One of the things which is emphasized throughout Proverbs is the value of listening to advice and taking instruction. Time and again we are told that the wise look to learn from any source which offers itself, while those who think they know all they need to know are destined for trouble and likely destruction.
Let us remember to follow the psalmist’s example and cry out to God when all seems lost. Even if our troubles seem to have no end, let us continue to have faith in God’s love and faithfulness. We do not serve God because of what He does for us. Rather we serve Him because it is right to do so.
In the passage about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jesus I, and others, have pointed out that He entered Jerusalem as a king returning victorious from battle. In addition, a lot of time has been spent speaking and writing about Jesus’ response to the Pharisees requesting Him to silence the crowds. However, I cannot recall anyone talking about what the crowd was saying that had the Pharisees upset (although I am sure that I have heard, or read, such commentary).
So, what was it that the crowd was shouting which worried the Pharisees? And why? They were wanted Jesus to tell the crowd to stop shouting about the King coming in the name of the Lord. They did not want the crowd shouting this because they were afraid that the Romans would interpret it as the beginning of an insurrection against their rule and would respond with military force. They were afraid to stir things up and upset the authorities. They did not want to upset the status quo. They were afraid of stirring things up and disrupting their comfortable life. Jesus’ answer was that if the people did not cry out their disruptive message, the very stones along the road would do so. The Pharisees’ comfortable life was about to be disrupted whether the people cried out to praise Jesus or not. Are willing to be the voices that disturb the status quo today? Or do we wish they would keep quiet so that we can go on living our comfortable lives?
Today’s passage continues to describe the lands given to each of the tribes. For someone with an interest in it, these descriptions could be an interesting study in what would represent stable borders for modern Israel. However, what I want to comment on is the cities of refuge. These were places where someone who accidentally caused the death of another person could flee to avoid be killed in revenge for that death. They would need to stand trial when they arrived at one of these designated cities in order to establish that they had not intentionally killed the other person. If the trial found that such was indeed the case, those seeking vengeance for the death would not be allowed to take it, as long as the person responsible for the death stayed in the city of refuge to which he had fled. If, however, he were to leave that city before the death of the current high priest, the family would be allowed to take revenge. This system applied a punishment on the one who had killed another, even though by accident, without allowing an escalation of vengeance.
Refusing to listen to instruction will lead to frustration and failure, respecting commands given by those in positions of authority results in success and rewards. Seek advice and instruction from those who are wise, by doing so you can avoid taking actions with dangerous consequences.
Let us come to God by day and by night. Let us pray all of the time. Every time I read the last line of this psalm I am reminded of the song by Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence.” That song begins with the line, “Hello darkness my old friend…” Further in the song refers to “people hearing without listening.” That song so reminds of how people react to the words of God. They hear, but they do not listen. They would rather bow to the “neon god they have made.” Let us listen to God when He speaks to us. Let us seek Him out when times are good, so that He does not need to do drive our friends away to get our attention. I will not wait until times are bad to seek God both day and night.
Am I willing to act as the owners of the colt acted in this passage? Will I surrender the use of my possessions because, “the Lord needs it?” Look what resulted from their willingness to allow Jesus to use their colt. As Jesus rode along, the people began to shout and sing His praises. There was such an outpouring of joy and worship that Jesus said if the people did not cry out, the very stones would have done so. Have you ever been filled with praise for God such that you felt that if you did not cry out the rocks and trees would do so?
As Jesus entered Jerusalem, He wept over the city. He wept because He knew that the people of the city had rejected their opportunity to be saved from the coming destruction. God had offered them an opportunity for salvation and they did not accept it. Do we feel a similar passion for bringing salvation to those we meet? Do we weep over the possibility that they will miss their opportunity to be saved?
The passage lays out how the land not yet conquered was to be allotted among the tribes which had not yet received and allotment of land. The passage ends with the designation of the cities of refuge. These were established so that those who had caused the death of another could receive a fair and just trial. Those who caused the death of another could escape to one of these cities and request a trial to establish that they had done so by accident. The authorities of these cities were obligated to protect them from being killed in revenge until they had received such a trial.
