Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Day 54: I Samuel 8-12

I am the daughter of a politician. Growing up, my dad was a state district judge, and a few years ago, he retired from being a judge and became a U.S. Congressman. With both of these jobs, he has made numerous speeches over the years, especially based on his experiences serving on the bench. He even came and spoke to my freshman at Baylor one year.

I have heard him give dozens of speeches, and the one thing he emphasizes most is the importance of making the right choices, of having the wisdom to make good decisions. He tells stories of people who have not made such good choices and about others who have. All in all, the point he's trying to make is about the importance of thinking about your actions.

We make a lot of choices each day. Some of them are small like what time we will wake up or what we will cook for dinner. Others are not so small. These decisions may be moral and ethical ones such as whether we want to cheat out our employers in some way, or how we want to behave. Other big decisions involve career moves, relocation, and what to teach our children about God.

Decision-making can be stressful. Change can be stressful. But how we deal with these decisions when they come up is what matters.

In I Samuel, Israel asks for a king. They beg Samuel to go to the Lord and plead their case. Samuel then goes to God, even though he doesn't think they should have a king. Like Samuel, God does not want them to have a king either because he is their king. Nevertheless, he gives them what they wants.

This decision to have a king forever changes Israel and their history. I think it also changes the relationship that Israel has with God. What I think is important here, though, is Samuel's decision-making process: when he was presented with a decision--a life-changing one--he went to God to ask God what he wanted them to do. He asked God for advice, and he talked to God about the decision.

Too often I am confronted with decisions and so often I waste my time trying to make this decision myself. Sure, I try to be wise about my decisions: I seek counsel; I talk to others who are impacted by my decision; I make lists. But I often forget or neglect to go to God and ask him for wisdom to make the right decision. Instead of doing that last (or not at all), I should go to God first. Sit in his presence and pray for wisdom and guidance that he will lead me to make the decision that follows his will.

A familiar story by now

Day 53: I Samuel 4-7

Here again, Israel has rejected God by worshiping other gods and idols. This story of Israel's obedience and disobedience repeats itself over and over again. They, like us today, sin and do things they know they shouldn't, but throughout it all, God remains faithful, yet he still disciplines them.

The Miraculous Gift

Day 52: I Samuel 1-3

Not all women want to be mothers, but for those mothers who want to become one and can't, well, that has got to be so painful. I have known a lot of women who have either had a hard time getting pregnant or who never were able to conceive a child. They prayed fervently asking God for a child and either had to wait for years or were ultimately told no. I'm not sure how women deal with that and I do wonder why God won't say yes to their prayers. What's more is that I can't think of a specific instance in the Bible where God doesn't say "yes" to a barren woman's prayer.

Here at the beginning of I Samuel is Hannah. She, like Sarah, Rachel, Samson's mom, and Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mom to come) is a barren woman who desperately wants a child. She has to wait a long time, and she prays and prays for a child. She even tells God that she will dedicate her child to him if he blesses her with one. Eventually, Hannah does conceive, and she gives her son Samuel to the Lord.

What's unique about Samuel (and Isaac, Joseph, Samson, and John the Baptist) as opposed to all those other children born in Israel or elsewhere is that Samuel is a gift from God. Yes, all children are gifts from God (they're miracles, I believe), but Samuel (and the other four boys) are more than just gifts for their families; they are gifts from God for the entire community. Samuel is going to be a gift for the Israelites. God uses him.

God also uses these women who struggle getting pregnant. They are the ones who turn to the Lord for hope. They are the ones who dedicate their children to the Lord. Who trust God at his word. Who help train and guide their children. The process these women go through during their struggle to have a child changes them. They grow in the Lord. They grow in their faith, and I can imagine that they are different mothers than they were before.

While the Bible may not provide examples of women who try to conceive and can't, it does show us women who are examples of hoping and trusting in the Lord. During their lowest points, they find strength and faith in the Lord. We, too--no matter what situation we find ourselves in or whether we personally deal with this personal struggle or not--can look to these women as models of where to turn when something does not turn out as we thought it would, or even as we had hoped. These women point us to the Lord--the one in whom we can find our strength. The faith of these women forever changed the outcome of their communities; it changed the story of Israel and the one in which we, too, find our identity.

Like these women, we are on our own journeys, and no matter what pain or suffering we are experiencing, we can find strength through the physical and faith struggles of these five women.

Finding Hope

Day 51: Ruth 2-4

Poor Naomi. I really feel sorry for her. She lost her husband, two sons and one daughter-in-law all in a very short period of time. Yes, she still has Ruth (for whom she was thankful), but this doesn't diminish the pain of losing a husband and the two children she had borne. That loss a lot to fathom. Losing a spouse is enough in itself, but to also lose two children. Wow. Children aren't supposed to go before parents. That's why I feel sorry for Naomi.

I've always thought Naomi was just a bitter old woman. But as I'm older now and in a different position than before when I only looked at the story through Ruth's perspective, I can understand Naomi a lot better. And I don't think she's a bitter old woman; rather, I think she's trying to cope with the situation that has been thrown at her. A situation that causes her to doubt and question God. To even lose her faith in Him.

But here comes Ruth, and Ruth brings Naomi the hope that she had lost. Not only does Ruth commit to love her and go with her wherever she will go, therefore giving her love (and a daughter), Ruth also offers Naomi hope through an extended family--in a son (Boaz), and grandchildren. More important than that, though, is that Ruth restores Naomi's hope in God. Naomi feels that God has returned to her when Ruth and Boaz marry. The loss she feels lessens somewhat and she comes to know that God cares for her and that he is watching over her.

We live in a painful time--a time of addictions, car accidents, cancer, mental illness, poverty, hunger, hatred, children dead at too young of ages, stillbirths, and on and on and on. We live in a painful time. Life is not easy--it never has been--and we don't have the answers for all of life's mysteries.

But God does. We can take a lesson from Naomi by grieving and questioning where God is in the midst of all our pain. But we can also find hope. Hope in Jesus' death on the cross. Hope in our families and friends. Hope in nature. Hope in humanity. Hope in kindness, faith, and love. There is hope. Now may not be the time where we are ready to look for it, but it is there waiting for us when we are ready to look. The first place we can look to find it is to the cross. Jesus can give us hope again. He already has, actually; he's just waiting for us to come get it.

Loyalty (for later)

Day 50: Ruth 1

I have been sick in bed for three days now, and so, for today, let's suffice it to say that I read the first chapter of Ruth. Ruth decides to go with Naomi and remain loyal to her. I'm thinking here about an entire post on loyalty, but I don't have the energy or the brainpower to think it or write it. Maybe I'll come back to it later.

Please forgive me, dear reader, for today's post and yesterday's too. Hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon.

