Bible in 90, Day 11: Power, Provision, and Promises

Numbers 9-21

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 10: Purity and the New Temple

Leviticus 27-Numbers 8

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 09: Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 15-26

It’s interesting how throughout Leviticus 19, God repeats the phrase “I am the LORD.”  (Recall from a few days ago that this is the all-caps LORD, therefore, God’s personal name – Yahweh.)  He is reminding us time and time again that laws He is laying out find their root in His character and holiness.  It should come as no shock then that the second greatest commandment (see Matthew 22:36-40) is rooted in this same character of God.

When God tells the people of Israel to love their neighbors as themselves, He follows it with the reminder, “I am Yahweh.”  You could almost say that the second greatest commandment is rooted in the first.  We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, for Yahweh is God and we worship Him.

God roots the second command in the truth of who He is, which should point us toward a couple of things.  First, our neighbor (which Jesus identifies as simply any human being that God brings across our path, see Luke 10:25-37) was created by God and therefore deserves our respect and dignity as God’s handiwork.  Second, God loves our neighbor, and we are to be like God, so we should love him too.

Let’s see others as God sees them.  Let’s remember to love our neighbors, for Yahweh is God.

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 08: A Father’s Dilemma

Leviticus 1-14

*image courtesy of doriana_s at stock.xchng

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  ~ Deuteronomy 6:4-9

One of the heaviest burdens I carry as a father is the spiritual state of my boys.  My wife is my first priority, but I know without a doubt where her faith lies, and that she is eternally saved by grace through her faith in Jesus Christ.  My boys, however, are not yet saved.  They are young still, but it haunts me daily that they do not yet know Jesus personally and are not yet Christians.

Every father worries about his kids in some way or another.  No doubt Aaron had great concern for his four sons.  But like all fathers, he had to come to grips with the fact that they stood before God on their own.  I’ve mentioned on this blog before that God has no grandchildren.  Every person must give an account of their own actions to God.  This is hard for a father to accept because we desperately want to protect our children and keep them from harm.  Most of us would gladly take the heat in place of one of our kids.

In a stunningly tragic passage from today’s reading, two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, were punished for their sins against God (Leviticus 10).  We don’t know what exactly is meant by “unauthorized fire” (literally in Hebrew, “strange fire”), but it’s clear from God’s response that they had violated some aspect of the requirements recently laid out for the priests.  In a moment that is gut wrenching for any dad reading, Moses tells Aaron not to mourn the death of his two sons.  They knew what was expected by God, and they had sinned in some way.  They stood before God, and were judged according to their own actions.  Aaron could not allow this tragedy to cause him to sin and incur God’s wrath himself.

I can’t imagine how he must have felt.

It’s interesting that with the preliminaries of this article floating through my head, I sat down to dinner tonight and found myself in the midst of an intensely spiritual discussion with my boys.  We started out talking about Grandaddy and how he’s going to have to have another surgery in a few weeks.  We talked about how our bodies sometimes breakdown, kind of like our toys do when they get old or we don’t take good care of them, or sometimes they just break!  I saw a teachable moment for my boys, and went into discussing how illness and death are the result of sin being in the world.  I read Genesis 3 to them and we discussed Adam and Eve and the first sin and how it lead to their eventual death.  I read Romans 6:23 and talked about the payment we earn when we work hard at sin.  I asked Tripp (my 3 year-old) if what I was saying was making sense to which he quite enthusiastically said, “No!”

Somehow I wasn’t surprised.

However, Corbin (4½ year-old) my got a sad/scared look on his face and said that when he dies and Jesus makes him alive again he wants to come to his house, meaning our place here in Crewe.  So I read John 14:1-7 to him and talked about the many rooms in heaven that Jesus is preparing for all those who believe in him.  I read Romans 10:9 to him, and told him that we love him and Tripp very much and that’s why we teach them about Jesus because we want them to be in heaven with us one day.

It’s very hard for me to teach my 4½ year-old these hard and sometimes scary truths.  But I know that one day my little preschooler will stand before a righteous God (hopefully after a long, long life) and give an account for his actions and his faith.  I want him to be ready.  For an agonizing span of about 5 minutes, I began to think that tonight might be the night Corbin got saved.  He knows what sin is, and he knows he’s a sinner.  He knows (mostly) that sin leads to death.

I don’t think he’s got the rest yet, and it was painful to realize that the conversation had gone as far as it could tonight.  It’s that terrible dilemma that I find myself in, where I so desperately want someone to understand and believe the gospel, but I can’t make them do either.  I have to let the Holy Spirit do His work.   I am glad that he’s a few steps closer to understanding his personal guilt before a Holy God and his need for a personal Savior, Jesus.

