PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

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.

Deuteronomy once again continues on the same path that the previous books of the Torah, the law, had laid out. I’m not going to say much about it, except there continues to be a remembrance of the days when they were in Egypt and there is the command to continue to celebrate the passover which even today is celebrated. Remember it was a passover meal that is the context for the last supper.

In Mark Jesus once again is a friend of children. Last chapter we saw him take a child in his midst and say that unless you have the faith of a child you will not inherit the kingdom of God. Today he shusshes the disciples as they try to keep the children and their parents away from him. He says let the little children come unto me. Here is the front facade of the main building of the orphanage where we worked in Naples. The front says: “Lasciate i fanciulli venire a me”, which is the quote from Mark that says let the little children come unto me. Jesus’ emphasis had a reason behind it, and it is one that we would do well to remember.

There is a verse in Deuteronomy that made me immediately think about Lancaster County. Read Deuteronomy 11:11-12 that says: “But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. A land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” The fact that we live in an area that receives natural rain and does not need irrigation is beyond a shadow of a doubt a blessing. The rest of the readings in Deuteronomy are commands that we have read in the past.

It also struck me the ferocity that the Lord wanted to keep the people of Israel from worshipping idols. If a community was found to be worshipping idols the people, the goods and the town itself were to be destroyed by fire. That seems like it would be a bit of a preventative for folks to want to follow along with what the nations around them are doing as opposed to what the Lord had commanded. But we read that even this incentive wasn’t enough to stop the rampant disobedience that we will be reading about in Scripture.

Mark 9 gives us the transfiguration. I think I have attached this in the past but this is definitely my favorite rendition of it. It also contains the story of the boy and Jesus casting out the demon from him.