Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Leviticus 8 – 10

In our culture we generally don’t appreciate ceremony, but hopefully we can accept that other cultures have different values and so do appreciate it. God may have used ceremony because it spoke to the people: the ceremony here was for the purpose of setting the priests apart, and likely was performed to instill in the people an understanding that the high priest was due their respect and submission.  The elements of the ceremony seem strange to us, but God doubtless had a purpose in mind for each. Since we are called priests (I Peter 2:5, 9), understanding the significance of every rite in this ceremony might be valuable to us.

Although Aaron and his sons did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses, God struck them when they offered strange incense before Him. Their previous record didn’t save them from the consequences of their actions in offering what God didn’t authorize. Was it an act of rebellion? Testing God? A mistake? An attempt to honor God with the very best of their own creativity? Whatever it was, God saw their offering as dishonoring to Him. Whether or not they intended to do so didn’t matter; it dishonored Him. Does God seem harsh to you in this?

Given that God calls Himself good, what does this teach you about God? What lesson does this teach for people who draw near to God? It’s worth thinking about, because if He did this, it’s conceivable that He will one day say to those who also thought they could do whatever they felt like doing, or felt too special to suffer God’s stated consequences, or were ignorant about God’s requirements,  or preferred to be creative in approaching God, “I never knew you. Away from me.” We cannot presume on God’s mercy. C.S. Lewis was correct in saying of his allegorical lion/king/God character, “He’s not a time lion.” (The Last Battle)

Posted on

Exodus 19 – 21

After liberating Israel from slavery, God offered them a special relationship with Him, if they would obey Him and keep His covenant. Even though He had rescued them and had a plan for them, they had to meet His conditions.

The people agreed unanimously and promptly, without knowing the terms of the covenant, that they would do everything God told them to do. So God moved forward with establishing the covenant relationship. Note that it was going to be done on His terms; the people had no say in the terms of the covenant.

Even enjoying a special relationship with God, the people couldn’t meet Him too familiarly. They had to prepare by cleaning up. It’s amazing to think how difficult that would have been to wash their clothes in the desert. It took two days for them to prepare, and then the closest they got to God was standing at the foot of the mountain onto which God descended. Indeed, they didn’t want to get any closer than that, or even that close, because the fire, billowing smoke, violent shaking of the mountain, and sound of the trumpet was so terrifying to them that they trembled with fear and begged for Moses to be their intermediary. We can only imagine what it would be like to be in God’s presence, but my guess is that it will be more like this experience than the familiarity modern man commonly envisions when He thinks of God as his buddy. Based on this description, it seems like greater intimacy with God results in greater reverence for Him, because we recognize that He is fearsome. To know Him more fully is to fear Him more. As Beaver says of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “Of course He isn’t safe. But He’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

What lessons do you learn about God from this description of man’s close encounter with Him? What feelings does that arouse in you? Can you praise God for who He is?

Posted on

Exodus 16 – 18

Exodus 16 is the first mention of the Sabbath. Think about what God’s intention for the Sabbath was, that He didn’t provide manna on that day because His plan for their rest included not gathering, baking, nor boiling. They were to stay where they were and not “go out.” The idea of rest didn’t just mean to cease from their normal work and do whatever they wanted to do, but it meant “to sit down in quiet, to ease self, to settle, to repose, to desist from exertion, to put away, to cease, to be still, to celebrate,” according to Strong’s Concordance. The Hebrew word used in Exodus 16 was the same word used to describe God’s resting following completion of creation in Genesis 2:3.

As God expanded on the terms of the covenant He established with them, He would later reveal that their observance of the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant (Exodus 31:13). Failure to keep it was punishable by death.

Jesus gave us no such command, but He did give us an example, as did the apostles. He didn’t command His followers to keep the other Ten Commandments, either, but He clearly expected them to keep them without being told.

Scripture is full of examples of God’s people confusing man’s traditions with God’s commands, and in their preference for their traditions failing to worship God and please Him. This is an opportunity for us to evaluate our Sabbath observances.

A lover of God will not simply do or not do something because it is commanded or forbidden; he will want to please God. That means seeking His mind and doing what we know to do.

