The proverb writer tells us that it is better to love alone in a hostile environment (such as a desert) than with someone who is quarrelsome (especially if that someone is your wife, or husband). Think about it and do not do that to your spouse.
It is before God that I wish to be judged. I ask that God judge between me and those who are my enemies. I know that I am not innocent of wrongdoing, but I have faith in God’s mercy. My human enemies will find wrongdoing where I did nothing wrong. They will condemn me for crimes I did not commit. I trust that God will only condemn me for those things I have actually done wrong. I will throw myself on His mercy for those things, because I know that His justice is righteous.
Paul castigates the Corinthian Church for their divisions. When they meet together they divide into factions, each attempting to prove that it is they who have God’s approval, not the others. As I read what Paul is writing here, many of the Corinthian believers were attempting to lift themselves up by putting others down. This is always a mistake, because the only way for us to lift ourselves up in God’s eyes is to raise others above ourselves.
Paul goes on from there to condemn the way they celebrate the Lord’s Supper/Communion. What I always think about when I read this is that the event described by Paul bears little resemblance to our modern celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is impossible to imagine anyone abusing our modern Communion the way in which Paul condemns the Corinthian believers for doing. Paul’s description sounds more like a fellowship meal gone wrong. The more I read this passage, and to some degree even the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper, the more convinced I become that we have lost something in turning Communion into a ritual overseen by “clergy”. It seems to me that Communion should be more a family style event where we reaffirm our family relationship and build bonds with our brothers and sisters while acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus.
The first thing that struck me about today’s passage was the fact that King Xerxes threw a huge party to celebrate how wonderful he was. Then when he had gotten himself and all of his advisers and dignitaries completely potted, not just drunk, but seven days binge drinking drunk, he decided to show off how beautiful his wife was. He did not do this in order to honor Queen Vashti, he did this in order to demonstrate how great he was to be able to get such a beautiful, attractive wife. Queen Vashti did not wish to be paraded before a bunch of men to be gawked over as a piece of her husband’s property. God used King Xerxes foolishness for His own ends, but, men, if you want to have a lasting, happy marriage don’t make the sort of mistake Xerxes made here (there is a lesson here for women, but it’s a stretch, so I am not going there today).
If you spend your time and money on pleasure when you should be working or saving you will end in poverty. If you are constantly spending your money on luxuries you will soon have none.
If we faithfully follow Christ we too will experience what the psalmist references in this psalm. There will be those who will do evil to us in response to our good acts. There will be those who lay traps for us even though we did them no wrong. We will fast and pray for them when they suffer, but they will rejoice when we are in trouble. All of this and more we will face as we try to faithfully serve the Lord. However, if we are in that situation we can rely on God to oppose those who oppose us. He will give us victory. So, let us continue to pray for those who do not serve Him, for God will protect us if we do.
In today’s passage Paul tells us that a man dishonors his head if he prays or prophesies with his head covered (the origin of the tradition of men removing hats and caps when the National Anthem is sung. I will come back to this.). He also says that women dishonor their head if they pray or prophesy without a covering on her head (the reason that women wore hats or some other kind of head covering until modern times). I do not fully follow Paul’s argument here.
I follow the idea that women are supposed to cover their heads because the first woman was created out of the first man. Then Paul says something intended to make sure that men do not become arrogant about this and believe that this makes them overlords over women. He tells us that every man since the first man came out of women. So, the first woman came from man, but every man since that has come from a woman. And both come from God. The resulting teaching is that women are not independent of men, but then neither are men independent of women. We all need each other. There are men who say that they do not need a woman. They are wrong. They may not need a wife, but every man needs at least one woman in his life. Of course, there are women who say that they do not need a man. They are just as wrong. This is not about sexual relations (if you need sexual relations, you need a spouse of the opposite sex).
