March 1, 2012 Reading Notes

March 1, 2012 Reading Notes

http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/

Welcome to March. If you have kept up, keep it going. Remember, it is more important to read your One Year Bible than to read these notes. If you have a friend or two who will do this with you, it will help you to have the accountability. Then on the 17th you can meet together and celebrate your effort by eating something with corned beef and drinking some appropriate beverage (For example, a McLeprechaun and a shamrock shake?).

Leviticus 24:1-25:46

Leviticus 24

Vs. 1-9 Along with the Feasts and Holy days, there were these two things mentioned. Although the emphasis has been on the yearly feasts, the people would remember too that each day, there were provisions being made for them that should lead to celebration.

I guess you don't have to be Einstein to figure out the symbolic nature of these. The light symbolized God's leading of the people and the twelve loaves symbolized His provision for the people. The people knew there were two things the Lord always provided for them. The one thing not mentioned here that also stood in the Holy Place was the altar of incense. This was probably to signify the prayers of the people constantly coming before God in gratitude for His provision symbolized on the other table.

Notice that the people had to provide the oil for the lamps. I wonder where they got this oil in the wilderness. Maybe olive trees grow wildly, or maybe they bought it from merchant caravans. At this point they had been in the wilderness about a year, so I don't think they would have had a lot left over from Egypt. Since the people had to provide the oil, it might signify that they were grateful for the light that God gave them.

For us as disciples we don't have to bring olive oil or flour to the church for weekly symbolic ceremonies. God provides us with light and our daily provision and care. To receive God's light, all we have to do is come to Him and sit with Him and His Word. But therein lies the rub. Try to convince the average believer that they should sit for 20 minutes a day reading the Word and for 20 minutes praying and they will nod. Some may give a grunt of assent. But most will not do it. If you make this a requirement for leaders, you will have a mutiny or angry leaders. Everyone is too busy to come to the light and sit quietly before the Lord. That cannot be the heart of a disciple. We don't bring a cow or lamb or oil. We bring ourselves, renounce everything and follow our Lord everyday in the harvest. We all have busy lives, but how can we be too busy to spend time with the Lord? Read Luke 14:25-35.

Vs. 10-23 It seems to me that as Moses was writing this, on that day, this situation arose. It would be a case in point of obeying the commandments.

I don't think this guy said anything more than something you'd hear on TV or expect someone to say in a fight with emotions running high. God is a "good old boy" and just sort of shakes His head when we do this, right? Wrong. Here, God is stressing the point of His holiness among the people. They needed to remember (as we do) that He is always close and that He always hears this stuff.

Some interesting things here:

First, the man's father was an Egyptian. This might have had something to do with the lack of respect or the cause of the fight. Later we'll hear that the Egyptians who traveled with Israel created some discontent and rebellion that some people in Israel had to be punished for.

Second, the tribe of Dan is mentioned. In Judges, Dan will be the first tribe to fall into total idolatry. Probably for that reason, Dan is not listed among the tribes in the book of Revelation that compose the 144,000. This guy is the first person put to death for violating one of the Ten Commandments. And he is of the tribe of Dan. :)

Third, the repetition of "for I am the Lord your God."

Finally, the people did as the Lord commanded Moses. Obedience, for now.

Lev. 25:1-46

Actually this will all flow into tomorrow's reading. This is an awesome chapter, in that what is commanded here was never, ever done in the land, not once. No king did it, not even David or Josiah. The amount of dependence on God that this required was more than anyone could humanly muster up.

If we were doing a Bible study, I'd ask you to break this chapter into two main divisions and then each division into 2 parts. That's just an exercise to help people see the flow of a chapter (and keep them awake).

The main division is after verse 17. Verses 1-17 give a general description of the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee, and verses 18-55 give specifics as to how to deal with various situations that might arise.

Verses 1-7 and 18-22 have to do with the sabbatical year. Everything else has to do with the year of Jubilee.

I won't make a lot of comments here. Your own observations will be better than anything I can say. Reading the verses on the sabbatical year and particularly 18-22, you understand that if the people couldn't trust God for this, they would never trust Him for the year of Jubilee.

Vs. 1-7 This is the Sabbath year. Verse two says this is the land that God gave them. In all of this talk about the land, notice to whom the land really belonged. Notice in verse five no one could harvest or sell the grain or fruit. Everyone was free to go into any field and take what they needed for that day. If you understand this, it was a year off of field work and complete dependence and provision from God. To think that the entire nation was to do this is incredible. Who needs four weeks of vacation when every seven years you get a year off?

Vs. 8-12 This 50th year was the year of Jubilee. It began on the Day of Atonement in the 49th year, which was also a Sabbatical year. This means that the 50th year was also a Sabbatical year, that is, they were given two years in a row in which they were not to work their fields. This time off from work was one reason it was called the year of Jubilee. They were supposed to celebrate.

Vs. 13-17 If you understand this, the land in Israel never changed possession, but if a person needed to they could lease the land. This would always be measured from one year of Jubilee to the next, estimating how many harvests would come until the land was given back.

Vs. 18-22 This information was given for the people to trust God for every Sabbatical year. He would provide enough in the sixth year to get them to the ninth year. If Israel had obeyed the Lord, they would have been the talk of all the nations. This would mean that when the Sabbatical year was followed by a year of Jubilee, God would provide even more and the people would have to trust even more.

