I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
God instructed Moses that whenever a census of the people was taken each man who was counted was to pay a ransom to God for himself. The ransom was to be a fixed amount with no difference if the person was rich or if the person was poor. The money was to be an atonement for the people and it was to be used for the service of the tent of meeting. It is worth noting that all were worth the same to God.
God then gave instructions for the priests to wash their hands and feet before they brought a food offering to the altar. It is worth noting that the priests ate a portion of the food offerings, so the comment that they were to do this so they would not die makes perfectly good sense. The passage then goes on to give the recipe for the anointing oil they were to use and the recipe for the incense they were to burn. Both of these formulas were to be used only by the priests in the service of God. The passage goes on to tell us that God had chosen two men to oversee the craftsmen building the Tabernacle. God had given these two men the skills to oversee the skilled workers who would construct the various elements of the Tabernacle. These workers had been gifted by God with the skills necessary to make the various elements of the Tabernacle.
Today’s passage concludes with a strict command that the people of Israel are to abstain from all forms of work on one day out of seven. They are to keep that day holy to God. That seventh day is to be a day of rest.
Yesterday’s passage ended with Jesus telling His disciples that the hour had come. As He said this, Judas arrived leading a crowd armed with clubs and swords. Judas immediately approached Jesus greeted Him as Rabbi and kissed him, thus identifying Jesus for the armed crowd sent with him by the chief priests. These men seized Jesus and arrested Him. One of the disciples drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest. Jesus told him to put away his sword, telling them all that He could call on God to provide Him with an army of angels. In particular, Jesus said that he could call upon twelve legions of angels. I am not sure of the significance of that number, but I believe that it was based on the number of tribes of Israel and would have been perceived to be sufficient to take on Rome. Jesus tells His disciples that if He summoned those angels, the Scriptures which said it must happen as it was about to would not be fulfilled. Jesus then confronted the crown arresting Him, asking why they were coming out at night to arrest Him when He was in the Temple courts each day? At this point all of Jesus’ disciples fled.
Jesus was brought before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin for trial. The Sanhedrin called for witnesses against Jesus and many came forward. However, they were unable to get any two to agree on the charges they made against Him. The best they could manage was two who testified that Jesus has said that He would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. At this point the high priest turned to Jesus and demanded that He answer the charges. Jesus remained silent. The high priest then demanded that Jesus answer as to whether He was the Messiah. When Jesus answered the high priest interpreted His answer as blasphemy and demanded that the Sanhedrin call for Jesus’ death. The Sanhedrin agreed and passed out a sentence calling for Jesus’ death.
How wonderful it is to know that God will forgive our sins. All that we need to do is admit to them. I marvel at how often I have experienced what the psalmist talks about, how I struggle when I try to hide my sins. What an amazing relief it is when I admit that I have sinned and done wrong. I will strive to admit when I do wrong and change my behavior so that I do not repeat those failings. I will seek out those things in my life which I try to justify that God has said are sin. I will not try to pretend that they are not sin…OK, I will strive to not pretend that they are not sin. I know that there are things in my life that I still deny are sin that God is waiting to convict me on (generally waiting until I yield to Him on other things that He has already called me to address). I will strive to no longer require God to use the bit and bridle to direct me in His paths. All too often I have not responded to God’s prompting until I feel the pain.
The proverb writer tells us that wisdom was there when God created the universe. There are many ways to interpret what this passage means. I take it to mean that wisdom is inherent in the design of the universe and that if we wish to lead a fulfilling and happy life we need to follow the path of wisdom. I remember role playing with a young man who, when the rest of us told him to think after he did something especially foolish in game terms told us that he did not want to think, he just wanted to have fun. Eventually we were able to show him that, at least when it came to role playing games, one had more fun when one thought things through before acting. Unfortunately at least one of the men who helped impart that lesson never learned to apply it to his life outside of the game and, last I heard, is in jail.