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“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out” (Song of Solomon 4:16).

I have mentioned previously that I grew up on a fruit farm. It was always beautiful to see the blossoms come out on the various fruit trees in the spring. In our area they usually came out about mid-May, and the whole orchard would be white with the pretty blossoms. We used to like to go for a walk in the orchard and smell them. Each kind of fruit tree had a distinct smell.

Sometimes, when we stood on the edge of the orchard, and a nice breeze was blowing, we could really smell the fragrance from so many trees in bloom. But here in our verse we find both the north wind and the south wind mentioned. The north wind is usually strong and perhaps cold, while the south wind is often softer, and warmer. We liked the south wind in the spring, but we did not like the north wind, for it sometimes blew so strongly that it actually blew some of the blossoms off the trees.

Why does Solomon mention both the north and south winds? It is because we are like the garden of the Lord, or that orchard with the blossoms. The Lord sometimes allows a strong wind in our life — perhaps an unhappy experience that we wish we did not have to endure. But that strong wind makes the fragrance flow out to the Lord, for often we learn more by a difficult experience than we do when everything is going well.

But the Lord allows the south wind too. He knows when we need some encouragement, and a time when things go well for us. Then the nice smell of His garden (us!) comes from the south wind too. The Lord can use difficult times in our lives, and also easy times, to allow us to give some enjoyment to Him.

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“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom” (Song of Solomon 2:15 JND).

In the verses just before this one, Solomon has been describing the way everything starts to grow in the spring — the flowers appear, the birds sing, and the plants begin to bloom. Then he gives us a warning. The little foxes come out in the spring too, and when the vines begin to bloom, those little foxes nip off the new buds. Then, of course, no grapes will form, for the buds are gone. Foxes do not normally eat buds from plants, as they feed on mice, squirrels, wild rabbits, etc. They nip off the buds just to be mischievous.

The little foxes are like the small temptations in our lives. They may not seem like much, but they spoil our enjoyment of the Lord, and spoil our ability to bear fruit for the Him. We need to be careful to catch those “little foxes” before they cause real trouble in our lives.

When I say small temptations, what am I talking about? We are talking about that invitation to go somewhere that you know your parents would not agree with. Or that temptation to go and buy something that you know would not please the Lord. Perhaps it would be looking at something on the internet that you know is sinful. Or maybe reading something that brings evil thoughts into your mind. These are all like those “little foxes” that spoil our fellowship with the Lord.

These temptations may seem like small things, and Satan may persuade us that it does not matter if we give in to them now and them. But just as a grape vine can be spoiled when a fox nips off the new buds, so you and I can ruin our Christian walk by allowing even small sins in our life.

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“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

Although many of you who read this may be too young to remember the event, the date of September 11, 2001 was a turning point in this century. On that date terrorists hijacked two commercial airplanes and flew them directly into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, NY, U.S.A. The severe damage to the buildings, coupled with the fires that broke out, eventually caused the buildings to collapse, with the loss of thousands of lives. All of us who are older can remember where we were, and what we were doing, when it happened.

Many people who worked in those two buildings tried to escape, but found it impossible. Quite a few realized that they were not going to make it out of the buildings alive, and were able to telephone loved ones and say some final words to them before they died.

However, a few people, twenty in total, were in those two buildings when they collapsed, and yet are alive today. Most of them were in Stairwell B of the North Tower, trying to get out of the building, but then the building suddenly collapsed. For some reason this particular stairwell did not collapse, and it protected them. Some of them were rescued within a short time, while others were buried for hours under the mountain of debris that fell on them.

Why were those people safe? It was because that stairwell remained intact when the building fell, and they were protected to some extent. Most suffered some injuries, and some suffered severe injuries. Most of them had nightmares for years afterward, and found themselves unable to work properly, or even to relate properly to their loved ones. They all suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which means that they continued to have horrible memories of what happened to them, and to others.

The people who were saved in Stairwell B did not know that it would not collapse. They just happened to be there when the building fell down. But you and I know that the only safe place from the judgment of God against sin is the blood of Christ. Are you saved, and under the shelter of the blood of Christ?

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“The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12).

This beautiful verse comes near the end of the book of Deuteronomy. In some parts of that book, particularly toward the end, Moses had to warn the children of Israel of what would happen to them if they disobeyed the Lord, and worshiped false gods. He spoke very faithfully to them, for he said, “I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you” (Deuteronomy 31:29). The Lord Himself knew very well that the children of Israel would not follow His ways, but would rebel against Him.

Yet the Lord was gracious to them, and gave them a wonderful blessing through Moses, just before he died. Moses loved the Lord, and he loved the people of Israel. He had led them through the wilderness for forty years, and had seen and heard all of the complaining and rebellion that had happened during that time. Yet he blessed the people, urging them to be faithful to the Lord, so that they would enjoy His blessing.

