Month: April 2018

Leviticus 11-13 could be summed up in one phrase: Distinguish cleanness from uncleanness. Remember, God’s purpose in Israel was to establish a holy nation, a kingdom “set apart” to Himself and for His purposes. That distinct nation would be different in every area of life, as we see in these chapters. In Leviticus 11, Moses tells the Israelites about clean and unclean animals or food. As always, the list is long an extensive concerning what animals one could eat and could not eat. We might not understand the reasons, and perhaps no one has ever understood the reasons. I have read many articles by scholars in different fields that demonstrate and defraud the idea that God chose the clean animals based on what would be good for the Israelites nutritionally and from a health standpoint. As with every debate regard what we should or should not eat, dividing fact from opinion is impossible. Some discount the list because it includes meat at all. Others, show the “unclean” animals have health benefits. These points are all moot on two counts: 1) God’s instruction always supersedes human opinion, and 2) Jesus pronounced all foods ceremonially clean in a debate with the Jewish religious leaders. For our purposes here, it is most helpful to remember God was establishing a holy people, and the concern of how that would get lived out included what the people were and were not to eat.

Leviticus 12 is a brief chapter concerning the purification of women after they bore children. Again, our “enlightened” sensibilities might be offended at the distinction between the times involved based on whether the child was a male or female, but God’s purpose was simple: providing for the purity of His people.

In Leviticus 13 we move on to the category of skin diseases. This will continue into tomorrow’s reading, but once again we see God was concerned with the “cleanness” of His people. Separating out people with contagious diseases, might not have been part of the original plan, but it would have been part of the impact. Given that God is all-knowing, it would be unlikely that this benefit of separating unclean people from the rest of the population during their times of healing was not part of the plan.

As we return to Mark 14, we’re reminded of the many incredibly difficult aspects of Jesus last moments leading up to His crucifixion. When He was anointed at Bethany, some argued at the “waste” of money, because the anointing oil was so expensive. Jesus understood the both the love of Mary, and the underlying purpose, of which she was unaware, of the anointing: preparing Him for burial. During the Last Supper, when Jesus announced one of the twelve would betray Him, each of them asked, “Me?”  We would think at least one of them would have been certain… Oh, that’s right. Peter was certain he wouldn’t turn against Jesus, yet that’s exactly what Peter did. He stood up when Jesus was arrested and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, but when it came down to standing up for Jesus, he denied every knowing Him.  Sandwiched between Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial and the actual denial, were Jesus’ agonizing prayer time in Gethsemane, His arrest and His trial before the Sanhedrin–the Jewish religious leaders. If the account of Jesus’ life ended here, what a sad tale it would be. Even if it ended in chapter 15, with the crucifixion, the account would never have transformed history. Thankfully, we know the account continues through Jesus’ resurrection! That is why we keep reading day-after-day, and why we’re sure our lives can be changed by learning this truth and living it out in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The sequence of events in Leviticus 8-10 shows us an all too common sequence of events in the history of God’s people: 1) In Leviticus 8, we read of the ordination of the priests. As usual, the details concerning how the ordinations were to be carried out and how they were carried out are extensive. in the last verse of Leviticus 8 we read: ³⁶So Aaron and his sons did everything the LORD had commanded through Moses.  Leviticus 8:36 (NLT) The ordination process was perfect, every detail just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 2) In Leviticus 9, we read of Aaron and his sons starting  their work. They followed their instructions in minute detail. All went well. God offered a plan, and God’s plan was carried out to the letter. 3) In  Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu offer unauthorized fire and the LORD kills them. This is the all too common third step, which sometimes turns out being the first step in the Israelites’ interactions with God. God’s instructions are always clear. God’s expectations are always laid out step-by-step. When the Israelites follow the instructions and expectations the result is blessing. But then someone decides to “improve” on God’s instructions and expectations, or simply to ignore them altogether and disaster strikes.

What an important lesson we can take from this example. While we might be taken back by God’s extreme response to Nadab and Abihu’s disobedience, Moses’ response to Aaron and their remaining brothers is basically, “What did you expect? God is holy, and we must honor His holiness.” All too often, we who live on the resurrection side of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection add to the mix that we are not under law, but under grace. We assume God will be okay with whatever we do, because of that grace. While God’s response to disobedience was more immediate and obvious during the time He was forming His people, the Israelites, in the wilderness, God’s response to disobedience is always the same: judgment. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, we don’t bear the ultimate consequences of that judgment, but every time we disobey God we bear the consequence of our disobedience: Our relationship with God is fractured, and we must confess our sin, repent of it, and return to God. While we can’t lose our salvation by what we do or don’t do–because it is God’s gift to us–when we live in disobedience we lose fellowship with Him.

