Bible Reading Challenge Blog

The continuing diving up of the land takes place and Israelites continue to take the land, but slowly. Joshua seems to be getting a little impatient because 7 of the tribes have not acted to take the land that the Lord has handed on to them. He even has scribes sent out to chart out the land and to arrange so that the remaining seven would get the land as the Lord had commanded. The settling of the land is taking place, but it is slow and that seems to be noticed by Joshua.

In Acts we have a number of visits by Paul and Silas to a number of different cities. There are too many to account here, but the visit to Athens bears repeating. My first Bible Study that I ever did was when I was a freshman in college and part of a Christian group that had small groups that would meet. They asked me one time to do a Bible study and I chose this Scripture of Paul visiting Athens as the Scripture that we would look at. The context in college was similar. Swarthmore was, and is, a place where faith is not encouraged and it is highly intellectual. To some degree it does seem that people spend time thinking and discussing those thoughts which are new.

I remember after the Bible Study thinking that it did not go well at all, fortunately those who attended were friends of mine and were generous and kind. Paul reminds the people of Athens that they themselves allowed room for an unknown and unnamed God, whom he identifies as Jesus. Some believed, which is stunning in and of itself.

In Joshua we see the dividing of the land, again, and the Levites who have not received land because the sacrifices to the Lord are considered the offering that they will receive. We see Caleb asking Joshua for more land because he was faithful and gave an accurate report of the land when his companion did not and Moses promised him that he would receive the land upon which his foot had trod. Did you see the mention of Gaza? Yes, the name remains the same and the location pretty much as well. There is a strong Zionist thought today that Israel still has rights to that land because God gave it to them here in these verses. This thinking leads people to violence and war because of a past promise which has been rendered null with the coming of Christ.

In Acts we find the travels of Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas is one of my favorite people. His name means the encourager. Chapter 15 is probably the most significant and historical events that takes place in the early church. It is there that the church decides that those who come to know Jesus and are not of Jewish origin, and so not circumcised, do not need to follow the Jewish customs to be Christian. To be a disciple of Jesus of Christ is a matter of faith and not a matter of following the law. This was a hugely contested point but one that eventually wins out. The same could be seen today. What laws, or what cultural requirements do we put on people before we may consider them to be Christian? Being a disciple of Christ is about being a follower and not about being right in the eyes of the church.

I hope you don’t mind bloodshed, but we find ourselves with the Gideonites who had made a treaty with Israel and now were being ganged up on. Isreal comes to the rescue and with that momentum keeps going and completely annihilates anyone in their path. Thirty one kings are destroyed by Israel and their lands are taken and their people wiped out. This allows Isreal to inhabit the land without any problem. That is basically what happens in these chapters. Israels settles in the land as a result of God giving them their enemies before them and telling them to destroy them completely. This was done.

We find the Scripture that I call pigs in a blanket. Peter is given a vision that seems to apply to the animals that have been considered to be unclean up to now, because Leviticus told us so, but God tells Peter that what God has made cannot be called unclean. But it is actually about people, those who are not Jewish which Scripture calls the gentiles. We are the gentiles. Before the kingdom of God was relegated to the people of God, but no longer. We see the Holy Spirit descends upon Cornelius and his entire household which tells us that all people are able to inherit the kingdom of God. That is a complete game changer.

We find Israel sinning against God by a single individual who kept the gods of the countries that they had overtaken. This resulted in him and his family and all of his possessions being taken and burned and a pile of stones heaped upon them. Yeah, they weren’t going to do that again. The next chapter we see Israel taking over the territory of Ai through a brilliant military maneuver, and they also weren’t spared. The city was burned, the people were killed, and the people of God enjoyed a massive military victory.

We then see that the power and the might of Israel was increasing to the point where the nations surrounding them were terrified of them, to the point that Gideon is able to squeeze out a treaty from them for safety through deception. I guess whatever it takes, but it does result in the Gideonites being slaves and water bearers for the Israelites for the rest of their generations. I guess that is better than genocide. A lot of that happening in these chapters

In Acts we see the first Christian martyr, our friend Stephen who was chosen to be a deacon back in chapter 6. But his martyrdom doesn’t happen before he is able to give the full Gospel message of how Jesus came to save all of humanity through the people of Israel and how Jesus is logically the Messiah. The listeners weren’t crazy about being called stiff-necked, among other things, and so they stoned him to death. He was able to ask God to take his Spirit and to ask God not to hold this act against them. Very Christlike as he reflects similar words to what Jesus mentioned in his death on the cross.

