February 2nd One Year Bible Readings

Exodus 15:19-17:7 ~ Matthew 22:1-33 ~ Psalm 27:1-6 ~ Proverbs 6:20-26
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Old Testament - Today in Exodus chapter 15 we read about the prophet Miriam!  You'll recall from Exodus chapter 2 that Miriam watched Pharaoh's daughter draw Moses from the Nile when he was a baby and Miriam wisely suggested that she find a Hebrew nurse for the baby (Moses' mom).  We'll read about Miriam again in Numbers chapter 12 with a very interesting interaction with Aaron, Moses & God - you can read about it now at this link.  Other female prophets we will read about in Bible include Deborah (Judges 4:4), Isaiah's wife (Isaiah 8:3), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), Anna (Luke 2:36) and Philips daughters (Acts 21:9).  Below is an image of Miriam's song:

Verse 26 stood out to me in this chapter: "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and laws, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you."  It seems to me that here the Israelites are getting a foreshadowing of the Laws to come.  "Listen to God - do what is right in his sight.  And you will not suffer.  I will heal you."  We'll dive more into this when we get to the Laws - but, I'll say this now and repeat it often - I do believe that the Laws for the Israelites, as we even see in this verse, were born out of compassion from God.  God wanted to preserve and care and heal his people - and imagine living in a desert for 40 years, coming out of slavery...  the laws were beneficial for your very well being and life!

Today in Exodus chapter 16 we read about Manna and Quail from heaven.   Verses 29 & 30 were powerful for me today, as God speaks about the Sabbath: ""Do they not realize that I have given them the seventh day, the Sabbath, as a day of rest? That is why I give you twice as much food on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must stay in your places. Do not pick up food from the ground on that day." So the people rested on the seventh day."   You will probably read on this blog over and over and over again about the Sabbath...  I am a huge fan of the concept!  And such a poor practitioner of it...  I honestly think the Sabbath is one of the most compassionate things God ever created for us.  And, don't get me wrong - my personal view is not legalistic in the sense of the Sabbath....  But....  personally, I think the Sabbath is just such a blessing of a gift to us.  And I think we - I - us - humans - often do such a bad job of really taking a Sabbath.  Really taking 1 day a week to really rest and relax and be with God.  Recently I read in our local newspaper about a Hasidic Jewish rapper who came through our town on tour - yes, seriously, there is a Hasidic Jewish rapper who is getting hugely popular nationally.  Anyhow, the article - in our secular newspaper - wrote about how this rapper will not perform on Fridays or Saturdays in observance of the Jewish Sabbath Law - and Hasidic Jews strongly observe most all of the Laws still today (I believe...  except for animal sacrifices - simply because there is not the Temple in Jerusalem today for the sacrifices).  Anyhow - I'm going off on some tangents here - but, the point is, that when I read about how this guy will not perform shows on the 2 best money-making nights of the week for concerts, because of his observance of the Sabbath - I dare say his love of God and his appreciation of the Sabbath - it really struck me.  And it really reminded me of how really really bad I am at truly resting and being with God 1 day a week.  And I'm not feeling guilty about this per se...  but maybe I am feeling convicted... :)   Basically - I am feeling that God is really calling me to slow down and simply rest and be with him 1 day a week.  A Sabbath. 

Verse 31 quick comment - "In time, the food became known as manna. It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey cakes."  I love that manna means "What is it?"!  That is awesome...  I think you'll notice throughout our Bible readings this year that names can often be very descriptive of locations, happenings, personalities - and can even be simple questions like "What is it??" Great commentary on Exodus chapter 16 entitled "Boot Camp and "C" Rations" :) is online at bible.org at this link.  Below is "The Gathering of Manna" from 1614 by the Italian painter Guido Reni:

New Testament - Today we read in Matthew chapter 22 the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. This parable has always been so convicting to me personally. It's basically about a king preparing an amazing feast at a wedding banquet, and inviting a ton of people to come to the feast. But - the people don't accept the invitation! They are "too busy" – taking care of their fields and their businesses. And I think about this parable in my own life. Am I sometimes "too busy" to accept Jesus' invitation to be with him? Am I sometimes too focused on my work or my social life or other distractions? Do I get myself so "distracted" that I don't spend time with Jesus? And in doing this, am I missing out on an amazing spiritual feast? How about you? Do you believe that Jesus is inviting you to spend more time with him? Are you "too busy" to do so? Do you believe that spending time with Jesus will actually be an amazing spiritual feast for your soul? Will you accept Jesus' invitation to the wedding banquet?

