our money. HE knows if we are giving HIM the first fruits of our wages. HE knows if we are willing and able to help the poor in our family or church and do nothing to help. We are basically saying “Be warmed and filled” and then walk away without helping.
Are we helping those in need around us with the right attitude? It is not just a duty, it is a privilege. God wants us to realize that HE is happy with those who help those in need. Are we putting a smile on the faces of those in our church or family who have a need met?
CHALLENGE: Have you delivered a bag of groceries on the doorstep of a needy family lately? If you are needy, have you shared the need with your pastor? Too often people think that others should know when they are hurting without telling them. That is wrong!!!)
: 10 You shall surely give him and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him: because that for this thing the LORD your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to. (7489 “grieved” [ra’a] means to treat badly, to be or become characterized by or indicative of distress or affliction or danger or need, to be noxious, to be envious, discontented, or suffer harm)
DEVOTION: What is our attitude toward the poor of our neighborhood or church? What should be out attitude according to this verse? Here we find the Israelites about to enter the Promised Land. It would seem that every Israelite should be able to become self-sufficient in the Promised Land.
Every family should have property to work to provide for their families. In fact, they should have enough to help anyone who was not able to work to provide for their own family. Ideally, there would be no poor people in the village.
This was not true because Jesus stated that the poor would always be with those who are in the world. This would be true even in the Promised Land. So the responsibility of every Israelite was to help the poor. It seems that they were helping the poor get on their feet and become self-sufficient at some point in their life.
Every family has someone who has not invested wisely or just can’t seem to make ends meet even with all their effort. Sometimes the job market is not good for someone with an education in the wrong field at the time.
What is the Christian responsibility toward those who are poor? It is to help them without doing it grudgingly. We can have the wrong attitude. We can make the statement that they are just lazy. It might be true in some cases but not in all.
Here we find God promising to bless the Israelites if they will help the poor in their land. Is this same promise true today? Is God going to bless us if we take our money and help those who are poor around us? Should we help those in our church who are not able to make ends meet on a regular basis? Should we teach them money management?
Our responsibility is not to do anything. We should have a plan as a church to help the poor in our congregation. We are never to look down on one of God’s children. Our responsibility is to help them up.
Also it is the responsibility of those who are helped to help those around them that they can help. The church is not to leave this responsibility to government. The poor we will ALWAYS have with us.
CHALLENGE: God wants us to be helpers of those in genuine need. HE wants us to be genuine helpers of our sisters and brothers in the LORD who have genuine needs.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 15 And you shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your redeemed you: therefore, I commend you this thing today. (6680 “commend” [tsavah] means commandment, appoint, charge, order, to lay charge upon, to give charge to, or commission.)
DEVOTION: The children of Israel had a past the LORD wanted them to remember. Memory is a good thing when it comes to helping others. The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt with NOTHING. They were mistreated and given very little to work with on their jobs. They had to hide when they had children because the Pharaoh wanted all male children killed. Control was given to this foreign government over the children of Israel.
Now they were free and entering the Promised Land. They were entering a land of milk and honey which meant that there were many resources of income to make the people wealthy because the LORD was providing the wealth.
They were not the ones who were providing the wealth but the LORD was providing their wealth and HE wanted them to share their wealth with the poor. This was not redistribution of wealth. HE was not taking from the rich and giving it to the poor. HE was having the rich give their money willingly without being forced. If they gave with the right attitude the LORD would bless them.
The LORD wants us all to be willing givers. We should not be forced to give because that means we will have an improper attitude toward our giving. HE wants us to give willingly.
HE wants us to be cheerful givers to others especially to other believers. The Jerusalem church needed money and those who were in poor areas were sending money to help them. Their attitude was one of knowing that if they sowed sparingly, they would reap sparingly. God blesses those who are willing to give with a proper attitude.
So our giving at church should be done cheerfully, just like the giving of the children of Israel to the poor was to be done cheerfully. God has not changed HIS commands regarding our attitude toward money given to HIM either through the church or just giving to those who are in need among us.
CHALLENGE: We give because we are grateful for the gift of salvation we have been given by the LORD.