Many of us struggle with the idea of God’s wrath and judgment, because we live under a mistaken understanding of grace. We see grace as license to do what we want. It is not. Grace is God’s incredible sacrifice on our behalf. He pays the penalty for our sin, through the precious blood of Jesus. He gives us the gifts of restoration and redemption. He gives them so we will draw closer to Him, not so we will reject His leadership in our lives and do what we want. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for Aaron to accept God’s judgment on his sons’ disobedience. I can see how the example would have been forever burned into my memory. That incident would have reminded me how vital it is to obey God. Dr. Dale Milligan, a mentor of mine, used to say, “To love God is to trust God enough to obey Him.” That saying has always stuck with me, because it takes our love for God out of the realm of mere feelings, and reminds us both that love for God requires action–obedience, and trust–recognizing God’s instructions and explanations are always best for us, even when we don’t understand them or disagree with them. When we fail to learn those lessons, the results can be devastating, but when we do learn them, our relationship with God grows.

As we return to Mark 13 today, we read once again of Jesus’ comments concerning the “end of the age,” the time of His return. We read of the expected trauma taking place in the age when Jesus returns: wars, famines, etc…. Because wars, famines, etc… have occurred in every age, people in every age have assumed Jesus would return in their age. The assumption is reasonable. After all, Jesus told us He would return soon, and the signs He said would accompany His return have been present in every historic period. Every time I read this passage, I’m reminded of Jesus’ final word: Watch! Watch. In other words, be ready, be expectant, don’t get caught by surprise. We can see how people would get caught by surprise. Jesus has not come back and we’ve been waiting nearly 2,000 years. Why would we assume He’ll come back now if He hasn’t come back yet? The answer is simple: The time of His return is closer than when we first believed. Every promise of Jesus is true, so His promise to return is true as well. As we go about our daily lives, we must watch. The best way to do that, as Leviticus 8-10 reminds us, is to do what He calls us to do faithfully. The good news is we all have the Holy Spirit to empower our obedience, if Jesus is Savior and Lord in our lives. While I understand people want to know exactly when Jesus will return, my greater priority is being ready when He comes. I pray that is each of our priority. Only then will we be found watching when He returns.

Leviticus 5-7 find us reading through many additional instructions regarding sin offerings, guilt offerings, grain offerings and peace offerings. While some of the rules seem to blend together, the purpose of them all is to assure that God’s people receive atonement for their sins by the shedding of blood, and have the opportunity to offer sacrifices to God, because He is worthy of them. Additional instructions involving the priests, and what they may and may not eat of the sacrifices make it clear what their role is. They are also instructed regarding the offering they- Sins that require a sin offering; Guilt offering – unaware  Leviticus 6 – Sins requiring a guilt offering; Further instructions for burnt offerings – fire must never go out ;  further instructions for grain offerings – never eaten with flour;  Instructions for the Ordination offering ; Further instructions for sin offerings – who may eat, what to do with containers; Leviticus 7 Further instructions for the guilt offering – same rules apply for guilt and sin offering; Further rules for the peace offering  ;  The forbidden blood and fat ;  A portion for the priests – breast and right thigh.

As we revisit Mark 12, we’re reminded during Jesus’ last week on earth, He was able to take time to interact with those who would have Him killed–the Jewish religious leaders. He told the Parable of the Tenants, which spoke directly to the intentions of those leaders regarding Jesus. He responded to their tests with amazing wisdom and clarity, whether regarding paying taxes to Caesar our marital status at the resurrection, which commandment is the greatest, or even how the Messiah could be both David’s son and His Lord.  While each encounter reminds us how much greater Jesus was than His eventual judges, at the close of the chapter, we find Him pausing to affirm the gift of a poor widow. While her offering was small in quantity, it was all she had. Thus, Jesus told us her gift was the greatest of all. What a vital reminder for us to consider the quality our gifts in Jesus’ name, and not just the quantity.