Vs. 23-34 These were regulations regarding the leasing of land with respect to the year of Jubilee when it all had to be returned. You'll find one interesting exception in this. Notice how verse 23 sets the tone for these instructions. This reminds me of something I was reading this morning that Jesus taught His disciples. Luke 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

Vs. 35-43 These regulations have to do with the poor people in Israel. They could become "indentured" servants until the year of Jubilee.

Vs. 44-46 These slaves were real slaves. Those slaves who would belong to Israel were treated with respect and with rights that no other nation gave their slaves. These rules were for Israel as a nation ruled by God. Eventually, Paul and the Spirit would say that people should not become slaves, thereby beginning the end of slavery.

In thinking of the Sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee, any of us would have been deeply challenged to do what these people were asked to do. Thankfully, God no longer requires this. But, true obedience is always costly and radical. Being a follower of Christ in this harvest means a dependence on God and a willingness to give things up. Jesus is our sacrificial example. Because we hold on to things and see our security as coming from plastic cards and jobs and people, I have a feeling that we're missing very obvious things related to the Great Commission and the harvest. Therefore, not as many prisoners and slaves of sin get set free.

Mark 10:13-31

Vs. 13-16 Poor disciples. Where are all these kids coming from? This tells me that when Jesus taught or healed, the disciples did crowd control. The disciples had all these deeply needy people in lines like kids waiting to see Santa, and then these moms showed up. This "kid" situation seemed low priority to them. The kids weren't sick, they were just kids. They learned a lesson about needs and the value of simple wide-eyed faith and trust.

V. 15 is a very important verse, and we're about to see an example of the danger mentioned here.

Vs. 17-22 This is the rich young ruler.

Again, what great training for the disciples. You could have a class on "the dangers of riches and idolatry" and never get the point across like this. Here the Father is showing the disciples what happens when someone loses their childlike faith.

V. 20 Notice that this guy was serious and had lived a good life according to the requirements of the law.

V. 21 Somehow in this, Jesus actually communicated love so that Peter (Mark's source) noticed this. Jesus put His finger on this man's real god.

Vs. 23-31 Notice now that Jesus teaches the disciples from this incident that the Father arranged.

V. 24 Notice that the disciples fully understood Jesus and realized that salvation would be next to impossible if verse 23 was true. Notice that Jesus calls them "children." Look back up to verses 13-16. Very interesting.

V. 25 This is a sewing or surgical needle.

Vs. 26-27 Now if these verses are a true picture of the reality, then "stuff" really is a problem. Money is bigger than we think. Being saved and being disciples doesn't shield us from this temptation and influence any more than being a Christian keeps us from getting a cold. Our "treasure in heaven" determines how we use our time and how we focus our lives. It determines our faith. Are we so secure with our holdings in heaven, that we could pour out and "waste" our lives on earth for Christ, following Him in the harvest? The "acceptable" answer is "yes," but not many are doing it. Yeah, I feel bad, too; but that's why we're encouraging one another to go in the right direction together.

Vs. 28-31 Peter and the others had given up their careers to follow Jesus. This is why they were "children." In Jesus saying what He says here, He is speaking to all of us. We follow for other reasons, ready to spend our lives in the harvest. We don't follow to gain. We gained the minute we believed. Now we follow out of love and obedience. But, there is blessing. Note that Mark is the one who mentions persecutions. Jesus warns them that the first will be last, etc.; suggesting they may not always understand God's standard of fairness. We are simply to love and trust our Lord as we follow, making disciples who make disciples.

Psalm 44:9-26

The sons of Korah were appointed by David to lead singing in the tabernacle in Jerusalem, but whenever a godly king arose, he always gathered the descendants of Korah and put them in charge of the worship of the temple. The only historical situation I can think of that would fit with the lament here is during the days of Hezekiah. At that time Assyria was taking all the surrounding nations captive, on their way to becoming a world power. As Assyria captured the northern kingdom of Israel and swept into Judea, taking villages captive and taking the people away as slaves, Assyria thought that God had turned His back on His people. It was through this hardship that godliness was shaped and strengthened in Judea and especially in Jerusalem where all the people ran for protection. The people were following a godly king, yet Judea was being defeated by their enemies.

Just like with Job, God allowed these people to endure hardship to teach them something and to warn them.

V. 22 Paul quotes this verse in Romans 8 and ends it, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." In the context of Romans 8, we don't know why God does what He does, but we do know that God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. "For good" might be that we don't understand His purpose and die, but we trust that God knew what He was doing and used our death for His good plan.

Vs. 23-26 The Spirit is inspiring the writer to cry out to God. This is God's will for us when we don't understand. It is this holding to our faith and hope and looking to God that defeats the enemy. It is a power the enemy cannot understand or resist. Many Christians in many times and many countries have endured deep oppression and injustice and cried out to God. Their only victory was clinging to Christ and they won. Revelation 12:11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuxK6nCCEWY

Proverbs 10:20-21

Just for fun, try to put these two Proverbs together: 20a and 21a / 20b and 21b.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.

Reflections on the day

A few things have been going through my mind today. It isn't because the 28th of February has any particular meaning, but since I decided not to rewrite an entry in the reading notes, I went into a kind of withdrawal. It was a good day off, and Laura and I went out to a low calorie lunch and did some running around. Yet fourteen months of writing, nearly every day, makes a deep impression. I had to tell myself it was OK not to sit down at the computer and write something.

But actually I've had the entire disciple-making strategy rolling though my mind for the past month. I think the Lord has been encouraging me to think through and re-express what this all means to me. One of these days the Lord will show us where He wants us to serve Him in a church. The view of the church the Lord has given me isn't like a "wish" I have. It is more like a journey to a specific place, an irresistible destination. My internal GPS is always pointing there and saying "recalculating" if I go in any other direction. It is important that any church that hires me knows that the Lord is leading me in a specific direction, so we can go there together, working in the harvest, making disciples who make disciples.

