Monthly Archives: February 2020

Daily Bible Study

March 1, 2020 Bible Study — Love God With All That You Have and Are

 

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 5-7.

I really liked doing something different yesterday.  Perhaps next year I will seek out a different daily Bible reading schedule.  Now I return to reading my way through the Bible.  Starting today Moses presented the generation of Israelites who would enter the Promised Land with God’s commands for them which He had given to the previous generation.  Many of those listening to Moses on this day had been present when the commands were first given, but they were young and not yet responsible adults when they heard them.  Moses starts by repeating, with slightly different wording, what we know as the Ten Commandments.  In a way, these ten commands build upon each other.  I really think of them from two directions.  First, following the commands which come later in this list of ten is meaningless if you do not follow the ones which come before.  It is of no consequence that you do not steal if you murder someone.  It is of no consequence that you do not murder if you worship anything other than God.  However, as I said, it also goes the other way.  If you murder or steal, you clearly do not worship only God.

Then in chapter 6 Moses says something which tells us the most important part of making any set of rules work.  If we wish to truly be made holy by God we must worship and obey Him with our whole being, we must seek His will whole-heartedly.  Pleasing Him must be our chief desire.  All else must be subordinate to that.  If we do that, we will not look for loopholes or ways to get around God’s commands.  “Do not murder” means that we should value the lives of others.  “Do not steal” means that we should respect others ownership of the things which they have.  Jesus was absolutely correct, all of God’s other commands follow from two commands.  Actually, all other commands follow from this one: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all of your strength.  However, the second command is one that offers clarification as to what doing the first one means: Love your neighbor as your love yourself.  This second one follows from the first, but needs to be stated so that people cannot claim they did not realize that the first one meant the second one.  All of the other commands are just applications of these two.

Daily Bible Study

February 29, 2020 Bible Study — Feed the Poor and Keep the Sabbath Holy

I usually use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  However, since this is a leap year, they do not have a reading for today.  So, I did a little searching  and chose Isaiah 58:9-14 for my reading for today.

 

I love how this passage stresses taking personal responsibility for addressing the wrong which you see.  “Stop pointing fingers and feed the hungry.”  It is not my job to blame others for oppression.  I should just help those in trouble, not blame others for their trouble.  If we follow this advice, God will guide us in all that we do and provide for our needs.  Interestingly, the passage links keeping the Sabbath holy with feeding the hungry and helping the poor.  One day out of seven we should fully dedicate to honoring God rather than pursuing our own interests.  I am not sure how it works, but we will be better at feeding the poor and helping those in trouble if we refuse to do work, or business one day out of seven.

Daily Bible Study

February 28, 2020 Bible Study — Moses Taught Monotheism

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 3-4.

Today’s passage has Moses finish his summary of what had happened to the Israelites from the time they had left Mt Sinai until the day when he was speaking.  When Moses finishes summarizing their history, he reminds them that they had experienced some of this history and it should serve as a reminder to obey God’s commands.  In particular, Moses points out that they had seen for themselves the consequences of disobeying God when many of the people had worshiped Baal-peor.   Moses further reminded them that they had not seen God’s form when He spoke to them at Mt Sinai.  Therefore, they should not presume to create something which they present as being the image of God for worship.

I want to touch on one other thing which I come across from time to time.  Throughout the Old Testament we see that the people of Israel did indeed worship other gods and that, at least some of the time, they viewed these other gods as sharing the heavens with God.  From this, some people conclude that it was only later that the religion they followed became monotheistic.  However, if one believes, as I do, that this passage represents what Moses taught at the time this passage would have taken place one reaches the conclusion that Moses taught a monotheistic religion.  The failure of the people of Israel to live according to what Moses taught does not change what he taught anymore than the failure today of people to faithfully follow Christ’s teachings diminishes their value.

Daily Bible Study

February 27, 2020 Bible Study — Learning From the Mistakes of the Past

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 1-2.

In today’s passage Moses begins a summary of what happened to the people of Israel from the time the left Mt Sinai until they arrived on the east side of the Jordan River.  None of what he said was news to those to whom he spoke.  They had heard this all before.  However, different ones of them would have heard different parts of this.  Some would have experienced some of it, but all were very young, or not yet born, when Israel left Mt Sinai.  Which brings us to an important lesson we can all learn.  It is important to reiterate the history of a group, especially the history which shapes what that group is today, regularly, because there will constantly be new members who never experienced many of those events.  We need to go over why we do things the way we do them time and again in order to not forget.  If we do not go over the stories that formed us as a group, new people will not understand why we do things the way that we do.  We must strive to give people to learn from the mistakes which we, or our predecessors, made so that they do not need to make those mistakes themselves.

Daily Bible Study

February 26, 2020 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 34-36.

I have always found the idea of the Cities of Refuge interesting.  There are a couple of interesting points.  The Cities of Refuge were not an option for those who intentionally killed someone else.  In fact, there is no distinction between planning out and killing someone and killing someone in the heat of the moment.  Both were capital crimes.  Only when the death was an accident, and clearly an accident, did the one who killed another have the option of fleeing to a city of refuge to live.  Also of interest, not only was the family of the victim free to kill the person who killed another if they caught them outside of a City of Refuge, they were obligated to do so.  There was a price to be paid for taking a human life, even if it was done by accident.  Of course, there was also the requirement of more than one witness before taking that life.  In light of the passage’s encouragement of the family of the victim taking the life of the perpetrator that is worth some thought.  It was not enough that you had seen them commit the crime, you still needed a second witness.  We need to remember that what we see is not always what happened.  Interpreting events in light of what a witness with a different perspective saw may help us better understand the circumstances we wish to resolve.