Nehemiah had left Jerusalem for a time to return to the court of Artaxerxes. When he got back to Jerusalem he discovered that the men of Judah were working and doing business on the Sabbath, which they had vowed not to do. Nehemiah confronted them and got them to stop. In addition, Nehemiah discovered that some of the Jewish men had married women from the surrounding peoples and had failed to even teach their children to speak their language. In other words, rather than assimilate their wives and children into the people and worship of God, they were assimilating into the local people and pagan worship.
This is an important lesson for us as Christians. We are called to bring people from our society into the Church. However, we must assimilate them into the culture and society of the Body of Christ, not allow ourselves to assimilated into the secular culture and society that is around us.
Foolish behavior appeals to those who are ignorant (lacking in knowledge). Such behavior appears to offer sweet rewards, but it disguises the dangerous consequences of following its path. Those without foresight see only the short term advantage, neglecting to take into account the long-term results of their actions.
This psalm reminds me of a passage from a book I read (although I no longer remember what book it was), “You can tell more about a person from his enemies than from his friends.” If the various people and groups who have set themselves up in opposition to someone are consistently evil, that someone is almost certainly doing good. If we have enemies like those described by the psalmist, who are treacherous and hate us without cause, who plot against innocent people who mind their own business, we can be sure that God will come to our defense. It may seem to take Him a long time, but He will do so.
I am struck once again by the fact that Jesus healed many sick people who were brought to Him and cast demons out of the demon-possessed. The change in those He healed was sudden and dramatic. He told us elsewhere in the Gospels that we would perform similar miracles. Yet we rarely see such dramatic healing in the Church today (at least, not in the U.S.). I do not know why we do not see miraculous healing in the Church today, but at least part of the answer is that we do not expect to see such healing.
Another thing that struck me as I read this was Jesus casting out demons. I am convinced that those we call mentally ill today would have been called demon-possessed in Jesus’ day. Whether the fist century understanding is more accurate than ours today, or vice versa, is really irrelevant. What is relevant was that Jesus was able to address those with these sorts of problems every bit as effectively as He was able to cure the physically sick. The Church today should be casting out “demons” from those suffering from such problems just as it should be curing the sick. In both cases, when we look at what Jesus did we see two important factors. The first is the actual removal of the infliction which the people were suffering from. The second was Jesus instruction to them to go, and sin no more. And perhaps this answers the question as to why we do not see more healing in the Church today. We do not put enough emphasis on the second. The Church spends a lot of time calling people to repentance and accepting God’s forgiveness, but not much time telling them to go and sin no more.
The passage describes in detail the nature of the offerings which the Israelites were to present to God. When we offer something up to God it is to be the best of what we have, not something we weren’t going to use any way. When we give of our time it is not to be, “Well, I did not have anything else to do then, so I may as well give my time to God.” When we give money to God it is not to be, “Well, I have this money left over after I paid my bills and did the other things I really wanted to do.” Let us give to God from the best of what we have, not from what is left over.
This proverb makes a very good point. You are the one who will benefit if you acquire wisdom, and you are the one who will suffer if you fail to do so. While the wisdom or foolishness of your actions may affect others, you are the one who will be affected the most. Each person will experience the consequences of their actions. If those actions were guided by wisdom, they will benefit. If those actions were foolish, they will suffer.
When we do good for and to those who oppose us, we can rely on the Lord to rescue us from their plots against us. We are called to grieve for their troubles and do what we can to ease their suffering. It is not for us to attempt to repay them for the evil they do us. God will rescue the helpless from the strong. If we seek always to show God’s love, God will give us victory and send shame and disgrace to those who attack us.
I had never noticed that John the Baptist only baptized people after they had confessed their sins. I don’t think this was a generic confession, “Yes, I am a sinner.” I think it was more specific. Things like, “I committed adultery,” or “I stole from others,” and probably even more specific than that. Do we practice confessing our sins to others? Should we? I believe that the answer is “Yes” and that I do so less than I should.
I do not think I have commented on the fact that the Gospel of Mark is quick hitting. He quickly recounts an episode from Jesus’ life, then moves on to the next. In today’s passage we have John’s ministry, Jesus’ baptism, the calling of the first disciples, and teaching with authority. The other one of these stories I am going to touch on is the calling of the first disciples.
When Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, they left their nets at once and followed. Now, we know from the Gospel of John that their first exposure to Jesus was in Judah, right after He was baptized by John. So, this is not about our first response to Jesus. This story is about our response when God calls us to the ministry He has for us. Are we prepared to drop what we are doing and follow Him? This is a challenge for me, largely because I have felt a call from God, but I do not understand the details of the ministry to which He is calling me. The other thing to remember about this is that we know from tidbits elsewhere in the Gospels that these four men returned to fishing for short periods of time (at one point Jesus preached from Peter’s boat, at one point they were in the boats fishing after Jesus’ resurrection when He appeared to them). Considering all of that, let us remember their example when God calls us to ministry.
The descriptions of the construction of the Tabernacle remind me of part of the reason I started this blog. If it were not for writing this blog, I would skip over these sections…or, more likely, just not read the Bible on the second or third day of such passages and fail to resume again.
At the end of today’s passage it describes how the presence of God descended on the Tabernacle like a cloud. The entire time the Israelites were in the wilderness this cloud of the presence of God remained with them. At night, the fire of the Lord’s presence was visible to the entire encampment through the cloud. While the cloud was settled over the Tabernacle, the Israelites stayed camped. When the cloud lifted, they packed up the camp and followed it. There must have been a certain comfort in being able to see, and follow, a visible representation of God.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. It does not seem like it has been a year since I last read the book of Esther, yet, here I am starting it again today. I think this is a good thing. It tells me that my reading through the Bible each year is increasing my familiarity with with it. More importantly, it is making me more aware of the lessons taught by the various portions of the Bible.
The wise store up wealth and good things while fools spend all of their money as soon as they get it. The only way to avoid poverty and acquire wealth is to minimize spending on things we do not need.
If we cry out to the Lord, He will protect us from those who attack us solely because we serve Him. He will pay back those who do us wrong because of our faith. He will humiliate and disgrace those who make themselves our enemies because we follow His will. On the other hand, the Lord will bless those who come to our defense.
It seems that Paul is being sarcastic in the first part of this passage when he says, ” But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!” Time and again Paul tells us not to attempt to lift ourselves up above our fellow believers, but to consider others better than ourselves. It appears to me that here he is telling the Corinthians (and us) that the divisions in the Church are a result of those who wish to be seen as more closely in tune with God and thus better than others.
All too often when we gather as the body of believers we come together we our own agendas. I grew up with this passage being interpreted as to the importance of having the right spirit when we take Communion. This is not wrong, but it misses Paul’s main point. When we gather each Sunday, we should be seeking to worship God and how we can work together in order to accomplish His will. This means that we should not be seeking to further our own interests as part of the Sunday worship.
Just as hunger is a legitimate need, so too may some of our interests be legitimate needs for us to pursue. However, we should pursue them on “our own time”, not on the time we are dedicating to worshiping God and forging unity with the body of believers. There is a time and a place for advancing our needs and interests. That time and place is not when we gather with our brothers and sisters to advance God’s will in this world.
This passage has a lot of things for us to learn. The first is the danger of acting while under the influence of alcohol. The passage tells us that Xerxes threw a big party and that the alcohol flowed freely. After seven days of partying, Xerxes sent for his queen while he was well into his cups. When she refused his request he was furious (something that happens to many heavy drinkers when they do not get their way). Rather than wait until he was sober, he immediately sought counsel from his advisers, who were also rather drunk at this point. He was given advice which everyone present thought was sensible, of course everyone present had been drinking heavily for seven days. The action he took was to irrevocably put aside his queen and send out a ruling declaring that every man should be the ruler of his own home and say whatever he pleased. However, once he sobered up, Xerxes began to regret his actions, but he was unable to undo what he had done. How many times have people made decisions under the influence of alcohol which they came to regret later when they were unable to change things?
If you spend too much of your spare money, that which is above and beyond what you need to survive, on luxuries, you will never become rich. If you spend all of your spare money on pleasure, you will soon have no spare money.