: 21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. (3971 “blemish” [muwm] means spot, blot, variant, pf physical defect, a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something, or disfigured)
DEVOTION: Our gifts to the LORD need to be from the very best we have from HIM. HE is the source of all that we possess. HE is the ONE who gives us the ability to earn money. HE is the one who gives us the mind to organize our lives, so that, we can make wise decisions in every area of our life.
Now we come to something that happens sometimes among the children of Israel. There were some individuals who didn’t want to give the LORD their best. They thought that the LORD should be satisfied with whatever they gave.
Their thought process was that God didn’t need the best because it was only going to be offered as sacrifice to HIM, so, they thought they would give HIM what they couldn’t sell to make a profit.
This is warning to us that we need to make sure we give the LORD our best at all times. HE is the one who gives us the ability to work and think and gain possession.
HE expects us to give HIM our best because HE is the one who gives us everything that we have. HE wants us to be a thankful people who want to give HIM our best or the first fruits of our labor.
HE is the one who is taking care of us every day. HE wants us to always be thankful for HIS protection and guidance in our daily walk of life.
CHALLENGE: If our thinking is wrong, our gift is given with the wrong attitude and this is not pleasing to the LORD.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Poor cry to Godverse 9
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Commandmentsverse 5
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 1, 4-7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 18-21
LORD’S releaseverse 2
God (Elohim)verses 4-7, 10, 14, 15, 18-21
LORD thy Godverses 4-7, 10, 14, 15, 18-21
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels(Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Foreignerverse 3
Israelites will lend to many nationsverse 6
Israelites will not borrow verse 6
Israelites will reign over many nationsverse 6
Other nations shall not reign over Israelverse 6
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Borrowverse 6
Harden heartverse 7
Shut your hand to poorverse 7
Wicked heartverse 9
Eye be evil against poorverse 9
Giving poor nothingverse 9
Sinverse 9
Giving with grieved heartverse 10
Work firstling bullockverse 19
Shear firstling of sheepverse 19
Offer animal with blemishverse 21
lame, blind, ill blemish
Eating bloodverse 23
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Releaseverses 1, 2
Blessverses 4, 6, 10, 14, 18
Inheritanceverse 4
Hearken to the voice of the LORDverse 5
Promiseverse 6
Open your hand wide to poorverses 8, 11, 14
Not be grieved when giving to poorverse 10
Remember pastverse 15
Redeemedverse 15
Sanctifyverse 19
Chosen placeverse 20
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Release of fellow Israelite: Brotherverse 3
Poor brethrenverse 7
Lend to brother with open handverse 8
Always going to be poor in landverse 11
Give to needy brethrenverse 11
Hebrew manverse 12
Hebrew womanverse 12
Give liberally to released Hebrewverse 14
Bondmen in Egyptverse 15
Servant for eververse 17
Eat firstlings before LORDverse 20
Chosen placeverse 20
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
15:4–6 The matter of borrowing and lending ought to be a moot point anyway, Moses argued, for poverty ought not to exist in the rich land the Lord would give them. This seems to be the best understanding of v. 4 rather than the idea that there would absolutely not be any poor among them. Complete absence of poverty is squarely contradicted by v. 11, which avers that “there will always be poor people in the land.” The tension between the two statements is indicative of the gulf that exists between the ideal and actual, what could be the case were God’s purposes carried out and what inevitably occurs when they are not. This is the import of v. 5, which plainly states that full compliance with covenant requirements was the precondition to Israel’s prosperity in the land. When this was achieved, not only would Israel be blessed but, in line with the ancient patriarchal promises, they would be the means of blessing the whole world and having dominion over the nations (v. 6; cf. Gen 12:2–3; 17:4–6; 26:3–4). They would be the lender to whom all others would be in debt (cf. Deut 28:12–13). (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 244). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
The words cancel the loan could mean the loan was to be completely eliminated. Or they could mean it was to be canceled only during the seventh year. That is, payment could not be demanded in the seventh year, but after the seventh year the loan would still have to be repaid. In favor of this second view is the fact that during the seventh year when the land was to lie fallow an Israelite debtor would not have the means to repay his debt, but in the next six years he would. (The debts of a foreign businessman—i.e., a foreigner but not a “resident alien“; cf. 14:29—were not canceled. This was because he did not let his land lie fallow or suspend his normal source of income for a year as the Israelites did.)