The Lord left us here for mission, to follow Him as disciples in the harvest, making disciples who make disciples. This is the irreducible minimum for every believer in very country on earth. It is the only thing that gives full meaning to our lives here. Our following is what gives fulfillment to the Word and the Spirit and everything said about the church. To minimize mission, that is, the mandate to live as disciples in the harvest, is to turn the Word into a book of ethereal sayings and mottoes for the Christian life. Believers become confused about the truth and reality of the "sayings" in the Bible, because they don't seem to connect with life. What does "love one another" mean? To understand that as Jesus meant it, you have to follow Him and get dirty in the harvest. That's where everything makes sense and finds its context.

So, the local church is a group of harvesters, working together in a location in the harvest. We meet together to strengthen each other. Things need sharpening. People need encouragement. We unite together and remember who our Lord is and why He left us here. We are bound together by His love and life. We work together; we follow together to bear much fruit, thus glorifying the Father and so proving that we are His disciples.

All of our worship of our Lord and our service to one another revolves around our salvation and His commission. We love Him and follow Him. This is what makes our unity and work together of another caliber.

What is communicated to the congregation is the life of Christ and the Word. The challenge to abide in Christ and to follow Him is held high. The Word is our source and the most basic food for every disciple of Christ. Those who follow are visible by their lives in the Word and their desire to reach their neighbors.

Home groups, in my thinking, are groups always working to the end of the church. They work together on an outreach task of the church. They encourage one another to be disciples in the harvest, reading the Word, living for Christ in the world. They support one another, pray for one another, and they work together.

The core of the church is its servants, its disciples, who serve the group. This is the ever expanding core of disciples meeting in groups of 3-4 who are in the Word, reading the One Year Bible daily, encouraging one another to reach out to their neighbors and who are looking for others to invite into these groups.

This begins with the pastors, elders and deacons who meet weekly, reading the Word, reaching out to their neighbors and making disciples in the congregation. As they take on their own groups of disciples, they support those serving in ministries in the church, making them disciples who will make disciples. In this process those who they disciple will find others and invite them into groups where they too become disciples making disciples.

The reading notes are for all, but particularly for the leaders of these groups of 3 and 4. My hope is that by reading them, the leaders become excited and are able to show the disciples in their groups that the Word is amazing, Christ's love is beyond measure, and that we are to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. It is our life and our fulfillment in Christ.

This morning I was memorizing a portion of Scripture that has always gripped my heart. Luke 17:5-10 says,

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be rooted up, and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, `Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, and dress properly and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, `We are unworthy servants; and have only done what was our duty.'"

This section actually begins with the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. This is the focus of all Jesus is saying. Basically for the disciple it means two things. First, faith is so alarmingly simple that it could perform miracles if we were not so retarded by sin and the complexity we allow into our lives and thinking. Second, our labor here is for following, not for reward. He is our reward. On this earth we realize that we are here to work. We have a duty. We have been so anointed in love that we have no need to "do" to receive. We simply do. We follow. We are so filled by the love of Christ and engaged in the harvest that nothing else can interest us. Our eyes are open to Him. We serve others because that is what we do in Christ. We are not doing this to receive a reward. In this following, our lives become so simple that that little mustard seed becomes great.

This is why I'm writing these reading notes and why I'm dedicated in our Lord to see His church reach the lost in this dark harvest, making disciples who make disciples.  What wonderful love and what an amazing Savior.

Romans 16:25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages 26 but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith -- 27 to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

February 28, 2012 Reading Notes

February 28, 2012 Reading Notes

http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/

Leviticus 22:17-23:44

There are many recurring phrases in the reading today, some of which actually show the structure of the chapters. Keep your highlighter and pencil handy.

Lev. 22:17-33

Vs. 17-25 We talked a little about this yesterday, that the people had to offer the best animals for their sacrifices. We'll see the abuse of this in Malachi at the end of the year. If the people looked at everything they had as God's provision to them, it would make this easier, yet I'm sure there were situations that arose that made giving one of these animals in sacrifice, a real sacrifice.

V. 21 I never noticed this before, but animals offered for sacrifice couldn't be branded or cut with some identifying mark of ownership. This means that people had to be thinking in advance, at the birth of an animal, whether it would be used for sacrifice or not. This would be another one of those customs that would become a part of daily life and planning.

V. 23 For a free will offering that had nothing to do with sin or guilt or repaying a vow, only thanks and celebration to God, the animal could be a little off.

Vs. 26-28 This must have been a way for the Lord to give them a cultural object lesson in propriety, respect and decency. This sounds very much like not boiling a goat in its mother's milk.

Vs. 29-30 I think the reason for this was that the celebration was supposed to be fully before the Lord with no thought to taking something home. If everything was supposed to be eaten that day, it was an incentive to invite the poor, the maimed, the blind and the lame.

Vs. 31-33 This is the summary that gives the statement of purpose for the passage. The people were to sanctify God, that is, be separate to Him, make Him special; because God had done that for Israel by saving them and bringing them out of Egypt. It was all based on the love of God and their love for Him.