I have often read this proverb and never understood it. This morning I hit upon something that finally makes sense of this proverb for me. If traitors and the wicked are not punished the righteous and the loyal will suffer. Those who are good desire to see no one hurt or made to feel bad. This leads them to desire not to punish anyone. However, if those who do wrong are not punished, are not made to suffer for their wrongdoing, then those who do no wrong will be made to suffer. If a society chooses not to punish those who do wrong, or worse, betray that society, then those who are honest and upright will suffer instead.
The Lord will give us victory over our enemies if we can say about them what the psalmist says here. If our enemies lay traps for us, even though we did them no wrong, God will defend us and cause them to fall into their own traps. God will bring defeat and destruction on those who accuse us of crimes of which we are completely unaware. We need not fear those who repay us evil for good. I will not let such things cause me to stop doing good for those I encounter. I will grieve and mourn for the illness and suffering of which I become aware. More than that, I will do whatever is within my power to alleviate the pain and suffering of others, even those I know will turn on me at the first opportunity. I will remember that I can pray for those who are suffering, even if I can do nothing else.
In today’s passage Paul tells us that a woman should wear some kind of covering on her head when she prays or prophecies and that a man should have no sort of covering on his head when he does the same. This is a controversial passage subject of much debate and interpretation. I understand some of the controversy and I do not fully understand, or follow, Paul’s logic supporting what he is saying. However, ultimately, I believe that what I said in the first sentence represents God’s will.
However, in the middle of this Paul says something which is often overlooked in the discussion over his teachings on head covering. Paul tells us that men and women are not independent of each other. God made mankind as male and female. Men need women and women need men. This is not a matter of sexual acts (although that is an element of the mutual need, it is far from the most important element and is far from universal). The first woman came from man and therefore women are dependent on men. On the other hand, every man since the first has come from a woman, therefore men are dependent upon women. This is true of people in general, but is a truth that we must never forget in the Church, the Body of Christ.
The first part of this passage is a joyous celebration and dedication of the completion of the walls around Jerusalem. The people were unified and praised God together for what He had done for them. Then Nehemiah needed to leave Jerusalem to fulfill the commitment he had made when he first obtained permission to come to Jerusalem and lead the rebuilding.
When he once more received permission to return to Jerusalem he discovered that the people had lost their unity before God. Some of the leaders, and some of the people, were choosing economic interests over faithfulness to God (one priest had rented out a Temple storage room, people were working and doing business on the Sabbath). He confronted his coreligionists who were working and doing business on the Sabbath. Then he discovered that some were getting around it by doing business with foreigners, so he put a stop to that. This was followed by the discovery that some of the returned exiles had married local women and were not raising their children as part of the community. There are aspects of this passage which trouble me, but the main theme is the importance of us worshiping God in unity.
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.
Folly appeals to those with poor judgment. Those who indulge in foolishness have short-term pleasure, but the consequences of their actions are long-term suffering. The fool is unaware that he(or she) does not know enough to make a good decision and does not take the time to discover this.
The psalmist does not answer his question directly, but he makes it clear that he knows that God will take action. God will come to his rescue, just as He will come to ours. When God has rescued us from our troubles in the past, have we praised Him before others? Have we praised Him in front of those who do not believe in Him?
Other questions to ask ourselves, do we come to the defense of those who are attacked without cause? Do we take up the cause of the innocent who are under assault? Are we willing to stand with the righteous who are persecuted? Do we rejoice when God vindicates those who call on Him? >br?
When Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law the passage tells us that she immediately got up and fixed them a meal. The point of this is not that she got up and fixed a meal. Rather the point is that she immediately returned to full strength and was able to fix them a meal. The following morning Jesus got up before dawn so that He could have some alone time in order to pray.
Jesus went from there and preached throughout Galilee. During this trip, He was approached by a man with leprosy. The first thing that strikes me about this passage is that the leper says to Jesus, “If you are willing, you can heal me…” The NIV chooses to translate that Jesus was indignant (other translations go with the manuscripts which say He was filled with compassion). What does it say about the other healers of Jesus’ day that the leper’s concern was with whether or not Jesus was willing to heal him? Are we willing to touch those who our society says are unclean in order to bring them healing?