Freedom to do our own thing

Day 49: Judges 17 to 21

The time of the judges is coming to an end, and the scripture emphasizes several times that at this time there was no king in Israel and people did whatever they saw fit.

We have a king now (Jesus). Are we still doing what we see fit?

In the world but not of the world

Day 48: Judges 12 to 16

Samson was going to be the one who would overtake the Philistines. He was the man chosen by God to defeat them. Samson, however, had different plants. He grew enamored with the Philistines and with one woman, in particular. Delilah. A Philistine prostitute. Samson literally went to bed with the Philistines. Instead of leading Israel to defeat them, he joined the two together.

Samson was eventually lied to and betrayed by Delilah. She enticed him to give her the secret to his enormous strength. As a result, Delilah shaved Samson’s hair and his strength—and the Lord—left him. He was overpowered by the Philistines and taken prisoner.

Eventually, his hair grew back. He was then led out into the temple to entertain the Philistine crowd. He prayed to God for strength to destroy the Philistines and he gave up his life to do so. He pushed the pillars of the temple with all his might and the temple came crashing down on all those who were inside it, including himself.

Samson was an Israelite living amongst the Philistines, yet he was called to be set apart from them because of his loyalty to the Lord God. Samson, however, got entangled with the Philistines and grew distracted from the person God called him to be.

Today, we as Christians are called to be in the world but not of the world. We live in the midst of the world, but we are still called to be set apart, to remember the Lord God and the people he called us to be. Too often it is easy to get entangled and entrapped in sins that are not of God but are instead of the world. We find ourselves tempted to engage in activities that God does not condone or endorse. We are like Samson. We are enamored with un-godly things. We are lured by these things like Samson was attracted to the Philistines and ensnared by Delilah. Yet God wants us to remember who we are: we are HIS people, called by him to live in this world yet remain separate from it as well. To encourage and save the world but not to become ensnared, trapped, and enticed by it.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This..

Day 47: Judges 7 to 11

Depression distorts reality. It makes things seem so much worse than they are. It takes away hope and brings doubt. It puts a lot of emphasis on the self and feelings. It is a mental disease that brings so much pain.

I speak from experience here. I have been depressed for almost nine months now. There were a lot of circumstances that led to this depression--the failure of the church plant, a major car accident where I hurt my back and sprained my ankle, the death of a loved one, my back going out and being unable to walk for two weeks, weight gain, a job search, financial fears, feelings of anger, my husband's personal struggle with the same disease. This was a lot to handle and apparently I'm not too good at handling stress.

I write all this to say that depression is not easy to "get over." Just when you think, "I had a good day today," the next day doesn't go so well and you're stuck back in it. The hole closes in around you and there's no way to even see out.

However, even in the midst of our struggles, God cares. Even when we are sad, depressed, lonely, God cares. When we sin, God cares. When we are selfish and egotistical, God cares. Judges 10: 15-16 says, "The People of Israel said to God: 'We've sinned. Do to us whatever you think best, but please, get us out of this!' Then they cleaned house of the foreign gods and worshiped only God. And God took Israel's troubles to heart."

If God cares about Israel's troubles, even after they have betrayed him over and over and over again, surely He cares about ours, too. He takes my troubles to heart, and he takes your troubles to heart. Tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity for our troubles to be lifted. But even if they aren't, God still cares.

Gideon's Example

Day 46: Judges 6

If I have another child, I think I want to name him Gideon.

I don't think I know one person named Gideon, and considering how often people name their children after biblical people, I find this surprising, especially with how impressed I am with him after reading Judges 6. Now I haven't finished the story of Gideon and I don't remember what becomes of him, but in chapter 6, he is someone to admire.

I admire his courage, his boldness, his willingness to go to God on behalf of for the Israelites. Gideon feared God and yet he trusted God, too. He feared God and viewed him as holy, yet he also trusted that God would keep his word, that he would save the Israelites and answer his prayer. He even asks God to "prove himself" and God does it.

He has an interesting balance of fear and respect, but the trust is also apparent. Too often we struggle with being totally fearful and not being willing to ask God for anything, or we are at the opposite end where we will ask God for anything and everything, forgetting that He is to be feared and revered. Gideon is an example to us of how to balance these two aspect.

I hope you will read Gideon's story. You can find it here. I think you will be encouraged by him.

Power and Purpose

Day 45: Judges 1 to 5

My father's occupation while I was growing up was a judge. Every day, he drove downtown to the courthouse where he would spend most of his day in court, hearing pleas, testimonies, and trials from people who had committed felonies. He was a judge over the worst crimes committed.

I often went down to the courthouse to see what life was like for him on the job. I was always entertained. When there wasn't a trial going on, I got to sit in the jury area and listen to the pleas. When there was a trial going on, I watched the defendant, the lawyers, and the family's of the victims react to the events. When the courtroom was empty, I even got to sit in the witness chair and give "testimony" through the microphone. I also got to sit in my dad's chair on the bench and bang the gavel like I had seen on TV but that I had never seen my dad do.

When court was in session and my dad entered the courtroom, everyone stood. The room was so quiet at this moment that you could hear the tapping of my dads boots as he walked up to the bench. The room had an aura of respect, and the judge seemed very powerful.

Now I'm not sure how the culture worked back in the Old Testament, but I'm sure judges were seen as powerful then, too. Which is why I am so impressed (astounded, even) by the fact that there was a female judge. Deborah, a prophetess, became a judge. What must God have been thinking? In a culture where women didn't seem to have roles beyond mother and wife, here you have a woman who was a judge. I couldn't tell from the text if Deborah was married or if she had kids (it does say she is the "Mother of Israel," but that doesn't necessarily mean she was a mother herself). Regardless, here God is using a woman--a person who probably wasn't very valuable in the eyes of her society--to accomplish his purpose.

God uses all sorts of people, especially those who might not be viewed as "powerful" in the society to make them powerful in other ways. Thankfully, God has used many women since Deborah to continue on the path that Deborah began.

Confessions of a Distant Descendant

Day 44: Joshua 22-24

I have to confess something. I have been reading the Bible for several weeks now and although I have learned a lot about God--his nature and character--I don't feel that I have grown closer to Him. I don't quite understand why not because of how much I have learned about this, and I find this rather frustrating.

My reading so far has taught me a lot about several things: the church, values of God, God's commands and His will, the stories of God's people, sin, obedience, and discipline. However, I'm struck by how our modern notion of "a personal relationship with God" was not evident--or realized--with the vast majority of Israelites. Moses and Aaron had a relationship with God. Joshua and Caleb did, too. Adam and Eve. Cain. Jacob. Joseph. And a few others here and there.

In spite of these few mentioned "personal" relationships with God, the majority of Israelites are not reported to know God in this same way--personally. Rather, they knew him as a group. Israel was God's people. God knew Israel, and "Israel"--not individuals--knew God.

