Bible Reading Challenge Blog

Whenever we have optional readings we will not cover them on the days that they have asterixes but on the days that they are listed as mandatory reading. Today, the Matthew Scripture I will not comment on, but feel free to read it! Who doesn’t love a good sermon on the mount coverage? Now to the Scripture. God reveals himself powefully, really powerfully to the people of Israel and reveals himself directly to Moses on the mountain.

We had the opportunity to climb up Mount Sinai and it really was a surreal experience. Being able to be in the place where you knew that God was present and where God presented Moses with the 10 commandments was something else. About those commandments. If you hadn’t noticed the first 4 cover our relationship with God and the last six cover our relationship with each other. This cover’s Jesus’ statement when asked what is the greatest of all commandments and he says: love God and love your neighbor.

It is very disturbing that there are laws not only justifying, but actually describing how to own slaves. It is another proof that all Scripture needs to be read throug the eyes of Jesus.

Can you see why these two Scriptures are joined together for our reading?  Whenever you read the Psalms it is always good to see what is in the beginning portion of the Psalm, before you get to verse 1.  Often there are hints as to who wrote the Psalm, the purpose for why the Psalm was written, and even at times what specific life event prompted the writing of the Psalm.  Keep in mind that the word Psalm simply means in English song.  So, the beginning of Psalm  90 states that this is a Psalm of Moses, which gives us the impression that Moses was attributed as the one who composed this Psalm.  Now, keep in mind that he wouldn’t have been writing with pen and paper, he probably didn’t write it at all.  Everything up to this stage is in oral history so as the people of Israel were sitting around their nomadic campfires and the stories of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt were being told, this Psalm, and his song in Exodus that we read, would have been attributed to him.

In the Exodus Scripture we find ourselves now at the time where the people of God have left Egypt and the Pharaoh decides to pursue them.  As you know from history this was not a good idea and he pays for it with his life, so that the glory of God could be revealed.  Do not forget that last part.  The glory of God being revealed is key to this entire story.  Pharaoh’s heart is hardened so God can be revealed, Pharaoh is defeated so that God’s glory can be revealed.  Remember what the disciples of Jesus ask him in John about the man born blind?  Why was he born blind?  Jesus answers, so that God’s glory can be revealed through him.

Well that happens in this story with the conquest of the Egyptians.  It also happens with the manna and the quail  It also happens with the defeat of the Amalekites and so on.  God’s glory is revealed in a way that the hope would be that all of the generations to come would remember.  Yeah, well, that doesn’t really happen.  But more on that later.

This is probably the longest of all of our readings.  But it is important to keep this reading intact and to read all of it.  Here we find all 10 of the plagues that God brought upon Egypt.  I have read this Scripture many times before, but this time what stuck out to me was the specificity of the days and the timing.  There are a number of times that we read that Pharaoh asks Moses when are you going to bring this to an end, and Moses responds by saying today, or at this time.  Now, of course, we know that Pharaoh never keeps his end of the bargain and goes back on his word, but this specificity was meant to tie in God’s actions that brought about disaster and Moses’ prayers to God which brought about an end to that disaster, so that Pharaoh could know that it was God and not by chance.

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart time after time is a bit hard to swallow, but we do see in 10:1-2 that this was for the sole purpose of setting a historical precedent that people would come to understand that God is in control and that God is in charge.  God and God alone is able to make these disasters come and go, in case someone else wanted to take credit for it.  This providence and power of God was meant to be passed down from generation to generation.  To this day in the Passover meal we remember what God did in Egypt.

What did God do in Egypt?  Well, the most powerful act, and the act that is given the most writing, is the killing of the oldest child and animal.  The killing of the innocents took place long before Herod killed the innocents in Matthew.  Again, this is a shock to our system and to our understanding of how God works.  But we have to see the hand of God always through the lens of Christ who is God and who is gracious.  If we just focus on the Old Testament acts of God we would see a God who seems very different from the God that we see in our Savior Jesus Christ.  We leave this reading thinking that finally the Israelites are able to leave Egypt and make their way back to the promised land that had been promised to Abraham with Moses leading the way.  Well, that quickly changes.

