January 27th One Year Bible Readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Exodus 4:1-5:21 ~ Matthew 18:1-20
Psalm 22:19-31 ~ Proverbs 5:15-21

Old Testament - Today in Exodus chapter 4 we read about God discussing with Moses from the burning bush how Moses will lead the Israelites out of Egypt!  Below is a portrait by Guy Rowe of Moses having this conversation with God before the burning bush:

Moses has a classic line to God in Chapter 4 verse 10: “Moses said to the LORD , "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." I think what is classic about this line is that probably many of us have some sort of line similar to this one that we say to God when God is calling us to do something big for His Kingdom. Or maybe even if it is something medium-sized or small God is calling us to, we probably have some pretty good excuses. "Why me God?" "I’m too young." I’m too old." "I’m too busy." "I’m not that smart." "I’m not that talented". And I’m sure our list of excuses could go on. BUT – check out what God says to Moses in verse 12: "Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." Wow. Is there an area of your life where God is calling you to move forward? Maybe calling you to some Kingdom work? And are you making excuses? Will you leave those excuses behind? Do you realize that God will help you do whatever you need to do? Do you realize that God will teach you what to do as you go? You may not know exactly what to do right now – but if you move forward, do you believe God will show up and help you accomplish the task? Will you go? Now? Below is a wonderful stained glass image of God in the burning bush telling Moses to "now go"!

Verses 24 through 26 probably raised some questions for you today... :)   "On the journey, when Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah, his wife, took a flint knife and circumcised her son....After that, the LORD left him alone."  The obvious question being, why was God about to kill Moses?  Didn't God just call Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?  Well, yes he did.  Commentaries I read suggest that the primary issue here was an issue of obedience.  Moses had not circumcised his son, which was a requirement of God's covenant with Israel from Genesis chapter 17 - you'll recall Abraham and his household all getting circumcised in that 1 day.  So, Moses - and actually Zipporah his wife performed the task of the covenant - had to circumcise his son before God would let Moses go forward to deliver God's people out of Egypt.  Don't you like it when the Bible throws in some quick curveballs like this?  :) Bible.org's commentary on Exodus chapter 4 is at this link - scroll down a bit.  Below is an image from the Sistine Chapel of Zipporah and her and Moses' two sons Gershom and Eliezer:

I like Exodus chapter 5 verse 1, which builds upon some of our readings in chapter 4: "After this presentation to Israel's leaders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh." What I like about this is that there was Moses & Aaron going to see Pharaoh - the 2 of them.  This reminds me of Jesus sending out the disciples in pairs.  Sometimes in life it seems like we can accomplish more, or stay on task better, if we are partnered with someone else.  It's sometimes tough to do things on our own.  I think sometimes we want to make ourselves out to be Lone Rangers - thinking that we can shoulder the weight of the world on our own.  But... we can't.  First and foremost we need to be in relationship with God through Jesus.  Secondly, in relationship with our family.  Thirdly, relationship with our community - as we saw Moses and Aaron spoke with the Hebrew leaders at the end of chapter 4.  And then... we are ready to take on Pharaoh!  Then, we are ready to take on the world!  Yeah, sure, on rare occasions God will call us to pull off Kingdom tasks on our own - but... 9 times out of 10, I think you are going to need brothers and sisters in Christ to help you make it.  Currently, are you in a community, a church, with brothers and sisters in Christ?  Do you know who your Aaron is???  Below is a painting by James Tissot of Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh -

New Testament - Jesus' teaching in Matthew chapter 18 verses 3 & 4 are something for each of us to consider: ""I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."  I find it interesting the order of the words - first, turn from your sin.  THEN - after turning from your sins - become as little children.  It seems that we cannot become humble as children without first turning from our sins.  This makes sense if you think about it.  If you are still living in sin, how can you become humble like a child?  You must first repent of the sin before moving toward humility.  I think this teaching is a tough one in our modern age.  It doesn't sound quite right... become humble like a child?  Why??  But, there is so much wisdom in it.   Do you want to become humble like a child?  Will you ask God to show you how to do this in your life?

