March 15, 2015 Bible Study — John the Baptist, the Musical

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 11:12-13

    Only a fool talks smack, or otherwise speaks negatively, about his neighbor. The sensible person keeps his mouth shut if and when he thinks such thoughts. There is nothing to be gained by criticizing your neighbor (and we know who Jesus tells us our neighbor is).

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Psalm 58:1-11

    This psalm tells us that the majority of rulers, the majority of those who wield government authority, have no understanding of the meaning of the word justice. They have no interest in upholding it. Rather they plot injustice. They are the type of people we call congenital liars. It seems as if they have lied from birth and are incapable of telling the truth.
    Despite this fact, God will sweep them aside causing the godly to rejoice. Everyone will see that God is indeed a God of justice and that He will bring just judgment upon the earth.

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Luke 1:57-80

    This passage just strengthens my belief that Luke’s source for this was primarily one or more disciples of John the Baptist. I was struggling with what to write about this passage. Then it hit me. Zechariah’s prophecy makes this a scene from a musical. Picture the scene: the people gathered around the mother, she is clearly a bit old to be a new mother. The man officiating says something along the lines of, “And his name is Zechariah,” as he begins the ritual. Elizabeth immediately shouts out, “No, his name shall be John.” At this a hubbub arises among all the people as they try to talk her out of it. Zechariah struggles to get everyone’s attention. Finally, they notice and bring him a tablet. Someone tells Elizabeth, “See, even he agrees that the boy should not be John.”
    Zechariah writes on the tablet (something large enough for the audience to see). He holds it up to the audience who read out loud (perhaps there are a couple of plants in the audience to get people started), “His name is John!” Immediately following that Zechariah bursts forth in song”

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people…

The stage goes black and the spotlight comes up on the adult John the Baptist in the wilderness.

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Numbers 22:21-23:30

    God had told Balaam to go with the emissaries of Balak, yet He was angry with Balaam for doing so (I discussed the reasons for God’s anger yesterday). In light of that, what struck me in today’s passage was this:

“But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”

This is a lesson for us, when something happens out of the ordinary (such as the donkey we have ridden our entire life refusing to obey commands in a way it never has before) we need to look for the hand of God in what is going on. I was looking for a way to express the idea more clearly, but, after thinking about it, I believe that most people can read this passage and understand the point I am trying to make.