Today’s passage discusses different types of sacrifices offered for differing reasons. There is a recurring theme throughout these descriptions, the offering must be “without defect”. When we make offerings to God, they are to come from the best that we have to offer, not from the cast-offs we were going to throw away anyway.
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.
Those who acquire wisdom and plan their actions according to it will benefit from it. Those who ignore wisdom and do not use it to guide their actions will suffer from their choice. It is entirely up to each individual whether they gain the benefits of wisdom or suffer from its absence. You must decide for yourself.
The psalmist calls on the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. He calls on God to smite them. The reason he believes that God will come to his aid can be summed up in a line he repeats, “I did them no wrong,…” When we turn to the Lord and ask Him to rescue us, can we say the same about those arrayed against us? Are those opposed to us repaying us evil for good? Or do they have legitimate grievances against us? Let us be careful not to be the ones who are repaying evil for good. Rather let us repay evil with good. If we are always doing good for those around us, even when we believe they have done us wrong, we will not be the ones the psalmist was speaking of.
I like the way the New Living Translation begins the Gospel of Mark, “This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Like most of this Gospel, it is clean and to the point. I looked at other translations to see if the start in the NLT was consistent with how others translated the beginning. When I read it in the NASB, it occurred to me that their translation explains why Mark is so sparse. They translated the first phrase as, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” While that certainly means the beginning of Mark’s account of Jesus’ life, I believe in a way it also means that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are merely the beginning of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus Christ. The good news does not end with Jesus’ resurrection. It does not end as long as this world endures, there is always more to learn about the Gospel.
When the work on the Tabernacle was completed this passage describes how Moses set up the Tabernacle step by step. After each step we are told that Moses had done this “just as the Lord commanded him.” Each day as we go through the day we should conduct ourselves the same way, so that others can describe what we have done by saying that we did it “just as the Lord commanded him (or her).” Then we will be a “Tent of Meeting” where people can come face to face with God. Let us build our lives to be just such a place.
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.
The book of Esther takes place during the reign of Xerxes, king of Persia. The account starts with Xerxes holding a three month festival celebrating the opulence and power of the Persian Empire (it strikes me as being a sort of World’s Fair). At the end of the festival, he threw a week long party for everyone in his palace in the capital. Xerxes ordered that the wine flow freely and it did. At the same time, his queen, Vashti, threw a similar party for the women in the palace. On the seventh day, Xerxes was rather in his cups and ordered his eunuchs to bring Queen Vashti to him where he was partying with his attendants in order to show off how beautiful his wife was. Vashti refused to come. Xerxes was furious and, upon the advice of his advisers, divorced her (well, probably not technically divorced, but that’s close enough for understanding the rest of the story).
Once Xerxes got over his anger, he began to regret not having a queen. His servants came up with a plan to find a replacement for Vashti by searching for the most beautiful women throughout the Empire. Xerxes could then choose a new queen from among them. Xerxes approved this plan. Among the women who were brought in as part of this plan was a young Jewess named Hadassah (also called Esther). Esther was the cousin of a Jew named Mordecai. Mordecai had adopted her and raised her as his own daughter after the death of her parents. Esther, along with the other young women brought in through this program, was put under the care of the eunuch Hegai. Hegai was impressed by Esther and gave her the best room in the harem. In addition, Hegai gave her a special menu and additional beauty treatments. While she was undergoing the one year preparation, Mordecai passed near the courtyard of the harem everyday in order to keep informed about how she was doing.
When the young women were called to Xerxes bed, they were given their choice of clothes and jewelry. When it was Esther’s turn, she wore only what Hegai recommended. Xerxes was taken with Esther and made her his queen in place of Vashti. Through all of this Esther kept her nationality a secret, even after Mordecai became a palace official. Through all of this, Esther continued to consult with Mordecai and follow his directions. At one point, Mordecai overheard a plot to kill King Xerxes and reported it to Queen Esther. Esther passed this report on to the king, giving Mordecai credit for it.
