PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

We begin our reading with one of the greatest commandments, certainly one of the best known in the entire Scripture, known as the Shema in chapter 6 of Deuteronomy. The title of this commandments comes from the Hebrew: to hear, or to listen. Shema comes from vs.4 which begins: “Hear, Oh Israel” That command to hear, to listen, and which is then followed with a command to not only follow the commandmens of the Lord which were given back in chapter 5, but to teach them to your children for all generations is a reminder that the word of the Lord is not just for us in this time and place, but is for all times and all places and all peoples.

Sometimes I get the question of why did God choose the people of Israel and not another group. We have a sort of answer in chapter 7:8 where God says that it is because of the covenant that he made with the ancestors of the people of Israel that he has maintained his covenant with them. It isn’t because of their power, and certainly not because of their obedience, but because God is loyal and he promised Abraham and those who followed him that their people would be his people.

We get a great warning from God in chapter 8 against giving ourselves too much credit when prosperity comes our way. He tells us not to exalt ourselves. When prosperity comes remember from where it came. This is such a crucial reminder to all of us that we do not think that it is by the power of our own hands and of our own work and skill that we find ourselves where we do today. It is completely up to God as Job reminds us. At any time our lives and our things may be required of us.

In Mark 8 we have a compilation of events from Jesus healing and again telling people to not telling anyone, to Peter’s confession of who Jesus is, the Messiah. He then follows this up with a denial that Jesus will die and Jesus calling him Satan. Not bad for a single day’s work.

We only read one chapter in Deuteronomy today, but it is an important chapter. We find the 10 Commandments listed in this chapter. Often Christians use the 10 commandments as the basis for their faith, and yet we know that Jesus clearly synthesizes these commandments down to two: love God and love your neighbor. That doesn’t mean that the actual commandments are null and void, no, they apply, but they do not lead to righteousness. If we faithfully follow the 10 commandments it doesn’t guarantee that we will have eternal life. That remains when we have a personal relationship with Jesus. But once again in Deuteronomy we seem to have Moses who is giving a recounting of what had already taken place so that it would be on record.

We then fully launch ourselves into the Gospel of Mark. The last of the chapters of Mark that we read today, chapter 7, has Jesus giving his disciples and those who would accuse his disciples of treading on the traditions, a reminder that the laws were written so that God’s commandments would be obeyed in all times of our lives. It isn’t as if the commandments are written in a vacuum and if we just obey them that frees us to live our lives however we would want. No, walking with God requires that every single aspect of our lives be given an opportunity to demonstrate that we actually love God by how we live, not by how we manifest ourselves in religious settings.

There are a number of other stories about Jesus, but many of them in these chapters refer to his healing power. Often Jesus once he heals tells people not to tell anyone, otherwise he would be overrun by the people. But we read that this doesn’t really work because the word gets out anyway about Jesus and he is surrounded by people who want him to heal them. I really hope you all take advantage of the opportunity to come and be healed at the service of healing this Sunday. I am convinced that God will make Himself known just as he did in Scripture.

We begin with a summary of what we have read so far in Numbers and Exodus. In the voice of Moses we have recounted to us how God has saved the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them to inhabit the promised land. But God became angry with the Israelites because of their disobedience and their unwillingness to inhabit the land that he had set apart from them. They were afraid of the people and so did not trust that God would deliver them into their hands. As a result they were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. We read that we are basically at year 38 and Moses was given a glimpse of the holy land and not even he was allowed to enter into it. Only Caleb and Joshua were from the group that had left Egypt. We continue along on memory lane and see all that the Lord has done.

It is interesting to read about the descendants of Lot and the descendants of Esau and the land that God had given them and how the Israelites were not allowed to enter into those lands. God has a long memory and is incredibly faithful and loyal to his word no matter how long ago it was pronounced.

We begin in the Gospel of Mark and it is the shortest of the Gospels and it is what I call the cliffnote version of the Gospel. For the birth of Jesus we basically have a proclamation that Jesus was born without any stories or descriptions of that birth. For the time that he spent in the wilderness we have another proclamation without any description of the three temptations but rather that he was tempted and then ministered to by the angels. We have the beginning of his ministry and the calling of his disciples, but again a condensced version to allow us to fly through the Gospel.

Paul finishes out his letter to the church in Corinth by emphasizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He focuses primarily on two: the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. Interestingly neither of these gifts do we practice regularly at the church. He says clearly that the gift of tongues is for individual edification while the gift of prophecy is for the building up of the church. Let’s clarify what these gifts are. Speaking in tongues is a release of the mind and body to utter that which the Holy Spirit has planted within our hearts to utter. It can be words or not necessarily words. But Paul makes it clear that its use is only to bring us closer to God, while within a community there must be an interpreter in order to see tongues as coming from God.

