Month: February 2019

 [NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 314-Acts 1-3 summary!]

In Numbers 10, we read of the silver trumpets God commanded Moses to make. These trumpets were to call the Israelites or their leaders to assemble before the Tabernacle. In addition, once they entered the Promised Land, they would be used to call the Israelites to battle or to celebration. This “technology” was vital for the people, although it seems so primitive from our perspective. The remainder of the chapter tells us of the Israelites first move from one place in the wilderness to another. The detail of which tribe was to go first, and the order in which clans of Levites who carried the various parts of the Tabernacle and its contents were to travel, is–as we have come to expect–extensive. The planning was such that by the time the last of the people of Israel had arrived at a new destination, the Tabernacle was already set up and ready for use. As I read this account, I was reminded of how often I am not nearly that intentional with the details of my life. While we live under grace and not under law, at times I can use my “freedom” as an excuse not to be as disciplined as would be helpful. Our reading in Numbers, helps us see how important order and discipline were for God’s people. They remain important for us as well.

In Numbers 11, the Israelites complaining to Moses gets stronger. Their complaints focus on a lack of variety in their diet, and how much better it was in Egypt. They cry out for meat to replace the manna, which God provided daily. God’s responses might seem extreme. First, He sends fire, which kills some of the Israelites. They cry out to Moses for help. Moses cries out to God and God stops the fire. Then Moses cries out to God, telling God he needs help. God sends the Holy Spirit on seventy elders of Israel. This shows us how different it was in Moses’ time than in ours when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Each of us who knows Jesus as Savior and Lord have the Holy Spirit in our lives, but only Moses and the seventy elders held that blessing in Israel. Eventually, God responds to the Israelites cry for meat by sending thousands and thousands of quail to the camp. The sight must have been incredible, given the account tells us each Israelite gathered fifty bushels or more. As they started to eat, God sent a plague on the people. Again, from our perspective this seems extreme. Why would God kill people for wanting meat? We need to look to the plan of God once again. He was creating a people set apart, a holy people. They thought first and foremost of themselves and their own needs. How easy that is for each of us. God wanted the Israelites to be grateful for what He provided, not to worry about what they lacked. Another vital lesson for us!

In Numbers 12, the complaining turns from the nation as a whole to Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ brother and sister.  They complained because Moses had a foreign wife, and asked whether God only spoke through Moses? God’s response was immediate. He reminded Aaron and Miriam that Moses was His friend, and then struck Miriam with leprosy. Moses cried out for God to restore Miriam. God said He would, but only after seven days. Human nature is a complaining nature. Moses found favor with God, because He submitted His nature to God, because He lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Time after time, Moses cried out to God for His people. Such a response models God’s intention for us. We are called to intercede for others even when they have turned against God, and when they’re complaining against God and us. That is never easy, but it is part of our calling as those God has treated as friends.

In Numbers 13, we read the account of Moses selecting twelve spies, one from each of the tribes of Israel, to go in and scout out the Promised Land. When they returned, the spies reported the land was amazing. It produced incredible fruit, crops and was a land “flowing with milk and honey.” Once they had offered that report their work was done. Moses had chosen them to scout out the land and bring back a report. But the spies didn’t stop there. They told of the people who lived in the land, including giants, and then concluded, “We can’t go in there!”  Caleb, one of the twelve spies disagreed. He believed with God’s support they could take the land. As we’ll see tomorrow, the people didn’t wait for Moses to give them instructions. They voted. We don’t read about the people voting often in the Bible, but when they do, it’s not a good thing. More about that tomorrow. For today, let’s remember, when God gives us a task, it’s always best to carry out the task, and not to worry about analyzing the situation and making recommendations. I’m not saying we ought not to think when we’re obeying God. I’m saying we need to obey God, and not let our observations change our obedience into disobedience.

In John 7, we read of Jesus going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths. His appearance there caused a great stir, because the people were amazed at His teaching, as they had already been amazed by His signs and miracles. Arguments arose over whether Jesus was the Christ or Messiah. The religious leaders attempted to arrest Jesus, but the arresting officers they sent, were caught up in Jesus’ teaching, and didn’t arrest Him. This caused the religious leaders to condemn the arresting officers and the crowds. They said the people didn’t know anything, and the testimony of the prophets was the Messiah would be descended from David and come from Bethlehem, not Galilee. (They were apparently unaware Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and was, indeed, descended from David.) As they were condemning Jesus, Nicodemus stood up for Jesus by pointing out it wasn’t the habit to condemn someone before giving him a hearing and a trial. The rest of the religious leaders turned on Nicodemus, asking whether he was also from Galilee.

