Daily Topic for October 04, 2009
Moses was interceding on behalf of his people, but with a noble purpose. The issue wasn’t compassion for the people who foolishly made and worshipped a golden calf, but the honor of the God who led them out of Egypt. The nations were watching! God’s honor was at stake! God had no choice but to put up with the sins of His people, so that the nations would not think He wasn’t powerful enough or compassionate enough to save His people.
Pray that the unreached Jhalo Malo people of Bangladesh will understand the gravity of honoring and obeying the One True God.
Manoj told his grandchildren about the strange white man he saw. His Kaibartta clan had always been fishermen in the Bay of Bengal. A storm blew his boat off course and he ended up in Serampore, where he met William Carey. “He told me stories about a man called Jesus,” Manoj said. But the idea of there being only one God seemed ridiculous to this devout Hindu. Generations later, Manoj’s descendants still practice their fishing trade. They still live in the same region, although it is now called Bangladesh. They still follow their Hindu gods. They still struggle with the idea of one God controlling the whole world.
Hundreds of rivers flow through Bangladesh, re-forming the land from their silt deposits as they flow into the Bay of Bengal. Logically, seafood provides a crucial role in the Bengali diet. In spite of that, the Kaibartta fishermen fill one of the lowest slots in the social order. Even in Hindu India, their caste sits near the bottom of the pecking order. And even more, in Muslim Bangladesh, these who provide an important source of food and national income still are viewed with scorn.
Generations after Carey arrived, Manoj’s Kaibartta family still tells his account. They still wonder about a God who could control the whole world.Learn more at joshuaproject.net
Ask the God of the Universe to reveal himself to the Kaibartta fishermen. Ask the Holy Spirit to dispel the darkness of unbelief in this fishing community.-EF