Prophecy is not the telling of the future. Let’s be clear about that. It is for the purpose of building up the community and for speaking clearly how God is working in our midst. It is a reflection of God’s work which provides clarity for how the church ought to come alongside God as God is working. Chapter 12 has a great image of the church as a body and each member working together to make the body function as it should. He emphasizes in both the life of the church and in worship that there has to be order. Disorder in the life of the church and in worship is the kiss of death.

Of course we have I Corinthians 13 which is considered the love chapter and which is used habitually in weddings to describe the type of love that God has for us and so the reflects the type of love that we ought to have for each other. We apply it to marriage, but it can also be applies to any love that two individuals may have. Finally Paul emphasizes the importance of believing in the resurrection. Without the resurrection our faith is foolishness. I’m not certain that many modern Christians actually believe that the resurrection of the body is going to take place. We read in chapter 15 that this body that will be resurrection is a glorified body so one that is perfect in every way, shape and form. I like to leave on that note and that image. We will be raised bodily perfect. Nice.

I find it somewhat tragically ironic that the chapters we have left in Numbers are basically accounts of the doling out of the land to the tribes of Israel. This very land that the Israelites were commanded to subdue and conquer while today there is too much subduing and conquering taking place. We have forgotten the commands of Jesus who came bringing peace and not a sword. But that is where we find ourselves in Numbers. Moses is getting the people prepared to enter into the land and take their allotted places while Aarong dies and Moses is going to be next.

I Corinthians provides us with a couple of points of interest. The first is the provision that men should not cover their heads and women should cover their heads. Interestingly in Jewish culture we see the opposite take place today. The men cover their heads and the women do not cover their heads. Within Mennonite and Amish culture we see this Scripture followed literally for the women at least, where the women have their heads covered and the men, well, they also have their heads covered just not in worship. Paul gives an explanation that the covering is a sign of being under someone else’s authority. I like that image.

He then transitions to the Lord’s Supper and chastizes the Corinthians because they were taking advantage of the supper as a time when they were able to come and revel and some would indulge in gluttony and drunkeness, and others would go home thirsty and hungry. He reminds the Christians of the church that the Lord’s Supper was not their table, but the table of the Lord. Our current Lord’s Supper is less of a meal and more of a religious rite and ritual. I wonder what it would look like to do it different.

The mundane of the offerings rears its ugly face once again. The devotion, and the enormity of it, struck me this time. That’s a lot of cows and sheep and grain, and we struggle to give God 5 minutes a day in prayer! The disposition of the booty of war should be troubling as it seems very barbaric and not something that the God of love whom we worship would ever allow, but it happens.

When we get to I Corinthians we find Paul making an argument for payment to the pastors as they find themselves in the work of the Lord. It is obviously not a self-serving argument because he and Barnabas were tent makers, meaning that they had another occupation besides preaching the Gospel. If you look at 9:22b you can see a bit of the theme that I try to run on, which is: “I have become all things to all people, by which I might save some.” I love that image of being in the world and yet not of it and yet enough in it that people notice that you are a servant of the Lord and want a part of that. This falls into line with what he saysin 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do for the glory of God.” What a great driving statement.

We find ourselves with Balaam still, I thought he was gone.  But now he is looking at the Israelites with the encouragement of Balak the king, once again.  This time Balaam clearly blesses the Israelites, without any hesitation.  As you can imagine Balak, the enemy of the Israelites, is furious and refuses to give him any of the recompense that he promised when Balaam came to him on his donkey. 

Things then turn on a dime for the Israelites.  We see them begin to worship Baal, and it really got bad.  God commands that each of the Israelite chiefs were to be impaled in order to quench his fury.  As often happens, Moses talks him off the cliff and he commands that each person who is in the act of worshipping Baal be killed.  As they are trying to figure out what to do a Jewish man takes a Midianite woman into his tent to, well, you know.  This was done in plain sight of everyone even as they were figuring out how to calm God down.  One of the sons of Aaron goes into the tent and impales both the man and the woman in that moment, and as a result God was good.  The son of Aaron saved the Israelites, at least those who were worshipping Baal, by his spontaneous act. 

A census is taken of all the tribes and in the midst of that account we find the daughters of a man who died and whose name would be lost forever appeal to Moses in order to claim his land.  God agrees and says that if a man dies and only leaves behind daughters they are entitled to his land.  That was huge, daughters were only going to get what their husbands got, but now it all changes, especially for girl dads. 

Lastly we see that Joshua is given the reins to take over after Moses.  I love 27:22ff where Joshua is taken, they lay hands on him and he is commissioned for this task.  Commissioning is so important, which is why we do it at the church.

