For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The proverb writer uses yet another metaphor to illustrate the way in which wisdom is available to anyone who desires it. Wisdom is there for us, all we have to do is accept it. While we should seek wisdom and our life will be better if we do so, we do not have to actively look for wisdom. Wisdom will come looking for us. Fools are those people who repeatedly refuse to accept the lessons which wisdom strives to teach them.

    A nation will be successful and prosperous if, and only if, the people within it fear and worship the Lord. It is not a mighty army, nor is advanced military equipment which gives a nation security and wealth. However, the Lord will watch over those who fear and serve Him. As I read this psalm, I am reminded of those who look at the decline of the U.S., both morally and as a world power.
    They seek to cultivate the political power to change the laws in order to reverse the decline. Their attempts are futile. God does not call us to make our country powerful. He does not even call us to make our country morally pure. We are called by God to serve Him. I am not seeking to live in a powerful country. I am seeking to convince those I meet to serve the Lord.

    Despite being unable to find anything Jesus had done which deserved the death penalty, despite the entreaties of his wife to have nothing to do with Jesus, Pilate allowed the crowd to pressure him into ordering Jesus’ crucifixion. The crowd readily took responsibility for Jesus’ death, while Pilate disavowed responsibility for it.
    There is some truth in the crowd’s claim of responsibility, but there is no truth in Pilate’s disavowal. The people in that crowd shared responsibility for the death of an innocent man, but so did Pilate. We are responsible for our actions, even if we were pressured by the crowd to take them,

    God instructed the Israelites not to make any treaties or agreements with the people in the land. He explained that if they entered into such agreements, they would be drawn into the worship of those peoples’ gods.
    The same thing is true for us today. We should not enter into alliances with those who do not serve the Lord. This does not mean that we should reject when they support the causes for which we fight. However, we must be careful not to let them guide our strategy, nor join their groups fighting for causes we believe in. If we join with them we will end up worshiping their gods, perhaps without even realizing it.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Those who allow themselves to be instructed by wisdom find joy and life. Those who reject the wise advice which leads to the Lord are harming themselves more than any others. By doing so, they may as well be seeking their own death.

    Let us sing for joy as we praise the Lord. Use whatever musical talent that you have to glorify His name. My musical talent is limited, but I can sing loudly. If the sound of my voice offends your ears, and it will come as no surprise to me if it does, that just means that you are not singing loud enough.
    The psalmist reminds us that all God had to do to bring the entire Universe into being was speak. His very words caused all that is to come into being. Just think what His words can do to whatever problems we may face!

    Recently I have come to compare Judas and Peter. When Peter realized that he had betrayed Jesus by denying Him three times, he went away, crying bitterly. He knew he could never make it right. Judas, on the other hand, went to the priests and tried to get them to offer him absolution. He tried to find a way to make it right. When he realized that he could not make it right, he killed himself. Both Peter and Judas thought they knew better than Jesus how it should go. But Judas was stronger than Peter, which led to his destruction. Judas could not live with himself as dependent on God for forgiveness.
    I am not quite saying this right. I need to spend some time working out this thought.

    The first thing that struck me was that Aaron asked the people to bring him their earrings, which he then used to make the golden calf. When Jacob left Schechem to return to Bethel he asked all of his household to bring him their idols. They, in turn, gave him all of their idols and their earrings. I am confident that there is symbolism in this connection. I am not sure what that symbolism is, but I do not think it is about the evils of earrings (even though I am not a fan of earrings). Just another thing I need to put some thought into and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance about.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Wisdom was there when God set up the heavens and laid out the oceans. The reason we can figure out the science of how the universe works is because God used wisdom and reason to create it in the first place.

    We have all sinned by disobeying God. If we stop trying to hide our guilt and instead confess our sins, God will forgive us and clear our record. I cannot do this psalm justice. Read it for yourself and meditate on its truth.

