This week’s Bible Lesson, “God the Preserver of Man,” explains how God preserves His people in well-doing and meets their needs. This is evidenced in the powerful and frequent healings recorded in the Bible.
“From beginning to end,” says Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. Moses proved the power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha” (p. 139, Section I, citation 2). The Bible teaches that the events of history demonstrate a principle, or law, of the universe, not a benevolent or partisan God who hands out favors to a select few.
The Scriptures are full of people who inspire and lead by example. This Lesson mentions many of them—both well-known and less-familiar. In each instance, these Bible characters were able to overcome challenging circumstances by relying on God’s law.
About 50 to 70 years after Jesus ascended, a letter was written to Jews who had become Christians, which is today called the Epistle to the Hebrews. The author of this epistle looks back on some of these inspiring Old Testament “heroes” and records some of their great deeds.
The first section of the Lesson provides a brief list of their names and accomplishments. Most significantly, we’re told, they were good people who trusted in the Lord (see Ps. 37:3, cit. 2). Through faith these people “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, [and] waxed valiant in fight” (Heb. 11:33, 34, cit. 3). For me, they prove Mary Baker Eddy’s statement “The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness” (Science and Health, p. 151, cit. 4).
These figures include Gideon, Barak, and Jephthah. As I researched further, I discovered the depth of their reliance on God’s protecting power.
Gideon (or Gedeon, as the book of Hebrews spells the name)
Every seven years, around harvest time, Midianite raiders swarmed into Israel to steal the harvested food. An angel directed Gideon, an Israelite, to lead a resistance against the Midianites. So he assembled an army of 32,000 men. Through a series of tests, God directed Gideon to reduce the number of men to just 300 soldiers. Gideon learned to rely on God completely. With this small group of men, Gideon defeated the Midianite army.
Barak
Thirty or 40 years before Gideon led his rebellion against the Midianites, Barak and Deborah led a similar rebellion against the Canaanites, who had threatened the Israelites for 20 years. Deborah commanded Barak to raise an army of 10,000, but the Canaanites had 900 chariots plus thousands of men. Yet, something happened at the beginning of the battle that caused the chariots to become stuck in the mud and the Canaanites to become disoriented. Some scholars suggest it was a sudden rain storm. Again, there was evidence of God’s law at work, when the Israelites won.
Jephthah (or Jephthae, as the book of Hebrews spells the name)
After the Israelites left Egypt and settled in Canaan, the Ammonites, in what is now Jordan, attempted to recapture some of the land that the Israelites had taken. Through the prayers of Jephthah, the Israelites were able to soundly defeat the Ammonites.
This week’s Lesson also draws upon the lives of David, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul. In Section II, we read the words to one of David’s songs. David often recounted instances of God’s active love and protection in his life by singing about those experiences. For example: “God is my strength and power: And he maketh my way perfect” (II Sam. 22:33, cit. 6). David gave God all of the credit when he escaped from King Saul, who was trying to kill him, proving how inseparable we all are from God’s protecting love no matter what the circumstances are.
In Section III we read about Jesus sending out 70 of his students to express God’s love by healing “every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matt. 9:35, cit. 10; see also cit. 12), just as he had done. This is a scene similar to one described in the Responsive Reading. In both instances, Jesus told his students not to be concerned with provisions for their journey. Along these lines, Science and Health makes it plain that “one cannot suffer as the result of any labor of love, but grows stronger because of it” (p. 387, cit. 11).
This Lesson left me in no doubt that God’s protecting power is indeed part of everyone’s experience today. Without question, “the Lord preserveth all them that love him” (Ps. 145:20, cit. 15).
Ben Gladden lives in Framingham, Massachusetts, with his family.
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