God Save the Ark

Day 75: I Chronicles 5-13

This blog post is a continuation of my last post because these chapters contain lists of descendants of the tribes, Saul, David, and others. It also chronicles who played music in front of the temple, who the gatekeepers were, who guarded the temple, and who the mighty warriors were that led David's army.

Chapter 10 once again recounts events that were told in I and II Samuel, as well as the books of Kings, such as the death of Saul and the time David became king.

One story I don't remember reading about, though, is the story of Uzzah, the man who reached out to steady the Ark and whom God struck down because He was angry at him. This passage has always puzzled me because of how cruel it seems. Here was someone who was trying to save the Ark from collapsing on the floor and God strikes him dead right then and there. This man's motives don't seem to matter to God. Why, I wondered?

It seems to me that this story isn't so much about Uzzah's sin as it is about David and his sins. Instead of carrying the Ark like they were supposed to be doing (by holding on to the poles), they were carrying it on an ox. I don't exactly know why. Maybe it was easier for them to guide an animal rather than to carry the thing for miles and miles. I'm not sure. But either way, it was because they were carrying it wrong in the first place that Uzzah had to reach out to steady it from falling. If they had been obeying God from the outset, Uzzah wouldn't have had to lose his life.

Once again, everything boils down to obedience. This time David's disobedience cost another man his life. God wants us to obey him, to obey his laws and to obey his will for our lives. Obedience seems of the utmost importance and over and over again the theme of obedience appears in the Bible.

God wants me to obey.

God wants me to obey.

And when I don't, my actions may impact others. Others may have to suffer the consequences of my sins, just like David's decisions proved fatal for Uzzah. Next time we are faced with a decision to obey or disobey, I pray that we will think of Uzzah and remember that our choices don't just effect us; they may alter the life of someone else.

Wisdom? Really?

Day 66: I Kings 10-13

Solomon accumulated great wealth during his lifetime. No one had more wealth, and no one had more wisdom. However, even with all of Solomon's wisdom, he disobeyed God. He married many foreign women (most likely to gain more wealth) from countries that God specifically forbade the Israelites from marrying (He had over 700 wives and 300 concubines!). Solomon chose to disobey God and turn away from the Lord. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not follow God as his father David had done.

Solomon's choice to turn away from God is puzzling to me. Isn't Solomon the wisest person in the world? Wouldn't a wise person know not to break God's covenant? And at the very least wouldn't a wise person know that he/she should fear God? Maybe there is more than one type of wisdom. Or maybe he was wise as king and not wise when it came to personal matters. I don't know. I can only infer, but it does seem that Solomon has extensive wisdom as a king. He casts fair judgments. He is a knowledgeable and smart businessman. He demonstrates intellectual acumen and intelligence on more than one occasion. BUT he makes very poor personal decisions. He disobeys God and makes treaties (marries) with several different countries. He allows his people to worship many different gods. And he turns away from the Lord. This doesn't seem so wise to me.

So here we have a man to whom God gives wisdom, and Solomon does not use this wisdom when it comes to following God. He uses his wisdom to establish his own reputation, to gain wealth, to gain fame and pride. He doesn't use the wisdom to understand that God is the ultimate king; he doesn't follow God like David does.

What talents and gifts have you been given that you are not using, or that you are using inappropriately? Maybe you are an amazing artist (painter, gardener, cook, musician, writer), and you don't take the time to use these gifts. Or maybe you have the gift of communication. Or personality. Or empathy. Or whatever. Are you using these talents? These gifts? Are you using them to honor God, or are you only using them to bring fame and power to yourself?

God ultimately punishes Solomon's decisions for the sins of their father, and I think that one of these reasons might be because Solomon does not honor God with his gift of wisdom; instead, he becomes selfish and uses this trait to bring glory to himself.