    When the armed men who accompanied Judas arrested Jesus, one of the disciples(John tells us it was Peter) fought back with his sword. This lends credence to what I said yesterday about the disciples anticipating joining in battle to defend Jesus against the authorities. Jesus responded to this effort in His defense by telling His disciples that it was unnecessary and unwanted.
    When Jesus was before the Council, the high priest asked Him if He was the Messiah. I have always felt the phrasing of the question and answer in the English translations did not quite match up. It seems to me that the high priest’s question to Jesus would have likely come across as, “You are the Messiah, aren’t you?” I perceive Jesus’ answer as being more along the lines of, “See, even you admit that it is so.” I am not phrasing this quite right. It seems to me that to those who spoke the language, the high priest’s question would have been an unintentional acknowledgement that Jesus was the Messiah.

    The tax described in this passage is significant in several ways. First, it is clearly stated that it is the same for everyone, rich or poor. It is not in any way a progressive tax. Every person has an equal share in the Tabernacle. Another interesting aspect of it is that it is to be collected when the leaders of Israel conduct a census so as to avoid plague. This suggests that the census is totaled by counting the coins rather than by people traveling from town to town counting people. There is an element of respecting the honour and honesty of the people when collecting the tax and counting the people.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Wisdom, good judgment, knowledge, and discernment are all found close to each other. Wisdom will always lead to knowledge, but knowledge does not lead to wisdom.

    In yesterday’s portion of this psalm the psalmist declared that God had set him in a safe place. In today’s portion he emphasizes his continued distress and isolation. Yet despite that distress and isolation, he continues to trust in God. Even though his friends and neighbors are unwilling to stand by his side, he knows that God will not forsake him. Are we willing to trust God and call on Him, even if it means that we stand alone?

    The parable of the sheep and the goats in today’s passage is one of the most powerful lessons on what it means to be a follower of Christ. I have looked and thought about this parable many times. My view of this parable is heavily influenced by the Keith Green song about it. The difference between the sheep and the goats is what they did, and didn’t, do. This is very important and something we should bear in mind as we live our lives.
    However, there is another important point in this parable. Neither group recognized Jesus in those whose suffering they encountered. The “sheep” did not care for the poor and the suffering because they recognized Jesus in them. They cared for the poor and the suffering because they were poor and/or suffering. The “goats” on the other hand, did not care for the poor and the suffering because they did not see Jesus in them. This implies that perhaps there were times they cared for the poor or the suffering in whom they saw Jesus. It is not enough to care for the poor or the suffering in whom we see Jesus. We are called to care for the poor and suffering, even if we see no sign of Jesus in them.

    This passage describes in detail the clothes which are to be worn by the priests when they conduct services in the Tabernacle. The design for these clothes contained a lot of symbolism to remind both the priests and the people of Israel about the role of the priests. The priests were to be reminded that they represented all of the people of Israel when they were in God’s presence and the people were to be reminded that the priests were holy before God.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Wisdom is not some hidden secret we have to go looking for. Instead, wisdom is not only readily available, it calls out to us, extolling what it has to offer. Will we be instructed by wisdom? Or will we choose folly? Those are our choices. All too many reject what wisdom has to offer.

    Today, this psalm will be my prayer. God is my rock and my fortress. I entrust my spirit into His hand. Read the psalm and join me in praying it.

    In yesterday’s passage Jesus spoke of being prepared for His return. Today’s passage gives us two parables He used to illustrate what it means to be prepared. The first parable is the parable of the ten bridesmaids. Five of the bridesmaids did not take any extra oil for their lamps, five of them had extra oil. The bridegroom was delayed. When word finally reached them that he was approaching, the first five discovered that their lamps were going out. They asked the others five for some oil, but the latter did not have sufficient to lend them. The first five went out to get more oil, but by the time they returned with oil, it was too late. The groom had come and gone. We too must stay alert and make sure that our light is burning when the Lord returns.
    The second parable always makes me feel inadequate. God has given me many gifts in this life and I am not convinced that I have full use of those gifts. I fear that I am the third servant who hid my Lord’s money and failed to invest it wisely. Yet, He has not yet returned. There is still time for me to take the gifts which God has given me and use them to produce gain for Him. It may be too late for me to become the first servant in this parable, but if I work hard, I believe that I can still transform myself from the third into the second.
    How have you used the gifts God has given you? Which of the three servants are you?