I’m excited about the days ahead, and yet I’m still filled with that dread knowing that his eternity is not yet secured.  It pushes me to take advantage of every chance I get to tell my boys about Jesus, about their sin, about their need for Jesus, and about His wonderful gift of eternal life by grace through faith (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-10).

Let’s always remember that no one lives on borrowed faith.  Each man and woman must stand before God in judgment one day.  Let’s let this spur us on to tell others about Jesus’ salvation, especially our kids.

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 05: Ian sent you?

Exodus 1-15

*image courtesy of dimitri_c at stock.xchng

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2

Shakespeare was right about some things, but on this one I have to call shenanigans.  I won’t go into the linguistic debate about prescription versus description, but suffice it to say that I think the name of a person is quite different than the name of a flower.  A person’s name is bound up in who they are.  The combination of sounds that make up the name call to mind not just letters and syllables, but the person himself.  When you hear “George Washington” or “Britney Spears” or “Fred Flintstone,” your mind conjures up all kinds of facts, images, and even emotions related to that name.

When it came time for Moses to tell the people of Israel that someone had sent him to deliver them, what was he to say?  This is the very question on his mind in Exodus 3.  In asking God this question, he is also asking Him to identify Himself.  God replies, quite cryptically, “I AM WHO I AM.”  So, Moses is to tell Israel that “I AM” has sent him.  Good thing he didn’t have to email that in, imagine the typos…

“Ian sent you?  Who’s Ian?  Hey, does anyone know the divine Ian?”

God has done an amazing thing here.  This is the first time in recorded revelation that God revealed any kind of personal name.  Look in v. 15.  In the English, it reads like this:

“Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Ok, so God declares quite clearly that His name forever, the name to remember is “The LORD.”  Do you notice how “LORD” is all caps?  There’s a reason for that!  It’s because this is a translation of an old custom of substituting LORD for the divine name.  That’s right, our God has a name!  In Hebrew, it is YHWH (originally Hebrew had no consonants).  If you add the vowels that we think go in there, it’s Yahweh.  This Hebrew words sounds a lot like the Hebrew for “I am,” the answer God gave to Moses.  This is why you may have heard the God of the Bible referred to as The Great I AM.

Now, why is this name significant?  First off, it sets Yahweh apart from any other supposed God.  He is not Ra, or Dagon, or Asherah, or Baal, or Zeus, or Jupiter.  More modernly, He is not Allah, or Vishnu, or Sophia, or Shiva.  It’s important to know what God you’re talking about, because (contrary to popular opinion) they are not many names referring to one truth!  Compare the traits of Yahweh with any other god mentioned in the Bible.  Compare Yahweh’s love, compassion, and involvement in the universe with that of many eastern gods of today.  You will find that Yahweh is indeed a unique God, because He is the true God.

Secondly, Yahweh is telling us something about Himself through His name.  Your Bible probably has some kind of footnote in v. 14 that says that “I am that I am” could be translated “I will be what I will be.”  The reason for this is that there is no tense in Hebrew verbs.

The less-boring, more-important thing is this: God is saying that He is the eternal one.  He is the self-being One!  He simply is.  God doesn’t not have beginning or end, and He doesn’t require us to exist.  He existed long before us, and will continue on forever!  He is the being one.

God is.

Let’s understand that our God is a specific God.  He has a name that represents who He is, Yahweh.  Let’s never take this name in vain, let’s never abuse it, and let’s never downplay it as one label among thousands.  Let’s remember that our God is the Eternal One.  He has no beginning or end, and He has no need of us.  Let’s also remember that even though He doesn’t need us for His survival, He still loved us by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us.

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 4: From well, to servant’s house, to dungeon, to palace

Genesis 41-50

*image courtesy of blary54 at stock.xchng

Poor Joseph.  I mean, all he did was tell people what he knew and stand for what’s right.  For that, he got thrown into a well, and then sold to slave traders by his brothers.  He got thrown into jail on trumped up charges by his new boss’s wife.  And when a ray of hope finally beamed into his dungeon after helping out the cup bearer to the king, the guy forgets him… for two whole years!

Finally, when Pharaoh needs some dream interpretation skills, the cup bearer manages to remember that guy that he left in the pit two years ago.  Now, if this were an action-packed summer blockbuster, this would be the part where a ragged, newly-muscled, scraggly bearded Joseph (who probably spent the two years learning kung-fu from some old blind prisoner who died on the day he was supposed to be released and whom Joseph swears to avenge) busts through the door with some good ol’ fashioned Hebrew justice in his fists!  But it’s not an action-packed summer blockbuster.

Thankfully.

