My first thought last night was if I were and Israelite back then I would not have wanted to follow God... especially if I had been Aaron. I also thought about how the Great Commission would have been difficult... it would be hard to convince someone to follow a God who gives you a ton of rules and kills you if you don't obey them to a "t". I was kind of irritated by the whole thing, to be honest.... but then, as I thought about it, I started to see how many people today are involved in these same types of religions, sacrificing crazy stuff to a god who cares nothing for them, trying to maintain a high level of "good" so they can be saved.... my irritation turned to thanksgiving... thanksgiving that God sent Jesus so we no longer had to live under the law, and thanksgiving that the law is still there so we can see the need for Jesus to save us (see Galatians 2:19). So, it is with my new perspective that I write my comments about these chapters today...
Chapter 10: ok, still really saddened by verse 1-2, but it is obvious that God does not tolerate disobedience or careless, thoughtless worship (see Romans 3:23a). Interesting to note that the men who died were among the people who went with Moses to see God (see Exodus 24:9-11)... there is also more mention of their death in Numbers 3:4, Numbers 26:61, and 1 Chronicles 24:2)... the study notes also mention others who were killed by God for their actions(see 'Achon' in Joshua 7; 'Uzzah' 2 Samuel 6:1-7; and 'Ananias and Saphira' Acts 5:1-11) verse 3... My first thought was that Moses should not write Hallmark cards... nor do I want him to officiate my funeral... his words kind of sound like and 'I told you so' which I don't think was the most consoling speach he could have made... but when I stop and relook at this section, I think the point was to reset Aaron's mind back on the holiness of God, so Aaron wouldn't go and do anything stupid out of anger or grief... I think Moses really was trying to be a loving brother.... and in that case, it must have worked to stay Aaron because it says he remained silent.... I do wonder, though, if Aaron was reconsidering how great his new high ranking position was... wondering it if was a blessing or curse/punishment (maybe for his past sins with the golden calf or something)... This made me think about how often do I base my thankfulness of God's purpose in my life on my perception of my present circumstances? And how often do I wallow in unnessessary guilt that has nothing to do with what God is doing in my life right now instead of remaining silent and listening to the reassuring words about God's loving sovereignty? verse 16-20 (specifically verse 19)... when I read this is makes me think that Aaron's heart was still grieving and was likely angry with God (even though he did not react at the time of his sons death in verse 3)... I think Aaron knew it was not best to eat the sin offering while he was still sinning in his heart himself... a lesson we can stand to learn today (I think there is a verse in the New Testament about not partaking of the Lord's Supper without confessing your sin and preparing your heart, but I can't find it, so I don't know if it is there or not... anyone know?)
Chapter 11: All these rules made me wonder about what the health and scientific reasons might have been for God to forbid or allow each specific thing. Some of the things seemed kind of weird to me, like a bat was classified as a bird (verse 19) and insects have 6 legs not 4 (verse 20-21), but the footnotes said that the precise identification on some of these things is uncertain in this chapter... also, God would be identifying them based on the Israelites perception, not some classification system that had not yet been invented (which we know of now... was it Lineaus or something that started classifying by genus, species, etc?)... Anyway, the study notes talk about how in Daniel 1, the strict adherence to these dietary laws helped strenghthen God's people and establish His purpose... but in Acts 10:9-23, and in Matt 15, we see that these regulations are now lifted for us. The study notes ask why?... and then comment that the lifting of these may have had something to do with helping spread the Gospel. verse 44... I like this... it is a good reason to want to do our best to be holy. :)
Chapter 12: I don't really have much here other than a big WHY?... why would a woman have to purify herself at all if having children was seen as a blessing by God (see Genesis and Exodus where he blessed people by multiplying them)... and why would a baby girl require twice as long for purification? Did the circumcision somehow allot for the boy to pay for some of his mother's purification time?... anyway, I'm glad, once again, that I was not an Israelite back then (seems to be becoming my theme in this chapter).
The IDEA: Romans 1:12-That we may be mutually strengthened, encouraged, and comforted by each others faith. Have you ever read the whole Bible before? We have never done it. We want to share God’s Word, but how can we if we do not know it.
The PLAN: Ecclesiastes 4:12-One person is easily overcome, but two can stand together and conquer. Three is even better, though, as a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. With each others help we can succeed-So, let us team up and read the Bible in a year.