In spite of this argument, however, it is more likely that the debt was canceled completely and permanently. Several points favor this: (1) This view is more consonant with the generosity the Lord had expressed toward Israel. (2) It is more consistent with the statements in 15:9–11. (3) The practice of canceling the entire debt permanently in the seventh year was evidently meant to prepare the Israelites for the extravagant practices commanded for the Jubilee (50th) Year in which each one was to receive back “his family property” (Lev. 25:8–17). (4) Permanent cancellation of debts would help prevent poverty (Deut. 15:4a; cf. comments on v. 11). (5) The potential for incredible wealth in the land of Israel also argues for the permanent cancellation of debts. Israel had the opportunity to be the richest and most prosperous nation on the face of the earth (He will richly bless you, v. 4b; cf. v. 6a). This prosperity would be due not to any technological achievement on her part, but because of her wholehearted commitment to God: if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands (v. 5). Moses’ statement, you will lend to many nations but … borrow from none, was, in effect, a promise of world sovereignty (you will rule over many nations). (Deere, J. S. (1985). Deuteronomy. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 290). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee were part of God’s wise plan to balance the economic scales in the nation so that the rich could not exploit the poor or the poor take advantage of the rich. However, the Lord knew that there would always be poor people in the land (Matt. 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8) because Israel would not consistently obey these laws. The nation of Israel would have been the most prosperous nation on earth if they had followed the instructions God gave them, but they rejected His will and adopted the methods of the nations around them. They did not observe the Sabbath Year every seventh year or the Year of Jubilee every fiftieth year (Lev. 26:32–45), and for this failure they paid a great price. Their seventy years Captivity in Babylon gave their land the Sabbath rest that it missed during those years of disobedience (2 Chron. 36:14–21). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1999). Be equipped (p. 103). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
15:4 there will be no poor. Idealistically, there was the possibility that poverty would be eradicated in the Land “since the Lord will surely bless you in the land.” The fullness of that blessing, however, would be contingent on the completeness of Israel’s obedience. Thus, vv. 4–6 were an encouragement to strive for a reduction of poverty while at the same time they stressed the abundance of the provision God would make in the Promised Land. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Dt 15:4). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Every seventh year is to be a year to cancel debts (15:1–6). It is not a time for simply lengthening the term of payments or of not pressing for payment, but as verse 9 suggests, it is a time for remission of debts. The exception is with respect to the foreigner who borrows as part of a commercial transaction (v. 3). As an expression of love toward a fellow Israelite in dire straits, this principle reflects God’s love for him too, since it is called “the Lord’s time for canceling debts” (v. 2). (Gilchrist, P. R. (1995). Deuteronomy. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 119). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)
Ver. 4. Save when there shall be no poor among you, &c.] Then such a law could not take place, there would be no debts to be released; for this was never designed to screen rich persons from the payment of their just debts, or whoever were in a capacity of so doing, only such as were really poor, and unable to pay; and it supposes that this might sometimes be the case, that there were none poor in Israel, or needed the benefit of such a law; and, according to the Targum of Jonathan, it is suggested there would be none, if they were observant of the commands of God: and some take it for a promise, rendering the words nevertheless, notwithstanding such a law, there shall be no poor among you; but then it must be understood conditionally: others interpret this as the end to be answered by this law, to the end there may be no poor among you; by observing this law, all debts being released once in seven years, it would prevent persons falling into distress and poverty, to such a degree as to be in want, and become beggars; and Julian the emperor observes, that none of the Jews begged, which he attributes to the care that was taken of their poor: for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it; which is either a reason why there would be no poor, should they observe the commandments of the Lord; or a reason why they should release the debts of the poor, because they were so greatly blessed with a fruitful land, which brought them such an increase, as enabled them to free their poor debtors, when in circumstances unable to pay them. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, pp. 61–62). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
The CHURCH in an age of CRISIS by James Emery White
It’s worth repeating: 82 percent of all unchurched people would come to church this weekend if invited by a friend. (p.83)
While the number of megachurches doubled, they only make up 0.5 percent of all congregations. (p. 184)
I cited the telling words of Jonathan Rauch who, in an article for the Atlantic Monthly, coined a term to describe his own spiritual condition, apatheist, which he described as a “disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people’s.” (p.185)
Hebrews 8
The old covenant, being imperfect, was replaced by the new covenant based on grace.