We find ourselves in the Scripture of Moses who was born and according to the law of the land he was to be killed. I love to see how the midwives broke the law and refused to kill the boys that were born to Hebrew women. Moses is taken in by the daughter of Pharaoh and eventually nursed by his mom. He then grows up in the house of Pharaoah, but always knew of his heritage and knew from which family he came.

There is still a sense of being Jewish and so he kills the Egyptian who is abusing the Hebrew worker. But people see it and he flees. He falls in love with the daughter of a priest and hopes to live happily ever after until we find ourselves in chapter 3. God meets Moses and commands him to go back to Egypt and liberate his people. His first pass at liberating the people of Israel did not go well. In fact, it backfired and the taskmasters forced the Jews to work in much harsher conditions and pressed their heel against their necks.

We then make our way to where Pharaoh does let the people go, but not before they are persecuted to the point of almost breaking.

Can you imagine if in my enews my tone were that of Paul in Galatians? I can’t imagine saying in an enews what he says about members of the church in Galatia in 5:12. Ouch, that would be difficult for me to be so angry with you that I would feel compelled to wish something like that upon you. But all of Paul’s churches were his love and joy and they are churches that he founded and that he felt so strongly about. Keep in mind that Galatians, like most of the other letters in the New Testament, was written by Paul and was simply a letter, like an enews, that he wrote to the congregation to encourage them, address certain timely issues that the churches were facing, and give them direction in life issues that were crucial to living out their faith, such as the interplay between faith and law. Let’s look at this letter.

Paul makes it clear that the Gospel is not one of many truths but the singular truth that we have to follow and which we cannot change. He also makes it clear that the Gospel is not something that a disciple made up but came directly from God. Paul also does something that we see him do in other letters which is prove the status of his discipleship in order to be placed among the apostles and as one with authority.

Chapter 2 gives us the Reformation clarion call as we read in 2:16 that we have been justified by faith and not by works. He says it so strongly that the phrase: if we are justified by the law then the death of Christ is useless. The fact that the grace of God provides salvation is enough for us to understand that our work in salvation does not contribute to our salvation. It is all God. That should be a relief to all of us. Paul expands on that in chapter 3 by using Abraham’s faith as an example.

In chapter 4 he begins to castigate the Galatians for forcing gentile believers to be circumcised and to follow the law in ways that was not require as a disciple of Jesus Christ. We follow Jesus and the rules that we have to follow are one: Love God and love your neighbor. We see that in 5:14. He is furious that the church in Galatia is requiring their members to do much more than love Christ, but also to become Jewish which includes circumcision and the following of the law. Loving Jesus is always enough.

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait upon the Lord. That sounds like a sentence upon which we can count to boost up our faith and know that God is on our side and wants us to succeed. That often is a question that people have. Is God on our side? Does God really want us to do well, or is He just waiting for us to fail so that he can call us out and punish us? Many may haver a perspective of God as a gotcha God, how disheartening that would be. God wants us to have a life of joy, and that defines how we understand the role of God in our lives.

The end of Jacob’s life is marked by the blessing of Joseph’s sons, and then the blessing of all twelve of the boys. Some of them barely seem like a blessing, and more like a bit of a curse. For example, look at the blessing for Simon and Levi where he says: “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” Can I have your curse instead? This is then followed with Joseph’s death and the end of the book of Genesis. So we have in these first few weeks seen all of Genesis and all of the Gospel of John. It is a great way to begin this journey of ours through Scripture.

The story of Jacob continues. We see his story from chapter 30 all the way until he passes away in chapter 50. That’s a lot of the Old Testament that deals with Jacob and his story. Remember whom he becomes. He becomes Israel and it is from Jacob that we get the twelve tribes. So it makes sense that so much time is given to Jacob and his life and how the nation of Israel is formed as a result of his children and the progeny that are saved as they now settle in Egypt. But keep in mind that Egypt was never meant to be their final resting place. While they are protected by Joseph while they are in Egypt, that is not the land that God has promised to the. This will be remedied as we get into Exodus. God doesn ‘t lead them out of Egypt just because they were slaves, but because God had promised them land in Canaan, which is where they end up settling after Egypt.