Verses 19 & 20 are awesome: "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them." Again, these verses remind me of the importance of being in community with other believers regularly.  The importance of church.  And not just showing up to church on Sundays, but really investing in your church.  Serving.  Giving financially. Being part of a small group.  Doing life together with others.  Being the body of Christ.   I will admit that there have been periods of my life where I really felt like I did not need the church.  That I did not need to be in community.  These have turned out to be lonely or hurried or stressful seasons when I look back on them!  I realize now more than ever that I need the church.  I love my church.  I love everyone in my church - warts and faults and all - and I believe they love me in return, warts and faults and all.   How about you?  Do you have a church that you love?  Do you have a community of believers that you love and that loves you?  If not, will you pray to God to lead you to such a community?  Do you believe that Christian community is important for you?  (Please know that when I say church I am speaking very broadly of the body of Christ and all the various ways it manifest itself as church.  For example, I have many friends who are part of the growing house church movement, which is a wonderful way to do church for many folks.  For others it's the mega-church and for others the mainline church, and this list of examples of church could go on and on...)

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Matthew chapter 18 titled "Life Under Kingdom Authority" is at this link.

Psalms - Okay, since I'm going off on my church soapbox today :), I'll continue the theme here.  What's one good reason to go to church at all?  Check out Psalm 22 verse 22: "Then I will declare the wonder of your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among all your people." Praising God with other brothers and sisters through worship, tithing, learning, serving and being in community in church is a great reason to go to church!  To declare the wonder of God's name!  To praise God among all his people.  Wow... yes...  this is church!

Proverbs - Proverbs 5 verses 16 & 17 are powerful true Sex Education verses: "Why spill the water of your springs in public, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Don't share it with strangers."  I like this a lot.  Is this something we can teach young adults today?  Is this something we can teach ourselves?  Don't have sex with just anyone - it is degrading to you.  Don't share something so holy as sex with just anyone.  Save this holy bond for your spouse.  I once heard a powerful sermon by John Ortberg at Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago. And John was preaching on "Don't Quench the Spirit".   And it was a powerful sermon on how we are so blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives as followers of Jesus.  And yet, we can quench, temporarily, the power of the Spirit in our life when we sin.  It is basically like turning our back on God when we sin.  And then we need to turn our faces forward again toward God in repentance.  And while we are sinning and turning our back on God, we have effectively quenched the Spirit.  And as I heard this sermon, I realized that sexual sin is one sure-fire quick way to quench the spirit.  We degrade ourselves through sexual sin and I believe we quench the spirit.  I don't know if this line of thinking will help you at all if you are struggling with sexual sin.  But, it helps me.  It helps me to realize that the quick little temporary highs we think we might get off sexual sin are so not worth it.  What is worth quenching the Spirit in our life??  Is sexual sin?  Nope...  you know it's not.  Living fully in communion with God and with the Holy Spirit is one of the most amazing things we can possibly experience this side of heaven.  Will you please, please, no longer quench the Spirit for the cheap lies sexual sins sells?

Worship God:  Matthew 18:3-4 reminded me of the Jars of Clay song "Faith Like a Child!"  Here's a live version:

Do you have faith like a child?  Click here child!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11 NIV

Comments from You and Questions of the Day:  With my thoughts above on the serious topic of sexual sin - does anyone have any resources, books, websites, that you can recommend to folks that are struggling with sexual temptation or sin?  Have you seen people in your life be enslaved to sexual sin?  Hopefully you have also seen people also be freed from that enslavement through Jesus?  Do you think that sexual sin - lust, pornography, adultery, etc. - is a rampant issue in our society today?  Do you think it's worse now than the past?  Or do you think sexual sin has always been an issue in the past and will be until Jesus returns again?  (Bob Deffinbaugh with bible.org's essay on "Sex and the Spiritual Christian" based on 1 Corinthians 7 is at this link.) 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

[Christina]

I love this site!!! Thanks so much for the great insight:)

[Benny]

Exodus 4:6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow."

How come there's a snow in Middle East? Certainly the writer of Exodus seen snow before he compared it to leprosy?