Some time later, Xerxes appointed Haman as the most powerful official in the Empire, after the king. All of the king’s officials would bow down to Haman when he passed, except for Mordecai. When Haman realized that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became furious. He investigated and discovered that Mordecai was a Jew. Haman felt that it was not enough to punish Mordecai for the slight. He decided to destroy all of Mordecai’s people as well. Haman had lots cast in his presence to decide when to do this. The result was for a time 11 months in the future. Haman went before King Xerxes and told him that there was a people scattered throughout the Empire who obeyed their own laws and refused to obey the king’s decrees, a people who it was not in Xerxes interest to allow to continue to live. Haman told Xerxes that he would deposit a large sum of money into the royal treasury if Xerxes would authorize him to destroy these people. Xerxes gave Haman authority to issue such a decree as Haman saw fit. Haman composed a decree to be sent throughout the Empire instructing Empire officials that all Jews, young and old, male and female, were to be killed on March 7 of the following year. Those who killed them were authorized to appropriate their property.
Paul continues his critique of the Corinthian Church. He tells them that he is not surprised that there are divisions among them. Then he says something that seems like sarcasm to me. He tells them that there must be divisions among them in order to show who does, and does not, have God’s approval. This strikes me as sarcasm, because if there are no divisions in the Church than there is no need to distinguish between those with God’s approval and those without since everyone either has His approval or does not have His approval.
Paul then goes on to discuss what is happening when they gather to eat the Lord’s Supper (which in this case seems to be more like our modern fellowship meals than what we call the “Lord’s Supper”, more on that in another blog…someday). He tells us that when they gather, rather than waiting and sharing the food and drink equally, some people hurry up and eat their meals. This results in some going hungry while others get drunk. Paul continues by telling them that they are disgracing God’s Church and shaming the poor. Paul immediately dismisses the argument of, “We were hungry and could not wait for them to be ready,” by saying that, in that case, you should have eaten something at home. Paul points out that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic joining together of the congregation in the death of Jesus. He talks about how when we eat the bread, we are taking into ourselves the Body of Christ and when we drink the cup we are taking into ourselves the Blood of Christ. What is the Body of Christ, but the Church, which is composed of our fellow believers? If we eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the Body of Christ, we are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon ourselves. Paul tells us that such behavior causes us to have weakness and illness. Finally, Paul reinforces his message that when we have fellowship meals and the Lord’s Supper, we should wait for each other. If we are too hungry to wait for everyone, we should eat at home before we go.
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Paul’s teaching applies to meetings where the meal is the purpose of the gathering. However, there is a principle that can be applied to shared meals at Church gatherings of all sorts. In those cases where we have gathered together for some other purpose and share a meal somewhere in the middle, we may not be able to wait for everyone to get there to begin eating. However, in that case we should make sure that we do not take so much food that there is none left for those who have been delayed. It also means that we should strive to be on time to the meals at such gatherings so as to not inconvenience others.
There are two other things this passage says that strike me. The first is that I think we should more often make our Communion celebrations fellowship meals, as apparently was the practice in the Corinthian Church. The second is that Paul recommends (perhaps “commands” is a more appropriate word) that we examine ourselves and our motives before we take part in Communion. I would recommend that we do the same for fellowship meals, something which the Corinthian Church did not apparently distinguish from Communion.
Hydrangea bloom
The psalmist begins today’s psalm with a phrase I think we can all sympathize with at some point or another:
How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing?
The psalmist expresses the desire that God take action to address the injustice he is suffering. He asks how long God will allow the injustice to continue, but he never has any doubt that God will take action against those guilty of unjustly causing suffering on others. We may look at the world around us and think that there is a lot of injustice going on and that God has done nothing. However, God will take action when the time is ripe and all will see His goodness and love for those who worship Him.
Hydrangeas and hostas
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.
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.
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.
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.