INSIGHT
All the major features of the old covenant, which existed on a literal, physical level, are found in the new covenant on a spiritual, heavenly level. The old covenant had a physical sanctuary, a human high priest, and used real animals for sacrifices. This covenant was inadequate in that it could only deal with sins temporarily; it could not remove sins permanently (v. 7). In the new covenant there is a spiritual sanctuary, a heavenly High Priest, and a celestial Lamb whose death provides permanent forgiveness of sin for an infinite number of people. It is a ‘better covenant, which was established on better promises.’ (v. 6) (Quiet Walk)
In the seventeenth century, Martin Rinkart served as a clergyman in Saxony, Germany, for more than thirty years during times of war and plague. One year he conducted more than 4,000 funerals, including his wife’s, and at times food was so scarce that his family went hungry. Although he could have despaired, his faith in God remained strong and he gave thanks continually. In fact, he poured his gratitude into “Nun danket alle Gott,” the song that became the well-loved English hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.”
Rinkart followed the example of the prophet Isaiah, who instructed God’s people to give thanks at all times, including when they’d disappointed God (Isaiah 12:1) or when enemies oppressed them. Even then they were to exalt God’s name, making “known among the nations what he has done” (v. 4).
We might give thanks easily during harvest celebrations such as Thanksgiving, when we’re enjoying an abundant feast with friends and family. But can we express our gratitude to God in difficult times, such as when we’re missing someone from our table or when we’re struggling with our finances or when we’re locked in conflict with one close to us?
Let’s echo Pastor Rinkart, joining hearts and voices as we give praise and thanks to “the eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore.” We can “sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things” (v. 5). (By Amy Boucher Pye, Daily Bread)
MYSTICISM
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
John has gone on repeatedly writing about the love of God, and you notice how he never tires of doing so. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Now [verse 16] he repeats it again. This is because he knew that in his own day and age there were all those so-called mystery religions or curious cults that talked about the love of God; and they all tried to teach that you can know the love of God directly. That is always the characteristic of mysticism; what finally condemns mysticism is that it bypasses the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything that bypasses Christ is not Christian. I do not care what it is, however good, however uplifting or noble; it is Christ who is the manifestation of the love of God, says John.
I do not hesitate, therefore, to aver and to add strongly as follows: I must distrust any emotion that I may have within me with respect to God unless it is based solidly upon the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him God manifested His love. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Therefore, I say that I must never attempt by any means or method to get to know God or to try to make myself love God except in and through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I must avoid every other direct approach to God, every direct dealing with God.
A Thought to Ponder: Anything that bypasses Christ is not Christian.
(From The Love of God, pp. 145-146, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Pilgrims
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” (1 Peter 1:1)
These “strangers” to whom Peter wrote his two epistles were actually “pilgrims.” He used the same Greek word (parepidemos) in 1 Peter 2:11: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts.” The word means a resident foreigner, and its only other New Testament usage is in Hebrews 11:13, speaking of the ancient patriarchs who “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
We give honor today to the American “pilgrims,” as they called themselves (thinking of these very verses), who left their homelands in order better to serve God in a foreign land. The “pilgrims” to whom Peter was writing likewise had been “scattered abroad” for their faith (note Acts 8:4).
For that matter, every born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is really just a pilgrim here on Earth, ambassadors for Christ in a foreign land. “For our conversation is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). That is, we are citizens of heaven (the Greek word translated “conversation” in this verse is politeuma, meaning “a community” or “citizenship”) and are here only for a time to serve our Lord until He calls us home.
And while we are here, we may endure many trials and sorrows just as did those Massachusetts pilgrims. But He nevertheless supplies our needs—just as He did for them—and we ought to abound in thanksgiving, as they did.
Thus, Christians all over the world have cause for thanksgiving every day. Since we are “enriched in everything” through our Savior, this “causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11), and we should be “abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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