This concept is extremely different from today's widespread views that Christians can and should have a personal relationship with God and that Christians are saved individually through salvation and not as a whole. While I have some thoughts on both of those topics (which I'll save for later when we get to the NT), I mostly want to point out this difference.

I'm not sure from where the contrast originates, but I have a few ideas. It could be a difference between the old law and the new law--the old law that Moses handed to the Israelites and the new law that Jesus instigated. Or it could be a difference between cultures--the Israelite culture and an American culture that emphasizes the individual.

Regardless, the fact that I do not feel I have grown in "my personal relationship with God"--despite reading scripture every day and learning a lot about God in general--troubles me. I'm not sure where the answer lies or when in the Bible this concept of individual/personal relationship with God originates (or if it's in there at all or more the result of church tradition). But I am going to be watching out for it as I continue to read. I'm going to pay special attention to the contact that humans do have with God--in the OT and the NT--so that I can learn more about what this means and grow deeper in my relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Growing closer to God is one of the reasons I'm doing this. I don't just want to know about God; I want to know Him, and I want Him to know me. I pray that God will continue to show me how to use my imagination to envision a different relationship with God than I have now and to see the possibilities that exist when what now seems distant comes nearer.

Conquering, Killing, and Covenant-Keeping: The Ways of God or The Ways of the Israelites?

Day 43: Joshua 10-21

Since I was young, I have heard of the "Promised Land," the land God promised to the Israelites when he established his covenant with them. What I did not know, however, was that the Promised Land entailed more than the city of Jericho. Before today, I thought that after Joshua fought--and won--the battle of Jericho, the covenant had been fulfilled.

But I was wrong.

After they defeated Jericho, the Israelites continued to conquer city after city after city after city (thirty additional lands in all!). That's a lot of conquering. That's A LOT of war.

The first point I want to make about this is that the land was not just "given" to the Israelites by God. Instead, the Israelites had to fight wars--violent, horrific ones--to gain control of the land. The Israelites had to do something in order for God to fulfill his promise. They didn't just have the promise handed down to them either before or after their defeat of Jericho; rather, they "earned" it by defeating their "enemies." Yes, God was on their side, but they also had to trust him, obey him, and follow his will in order to live in the Promised Land.

This point is interesting in itself, but it's also interesting in light of salvation. God offers us salvation through Jesus, but we still have to accept his invitation. We have to respond. We have to act.

The second point I want to make here is that the Israelites gained control of all these lands by killing all the people in their way. What bothers me about this is that it appears as if the lands they conquered and the people they murdered (men, women, and children!) had done nothing wrong. The wars could not even be considered"just" (just war advocates claim that war is justified under certain conditions). The people who were conquered and killed had not sinned (at least to my knowledge based on the text). In fact, the only thing that was "wrong" with them seems to be the fact that they weren't Israel; they weren't the people of God. The fact that they weren't Israel is probably enough of a justification to destroy others, but I'm not sure why these innocent people had to die to fulfill God's covenant with Israel.

God's ways are, once again, puzzling to me.

But He did fulfill his promise to Israel, and He fulfills his promise to us as well (all people--not just Jews, not just Christians--all people!).

Discipline and Punish: The Ways of the Lord

Day 42: Joshua 5-9

At least five times a day I have to tell Elizabeth to obey me. I give her an order, and she disobeys. I punish her each time and hope that one day she will eventually learn to obey (or at least obey more often). Her tendency is to disobey; she wants to do her own thing, to make her own decisions. But I still punish her when she disobeys--even if it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

As a parent, I can understand more about the idea of obedience, as well as the connections between obedience and punishment (or discipline). I didn't understand it much as a kid. I didn't think punishment was fair, even though I had deserved it, and I often grew angry at my parents when they disciplined me. Punishment was supposed to curb my bad behavior, to direct me towards doing the right thing. And it worked most of the time. One day I'm sure it will work for Elizabeth, too.

As we become adults, though, there is no parent to give us a spanking or to discipline us. We make our own decisions and we must suffer the consequences when we sin and disobey God. And even though God may not put us to death or have our peers stone us (like what happened to Achan), He still disciplines us.

As a Christian, I believe Christ has redeemed me and covers my sins even when I fail. However, just because I am forgiven and redeemed does not mean that I won't suffer consequences because of my sins. Sometimes the consequences are mental and emotional; other times they are physical. Other times the consequences occurs realistically in my life or my relationships. Regardless of what I do, God still disciplines me. He is still trying to get me to obey, just like I keep trying to do with my children. And He does so because he loves me and wants me to live a life that he envisions for me. But I also think he disciplines us because God is holy and we are not, and he wants us to remember this fact. God is holy; we are not. We are, however, made holy through Jesus, yet we still sin and must be punished.

God loves us and wants us to be holy like he is holy. I hope to live my life in holy obedience to God.

Thoughts about the book of Joshua

Day 41: Joshua 1 to 4

Strength and courage seems to be an important characteristic to have when you're a leader and when you're preparing for battle. Four times in this short reading God gives the command to, "Be strong and courageous." Three times the Lord tells this command to Joshua, the new leader of the people, and once he gives the command to the Israelites. The Israelites are preparing to enter the promised land. War is about to ensue, and strength and courage are necessary attitudes to possess.
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Have you ever wondered why the spies went to Rahab's house, a prostitute's house? Perhaps this is another cultural thing about the Bible. Sex with prostitutes. Judah slept with a Tamar when he thought she was a prostitute. Maybe that's what's going on here, too. God uses all types of people--both the spies and Rahab to accomplish his mission.
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I didn't remember that God had dried up two waterways so the Israelites could pass through. Of course we all know about the Red Sea, but God did the same thing again when 40,000 Israelites needed to cross over the Jordan River. This time, the Ark of the Covenant was what dried up the water flow.

Remember

Day 40: Deuteronomy 31-34

We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

When we do sin, we often try to forget, to get over it, to forgive ourselves. We don't want to remember. Maybe it's too painful to remember what we did or who we hurt. Maybe we don't want to remember our former selves. Maybe we don't even want to remember what we've done.

But Moses tells the Israelites to remember, "remember the days of old" (32:7), to remember how God delivered them, what God did for them. How he brought them out of slavery, how he saved them over and over again. How even when they were sinful and disobedient, He still showed them love and mercy.

Maybe instead of trying to forget our past sins, we could remember them. We don't need to remember them to make us feel guilty about them or to remember them for their own sake but instead we can remember how God saved us, how he loved us through our failures, how he remained faithful to us in spite of our mistakes.

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I will close with the last verses in Deuteronomy: Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel (34:10-12). 

What a tribute to Moses.