In verse 21 we read Jesus' famous line ""give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God."  What you may not realize about the preceding verses is that the Pharisees and the supporters of Herod were trying to trap Jesus.  Per the OYB Companion commentary, The Pharisees, a religious group, opposed the Roman occupation of Palestine.  The followers of Herod - or Herodians - were a political party that supported the policies of Rome and Herod Antipas.  Normally these 2 groups did not get along at all - but they united here to try to trap Jesus.  If Jesus had said it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees would say he is opposed to God.  And if Jesus had said the taxes should not be paid, the Herodians would have had him arrested.  Jesus answer amazed them both...   Below is an image of the Denarius (Roman coin) of Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius (42 B.C. - A.D. 37) became Roman Emperor in A.D. 14. This would have been the picture on the coin shown to Jesus, when he asked in verse 20: "Whose picture and title are stamped on it?"

Psalms - Psalm 27 verse 13 is so beautiful - "Yet I am confident that I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living." Do you have this same confidence?  What are some examples of how you have seen God's goodness here in the land of the living?  What are some examples of how you are sharing God's goodness with others here in the land of the living?

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 6 verse 23 should make each of us rejoice in this amazing blessing of reading - and learning! - from the One Year Bible here in 2010!  "For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way to life."  Are you learning as you have read the Bible this past month?  Is reading the Bible each day changing your relationship with God?  Is it changing your behavior in any way?  Is reading the Bible a lamp to light the way ahead of you?  Will reading the Bible each day change the way you live the rest of your life?  Do you believe that the correction of discipline is the way to life?  Will you embrace and pray for and accept God's holy and divine correction of discipline in your life this year?

Worship God:  Today's readings about Jesus inviting us to his feast remind me of the Francesca Battiselli song "I'm Letting Go:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2UbmOVujZ0

Are you letting go?  Click here and let go!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: ""Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Matthew 22:21 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray that God would show you what in your life He would have you give only to Him.

Comments from You and Questions of the Day:  Based on God's words about the Sabbath in our Exodus readings today, do you take a Sabbath?  What do you do - or not do - on the Sabbath?  Does it bless the other 6 days of your week?  How long have you been in the habit of taking a Sabbath?  Is it hard to get in the habit?  Any other "tricks of the trade" you can share with all of us about taking a Sabbath?  Please post up any wisdom you can share about your Sabbath habits in the Comments section below!  Thanks!   You can change our weekly habits here with your Comments!  :)  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[Ramona]

Exodus 15:19-17:7

Praising God one minute then bitterly complaining to Him the next, although it was by way of Moses and Aaron. Fickle people serving an all-powerful God. That is the way I am. I am thoroughly convicted by the following passage.

And Miriam sang in response to them, "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea." Then Moses caused Israel to journey from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur. They went three days into the desert, and they found no water. Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was called Marah.) So the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What can we drink?"
(Exodus 15:21-24 NET.)

There are times in our lives, especially when we are new believers, when God moves mightily in our lives to get our attention, to make us go, “Hmmm,” when we experience His signs and wonders. Yet after our faith begins to grow and He does not move in the same way as before when we experience crises, we complain bitterly. We understand that with our children as they grow, we shouldn’t be tying their shoes at twenty. We at first feed them but we should be teaching them how to feed themselves. God brings us out to feed ourselves, to face crises with the skill sets He has developed in us, yet we cry out, “Where are you God?” when crises come.