How beautiful are the words of our verse today! Just as Israel was beloved of the Lord, so we are also. The Lord wants to protect us “all the day long,” and keep us “between His shoulders.” The shoulders in a man are his place of strength, and you may remember that when the shepherd had found the lost sheep (Luke 15:5), he placed it on his shoulders and brought it home. The Lord Jesus wants to carry us too, and keep us from harm. He was willing to do this for the children of Israel, and is willing to do it for us too.

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“Abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).

I don’t suppose that any of you are already looking back on your life with regrets! But if you approach old age someday, there are likely quite a few things that you may wish you had taken time to do or learn. Other things, you will wish you had not wasted the time on! You might wish you had really spent time on those piano lessons, and later in life could enjoy the results more. Or perhaps you will wish you had become fluent in another language. Both are very useful skills. How about those many hours on computer games and social media?

But there is one thing you will never regret, and that is every moment spent with the Lord Jesus, and in doing something for Him. Here is a favorite hymn of mine. If you do not know it, you can put the first line into your computer search engine and enjoy hearing it sung. It is truly beautiful and heart-searching.

By and by when I look on His face, Beautiful face, thorn-shadowed face; By and by when I look on His face, I’ll wish I had given Him more. More, so much more, More of my life than I e’er gave before, By and by when I look on His face, I’ll wish I had given Him more. By and by when He holds out His hands, Welcoming hands, nail-riven hands; By and by when He holds out His hands, I’ll wish I had given Him more. More, so much more, More of my love than I e’er gave before, By and by when He holds out His hands, I’ll wish I had given Him more. In the light of that heavenly place, Light from His face, beautiful face; In the light of that heavenly place, I’ll wish I had given Him more. More, so much more, Treasures unbounded for Him I adore, By and by when I look on His face, I’ll wish I had given Him more.

Grace R. Adkins

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“Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers [different] seeds … Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together … Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together” (Deuteronomy 22:9-11).

Perhaps you are surprised that the Lord would give these instructions to the children of Israel. After all, what could be wrong with sowing a vineyard (a field where you grow grapes) with different kinds of seeds? When I was growing up, I lived on a fruit farm, and we used to grow grapes. We grew several different kinds of grapes — some were purple, some were red, and some were green. We grew them in the same field, but the Israelites were not to do that.

Also, they were not to plow with an ox and an ass (a donkey) together. They probably would not work very well together, for an ox tends to go slowly and steadily, while a donkey might be stubborn and slow sometimes, and want to go fast at other times.

Finally, they were not to make a piece of clothing with different kinds of material. They were not to mix wool and linen in the same piece of clothing. Today many different kinds of material are used to make clothing. Some of it is natural material, such as wool, but other material is synthetic, or manmade, such as rayon, nylon, acrylic, Gore-Tex, spandex, etc. More than half of the fibers used in clothing today are synthetic. In many cases these different kinds of fibers are mixed together in a piece of clothing. Again, the children of Israel were not to do this.

They did not understand why the Lord told them to do this, but there is a lesson for us in what the Lord told them. God does not like mixtures, because it reminds us that you and I, as Christians, are not to mix with this world. A few days ago, we saw that the Israelites were not to eat land animals unless they had a cloven hoof, and we saw that this also teaches us the truth of separation. God wants His people to be separate from this world, and all of these mixtures in our verses for today were telling the Israelites not to mix things. We are not under the law today, but we can remember the lesson that God teaches us in these instructions.

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“And the Lord said unto Moses … Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it” (Exodus 17:5-6).

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod … and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water” (Numbers 20:7-8).

In our verses today, we find two occasions when the Lord brought water out of a rock, so that the children of Israel and their animals could drink. The two occasions were almost forty years apart, for the first one happened at the beginning of the wilderness journey of Israel, and the second one was close to the end of that journey. In both cases the Lord brought water out of the rock. In the first case Moses was told to hit the rock, but the second time he was told simply to speak to the rock. Why was this?

The rock is a picture of the Lord Jesus, and when He went to the cross, it was as if He were struck with the rod. There God punished Him for our sins, and He suffered the judgment of God that we deserved. However, this happened only once; it did not need to happen again. We read in the Bible, “Now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). After the Lord Jesus died, blessing flows to us simply if we ask Him; He does not have to suffer again.

For this reason, when the people wanted water a second time, the Lord told Moses simply to speak to the rock. Sad to say, Moses was angry because the people had complained to him, and instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck the rock twice. God was gracious, and the water came out just the same, but because Moses disobeyed the Lord, he was not allowed to go into the land of Canaan. It was important for Moses to listen to the Lord, for even though he did not understand why, the Lord’s instructions about how to get water for the people were a picture of the Lord Jesus.

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“And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old … fifty shekels of silver … And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be … twenty shekels … And if it be from a month old even unto five years old … five shekels of silver … And if it be from sixty years old and above … fifteen shekels” (Leviticus 27:3-7).

