5 May 2014

Psalm 25; Exod. 18:13-27; 1 Pet. 5:1-14; Matt. 1:1-17,3:1-6

How does Moses know "the statutes of God and his laws"?  The people are coming to Moses to have him judge between them not based on the laws and statutes of Egypt but based on God's laws, he says they are inquiring of God when they come to him.  Moses believes he knows God's will and so do the people so they come to him for adjudication of their disputes.  Jethro is the first consultant in Scripture, he sizes up the situation, determines it is "not good" (where have we heard that before and how does he know good from not good) and then gives a solution to the problem.  Had Moses said it was a problem?  Jethro's advice is similar to what Paul tells Timothy and Titus in their leadership, divide the load, but find men with certain qualifications to share the burden with, not just anyone, men of proven character.  Should we presume that Moses did what Paul told Timothy to do in 2 Tim. 2:2 - "what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  There are some in Judaism who believe that this was not God's will, God was working through Moses and had not given this work over to others and so laid the predicate for sending spies out rather than trusting Moses' word.  We are told that Moses obeyed the voice of his father-in-law.  Do a little search and see where, to this point that formulation occurs and you might be more amenable to such an interpretation.

The line from which Jesus comes includes some odd characters, particularly women, including Tamar, the wife of Judah's son who died, who pretended to be a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law in order to have a child and was judged more righteous than he in the situation.  It includes also a prostitute in Jericho, Rahab, a Moabite woman (who were thought to be immoral) named Ruth,  and "the wife of Uriah."  These women don't belong in such a genealogy because they would be seen to tarnish the line but they all add something to the story, they are outsiders who, through their righteous choices, aligned themselves with God's people and were not only accepted but became important links in the chain of the king, David, and also in the line of Messiah.  There is a way in for all people.  The way in was the way John preached, repentance.  The same way into the kingdom for all people.

We don't know to whom particularly Peter is writing this epistle but it is clear that he is writing to a shepherd about how to carry out that work.  Peter has written that we are a priesthood of believers though so it is well to be unspecific for we are all, at some level, intended to be shepherds.  Priests have parishes in our world, can you identify yours?  It would include family first and also all those among whom you are placed.  The priest's job is to make God known to all.  You must know the word and preach it at all times, if necessary use words to do so.  Peter is right to remind us that we have "an" enemy, not many enemies, one, the devil and we must be prepared for battle with him if only for a while before he gives up the fight.  Readiness is always based in knowing and preparing for battle.  Let us know the word of God that all might come to us for wisdom.

4 May 2014

Psalm 148, 149, 150; Exod. 18:1-12; 1 John 2:7-17; Mark 16:9-20

The story of Jethro coming to meet Moses here brings up some strange circumstances and questions.  He is described as a priest of Midian but we don't know whether that means he acknowledges Yahweh or the gods of the Midianites.  After hearing Moses' story we see that he gives glory to Yahweh over the other gods but so did the seamen in the Jonah story once the sea had calmed after tossing Jonah overboard and that seemed to be a one-time event.  The other oddity is that he brings his daughter, Moses' wife, Zipporah and their two children with him.  The text says that Moses had "sent her home" or "dismissed her."  She is described as Moses' wife but there is some question whether he has divorced her and this is a reunion of sorts.  She is never mentioned again and later we are told that Moses marries a Cushite woman.  Every time we meet her there is something strange about their situation.  At any rate, the Midianites have now a witness concerning the Lord's work in bringing out the people from Egypt, a first-hand account from Moses to their priest.

As always, please not the disclaimer concerning the text from Mark.  It is not found in the best or oldest texts of the Gospel.  Unfortunately, it forms the basis for the worship practices for some in our little corner of Appalachia in snake handling and drinking poison.  Nowhere are such practices prescribed for Christians and it seems that doing so flies in the face of the injunction not to tempt God.  What we do see here is a continuation of the unbelief of the disciples even though they have witnesses like Mary Magdalene and the two to whom Jesus appeared on the road who have told them of their encounters with the risen Christ.  They were told in advance about the resurrection and yet they did not believe, it is nothing more than hardness of heart, like Pharaoh, that could account for such a failure.  Afterwards they went out and did all He commanded them and He worked with them.  What is adequate witness to believe?

It seems unlikely that John is writing to chronological ages of little children, young men and old men but rather those who are new in the faith, maturing in the faith and mature in the faith.  Wherever we are in the walk of faith we always need to be recalled to love.  We can grow knowledgeable without becoming more Christ-like and He never allowed knowledge to overcome love.  Knowledge never became a source of pride nor did it ever become the hallmark of Jesus' life.  He taught with great wisdom, power and authority like none other we are told, but people were always most important.  The witness of Jesus wasn't only head knowledge, it was the love of God for His people that is most important.  He has redeemed His people no less than in the exodus and that is our witness and testimony always.

3 May 2014

Psalm 20, 21:1-14; Exod. 17:1-16; 1 Pet. 4:7-19; John 16:16-33

The people face two obstacles, water and an enemy army.  The first is predictable and not because they grumble about the situation.  Water is an ever present need for anyone, much less a large group of people and animals in the wilderness.  It is a human need and no one knows that better than the creator of all.  The people come against Moses again when it seems there is no solution to the problem, accusing him of bad leadership but the reality is that they need to look to the Lord who has brought them out of Egypt, not to Moses alone.  The Lord gives Moses an odd solution to take the staff with which he had struck the Nile in the first plague, and strike a rock at Horeb and water will result.  This is the same staff he held over the Red Sea, but God specifies the one with which he struck the Nile, it is going to be used for the same purpose this time.  Then they face their first enemy, the Amalekites, the same group Saul will later be called upon to utterly destroy and he will fail.  Moses chooses Joshua to find the people to fight for the nation and lead them while Moses himself will pray.  Did you notice what was to be written after the battle, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”  Saul failed to do as God had promised and was rejected. 

