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.
While Moses was up on the mountain receiving instruction from God, the people became convinced that he was not coming back. So, they approached Aaron asking him to make them an idol to follow. Aaron instructed them to bring their earrings to him. Aaron took the gold jewelry they brought him and fashioned it into a statue of a calf. The Israelites declared that this calf was the god which had brought them out of Egypt. Aaron built an altar and declared the next day a festival to worship this calf. God was furious and sent Moses back down the mountain to confront the people. When Moses confronted Aaron about his role in building the calf, Aaron attempted to deflect any blame from himself. First he blames the people and how evil they are. Then he attempts to minimize his own role by saying that he threw the jewelry into the fire and the calf just emerged, as if no further effort was required to make the calf.
I see a few things in this passage that apply today. The first is an unwillingness to wait for God. We get impatient and start looking for some other source of guidance. Closely related to that is our tendency to worship material things. We need to constantly evaluate our lives to look for things which we have made more important to ourselves than God. Is it television? the Internet? my job? It could even be some aspect of church. Then there are Aaron’s excuses. “The people made me do it.” “It just happened.” Aaron tried to lay the blame for what happened other than where it belonged, on himself. How often do I do that? How often do I attempt to blame others for my sins? Or try to say that my sin “just happened”. There is some truth to both of those, but if we stand up to those who pressure us to sin, often times they will see the wrongness of the path they are about to go down and join us in resisting sin. As to sins that “just happen”, they only occur if we have already started down the path toward sinning.
We come to what must have been the worst period in Peter’s life. He followed along after Jesus’ arrest. While he was in the courtyard a servant girl said that he had been with Jesus. Peter denied the charge. He then moved to another location, where another servant girl repeated the allegation. Peter once more denied it in even stronger terms. After a short interval a few people approached Peter and said that his accent gave him away, he must be a follower of Jesus. Peter even more strenuously denied this allegation, calling down curses on those who made the claim. At that moment, he heard the rooster crow and remembered what Jesus had said. Peter was heartbroken at his failure to remain faithful, not only had he not stood by Jesus side, he had denied even knowing Him. How often have I denied my faith to avoid being belittled because of it? The answer is too often. Peter at least had the excuse of fearing for his life. When I have denied my faith, it has been to avoid ridicule. When Peter realized what he had done, he withdrew and wept bitterly. Do I take my denials of Christ as seriously as Peter did his?
In the initial phases of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, Jesus made no response to the charges against Him. When Pilate asked Him if He was the king of the Jews, Jesus replied that those were Pilate’s words. It seems to me that there is some significant theology behind Jesus’ response here, but I am not sure what it is. Jesus neither affirms nor denies that He is the king of the Jews. He tells Pilate that it is Pilate (and others) who use that term. To me this seems to suggest that Jesus is saying that it depends on what you mean by the term “king of the Jews”. That perhaps explains why Jesus does not answer any of the other charges against Him, the specifics behind the charges are true, but the way that they are presented gives them meaning which is false. He refused to engage in discussion in the terms chosen by His opponents.
Let us sing praises unto God, using whatever devices come to our hands. God loves what is just and good. His love fills the whole earth. God’s plans will come to fruition no matter what anyone may attempt to thwart them. I will praise God for He is good to me.
Those who listen to wise instruction and follow it find joy and a bountiful life. They will live a life pleasing to the Lord. Those who despise wisdom cause harm to themselves and are courting death.