Instead, Joseph shaves, changes his clothes, and continues doing what he’s been doing – telling people the truth as God leads him.  No matter what disaster or hardship befalls our hero, he stays true to what he knows is right.

He stays faithful.

If he’s a son, he’s the best son he can be to his father.  If he’s a servant, he works so hard at his job he’s put in charge of the whole household.  If he’s a prisoner, he’s a model prisoner, even put in charge of the workings of the prison.  If he stands before the Pharaoh, he is made Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to the king.  He stays faithful, no matter his environment or circumstances.

Second Thessalonians 3:13 urges us to never tire of doing what is right, and Philippians 2:14-15 tells us to do everything without grumbling or complaining.  What does it take to break us?  If someone treats us unfairly, do we stop serving or loving them?  If someone falsely accuses us, do we take the opportunity to seek revenge?  If someone forgets to acknowledge us, do we use it as an excuse to stop working hard?

We must never stop doing what is right, we must work hard without complaining.  We are where we are because God has placed us there.  No matter how difficult the task, know that God has assigned you for it and therefore you can get through it.

Someone once told me that we do what we’re supposed to do because we’re supposed to do it, not because of what everyone around us doing.  We must serve faithfully because we are servants of God.  If we serve for any other reason, we will eventually find an excuse to stop serving – the money’s not good enough, they don’t respect me, this is beneath me, the love is gone, it’s too hard.

Let’s never tire of doing what is right.  Let’s look at every circumstance as a mandate from God to act in the way that glorifies Him most.  Let’s always remember that there are no problems in life, only opportunities to glorify God!

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Video edition: All the content, without all that pesky text!

Hey all!  Just wanted to let you know that I’m experimenting with a video version of this blog.  I’m taking my entries from my last time through the Bible in 90 Days Challenge and making a video podcast out of them.  Episode 1 is up on youtube, and I’ll go ahead and post it below.

Bible in 90, Bonus 02: Heel grabber

*image courtesy of Lamprinh at stock.xchng

New question, same questioner:

Here is my question on Day 3.
Genesis 30:25 – 31:16. When I read this section of scripture Jacob comes across as trying to be deceitful, of trying to cheat Laban.  Specially beginning with 30:37.  Seems underhanded and sneaky of Jacob, how he “intentionally” had the animals mate in front of the branches.  31:10 does say he had a dream and an angel of God spoke to him, but it seems that Jacob was cheating Laban.  Am I totally off base here?  Reading something into this that’s not there?

Well, you’re basically right.  Recall from Genesis 25:26 that Jacob was born grasping the heel of Esau.  This is how he got his name, “Jacob” in Hebrew means “heel-grabber” or “he grasps the heel.”  This was a Hebrew euphemism for a deceiver.  Think of the modern day “you’re pulling my leg!”  Over in 27:36, Esau brings this point out when he says “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times.”  Jacob spent his life living up to his name.  He was a scoundrel, a conman if you will.  Think about how he weaseled his way into Esau’s birthright, how he conspired with his mother to steal Esau’s blessing from Isaac.

As for the dream, the angel said nothing about the sticks.  The angel pointed out that the livestock that mated were striped, spotted, and mottled.  Basically, I think that Jacob’s trick with the striped sticks was smoke screen.  I think he was trying to cheat Laban out of his flocks, but I don’t think the sticks did it.  The dream was to show Jacob that God was the one producing the right types of livestock, not Jacob’s schemes.

Jacob lived up to his first name.  (He eventually earns his new name, Israel means “he strives with God”).  He was a scoundrel and a schemer.  This is one of the wondrous things about the Bible.  It portrays its heroes/main characters as the fallen, sinful people they were.  There is little candy coating in the God’s Word.  God blessed Jacob in spite of himself.

Let’s live lives that deserve to be blessed.  May it always be said that God was working through us, not around us.  May our lives be blessed because of how we live, not in spite of how we live.

Bible in 90, Day 6: Old and New

Exodus 14-28

*image courtesy of szajmon at www.sxc.hu

Ok, pop-quiz hot shot!  Name the seven dwarves.  Now name the titles of your favorite book or movie series (Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Matrix, etc.).  Now, name the ten commandments.  How’d you do?

Today we hit another highwater mark in the Old Testament- the Big Ten, the Decalogue, the Ten Words, that’s right the Ten Commandments.  They’ve been fought over, litigated for and against, and caused much controversy in America the last few years.  Hopefully you know me by now, I’m not going down that path right now.  But, for all the quarreling, campaigning, and protesting, do we even know what we’re fighting about?  These commandments form the basis for all the Old Testament law.  They serve as the grounds upon which the Sinaitic covenant and God’s relationship with Israel are built.

Sounds important!