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.

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31

     When the wall was completed, Nehemiah organized two choirs to go around the top of the wall in opposite directions, singing praises to God. When they met again, they joined together and went to the Temple to conduct a worship service dedicating the wall of Jerusalem. During the reading of the Law as part of this celebration, they discovered that the law said that no Ammonite or Moabite should be part of the assembly of God. At that point they excluded everyone of foreign descent from the assembly. This sounds harsh. However, there is some back-story.
     Before this all happened, Nehemiah had needed to return to the court of Artaxerxes. When he returned to Jerusalem he discovered that the priest in charge of the Temple storerooms had converted one of them into a warehouse for Tobiah, one of the leaders of the neighboring peoples (and an opponent of the restoration of Jerusalem). Nehemiah also discovered that the Levites who were supposed to help conduct Temple services had not been given their allotment of food and had returned to working the fields rather than serving in the Temple. Nehemiah confronted the leaders over this and brought the Levites back. Further Nehemiah found the residents of Jerusalem conducting business on the Sabbath, both on their own and with non-Jewish merchants. He confronted them and demanded that they keep the Sabbath. Finally, he discovered that many Jewish men had married foreign women and had children with them and were not even teaching their children to speak Hebrew, instead raising them to speak the languages of their mother’s people. So, Nehemiah purged the people of foreign influences which were leading them away from God. The key factor in all of these things was that these foreign influences were leading the people to be unfaithful in following and worshiping God.

1 Corinthians 11:1-16

     Today’s passage begins with Paul’s final comment on the topic he was discussing in yesterday’s passage: “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” I have heard different expositions on this passage, but the one that strikes me today is a simple question. Do I imitate Jesus well enough that I can in good conscience suggest that others imitate me? That is quite the challenge, but I think it is the standard we are called to live up to. For me, the idea that others are measuring the validity of the Christian message by my behavior is scary enough, but the thought that someone might be attempting to model their Christian life on what I do comes close to giving me the screaming willies. I just don’t do that good of a job of imitating Christ. I guess that means one thing: Time to up my game!…And there is only one way to do that, give the Holy Spirit more control over my life.
     Paul next says that men should not cover their head when praying or prophesying and that women should. People have argued about whether or not this passage is something that we should follow today. I am not inspired today to make a case for it one way or the other. I will merely say that I am inclined to believe that we should follow the instructions in this passage. For today, the Spirit is bringing another point to my attention. One which I do not believe we spend enough time looking at. In the middle of this teaching Paul tells us that in Christ women are not independent of men. And that men are not independent of women. Men and women fill different, but equally important, roles in the Body of Christ. All too many of the problems in our congregations result from us acting as if we are independent of each other. I had a lot of trouble composing that last sentence because I kept coming up with things that touched on issues addressed in other passages, most of which are somewhat controversial. I wanted to stick with the point I see here, that men are dependent on women and women are dependent on men. We need each other.

Psalm 35:1-16

     We can count on the Lord to fight our battles for us if we follow a few simple rules.

• Do not give our enemies cause to attack us
• Do not commit crimes of which to be accused
• Do good for all at every opportunity
• Mourn with those who suffer loss (rather than rejoicing in other’s misfortune)

If we do these things, God will give us victory over our enemies and humiliate those who attempt to harm us.

Proverbs 21:17-18

     If we do not learn to delay gratification of our desires we will end up in poverty. If we spend our money on all of the luxuries we can afford, we will never accumulate much wealth.

***

     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.