Posted on

Exodus 7:8 – 9:35

A few of the details of this story are strange to us, but that shouldn’t cause us to doubt the story’s authenticity. That God could do the miracles described should not be a stretch for our faith. That Pharaoh’s magicians could transform their staffs into snakes, turn water into blood and produce hordes of frogs by their so-called secret arts, is a mystery. It should speak to us of our own lack of awareness, let alone understanding, of all of the powers in the world. How fortunate we are that the ultimate Power is good and loving. Doesn’t He deserve your praise for that?

I find it funny that in duplicating the plagues God imposed, Pharaoh’s magicians compounded their own misery! The real miracle would have been to undo the plagues.

Pharaoh asked for a miracle as proof of God’s power, and God was prepared to do miracles to introduce Himself, both to Israel and to Pharaoh. We want to see miracles as well, don’t we? When God gives us miracles, do we minimize them as Pharaoh did? What should we do instead when God heals, or resolves that difficult situation in a way we couldn’t have imagined, or helps us through something for which we didn’t believe we had the resources? We don’t want to be like Pharaoh, for God hardened his heart. God didn’t override Pharaoh’s choices to do so. This is why thanksgiving and praise are necessary to our vital relationships with God, as preventatives to hard hearts. Has God done miracles in your life for which you haven’t thanked or praised Him? I encourage you to ask God that question, because it’s amazing what we can forget, doubtless helped by our enemy, who wants to rob us of those memories.

Although they might appear so to us, the plagues God brought were not randomly chosen. He chose them for several good reasons that I can see, and likely for other reasons that I don’t see. By them He thoroughly judged Pharaoh, the Egyptians’ gods, and the nation of Egypt:

  • Charged with controlling the Nile River’s annual flood and thus the nation’s crop, Egypt’s Pharaoh was considered a god and considered himself a god. He was helpless to overcome the plagues, subject to asking the true God for relief.
  • The Egyptians worshiped, among many other gods, frogs. Imagine seeing your god as a disgusting pest, making life miserable, then rotting and stinking carcasses everywhere. That would kill reverence, wouldn’t it?!
  • In a day when camels were the closest thing to freight haulers, before grocery stores and freezers, the destruction of the flax and barley crops were deadly disasters; but at least the wheat and spelt weren’t destroyed, right? Read on, Friend.

All three – the reputation of Pharaoh, the Egyptians’ religious system, and the nation — were devastated by the time their judgment was over, and neither Israel nor Egypt could doubt that God was who He claimed to be. That was the great work God wanted to accomplish by the Exodus, in addition to freeing the Israelites from slavery – He wanted both Israel and Egypt to know that He is who He said He is. Did you get that from yesterday’s question? It was important to God that His people and the Egyptians know Him for who He is. Why do you suppose man’s knowing Him is so important to Him?

Posted on

Welcome to 2019’s Read Through the Bible

Sometimes I find God’s word boring. I’m so familiar with it that I find myself taking it for granted, if I’m not careful. In order to avoid the pitfall of a wandering mind as I read, I approach my year’s read through the Bible with a purpose in mind, so that I’m inclined to see the Scriptures in a new light and don’t miss the new revelations the Holy Spirit wants to give me.

My approach this year will be to seek to know God better through His word. Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” If knowing God is equated with eternal life, can there be eternal life without knowledge of God? That makes knowing God very important! So this year I will ask myself the following questions as I read:

  • What does this reveal to me about God?
  • What impact does that truth have on my life?
  • What action is called for in light of this new revelation?

My purpose for writing this year varies from last year. Last year my intent was to give a basic understanding of the Scriptures to the person who needed it. If that is the help you need, please check out last year’s readings. The schedule I’ll follow this year will match last year’s schedule, so you’ll look up the same month and day from 2018’s posts.  To do that, find the day of the year in the reading schedule and click on it to link to the post.

This year I’m going to assume you have that background. I’m going to lead you in expanding your handling of Scripture so that ultimately you don’t need the crutch of a guide as you read; you will have learned to turn to God to gain inspiration directly from Him.

