Bibledoorajar: Family Stories

"My people, hear my teaching;
    listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable;
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old— things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants;
    we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders he has done.....HE SENT SWARMS OF FLIES THAT DEVOURED THEM."
                Psalm 78

I spent the last few days with family following the death of a dear aunt. As the family gathered together the stories started. Most of them I had heard before and known about because they had been told to me at previous gatherings. Some of them were very praiseworthy, others not so much, but all were familiar because they had been told over and over. What people were trying to do through telling these stories with illustrations was to keep the family dynamic alive and specifically keep the memory of the aunt's praiseworthy deeds alive. Perhaps the stories were even meant to be instructive giving us lofty traits to which to aspire. 

In Psalm 78 Asaph is speaking to Israel of an earlier time when God delivered His people. He mentions the fourth plague---He sent swarms of flies that devoured them. Most scholars feel the Hebrew indicates that many types of flies descended by swarms and actually preyed on the bodies of the Egyptians (from this plague on the Israelites were excluded from the judgements). And beginning with this plague, we find the magicians conspicuously absent and no longer copycatting God's actions through Moses and Aaron. Too busy getting "devoured" I guess. It is said that these flies were very large and very venomous. God's people were spared this but I am sure the lessons were instructive. In the end, any who continue on in their evil ways will be seriously judged.

Hell is a place of serious judgement. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 50, 22:13, 24:51). The torment will be so great that people will grind and bear down on their teeth to try to deal with the pain and torment. Like the fourth plague, hell will be terrible. However, God has made a way for people to escape the torment just as he made a way for the Israelites. Are you familiar with His wonderful plan? Read John 3:16. It does not get any better than that. People, hear the teaching our ancestors have been sharing for years. Is it time to pay attention?