Well, I am past my one year mark on this blog. I have not yet noticed that I remember what I thought about these passages last year. I am excited about discovering what God has in store for me as I begin blogging about the passages a second time through. I hope that my writing has improved as I have gone along. I pray that God’s Spirit continues to move in me as I write this. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. The last few days the Spirit has really moved in my heart as I wrote my blog entries. I pray that He continues to do so and that I can take what the Spirit has been saying to me and put it into practice. Please pray for me on that score.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.
Today’s passage describes what land was allocated to the remaining tribes of Israel. After land was allocated to all of the tribes, Joshua and the leaders of the Israelites designated cities of refuge. These were cities to which someone who accidentally killed someone could flee for safety. The local assembly of the city of refuge would try such an individual, if they found that he had indeed killed the person accidentally, to remain safe he would need to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest who was serving when the accident happened (if they found that it was not an accident they would turn him over to those seeking his death). Three cities of refuge were designated west of the Jordan and additional three cities were designated in territory settled east of the Jordan.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, He sent two of His disciples into a nearby village to get a donkey for Him to ride. There are two ways to read this. One way is that Jesus knew through supernatural means that the donkey was there and that the owners would approve of Him borrowing it. The other is that Jesus had prearranged with the owners for the donkey to be there for Him to use it on this day. I see no reason to argue in favor of one reading over the other, either is consistent with what I believe about Jesus.
Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem. The crowds gathered and turned this into a sort of parade of triumph. When they started to enter Jerusalem, Jesus’ followers began to loudly praise God and proclaim that Jesus was a king coming in the name of the Lord. The Pharisees asked Jesus to rebuke His followers. Jesus replied that if they were quiet the stones would cry out. There are a couple of things worth noting about this situation. The first is that Jesus chose to ride in on a donkey. By doing this, He was intentionally presenting the imagery from the prophets of a victorious king. He did not come in as a king preparing to go to war, rather He rode in as a king returning victorious from war. This is not new and is something many others have commented on. The second is something I have never seen mentioned before and it has never occurred to me before. The Pharisees told Jesus to quiet the crowds because they believed that the crowds were on the edge of boiling over into violent revolt against Rome (historical evidence suggest they were correct) and that this parade could easily push them over the edge. But the fact that they asked Jesus to quiet the crowd suggests that they also believed that Jesus was not planning to lead a violent revolt against Rome. This suggests that perhaps the Pharisees had heard and understood parts of Jesus’ message that most (or all) of His followers had missed. I believe that most of Jesus’ followers (including most of His close disciples) believed, at this point, that Jesus was going to overthrow Roman rule shortly (although not necessarily with military might).
When Jesus got to the Temple, He began to drive out the merchants who were selling in the courtyard. This was a space that was supposed to be reserved for people to come and pray to God. In particular it was a place where Gentiles could come and pray, since they were not allowed to enter the Temple any further. Not only had this area been turned into a market, but it was a market where the merchants charged exorbitant fees if for no other reason than they were convenient if you needed to buy something for a sacrifice. One thing this passage suggests to me is that we must be careful to not make taking part in our worship services depend upon the financial status of those who come to take part.
I had to read through this psalm three times before it stopped utterly depressing me. The psalmist who wrote this was suffering from deep despair and a sense of hopelessness. He had suffered much in his life. He tells us that he had suffered from various afflictions from his youth. Yet despite all of the troubles he has faced in his life, he still has faith in God and cries out to God in his current despair. Even though he has struggled all of his life, he continues to call out to God in his time of need. I pray to God that no matter how bad things get, I will continue to cry out to Him in my time of need, that I will remember that all good things come from Him.
When planning for the future and making promises to those around us, this proverb includes some good advice. When something we had hoped for does not happen when we expected but is put off until another day, it will often make us heartsick. On the other hand, when something we long for happens it brings us much joy, especially when it happens unexpectedly.
Those who ignore instructions given by those in authority will suffer, while those who follow instructions will be rewarded. Wise advice will show people how to avoid danger, more than that, if it is truly delivered in a wise manner, people will be more likely to listen to it and turn from a dangerous course of action.