Reflection 1: My Experience after 40 Days

Today is day forty of this reading venture. I've survived an entire flood (40 days and 40 nights)! In honor of the 40th day, I have decided to take the opportunity to reflect on what I've learned after 40 days and what I'm thinking about this whole idea. These are not in any particular order.

1. Daily reading of the Bible is becoming something more natural for me to do. Before this experience, my Bible reading was scarce. I only read the Bible when I followed along as preachers read it (and this was only occasionally), or when I read the Veggie Tales Bible to Elizabeth. Regardless, my Bible reading was rare. Now, since I've read for 40 days in a row, Bible reading has become more of a practice, something I plan for and do each day. Bible reading is a more of a habit now. I remember to look through the Bible.

2. The relationship between God and Israel has shown me much about the relationship between God and us. God loves Israel; they are his people. They are small, defenseless, and weak, and God chooses them to be his. While he loves them, he also disciplines them for disobedience. Today, we are Israel in relationship to God. By looking at how God deals with Israel, we can learn how to communicate with God. How to trust Him. How to love Him.

3. The Old Testament is connected to a specific historical time and culture, which means that some of the "laws" handed down to the Israelites are outdated and not meant to be hard and fast commands for us today.  However, determining which laws are cultural and which laws are not is not something I have enough training in to make any sort of coherent statement. Yet it is something I think we should consider.

4. God is good, but he disciplines people he loves. God is loving, creative, and good, yet he is also a jealous God. He wants all of us, our whole being. He doesn't want us to have other gods; he doesn't want to share us with other things that would take us away from our relationship with God. Still, God is good.

5. I have discovered connections in the Bible that I had never noticed before. Connections to the New Testament. Connections to the church today. Connections to my personal life. They are numerous and varied, but they are there. And this part of the whole experience has been one of the most exciting things for me so far.

6. Memorizing scripture is a valuable practice, one that I plan to pass on to my children.

7. People in the Bible are not perfect, nor should they necessarily be our role models; however, they can still teach us things about how to be in relationship with God.

8. God is creative, and he has passed on this same creativity to us, too.

I hope the next forty days are just as good as these last forty.

Choices

Day 39: Deuteronomy 26 to 30

"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess....This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Deuteronomy 30:15-20

God gives us free will. He has shown us what the path he wants us to walk looks like and how we can walk that path in obedience to him, yet he allows us to choose whether or not we will take that path. And then he also outlines the results of our choices--blessings or cursings.

I like the part where Moses says, "Now choose life."

Choose life.

Choose life.

Deuterono...WHAT?

Day 38: Deuteronomy 21-25

Have you ever wondered why we (as Christians) believe and abide by certain passages of scripture while other passages of scripture are chalked up to being cultural and we therefore don't see them as relevant? For example, the reading for today discusses what happens when a man: marries more than one woman, hangs someone on a pole, needs to kill rebellious children, takes a woman captive, flogs someone in the presence of a judge, has to marry his sister-in-law because his brother dies, wants to find proof of a woman's virginity (I have to admit that I hate the idea of this one), and loans money to people and shouldn't charge interest to someone from the same country while he should charge it to "foreigners".

After reading this list, what do you think of these laws? Don't most of them seem outrageous to you? Outdated, even? They do to me. But why is this the case? Why do we view some laws, particularly in the Old Testament, as being outdated, ancient, and purely connected to Jewish culture, while others within these same passages are viewed as laws for us today? Hard and fast rules we need to follow?

I can only guess at the reason here (and I'm sure there are many, with one being that Jesus changed and extended many of these laws), but it seems to me that the answer has to do with our own current notions of right and wrong. That is, when we view a practice as "right"-eous today, we thus view the biblical practice as outdated and associated with the Israelite culture; however, when we view the practice as sinful today, we view the biblical practice as right (and therefore relevant, appropriate, and current).

For instance, today, I think we can all agree that we view it as wrong to flog, hang, or murder people. As a result, we view the biblical commands related to these "sins" (or practices) as something that was cultural to the Israelites and therefore not relevant to us today. However, when we view a behavior or attitude today as "sinful," we refer to the passages in the Bible (where it is also deemed sinful), and we justify our way of looking at the world through the biblical lens.

But, why isn't everything cultural? How do we decide what's cultural and what's not? I don't know, but I think it's something we should all consider as we decide what we believe and why we believe it.

And, just in case you're still wondering about the kinds of passages that have me thinking about these issues, I leave you with Deuteronomy 25:11:

"If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

Uh, was this a common problem? Do we need a law for everything?

Rules, rules, and more rules

Day 37: Deuteronomy 16-20

God wants us to obey him. He wants us to follow his rules, his commands. He wants us to do the right thing. As I've gotten older, however, the right thing doesn't always appear so clearly to me. While God's rules and laws still persist today, on many issues he doesn't say anything, so it's left us to up to interpret morality, ethics, the right thing. We must look at the Bible and make choices about what kinds of behaviors and attitudes God wants us to have.

The Jews, though, don't seem to have such leeway. Every single thing was written out, handed down by God for the Israelites to obey. The reading today seems full of rules, rules that I don't always understand, and I find myself having to, once again, stand back from the rules themselves and look more towards what God is doing.

Here, it seems as if God is teaching his people how to live. He's not just giving them commands and rules so that he can punish them when they don't follow them. Instead, God seems to be showing his people how he expects them to live, how he expects a follower of Yahweh to live, act, and behave. That's what God is doing.

It's not about right and wrong for the sake of right and wrong. Instead, the rules are there as a code of living as a follower of the Lord. God wants them to keep his commands; he wants us to keep his commands. But he wants this not because of himself (although he is definitely worthy of it); he wants this for us. Following his rules, laws, and commands is better for us, and it will allow us to live the life he envisions for us to live.

So even if his commands and laws aren't so crystal clear to us at times, if we know God, we can better follow them when we aren't so sure about the right thing to do.

The Great Giveaway

Day 36: Deuteronomy 11-15

The idea of tithing, where one is expected to give 10% of all earnings to the Lord, is an interesting biblical concept that finds both supporters and critics. Today, some people follow this 10% Judaic practice and give this amount or more to their church (or other worthy endeavors), all in the name of the Lord. There are also some who don’t follow this ancient law. They may view this law as one that God gave to the Israelites and not to Christians, so they don’t need to abide by it. Others view Jesus’ comments on tithing to go beyond a meager 10% and give 100% of everything—all that we have, our whole heart—which goes beyond monetary giving. Others don’t follow this law because 10% is too much to give to the Lord when we can’t even feed and clothe our families.