Throughout John’s Gospel, we find extended discourses between Jesus and the religious leaders. The result is always the same: Jesus reveals something vital about Himself, in this case that He has streams of living water for anyone who wants them; then the religious leaders condemn Jesus and anyone who follows Him. This cycle is repeated until the point when the religious leaders arrest Jesus, give Him a “trial,” condemn Him, and then pass Him on to the Romans for execution. As we read these passages, we might automatically side with Jesus, because we live on the resurrection side of the cross. If we attempt to consider why the religious leaders took the position they did against Jesus, it becomes apparent they had many preconceived notions of who the Messiah would be, from where He would come, and the purpose of His coming. Jesus didn’t measure up to these preconceptions, so rather than examine the preconceptions to see whether they were true, they condemned Jesus. We would do well to learn from their mistakes. We might also have preconceived notions about Jesus based on what others have told us, or what we have read in books. The key is to read the book, the Bible, and then draw our conclusions about Jesus from what we find there.

Day 314-Acts 1-3; Matthew 1

Today we turn to the Book of Acts for the first time. The full title is often “The Acts of the Apostles,” but some have contended a better title would be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the central actor in the book. From start to finish, we see how different the presence of the Holy Spirit in everybeliever’s life makes humanity. As we saw so often in the Old Testament, only a select few received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The masses followed these anointed leaders. Now, from Acts 2 forward, every believer has the opportunity to be led by the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 1, Luke introduces his second book to Theophilus. He tells us the first book (the Gospel of Luke) told all that Jesus had done and taught. This second book starts after Jesus had risen from the dead. Indeed, in chapter 1, Jesus has his final meeting with the apostles before returning to heaven. In that meeting, He tells the apostles they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from that moment. He also tells them once they receive the power of they Holy Spirit they will be His witnesses “…in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The “formula” is: Wait. Receiver Power. Go. How vital it is for us to keep that order in our minds and hearts. Unless we wait for the filling of the Holy Spirit, we won’t have any power to carry Jesus’ mission forward in the world. There’s no sense going without that power. In the remainder of chapter 1, the apostles choose a replacement for Judas. The interesting thing about that is we never hear about the replacement again, because Jesus already had a replacement in mind–more about that in future chapters of Acts. 

Acts 2 offers us the record of the first “Christian” Pentecost, often considered the “birthday” of the Church. That’s because Jesus promise to send the Holy Spirit was fulfilled that day. 120 believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and witnessed to the thousands of Jews who were in Jerusalem for what was at that moment the Jewish holy day of Pentecost. Through their ministry 3,000 people responded to the Good News, and the Church was born. In Acts 3, we see the amazing power God gave to His children through the Holy Spirit as Peter and John received power to heal a lame beggar. The account is amazing and joyous as we see a man released from a lifetime of being unable to walk. He not only walks, but he also leaps and runs and praises God. Peter uses this opportunity to tell the people gathered in the Temple where the miracle took place, about Jesus. More people responded to the Good News and additional thousands were added to those who believed. 

As we return to Matthew 1, we read again the genealogy of Jesus as well as the account of His birth.  Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth contains different details than Luke’s, as we would expect. After all, Matthew’s heritage was Jewish, and Luke’s was Gentile. That means Matthew was quite concerned about how Jesus, as the Messiah, fulfilled the Jewish Scriptures. Luke, on the other hand, was more concerned about how Jesus’ coming fulfilled God’s overall plan for humanity.

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 313-John 19-21 summary!]

Numbers 7 records the offerings the Israelites brought for the dedication of the Tabernacle. They brought a collective gift of wagons for carrying the Tabernacle’s supplies, then each tribe brought the same gift on successive days: a silver tray with a grain offering, a golden incense holder with four ounces of incense, and various animals to be sacrificed.  The ritual continued for twelve days, the same each day. At the end of chapter 7 we’re told whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle, God spoke to Him. This again established the importance of Moses to the people of Israel. He was their true mediator, because he spoke to God directly for them, and brought God’s instructions to them.

Numbers 8 offers brief instructions concerning the lamps to be used in the Tabernacle and how they were to be directed, so the light would shine a certain way. Then the remainder of the chapter presents the Lord’s instruction for the dedication of the Levites to Himself. Each Levite was to wash in the water of purification, then shave his entire body. Then he would be clean. After that, the entire nation of Israel was to place their hands on the Levites, symbolizing that the Levites were becoming the substitute for the first born of each of the other tribes. This is a significant action. We see this, because the Levites were then to lay their hands on the sin offerings before they were sacrificed. That means all the Israelites would see the Levites as being “sacrifices” of a type for themselves. The final instructions concerning the Levites was their years of service. They were to start serving at the age of twenty-four and then to “retire” at the age of fifty. Retire is in quotes, because while they could no longer serve directly before the Lord after the age of fifty, they could continue to serve as guards of the Tabernacle. They wouldn’t quit working, but their work was now in a supportive role rather than a direct one.