Leviticus 23

Vs. 1-2 These feasts are more than religious events. They are feasts and celebrations of God's salvation and grace to them. Instead of non-religious holidays like New Year's, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's, May Day, and Halloween, all of the holidays of Israel pointed to God's mercy and their salvation. Two of these feasts would be generational reminders of the flight from Egypt and their salvation. Two of the feasts would remind them of the land and provision being given to them. All of this was a fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, as Israel fulfilled its mission to become a light and blessing to the nations. And remember, they were feasts, fun times, to enjoy and celebrate God's blessing to them. This is pretty cool to have this built into their culture.

V. 3 Funny that the Sabbath was mentioned first, because this was weekly; but the interesting thing is that it is mentioned under "feasts." The Sabbath was not a fast, it was a weekly rest of thanksgiving, remembering God's care. It should have been a weekly celebration.

Vs. 4-8 There are two things here. First came the one day Passover celebration. On the following day the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread began. In the NT when it says that Jesus went up to the "feast" or the "feast of the Passover," this is what is being referred to. Notice that regardless of when the Sabbath occurred during that week, both the first and last day of the feast was to be regarded as a Sabbath day, that is, they could only celebrate on that day.

This yearly feast was to be attended by all the men in Israel to remind them of God's salvation and the flight from Egypt. It was a celebration of their salvation.

Vs. 9-14 During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the Sabbath that occurred in that week, or at the end of that week, came this very special anticipation of the blessings of God. This was at the time of the barley harvest, so barley was the sheaf that was being waved. What you have then is three major events being clustered together: Passover-Unleavened Bread-First Fruits. It almost seems like a reminder of the salvation in Egypt-salvation through the wilderness-the blessing of the land.

Notice that verse 14 has one of those recurring phrases.

Vs. 15-21 So, once that sheaf was waved, you began counting and looking forward to the next feast. So you had all the males in Jerusalem for the Passover-Feast of Unleavened Bread- Firstfruits of the barley harvest. This was linked to the salvation from slavery, flight from Egypt and the anticipation of the coming blessing in the land.

So, the men would all go home. After the wheat harvest, 50 days after the Feast of the Firstfruits, they would appear again for the Feast of Weeks, named for the seven weeks after the firstfruits. This is Pentecost, when we celebrate the birth of the church and the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Notice that this feast was designed to signify fullness or completion of blessing. This was the only feast where leavened bread was offered. This signified that the flight was over and that the fullness of the promise was complete. You realize that when the Lord instituted this day, linked to and following the Passover, He already had the birth of the church and the giving of the Spirit in mind.

V. 22 Since God has been talking about feasts and harvests, He reminds the people to leave parts of their fields un-harvested, so as to provide for the poor.

Now come the fall feasts. Just like the three feasts in March, these three feasts in October are all clustered together.

Vs. 23-25 The Feast of Trumpets was a Sabbath beginning the three feasts. All of the males in Israel were required to be at the Day of Atonement, so they probably showed up here. This feast is the symbolic calling of the people to come to receive forgiveness. It's a Sabbath, but it is a feast.

Vs. 26-38 Three days later is the Day of Atonement. This day was not a feast; it was a Sabbath and the only Sabbath in their year when they had to fast.

Vs. 39-44 Five days later was the Feast of Booths. This was a feast when all the people had to make little huts to sleep in to remind them of their journey in the wilderness to the promised land. Notice that they were to rejoice and celebrate before the Lord all seven days.

What hits me is that this looks like the covenant at Mt. Sinai, the trumpet sound before the mountain calling the people, God making the covenant with them, and then Him carrying them through the wilderness.

Vs. 41-43 Notice the heart of God in giving this feast. He wanted the people to celebrate His love for them.

Both the feasts in March and the feasts in October have to do with God saving, calling, forgiving, and providing for the people. The reminder that I think is interesting is the Feast of Booths. They needed to remember what it was like in the wilderness with nothing but God to sustain them, over 2,000,000 of them.

Maybe in the western world, we need reminders like this, too, something that helps us appreciate that only God sustains us. It is interesting that most of the world celebrates Christmas and Easter. But the main celebration the Lord has given for His disciples in the harvest involves a loaf of bread and a cup of wine. If you think about that celebration that coincides with the birth of the church and the giving of the Spirit, we can get rid of those unleavened crackers and go back to the warm loaf of bread that symbolizes the fulfillment of blessing.

Mark 9:30-10:12

Particularly now, Jesus is using every incident as a teaching opportunity for His disciples. As those who are now called to make disciples we should probably see this in two ways. First, everything the Lord brings into our lives is designed to lead us closer to Him in following Him in the harvest. Second, as we encourage and mentor others, we should have that same sense of using the stuff of life as opportunities to apply the Word and focus them on following the Lord.

Mark 9:30-50

Vs. 30-32 This shows that Jesus was now preparing them for the completion of His mission and how that would affect them. They didn't understand at all. So why didn't they ask Him? I remember in Algebra when the teacher explained something to me in front of the class and then asked me if I understood. Of course I said, "yes," but I really had no clue. Then I was afraid to ask for fear of looking dumber than I already was.

V. 33-37 But they weren't afraid to talk about which of them would be the next in command when He established His kingdom. They still did not believe He would die. They still could only see the Kingdom being established. It was natural for any leader to choose his "right-hand man" out of his immediate group of followers. Jesus waited until they were settled at this house, most likely Peter's, before approaching the subject.

It is interesting that at first they didn't answer Him, but eventually they ask Him (Mat. 18:1). So who was the kid? I'm thinking it wasn't a son of any of the disciples. That would have been playing into their hand. But Jesus was followed by lots of people and many women who supported them out of their means, and it might have been from one of these women. Who knows?

