For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Many times people do wicked things in order to avoid something they dread. What they fail to realize is that the very actions they take to avoid that thing will bring it to pass. The righteous, on the other hand, are willing to sacrifice their desires in order to do what is right. Yet, they often receive their desires anyway, or if not what they originally desired, something they enjoy more than what they desired.

    Read today’s psalm. I cannot express it nearly as well. I know, I say that a lot about the psalms. Clap your hands and shout to God with joyful praise. Don’t be afraid to attract attention to yourself. I want the whole world to know that I worship a wonderful God who brings me joy. No, more than that. I want everyone to experience the joy I get from serving God.

    The religious leaders had been offended and angered by Jesus’ actions driving the merchants and their customers out of the Temple. So, they challenged Him by asking Him where He got the authority to do that. In response Jesus asked them whether John’s authority to baptize came from heaven, or was merely human. The religious leaders were afraid to answer that either way. Because they would not answer His question, Jesus refused to answer theirs. By refusing to answer Jesus’ question the religious leaders made it clear that they were not seeking an answer to their question. They were merely seeking something to use against Jesus.
    Later, other religious leaders approached Jesus with another question in an attempt to trap Him. Jesus answer to this question gives further insight into the lesson from yesterday’s passage where He drove the merchants (and their customers) from the Temple. Those who had been doing business in the Temple, whether buying or selling, had not been giving to God what was God’s. Between these two passages we see how easy it is to allow ourselves to put competing claims ahead of God’s.

    In this passage the tribes were joined together into units for when they were camping and when they were marching. By doing this they had to develop the ability to coordinate their actions between tribal groups. There are some really good lessons on our interactions with God as a body of believers in the substitution of the Levites for the first born of the rest of Israel, but I can not put together a lesson on it today.

    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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    The wicked are right to fear, because their fears will come to pass. On the other hand, the godly have many hopes because God will grant their godly desires. The storms of life will wash away the wicked, but the righteous have built their lives on a solid foundation.

    The psalmist is right. Let us shout to God and clap our hands in His praise. I will not be embarrassed to let the world know that I praise God for His wondrous deeds. He is King over all the earth and I will not be afraid of those who do not honour Him.

    At the beginning of today’s passage the religious leaders confronted Jesus about where He got the authority to do what He did in the Temple at the end they attempted to trap Him with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. I never really thought about these two accounts having a linked theme, but reading it today I see one. The first story is about the source of Jesus’ authority. When Jesus asked the religious leaders whether John the Baptist’s authority came from heaven or from man, the author, Mark, is showing us that all authority derives from either God or human sources. In the second story, the religious leaders ask Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar. Which is really a question about whether Caesar has the authority to tax them. These two stories are linked by Jesus’ parable about the tenant farmers who kill the messengers sent to collect the rent. This parable tells us what happens when we side with human authority against God’s authority.
    In the first story, Jesus asked the religious leaders a question which contained a trap. They were unable to answer His question without falling into one side of the trap or the other, so they answered by saying they did not know. In the second story, the religious leaders asked Jesus a question which contained a trap. Jesus changed the context of the question so that when He answered it, it was the religious leaders who were caught in the trap. In both stories, Jesus changed the context of the confrontation so that it was on His terms, not that of His enemies. When we get into discussions with unbelievers we need to learn to do the same thing. We are called to discuss controversial issues on God’s terms, not on man’s terms.
    When the religious leaders asked Jesus the source of His authority, He highlighted the point that authority either comes from God, or from man. They then attempted to trap Him with a question about taxes, which was, to a degree a question about who had authority, God or man (in the form of Caesar)? Jesus managed to show that while the religious leaders claimed authority from God, they relied on Caesar’s backing to maintain their power.

    While the Israelites were traveling in the wilderness, God gave them a specific pattern for camping and for their order of march. As I was reading this the number it struck me just how many people were in this camp. We don’t know the total number of people, but the total number of men, not counting women, children and Levites, was 603,550. To put that in perspective the population of Boston, Massachusetts is 636,479. When you add in the Levites, women and children the number has to be close to the population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1.548 million people. Just think about that, Moses was trying to travel through the wilderness with a group of people the size the city of Philadelphia.