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TeacherAide The First Epic SESSION 9 ILLUSTRATING
THE POINT Arabian
Horses Arabian
horses go through rigorous training in the deserts of the Middle East. The
trainers require absolute obedience from the horses, and test them to see if
they are completely trained. The final test is almost beyond the endurance of
any living thing. The trainers force the horses to do without water for many
days. Then he turns them loose and of course they start running toward the
water, but just as they get to the edge, ready to plunge in and drink, the
trainer blows his whistle. The horses who have been completely trained and who
have learned perfect obedience, stop. They turn around and come pacing back to
the trainer. They stand there quivering, wanting water, but they wait in perfect
obedience. When the trainer is sure that he has their obedience he gives them a
signal to go back to drink. Now
this may be severe but when you are on the trackless desert of Arabia and your
life is entrusted to a horse, you had better have a trained obedient horse. We
must accept God’s training and obey Him. THE
MORE YOU KNOW In Genesis 7, rain fell on the earth
for “forty days and forty nights”. But why did God have rain to fall for
forty days and nights? Well, the number forty is not a arbitrary number but
conveys the thought of fullness. Consider some other scriptures where God has
used the number “forty” for His purposes. Noah opened the window of the ark
after another forty days in Genesis 8:6. The embalming of Joseph in Genesis 50:3
was the period of forty days. In Exodus 24:18, Moses spent forty days on the
mountain. The spies were searching Canaan for forty days in Numbers 13:25. The
Israelites wandered the wilderness for forty years as seen in Numbers 14:33.
Moses was seen fasting and praying twice for forty days in Deuteronomy 9:9 and
18. The Jews were forbidden to inflict more than forty stripes for punishment as
seen in Deuteronomy 25:3. 1 Samuel 17:16 tells of Goliath defying Saul’s army
for forty days. Elijah, who was strengthened by food from the angel, fasted for
forty days in 1 Kings 19:8. Ninevah was allowed forty days to repent from Jonah
3:4. The Prophet Ezekiel bore the iniquities of Judah for forty days in Ezekiel
4:6. Our Lord Jesus fasted and prayed for forty days in Matthew 4:2. After his
resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared for forty days while teaching the Apostles
about the Kingdom of God as seen completed in Acts 1:3. So, the number of forty shows the
completion of God in all of His purposes. The flood of Noah’s day was forty
days and nights to complete the purpose of cleansing the earth of its evil and
wickedness. I
THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY “Instant obedience is the only kind
of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to
withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.”-
Thomas a Kempis “The cost of obedience is nothing
compared with the cost of disobedience.”- Anon “When God beckons you forward He is
always responsible for the transport.”-
F. B. Meyer “Something happened on Easter Day
which made Christ more alive on the streets of Jerusalem forty days after his
crucifixion than on the day of His Triumphant Entry. A false report might last
forty days but the church which was founded on a Risen Christ has lasted for
nineteen centuries, producing generations of the race’s finest characters.”
Ralph W. Sockman |