Numbers 9 records God’s command to celebrate the Passover for the second time. The instructions (as usual) were quite explicit, and those who were ceremonially unclean at the time of the Passover were required to wait exactly one month and then to celebrate it. The remembrance was so significant that anyone who failed to celebrate it was to be cut off from the people. In the second half of the chapter, we read of how the cloud of God would hover over the Tabernacle. At night, it turned to a pillar of fire. When the cloud moved the people broke camp and followed where it led. We’re told the cloud would sometimes only stay overnight, while at other times it would stay a few days, a month or even a year. Regardless of when the cloud moved, the people followed. How awesome would it be to have God’s direction laid out that clearly in our lives? It must have been a helpful reminder to the Israelites that God was always with them, because the cloud was always there, and gave them clear direction.  Thankfully, we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us daily. We need to be sure we listen to His voice and direction and follow where He leads, because as we do, we will gain deeper discernment.

John 6 is one of the longest chapters in the New Testament. In it we read the account of the feeding of the five thousand. This is the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four gospels, which tells us of its significance. In John 6, we find after Jesus performed the miracle, the people wanted to make Him king. Jesus’ response was to go off by Himself to pray. Later He joined the disciples who were on a boat, which meant Jesus walked on water to join them! The next day the crowds came after Jesus asking Him to show them a miracle. (What was feeding five thousand men, along with woman and children with five loaves of bread and two fish, if not a miracle?) In the midst of the discussion, Jesus told the crowd that their “work” was to believe in Him. Think about that for a moment: our work as Jesus’ followers is to believe in Him. That belief in Jesus is not a mere acknowledgement of His existence, but faith that He is God’s Son, and Savior and Lord of our lives.

Jesus had demonstrated His worthiness to be their king the day before, but the crowd started questioning Jesus more, and eventually Jesus told them they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood, a statement pointing to the Lord’s Supper, but one the crowd interpreted literally. This caused a great many of Jesus “disciples” to fall away. When Jesus saw the mass exodus, He turned to the twelve and asked, “Are you leaving, too?” Peter answered Jesus by saying, “Where would we go? You have the words of life!” Many times in our lives, people raise questions about Jesus, about our faith in Him, about the miracles and exorcisms of Jesus and they want to know how we can believe all those things. That is where our faith is put to the test. Jesus is true, and faith in Him results in salvation in every age, but unless we do have the faith Jesus requires, we never experience the fullness of following the one who’s words are life to us–here and now and for eternity!

Day 313-John 19-21

John 19-21 record Jesus’ death, resurrection and the events that took place after His resurrection before He returned to heaven.  In John’s record of Jesus’ crucifixion, we read of the soldiers piercing Jesus’ side, rather than breaking His legs as had been done to the others who were crucified beside Him. This holds significance, because the Old Testament tells us that not a bone of the Messiah’s body would be broken. Even though He was brutally beaten and crucified, His bones weren’t broken.  John is the only gospel writer who gives us a detailed record of Jesus appearing first to Mary Magdalene after He rose from the dead. The meeting is so poignant, because Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus at first, thinking He’s just the gardener, but all He has to do is say, “Mary!” and at once she recognizes Him.  In the final chapter, Jesus reinstates Peter by asking Him three times, “Simon, Son of John do you love me?”  Each time Peter answers in the affirmative. Jesus tells Peter he will one day give up his life in serving Jesus, which must have been a great comfort, after his previous denials of Jesus. As we know, Jesus’ grace is always greater than our sin or failure, but John 21 shows us that so powerfully. 

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 312-John 16-18 summary!]

In Numbers 4 we learn of the three major clans of the Levites: the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites. We read of their duties, which are listed in great detail. At the end of the chapter, God charges Moses to number or count the clans. In Numbers 5 we read a brief description of how the purity of the Israelite camp was to be maintained by sending any “unclean” persons out of the camp. Then follows a long explanation of how to test for an unfaithful wife. As 21st century readers, we might wonder why we find no test for an unfaithful husband. Remember, in this time women did not have many rights, while men held most of them. This was true in most cultures, and was true of the Israelites, as well. As we see in Numbers 6, though, a woman could take a Nazarite vow, and in other places we find they could take various types of vows. The difference between men and women in this case, was if a woman was not married, her father had to approve the vow, and if she was married her husband had to approve the for her to be able to follow through on it.

