Numbers 15:17-16:40 ~ Mark 15:1-47 ~ Psalm 54:1-7 ~ Proverbs 11:5-6
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Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 15 we read about unintentional and intentional sins. Verse 30 stood out to me - "But those who brazenly violate the LORD's will, whether native Israelites or foreigners, blaspheme the LORD." I have thought about this in my life in the past... and thought about that old phrase, "ignorance is bliss." While this phrase may seem true at first glance - ignorance is bliss - it's obviously not "True" at all. It is so much better to know godly Truth, than to be ignorant. However... once we know godly Truth, what if we then consciously go against that Truth? What if we "brazenly violate God's will"? This verse today reminded me that once we know Truth - and as we continue to grow in our knowledge of Truth and the Bible - we really should be much more intentional in how we live. We know what godly living looks like. We should not go back to our old ways of thinking or our old habits. We know better. And we most certainly should not think that "ignorance is bliss." It isn't.
"Trial By Fire" - ever hear this term? I think this term may have gotten its genesis here in Numbers chapter 16. Korah's rebellion caused Moses to explain how this true trial by fire would go down in verses 4 through 7 - "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow those who are chosen to enter his holy presence. You, Korah, and all your followers must do this: Take incense burners, and burn incense in them tomorrow before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD chooses as his holy one." A trial by fire indeed occurs subsequently in this chapter. Here's how Boticelli depicts this scene of scripture in the Sistine Chapel in Rome (note that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine - whereas other artists painted the walls - I just learned this just now!):
Verses 12 & 13 stood out as completely strange, as these 2 men had somehow now thought that instead of being a prison, Egypt was now in their minds a paradise?.... "Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, "We refuse to come! Isn't it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects?" I wonder if we do this in our lives? Think that things that used to be so bad for us are now somehow good? I know I've done this. I've left situations or relationships or bad habits - knowing they were simply bad for me - and then later down the road I've sometimes thought to myself, "ahh... I miss xyz or doing xyz... I should go back to that." And I do. And I regret it all over once again. There is a somewhat obscure R.E.M. song that goes "Don't go back to Rockville - and waste another year." I think of this song on occasion when I am tempted to go back to something I know I shouldn't go back to - I sing to myself, "don't go back to Rockville." Perhaps Dathan and Abiram should have been singing to themselves - "don't go back to Egypt - and waste another year..." What about you? Is there an Egypt / Rockville or two in your life that you've left behind? Are you ever tempted to go back? Do you sometimes even think you might have been wrong about how bad things were back then.... that it might have really been a land flowing with milk and honey even! Well, I know we'll all have our moments of going backwards.... but I pray we see the True land of milk and honey in front of us that is only available through a relationship with Jesus and the Father - and that we won't go back to our "Egypts"...
New Testament - It is interesting in the One Year Bible how we go through the 4 Gospels one after another in the beginning portion of the year. In some ways it may seem repetitive - but I think repetitive is good when we're talking about the story of Jesus... we really cannot hear and meditate upon this story enough. Also, what I like is the nuances of each Gospel - or maybe things that are indeed in a few of the Gospels that somehow just stand out to me in some new way in one of the Gospels. Today is one of those days where something jumped out at me that I have not really noticed before - and that is Pilate in verses 9 & 10 - ""Should I give you the King of the Jews?" Pilate asked. (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.)" It's interesting that Pilate used the term King of the Jews here - and again later in the narrative - and that he also had this term nailed to the cross. And the question I have is this - did Pilate do this simply to try and irritate the leading priests? I think this is probably the case. But, I'm looking forward to some further study on this.
Bible.org's commentary on Mark chapter 15 titled "A Follower's Substitute" is at this link.
Psalms - I like Psalm 54 verse 4 a lot - "But God is my helper. The Lord is the one who keeps me alive!" Is this true in your life? Is God the one who keeps you alive? Or are you trying to lean on other things as your source of life? I believe it is such a blessing to surrender more and more to God until we get to the point where truly this true for us - God is the one - and only - who keeps us alive. I am not saying I am there yet - but I'm trying to get there. I'm trying to surrender more and more each day to Jesus and the Father - all that I am - all that I am living for. I pray that in your life and in mine God will be the one who keeps us alive!
Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 5 stands out as a powerful reminder to not even tell white lies! "The godly are directed by their honesty."
Worship God: Per my reflections in Numbers above, and somewhat related to that old R.E.M. song, here is Building 429's great song "End of Me:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnxwCE3bCQk
Have you reached the end of you? Click here for the beginning of eternity!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied." Mark 15:2 NIV
Prayer Point: Pray that Jesus is your King today and forevermore. Pray that you will always submit to your King, Jesus.
Comments from You & Questions of the Day: Based on our Proverb today, how about you? Are you directed by honesty? Do you place honestly as a major guiding principle in your life? Do you ever catch yourself telling white lies? Do you confess these to God and to others? Do you think we should we confess white lies? Why or why not? Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
Love, Trust and Obey Jesus,
Mike
Numbers 15:17-16:40
Everywhere I look in the 15th chapter, I see reminders that we are a sinful people. We are sinful not so much because we are so very bad, which we are, we are a rebellious people, but we are sinful because we live in a world of sin. Since man’s fall in the garden, we are surrounded by sin. That is the unintentional sin talked about in this chapter and in the first five chapter of the Book of Leviticus.