Nehemiah 7:73-9:21

     Once the wall around Jerusalem was rebuilt and the people were able to settle into “normal lives in and around Jerusalem a gathering of all of the people was called. They asked Ezra the priest to bring out the Book of the Law and read it to them. Ezra read to them from daybreak until noon. Ezra was flanked by several Levites. The way I read the passage, they were standing some distance from him, repeating what he said so that those more distant from Ezra could hear what he was saying as well. In addition to reading the Book of the Law, Ezra explained what it meant.
     As the people listened to what Ezra was saying, they began to weep. Nehemiah told the people that they should not weep because the day was a sacred day of the Lord. He told them instead to go and celebrate with a feast, sharing their food with those who had nothing prepared. With further encouragement from Ezra and the Levites the people went from mourning to joy at having heard and understood God’s words. The leaders of the people, along with the priests and Levites, met with Ezra to go over the Law in greater detail. While studying the Law they discovered that the Law prescribed the Festival of Shelters in that month. When they realized this they sent out word and the people gathered and celebrated the Festival of Shelters as outlined in the Law. The people celebrated the Festival with joy. Ezra read from the Book of the Law each day and on the eighth day they all gathered for a solemn assembly.
     At the end of that month, the people gathered again for a day of fasting. They dressed in sackcloth and humbled themselves before God. Once more the Book of the Law was read to them. At the end of the three hour reading the people confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord for an additional three hours. Following that the leaders of the Levites called on the people to praise the Lord and led them in a prayer recounting the mighty miracles God had performed for their ancestors during the Exodus, miracles God performed for them despite their sins against Him.

1 Corinthians 9:1-18

     Having just said that he would spend the rest of his life as a vegetarian rather than cause someone to stumble in their faith in Christ, Paul asks a rhetorical question of his readers. He asks them if he does not have the right to accept support from the churches where he has preached the Gospel. Paul goes on to show that Scripture does indeed teach that those who pastor/teach/lead a congregation are entitled to financial support from that congregation. He then points out that despite the fact that he was entitled to support from the congregations he preached the Gospel to, he never asked for nor expected such support. Paul then tells them that he has no intent to start asking for such support now. He tells them that while he has a right to such support, he would rather die than accept it. Paul tells them that the reason he does not want to receive their support is because that is the only thing he has to boast of. He cannot boast of preaching the Gospel because he is compelled by God to do so. Paul did not consider preaching the Gospel to be something he did voluntarily. Since he has no choice (at least in his own mind) but to preach the Gospel, what reward is he entitled to? His answer is that he is not entitled to any reward. However, by preaching the Gospel without accepting any remuneration. Paul both becomes eligible for a reward and received that reward in the same action. Paul considers preaching the Gospel free of charge to his reward.

***
     I was going to say that I wished that I felt such compulsion by the Spirit to preach God’s word that I could understand Paul’s emotion that it was not voluntary. Then I realized that I have from time to time felt compelled to share the Gospel. In particular there was one instance that finalized my understanding and surrender to the Holy Spirit. I was at a party at a long time friend’s house. I was somewhat intoxicated, to the point that I now consider to be beyond what fits God’s will for us. I was flirting with a young woman and started discussing what was wrong with the dominant world views. I explained that the problem with those who favored socialistic solutions was that they tried to pretend that greed could be done away with and that the problem with those who favored capitalistic solutions was that they tended to say that greed was good. After spending some time making these arguments, quite eloquently I believe, the young woman asked me what my answer to the world’s problems was. I was taken aback. I had thought I had done a good job of adopting the role of the well-meaning cynic. I did not want to reveal that I was a Christian, but I had no choice, not because I could not claim that there was no answer, but because God revealed to me, through the fog of intoxication, that He expected ME to be willing to declare Him before men (or in this case woman).
     It was not to my credit that I answered as I did when I answered her question by telling her that my answer to the world’s problems was God. It was an act of the Holy Spirit, and one of the moments of greatest blessings in my life. I had forgotten that incident until today, now I pray that the Spirit compel me to witness like that more often (and more blatantly).

Psalm 33:12-22

     The psalmist tells us that the people whose God is the Lord will experience joy, not in a personal sense, but in a corporate sense. No matter how well equipped you are, nor how strong, nor what aids you may have in your endeavors, you will not have success unless God is on your side. I will put my hope in the Lord because no matter how powerful those who strive to harm me, God will defend me. I will trust in His name.

Proverbs 21:11-12

     The simple gain wisdom by observing wrongdoers being punished, the wise gain wisdom by being instructed. God takes note of what the wicked think they are doing in secret and they will not escape the consequences of their evil.