The description of the Nazarite vow is detailed extensively as we have come to expect with any command given by God. When we get to the book of Judges, we will meet one of the most famous or infamous Nazarites: Sampson. At the close of Numbers 6 we read what is often called the Aaronic blessing, which is used as a benediction at various types of worship services: ²⁴“The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV) Remember the blessing was given in the context of commands about purity, and making vows to the Lord. The people of Israel were a people “set apart,” collectively, within various clans, and even as individuals through their taking of vows. The result of their separateness would be God’s blessing.  While our goal is not to separate ourselves from others in an isolationist fashion, the idea of setting ourselves apart to serve God is common to every era in biblical history. It is a principle we all do well to adopt for ourselves. We live in the world, but we are not to be of it when it comes to following the ways that lead us to a deeper love for and obedience to God.

John 5 starts with Jesus healing a man near the Pool of Bethsaida. The man had been paralyzed for nearly four decades, which makes Jesus’ original question to him seem strange, “Do you want to get well?” The man answers with an excuse. He is paralyzed and he has no one to help him get to the pool.  The people thought when the waters of the pool “stirred,” an angel was there and the first person in the pool at such times would be healed.  Jesus wasn’t concerned with any of that. He wanted to know whether the man wanted healing. What a vital question for all of us. Jesus offers us healing of body, soul, and spirit. The question is, “Do we want to be healed?” Jesus stands ready to work in our lives, but we must be ready to say, “Yes!” to Him.

After the healing, the religious leaders responded with typical disdain. This time, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath.  He seemed to have done that frequently. The resulting argument between Jesus and the religious leaders remind us religion never gets us into relationship with God. Even though the religious leaders of the Jews had the opportunity to know and serve the one, true, living God, and never more so than when Jesus was standing right in front of them, they preferred focusing on the rituals and traditions of the faith rather than knowing their God personally. This serves as an important warning for us, because no matter how close we are to God, the danger always exists that the relationship could degenerate into religion. The way to ensure that doesn’t happen is through daily interaction with Him through reading His word, prayer, and then applying what He tells us. After all, obedience is the kind of worship God affirms the most in His word.

Day 312-John 16-18

John 16-18 moves us through Jesus’ final time of teaching and prayer with His disciples, and then to His arrest and trial before the Jewish religious leaders, and the Roman governor, Pilate.  Jesus made it clear to the disciples that they would be hated because of their relationship with them, that they would be filled with sorrow, because of their loss of Him, but their sorrow would turn to joy.  In chapter 17, we read “The high priestly prayer” of Jesus. It received that title, because in it, Jesus prayed to His father on behalf of His followers, but not only for the disciples, but for all who would follow Him in the future–including us! Jesus’ heart for us is that we will remain faithful and overcome the challenges we face in serving Him, and that we will be one as He and His Heavenly Father are one. Some have taken this “oneness” prayer of Jesus and used it to show He is not God, or that we are to become “gods,” but it doesn’t lead us to such a conclusion. That Jesus prays for our oneness to be like that of He and His Father means He wants us to let the Holy Spirit bring a supernatural unity to our lives and fellowship. Chapter 18 shows us Jesus had been right all along, when He prepared His disciples for this moment of being rejected by people, and when the religious leaders would hand Him over to be crucified. The crucifixion doesn’t happen in chapter 18, but the way is laid for it to take place. Peter’s denial of Jesus might have been the most painful experience He faced in this experience.

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 311-John 13-15 summary!]

The Book of Numbers is so named, because in it, God orders Moses to count the people of Israel. The book continues the account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and shows us why the wandering required an additional forty years to complete. In Numbers 1 Moses counts the men of fighting age in each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Levites are neither included in the list of the names of the twelve tribes, nor numbered, because God orders they not be counted.  Numbers 2 tells us of how the tribes were to camp around the Tabernacle. Three tribes were to camp on each side, so the Tabernacle was surrounded by the Israelites. The order was significant, because when the Israelites broke camp to move to the next location God directed them, they would break camp in the specific order God presented. The logistics of moving more than 600,000 fighting men, along with their families must have been challenging in a day with no communication technology but rams’ horns. Yet, they accomplished the task by following God’s directions.

Numbers 3 tells us of the Levites’ place among the Israelites. First, they were to serve Aaron and his sons in the priestly ministry. This work was vital and required diligent effort. The second “task” of the Levites was to serve as substitutes for the first-born sons of all the rest of the Israelites. God required the first-born son of every family as His, but in order to keep the families from having to give up their sons to Him, God accepted all the male Levites as substitutes. When all the first-born sons were counted, it was determined that a shortage of 273 Levites existed. The solution was an offering of 1365 shekels of silver was given to make up the difference.