Simon the magician makes an appearance and it becomes clear to him that the Holy Spirit is not something you can buy. Then Philip, who along with Stephen and a few others became deacons back in chapter 6, is reintroduced in one of my favorite Gospel sharing passages in all of Scripture. If you look at Philip’s strategy on how he gives the Gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch, for me it is the model for how we are to share the Gospel. You make yourself present to people, you respond to their question, you give the Gospel based upon their need, and you baptize as they request. You minister to people to the extent that they ask to be ministered. Not more, not less.

Saul is introduced to us in chapter 8 as he approved of Stephen’s killing, and now in 9 he is approached by Jesus in a vision who throws him off his proverbial horse. Paul is blinded and becomes Saul and the rest is history. We’ll see more of him later, but for now let’s see this image from my favorite painter of all time, Caravaggio.

There are less notable Scriptures in these chapters than the previous ones. But we do see the nation of Israel advancing forward to take on Jericho. The battle is curious, it is composed of a marching band that is able to bring the walls down which opens the way for the military to swoop in and take over the city. Did you notice that the Israelites had to be circumcised because those who were getting ready for battle were born in the wilderness and had never been circumcised. That is fascinating to me that the sign of the covenant had been interrupted and even stopped while they were wandering the wilderness.

In Acts we find ourselves with the Apostles once again and they are getting into trouble. I love the figure of Gamaliel in chapter 5 who tells the religious leaders who are threatened by the disciples to wait and see for it will become obvious if the work of these individuals is from God or not. You can tell by whether it lasts or not. That’s powerful. Don’t forget the story of Annanias and Sapphira who lead the charge in the “give or die” stewardship campaign. Yeah, they didn’t get the memo like Barnabas did.

There are some days that there is so much to say about the Scripture that you wonder how it is all going to fit into a single blog, today is one of those days. We have the iconic Scripture in chapter 1 of Joshua where God tells him to be strong and courageous. God has equipped him, just as he has equipped us, to do all of God’s work that he has set before us. It is time for the Israelites to enter into the land that God has promised them. Joshua is going to lead them since Moses has died. Joshua has all that he needs, and the people of God have all that they need, in order to enter that land.

The story of Rahab is always a bit disconcerting for me. I believe that God will only act in ways that reflect righteousness, so when Rahab lies and is rewarded, it concerns me. But I do love how Rahab, a simple prostitute, hosts the two spies, no explanation is given as to why the spies find themselves in the house of a prostitute overnight but we can assume. Rahab then is found again in the lineage of Jesus, a foreign prostitute who makes up Jesus’ blood lines. I love that.

Finally, the ark of the covenant goes before the soldiers into battle. But notice what the priests have to do in order for the people to cross into the promised land. They have to stand in the Jordan which was chilly and cold and was overflowing its banks, before the people can cross over. This image of taking an incredible risk before God is going to act is one that repeats itself in Scripture and also repeats itself in our own lives. We will not see the glory of God unless we are willing to give ourselves completely to God.

Then you have the three chapters in Acts with the ascension of Jesus and the choosing of Matthias as the twelfth disciple. You have the day of Pentecost that comes and gives the power of the Holy Spirit to the entire church. You have the disciples at the end of chapter 2 living together in a communal style where they share all things. The final chapter that we read we have Peter who heals a man but gives the credit to Jesus as a reminder that the disciples of Jesus, even after Jesus is no longer around, still have the power of the Holy Spirit which heals and which brings about signs and wonders. Whew, that is a lot.

Even up to the end of his days Moses has not forgotten his responsibility to lead the people of Israel closer to God. The blessings that he gives out to the people seem a little more like castigations than like blessings. At least that is true for the song of Moses in chapter 32. He sings of the disobedience of the Israelites even while the entire the time God is portrayed as a Rock. That is followed up by a blessing upon the Israelites family by family which is much more traditional.

