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Daily Bible Study

July 22, 2012 Bible Study

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     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.

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10

     Solomon had placed a bronze platform in the Temple courtyard. During the celebration of the dedication of the Temple he got up on it and prayed a public prayer. It is not clear from the passage whether this was before or after the cloud filled the Temple. Solomon started his prayer by saying that there is no other god like God. He then said that the Temple cannot contain God. God is not bound to a location. Solomon then prayed that when the people sinned and God punished them, if they turned from their sins and prayed to God that God would forgive them and deliver them from their trials. Solomon further prayed that when foreigners heard of God and turned to following Him that God would grant their prayers as well.
     The passage records that when Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that were on the altar and the presence of the Lord filled the Temple. It tells us that the presence of the Lord filled the Temple in such a manner that the priests could not enter the Temple. When the people saw this happen they bowed down and praised the Lord. They celebrated a seven day festival for the dedication of the Temple and on the eighth day they held a closing ceremony. We are told that there were so many sacrifices that they had to perform sacrifices in the courtyard because the altar could not hold all of the offerings.
     God responded to Solomon’s prayer. God told him that when the people sin and He punishes them, if they humble themselves, seek God and turn from sin, He will forgive their sins and restore them. But if the people turn from God and worship other gods, He will uproot them and cause the Temple and Jerusalem to be such that all who see it will be appalled. It will stand as a testimony to the people of Israel’s unfaithfulness in the face of God’s graciousness to them.

Romans 7:14-8:8

     I used this clip art because in this passage Paul talks about the fact that we as Christians want to do right and don’t want to do wrong. In fact, most people, whether Christian or not, want to do what is right and want to not do what is wrong. Yet, we still often don’t do what is right and do what is wrong. We do not do what we want. We have a sinful nature that makes us a slave to sin. This paradox, that we do not do what we want but instead do what we want not to do, tells us that the law which tells us right from wrong is insufficient to bring about reconciliation with God. But Paul tells us there is another way, that God has provided a sacrifice to reconcile us to Him. If we turn to God and surrender ourselves to His Spirit, He will transform us and free us from our slavery to our sinful nature. We must acknowledge that we only do right when God takes control of us, that any good we do is of no credit to us, but is only through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us.

Psalm 18:1-15

     The psalmist tells us that God will be our shield and place of safety. That even when we feel that we are overwhelmed and God is far away, He will come to our rescue when we cry out to Him. We should continue to trust in God for safety and salvation, even when God seems far away and it seems like our prayers are bouncing off of the ceiling. He will hear our prayers, nothing can keep them from his ears. Further this psalm, with colorful imagery, tells us that nothing can stand in His way when He comes to rescue us, which He will indeed do.

Proverbs 19:24-25

     The first proverb tells us that often times the reason that people are in want is because they are too lazy to take advantage of the opportunities that they are right in front of them. If someone is chronically in need, they should ask themselves if perhaps the problem is their own behaviors. The second proverb tells us that the simple-minded need to witness punishment in order to learn, but that the wise learn when their mistakes are pointed out.

Daily Bible Study

July 21, 2012 Bible Study

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     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.

2 Chronicles 4-6:11

     Today’s passage describes the Temple furnishings that Solomon had built. The first thing mentioned is a large bronze basin called the Sea. It was the size of a large above ground pool. We are told that the priests washed themselves in this basin. There were ten smaller basins made that were used to wash the utensils for the burnt offerings. In addition there were many other furnishings made. We are told that so much bronze was used that it was not possible to determine how much it all weighed.
     Once the furnishings were completed, Solomon summoned the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem for the Festival of Shelters to move the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple. When they got the Ark to the Temple, but before they put it into the inner sanctuary, they offered a large number of burnt offerings before it. The passage tells us that they offered so many animals that no one could keep count. When they had finished with the sacrifices, the priests carried the Ark into the inner sanctuary of the Temple, the Most Holy Place. We are told that there was nothing in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed within it. Once the priests had placed the Ark in the Most Holy Place they left the Holy Place. Then the Levitical musicians began singing to God with instrumental accompaniment. We are told that a thick cloud filled the Temple at this moment and the priests were forced to stop their service because of it. We are told that this cloud was the presence of God. This cloud is reminiscent of the cloud that led the people of Israel during the day in the wilderness. Solomon concludes by praising God for fulfilling His promises to his father David.

Romans 7:1-13

     Paul tells us in this passage that death frees us from the law. That when we died with Christ upon accepting His sacrifice for us, we were freed from bondage to the Law. Before Christ, the only way to serve God was through obeying the letter of the Law, but now we can serve God by living in His Spirit. Paul tells us that the law, which was intended to bring life, was twisted by sin so as to instead bring death and condemnation. Any attempt to set up a set of rules that we can/must keep for salvation is doomed to failure. Sin will make use of those rules to condemn us for our failures. The only way to be right with God is to acknowledge that we will fail to always act righteously and must rely fully on God’s grace. This does not mean that we do not attempt to act righteously, just that we acknowledge that we will always fall short of God’s righteous standard and thus are no better than anyone else.

Psalm 17:1-15

     The psalmist tells us that God will test our thoughts and examine our hearts, we cannot hide our sin from Him. God’s love is unfailing and He will rescue those who seek Him as refuge from their enemies. God will destroy those who seek their reward in this world, but will give satisfaction to those who seek to see Him face to face.