[Lisa]

My son and I have worked with an organization that exist to educate young people on Biblical-principled sex. The greater the distance between a family and God, it seems the greater chance that a young person would not see themselves as worthy and set apart for His purposes. So, it seems to me, the second best god is self. People obey their human drives and passions without the plan of the Bible. What can we expect? Being right with God, family and community, in that order, applies here also. "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and "Stop Dating the Church" are good books by Joshua Harris. I've also heard that "When God writes your Love Story" is a good book. Well, Sunday is here-getting ready for church!

[John]

Benny,

Excellant question and observation. Googled "Middle East" and "snow" and guess what happened today in the Middle East.

Rare and deadly snowstorm socks Middle East
January 28, 2000
Web posted at: 8:54 p.m. EST (0154 GMT)

http://edition.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/01/28/mideast.snow.01/index.html

Another source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4135857.stm

It is almost as if God has responded to your question :) It is rare, but it has snowed throughout time in the Middle East.
======================================================
Hebrew word for "snow" is "sheleg". Its roots are in the Arabic and Aramaic languages.

Snow is mentioned in the Old Testament 20 times. "Job" considered to be the "oldest" book of the bible mentions it 5 times. David and his men actually fought a battle on a snowy day (1Ch 11:22).
======================================================
Even if Moses had never seen snow the question is easy for me, personally, to resolve. The author of the bible is the Holy Spirit - surely God knows about snow, doesn't He?????

[John]

Benny,

Oops!!! Sorry the headline from CNN was for a storm 8 years ago in 2000. The second link is for storm in Arab Emirates in 2004. The point is - snow happens on rare occasions in the Middle East.

That will teach me to blog without having Coffee first :)

[John]

Psalm 22

Prophetic Psalm of the Crucifixion

See yesterday's post and the link was:
http://www.raystedman.org/psalms/0401.html

[John]

Proverbs 5:15-21

OK. here the "sin" "Satan" comparison breaks down and verses 15-20 seem to be basically saying - stay at home, enjoy the partner you married, marriage is sacred to God - so enjoy the union that was blessed by God and do not wander. There is no need to stray.

Prov5:21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths.

How many times do we sin and think - 'well no one needs to know'. How many affairs, how many times in your room on the internet or in front of the TV all alone? How many times the lies that you seem to get away with? How many times that curse word while alone in the car?

The problem is: God knows, God knows.

Joseph had it right.
Gen 39:9 "No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (NIV)

You are never alone. When we sin - ultimately it is against God and He knows. We are always in full view of the Lord.

[Skip]

I think the use of pornography in today’s world is worse than ever before and it’s getting worse with every passing day. Every place you look there is pornography. The web is so loaded with it; something that wasn’t available to the general public prior to 1990 that even on what should be nice sites there are sidebar adds that are borderline pornographic. I even saw it on a few Christian websites!

I remember while growing up the only [pornography] we had was if we could get our hands on a copy of National Geographic. We certainly didn’t see it on TV or in the movies, which is another genre that is loaded with it. TV and movies are also exploiting adultery and fornication. Now, I’m not sure if adultery and fornication is worse today or if it was just kept more quiet years ago. But either way by making it visible I think it makes people, especially the youth think that it’s Ok.

I know first hand that it is very easy to get hooked on pornography. It’s like being a drug addict or an alcoholic. It is only with God’s help that I am almost cured of the addition. I say almost because there is just so much of it around it’s hard to remove yourself from it. It’s not like a drug addict who can remove himself from drugs or an alcoholic who can remove himself from alcohol and the places that serve it. With pornography we’re even exposed to in the checkout lines at the supermarket. Some of the almost naked women and men on the covers of magazines and tabloids could be considered pornographic; [and] our children are seeing this in someplace that use to be safe. Then we wonder why. Why is pornography such a problem? Why is adultery and fornication so ramped? Why are our youth having sex as early as elementary school? All you have to do is look around; the answers are all around us. So to make this long story short, yes…I think pornography [is] worse today and I don’t expect it to get less anytime soon.