In John 4 we read an extended account of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman. As we read the account, we find Jesus asked the woman for help. This would have been unprecedented for a Jewish rabbi. First, the person was a Samaritan, and the Jews detested the Samaritans considering them “half-breeds,” who had defied God’s commands. Second, she was a woman. Rabbis didn’t speak with women in public in Jesus’ day. Finally, the woman was immoral having been married five times, and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. This “trifecta” of disqualifiers didn’t stop Jesus from entering into conversation with the woman, asking her for help, and ultimately leading her into a relationship with Him. Because of her faith in Jesus, she called the rest of her village to come and meet Jesus, with the result that they all believed He was the Messiah. John 4 shows us how Jesus’ influence in one person’s life can transform many. This is good news for each of us as we share our faith in Jesus with one other person at a time. We never know when the one person God uses us to lead to Jesus, will lead many others to Him as well!

At the end of John 4, Jesus is encountered by a “royal official” who asked Jesus to heal his sick son. Jesus challenged the man by saying that unless he saw a miracle he would not believe. The man persisted to plea on behalf of his son. Jesus told him to go, that his son would be healed. It happened exactly as Jesus said. When the man returned home his son was well. The entire family believed in Jesus. Once again, we see how much impact one person’s healing can have, and that came from one person’s persistence in calling on Jesus.

Day 311-John 13-15 In John 13, Jesus offers His disciples one of the most powerful examples of what it means to be a servant leader, by washing their feet after they eat their last meal together before He is arrested, tried, convicted, beaten and crucified. Jesus sets forth a new commandment that they must love one another as He has loved them. In John 14, Jesus tells of His impending return to heaven, but that ultimately that would mean His return to take them to be with Him. While the disciples weren’t sure where Jesus was going or how to get there, Jesus told them, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  He also told the disciples they would do greater works than He, because He was going to the Father. In John 15, Jesus provides the amazing metaphor of Him being the “vine,” and we His followers, being the “branches.” So long as we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. Jesus tells us again of the importance of His new command to love one another as He first loved us.

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 310-John 10-12 summary!]

Leviticus 26 offers us the blessings God would provide the Israelites if they obeyed His commands, and the punishments they would receive if they disobeyed.  The cause and effects relationship between obedience and disobedience was clear. As we move through the Bible, we will see this clear cause and effect between obedience and disobedience remains stable, although exceptions start to appear. Job, the most righteous man of his age, suffered a great deal, despite his righteousness. King David often complains in his Psalms that the unrighteous prosper, while the righteous suffer. By the time we get to the New Testament, righteous suffering is modeled most clearly by Jesus, yet others are also martyred for their faith in Him. The principle of blessing for obedience and punishment for disobedience is still valid, but we must remember exceptions do occur.

Leviticus 27 closes out the book with a list of valuations of people based on their ages and gender when it came to redemption or vows. In addition,  valuations for property and types of animals that could be offered in these situations is provided. The chapter is one which doesn’t have much present day application, but was quite important among the Israelites in that moment.  While the Bible is all true, and it is all the word of God, parts of the Old Testament are superseded explicitly by statements of Jesus, and others were relevant mainly to their moment in history. As always principles can be drawn from the truth, such as here, we see once again how important it is to give God our best.

John 3 is perhaps one of the best-known chapters of the Bible. In it Jesus has His famous conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who came to Jesus at night. The night time meeting was surely because Nicodemus didn’t want to be seen with Jesus, but the truth Jesus offered Nicodemus has transformed the world. Jesus told Nicodemus to inherit eternal life we must be “born again.” In our day, the concept of “born again Christians” has become controversial, yet as I often point out unless we are born again, by Jesus’ definition, we are not Christians. Jesus invested a great deal of time with Nicodemus in making clear how important spiritual birth is in our lives. His explanation confused Nicodemus, a spiritual leader, so it isn’t surprising we can also get confused in our “sophistication.” The concept of being born again is quite simple, because it is simply spiritual birth, which is parallel to physical birth, but when we think too much about it, we can make it difficult. Jesus point was the only way to gain eternal life is to receive the spiritual life He alone offers. That life means having the Holy Spirit in us from the moment of our rebirth. As with physical birth and growth, spiritual birth also requires growth. Thankfully, the entire Bible gives us guidance in what it means to live the new life Jesus lived, died, and rose again to bring us. The key is to believe in Jesus, receive the new life He gives, and then live it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Day 310-John 10-12