I’ve heard it said that crises do not come to destroy us they come to reveal the cracks in our lives. The writer of Proverbs puts it this way,

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. (Proverbs 24:10 AMP)

I think we struggle with this because of fear: fear of being thought of as stupid, inept and just plan weak by others; and the others are not God. If our cracks are revealed in the time of crises then we have an itemized list of things to present to God, not things to cover up with white wash or things to throw back in the face of God.

The key to our handling the kitchen sink when it is throw at us is the verse that caught Mike’s attention, verse 26th of chapter 15, is in the middle of that verse,

Saying, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight … (Exodus 15:26 AMP). Doing what is right in His sight, not our sight or the neighbor, yes even not our parents or pastors’ sight, but His sight. In order to accomplish that we must know what is right in His sight by knowing intimately God’s Word. God and His Word are one as stated in the first verse of the first chapter of the Book of John. I had a crisis this week and I did not adhere to this concept. I forgot what God had done in my life. Not only did I forget I counted His past works as moot.

Grace and Peace,
Ramona

[Frederick Y]

About Sabbath

I always puzzle when I read the Gospels when Jesus healed the sick on Sabbaths. It seems that Jesus was 'deliberate' to show to the Pharisees that they were wrong.

Actually, what makes sabbath a sabbath?

Today, I learned that perhaps, it is the heart of the sabbath keepers. If you take a true rest on the seventh day and focus on God, it is the sabbath that God wants. Because God has already provided a double portion on the sixth day. God wants to have the 'whole' of you on the seventh day. So, would you still went out to search for Manna on the Sabbath and failed God's test? It seems that the heart and obedience of the people matter. There is a purpose in the 'rest'--that you focus on God rather than the worldly matters.

[Alli]

MURMURING

What stood out for me today is the fact that we read in Exodus 16:2 that the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron...however later in verse 8 we read that their murmurings were really against God...

Exodus 16:2
2And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

Exodus 16:8
8And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD

If only we would remember this then we would think twice before complaining about/with others.

Alli

[Raeann]

I love the parable about the dinner guests who would not come.
On Sunday mornings I attend church but the rest of the day is just like anyother day for me.

[Beth]

I went to Columbia Bible Seminary (for a TEFL degree) and it was there that my husband and I learned to practice the Sabbath. When we first heard the rules of the school ... no work, no homework, must attend church... we thought it was legalistic. But that was the first time we truly learned to take one day off a week. The blessing is that it really starts the week over every single week. A fresh start with the Lord and other things every week. The laundry actually stops calling out to us! It is a time to really focus on the Lord (5 kids later it is a bit more of a challenge to actually focus on Him...but that is our hearts desire). It's faith-growing to trust that whatever you don't do for yourself on that day, He'll provide a way for you to do it the next day!

I'm not saying we don't eat... I just try to minimize the preparations by thinking ahead on Saturday what will be the Sunday noon meal. And then we don't eat Sunday evenings... except for popcorn and apples or whatever the kids can grab for themselves... cereal or whatever.

So... "try it, you'll like it!" He is good and His laws are purposeful and for our good! :)

[John A.]

Frederick Y

About the sabbath

The last few years I have also come to see the sabbath as a picture of salvation, and that is why the commandment is so important to God.

Normal picture: You work all week, and you earn stuff, and then you rest on Sunday.

OK now turn into a life picture: Before salvation you do things (work) and you earn stuff - kudos from other people, self-satidfaction, and you think credit in God's eyes.

When you are saved you enter into His rest. You cease toiling trying to earn your way into His good graces - you cease working - you rest (abide in) the Lord.

[John A.]

Exodus 15:19-17:7

The Waters of Marah and Elim

- The Lord had led them here to bitter water. Why? I believe this is the continuation of the lesson to be still and trust/depend on the Lord.

-Did the people learn the lesson from the parting of the Red Sea? No, they complained to Moses when they should have been calling on the Lord.

-Here Moses does the right thing and calls on the Lord (intercession).