Proverbs 19:22-23

     The first proverb tells us that we will find people who are loyal more attractive. It also tells us that one is better off being poor than being dishonest. There is actually a connection between these two statements. People who are dishonest never trust anyone. They are always sure that those around them are lying to them and are going to betray them. When you meet someone who thinks that way, you can be sure that they are will lie to you when it suits their purposes and betray you at the least hint of gain from doing so. The second proverb tells us the way to avoid becoming that person. If we fear the Lord, we will trust Him for our security and not fear the betrayal of others. If we fear the Lord, we will be honest and loyal. We will know that the Lord will protect us and thus not need to fear the betrayal and dishonesty of others. This is really a twofold thing. The first part is that as we are more honest and loyal, others are less likely to lie to us or betray us. The second part is that if we rely on God for our security, He will protect us from the consequences of others dishonesty or betrayal.

Daily Bible Study

July 20, 2012 Bible Study

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     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.

2 Chronicles 1-3:17

     Second Chronicles begins with Solomon taking the throne of Israel. He then gathered the leaders of Israel and went to Gibeon where the Tabernacle is still located (even though David had moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem) to offer sacrifices. That night God appeared to Solomon and asked him what he desired God to give him. Solomon asks for the wisdom and knowledge to lead the people properly. God replied that he would give Solomon wisdom and knowledge, and because Solomon’s first thought was of the people, God would give him great wealth and fame.
     The next thing we are told is that Solomon had a huge force of chariots and horses. This is followed be an account that suggests that Solomon’s power and wealth were based on being in the center of a trading empire. David built his power by protecting the trade routes through Israel/Palestine from bandits and raiders. Solomon built his power and wealth by taking control of the trade that used those routes. Next we are told that Solomon arranged a trade agreement with King Hiram of Tyre for master craftsmen to oversee the building of the Temple and for lumber to use in the construction. Solomon took a census of the foreigners living in the land of Israel. He then recruited them as forced labor to build the Temple.
     Today’s passage ends with a description of the Temple that Solomon built. There are two things about it that strike me. The first is something that I have always been aware of. It contained a massive amount of gold and other precious materials. The second thing is that it wasn’t really all that big. The Temple was about 2700 square feet, the average new house in the U.S. in 2010 was about 2400 square feet. Now the square footage of a house is based on multiple floors, while the Temple was a single floor. However, on another site I found a measurement that said the footprint for an average house was around 800 to 1500 square feet. Based on that, a house that was 30 feet by 50 feet would not be considered terribly large, whereas this passage tells us that Solomon’s Temple was 30 feet by 90 feet, or less than double the size of a moderately large house.

Romans 6:1-23

     Yesterday’s passage ended with Paul telling us that as people sinned more and more, God’s grace became more abundant. Today’s passage begins by telling us that this does not mean that we should sin so as to cause God to show us even more grace. Instead he tells us that the power of sin over us has been crucified alongside of Jesus and we are raised with Him. That even as death no longer has any power of Jesus, so sin should no longer have any power over us. Paul tells us that we are slaves to that which we choose to obey. If we sin, we are yielding ourselves into slavery to sin. We should instead choose to be slaves of righteousness.
     I had never looked at this passage this way before, but I have a story that illustrates what Paul is getting at here. When I got out of college, I smoked pot. After a time, I realized that as a Christian I should quit (I probably knew all along that as a Christian I shouldn’t smoke pot, but before this point that hadn’t entered my calculations). I, also, felt called to be more active in the Church. I tried to give up pot, but was unsuccessful in doing so. I became more and more convicted that I should be more active in the Church. But I felt like I needed to give up pot first, that otherwise I would be a hypocrite. After quite some time of trying to quit pot and failing, God revealed to me that I should not put off any longer doing what I knew I should be doing and I should become more active in the Church. I said to God, “OK, I can’t stop doing this, which I know I should not be doing, but I will start doing that, which I know I should be doing.” The interesting thing is that when I stopped trying to quit smoking pot and started doing the things that I knew that God was calling me to do, I almost immediately stopped smoking pot. When I made myself a slave to righteousness (obeying the commands of being righteous), I stopped being a slave to sin. There were a couple of steps involved here. The first was acknowledging that smoking pot was a sin. The second was acknowledging that I did not have the ability on my own to stop committing that sin. The final was being open about the fact that I was a sinner and being active doing works of righteousness anyway. The lesson I take away from this (both the story and this passage) is that if there is a sin in your life that you cannot overcome, you need to become more active in doing acts of righteousness. I have sins I struggle with now. I see that the solution to my struggle is to spend less time in “leisure” activity and more time doing acts of righteousness, whether that is Church activities, writing another blog or some other activity that God calls me to. Time we spend doing acts of righteousness is time we do not have to sin.

Psalm 16:1-11

     There are two elements to today’s psalm. The first is that the psalmist turns to God for safety. He recognizes that every good thing comes from God. The second is that he vows to not take part in the worship of other gods, whether those gods are Vishnu and Zeus, or pleasure and wealth. The psalmist says that he will follow God’s guidance and not be shaken because God is right beside him. What more do we need than the joy of being in God’s presence and the pleasure of living with Him forever?

Proverbs 19:20-21

     Today’s first proverb tells us that we should actively seek advice and instruction. Beyond that, we should take advice and instruction, even when we were not seeking it. The second proverb tells us that we make whatever plans we desire, but God’s purpose will be served. We should seek to align our plans with God’s will, to make our plans to serve God’s purposes.