Regardless of what you believe or what you practice, the idea of tithing stems from the notion of giving something to the Lord. In the Old Testament, people presented animals as sacrifices to the Lord. Sometimes they burnt these animals. Sometimes they ate these animals. Sometimes they gave the animals away to people in need. However they gave, though, they rejoiced and praised the Lord as they presented their sacrifices, and they showed reverence to the Lord.

What’s more is that the Israelites could even exchange their tithe for silver, go out with their household to the place the Lord chooses for them, and then eat there in the presence of the Lord and rejoice. This counted as their tithe. Here, the tithe would be a family meal in which the household reflected on God and praised Him for all he has done. See Deut. 15:25-26. Other tithes given by the Israelites were stored and given to the Levites (who were the priests and had no money of their own), the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows. These people could come eat and be satisfied. Through the practice of tithing, these people were taken care of.

Isn’t this how money is still distributed in churches? We give money to “the Lord” (or the church), and the church distributes this money in various ways. They give money to the ministers (aka, the Levites), immigrants, orphans, and widows. Churches are still continuing the Lord’s work, and the Lord continues to take care of His people through the tithes and offerings given by individuals.

At times, though, I have questioned what it means to give money to the Lord. How much should I give? Why do I have to sacrifice so much to give money to God? Where does the money I give go? Will it be spent recklessly and carelessly? Will it be used in the best way that will further the kingdom of God?

I don’t know. But as a preacher’s wife, I find myself in an interesting position when it comes to giving money to God: the money I give to my church indirectly comes back to me. That is, since my husband is a preacher and supported by a church that collects such money from its people, when individuals give money to our church, some of this money pays for Shane’s salary, our financial well-being. Is that right? Yes, we are doing the Lord’s work, but the money isn’t really going to the Lord; it’s going to a person (or a family).

Some people don’t think ministers should get paid, and that’s a different discussion that I’m not going to get into now. For now, I’m interested in the idea of how God commands the Israelites to distribute their tithes to people—to people who don’t have much money and who are in need of it. Here, God seems to call for the distribution of wealth to those who don’t have.

In our economy today, we have all had to make cutbacks. But how often have we thought about those people who didn’t have anything to cut back? Who didn’t have anything to begin with and are in desperate situations now? What have their lives been like during this economic depression? Deuteronomy 15 says, “If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need….Give generously [to the needy among your people] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”

We already give a lot of our money to the poor through the taxes we pay. Perhaps you feel that the taxes you pay sufficiently provide for these people. Perhaps you have even complained about all the taxes you pay and the burden that poor people put on our system—on you. However, while you may want things differently, God views it as our responsibility—the church’s responsibility—to take care of these people. To give to them by giving to the Lord.

I want to encourage you to reflect on your attitudes about giving to the Lord. I also want to encourage churches to remember that a large part of the money collected should go towards those listed in Deuteronomy 15. When we give generously and do so without a resentful heart, God will bless us. So, go and give away.

Repetition and memory: Components of an oral culture

Day 35: Deuteronomy 4-10

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to live in an oral culture? Imagining myself in an oral culture proves extremely difficult because of the influence of reading and writing in my own background; however, because I have not grown up in a primarily oral culture, I can discover some of the features of an oral culture merely by contrasting them with a predominantly textual one.

One observation has to do with repetition. I teach professional writing courses and one of the things I emphasize is repetition. Students are initially apprehensive about using repetition in writing, but they soon discover the importance of this strategy, especially for readers who may not be as familiar with the subject as them.

In the Bible, the concept of repetition is even more pronounced. In fact, I would argue that one of the primary reasons repetition is emphasized is because they were living in an oral culture. In such a culture, memory was a key component. Adults didn't have texts to read, and children did not have someone to read them stories. However, what they did have was memory: adults could remember the stories told to them and then tell the same stories to their children. Just like storytelling was important, so, too, was singing. Music became an easier way to remember and to pass on stories to others.

So what gets repeated in the passages for today? I find three primary aspects of repetition:
1. Characteristics and explanation about the nature of God.
2. What God did for the Israelites and what he commands the Israelites to do.
3. What the Israelites did in the past.

First, Moses reminds the Israelites about who God is. God is "a consuming fire, a jealous God." He is "merciful." He is "great and awesome." He is "the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments." Moses reiterates the traits of God. The Israelites are reminded about God's nature, and they get to know the Lord better as well.

Second, Moses rehearses the story of the exodus--what God did for the Israelites over and over again since they left Egypt. How he saved them from death, starvation, thirst, and other evils that could have happened. Moses also emphasizes the commands that God gave the Israelites and the importance of following them.

Finally, in telling the story of the exodus, Moses also reminds the Israelites about their behaviors, their actions. He rehearses to them all that the Lord has done for them and then begs them to remember the Lord. Moses is speaking to a new generation of people--people who may not have been around throughout all the years of wandering in the desert. One of his purposes, thus, seems to remind the new generation about the past, about Israel's past of which they are a part. Another of Moses's aims here seems to be to remind the people of the story, to tell the story again and again so that they can remember it and pass it on to their children. The purpose here seems to be connected to orality.

Repetition was and is an important part of oral cultures, and one of the most repeated parts of the Bible is actually in this section:

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ^{[a] 5} Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

We, too, can make repetition an important part of our own lives. We can tell the stories of the Bible to ourselves, our children, and our friends. We can repeat what the Lord has done for us through Jesus. We can memorizes verses in the Bible and repeat them over and over again. I'm sure these practices will impact our mindset and therefore our lives. Let's all try to be more cognizant about the role of repetition in our own life, particularly as it applies to becoming more godly and Christ-centered.

God's Repetition of (His)Story/ies

Day 34: Deuteronomy 1-3

The Lord wants us to remember our history/ies. He wants us to know our story/ies. He wants us to know how we fit into the larger story--the one that's been told since the beginning of time. In Deuteronomy 1-3, Moses re-tells to the Israelites the story of all that God has done for them since leaving Egypt. He wants the ones who experienced the story to remember it, and he wants the new generations of Israelites to learn about their past history, to know the story of their ancestors and what God did for them. By doing this, God weaves the story of the new generation into the story of the old. They now have a history, and they also have a God who has been present in the story of their past.

He's also rehearsing this story for us. God wants us to know this story--to know all that God did for his people in the past and to show how we are connected to them as well. Stories connect us. God's story connects us to God, the Israelites, and one another. These stories are becoming more a part of who I am and with whom I identify. Thank you, God, for story.

Forever Yours, Faithfully

Day 33: Numbers 31 to 36

Do you remember the song "Faithfully" by Journey? It was very popular when I was growing up. In fact, it was mine and my high school boyfriend's "song." :) The lyrics are about a musician on the road who asks his girl to stand by him and he'll be "forever yours, faithfully."

Well, my boyfriend and I broke up. We were not forever faithful. It was just a song we liked to sing to each other dreaming about our lives together. (Eventually, I did meet a man to whom I will be forever, faithfully--my husband Shane.).