As we move to the Book of Leviticus, we find a different kind of book from Genesis and Exodus. While Genesis and Exodus contained a great deal of narrative information, and focused on individual people and their contributions to the formation of the people of Israel, particularly from Abraham forward, the Book of Leviticus starts right in with commands about how to offer burnt sacrifices. The content of the book will seem strange to most of us, because we don’t come from a background where God is separating a people from the pagan nations around them. Every command, however strange it might seem to us, had as its intent moving the Israelites to glorify God and separate themselves from all other people as His people. God had promised Abraham He would build a nation from his descendants. God called that people to be distinct and separate and to belong to Him alone. The Book of Leviticus shows us many of the distinctives of being God’s people. While much of the book is directed to the priests who would oversee the worship of Israel, the priests were to pass the information on to the people so they could live in obedience to God.

One of the greatest problems with the “Levitical Code” as the laws and commands in Leviticus are called, as well as the Mosaic Law, which is the bigger body of rules found throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, is no one could fulfill them. These laws were given to form the people of Israel and to guide them, but as the Apostle Paul will remind us when we get to his letters in the New Testament, no one could fulfill them. That’s why Jesus came. He came to fulfill the Law, which none of us could do. He died on the cross of Calvary, because we should have! As we read through Leviticus, every time we read of a blood sacrifice, we can think forward to a time when the once-and-for-all blood sacrifice–Jesus was given for us.

Leviticus 1 tells us the type of animal sacrifices that were acceptable to God. We could sum it up in one word: perfect. God wanted male sheep or goats with no defects. The males were more valuable to the herd for breeding purposes, and the no defects, was because God wants His people’s best. While we don’t have to observe these rules, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, we can learn from the instruction to always offer God the best we have. Leviticus 2 tells us the type of grain offerings that were acceptable to God. Again, it was to be “choice” flour, and the additional command was that none of it be offered with yeast. The key for God’s people was to bring God their first and best, which again reminds us of how important it is to give our first and best to Him!

Leviticus 3 and 4 talk about peace offerings and sin offerings. These were qualitatively different offerings. The peace offering was freely given to God, while the sin offering was given  to atone for sin “unintentionally” committed. The animal sacrifices and grain offerings of Leviticus 1 and 2, could have been either type of offering. Once again, the content of this book seems so different to us, because we don’t live in a time when such sacrifices are required. Let’s continue to remember God was establishing His people, as a “holy” people or a people set apart to Him and for His purposes. The carrying out of these sacrifices ensured the people put God first, and understood their commitment to living fully for Him.

As we return to Mark 11, we recall Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem once again. In a way, it’s fitting that we open the book of Leviticus today, because Leviticus showed the people of Israel how to atone for their sins, while Jesus is the ultimate atonement for our sins. If you aren’t familiar with the word “atonement,” it can literally be broken down into three parts: “at-one-ment.”  You and I are put at one or at peace with God through Jesus’ sacrifice. In Moses’ day, it was through the sacrifices we read about in Leviticus. For the Israelites the sacrifices repeated over and over again. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem at the start of what we call Holy Week, He was in the final week of His life. On Good Friday, He would become the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins. Palm Sunday, as we call the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem was the one moment when Jesus was recognized for who He was: the King of Kings, and the Son of David. As the week progressed, we see the tide turn as Jesus’ interactions with the religious leaders become more and more oppositional.

As Moses instructed the people to offer “perfect” sacrifices for their atonement, God offered the one, perfect lamb, His only Son, Jesus, for ours. May we take the time to recognize the ultimate cost Jesus paid to become our once-and-for-all sacrifice today and always.

In Exodus 37-38 we read of the construction of the inside content of the Tabernacle: The Ark of the Covenant, the Table, the Lampstand, the Incense Altar, the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Washbasin, and the Courtyard. In intricate detail we’re told of the size of each item and the materials with which it was made. Under Bezalel’s leadership, the craftsmen worked diligently. Reading through this text, we can’t help but be amazed by the attention to detail, and the massive undertaking it was. We’re offered an inventory of the materials, and just the precious metals included 2,193 pounds of gold, 7545 pounds of silver and 5,310 pounds of bronze. The silver was raised through a tax on each of the men of fighting age, which numbered 603,550 men! The rest was given through free-will offerings, which shows how fully the people were committed to the project.

In Exodus 39 we read of the priests’ clothing being made. Once again, Bezalel headed up the project, and once again we find the process described in intricate detail. Just to describe the chest piece that went on the ephod, took fourteen verses. When everything was complete, Moses inspected the work. We read the list of the Tabernacle, its content, and the priests’ clothing all being brought before Moses. When he determined it was all completed just as God had instructed, Moses blessed the workers. Can you imagine how long that inspection took? It shows us how important it is to do God’s work faithfully, and that it’s worth the time to inspect our work, and celebrate work well done.

