I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Moses reviewed the covenant between God and the people of Israel once more. He told the people of Israel that this covenant was not just with them but also with their descendants. Moses told them that if they obey the terms of the covenant they would prosper in all that they did. He further warns them to take the curses seriously, if they believe that they are safe even though they do not follow God’s instructions and commands they will experience the curses of the covenant in fullest measure.
Moses goes on to promise them that in the future, after they have been exiled because they broke the covenant, if they turn back to the Lord and once more keep the commands of the covenant and walk in the ways of God, God will restore them. Finally Moses tells them that the message of the covenant is not hard to understand, it is not in some distant place where a Hero will need to be found to go and fetch it. God’s commands are written on our hearts and on our lips so that we can do as God desires if we so choose. We have a choice between life and death. If we choose life, God will set His Spirit upon us and give us the power to follow His ways, the ways of life.
A Pharisee invited Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went and sat at the table. The Pharisee was surprised because Jesus did not follow the hand washing ritual of the Pharisees. Jesus replied to this criticism by telling the people there that the Pharisees make a lot of show of cleaning the outside, but inside they are full of greed and wickedness. If they truly want to be clean, they should be generous to the poor. He tells them that they are scrupulous to tithe from their herb gardens but neglect justice and love of God. Jesus says that they should have focused on the latter without neglecting the former.
A teacher of religious law responded to what Jesus had just said by saying that His statements might be taken as applying to teachers of religious law as well. Jesus did not pull back, rather He said that “Yes, those comments applied to all teachers of religious law as much as it did to the Pharisees.” Jesus then went on to say that the teachers of religious law took the key to knowledge away from people. They did not enter into fellowship with God and interfered with those who were attempting to do so. All too often throughout history those who have studied God’s word have set themselves up as authorities to interpret it for everyone else, making it seem as if only those with special knowledge can know what God desires. Jesus emphasizes here and elsewhere in His ministry that God’s will is accessible to anyone who desires to look for it. What Jesus is teaching here fits with what Moses said in today’s Old Testament passage. God’s word is not difficult to understand and we do not need someone to go up on the Mountain to commune with God on our behalf. Everyone of us can understand God’s word for ourselves and God will speak with each of us, if we but listen.
Jesus goes on to warn us to watch out for the hypocrisy of those who claim to be the experts on God’s word, those who claim to be more righteous than others. No one is the arbiter between us and God. Jesus came and died on the cross so that He could present us directly to the Father, so that we could listen directly to the commands that God has for us. We should not fear any human agent, who when they have killed our bodies can do no more. We should fear only God, who can not only kill our bodies but also destroy our souls. However, sparrows are cheap, but God keeps track of every one. God has counted every hair on our heads and we are more valuable to Him than all the sparrows on the earth. We should only fear God and there our fear should be mitigated by the fact that God loves us dearly.
The psalmist tells us to learn from our past, to look at the wonders God has performed. He tells us not to repeat the sins of those who came before us, who saw the wonders that God performed, but nevertheless rebelled against God because those wonders were not enough for them. God provided them water, but they believed that He could not provide them food and complained about the lack. God gave them manna from heaven and they complained because He did not give them meat. So, God gave them meat, but while they were still stuffing themselves with the meat, He sent a plague upon them to punish them for their rebellion. Let us learn from their example and honor God for the great things He has done. I will praise God for the great things He has done and petition Him to meet my current needs, then I will patiently wait for Him to meet those needs according to His wisdom and glory.
When we tell the truth our statements will be supported as events unfold. When we tell lies, the falsehoods will soon be revealed. Those who are deceitful are plotting evil, while those who promote peace are filled with joy.