- Symbols:
Water: Washing with is being bathed in His Word. Drinking is taking in the Holy Spirit.
Tree: Garden had the tree of life, Psalm 1 and Rev 22 the tree is for healing. 1Peter2:24 the tree is used by God to deliver righteousness.

-The Picture: God provides healing and righteousness throuh the tree (cross) so that the Holy Spirit can be taken in. Did the Israelites get this - no. It is one of the many examples in the OT foreshadowing Christ and God's Work.

NOTE: The Israelites could not obey Law (no one can), hence there was sickness (symbol of sin) later. God provides the instruction on what to do about sickness (sin) later.

-Stautes and ordinances were not given in Egypt - only after the redemption. The Picture: We are not ecpected to be able to hold to Law until after we are saved. How? "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God...." Even saved we cannot obey the Law written in our hearts unless we continually and carefully allow the Lord to lead us - it is His work to sanctify us as much as it was to redeem us.

- Elim: I believe that God is providing a picture here that the Holy Spirit (water ingested) is with the twelve tribes of Israel and/or the nation of Israel (70 came into Egypt).
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Manna

The Lesson on dependance on the Lord is still not learned. Again the people did not call on the Lord, but complained to Moses. Amazing in tough times how the past looked better. I tend to doubt that it was all that rosy and full of good eating back in Egyptian servitude.

God provides our needs not our wants.

Aren't we instructed: Give us our daily bread in the Lord's prayer.

Sabbath is a picture of rest (ceasing to toil and work) in the Lord. Rely on and depend on the Lord. More on this when we get to commandments.
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Water From the Rock

This time the people did not just complain they argued with Moses. Again they did not call on the Lord.

Moses loses it a bit here as Moses shows he is not a perfect intercessor (patience). Moses complains to the Lord about the people.

The picture: The rock is Christ. Struck once - will die once for all sins. Living water will spring from Him (John 7), and through the death and resurrection of Christ the Holy Spirit (water) comes and is taken in.

The Israelites do not get this, but it is a more explicit foreshadowing of Christ and God's Work. Something the Pharisees could have looked back on and seen if their heart was right.

[John A.]

Matthew 22
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

a few notes:
1) Those that rejcted Christ and killed the prophets were cut off straight away. Who did that? - the rulers and priests at that time. It does not say that the whole country (Israel) was cut off (yet).
2)Marriage in Greek context and connotation represents the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. (one of which is eternal life.)
3)good and bad were invited. Many were called (not all because of those cut away above). Believers and non-believers were invited.
4) Requirements: must be wearing the wedding garment. In Jewish marriage ceremony the host provided the wedding garments. The garments are the robes of rigteousness a covering provided by the blood of Christ.
5) Example given of one who did not put on those robes. Asked why and the man was speechless. So will it be if you try to gain entrance into heaven wearing your own robes (which Isaiah says are nothing but filthy rags to God.) Will you be able to talk/debate/argue your own way into heaven, No - you will be as speechless as this man.
6)What happens: He is cast into Gehenna (hell). There is no appeal. Few are chosen. Sadly many that are drawn by God will not put on the provided robe of righteousness. The chosen are the ones who depend on the covering (robes) provided by Christ.
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21"Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

What does God want? God wants your heart. Your trust and belief in Him and His plan.

Heart/Trust/dependance what any mother or father here would want from his/her young child. How much more so God?????
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Marriage at the Resurrection

Sadducees only believe in the Torah (first five books of Bible). They do not believe in angels (strange as they ARE in Torah) because they are supernatural, and the Sadducees think everything is about our life here on earth (no resurrection).

- Christ says you err because you do not know (all) the Scriptures nor the power of God (to provide eternal life.)

- Christ answers the marriage question, but says you miss the bigger point. God is the God of the living - not the dead. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive (in spirit) and they will be resurrected. God is not the God of some guy buried and dead in the ground. But for those who have imputed righteousness God will be their God forever for through Him they have eternal life.

[John A.]

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