In John 10, Jesus tells us He is the “Door” to the sheepfold, and the Good Shepherd. Jesus distinguishes between the devil’s work, which is to kill, steal and destroy, and His work, which is to bring us life in all of its abundance.  In John 11, we read the powerful account of Jesus’ friend Lazarus dying. Even though Lazarus’ sisters: Mary and Martha, had sent for Jesus to let Him know Lazarus was sick, Jesus waited until Lazarus had been dead for four days, before going to visit the family. In Jesus’ poignant interaction with Martha, Jesus proclaims, “I am the Resurrection and the Life!” Then he proves it by raising Lazarus from the dead. This amazes all but the religious leaders. They see this as one more evidence that Jesus will be the ultimate reason for the Romans to come and destroy they. They begin to plot in earnest to have Jesus killed. John 12 records Jesus being anointed by Mary, which was a preparation for His death. The religious leaders develop a plot to kill Lazarus, because he was evidence of Jesus’ power. Jesus marches triumphantly into Jerusalem, but this only causes more division as people must choose whether they are going to side with Jesus being the Messiah, or an impostor.

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 309-John 7-9 summary!]

Leviticus 23 tells us of the appointed festivals of the Israelites. They include Passover, the Feast of First Harvest, the Feast of Harvest, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Shelters or Booths. Most of the feasts or festivals were tied in with the harvest of various crops, but the two most important festivals: Passover and the Day of Atonement were tied to God’s deliverance of the people from slavery in Egypt and from slavery to sin. While we don’t typically celebrate these festivals, feasts or holy days, our celebration of Easter is tied to the celebration of Passover, because Jesus died as our “Passover Lamb,” and His institution of the Lord’s Supper was a reinterpreting of Passover. While Passover started the process of the Israelites becoming God’s people according to the Mosaic Covenant, Jesus’ changed Passover to the Last Supper and instituted the “new covenant,” which was sealed the next day in His blood.

Leviticus Chapter 24 tells the Israelites of their obligation to provide pure olive oil for the lamps in the tabernacle and holy bread for it daily. Such details show us once again of God’s call to holiness. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to an example of the just punishment of a man who blasphemed the name of the LORD in the middle of a fight. The punishment was death at the hands of the people.

Leviticus 24 outlines the rules for the Sabbath year, which was to occur every seventh year, and the year of Jubilee which occurred every fiftieth year. During these special times the land was to be given “rest” from being planted, and during the Jubilee, any land which had been sold was to be returned to its original owner. In addition, slaves were to be freed during the Jubilee. This radical concept shows us God is the ultimate owner of everyone and everything, and His desire is for us to live in freedom. Jesus becomes our redeemer through His fulfillment of the Law as our once-and-for-all sacrifice. He sets us free from sin and death, which is the ultimate Jubilee.

In John 2, Jesus performs His first miracle. A couple of points about the miracle: 1) He didn’t want to do the miracle; and 2) the miracle itself was turning water into wine.  Jesus was pushed into performing the miracle by Mary, His mother. The problem was Jesus, His disciples, and mother were attending a wedding and the wine ran out. This was a major social faux pas. Mary told Jesus about the situation, and He said it wasn’t time for Him to do a miracle. Nevertheless, He obeyed His mother and did the miracle. That’s quite a statement about the importance of honoring our parents! What about the miracle being to provide wedding guests with wine? Many contend the wine was “non-alcoholic,” but the context tells us that isn’t true. When the steward of the event was given the wine Jesus “made” he said most people serve the best wine first, then once the guests are drunk, the cheaper wine would be served. The steward wondered why they had saved the best wine for last? We would expect anything Jesus made to be the best, but why contribute wine to a party? Many answers have been offered. Perhaps none is better than Jesus was obeying His mother and doing a culturally appropriate service to the family. He was helping. Jesus never did a miracle for His own benefit or aggrandizement. We can be sure this was not an exception, because the result was the situation was corrected, Jesus obeyed His mother, and His disciples believed in Him as a result.

Day 309-John 7-9

In John 7-9, John shows us Jesus is God. That’s a powerful statement, but we see it time and time again. In John 7, Jesus tells the people He is the source of rivers of living water. In John 8, Jesus calls Himself the Light of the World. In John 9, Jesus heals a man who was born blind, and tells the man He healed that He is the Messiah. None of this happens without conflict. The religious leaders argue and debate with Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t back down. He knows they are out to put an end not only to His ministry, but to His life. Nevertheless, Jesus continues to proclaim who He is: The Son of God.  

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 308-John 4-6 summary!]

Leviticus 19 starts with this command: ¹The LORD also said to Moses,
²“Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. Leviticus 19: 1-2 (NLT) The entire chapter is devoted to various commands promoting personal holiness. In Leviticus 19:18 we read: ¹⁸“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18 (NLT) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Thousands of years later when Jesus would be asked, “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He would respond, “Love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment, and a second one is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus took that command from Leviticus 19:18. While Leviticus is mainly rules about sacrifices, Leviticus chapter 19 reminds us all the commands in Leviticus were designed to shape Israel into a holy people, who would reflect the holiness of their God. We find no more practical command in pursuing personal holiness than this one to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we share the love of God, which we have received, with one another, the natural outcome is lives of personal holiness.

