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 repeated here the instructions for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest and the Festival of Shelters. He emphasizes that these must be celebrated at the central location that God shall designate in the new land the people of Israel were about to settle. These were designed to be festivals that would bring the people together and remind them that they were one people, worshiping one God.
Moses went on to stress the importance of equal and fair justice for all people in the new land. They were to set up judges throughout the land to judge violations of the land and to hand down sentences for those who did wrong. Those cases that were too difficult for the local judges were to be taken to the central place that God had chosen and be decided by the priests or the judge on duty there whom God had designated. The judges were to never accept bribes or twist their judgement to favor one person over another. No one was to be sentenced to death on the testimony of only one witness. When a decision is reached by the judges at the central location it is to be carried out anyone who rebels against such rulings is to be put to death.
Moses told the Israelites that eventually they would select a king for themselves. He gave them rules that such a king was to follow when that eventuality came to pass. The king was to be a fellow Israelite and not a foreigner. The king was not to build up a large stable of horses for himself, nor to take a large number of wives. nor should he accumulate a large amount of wealth for himself. All of these things were likely to turn the king’s heart away from God. The king was to make a copy of Moses instructions for himself and keep them with him at all times, reading them daily. The king was to keep and follow the instructions of God. If the king follows this instruction to daily read God’s commands, it will keep him from becoming proud and acting as if he was better than his countrymen. It will also act as a preventive to falling away from service to God.
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When Herod heard about Jesus’ teaching, he became somewhat confused because he had beheaded John the Baptist. This suggests that the “buzz” about Jesus was a continuation of the “buzz” regarding John the Baptist. This is actually something of fair significance. We know from historical records that there were many messianic figures which arose around this time. However, these various messianic figures were mostly movements around an individual who rose up and gathered a following. When the individual died or was otherwise removed from leading the movement, the movement just sort of fizzled out. Here (and at several other places) we have something that suggests that John the Baptist was part of a larger movement which culminated in Jesus’ ministry.
About this time, the Twelve returned from the preaching tour that Jesus had sent them on and Jesus attempted to quietly slip away with them in order to “debrief” them. However, the crowds figured out where He was going and followed Him there. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, healing the sick among them. Late in the afternoon, the Twelve came to Jesus and suggested that He send the crowds away to get food and find lodging. Jesus told them to feed the crowd. The Twelve told Him that they had only five loaves of bread and two fish, asking Him if He expected them to go buy food for everybody. Jesus responded by telling them to have the people sit in groups of about fifty each. Once they had done so, Jesus took the bread and the fish, gave thanks over them and broke them into pieces. He gave the pieces to the disciples to distribute to the people. Everyone ate and was satisfied. Afterwards the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of leftovers.
Shortly after this when Jesus had the disciples gathered somewhere in private, He asked them who the people thought that He was. They answered that some thought He was John the Baptist, while others thought He was some prophet of old. Jesus then asked them who they thought He was? Peter replied that He was the Messiah. Jesus instructed the disciples that they were not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah. Jesus went on to explain to the disciples that He would be killed and rise again on the third day. I recently came across a blog post about an archeological artifact called the “Gabriel Tablet”. Some scholars have interpreted the writing on this tablet from approximately 4 B.C. (the year Jesus was probably born) as saying that the messianic individual referred to on the tablet would die and rise again after three days. The blog writer seemed to think the idea that other Jews in the First Century thought the Messiah would die and rise again after three days was revolutionary. It has been a long time since I believed that Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament were revolutionary. Repeatedly the Gospel writers tell us that people were surprised, not by Jesus’ teachings, but by the fact that He did not rely on some other authority to support what He taught. Jesus’ authority was not some other, previous teacher, but the Scripture, His understanding of it and the Holy Spirit.
After telling His disciples that He would die and rise again in three days, Jesus told them that they must be willing to suffer in order to follow Him. We must be willing to suffer the same fate that He did. We must not be ashamed of Jesus and His words, but be willing to proclaim them before all, facing whatever consequences come from doing that. If we are willing to do that, Jesus promises that He will stand by us before the Father.
Today’s psalm is a prayer for those who are given authority over others. Such a person must have God’s love of justice. They need to judge people according to God’s standard and treat the poor fairly. Those with authority must defend the poor and rescue the children of the needy. If those who are given authority over others fear the Lord both by day and by night, God will grant them prosperity and blessings. They in turn must use the authority they have been given to rescue the poor and defend the oppressed. If they do not do these things, God will do so Himself by raising someone up in their place.
Those who keep their thoughts sensible will be admired by others, those whose thoughts are warped and perverse will be despised. It is better to be nobody in particular and have resources to meet all of your needs, than to present oneself as somebody special and spend oneself into poverty.