Now to the whole Joseph reveal. It is quite long and complicated how Joseph gets Benjamin back to Egypt and puts his borthers in a position where they are able to realize the harm that they had done to Joseph and now this is a bit of payback. The key verse that you want you to look at is 45:8 where Joseph says to his brothers that it wasn’t them who sent him into Egypt, God had done it because God knew that the famine would come and this would be the only way to preserve Israel, Jacob, and all of his family. Since this was the family of God it had to be saved and God’s plans, God’s ability to providentially be over all things, allowed the family to be saved.

To me it remains interesting that it is the one who was sold into slavery who needs to make his brothers feel better about themselves. The take away point is that even those most tragic of events in our lives can become a way in which God is able to save and reveal himself. I hope that provides some consolation.

It is simply not fair that there are so many good stories and hugely important theological truths in these few chapters. We find the story of Joseph where he goes from the impossible to being placed on a throne. The resonating message with Joseph is that all things are possible with God. The providence of God where He is leading us from one step in our lives to another is so clearly visible. He is that bratty brother, but to the Nth degree (Nth degree), and they decide to take care of him in the most unbrotherly way possible. First Joseph is saved by his brother Reuben, remember that name, he comes into play later on. Then he is sold to one of the most powerful people in Egypt who decides not to kill him when he is accused of trying to rape his wife. He meets a person who then eventually is able to get him into Pharaoh’s presence and when he does, he does what God has gifted him to do. Each step along the way, even the most tragic and terrible, God is able to lead him to a place where he is able to take the next step to ensure the salvation and safety of his entire family, read Jacob who is actually Israel.

God is able, always is able. Even in the middle of a storm God is able to calm the storm. But even more importantly in this instance God is able to direct the sins of others which creates tremendous suffering and pain, to a place where our future is still able to complement His plans for his kingdom. There is nothing in our life that will ever be able to disqualify us from being a crucial piece of his work. Make sure you hear this and believe it and base your life upon the fact that God’s desire is to use us for His purpose.

Then there is John who gives us the reason for why the Bible was written. Did you get that? He literally tells us why the Bible is written. Look at 20:31 where we read: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” We have life in his name because we believe, but remember that believing is not enough, but it certainly has to be present.

The resurrection story of Jesus is so different with the women playing a much different role than in the other Gospels. Now, remember, each Gospel has its own take on the resurrection because each Gospel was written by a different person. John has the relationship of Jesus with his disciples as front and center. Thomas’ words in 20:28 are the words that ought to be on our lips. My Lord and my God. Sometimes we stop at the point of just being able to say: “My teacher”. But Jesus is Lord, that means he is our master and we are his servant and we are completely his, completely. As our God we obey his voice and we live the type of lives that reflect his Lordship, his divinity, in our life.

The last thing I’m going to cover is the rehabilitation of Peter. Three times Peter denies Jesus and here three times in front of all the other disciples he has to confess his love for Jesus. As a result he is able to do the things that allow the church to grow to where it is today. Without a doubt Peter is the leader of this motley crew, as flawed as he was, but God is still able to use him. But what about our friend John, who remained by Jesus’ side at the cross. He’s going to hang out at Ephesus for a while with Mary. To me it is interesting that there isn’t a story of Jesus’ resurrection of him and his mom meeting once he rises from the dead. That would have been a good one.

The story of Jacob continues and I have to retract something I said yesterday. Jacob did not put his wives in front of him with him behind. He did quite the opposite. He put himself first, then his wives least to favorite. Esau surprises him and hugs his neck when they meet. Jacob does supply him with an abundance of livestock and riches in exchange for his safety. Esau takes all of it. This is a scene of intense reconciliation. I like that image, intense reconciliation. This is the scene we also see in the Gospel of John, an intensity that is unmatched with Jesus’ arrest, torture, and crucifixion, but we have a bit before we discuss that, let’s stick to Genesis.