In Exodus 40 “Moses” sets up the Tabernacle. We’re told when everything had been set up “So at last Moses finished the work.” We often emphasize teamwork, and the importance of every person’s work to the task. That is true. Dozens, if not hundreds, of workers contributed to the construction of the Tabernacle, its contents, and the priests’ garments. Yet, we hear mainly of Bezalel and Oholiab doing the work, and in the end Moses alone is given the recognition for having finished the work. This is not to minimize the other workers’ work. Rather it underscores the responsibility God placed on Moses. At the end of the day, Moses was the one God held responsible for the construction of the Tabernacle. The reminds us how important it is to recognize the leadership roles of those who lead us, whether at work, school, home, or in the church. What amazes me about Moses is we’re told even though he held such great responsibility, and was given such great recognition, he was an extremely humble man. Humility is a great quality to have in a leader whom God uses to accomplish great things. It reminds the leader all he or she did was obey the instructions of God. Thus, God gets all the glory, even as the earthly credit goes to the leader.

When the work had all been completed, God’s glory entered the Tabernacle. What an incredible moment that must have been. We’re told from that point forward, when God’s glory lifted from the Tabernacle, the people would tear it down and follow the glory, which showed itself as a cloud. When the cloud stopped the people would stop and rebuild the Tabernacle. Then they would stay in that place until God “moved” again. How incredible it must have been to have such a visible reminder of God’s presence!

As we return again to Mark 10, we find this to be a chapter filled with important interactions between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel, small children, a rich young man who sought eternal life, His disciples, and a blind man, named Bartimaeus. We already covered Mark 10 extensively on Day 10, so you can go back there and read through the post for that day. I do want to re-emphasize one point from Mark 10 here: Jesus took time to address many hard and unconventional topics. Just in Mark 10 He addressed marriage and divorce; the importance of children in a culture that didn’t see children as all that important; the vital distinction between being rich in Spirit and rich in material goods; the importance of following God’s purpose in our lives even, as in Jesus’ case, it means following it to our deaths, and the reality that faith can heal physical ailments including blindness. Jesus was not a “nice” man. He stirred up controversy, and created enemies as well as friends. We sometimes present Jesus as soft and loving. He was definitely loving, but not soft in the sense of weak. He never shied away from taking a hard stand when it was needed, but the hard stand was always to focus on the goodness of God, and to bring light where there was spiritual or physical darkness. We must remember this aspect of our faith, in a time when so many look at Christians either as haters, or as weak, or both. To follow Jesus, will always meaning loving others, and that love will sometimes be tough, and will go against the inclinations of our culture.

In Exodus 34, God tells Moses to make two new stone tablets to record the Law to replace the ones Moses broke. God appears to Moses and Moses worships Him. Moses tells God unless He goes with the Israelites not to have them go into the Promised Land. God promises to lead and gives many specific instructions about not intermingling with the people they meet there. If they do, the Israelites will turn away from God and follow the pagan gods served by the inhabitants. While this seems hard to believe, given all God has done for them, life experience tells us it’s easier to follow the crowd we can see, even when we know they are doing wrong, than to follow God, unless we make that commitment before engaging with others.  Moses was on the mountain for forty days with God and when he returned his face glowed from being in God’s presence. Imagine the impression that made on the people of Israel!  Yet the Apostle Paul tells us our “glow” from being in God’s presence ought to be even greater, because we are children of the new covenant. Paul wasn’t speaking of a literal glow, but of our positive impact on others as a result of experiencing Jesus’ salvation in our lives.

In Exodus 35-36 Moses warns the people to observe the Sabbath. Then he calls for gifts to be given to build the Tabernacle. The people gave so generously Moses had to tell them to stop! Once the materials were collected Bezalel and Oholiab headed up the construction project and the Tabernacle was built. It occurred to me that the people of Israel had the first “portable church.” The Tabernacle would be put up wherever God told the people to stop and then torn down and moved to the next place when they started to travel again. In our day, many churches–including New Life earlier in our life together–meet in temporary locations, which requires setting up and tearing down each time worship is held. While the idea of portable churches is a “modern” one, we see in Exodus that portable church is one of the oldest ideas in our faith history.