The death of Moses, as Jeff Marsh mentions, is peaceful. It is almost as if God said: Well done good and faithful servant, come and enter into the joy of your master. We see this in Matthew 25, but the parable falls short because God then gives that servant more responsibility than what he had before. But not so Moses. Moses is given true, final rest. I do find it interesting that Moses dies while he is still full of energy and his eyesight was unimpeded. He was 120 and so had lived a long productive life.

Psalm 1 provides us with the guide to why we read Scripture. Because it does help us to distinguish between the way of God and the way of…, well, not God.

Each section that we read today has something of significance, in fact, some of our readings have more than one area of significance. Now significance is in the eye of the beholder, so it could be that what is significant to me might be trivial to you, but you get what I consider significant. Would love to hear what is significant to you. Let’s start with Deuteronomy. Look at 30:19 where God exhorts the people of Israel to choose life. This is set up with the realization that we are presented with choices in our life, we can choose to obey the Lord or we can choose to walk away from the Lord. When we walk away then we choose that which is other than life. When we obey the Lord then life will follow. It is a great phrase which should resonate with us continually. Choose life is not a slogan, it is a way of life which requires righteousness, which means choosing to act according to the will of God.

In Mark we find Jesus crucified and him being resurrected. Your translations should include a little explanation to what is generally called the short ending of Mark, which ends in vs.8 or the longer ending which ends in vs.20. The shorter ending has the resurrection and the women going out and not telling anything to anyone. The longer ending has them telling people but the disciples not believing them until Jesus comes in their midst and chastizes them. Scripture is interesting in that we don’t have a single copy of the original manuscript of any of the books of the Bible that were written. We have written copies that were passed down through the centuries. This allows for some loss in translation, which should not shock or scandalize us. The Word of God contains the inerrant truths of God even in the midst of it being passed down from generation to generation.

Psalm 22 is the source of the final words of Jesus. Look at vs.1 where you have the cry of “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” It is a call of desperation and despair as the writer describes how the bulls of bashan are encircling him and how his body and his bones are melting away like water. Things are pretty rough for the author and there is a sense and a feeling that he has been abandoned. Yet quickly he pivots and remembers how God had delivered his ancestors and so it must be the case that one day God will come to deliver him as well. That is a great reminder that even in the midst of our anguish our hope should never, ever be lost.

When you read Deuteronomy it should fill you with a certain dread that we had better not disobey the commandments of the Lord. There is no longer list of curses for the Israelites if they disobey God. We are used to reading about the blessings that will flow as a result of the people of God being the people of God. We read about the land flowing with milk and honey that will be theirs to inherit and we sit back satisfied that God has blessed His people. But this listing of curses finds its climax in the verse in Deuteronomy 28:63 which states: And just as the Lord took delight in making you prosperous and numerous, so the Lord will take delight in bringin you to ruin and destruction. This will all take place because the people did not diligently obey all of the commandments that were given in the Torah. It is pretty rough reading and it does strike you as a bit vengeful. But we do read that God is a jealous God, and the jealousy comes out pretty strongly here.

In Mark we read about the last week of Jesus’ life where he is betrayed by Judas. But lest we think that it is Judas alone who betrays Jesus, we see that all of the disciples scatter in fear once Jesus is arrested.

Deuteronomy once more provides a whole listing of rules and reguations, some of which are quite draconian and others are somewhat amusing. I know, they shouldn’t be, but what do you do with Deuteronomy 25:11-12? The specificity of these laws assumes that these things had happened and the judges of the land that Moses had established had to decide what to do and so Moses headed it off by making these laws so that they wouldn’t have to decide.

I love in chapter 22 where the command is that you have to help your neighbor. Not it is a nice thing to do, but you are commanded to help your neighbor and if you don’t help your neighbor then you will suffer the punishment of this law, which could very well be a number of lashes.

In Mark we begin the chapter with the riding of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The celebration was intense, just as the future betrayal will be even more intense. But for the time being we do see that Mark gives a bit of a muted version, you don’t see the crowds of people surrounding Jesus, it seems like it is only his disciples, those who went before and behind. We see Jesus clean out the temple on the following day, some of the versions have Jesus immediately go into the temple after he rides into Jerusalem, a bit of a difference. But the temple is cleansed nevertheless.