For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Those with integrity can rely on God’s directions and instructions to show them how to live safely and security. On the other hand those same directions and instructions are an obstacle and detriment to those who do evil.

    The psalmist says it much better than I ever could. God does not need, nor does He want, our material possessions. He wants us to be thankful for all that He has done for us and for us to obey His decrees as we have promised. The wicked may pretend to care about doing what is good and right, but God knows the truth. They may think that He will not hold them accountable, but God is merely giving them time to repent and turn from their wickedness.

    Jesus continues His prediction about the destruction of the Temple and the end times. This account is in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). When I was growing up in the 1970s people in the Church spent a lot of time reading this passage and other prophecies of the end times trying to figure out when Jesus would return. My father spent a lot of time studying Scriptures about the end times, but he always pointed out to those who thought they had it figured out that all three Synoptic Gospels quote Jesus as saying that no one knows the day or the hour. Over time all of those who made predictions about when Jesus would return were discredited and people in the Church lost interest in studying about the end times (the economic recovery of the 1980s and the end of the Cold War contributed to that loss of interest). Over the last few years I have begun to feel like the Church is not spending enough time studying the end time prophecies in the Bible.
    Today as I read this passage it struck me that the root of that concern is addressed here. Jesus tells us that we should learn a lesson from the fig tree. When it begins to sprout leaves we know that summer is near. In the same way when we see the sorts of things Jesus prophesied about the end times (and that are recorded elsewhere in the Scripture) we know that His return is near. Taken by itself that statement does not sound like an imperative command. However, as soon as He finished that prophecy Jesus told a parable about His return. As part of that parable He tells us that we must keep watch because we do not know when He will return. We have been given tasks to complete before His return, we need to have a sense of urgency about completing those tasks. One way to gain that sense of urgency is to study the prophesies of the End Times and realize how many of them are being fulfilled today. Time is running out, are we going to complete the tasks we have been assigned?

    A year after leaving Egypt the people of Israel celebrated the Passover a second time. Only those who were ceremonial clean were allowed to take part in the celebration. Some of those who were ceremonially unclean came to Moses and asked why they should be prevented from celebrating this feast. Moses’ answer was that if someone was ceremonially unclean, or on a journey to a foreign land, they could celebrate the Passover after their time of purification, or upon their return. This provides us with an example that our focus should not be on the calendar, but rather on the meaning of the celebration.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    If you truly fear the Lord you will live a godly life. Striving to lead a godly life causes one to avoid behaviors which shorten your life and to engage in behaviors which extend it. The wicked do the opposite. I feel like when I write these things about the proverbs that what I am writing is just restating what the writer said. Then I realize that in the past I had read these as “magical” formulas. If you did as God desired, He would magically extend your life and if you were wicked He would magically shorten your life. The proverb writer is not writing about anything magical, or even miraculous. It is just the way the world works.

    We need not fear when enemies surround us. They may trust in their wealth, but I will trust in God. No matter how wealthy someone is, they will die. Their wealth will not buy them an escape from the grave. Our only hope to escape from the grave is God. He is capable, and willing, to ransom from the grave those who please Him. Those with great wealth may build monuments to their name, but in time even those will fade away.
    There is no reason to be dismayed when the wicked grow wealthy. Their time will come. Sooner or later they will die. They will take none of their wealth with them.

    I don’t think I ever noticed the connection between Jesus warning against the religious leaders’ actions and the widow’s donations before. Jesus warned His disciples to be wary of the religious leaders because they did things for show, to appear righteous, but out of the public eye they were willing to cheat those who could not fight back (in particular, widows). Then Jesus used one of those whom the religious leaders would cheat as an example of generous giving.
    Jesus tells us that we should be wary of those who put on a show of their righteousness and generosity. They are likely doing so to cover up their corruption and deceit. On the other hand He commends those who have little, but are willing to give what little they have in order to further God’s Kingdom. Is what we give to the Lord’s work out of our surplus? Or, are we willing to tighten our belts to further the Lord’s work and/or help others? There is nothing wrong in giving out of our surplus, but those we should commend and look up to are those who sacrifice in order to do God’s work.

    The vow of the Nazirite is described in today’s passage. I am somewhat surprised that more attention is not paid to this vow. What is described here is not actually a specific vow. Rather it is a type of vow. Those who take this vow have determined to make some specific dedication to God. The passage does not say what type of thing would inspire someone to take a Nazirite vow. However, the accounts we have of people who lived by such vows suggest that it was likely some kind of act in service of God. For example, John the Baptist lived his whole life under like someone who had taken a Nazirite vow. When Paul was arrested in Jerusalem he was accompanying two men who had completed such a vow. Those who take such vows are making a very public statement that they are willing to sacrifice in order to serve God.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Many times people do wicked things in order to avoid something they dread. What they fail to realize is that the very actions they take to avoid that thing will bring it to pass. The righteous, on the other hand, are willing to sacrifice their desires in order to do what is right. Yet, they often receive their desires anyway, or if not what they originally desired, something they enjoy more than what they desired.

    Read today’s psalm. I cannot express it nearly as well. I know, I say that a lot about the psalms. Clap your hands and shout to God with joyful praise. Don’t be afraid to attract attention to yourself. I want the whole world to know that I worship a wonderful God who brings me joy. No, more than that. I want everyone to experience the joy I get from serving God.

    The religious leaders had been offended and angered by Jesus’ actions driving the merchants and their customers out of the Temple. So, they challenged Him by asking Him where He got the authority to do that. In response Jesus asked them whether John’s authority to baptize came from heaven, or was merely human. The religious leaders were afraid to answer that either way. Because they would not answer His question, Jesus refused to answer theirs. By refusing to answer Jesus’ question the religious leaders made it clear that they were not seeking an answer to their question. They were merely seeking something to use against Jesus.
    Later, other religious leaders approached Jesus with another question in an attempt to trap Him. Jesus answer to this question gives further insight into the lesson from yesterday’s passage where He drove the merchants (and their customers) from the Temple. Those who had been doing business in the Temple, whether buying or selling, had not been giving to God what was God’s. Between these two passages we see how easy it is to allow ourselves to put competing claims ahead of God’s.

    In this passage the tribes were joined together into units for when they were camping and when they were marching. By doing this they had to develop the ability to coordinate their actions between tribal groups. There are some really good lessons on our interactions with God as a body of believers in the substitution of the Levites for the first born of the rest of Israel, but I can not put together a lesson on it today.