As we return to Mark 9, and read once again of the Transfiguration an amazing affirmation that Jesus is God, because Moses and Elijah appeared with Him, we’re reminded that these “mountain top experiences” (literal in this case), are often followed by challenges. When Jesus, Peter, James and John return to the valley, they find the remaining nine disciples trying without effect to cast a demon out of a boy.  Jesus gets frustrated, then heals the boy. Immediately afterward, Jesus tells the twelve once again He is going to be executed by the religious leaders and the Romans, but will rise from death. Instead of showing concern for Jesus, the disciples debate among themselves about who is the greatest. Jesus reminds the twelve that greatness in God’s Kingdom comes from serving the most. Even 2,000 years later we find this truth hard to accept. The world has always measured greatness by the number of people who serve us, not the number of people we serve. As Jesus’ followers, though, we find Him always turning the world’s views on their head. How many will you serve today? Where will you start?

Exodus 31-33 offers us a great deal of action, and much of it shows us the fickle nature of we human beings. God had already done such amazing miracles in Israel’s presence, but as we see, the people were quick to transfer their allegiance to other gods. First, in chapter 31 God appointed two men: Bezalel and Oholiab to oversee the construction of the Tabernacle. God gifted them spiritually and physically with the special skills they would need to oversee the project. We’re also told all the craftsmen of Israel were given special skill for completing the project. At the end of chapter 31, God presents additional instructions concerning the Sabbath. They are stringent to say the least. Anyone who was caught breaking the Sabbath was to be executed. Why such harsh punishment? Remember, God was establishing Israel as His holy people. One of the most common distractions from following God is putting our work before Him. The timing of the instruction is interesting: God has just instructed Moses to have the Tabernacle built, a project ordained by God, and then God gives additional instructions concerning the Sabbath. It’s possible God realized that even when we’re engaged in His work, we can transfer our allegiance from serving Him to serving the work. That’s a subtle distinction, but vital for us to remember.  We can never let the work of God become more important to us than the God for whom we work!

Exodus 32 offers us the clearest example of the fickleness of God’s people. Moses was gone for 40 days. That is an extended time for a leader to be gone, but Moses had left Aaron and Hur in charge, and the people knew Moses was on the mountain with God. They weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere. Yet, the people cried out to Aaron, because they didn’t think Moses was coming back. They wanted some “gods” to worship. Amazing, isn’t it? The one, true God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. At that very moment, God was giving instructions for the people to Moses. Even so, the people had to have a god to worship. This is so instructive to us. We live in an era when many people deny the existence of God, but always remember: we were created by God to worship Him. If we don’t worship Him, we will worship something or someone. Atheists worship themselves, or science, or hedonism, or some form of order, even if its anarchy. The Israelites abandoned God, and Aaron went along with them, forming a golden calf to worship.

Moses shows us his leadership of the people, when God tells him to go down the mountain, because the people have rebelled. When God tells Moses He is going to destroy the Israelites and form a new people from Moses’ line, Moses intercedes for the people, and God relents.  After Moses enters the camp, and calls those faithful to God to stop the rebellion, the Levites side with Moses, and kill 3,000 Israelites. Once again, this might seem extreme to us, but the alternative would have been to let the people worship false gods. Finally, Moses intercedes again for God not to destroy the Israelites.

As we move to Exodus 33, we are told of Moses’ practice of going to the tent of meeting, to talk with God. Each time Moses entered the tent, the people of Israel would stand outside of their tents in reverent attention. One of my favorite statements in the history of Israel comes in this chapter. We’re told God spoke “face-to-face” with Moses as a man speaks to a friend. Wow!  Imagine having regular face-to-face meetings with God! The chapter closes out with God showing Moses His glory, which is one more affirmation of the closeness of the relationship between God and Moses. Thank God, literally, thank God for Moses’ faithfulness, humility, and leadership over Israel. While Moses had his faults, a lack of loyalty to God and the people was not one of them.

As we return to Mark 8, let’s focus on the healing of the blind man in Bethsaida. (In our first reading of Mark, we focused on Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Feel free to review Day 8’s post if you want to return to that reflection.) What has always stood out to me in this moment, is Jesus need to touch the blind man twice to heal the man completely. Ordinarily, it only took one touch or one word for Jesus’ healing power to be effective. Why two touches in this case? We can’t say for sure, but it seems likely to me, Jesus’ second touch was more for our benefit, than it was a lack of power on His part. Many times we pray for others, or for our own needs, and if the only examples we had from Jesus’ ministry were of immediately answered prayers, we might think our faith is too weak, or we’re being disobedient, or something else was hindering our prayer. A lack of faith and disobedience do hinder our prayers, but sometimes we need to pray through a situation twice, three times, or more. I have had prayers that took many years to answer, and some I’m still waiting for God to answer in the way I am praying He will.