    God gave Moses and the people of Israel detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle and its furnishings. There was no room for misinterpretation. Yet for all of that there was room for artistic expression. The plans give detailed instructions for the structural details of the Tabernacle, but the decorative details were more vague. There were to be various curtains of specific sizes, but each of those curtains was to be decorated with embroidery. The only part of the embroidery which was described was that it was to include “cherubim”. It does not describe a “cherubim”, although I am sure that the people listening had a pretty good idea what image was meant. This means that each embroiderer could vary off of that base theme as they saw fit.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The proverb writer continues his condemnation of sexual immorality. I wonder to what degree one could take his description of the immoral woman as a warning to women not to be that woman.

    Do we recognize our success as coming from God? Or do we do as the psalmist did the first time he did well and think, “Nothing can stop me now”? It is God’s favor which makes us secure, if we turn from Him, He will turn from us. However, when we call out to Him, He will rescue us. His anger lasts only until we learn to rely on Him. His love is for eternity. God will turn our mourning into joy. Let us not be silent. Rather let us sing praises to God.

    Jesus continues His prophecies concerning the fall of Jerusalem, His second coming, and the end times. He tells His disciples, and through them, us, to pay attention because when we see the things He had just talked about happen we will know that His return is near. This tells us that we should study the Scripture and look at how events happening in the world around us match up with prophecies about the end. However, we must also be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking we have it all figured out. Jesus tells us that no one knows the day or the hour of His return.
    My father once summed up what I believe about this, a belief I am sure I got from him. He said that we should live as if Jesus will return in the next few minutes and plan as if we will live on this earth until we are one hundred years old. We do not know when Jesus will return. As a result we must be ready all of the time. We have been put in charge of carrying out God’s will here on earth, I pray that He finds me doing so when He returns.

    When I read about the three festivals here it struck me that they represent the three ways in which we should praise God. The first, the Passover, is a celebration of what God has done for us in the past, the ways in which His power has delivered us from suffering. The second, the Festival of Harvest, is to celebrate our faith that God is taking care of us in the present. The third, the Festival of the Ingathering (or Final Harvest), is to celebrate that God will take care of us in the future, that indeed, He has already provided for our future needs.
    The passage goes on to remind the Israelites, and us, that God will be with them, and us. We must not worship the gods of the nations, the society, around us. If we are loyal to God and worship only Him, He will be with us and overcome our enemies for us.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The proverb writer continues his warnings against being seduced into immorality. He tells us that only the truly naive are fooled by its empty promises.

    As I read this psalm and it talked about how God’s voice shatters cedars and makes mountains dance I thought about when God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper. This psalm and that passage from 1 Kings are talking about the same voice of God. It is the same God who thunders and who speaks with the still, small voice. Let us listen to what He has to say, whichever way He chooses to speak.

    When Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds He said that the Temple and all of its associated buildings would be completely torn down. As soon as they got some place away from the crowds His disciples asked Him when that would happen. However, while they thought they were asking Him a single question, they actually asked Him two or three questions. They asked Him when the destruction of the Temple would happen, what the signal for His return would be, a the sign of the coming end of the world. We generally think of these last two as being different ways of asking the same question, but His disciples thought the first was asking the same question as well. Part of the reason we have so much trouble figuring out what Jesus was saying here comes from the fact that He was answering all three of these questions at once.
    Jesus tells us that there will be wars and threats of wars, that many will come in His name claiming to be Him. Then His followers will be hated and arrested for following Him. He warns us that many will turn away from Him. Jesus warns that false prophets and false messiahs will rise up, performing signs and wonders which will deceive many. We have been warned. There is some positive news here as well. It is only after the Gospel has been preached throughout the whole earth and all peoples have had a chance to hear it that the end will come.
    This passage for me tells of one of the great differences between Muslims and Christians. Both believe they should strive to hasten the end of the world. Muslims believe they should hasten the end by preparing for and, when ready, initiating Armageddon. Christians believe that they should hasten the end of the world by seeking out those who have yet to hear the Gospel in order to tell it to them. This reminds me of the line from the song “I Love to Tell the Story”:

I love to tell the story, for some have never heard

Have you told the story today?