Daily Bible Study

February 25, 2020 Bible Study — Not Being Offended When People Question Our Motives

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 32-33.

The first time the tribes which settled east of the Jordan River were misunderstood was when they requested that land as their inheritance in the Promised Land.  Moses thought the request was because they did not want to have to face the people’s living on the other side of the Jordan.  They quickly made it clear that they were perfectly happy to cross the Jordan to fight with their fellow Israelites, they just did not want to live there.  However, the tribes desiring to settle east of the Jordan did not get defensive and angry.  They understood why Moses would question their motives and quickly acted to reassure him that they were not trying to weasel out of crossing the Jordan.  We should be prepared to follow their example.  When others have acted in bad faith, and others have acted in bad faith, we should not be surprised, or offended, if people question our motives.

Daily Bible Study

February 24, 2020 Bible Study — Entering Into Binding Vows

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 30-31.

At first glance, the rules concerning vows seem to suggest that women have less right to bond themselves to a vow to God.  While there is some truth to that one should look a little closer at what it says.  The fact was that a woman in that society was generally economically dependent on either her father or her husband.  The result of that being that a woman could suffer significant economic harm if she was forced to keep a vow to which her father or husband objected.  Here is where it gets interesting.  If the father or husband failed to immediately object to the vow the vow would be binding, and if they later decided to object and then prevented her from fulfilling the vow, THEY would be responsible for breaking the vow as if they had made it themselves.  In that day, the father or husband of a woman had the ability to force the woman to break the vow.  Whether that was right or wrong is irrelevant.  This codifies their responsibility to decide immediately whether or not they would do so.  Without this, women would have trouble entering into business agreements.  I have always read this to mean that we today should not enter into binding agreements without the knowledge and consent of our spouse.

Daily Bible Study

February 23, 2020 Bible Study — Separation of Powers

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 27-29.

When God had Moses appoint Joshua as his successor, He divided He divided secular and religious authority.  Joshua had authority over the people, but when guidance was needed from God, he needed to go to Eliazar, the high priest.  However, while Joshua needed to go to Eliazar to consult God for guidance, the arrangement did not give Eliazar authority over Joshua.  Instead, when Joshua needed guidance from the Lord he would go to Eliazar and Eliazar would use the Urim to cast lots to determine God’s will.  We do not know exactly what the Urim was,, which is probably a good thing since people would substitute a device which resembled it for actually seeking God’s will.  The important thing was not what was used to determine God’s will, but that it was done publicly, or, at least, in front of Joshua.  This meant that Eliazar could not just put forward his own decision and claim that it was God’s will.  So, even in a society where the laws of the land were intended to be those laid down by God, the secular authorities were not given the power to determine God’s will, but the religious authorities were not given the power to dictate to the secular authorities.  Not all decisions require us to inquire after God’s will, but we should be careful not to substitute  someone’s will for that of God.

Daily Bible Study

February 22, 2020 Bible Study — Refusing To Tolerate Casual Sin By Those Who Claim To Follow God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 25-26. After Balaam failed to curse the Israelites, some of the Moabite and Midianite women living near where they were camped began to seduce some the Israelite men into taking part in Baal worship, which likely involved sexual behavior.  The passage gives the impression that this took place over a very short period of time, but probably involved a more extended period of time.  In fact, I suspect that it had been going on, on a small scale, for some time before this.  In any case, at least one of the men became so offhand about this behavior that he brought a woman to his tent right in front of a meeting of the elders to discuss addressing the issue.  It seems likely that this behavior on the part of many of the men had created discontent among the people.  If you think about it, there were likely quite a few young Israelite women who were feeling pressured to behave as the Moabite and Midianite women, to the anger and frustration of their fathers and mothers.  To make matters worse, a plague had broken out among the Israelites.  The passage does not tell us what the plague was, but I have always assumed it was a sexually transmitted disease.  When Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, killed the man who so cavalierly ignored the Law in front of the elders, he sent a message which quickly put a stop to this behavior.  The important part, from our perspective today, is not that Phinehas killed the man and the woman, but that he made it clear that such behavior would not be tolerated.
Daily Bible Study

February 21, 2020 Bible Study — Balaam and the Donkey

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 22-24.

I have never quite understood why the angel was sent to kill Balaam on the way.  After all, God had told him to go with Balak’s second set of messengers.  I just realized today that God did not intend for the angel to kill Balak, because He knew that the donkey would act as it did.The angel was sent to remind Balaam that he could not say anything other than the words God gave him concerning Israel.  Balaam had three encounters with the angel and later made three attempts to curse the Israelites.  Despite his encounter with the angel, one could read the passage as suggesting that Balaam intended to pretend to curse Israel on the third attempt.  On his first two attempts, Balaam conducted a divination ritual through which he received God’s message.  On the third attempt he did not conduct the ritual, but God’s Spirit took him over and spoke through him anyway.  I have long thought that the reason Balaam did not conduct the ritual the third time was because he planned to say what Balak wanted to hear in order to get paid.