To sin, in both the Greek and the Hebrew means to “miss the mark,” and no matter how much we aim for the Bulls Eye, we will not get it every time even if we are highly trained marksmen. We sin as a community; we sin as a family, we sin as individuals, there is no avoiding it.
1 John 1 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
This is something we don’t like to do because we don’t want to admit guilt for anything because it really wasn’t our fault. That is the cry of our heart. But that misses the whole entire point, compared to the “In the Beginning …” we have and will continue to “miss the mark,” until Jesus comes back in the Second Advent. We are so hung up, including me, on not being tagged with the “S” word that we don’t realize that these Laws, and now Jesus’ death burial and resurrections is to get us back to the “In the Beginning …” state so that we have unbroken fellowship with God. God and sin cannot hang out together. This is the first time I’m seeing this connection and this is the first time I have some semblance of understanding of what sin really is, it is anything or condition that is out of alignment with “In the Beginning …”
In chapter sixteen we have Korah and his crowd who wanted to be large-and-in-charge. The problem with Korah is that others allowed his bitterness to infiltrate their hearts and he took them down with him. One of the things I noticed in this little large group of people is “God ain’t running no democracy.” He is the One who gives gifts; He is the one who places people in their assignment no matter what you think about yourself. God doesn’t practice multiculturalism and He doesn’t take into account ethnic differences and preferences with the administration of His Laws and Sacrificial systems. The Law applied to everyone living in the soon to be occupied Promise Land, Israel.
God knows us; He created us. He knows what we were designed to do. He knows our strengths because He created them. This may not seem fair when we decide we don’t like our assignment and want to do something else or we envy someone else’s assignment, we become like Korah. If our Television decided it wanted to be a vacuum cleaner, maybe it could be worked on to do a little vacuuming; however, it would be ineffective, inefficient and way out of order. So too are we when we do not do what we have been gifted to do, we are out-of-order. Our life’s homework is to find what we were created to do and do it or else we may find ourselves swallowed up in the futility of our own envy and jealousy.
Mark 15
Just think, Jesus became the Sacrificial Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, our sins, my sins, your sins. Accepting His shed blood by receiving Him into our hearts and lives brings us back to the “In the Beginning …” state. However, our walk my cause us to get dirty and that is why 1 John 1: 8-9 (see comments on Numbers above) is so very wonderful.
Everything he endured with the trial, the beatings the humiliation he did to set us free from the cords and oppression of sin. [Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.] That joy that Jesus that Jesus fixed His eyes on to endure the events we saw in the Passion of the Christ, was our redemption. Let us understand how valuable and how loved we are by God for Him to allow Jesus to take on flesh and to die, once, for us all as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Hallelujah!!
Psalm 54:1-7
4 But God is my helper.
The Lord is the one who keeps me alive!
5 May my enemies' plans for evil be turned against them.
Do as you promised and put an end to them.
6 I will sacrifice a voluntary offering to you;
I will praise your name, O LORD,
for it is good.
7 For you will rescue me from my troubles
and help me to triumph over my enemies.
Sometimes we forget and think folks are our enemies, folks are just folks just acting like folks, sinful folks. Funny how we can tag certain people as our enemy and they can be believers also. And as we look at them across our line of scrimmage, they look back at say, at us, “What kind of Christians are they?”
This is our enemy, not folks:
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Proverbs 11:5-6
5 The godly are directed by their honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin
We were not made to carry sin with all its weight and its ultimate end, death.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
Posted by: Ramona | March 10, 2010 at 10:15 PM
Why did they mock HIM? 30Save thyself, and come down from the cross. I feel that honesty is very important in the Christian life.
Posted by: Raeann | March 11, 2010 at 01:27 AM
The beginning of Numbers today, 15:17-29, makes me think of Hosea 4:6, my people perish for lack of knowledge, which however, God doesn't smote them for not knowing, they just did unintentional sin, because they didn't know. I believe in the OT, their way of knowing and hearing was hooked up through Moses and Aaron ciphering out what God told them, they were in OT, what our Bible and Jesus is in NT and in todays world. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, they grew faith muscles, and/or were growing faith muscles and probably didn't even know or comprehend back then what was transpiring.
In Numbers 15:32, I thought at first that this punishment was pretty harsh, and then I looked back up above it, in verse 30, But those who brazenly violtate the Lords will, whether native born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the Lord, and they must be cut off from the community. God has His reasons behind all of this, which rather directly ties in to the Proverbs message, about white lies and honesty, the picking up of wood on Sabbath, may have seemed like in reference to a "little white lie" something insignificant that wouldn't hurt us, when in fact, a sin is a sin is a sin..Gal 6:7-9 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Posted by: Dee | March 11, 2010 at 04:05 AM