To obey is better than sacrifice

Day 55: I Samuel 13 to 16

Saul was king over Israel for 42 years until God rejects him. When Saul asks Samuel why, Samuel replies:
    "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
       as much as in obeying the LORD?
       To obey is better than sacrifice,
       and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
     For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
       and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
       Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
       he has rejected you as king."(v 22-23)

God wants us to obey him more than he wants us to give our offerings and sacrifices to him. Obedience is one of his "core values" so to speak. God unveils his will to us in the Bible, which is to love God and to love people (#1 and #2 greatest commands). Obedience, as one such will, is mixed right in there with those first two commands. It's not always easy to obey, especially when we don't know what God is saying to us, but we do know what we read in the Bible, and his will is that we love Him and love people. That about sums it up.

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.

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

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!

Elizabeth and the Ten Plagues

After reading about the ten plagues. I had an idea of an activity to do with Elizabeth. So when I got home from work last night, Elizabeth and I sat down at the table, got out markers, glue, magazines, and scissors, and we went to work. First, I read her the story of each plague. Then, we went to work creating a posterboard of the ten plagues. Here is what she made.

We couldn't find magazine pictures of frogs, gnats, flies, locusts, or hail, so we just drew them ourselves. Note that I'm going to have to go back and change where I wrote "Boils" on #7. That's supposed to say "Hail." As you can tell, she did a great job drawing boils in #6!

I had my computer on the table with us and whenever we couldn't find something in the magazines, I searched for a picture of the item on the internet. Elizabeth said to me, "Mommy, you have A LOT of pictures on your computer. You have pictures of EVERYTHING!" It was really cute.

Some of the plagues stories scared Elizabeth (and me, too). But we talked about that--about why might God choose to kill firstborn children or livestock or fish. While we didn't always have answers, it helps to talk about it and to discuss the topic instead of pretend that it is just normal. We also talked about Pharaoh's choices and how had he made better choices or obeyed God earlier, then he and his people would not have suffered like they did. It's about obedience. Obeying God and humbling ourselves.

Overall, we had a great time doing this together. I like how what I am reading in the Bible is permeating other areas of my life. I'm also thinking and reflecting on what I read and what I write many times during the day.

"God Intended It for Good"

Day 13: Genesis 46 to 50

Today has been a good day. The congregation welcomed us warmly, and we enjoyed meeting many people this morning. Shane preached a fantastic sermon about the Christian imagination and tied this idea of “imagine” into the book of Ezekiel. The sermons will be available online soon at www.nccoc.net. This first one was really good.

While Peyton got to go to the nursery during the worship service, Elizabeth had to sit with me during the service since Northcrest doesn’t have children’s church. For her first time sitting there the whole time, she did almost all right, and that’s being kind to her. For those of you who know Elizabeth, you know how she is literally ALWAYS talking. Well, church service was no different. I came prepared with snacks, books, and crayons, but this still wasn’t enough to keep her occupied. Poor thing! She’ll learn how to be quiet, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to that time, so I can pay 100% attention to Shane’s sermons! I’m glad they’re available online. ;)

As we begin this new job—and I say “we” not because I do the preaching or anything but because we see congregational and community ministry as “our” ministry—I am prayerful yet anxious about what’s to come.

I’m sure Joseph never thought his life would turn out like it did. He probably expected to be a shepherd for his entire life just like his brothers. He expected to be near his father, his mother, and his brothers. But he was not. God had different plans for Joseph. Joseph was put in charge, second only to Pharaoh, and took care of the people during the seven years of famine. He grew close to God, and he listened to God’s calling. javascript:void(0)

I want to look back on our ministry as Joseph looked back on his life. While his brothers sold him into slavery and meant to harm him, Joseph has a different perspective about what happened. He tells his brothers, “Even though you intended to harm me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” (Gen. 50:20)

God knows what He’s doing with our lives. He knows what he’s doing with yours, and he knows what he’s doing with mine—even when we are unsure of what that might be. As my family begins life in this new ministry context, I am praying that God intends this experience to be for good so that we can preserve a numerous people. I hope he will use us in the same way he used Joseph. I pray the same for you, dear reader.