Vs. 38-41 In answer to John's question in v. 38, Jesus says that no one who does a mighty work in Jesus' name will be able to speak ill of Him. How do you balance what Jesus is saying here to what He said in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'"

Apparently, motives matter. Doing a mighty work in Jesus' name and not "speaking evil" of Him doesn't equal receiving Him as Savior and Lord.

I think what Jesus was aiming at here was that they thought Jesus was forming an exclusive group.

Vs. 42-50 This is a very serious warning and aimed at the disciples. In this context, I would suggest this meaning. Jesus knew there would be diversity among those who would follow Him. Salt and light are important to Him, not Jew/Gentile, educated/illiterate, spotless theology/flawed theology. At the end of this, Jesus tells them to mind their own business and bear fruit (salt in the world) and live at peace with others. To enter into theological or racial conflict with other believers, causing them to stumble and become "unsalt" (give up following) is absolutely wrong. The reality of life is that some of us have spotless theology, yet reach few. Some, in China or in Siberia or the Ukraine, are reaching people for Christ and risking their lives, yet they have very spotty theology. Some of these people are so narrow, that they wouldn't worship with us, and we wouldn't worship with them. Jesus says to His disciples to watch out and be aware of pride and arrogance. Whatever causes a disciple to feel superior and make the weaker brother stumble (read Rom. 14-15) needs to be "cut out" before it causes ruin.

I don't think we can lose our salvation, but like some of the people mentioned in Matt. 7:21, I don't think everyone I've met in church or in Christian service is necessarily a believer. If we constantly are making others stumble and lifting ourselves up, it might indicate that "Christianity" means something other to us, than Christ alone.

V. 49 I think this is referring to the judgment seat of Christ where our work in Christ will either survive or be burned away. 1Cor. 3:12-15

V. 50 We are to have salt in yourselves (following in the harvest making disciples) and to live at peace with others who are following Christ in the harvest, though perhaps not, in every detail, according to our particular denomination or view of the rapture.

Mark 10:1-12

V. 2 The Pharisees were like fire ants in Texas, always everywhere and ready to sting. There were two very different views of divorce built around two different rabbis. One view was very liberal allowing divorce for everything and the other view was conservative, allowing divorce only for unfaithfulness. What the Pharisees were interested in was trying find out which "rabbi" Jesus held to.

Vs. 3-9 Jesus answered their question with a question about the Bible and then taught them the Bible. What a great idea.

Vs. 10-12 In the house, the disciples ask Jesus and He tells them the awful truth. In God's eyes a couple is still married after a divorce and when they remarry, as they consummate the relationship with the new spouse, they both commit adultery, breaking the covenant of their first marriage. Messy business in a dying world where hardness of heart keeps people from being unified in God. God granted a certificate of divorce and laws regarding remarriage, but only because sin keeps us in rebellion to God. The miracle and need for oneness is built into our being and even in rebellion to God its need for fulfillment is irresistible.

Interesting that Jesus taught them like this instead of handing out a schedule and saying, "Next week Tuesday at 2 pm we'll be meeting at Peter's porch for a lecture on Scripture and Marriage." That might have been forgettable, but this discussion, born out of conflict, would always be remembered, and it has been. These are good lessons for us too as we make disciples in the harvest.

Psalm 44:1-8

Today we only get the first eight verses of this 26 verse cry for help.

Vs. 1-3 The writer, like us, looks to the past and sees the power of God in saving the people.

Vs. 4-8 Based on what he knows from the Bible, he has put his trust in the Lord.

Now comes the real drawing near to God. We see this pattern so often in the psalms and in our lives. God shows us truth and then allows us to suffer. In it all, in a heart of faith, we draw even nearer and learn the truth even deeper.

We live in this tension in following Christ. We "know" Him and we "know" the Word. Yet it is so easy in all of what happens, subtly, to think we are the ones opening doors and pushing everything forward. Then the Lord leads us into a situation where doing everything we've done before doesn't work. We can't even start gasoline on fire. And we realize, it always was the Lord. Sometimes the Lord needs to dry up the well, to make us realize the water comes from Him. He alone is the one who brings fruit or success to working in the harvest. We have to be willing to get involved, but then, it is really all from Him.

Proverbs 10:19

I wish I had learned this in my 20s. Still, reading Proverbs like this, it makes you wonder some days if the Spirit isn't giving you a warning. I've had many days when something has come up unexpectedly, and this word of caution from the Lord is exactly what I needed to remember, to honor Him and stay out of trouble.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comment or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.

February 27, 2012 Reading Notes

February 27, 2012 Reading Notes

http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/

A couple of notes before we begin today.

First, there is a wonderfulness to reading a One Year Bible (OYB). If you've been following from the beginning of the year, you have been building a great routine these two months. When I started reading like this, I had always thought that I was pretty good about having my quiet times. As a pastor, I never have my QT as part of my workday and I thought I was pretty regular. Then I began with the OYB, and I would sit down thinking I had missed, maybe a couple days, and found I was behind a week. I mark my pages each day so there was no mistake. I'd develop strategies to get caught up, slowly inching my way up to the current date, swearing (in a devout manner) that I wouldn't let that happen again. But it did. So I really concentrated on the time of the day and getting set up in the same spot, coffee prepared and ready to turn on. This was great for me. Now, after 17 years, I seldom, if ever, miss two days in a row, even on the road. As a result, my relationship with the Lord has never been stronger, even through very rough times.