In I Corinthians Paul gives the argument that since Jesus is about to come at any moment, we should all stay as we are.  If we are married, stay married, if we are single, stay single, if we are engaged, stay engaged.  This has to do, of course, with marital relations.  He also says, very wisely, that God is okay if you did not want to stay as you are because your passion for each other is overwhelming, then you better get married.  Interesting the word love never comes into the picture.  For Paul the necessity of getting married had to do with controlling your passions, your ardor, your insatiable desire for the other person that just needs to be acted upon.  In that case, you better get married.

So yesterday I read one chapter too long and we spoke about the death of Miriam and of Aaron which actually happens in chapter 20, which is today’s reading. But that’s okay, doesn’t hurt you to read it twice. Now for the other chapters we read in Numbers a strange conflagration of Israelites who obey God and gentiles who look for help from prophets of God to curse Israelites as they make their way through the land. God remains with Israel and provides the victory time after time. But then we have this story of Balaam and Balak.

It is clear to me that Balaam is a prophet of the Lord who is asked by Balak, a king in the region, to curse the Israelites so that his army could win the battle as they come up against him. Balaam does what the Lord commands, rides his donkey to see Balak, but then the next verse we see an angel of God come as an adversary to him because he is going to see Balak. It is here where his donkey speaks. I love that, a talking donkey which reminds him that he has to stay focused on God’s work which means keeping his eyes open to the signs that God puts in his path. We may be so focused on doing that which God has asked us to do that we miss ways in God is communicating to us as we go about doing God’s business.

In Corinthians we have Paul speaking out against immorality within the church community. I love the line that we read in 6:12ff – “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial.” We do not have a list of rules that God commands us to follow. We follow God’s law of loving Him and loving neighbor. That gives us a wide range of freedom, but within that freedom we have to ask whether our actions are for the sake of the kingdom or just for our sake. It isn’t always self-evident, but it is helpful to use that as a measuring stick.

Another helpful verse is 6:19 which reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and they are not our own. I love that image, that our body is a temple of God and not our own. It really resonated with me.

It was getting old marching across the wilderness, especially since God had just discolosed to them that they were not going to enter the promised land, but their children would. So, it is time to find a new leader, similar to what is happening right now in the house of representatives, and it seems like that decision to find a new leader met with a similar fate as to what is happening right now. Moses and Aaron twice lay on their faces to protect the people from the wrath of God, and God responds and only takes out those who created the disturbance. But boy what a scene was made from earthquakes swallowing up the tents of the rebel rousers to a plague that begins to take out the people. The next few chapters we see Moses work to consolidate his and Aaron’s calling as God’s chosen ones to lead the people.

Then Moses does something that excludes him from entering the promised land. Earlier it was the people of that generation who were excluded, but now Moses is. He tries to show his own power, especially in the face of all these doubts, by striking the rock as if his stricking the rock would bring water as opposed to God’s Word. God wanted the people to see that only by Moses speaking would water come, but Moses wanted to show that he had a role as well. That puts Moses and Aaron on the outs with God and they are not allowed to enter the promised land as a result. Miriam dies, Aarong dies, and a new day begins.

In I Corinthians Paul is also explaining how he has the right to be called an Apostle and the right to be considered as one chosen by God to carry out his purposes. It seems like a lot of people are looking to consolidate their calling and are trying to boost their pedigree as someone whom God can not only use but has chosen for this time and this place. Paul is one, although he says it does not matter whether it is him or Apollos, or any of the other Apostles. The key is that God is building but the individuals that he uses is not as important.

Let’s give a brief overview of what we saw this today and then try to add some significance to it. We begin with the giving of the quail to the people of Israel because they were complaining that they were not eating meat. Yeah, I probably would have been complaining in that crowd with the non-meat diet. God provided, but notice that he wasn’t exactly pleased with the people of Israel in His provision. Why do they complain so much? Moses’ statement in 11:29 where he wishes that God would put his Spirit on all people comes to fruition on the day of Pentecost.

Chapter 12 is a fun story of Moses’ siblings being jealous about him and the punishment of Miriam because of that. We then move into the spies who look at the land and see it flowing with milk and honey but 10 out of twelve are afraid and say that we should not enter the land because it is filled with scary people. This next chapter is crucial because it is the first time that we see that the people lose their promised entry into the, well, promised land. Because they were afraid and refused to go into the land God tells them that they will wander in the wilderness for 40 years. We them move into the traditional sacrifices and what they are good for.

Moses continues to remain faithful to the Lord and yet the people remain unfaithful. Moses’ patience is tested as he cries out to God and asks God am I the one who birthed all of these people, and since I did not, why am I responsible for their action and why do I have to hold them by the hand and lead them to righteousness. It is a fair question.

When we get to I Corinthians we see right from the beginning that the Apostle Paul is upset with them because there were divisions within the community. Paul is not a fan of divisions because he says that they are caused by factions who want to take the credit for people’s experience with God. It is God who should take all the credit. We will see more from Corinthians.