Leviticus 20 offers the punishment for various forms of disobedience. Many of the offenses listed required capital punishment. This extreme punishment shows how serious God was about personal and corporate holiness for the Israelites. While Jesus would later tell us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, God told Moses to show no mercy to those who broke the Law, and the judgment for the crimes listed in Leviticus 21 was either death or being “cut off” from the people.  Some see two different Gods in Jesus and the God of the Old Testament, but there is only one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The same God who pronounced judgment on the Israelites for committing specific sins, judges us for our actions. Jesus reminded us we will give an account for every idle word we speak. The grace and mercy of God is much more obvious in Jesus, although we find it all through the Old Testament. In the same way, the New Testament makes it clear we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ when this life is over. Thankfully, that judgment won’t mean death, because Jesus paid that penalty, but when we read the Bible, we dare not think of one God of the Old Testament and Jesus a different God of the New Testament. There is one God who is holy, and who calls His people to holiness.

Leviticus 21 takes the command for personal holiness directly to the behavior of priests. In general, priests were prohibited from becoming “unclean” by touching dead people, although exceptions were made for close relatives. In addition, the priests weren’t to marry a woman who had been divorced or had engaged in prostitution. When it came to the high priest, he was not permitted to become unclean by touching any dead person, even his father or mother. In addition, he was only permitted to marry a virgin woman from within his own clan. Once again, these commands might seem strange to our ears, but the goal was to ensure those who administered the law and rituals of the faith of the Israelites modeled behavior that reflected holiness.

Leviticus 22 applies the holiness rules to the offerings presented to God, and to which priests would be counted worthy to eat the portions of the offerings devoted to them. The key phrase is “without defect.” In other, words, the people were to bring their best to God. We see this principle throughout Leviticus and is a principle that applies to us today. In Philippians 2:12-13, the Apostle Paul reminded us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling–obviously meaning we are to offer God our best. He concluded the thought by adding: for God is at work in you to will and to work for His good pleasure. The amazing difference for us is because Jesus fulfilled the commands of the Law, both in dying in our place as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins, and in being perfect in every way, we receive that imputed holiness from Him when we are born again. We can live in His power through the Holy Spirit. That does not negate the need for our effort. We must do all we can do, and give our best to God, but that will fall short. God makes up the difference through His work in us. What an incredible truth!

Today, we turn to the Gospel of John. After reading through Mark’s Gospel twice, we will embark on two readings of John, before moving to a double reading of Matthew and finally a double reading of Luke. One of you asked me, “Why are we reading each gospel twice, when we have to get through the whole Bible in a year?” The short answer is: I want us to have a thorough introduction to the life, ministry, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus. We will read through the entire Bible in a year. Yet, my goal is not simply for us to get through the Bible. I want to get the Bible through us.  As we’re reading through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, it would be easy to forget these books point toward Jesus, if we weren’t reading the Gospels at the same time. In addition, we won’t get to the New Testament until day 288 in our day-by-day readings. Without a companion reading from the Gospels each day, it would be easy to give up on our quest to read through the Bible in a year. I know many who have done so. Many folks have told me they “tried” to read through the Bible from beginning to end, but when they got to Leviticus or Numbers it was too hard, or didn’t make sense, or was boring.  The daily companion posts are intended to help by explaining some of the connections between the daily Old Testament readings and the New Testament. They’re also intended to explain some of the passages in a bit of detail, although not as a scholarly commentary would do. My goal is to help us live the Bible. The daily gospel readings help us to stay anchored in the life of Jesus all through the year.

John 1 is unlike the beginning of any of the other gospels. While Matthew and Luke tell us about Jesus’ birth, and Mark starts with the ministry of John and Jesus’ baptism, John offers us a theological explanation of Jesus being with God from the beginning. John’s gospel was written last, and John’s goal was much more to show Jesus is God, and as he tells us in chapter 20, he wrote so we may believe Jesus is the Messiah and have life in His name. In John 1, we’re also told Jesus was full of grace and truth. This powerful combination is what brings us from the judgment of the law, which was truth without grace, to the freedom of new birth in Jesus! Much more about this in the days ahead.

Day 308-John 4-6

As we return to John 4-6, we’re reminded of how Jesus often helped one person at a time. In John 4, Jesus transformed the life of an entire Samaritan village, but it started with a long conversation with a Samaritan woman.  In John 5, Jesus healed a paralyzed man who had been waiting by the Pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years. In John 6, just for good measure, Jesus feeds 5,000 men (along with the women and children)!

