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. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
After God told Moses who to tell the people of Israel that He was, Moses was afraid that they would not believe that he had spoken to God(I believe there was an element of fear that people would ask him why they should worship this God that no one else worships). God gives Moses some examples of things he can do in order to demonstrate God’s power. Moses then complains that he is not a very good speaker and suggests that God send someone else. God tells Moses that He gave people their mouths and thus the ability to speak. God will be with him and will give him the words to say. Finally, Moses has run out of objections and just flat-out begs God to send someone else. God is angry and tells Moses to go, but He will send his brother Aaron to be his spokesman just as Moses will be God’s spokesman. Reading this is a good reminder that even Moses had trouble accepting God’s call to ministry.
Moses was finally convinced by God to answer the call which God had given him and began the journey back to Egypt with his wife and son. Meanwhile Aaron left Egypt to look for Moses and met him on his way. Moses told Aaron what God had said to him and the signs which God had given him to demonstrate God’s power. Together they went to the elders of the people of Israel, where Aaron told them the message God had given Moses and Moses showed them the signs God had given him. Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh and asked him to allow the people of Israel to make a short trip into the wilderness in order to offer sacrifices to God. Pharaoh responds by asking who God is and that he will not let the people go to worship Him. Pharaoh then orders life made even more difficult for the people of Israel and the people of Israel blamed Moses and Aaron.
This is an important lesson for us when God calls us to some ministry. When Moses and Aaron started following God’s call to deliver the people of Israel from Egypt, things did not get better right away. In fact, things got worse, and the people they were trying to help turned against them. But Moses and Aaron did not give up. They continued to follow God’s call and performed the ministry to which they were called. Let us do likewise.
Jesus told His disciples that to get into the Kingdom of Heaven they needed to change and become like little children. I have heard various things about what He meant when He said that. However, something just hit me that I have never heard said. Jesus told the disciples this in the context of them asking who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (I think from the way it reads they were asking which of them was the greatest). One does not think of a child as an authority. Rather others tell a child what to do. Jesus is telling His disciples that they need to stop seeking to be the greatest and to be the one in charge. They need to accept that others are in charge and do what they can to help. Those who are the greatest are those who do not seek greatness. It is not the great leaders, whether spiritual or otherwise, who are the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Rather it is those who quietly serve others while receiving little or no recognition.
Today we finish the psalm which Jesus referenced while He was on the cross and about to die. Yesterday I discussed the absolute despair which the psalmist expressed in the beginning of this psalm and which Jesus must have felt as He hung upon the cross. Today, we discover that when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me,” He was not expressing that He was abandoned by God. He was merely expressing that He was feeling abandoned. However, when we read the rest of the passage which He was referencing, we discover that He was also expressing His absolute faith that God would rescue Him.
When Jesus made that cry He was also referencing today’s portion of the psalm. In this section, the psalmist declares that he will proclaim God’s name among the assembled people. He calls on those who fear the Lord to praise Him. The psalmist tells us that God does not ignore the suffering of the needy. God does listen to their cries for help. Because of God’s action, the poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise Him because of His great and mighty power. Even in the midst of His despair on the cross, Jesus was telling us that this was true. I pray that God give me the ability to have such faith if I am ever in a position of such despair.
The proverb writer warns us not to spread our sexual love around. He tells us that doing so is like drawing our drinking water from a source close to where dirt, trash and excrement are dumped. The writer reminds us of how much greater the joy of keeping one’s sexual love for only one partner. I will rejoice in the wife of my youth (well, in my case, not so much youth, but the only wife I have). She is indeed a loving deer and a graceful doe. I am still captivated by her love and her body.