The DATE: We will start Dec 26, 2009 - Dec 26, 2010.
The FYI: We will read 3-4 chapters each day, starting in Genesis, and post thoughts daily. If you do not have a Bible, you can access many translations at www.biblegateway.com. You can also download an audio for each chapter at: http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
Read it. Contemplating it and will respond tomorrow.
ReplyDeletesandJ
My first thought last night was if I were and Israelite back then I would not have wanted to follow God... especially if I had been Aaron. I also thought about how the Great Commission would have been difficult... it would be hard to convince someone to follow a God who gives you a ton of rules and kills you if you don't obey them to a "t". I was kind of irritated by the whole thing, to be honest.... but then, as I thought about it, I started to see how many people today are involved in these same types of religions, sacrificing crazy stuff to a god who cares nothing for them, trying to maintain a high level of "good" so they can be saved.... my irritation turned to thanksgiving... thanksgiving that God sent Jesus so we no longer had to live under the law, and thanksgiving that the law is still there so we can see the need for Jesus to save us (see Galatians 2:19). So, it is with my new perspective that I write my comments about these chapters today...
ReplyDeleteChapter 10: ok, still really saddened by verse 1-2, but it is obvious that God does not tolerate disobedience or careless, thoughtless worship (see Romans 3:23a). Interesting to note that the men who died were among the people who went with Moses to see God (see Exodus 24:9-11)... there is also more mention of their death in Numbers 3:4, Numbers 26:61, and 1 Chronicles 24:2)... the study notes also mention others who were killed by God for their actions(see 'Achon' in Joshua 7; 'Uzzah' 2 Samuel 6:1-7; and 'Ananias and Saphira' Acts 5:1-11)
ReplyDeleteverse 3... My first thought was that Moses should not write Hallmark cards... nor do I want him to officiate my funeral... his words kind of sound like and 'I told you so' which I don't think was the most consoling speach he could have made... but when I stop and relook at this section, I think the point was to reset Aaron's mind back on the holiness of God, so Aaron wouldn't go and do anything stupid out of anger or grief... I think Moses really was trying to be a loving brother.... and in that case, it must have worked to stay Aaron because it says he remained silent.... I do wonder, though, if Aaron was reconsidering how great his new high ranking position was... wondering it if was a blessing or curse/punishment (maybe for his past sins with the golden calf or something)... This made me think about how often do I base my thankfulness of God's purpose in my life on my perception of my present circumstances? And how often do I wallow in unnessessary guilt that has nothing to do with what God is doing in my life right now instead of remaining silent and listening to the reassuring words about God's loving sovereignty?
verse 16-20 (specifically verse 19)... when I read this is makes me think that Aaron's heart was still grieving and was likely angry with God (even though he did not react at the time of his sons death in verse 3)... I think Aaron knew it was not best to eat the sin offering while he was still sinning in his heart himself... a lesson we can stand to learn today (I think there is a verse in the New Testament about not partaking of the Lord's Supper without confessing your sin and preparing your heart, but I can't find it, so I don't know if it is there or not... anyone know?)
Chapter 11: All these rules made me wonder about what the health and scientific reasons might have been for God to forbid or allow each specific thing.
ReplyDeleteSome of the things seemed kind of weird to me, like a bat was classified as a bird (verse 19) and insects have 6 legs not 4 (verse 20-21), but the footnotes said that the precise identification on some of these things is uncertain in this chapter... also, God would be identifying them based on the Israelites perception, not some classification system that had not yet been invented (which we know of now... was it Lineaus or something that started classifying by genus, species, etc?)... Anyway, the study notes talk about how in Daniel 1, the strict adherence to these dietary laws helped strenghthen God's people and establish His purpose... but in Acts 10:9-23, and in Matt 15, we see that these regulations are now lifted for us. The study notes ask why?... and then comment that the lifting of these may have had something to do with helping spread the Gospel.
verse 44... I like this... it is a good reason to want to do our best to be holy. :)
Chapter 12: I don't really have much here other than a big WHY?... why would a woman have to purify herself at all if having children was seen as a blessing by God (see Genesis and Exodus where he blessed people by multiplying them)... and why would a baby girl require twice as long for purification? Did the circumcision somehow allot for the boy to pay for some of his mother's purification time?... anyway, I'm glad, once again, that I was not an Israelite back then (seems to be becoming my theme in this chapter).