About God’s Oxen: Feeding What Feeds You

Daily Scripture Threshing for Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Today’s Text: Deuteronomy 25:4

Key Verse: Deuteronomy 25:4 (BST): “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn.”

Of all apostles, St. Paul alone made two New Testament references to today’s text. He uses it to explain the Christian principle that laborers in God’s vineyard are entitled to eat of the fruits of their labor at the Lord’s altar. It is a general principle of life: People must feed whatever feeds them. Ministering at the altar of God is likened to the situation in which an ox trods out the corn. They are not to be muzzled. Muzzling is the system of bridles placed on the jaws of animals to hold their mouth and deprive them from feeding the corn they are threshing out. It is generally a curse not to be privileged or permitted to eat of the fruits of one’s labor. As such, kind generosity to God’s servants is a duty both commanded and encouraged in the word of God. In Numbers 18:24, Moses gave gave reason as to why Levites were to have no inheritance among the children of Israel. So that just as Israel as a people was not to be numbered among the nations, so was Levi as a tribe are to be distinguished from, and cared for by the rest tribes.

Every laborer in the vineyard of God perfectly fits the allegory of an oxen. Indeed, we are God’s oxen. By us, He threshes His truth from fables. By us, He blesses the world. And by us He reconcile the world back to Himself. So, as a servant of God, you reserve full right to providence from Him and from man. This wisdom is not limited to a set of deuteronomical injunctions; it is also apostolic. It is a biblically affirmed precept. The use of the allegory of oxen is only a typology and not an end in itself. If you would care for an oxen that feed your perishable corns; how much more would, or should, you care for God’s ministers that feed you the bread of life. An unknown author said: “The good done to a man's immortal spirit by acts of humanity and justice infinitely outweighs the mere physical comfort of a brute which perishes." Nothing may fully and adequately recompense all the eternal treasures of seed sown to the human soul, or pay for the task of soul watch done through the hands of God’s ministers. Please, always remember to feed whatever feeds you.

Quote for the Day: “It is divine design that a servant of God who labors in spiritual things, having dedicated himself to the work of God, be generously supported in physical things.” (Simon Olatunji)

Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank you for freely and fully satisfying the mouth of your servants with good things, and in perfect timing. Thank you for supplying every need that weighs our hearts down, in Jesus' name. Amen.

With all my love and prayers,

Rev Simon Wale Olatunji, Ph.D.

The Darling Bishop (DaBishop)

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