When thinking about the book of Numbers, what strikes me the most is how God is continually faithful to Israel. Notice the contrast between God and Israel. God is holy, while Israel is not. God is faithful to Israel, while Israel is repeatedly unfaithful to God. God loves Israel, and Israel only seems to love God when they want or need something from him. God is faithful, while Israel is faithless.

The lesson here: God  remains faithful to Israel--and to us--even when they/we turn away.

Even though God is to be feared because he punishes and destroys, he's also the one who remains by our sides. He remains faithful even when we walk away from him. That's pretty powerful, actually. God is faithful when we are faithless. God is holy even when we are not. God is forever yours, faithfully--no matter what you do.

This God does seem to be the same God of the New Testament, the same God who offers us Jesus, the same God who offers us grace. A God that I didn't think existed in the Old Testament. But He's there. He is the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old Testament. He loves Israel, and he continues to show them this again and again. They are His people, and He is their God. We, too, are his people, and He is our God. Will He be forever yours, faithfully like you will be to him? I hope so.

Guilt in Giving

Day 32: Numbers 26 to 30

I'm feeling guilty.

Over and over again God instructs the Israelites to give him offerings. These offerings range from burnt offerings and sin offerings to daily offerings, weekly sabbath offerings, and monthly offerings. God wants them to offer sacrifices to Him so that they can be pure and holy. Today, God also wants us to make offerings to him. He wants us to make financial offerings and more metaphoric offerings as well, or giving of ourselves to him (offering ourselves to Him).

I'm feeling guilty because of the financial aspect. As a family, we decided long ago that we would give ten percent of our gross income to God (primarily through the church). We have done this over the years, but sometimes when I write the check I think to myself, "At least we'll be getting some of this back with our taxes" or "At least we'll be able to write this off on our taxes." Isn't that awful?! I know. I shouldn't think be thinking that, but sometimes I do.

I know this is not the way God wants me to think about giving to him, about presenting offerings to Him. And I really don't know why I care. But what strikes me here is that I'm wondering if I do this in the more metaphoric use of the word offering. Do I view metaphoric offerings in the same sense that I view financial offerings? Do I say, "Yes, Lord, you can have this part of me--even all of me--but I only offer myself to you because I know that I'm going to benefit from it as well. This way, I don't have too sacrifice too much."

Yikes! God doesn't just want me to do the deed; he wants me to have the right attitude about it as well. He wants to rid me of the pride I feel for giving offerings to him and instead fill me with an understanding that God is holy and deserving of my sacrifices. I shouldn't look at it like what's in it for me; instead, I should love God for His own sake. For who He is. For what He's done.

Poetry and Prophets: Singing Praises to the Lord

Day 31: Numbers 21 to 25

Poetry, done well, can move the soul. Read aloud the following words by Balam, a prophet who uttered oracles about Israel:

How beautiful are your tents,
          O Jacob,
     your dwelling places, O Israel!

Like valleys they spread out,
     like gardens beside a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
     like cedars beside the waters.
Water will flow from their buckets;
     their seed will have abundant water.

Their king will be greater than Agag;
     their kingdom will be exalted.

God brought them out of Egypt;
     they have the strength of a wild ox.
They devour hostile nations
     and break their bones in pieces;
     with their arrows they pierce them.
Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
     like a lioness--who dares to rouse
          them?

May those who bless you be blessed
     and those who curse you be
          cursed!

Hear the word of the Lord.

The Rock and The Cane Meet Again

Poor Moses. The people will not stop grumbling about being in the desert. This time they are complaining about the lack of water available to them. So Moses once again goes to God for help. God tells Moses to take his staff, gather the assembly together at a specific rock, and speak to the rock so that water pours forth.

Moses gathers the community together and is so frustrated with them that he lectures them about their behavior. Soon after, instead of speaking to the rock like God instructed Moses to do, Moses strikes the rock with his staff. Water still comes forth for the people, but God is not happy about Moses' disobedience and tells him that that he and Aaron will not be permitted to go into the Promised Land.

Poor Moses. He has put up with so much from these grumbling and complaining Israelite people; he even obeyed all that God has ordered him to do up to this point. But at one moment Moses loses his temper, disobeys God, and is forever punished for this sin. How tragic. How very tragic for Moses. I really like Moses and feel sorry for him not getting to see the land to which God led them from Egypt to see. This faithful servant is severely punished for disobedience, for lack of trust, and for his pride. I don't fault Moses any; anybody else would have probably done the same thing. I just wish it didn't have to happen. I wish he didn't have to be punished.

Moses is punished, however. I wonder how Moses felt about this. I wonder what he learned from this experience. What can we learn from this story? I think we can learn, once again, that God wants us to trust him. He wants us to put aside our egos and trust God that He will take care of things for us. What rocks are we striking right now instead of speaking to? What might God want us to do that we are not doing?

Day 30: Numbers 15 to 20

Trust in the Midst of Tragedy?

What does it mean to trust God?

That he will take care of us? That he will provide for us physically, emotionally, and spiritually? That he will fulfill the promises he makes in the Bible? Promises such as hearing our prayers, bringing only good things to us, or loving us. Or is it that we trust him to give us what we ask for in our prayers (non-material things, specifically)?

Sometimes I have a hard time trusting God. If he’s not going to take care of me, provide for me, fulfill the promises he makes in the Bible, or give me what I ask for in my prayers, then how can I trust Him?

Trusting God is hard to do. And yet God still wants us to trust him. But trusting God is so hard to do.

Last night, a 21-year-old girl at the church in Gatesville where Shane was a preacher was killed in a car wreck. She has a 9 month old daughter that will never know how much her sweet mommy loved and adored her. She has parents who love her and who have now lost a child before her time. She has a church family who looked forward to seeing her each week.

Why do things like this happen? We trust God to take care of our children. We pray to God that He will protect them from harmful things. And yet…things like this keep happening. This question of why bad things happen to good people is age-old, but it’s still relevant today. We ask the same question: “Why,” but we don’t get a satisfactory answer. God’s ways just don’t make sense to us. How can we trust God when life doesn’t turn out like it should or like we want it to? What does trusting God mean anyway?

Unfortunately, the reading for today doesn’t bring much comfort to me and doesn’t bring many answers either. In fact, the reading actually makes me fearful because at this point in the narrative, the Israelites do two things wrong. First, the spies, except for Joshua and Caleb, come back from Canaan with a false report about how big and strong the Canaanites are. They don’t trust God to be on their side and they lack faith that he will fulfill his promise to give them the land flowing with milk and honey. As a result of their lies and lack of faith in God, God strikes the spies with a plague, and each one of them die (except Joshua and Caleb). Second, God punishes the entire Israelite community because of their grumbling that resulted from the spies report. They, too, didn’t trust God (or Moses and Aaron) to provide for them and fulfill his promise to take care of them and give them good things.