As we pray, we know God is faithful and powerful. Therefore, we pray with confident, and if it takes a second “touch” or a third or more, we continue to pray, knowing God always has our best in mind, and He desires to give us what we ask as we keep Him first in our lives.

In Exodus 28-30 we read God’s extensive instructions to Moses regarding clothing for the priests, the dedication and ordination of priests, plans for the incense altar, and wash basin, and instructions for making the anointing oil and incense used by the priests. In addition, God instructs the people on the gifts to bring for the construction of the Tabernacle. If you are a “big picture” person, as I am, the minute details included in these chapters seem a bit excessive, and yet God’s instructions make it clear exactly what is expected in each of these areas. The point that struck home the most with me was the minute detail in the description of the priest’s ephod, and chest piece. Given the purpose of the chest piece, which was to hold the “Urim and  Thummim,”the instruments  used to receive God’s answers to specific questions, we can see why the minutely detailed instructions were necessary. It also struck me that no one was permitted to make anointing oil or incense with the same formula as that used by the priests. These two materials were to be used for God’s holy purposes only.

While we won’t get to the Apostle Peter’s letters for a long time based on our daily readings, I couldn’t help thinking of his words in 1 Peter 2: 9-10 as we read Exodus 28-30:   ⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV) While only those descended from Levi could be priests in Moses’ time through the time of Jesus, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, each of us is now a priest, and all of us together are “a royal priesthood.” We don’t wear the elaborate outfits the priests in Moses’ day wore, but we are certainly able to enter the presence of God, through Jesus’ work on our behalf.

As we read through Mark 7 once again, I’m reminded of how the Pharisees were caught up in the details of external tradition, while Jesus focused on the heart. When the Pharisees complained because the disciples ate with “unwashed hands,”  Jesus responded by quoting Isaiah: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” As Jesus continued to instruct us regarding the internal and the external, He made it clear it isn’t what goes into us that defiles, but what comes out.  With those statements He pronounced all foods clean. Let’s look for a moment at Mark 7:20-23 to see Jesus’ point about true cleanness and uncleanness.  ²⁰He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’²¹For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²²greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  ²³All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'” Mark 7:20-23 (NIV) As we go about our day, we do well to start by “cleaning” the inside of our lives through prayer, Bible reading and calling on God to fill us with the Holy Spirit to empower us for the day. After all, if the inside is clean, the rest will take care of itself.

     Mark 7 concludes with the faith of a Syrophonecian woman, which I commented on in Day 7’s reading, and the healing of man who was deaf and dumb. While the miracle is amazing, several years ago, I read a book titled The Heart Reader, which is based on that passage. It was written anonymously by a Christian author who would have been well-known, if he or she had chosen to tell us who he or she was. The purpose of the book was to remind us that Jesus has the power to “open” not only ears and mouths, but hearts to salvation in His name. I commend the book to you. It is a great devotional read, and helps to refocus us on the importance of sharing the good news of Jesus with others.

In Exodus 24-27, we read of God reaffirming His covenant with Moses, and also of Moses receiving the description of how the Tabernacle would be constructed. God started out by telling Moses people were to give free will offerings to provide funds for the Tabernacle. I find that refreshing. God’s people were offered the opportunity to give or not to the construction of the Temple. We will read later the people gave so much Moses had to tell them to stop! That has always amazed me. The people of New Life, where I serve as lead pastor are generous people, as generous as any group of Jesus’ followers I have known. Yet, we have never had to tell folks to stop giving, yet. That will be an incredible day.

God gives Moses specific details about each aspect of the Tabernacle and it’s content as we read through most of the remember of Exodus, we will find these details are the main focus. Planning is an important component of every project we undertake as Jesus followers. If God needed to do that with Moses, we can be sure our efforts in His name need to include planning as well. While we always want to be led by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is a  Spirit of order, unity, and peace. Those realities require planning and prayer to live out in our lives.