We will not go into all the details of the passage in which these verses are found, but it is very interesting to see the value that was placed on individuals at various ages, under the law. We see that small children under the age of five were valued at five shekels, and those from five up to twenty were valued at twenty shekels. That is probably the age group in which most of you are!

Then, those from twenty to sixty had the most value — fifty shekels. Finally, those who were over sixty were valued at fifteen shekels.

It is perhaps easy to see why those from the ages of twenty to sixty were valued the highest, for those are the years of our life when we have our greatest strength, and can do the most work. However, it makes some of us in my age group feel rather small, for those over sixty were worth only fifteen shekels. I left sixty behind many years ago!

Notice that you young people are valued at more than we who are over sixty — you are valued at twenty shekels, and soon, if the Lord does not come, you will be over twenty, and be worth fifty shekels. Although I feel sure that the Lord is coming soon, yet He may leave us here a little longer. Then you will have the privilege of taking on more of the work of the Lord, and of taking the responsibility of honoring Him in this world. Of course, we trust that you are doing that already, but there comes a time in all of our lives when we must step out and take responsibility.

I knew a man who started out well for the Lord, but who decided about the age of twenty-five to live for this world instead. He was successful in business and well-liked in worldly society. He lived for this world for about forty years, but then he became ill, and the Lord used this to draw him back to Himself. He really wanted to live for the Lord again, but he was old and not well, and he did not have the strength to do much. Eventually he went to be with the Lord after two years. How bad he felt that he had wasted most of his life! You do not have to do that; you can choose to live for the Lord while you are young.

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“But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:4).

“Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof” (Leviticus 17:14).

“Wherefore my sentence is … that we write unto them, that they abstain [keep away] from … things strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15:19-20).

We have been speaking a little about some of the dietary restrictions that God gave to the Israelites, and how that these things all had a spiritual meaning. There were some animals they could eat, and some they were not to eat.

However, there is one thing mentioned in the Bible that people were never to eat, whether before the law was given to Israel, or after it was given. Likewise, the same rule applies to us in Christianity. We were noticing a few days ago that now, under Christianity, we are permitted to eat any animal, but as we see in the third verse quoted above, there is one thing that even Christians are not supposed to eat. That one thing is blood.

In some parts of the world they are fond of eating blood, and things made from blood. There are some countries of the world where they make blood sausage, and in those same countries they make blood pudding. In some cultures people still drink blood today, thinking it has some special merit for them.

However, all this is forbidden to you and me, as Christians. Why is this? It is because, as the Lord says in the second verse above, “the life of all flesh is the blood thereof.” He is the only one who can give life; man cannot give life. Also, it is the blood of the Lord Jesus that washes our sins away. For these two reasons God reserves the blood for Himself; we are not to eat it.

Right after the flood, when God first allowed people to eat meat, He carefully told Noah not to eat the flesh (meat) with the blood. Then, when He gave the law to Moses, again He warned them not to eat the blood of any animal. Finally, under Christianity, we are also told not to eat blood. It is good for us to be clear on this, and to see why God forbids the eating of blood.

For thousands of years man did not really understand how blood is the life of the body. A British physician, William Harvey, is usually credited with discovering the circulation of the blood in the 17th century, although there is good evidence that an Arab physician had really made this discovery back in the 13th century. But the Lord knew all along that the blood was the life of the body, and He does not want man to eat it.

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“When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean” (Leviticus 15:2).

“This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days” (Numbers 19:14).

Those of us who are alive today are very familiar with germs and viruses, and we know how they work. As I write this we are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we know how easily that virus has spread over the whole world. However, man has known about germs for less than 150 years. Before that time people did not understand how disease was spread, and a lot of infection was passed from one person to another because of carelessness in the way sick people were treated. Before man understood about germs, surgeons often operated on people without even washing their hands or using clean instruments. As you may imagine, the rate of infection after surgery was very high.

However, the Lord knew about germs, and He gave His people Israel some very good instruction about how to treat sick people so that disease would not be spread. We see from our first verse that if a man had a “running issue” out of his flesh, he was unclean. A running issue was simply a sore that discharged pus, or something like that. If you read Leviticus 15 down to the end of verse 13, you will see all the restrictions that were placed on someone with a sore like that, so that infection would not be spread to others.

Also, whenever a man died in a tent, everything in the tent, and all those who came into the tent, were unclean. The man may not have died of an infectious disease, but the people were not to take any chances. Anything in the tent, or anyone who came in while the dead man was there, was unclean for a whole week. They had to stay separate from other people, and then be purified with running water before they could come back and socialize with other people again.

Perhaps you have become upset over some of the restrictions that the government has placed on us during this Covid pandemic, but we see from our verses that the Lord Himself put restrictions on the Israelites, in order to prevent the spread of disease. He knew about germs and viruses even if man had not discovered them yet, and He gave His people good instruction.

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