The story of the rape of Dinah is disconcerting for the sake of Dinah. She is absolutely voiceless and her brothers make all of the decisions on her behalf after she is raped. I wonder how she would have wanted the situation to be handled, maybe in this way, in an act of complete vengeance. There is a large part of me that says she would be justified in seeking that vengeance. This Scripture almost, I said almost, gives you a green light to violence when a child or a family member is wronged in this way. The eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth does not come from Jesus, but comes from Leviticus 24:19-21. Thank God, literally, that Jesus had a different perspective. But speaking on the part of someone who has not been a victim is a bit more difficult to navigate. The intensity of the feelings and the emotions cannot be matched unless you have suffered in a way that is reflected in this Scripture.

Jacob has his name changed yet again, second time in Scripture. Just in case the wrestling match had been forgotten, in chapter 35 his name is changed yet again from Jacob to Israel. This chapter surprises me because Jacob commands his family to put away the idols that they still have so that he is able to bury them. Wait, what? Why are the family members of Jacob worshiping idols in their posession. It feels like there is a tremendous disconnect when God makes it very clear that we are not to have any idols in our midst, and yet constantly the people of God have to determine themselves to rid themselves of the idols. Some habits die hard.

John gives us the agony of Jesus’ last few hours. The agony of betrayal by his disciples as Judas leads a band of armed men to arrest him. The agony of abandonment as all of his disciples flee the scene of his arrest and leave him alone. The agony of betrayal as Peter denies him three times. The agony of physical suffering as he was whipped and a crown of thorns placed on his side. The agony of torture as he was crucified upon the cross. The intensity of this scene cannot be overstated and it should reflect the extremes to which God is willing to go to bring us closer to him. The death of Jesus, Good Friday, is our salvation. Thanks be to God.

The story of Jacob is a long one and it covers a number of chapters, and we are still in his story when we finish today. We see him marry the daughters of Laban in a way that he is deceived on his wedding night. I love the simplicity of 29:25 where it says: “When morning came, it was Leah!” Surprise! He does get to marry the love of his life and then Leah and Rachel have a bit of a contest to see who can bear the most sons to him. Notice Dinah is mentioned, a daughter, which is unusual, but she will come into play a little later on. Jacob finds a way to get out of Laban’s household, even if it is a bit by hook or crook.

Do you notice that a lot of unethical things are happening in the lives of those who have been called by God to do His will. Including, but not limited to, the taking of household gods, which would be idols. You would think that would be frowned upon to have the wife of the man who would one day very soon become “Israel”. Did you notice that Manheim is mentioned in 32:2 and that term means two camps.

In this chapter we see Jacob getting himself ready to come face to face with his brother Esau whom he hadn’t seen since he stole his birthright and his blessing. You would think that he would still carry a bit of a grudge, and Jacob certainly thought so. He strategically places his wives, the one he loves least, in front of him as a buffer before Esau come to him. It is the evening before this fated meeting that he wrestles with God and has his name changed to Israel. The changing of names in Scripture is certainly something we should look at. Abraham, Jacob, Peter in the NT and so on have their names changed as they carry out God’s plans and as it becomes more and more clear that they are going to be crucial figures in God’s kingdom.

This chapter in John contains one of my favorite concepts, Jesus praying to God that his disciples would remain united. The term: that they may be one, is a term that we use to focus on when we gather together as a ministerium once a year. This day of unity is meant to be a very small answer to Jesus’ prayer. Yes, chapter 17 is an entire prayer as Jesus prepares himself to suffer and die on the cross. In his final prayer he asks that God would allow his disciples to be one. The many different churches and denominations spread across the globe is proof that we have sinned as a church in that we have not been one. We are divided. I would love to answer God’s prayer of unity.