Moses pleas with God to forgive the Israelites and not to kill them (like God wanted to do). God does forgive them, but he also punishes them: none of the Israelites over 20 years old, except for Joshua and Caleb, get to see the Promised Land.

So from this reading I learn that I should trust God. I’m actually scared not to do so. But how can I trust a God that brings such pain to so many lives? He could have saved Kayla. He could have protected her. He could have timed things differently. He is all powerful and could have protected his child. But he did not. He could have saved her life. But he did not.

Why?

I don’t have any answers. I understand it’s important to trust God, but trusting God is hard to do when life doesn’t turn out like you expect. I am reminded, though, of one verse that I memorized as a little kid: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

I don’t understand. I don’t understand it at all. However, this fact that I have a limited understanding actually brings me some hope. Only God can see the full picture. Only He knows why things happen. All he asks of us is that we trust him, trust Him that He knows better than us. And that is what I will do. I will trust God with all my heart and not rely on my own incomplete view. I will trust God that he will take care of Kayla’s family and friends. And I will also trust that God will take care of Kayla while she is with him in heaven.

We miss you, sweet girl.

Day 29: Numbers 13-14

Spiritual Giants like Moses

Day 28: Numbers 9 to 12

Have you ever known a spiritual giant?

I can think of several people in my own life who have made quite an impression on me.

My father.
My mother.
My great-grandmother Meme.
My husband.
My in-laws.
Friends like Danny Mathews, Andrew Johnson, Amy Konermann, and Shelly Willbanks.
Preachers and teachers I’ve had: Michael Lewis, Mike Cope, John Risse, Shane Alexander, Becky Van Rheenan, Candace Vogt, Charles and Judy Siburt, and Karen Alexander.

I have had many spiritual mentors in my life. These people study and mediate on scripture. They bring new insights to Christianity and what it means to live a cruciform life. They are prayer warriors. They practice spiritual disciplines. They talk the talk and walk the walk. They are mentors, friends, and advisers.

When we meet someone like this, we know that we have seen Jesus. We have glimpsed what it is to live life in the kingdom of God. What makes people like this so special is that they allow us to realize all that God intended life in Christ to be like. Even though we may not often meet people who become mentors, advisers, and heroes to us, we know that at this moment, we are glimpsing more than humanity; we are glimpsing the life-changing ways of Jesus Christ.

Moses was a spiritual giant. He had the Spirit of God resting on him, and God listened to him. When the Israelites complained about their hardships and God sent a fire to burn among their camps, God prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. When the people complained that they had nothing but manna to eat, Moses prayed to God, saying, “I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.” And so God took the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on seventy Israelite leaders. These 70 men helped carry the burden of the people, and Moses no longer had to carry it alone. When Miriam and Aaron oppose Moses and God curses Miriam with Moses, Moses prayed for God to heal his sister, and God did so.

God responded to Moses’ requests for forgiveness and healing, which suggests that Moses was a man of God. Moses responded to the call of God to be a leader of the Israelites. The people trusted Moses, and Moses became the voice of the people to God.

Even when Joshua, Moses’ assistant, became worried and jealous when other men began prophesying, Moses showed humility, expressing how much he desired all God’s people to use the gifts that God gave them—even if it meant that some power or prestige might be taken from him.

Moses is someone to be admired and imitated. He is a “spiritual giant” (so to speak) of his community. They go to him, and he goes to God. His life has obviously been touched through his relationship with God. I hope that my life is also one that has been touched through my relationship with God. I hope that yours is, too.

Desert Wanderings and Heavenly Blessings

Day 27: Numbers 5-8

"The LORD said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron and his sons, "This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

'The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.'

So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."
--Numbers 6: 22-27

God gave this blessing to the Israelites. Isn't that a bit odd that God gave this blessing to the Israelites? A blessing that involved God blessing them, making his face shine on them, being gracious to them, turning his face toward them, and giving them peace. Yes, Aaron was the one that delivered this blessing to the Israelites, but God was the one who came up with it.

Regardless of how the blessing was given to Israel, God wanted them to know that they were His. That He put His name on the Israelites. Once again, God is giving the Israelites an identity. This time the identity involves God, graciousness, and peace, all while in the arms of God who is blessing them and keeping them.

As an extension of the promise, we, too, are given this blessing. But what's interesting is that we can now give this blessing to others. If you have ever been to opening or closing chapel at ACU, for instance, you have this blessing sung as a song. At the beginning of the year and at the close of the year, we gathered together in Moody Coliseum to sing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." It's a tradition.

At the beginning of the Fall semester, this song was a message of hope. Hope for a blessed year. Hope that when things were to get bad or hard or busy--as all college semesters happen to do--we could look to God and He would bring us peace.

At the end of the year, the song had a different feeling to it. A different tone. We were all about to depart to different areas of the world and spend our summers in various ways. The song became a blessing of sending. A way to be sent out into the world. To remember that the Lord wants blessing for us. A way for us to bless each other as we depart ways and, hopefully, do good things for the Lord.

This blessing that God gave to the Israelites keeps on giving thousands of years later. Even in bad circumstances, which the Israelites surely faced as they wandered in the desert, they could remember this blessing. They could remember that the Lord wanted good things for them.

And so, too, can we. As we wander through our own deserts of pain and suffering, we can look to this blessing and we can remember. We can remember that God loves us and that he blesses us--then and now. And He can bring us peace.

During the past year and a half, I experienced many deserts. I wondered where God was and what He was doing to bring me out of my desert. I also wondered why he would let things happen like they did with the church plant and why he wasn't blessing our church in the way we wanted. After reading these first three books of the Bible, though, what I better understand is that God was wandering right there with me, just like He did with the Israelites. He never left them; in fact, during their desert time is when He gave them this blessing. He didn't shorten their wandering, though, just because they were experiencing hard times. Yet he did bless them. He gave them what they needed most--an identity in the Lord.

And now that I have journeyed from deep in the middle of a desert to a place that is much more fertile and cultivated, I can see how this experience--the literal things that took place as well as the spiritual journey I was on--shaped and formed me. I appreciate this blessing in ways that I could have never articulated before. I can appreciate how my own journey paralleled that of the Israelites, and this fact brings me comfort. I can also see how God has finally brought me peace, a peace that I would have never known on my own but only through his blessing and his work.

Identity, Covenant, and God's Numbering of the Israelites

Day 26: Numbers 1-4

Well, I made it through Leviticus (yay!), and now I'm on to Numbers, which is more of a narrative with stories than it is about how humans are to behave as children of God.