Posted on

Day 299 – Gospels

I didn’t mean to take this long of a break from posting, but it has been nice to have a break. I intend to resume more frequent posting. I hope you have continued to read regularly even though I haven’t been commenting, and have been enjoying the New Testament.

The purpose of the Gospels is to tell us about the work of Messiah. Hopefully every time we read them we gain new understanding and appreciation for Jesus and what He has done. That’s a lot to ask of a simple reading, because the work of Messiah is “more than we could ask or imagine,” standing out in contrast to life in a sin-cursed world as light is to darkness. It requires more than reading; it requires study and contemplation. Hopefully our background in the Old Testament helps us understand. 

Why four Gospels? Sometimes it gets monotonous reading the same story; sometimes the details of the stories don’t always seem identical, presenting a dilemma of apparent questionable reliability. I can think of several good reasons why there should be four Gospels, which I will share at another time, because I want to give you time to think about it. The answers revealed to you will be more meaningful to you than anything I could say, and it should be meaningful to you. So what do you think: why are there four Gospels?

Posted on

Days 233 & 234 — Jeremiah 46 – 50

As you read about the destructive judgment on these people and their land, remember that they lived out the things told about. Imagine the scenes and feelings described, and know that God knows how to bring judgment.

We’ve all had those days when nothing goes right – fingers fumble, shoestrings break, incredible things happen to slow us down. Hopefully we’ve all had the opposite, days in which we are amazingly agile and efficient, when we just miss the train at the railroad crossing and the computer systems are all running quickly. Guess which of those kinds of days the instruments of God’s judgment on the nations will have as they march on these nations to fulfill God’s purpose. Further, God has power over our feelings, to strike fear or embolden. Can you imagine a fear so great that a father is unable to help his child, can only wring his hands uselessly? To the one for whom God appoints the fumbling and fear, they will multiply remedies in vain. Man has absolutely no power to avoid God’s judgment. Our only hope is God’s mercy. Praise be to God, He is a good and loving and merciful God!

Posted on

Day 232 — Jeremiah 41 – 45

The land was in sad shape when the appointed leader couldn’t keep peace and the intended victims of a murderer could bribe the killer using some basic food stores as incentive. The group of people in this story were the very poorest of the land who had escaped deportation three times because they were too unimportant for Nebuchadnezzar to bother with, too weak to present a threat of rebellion against him. When the Babylonian official gave Jeremiah his choice as to whether he would go to Babylon with the last wave of exiles or remain in the land, Jeremiah opted to remain.

Since the people knew God’s will about where they should live in light of the lawless and leaderless condition in Judah, they were accountable for their choice to leave rather than stay. Remaining would have been an act of faith; leaving for Egypt, that crutch in difficult times since Abraham’s day, represents walking by sight. When the land of Judah was destroyed, reduced to rubble and left to be overtaken by thorns, thistles and wild animals, going to Egypt made sense in man’s eyes. Egypt’s Nile River and the flood control measures the Egyptians had built ensured a reliable food supply. Egypt’s culture had endured so long that its stability was unquestionable. Pharaoh offered substantial protection against the Babylonians.

What looked wise in man’s eyes was not wise at all in light of God’s revealed will for this remnant of Judah. As unimaginable as it was to everyone of that day, God had the power to pull their crutch out from under them. If He said He would protect them, He would. Their choice, a choice to give themselves over to open worship of the gods of Egypt that apparently had been powerful enough to keep them secure and prosperous for thousands of years, was veiled in a reasonable quest for security that any human being could understand. Whatever it was, their choice to leave Judah to seek refuge in Egypt was sin.

Contrast Habakkuk’s lovely and bracing prayer expressing his choice to trust in God regardless of the circumstances, with the choice of these people to pursue security and comfort above God’s will for them. Whom are you most like? Is there a need in your life for a change in choice?

Posted on

Day 221 — Jeremiah 10 – 13

I have no insights to offer for today’s reading, but that doesn’t mean there are no profound passages in these chapters. Please ask God what He wants to show you in them, and expect Him to answer with something that seems particularly meaningful. It probably won’t be obvious, but then that wouldn’t be very deep, would it? Remember that God promises to be found by those who seek Him, which is an action verb. He promises to send water on the thirsty ground. Be thirsty!