GOD’S WISDOM FOR YOU
PROVERBS 27:25-27
25 When the hay is harvested, and new growth appears,
and the mountain grass is gathered in,
26 the lambs will provide wool for your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field;
27 there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and also for the lives of your servant-girls.
There is no law in this proverb; there is only gospel. The statement of verse 25 is not a condition (except in the sense of the sluggard in Proverbs 6;10-11; 24:33-34) but rather a statement of the time. The early harvest happened in the spring in Israel. Barley was ripe and flax was in bloom in the early spring (March-April, Exodus 9:31), the same time that sheep and lambs were sheared. Along with the other firstfruits offerings, “the first wool from the shearing of your sheep” was required at this time (Deuteronomy 18:4). Shearing sheep in the spring, just before lambing, also coaxed the ewes to find shelter and to eat more, which is good for both ewes and lambs with regard to indoor (or in-cave) lambing and extra nutrients for extra milk production. A single family might live on the wool, milk and cheese of a dozen sheep or goats, and gathering in extra grass or hay would ensure fodder through the dry season or if nomads might come through and their flocks might dominate the grazing. Is this perhaps the background of the scene when Moses drove off the other shepherds for the daughters of Reuel (Exodus 2:16-17)?
It was probably also at this time, just after fleecing, when wool was spun into skeins (or hanks) of yarn and new clothing was made for the family each year. Remember Hannah bringing a new little robe for her son Samuel every year when they came to sacrifice (1 Samuel 2:19).
As I said, this passage is only gospel. The benefits that come from caring for what God has given will last and last. The one who is truly content with what he has will understand the saying, “I do not want what I haven’t got.”
Finally, this also reminds us of what we pray for in the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “Give us today our daily bread.” What does this mean? “God surely gives daily bread without our asking, even to all the wicked, but we pray in this petition that he would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2020
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Wisdom for You – Proverbs 27:25-27 Our daily bread