The book of Numbers opens with God speaking to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. The Israelites have been gone from Egypt for 13 months and now God wants Moses to take a census of the people (to "number" the people). So, Moses asks men from each tribe to help count, and they count the people by the 12 tribes, except for Levi's tribe, which wasn't counted in the census because they were in charge of the tabernacle. God also sets the Levites apart as his people. God then explains how they are to be arranged as they camp in the wilderness--from who will pitch there tent where to which tribe will be first in line as they wander.

The numbering of the Israelites goes on for the first four chapters. The whole reading is strategic and technical. But I think God is doing something here. In the book of Leviticus, God establishes a covenant with His people. He gives them laws, and they agree to abide by them. In Numbers, he now counts the people--His people--and gives them an identity. Not only does he give them identities within their own individual tribes and within the whole nation as Israelites, but he also passes on to them another identity--one as a member of the family of God.

The notion of identity is an important one. As I was growing up, I was the second-born daughter, younger than my sister by eleven months. I was #2 out of 4. I was the daughter of a judge and a teacher. I was good at sports. I was a part of a church. I was a member of swim team, soccer clubs, and team sports. I went to a public elementary school and a private middle school and high school. I was a member of the Poe family. I am part German, part Scottish. I am an American. And on and on and on.

All these characteristics make up who I am. Of course these things don't make up my entire identity (in fact, I didn't even go past high school in that list), but they formed me. They shaped how I saw myself and how I viewed the world. They showed me how I fit in. How I belonged. Where I belonged. To whom I belonged.

And that's what God was doing with the Israelites. He was saying, "You're mine." "You belong to me." "You fit in here." "You can identify with me." "Find your identity in me."

The Israelites can find their identity in God. They can view themselves as God's chosen people. They can remember how God saved them from slavery and redeemed them. How He established a covenant through them. Israel can become "God's covenant people." What an amazing identity to have. The identity comes with responsibility, yes, but God also promises them that they can always look to him when their identity is shaken, challenged, or unclear. God has given them an identity.

He's also given all humans today this same identity. He has invited us into this same covenant relationship with him. He has given us an identity. It comes with responsibility, but it should also provide a wonderful foundation--even when our lives are shaken from what life throws at us. We have an identity in God. We can find our identity in Jesus. We can see how the Holy Spirit has named us and called us. What an amazing identity to have.

Praise God! Jubilee has arrived

Day 25: Leviticus 23-27

The first time I ever remember hearing about the Day of Jubilee is in the song called, "Days of Elijah."

Here are the lyrics to the song, "Days of Elijah":
These are the days of Elijah,
Declaring the word of the Lord:
And these are the days of Your servant Moses,
Righteousness being restored.
And though these are days of great trial,
Of famine and darkness and sword,
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
'Prepare ye the way of the Lord!' 

Behold He comes riding on the clouds,
Shining like the sun at the trumpet call;
Lift your voice, it's the year of jubilee,
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes.

These are the days of Ezekiel,
The dry bones becoming as flesh;
And these are the days of Your servant David,
Rebuilding a temple of praise.
These are the days of the harvest,
The fields are as white in Your world,
And we are the labourers in Your vineyard,
Declaring the word of the Lord! 

There's no God like Jehovah.
There's no God like Jehovah!

That song gives me the chills, especially the chorus when you loudly sing about the year of jubilee and salvation coming. Here's an online version if you're interested in hearing it.

But, although I've sung the "Days of Elijah" song often, I'm still not too clear what the year of jubilee is. The concept comes out of Leviticus 25. Basically, it's a year of rest that was observed every 50th year by the Israelites. The year was to be a holy year, a year of freedom for the Israelites. During this year, slaves were set free, the lands were left fallow, property was restored to former owners, and all work on the land was suspended. The year of jubilee was established by God for the Israelites.

I wonder what the Israelites thought about this year. Did they think God was crazy for not allowing them to till and work their land? Did they appreciate the fact that they could rest for a year and dedicate their lives to holiness? I don't know, of course, but I think asking these types of questions is fun and interesting.

I do find the ending organization of the book of Leviticus somewhat curious. Most of the book focuses on teaching the Israelites how to be holy--how to live live a holy life during these appointed times. Then, Leviticus 25 talks about the Year of Jubilee in which the order of things turns upside down so that slaves are freed and people rest. God saves his people during this year and brings them blessings--without their help. Finally, the last two chapters of the book address what will happen to the Israelites if they don't obey God's commandments--if they don't live holy lives--and what will happen if they do.

Leviticus 26:12 says, "I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people." God is going to dwell with Israel. He will be their God, and they will be His people. Today, Christians have entered into this covenant promise that God made with the Israelites. We, too, have been saved. However, instead of one year of jubilee, we have a life filled with days and moments of jubilee. We have Jesus. God sent his son Jesus to turn things upside down. Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins, and Jesus gives us rest. Praise God for Jubilee!

The Day of Atonement Awaits You!

Day 24: Leviticus 16-22

I am not feeling well today. I hope I'm not coming down with the flu. I say this because today is a day when I don't want to read the Bible or blog about my thoughts. My mind isn't working well, and I just want to lie in bed and watch TV. But I've committted to doing this every day. And that's the only thing that's keeping me going.

There are a lot of dos and don'ts (A LOT!). In this passage, God sets morality standards for the Israelites, standards regarding sex, mating, neighbors, attitudes, behaviors, and sacrifices. It's easy to get distracted by all the rules (how did anyone follow all of them?!!), so, once again, I'll ask, what does this passage say about God? The answer to me lies once again in the word holy. God is holy and he wants us to be holy was well. This is why he's laying down these rules. He's giving the Israelites standards to live by.

God does something really amazing here, though. In the midst of all these rules and commandments, God includes a chapter--chapter 16--on "The Day of Atonement." I have heard of the Day of Atonement before (it's the Jewish holiday known as Yom Kippur, Hebrew for "Day of Atonement"), but I didn't know what it was until I read this chapter. Basically, as I understand it, the Day of Atonement is a day that happens once a year in which God forgave the sins of the Israelites. The day itself is a day of rest where the Israelites were to fast from food ("deny themselves") and be cleansed from all their sins when they approached the Lord.

I wonder if any Christians celebrate this holiday. I'm sure there are some, but I'd like to know why they do it and how they do it. I've become more and more interested in the Christian calendar, and this is one holiday that I'd be interested in knowing more about. Any of you readers out there celebrate this one? It was a few days ago on September 28 (I just missed it corresponding to the reading!).

I think it's cool that in spite of all the laws that God gives the people, he still allows for the Israelites to be free from sins. He still offers salvation to them. In their case, he saves them from death. The Day of Atonement allows them to be free. In spite of all the sins they might commit, the Day of Atonement awaits them. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.