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 307-John 1-3 summary!]

In Leviticus 16, we read about The Day of Atonement. This vital day continues to be celebrated among the Jews to the present. Atonement is an interesting concept, because the word literally means “at-one-ment,” or being put at one with God.  The instructions for atonement included many sacrifices, and the placing of blood from the sacrifices strategically in the Tabernacle and on the priests and people. It also involved a “scapegoat,” a goat on which the sins of the people were pronounced. It was then driven into the wilderness. As with all the commands in Leviticus, the detail is minute, but in this case, the specific Day of Atonement was set aside as an annual practice of being made one with God. When Jesus died on the cross, He atoned for our sin and set us at one with God–once and for all!

In Leviticus 17, we read of God’s prohibiting the Israelites from sacrificing animals anywhere but at the Tabernacle. This would ensure no aberrant sacrificial systems were set up, and that no one would establish himself or herself as God’s priest, outside of God’s ordered process. The punishment for failure to uphold this law was death. God also prohibits the Israelites from eating blood, any kind of animal blood. God tells the people the life is in the blood, and therefore, no one is to eat it. Failure to observe this law would result in being cut off from the people of Israel.

Leviticus 18 offers prohibition against forbidden sexual practices. Most of the practices involved what we would term incest, having sexual relations with a near relative. God also prohibited sexual intercourse with one’s neighbors, with animals, and between two men. In this list of forbidden sexual practices is a prohibition against sacrificing a child to Molech, a foreign god. Many in twenty-first century America see these prohibitions as prudish, primitive, and unnecessary. Others say these prohibitions are similar to the dietary laws and no longer apply post-Jesus. The question becomes, “Why were they instituted in the first place?” Certainly, such commands would ensure the general concern for “cleanliness,” in this case both physically and morally, was enforced. In addition, the relational and procreational aspects of the commands are evident. The prohibition of the forbidden sexual practices would ensure biological families would live in more harmonious relationships and would also provide a benefit the Israelites would not have known at the time: protection from genetically transmitted defects. The prohibition from homosexual sexual relationships, would ensure the purity of the sexual relationship for God’s intended purpose, which was between a husband and a wife in marriage (See Genesis 2).

As we return to Mark 16, we note again this account of Jesus’ resurrection is the shortest and least detailed of those found in the four gospels, particularly if you agree with the assumption of many biblical scholars that only the first 8 verses of Mark 16 are original to it. Even those verses tell us Jesus rose from the dead, and the women who went to the tomb encountered an angel.  The longer ending of Mark 16 offers us a resurrection encounter with Jesus and Mary Magdalene, as well as a meeting with the apostles and His instruction to them to go into all the world and preach the good news to all the creation. Mark 16 offers us some specific information about the signs that will accompany the apostles as they carry out their work of preaching in the nations: exorcism of demons, speaking in tongues, picking up poisonous snakes without negative effect, drinking deadly poison without harm, and laying hands on sick people and healing them. That’s quite a list, isn’t it? So, did Jesus really say that? And are we really to believe we can do those things?  The short answer is: Yes, and yes. Jesus said those things, or they would not be included in the Bible. Our goal here is not to “prove” the Bible is true. (Many have undertaken that task quite effectively. One of the better books on the topic, which also includes explanations for many other beliefs we hold as Jesus’ followers is: I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist.) We trust the Bible is true. As for the signs that accompany Jesus’ followers as we carry out His mission in the world, and whether they still do: I have seen or experienced all of the signs except the snake handling and poison drinking without harm. I have a friend who was given poison repeatedly while on a mission in Africa, and suffered no ill effects, so I have no doubt each of Jesus’ promises in this chapter is true. The key for us is to accept the task of preaching the good news in all nations, and to trust Jesus to provide whatever we need to carry out the process.  None of these signs was given for us to “test” whether we are Jesus’ followers, but rather to confirm the gospel message is true. In the example I mentioned about the pastor friend who was given poison repeatedly while on a mission in Africa, the purpose was to kill him and his team, but when they suffered no ill effects, the village opened to the gospel and many were saved.

Day 307-John 1-3

As we come again to the Gospel of John, remember John’s gospel is the “different” one. It is not “synoptic.” By the time John wrote his gospel, all three of the other gospels had been written and circulated. John wrote not so much to tell the chronology of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, as to demonstrate Jesus is the Son of God. He tells us as much in John 20.  John 1-3 covers the theological expression of Jesus’ equality with God (John 1); Jesus’ first miracle: turning water into wine (John 2); and tell Nicodemus we must be born again (John 3).