Second, there is the joy of making your own observations and what this brings into a discipleship group. So, Laura comes into my office this morning with a smile. She found something in yesterday's reading. Now, to be fair, sometimes I don't mention as much as I could, but instead I'll make mention to look for something, repetitions of words, etc. I was not only happy for her, but it felt good to see something I had never noticed before in the text. Yesterday (and today) in the OT reading, I never caught the repetition of, "I am the Lord," or "I am the Lord your God." How cool. Then we talked about the application of that phrase for us as disciples. As our Lord, He lovingly guides, directs and protects us. As our God, He sustains us, making our lives worth living on earth, and preparing us to live with Him in the future. In a group, everyone would be adding to the encouragement and strengthening that this phrase gives to us. Very cool.

So, when you discuss the reading in the OYB with others in a group, there is a joy in seeing people finding stuff and really getting into it. This is a very natural way to help, strengthen, and encourage one another as we follow Christ in the harvest, reaching out and making disciples who make disciples.

Leviticus 20:22-22:16

Notice the repetition in this section. It isn't just "I am the Lord," but look at all the mentions of "holy." If I were to ask you at the end of Leviticus, what the point of the book was, these words would give you a very good idea.

Leviticus 20:22-27

As you read and come to a section like this, that comes at the end of a chapter, you have to ask yourself what the purpose of this block is. It appears to be a summary. Summaries often contain purpose statements.

Notice again the mention of vomit. This is what would happen to the people in the land they were taking. Imagine, all the idolatry and sexual perversion we've just read about was considered normal culture and everyday life in the land of Canaan. This is a warning here, but by the time we get to Jeremiah, it will be reality. Israel will be "vomited" out of the land into exile.

So, why verse 27? How does it fit? I'd suggest that the people were to be constantly coming to the Lord with questions. Mediums and necromancers were a common way for people to get answers. We'll see King Saul go to a medium in 1 Samuel 28:7. It is interesting to note that Saul killed all the priests. Answers to all the people's questions could be found with the priest who carried the Urim and Thummim. Instead, the people would be tempted to find answers closer to home. After all, Jerusalem was a long way away. Israel only had one God, one place to worship and one altar. Jerusalem was far away, but they had a God who would lead them and answer them. If the answer didn't come in prayer, it could be found in Jerusalem with the priest of God.

Where do you go? http://www.growingchristians.org/mfgc/delivered/Wheredoi.html

Leviticus 21

Vs. 1-9 These rules were for all the priests, to emphasize their special position as mediators for the people. The priests were to keep themselves always ready to serve the people before God. They could become unclean (ceremonially unready) in only a few instances. It is interesting that in the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus uses this law. The difference was that the beaten man wasn't dead; he was seriously injured. Compassion and mercy were always acceptable reasons to touch others and risk becoming unclean.

V. 5 These were cultural ways to express grief. Notice that a priest can't have a Mohawk.

Vs. 6-9 Again, these rules are symbolic of separation and holiness, emphasizing the special calling of the priest. It should be noted that the mention of prostitutes in verse 7 would be referring to ex-prostitutes. One of the women (actually two) in the line of Christ was an ex-prostitute named Rahab. She is related to Jesus, but she couldn't have married a priest.

Vs. 10-15 These rules were for the high priest. In grief, he couldn't even let his hair look wild or tear his clothes.

Verse 15 gets expanded upon in Ezekiel 44:22. A priest could marry the widow of a priest. Again, there wasn't anything wrong with widows. Ruth was a widow and a Gentile and was in the line of Christ, but she couldn't have married the high priest. These were living object lessons and symbols pointing to a separated life of service for God in the ministry to the people.

Do you think it is fair for God to have such high standards for the priests? Do you think that it is fair for God to have high standards of those who follow Christ? We are saved by grace, so why should there be any standards at all? Look at Eph. 4:1-6 and Phil 1:27-30. If you look at what Jesus says about discipleship, it all begins with denial of self and carrying a cross to our deaths, just like He did. That is being separated unto Him to work in His harvest for His glory.

Vs. 16-24 Understanding God's symbolism here helps to balance the fact that this portion seems hard. Unlike our situation as disciples, where some who have disabilities do a better job witnessing and representing God than those without disabilities, the priests had to be whole in every way.

I think it was God's way of saying that you offer the most healthy, the most robust. You give the sacrifice that costs you the most. In a sense, those with disabilities had been preselected by the Lord not to serve as priests, since God was responsible for the disability. With sacrifices (this happened in Malachi's day) people thought that because times were tough it would be ok to offer a lamed animal in sacrifice. It wasn't good for anything anyway, so why not give it in sacrifice. I think the people eventually had the same thought toward the priests. They didn't really do anything all day except for a couple of sacrifices. They really didn't bring anything to the table, so let anyone be a priest. Save the able-bodied men to serve in the army, be movie stars, etc., and let the others be priests. As time went on I don't think they revered the priest like he was really important.

I've heard this said of people who have gone into fulltime ministry who had very special talents and abilities or an amazing education. People say, "He became a missionary? What a waste."

Anyway, we can learn something about God in all of this; but we don't have to complain, because in the grace of Christ, in our work in the harvest, all of us are used by the Lord. Some of the real heroes of faith, since Christ, have lived in mind staggering poverty, been scarred by family or persecution, been disabled, and have had little or no education. They have defied death to share Christ. They have hidden with other Christians in dark corners of the world to entrust the truth and make disciples. They have died for Christ as martyrs and have been murdered without justice or discovery. And we won't even know their names until we meet them in heaven.

Leviticus 22:1-16

There are lots of rules here that serve as "object" lessons. What do you see as the focus of this section? What are the key words?