    The element in these laws which struck me today was how these laws were designed to hold people accountable to take responsibility for things. “If an ox gores…the owner will not be held liable…But suppose the ox had a reputation for goring and the owner had been informed.” In the latter case, the owner was to be held accountable as if himself had gored the person. You cannot avoid responsibility by claiming, “It’s not my doing. The animal got out and killed him.” If you knew your animal might do that sort of thing, it is your responsibility to make sure that it is contained so that it cannot do so. If you fail in your responsibility, you will be treated as if you did it on purpose.
    

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The proverb writer tells us that committing adultery is like scooping flame into your lap…you are going to get burned. Just like it is possible to walk on hot coals with bare feet and not get burned, you may think that you got away with it. However, unlike walking on hot coals, you will suffer negative consequences from adultery, whether or not anybody else ever knows about it.

    My heart has heard God say, “Come and talk with me.” All to often, my reply is, “Not now, I’m busy. I’ll get back with you in as soon as I finish this.” I will strive once more to change that and put talking to God at the top of my priority list. If we talk to God every day, He will teach us how to live and show us the path to follow. Our enemies may be waiting for us, but if we follow the path down which God would lead us, we will avoid the traps they have laid for us.

    The question which the Pharisee asked Jesus in an attempt to trap Him tells us a lot about how the Pharisees thought, not the question itself, but the fact that they thought it was a trap. Once you have heard Jesus’ answer, it is perfectly obvious. The two basic laws are, “Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All of the other laws, rules, and instructions from God are merely expressions of how one follows these two laws. If your understanding of any of those other laws allows (or requires) you to violate either of these two, your understanding is wrong.

    Having disposed of their arguments, Jesus condemns the religious leaders of His day (and many since). He tells us not to act so as to “look” righteous. We should do the things we do because they are the right thing to do, not because they cause others to think we are righteous. We are not to call anyone “Master”, or “Father”, or “Teacher”, or any other title which implies that they are somehow closer to God than we are. Just as importantly, we should not let anyone call us by such titles. People read this and think that because they are not using one of the titles Jesus explicitly mentioned that it is OK to call someone “Reverend Jack”, or “Pastor Jack”. Doing the latter is the same as calling someone “Father Jack”. Using such honorifics is an attempt to make someone an intermediary between ourselves and God. We already have such an intermediary in Jesus.

    This passage reminds us of how important it is for a leader to delegate tasks to others. One person cannot do it all. First we have the story of the battle against the Amalekites. Moses sent Joshua out to lead the troops, while he went up to the top of a nearby hill to direct troop movements. While Moses was able to keep his arms up, he was able to direct the troops to greatest advantage. When his arms got tired they lost the advantage which Moses’ direction gave them. When Aaron and Hur noticed this, they helped Moses by holding his arms in the air. The Israelites won the battle because Moses was assisted by three able assistants.
    Later, when Moses’ father-in-law came to visit he saw that Moses was spending all of his time making decisions about every minor dispute among the Israelites. Jethro observed that this served neither Moses nor the Israelites. Moses was ill-served because he had to spend an inordinate amount of time listening to each case. The Israelites were ill-served because they needed to wait for Moses to go through each of the cases that had been brought up before theirs. Jethro told Moses to appoint some honest, God fearing men to hear the majority of the cases, especially the cases which merely needed an impartial witness to judge the facts.
    This is how all leaders need to work. They need to delegate decisions about how to implement policy to others, reserving for themselves only the decisions which determine the overall direction the group will take.