As we return to Mark 6, we see again how the people of Jesus’ hometown didn’t receive Him. He pointed out a  prophet is without honor among his own people. How true that is. When we have grown up in a particular place, and the people know us well, they know the negative details of our lives. That makes it harder for them to find our transformation in the Lord, and our call from Him credible. That wasn’t the case with Jesus. He started out perfect. He didn’t need to be transformed. Even so, the people didn’t receive Him for who He was, so they missed out on experiencing His amazing power.

As the chapter continues, Jesus sends the twelve out on their first “mission trip.” Note Jesus tells them not to worry about provision, because God will provide for them. This wasn’t always Jesus’ instruction, but in this case, He wanted the twelve to rely totally on God to provide what they needs. Mark includes the account of how John the Baptist died in this chapter, and then moves on to tell us about Jesus feeding the 5,000 (which was more likely the feeding of the 20,000, because the 5,000 only included the men) with extremely limited resources. This is the only miracle of Jesus included in all four gospels. Finally, Mark offers us another “nature” miracle as Jesus walks on water. I have always thought it would have been incredible to be one of Jesus’ disciples. They experienced so many amazing miracles while Jesus was with them. It’s easy to think they ought to have “gotten it,” sooner. But it’s also easy to forget the twelve expected Jesus to be a conquering hero, instead of a suffering servant. More about that as we continue through the year. We live on the resurrection side of Easter, so let’s live into the Holy Spirit’s power as we experience Jesus life in our lives today!

In Exodus 21-23, we find many examples of casuistic or “case law.” Rather than go in depth on the dozens and dozens of individual laws written there, let’s look at a couple of specific categories.  First, we find Exodus 21 addresses the fair treatment of slaves. What? As 21st century Americans the idea of “fair treatment of slaves” sounds like an oxymoron. How can a slave be treated fairly? That’s a great question. The truth is slavery is not an acceptable practice. It was practiced in Israelite society, and American slave owners used passages such as Exodus 21 to justify their ownership of slaves. We could wish if they were going to carry out the onerous practice, they would at least have followed the commands found in Exodus, because the Israelites were expected to treat the slaves fairly, and to give them specific rights.  Some say the Bible is not a culturally-conditioned book, but Exodus 21 shows us it is. By the time of the New Testament, slaves were still used, but the Apostle Paul mandated slave owners treat their slaves fairly, and at least in one case as a “brother.” He pointed out that gaining one’s freedom was a good goal.

As Jesus’ followers, we need to admit the Bible’s positions on slavery, and then affirm the need to eliminate the practice. The truth is human trafficking, which is a modern form of slavery, is rampant in the world. Our first goal is always to share the gospel, and to offer people the opportunity to be freed from sin and death through Jesus’ salvation. A second goal must accompany that first goal, and it is to free people from all forms of slavery however they are lived out practically. Literal slavery whether for sexual purposes, or labor purposes, or any other purpose is sinful. As Jesus’ followers we are called to work to eliminate it. We must also work to free people from slavery to addictions of all types.

Some say Christians ought to avoid “social justice” issues. James, the brother of Jesus, told us if we see people who are hungry or without clothes, but offer them only a “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” but don’t do anything to help, that is wrong. As we read Exodus 21, we need to read it in light of all of the Bible’s teaching, as well as the history of Christian experience to our day. Sometimes we won’t be able to come to easy answers for what to do, but in every case we must seek Jesus’ will and then carry it out in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

It’s interesting that throughout Exodus 21-23, we find God’s concern for fairness, justice, and living in appropriate relationships with one another. Some of the recommendations seem extreme to us, and they are by today’s standards. We must remember God was establishing a people who would be set apart from the pagan nations surrounding them. The laws He offered did that. He promised to bless and protect the Israelites, and that blessing was contingent on their obedience to Him. We will find throughout the Bible, God’s people have not been able to live up to the standards of the Law, which is why Jesus had to come. He fulfilled what we could not by living in perfection, thus making it possible for us to be in relationship with God and each other as God always intended. God’s action in Jesus was extreme. As we read the laws in Exodus we will do well to remember God’s ways for His people at any moment often will be counter or against the culture. When we see that, let’s ask, “Why is God doing that, or establishing this law at this moment?” That question helps us go through the hard task of discerning God’s purpose rather than dismissing it, because it doesn’t fit our culture’s biases.

As I wrote when we considered Mark 5 on day five, this is one my favorite chapters in the Bible. I wrote extensively about it then. If you want to review my comments, go back to the Day 5 reading!