Vs. 1-9 This was specifically addressed to the priests to make sure they were "clean" and ready so that when the people brought their sacrifices they could both sacrifice and enjoy their portion before the Lord.

Vs. 10-16 These were the people who could eat the offerings. Again, there was to be a sense of reverence, importance and privilege in receiving and eating these offerings. God gave them this as a daily reminder of the redemption He was working and the separation (holiness) they should have toward His work.

For all of our rhetoric that our role models should just be looked at like normal people and not held to a higher standard, we still want them to live to a higher standard. We subtly accept sin as normal by watching TV, but if a preacher or politician becomes guilty of sin, we rightly draw the line. Those guys who represent people should live to a higher standard. I agree. God wanted the priests of Israel to live to a higher standard, showing that it was possible to live completely for God, because they represented the people before God.

The application to us as disciples following our Lord in this time of harvest should be obvious. We are called to be set apart in Christ to be His servants, bearing much fruit, reaching the lost and making disciples who make disciples. Everything else during this time of emergency is either a gift from Him to encourage us, or we should treat it as common. Our calling in Christ is holy and more important than the stuff around us.

Mark 9:1-29

Mark 9:1-13

If you are ever on Millionaire and asked, "How many days was it, after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, that Jesus was transfigured before them," Mark gives you the answer.

V. 1 This verse connects what Jesus just said about the Son coming in glory, to what is about to happen. These three would be the first to see Jesus glorified.

Vs. 2-8 Actually Mark doesn't give you the complete answer. You need Mark and Luke. Mark says that Jesus led them up the mountain six days later, but Luke says it is eight days later that Jesus is changed. That means they were up there two days praying.

Transfigured means that Jesus was changed. It doesn't mean that He only outwardly glowed, but He was entirely metamorphosed (that is literally the word). He became different and they saw Jesus, minus the nail prints, as He appears in Heaven, in His Glory.

Vs. 9-13 Remember, these three men will become the leaders of the twelve and will need to give leadership to the others. The road that Jesus leads them on will only get darker and more conflict ridden. This was God's gift to these three men to strengthen them as makers of disciples.

Vs. 14-29 We've seen this before in Matthew 17, too. It is really interesting how much space is given to this situation. Mark is giving it as much space as the transfiguration. I still need to wrap my head around this. There must be something about the transfiguration that connects to this struggle of faith.

Note that when Jesus comes down the mountain, the disciples are in an argument with the scribes, probably challenging their correctness and their authority. Paul tells Timothy, the disciple, to stay out of stupid, silly controversies. Arguments seldom settle anything, but you do walk away emotionally unsettled.

V. 27 Notice that Jesus takes the boy by the hand. Very personal touch.

If you reread Matt. 17, Jesus says they failed to cast out the demon because of their lack of faith. Faith expressed how? In not praying? Were they distracted by the crowd and the conflict with the scribes, and didn't have the courage and presence of mind to huddle together, in front of all those people and detractors and pray?

Maybe the message for us as disciples is that if we become too "crowd" focused, we might lose the power and strength we have in the harvest, that only comes through faith and pounding on the door of heaven. I was reading today and was challenged again by what Jesus says about the mustard seed and faith. Disciples need faith to seek God in the harvest and know His power.

Psalm 43

There is no notation of who might have written this, but if you read yesterday's psalm, you probably figured it out. It looks like another son of Korah.

Vs. 1-2 The psalmist is feeling like the success or threats of the ungodly are somehow a sign of God's rejection. That's how he feels but he knows better.

Vs. 3-4 It is interesting that he asks for God's Word, His light and truth. The cry for vindication is followed by the true desire to be close to God, sheltered and led by His light and truth, in His dwelling, before His altar. Nothing I've done gets closer to this than sitting before the Lord after someone has come to Christ. The bruises don't hurt as much, the voices of conflict and doubting become distant and without merit, the reality of the truth seems like a light, there is deep joy, and you're willing to offer even more.

V. 5 So, I ask myself today, why are you cast down, oh my soul and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. Keep going, keep praying, keep working, keep trusting, hold to what the Lord tells you to do, and the Lord will bring you there again.

Proverbs 10:18

Amen.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comment or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.

February 26, 2012 Reading Notes

February 26, 2012 Reading Notes

http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/

Leviticus 19:1-20:21

The nice thing about a section like this is that it seems so random, that you are constantly amazed at the next thing. Don't break your head always trying to find a connection; but the exercise will be good for you, and you might be surprised at what you find. These two chapters seem to aim at the Ten Commandments with tangent, connecting laws brought in.

Underline all the recurring mentions of "I am the Lord…" There might be some other things that stand out to you too, like the word "holy."

Leviticus 19

Vs. 1-4 These laws, these words, are the heart of what God is saying. The emphasis is on the people being holy, that is, separated to God. The issue isn't "cleanness" as much as it is full trust and full devotion in a loving God.

Vs. 5-8 These verses are a case in point of trusting and honoring God. The peace offering was to be eaten within two days. It was to be enjoyed, and the time was to be given to God in enjoying Him and this food. If you were too busy, or if you thought to keep some food for later, you were in trouble. A person was to give full attention and appetite and joy to this. This is where the cares of this world, or saving something for a rainy day, were in contrast to simply being fully there for God.

Vs. 9-18 All of these laws have to do with neighbor to neighbor relationships, again, mirroring some aspect of the last six commandments. You'll find the famous verse in this passage that actually fulfills the law, according to Jesus and Paul. Notice what care they were to have in their relationships, reasoning frankly with one another, never bearing a grudge and never taking vengeance. They were commanded to love one another. Boy did that get lost.