Yours in Christ
Skip

[John]

Matthew 18
Reading on lost sheep can be delayed until LUKE. Church discipline is pretty self-evident. Remember "you" in verse 18 is "plural". While the child illustration is also in Luke and Mark (hence I think it is very important), it is important enough to go over tonight here in Matthew as a quick hit.
======================================================
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

Matt 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" NIV

This question has been raised and discussed (sometimes heatedly) amongst the apostles more than once. The issue here is PRIDE. Apostles, having not yet received Holy Spirit at Pentecost, know Jesus is going to die but they are not very clear (if at all) on the ressurection part. Perhaps the issue is: who is going to take over after Jesus' death, or simply who will be closest to God in heaven? I don't know, but it is pride that makes them discuss and argue this point.

Jesus says, 'Wait a minute guys - with that kind of attitude you had better be concerned first with if you are EVEN going to be in heaven. With this attitude of pride you are walking a slippery slope.

Now a child is brought forth, and there are some KEY things here.

1) I disagree with commentators who think this was an infant or a little child 2+ years or less. While the Greek word for "child" could be anything from infant to much older, it is clear, in the Greek, that the child was placed in the midst of the apostles by setting or standing. how many babies or two year olds would stay still for long in this setting. So, I believe, it is a child three and up.

2) Remmeber the culture of the time. Even more so than today, a young child near kindergarden age in the Jewish culture: spoke when spoken to, looked to their parents for everything, normally would have great respect for the parental authority, and hopefully loved their parents. The child knew who ran the show, and was humble and deferring to parents when it came to life lessons.

3) So what? Christ already said they were humble. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT: It is not just you have to be humble. The word "change" in the NIV literally means "turn". Unless you turn away from this attitude of pride and turn to humility - you will not even get to heaven. You cannot be proud and humble. God wants all of you, if you come to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior it must be with a humble repentant heart giving all of yourself to Christ. God knows your heart, and only you and God know if that is how you accepted Christ.
======================================================
Matt18:4
"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

How in the world does this answer the question? Jesus - which child is greatest?

This is my belief:
All of you (believers). You are all going to be the greatest, because we will all be there eventually in perfect glorified bodies. We will all be the same. All of us the "greatest". Jesus point is get rid of the pride, become humble, believe and recieve Christ, and just get there.

We will have rewards and losses in heaven depending on our Christian walk, but that is not the point. This just determines what jobs or responsibilities we will have in the kingdom. It will still be equally perfect glorified saints just doing different things in the kingdom. Will address rewards and losses later in NT.

[John]

Exodus 4
Signs for Moses

Why did the Lord's anger burn against Moses?

Well, in yesterday's readings, Moses asked - why him? In these verses Moses lied and said please send someone else.

God who Moses believed in had promised to give Moses: a backbone, words in Moses' mouth, and signs to perform to verify His story. God would do the work, and Moses would be his vessel. (same thing for us today as Christians)

Moses responds by saying - 'well you can give me the words, but I don't speak well'. Not according to Josephus at yesterday's link. Josephus says Moses was trained in Pharaoh's court and was a great orator. Moses lied to God, because He does not want to accept the task God has layed before Moses.

Then Moses flat out says it - "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

God has a lot of changes to do in Moses. did Isaiah refuse, Did Christ refuse God's Will. No, and Moses is still a lump of clay on the potter's wheel - he is not now the great leader that he will be known for in later years. Right now he is like a stubborn mule being dragged along by his master.

God provided him with Aaron as the spokesperson, and Moses finally went along with God's plan. Funny how we as Christians have a hard time depending on god for help, but if another human being comes along - we are willing to go to work for God.

The development of Moses now begins - Pharoah will resist him, and Moses' people will hate and reject Him again, but God's plan is in motion.

[God]

Hi Mike
This is the one of the best article I never read I'm so impressed with your blog information on Old testament, wonderful images of Jesus Christ and your Church information thanks for sharing this beautiful post.

[Susan]

Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships by Chip Ingram. is a great resource about sex and Godly relationships.

Also, when I was in 6th grade, our school did a program by Josh McDowell about waiting to have sex UNTIL marriage. Even though the curriculum may be dated, the truths still ring true.

As a parent, I am looking for ways to help my children understand their place as God's child and see themselves set apart.
I want my children to be blessed by doing relationships God's way.

nice video