The disciples are afraid to ask Jesus what He means by saying they will not see Him and then they will see Him, they don't want to appear dense.  He knows, however, their confusion even though He has been telling them about His imminent death and resurrection.  Sometimes we don't hear when we don’t understand, we just hear words and let them pass in and out when we don't comprehend.  They still don't understand what He means but suddenly they say, now we get it, no one needs ask anything else, you're speaking plainly now.  Jesus knows they don't understand at all and they will surely prove it when they abandon Him in the trial and crucifixion.  We have to always remember that we are often adrift when God speaks like Nicodemus was, not comprehending spiritual things because we are thinking too much from the flesh.

We, like the people of the Exodus are walking by faith to a promised land and that requires a certain amount of humility and trust that God knows what we need and that He is sovereign.  The people had to develop that faith after many years of living as slaves and as Egyptians.  We are called out of the main run of life as a distinct people and our lives should reveal that it is indeed a distinction with a difference.  We are to be those who are called to a different way of life and a way of life that does not take its comforts and securities in this world.  We should expect suffering because we are counter cultural, a people who are a sign to the world that it has lost its moorings and is in search of something it knows it has lost.  We are to be willing to be accounted different, out of step with the world, just as Jesus was.  The world shouldn't completely understand us and we should never apologize for that.

2 May 2014

Psalm 16, 17; Exod. 16:23-36; 1 Pet. 3:13-4:6; John 16:1-15

It took some faith to gather in two days worth of manna after the experience they had of it being infested with worms and stinking from earlier in the week but the people obeyed Moses' command and it worked out.  Some, however, chose to go out and try and gather on the Sabbath in disobedience to the command not to work and incurred the Lord's anger.  It is difficult to tell when it would have been that Moses instructed Aaron to take an omer of the manna and place it before the "testimony" to be kept as a reminder of this time in the wilderness, because Aaron was not yet priest and there was neither ark nor tabernacle when they first had manna.  There is no real problem with that here though as the next piece of the passage reflects that they ate manna in the wilderness for forty years, another detail we certainly don't have at this juncture.

Like the manna in the wilderness, Jesus will not be with the disciples permanently, He is soon, in fact, very soon, going away.  He is warning them of the persecution to come after His departure and yet promising something they couldn't have grasped at the time, the Helper, the Spirit of truth, who will lead them into all truth, who will glorify Jesus, and who will take what is His and declare it to them.  It would have been nearly impossible for them to have a right conception of what Jesus was saying at the time.  Their only analog would have been the prophets.  This Helper would also convict the world concerning three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment.  It requires the Holy Spirit's operation to convict us of those three things, and to witness to the truth that is not factually testable.  Faith that these things are indeed true is always part of the equation and the Helper is also active and involved in faith.  Faith is a key to unlocking further truth.

There is much in this passage that needs explanation beyond what we can do here in a few words concerning those spirits in prison from the time of Noah and that baptism saves you.  Regarding baptism, Peter says it serves as an appeal to conscience rather than as a bath and in the success of that appeal it saves.  The entire passage, however, is an appeal to righteousness and obedience, both those being defined by the word of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit.  Suffering in the flesh refers to the mortification of the flesh, putting to death those passions and desires within us that are at war with the Spirit of God.  Even in something as simple as not gathering manna on the Sabbath God was not pleased.  Righteousness is to be the chief aim of our lives.

1 May 2014

Psalm 18:1-20; Exod. 16:10-22; 1 Pet. 2:11-25; John 15:12-27

So at evening they had quail and in the morning they found some stuff, some flake-like fine as frost stuff and wondered what is it.  We get the quail, we know what to do with that, but what is the stuff on the ground and are we supposed to eat that?  Moses' response is, it is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.  Excuse me?  The good news is that Moses has the instructions of how much to gather, an omer for each person.  The bad news is that it doesn't keep very well, overnight worms infest it and it stinks.  With one exception, on the Sabbath it keeps perfectly well so that they gather enough on the sixth day that they can eat on Sabbath without working to gather.  It might have been interesting and something to celebrate on day one but after forty years it would get a bit old wouldn't it?  It wasn't His fault they ate it for so long. They chose to lose faith.

Have we gotten it wrong over the last fifty years?  Have we made friends with the world, roughly on its terms?  Jesus said that if we obey Him the world will hate us.  We are to be a contrast in the world, not taking on its shape but being conformed to the image of Christ.  We live in a world in rebellion against God and who have opted for their own way rather than God's ways.  He has always been clear that His ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts and that following Him will have a cost in the disapprobation of the world.  The reason they need to love one another is that they will be comfort, support and encouragement to one another when there is persecution against the community.  I wonder if we have been too little trusting in Him and too much trusting in our own cleverness to make friends with the world in order that it won't persecute us for preaching the truth.

The antidote for our dilemma is to remember our true status in the world is exiles and strangers.  If we go to another country for a visit we tend to stand out by way of our habits of dress, eating, drinking, speech, and attitudes.  People say that it is easy to spot an American in a foreign country and I don't doubt it, there is something distinctive about us.  As Christians we should be equally distinctive all the time when we are among non-believers.  Jesus was among us as one of us and yet there was something very distinctly different about Him and for that the world hated Him.  His suffering and death with not only dignity but also with love, understanding the way of a sinful, busted and broken world was not the way it was intended to be and sorrowing over that not cursing it.  Our lives are to be obedient in faith in all things.   The resurrection sets us free from fear of the world and love of the world, we know these things are passing away, as perishable as manna.