Vs. 19-37 Enjoy the randomness of this section. How many things do you find that surprise you? Most of these laws were for the nation of Israel and those who dwelt in Israel. Some of these laws seem to have a sense of being important for all people and times.

V. 19 I would say this was an object lesson that Israel shouldn't mix with the laws and religions of the Gentiles. There were daily reminders of separateness, i.e., holiness.

Vs. 20-22 Premarital sex was against the law. The man is punished and had to seek forgiveness at the tabernacle. The animal for the sacrifice cost him something.

Vs. 23-25 They were to remember that everything was a gift from God and was to be devoted to Him. This waiting would require patience and a spiritual perspective. Another object lesson.

Vs. 26-28 This was most likely copying the customs of other nations. It would be tempting to say that these were "religious" customs, but most customs in those days had some religious ties. God isn't saying don't do it for religious purposes. He just says, "don't do it." They were to be separated unto Him in daily living and custom.

Vs. 29-30 I understand that God was against prostitution. Here He says it will bring the nation down. If so, we're in trouble. Notice that this is linked to the Sabbath, the day on which no work for living was done to rest and enjoy the provision of God. Daughters were prostituted for money. I think that is the connection. It is a contrast to the provision of God. Since God's sanctuary was in the land, to pollute the land meant to pollute the things of God. Remember, on the Day of Atonement, the second sacrifice was to cleanse the tabernacle from the sins of the people.

V. 31 The idea was to seek God in all things.

V. 32 The idea was to revere the aged and wise and seek wisdom.

Vs. 33-34 Notice that since they had been oppressed and strangers in a foreign country, they were to not just be courteous, they were to love foreigners among them.

Vs. 35-37 They were to be fair in all things with one another out of honor and love for God.

Leviticus 20:1-21

Vs. 1-5 Notice here that the people were to execute judgment. If they didn't, it would reveal their hearts and God's punishment would be sent against them. Tolerating sin is everyone's problem. Notice too, that God's name and sanctuary would be unclean and profaned. To allow sin would push God out and make the people unable to find forgiveness. This would be developing the same cultural sickness that existed in Canaan.

Vs. 6-9 Notice here that the contrast is between seeking spiritual answers in the occult or living by God's statutes. Again, a consecrated people are separated and holy unto God. They keep God's Word and God nurtures and strengthens them. Because of their relationship to God, their relationships among themselves, seen in the honoring of their parents, show God's love.

Vs. 10-21 It seems to me that there is a connection between idolatry and sexual perversion. The obvious connection is that both involve rejecting God as the creator of creation and man. The less obvious connection is that both have to do with a lack of faithfulness to God driven by our desires. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. Notice how Paul begins with immorality and goes on to idolatry and the sexual perversion. You see this same pattern in Romans 1:18. People gave up God for images and then polluted the relationship between man and wife and went on to perversion.

Notice that God calls all of the things in this section, perversion, and the result of depraved sexual desire. Some of these are not punishable by death, but they result in God's strong disapproval. To a person who loved God, they would respect these and control their passion. Here too, God was building object lessons into the culture to remind the people what it meant to be wholly separated and devoted to the Lord who loved them.

For us as disciples, in our personal habits, it is always better to error on the side of honoring God. That is hard in our world where some believers are as "free" as everyone else. But it is before our Lord that we live and our desire should be to be wholly separated and devoted to Him. Our mission on earth is not to be happy and experience pleasure, but to follow Christ into the harvest as the storm is approaching. Now is the time to live for Him, reaching the lost and making disciples who make disciples.

Mark 8:11-38

Vs. 11-13 As Jesus was concluding His tour through the Gentile parts of northern Israel, having just fed the 4000, He crossed the Sea of Galilee to the Jewish side. There He was immediately confronted by the Pharisees and unbelief. The irony of asking for a sign is that the sign was to verify that Jesus was sent from God. Regardless of the sign Jesus would have done, the leaders had already set their hearts to refuse to believe that Jesus was the Son sent from the Father.

Vs. 14-21 The disciples should have been puzzled or in thought regarding the cause of the Pharisees' unbelief. Instead they were thoughtless, still not examining life and men through a spiritual lens. When Jesus says something about yeast, they all freak out and think about the carelessness of having no bread and now being in need. So, why does Jesus remind them of the feedings and the baskets left over? They should have been so completely secure in God's care as to devote their entire hearts toward spiritual understanding and following Jesus. Instead, they were counting pennies. They were absorbed by practical matters and not focused on the issues. The cares of this world were choking them. As disciples, we need to be secure enough in God's care, to still see the spiritual matters that move around us.

Elsewhere Jesus says that the leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. The hypocrisy here was that they had already made up their minds but tried to look correct, like they were really seekers of God. This false kind of "seeking" and religion, if imitated, would make it hard for people to come to Christ and to know the truth. It is because of this kind of religious hypocrisy that Jesus will say later that people enter the kingdom violently, having to fight their way through that kind of dishonesty to finally see things clearly and come to faith in Jesus.

Vs. 22-26 After this interesting discussion at sea, the boat landed directly north at the inlet of the Jordan into the sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was the city that Phillip, Peter, Andrew and Nathaniel were originally from and so, very Jewish. I think this healing was an object lesson to the disciples and their lack of understanding.

Jesus didn't need the spit to heal this man, but notice that as Jesus lays His hands on the man the second time it says the man "opened his eyes." Those words actually mean he looked intently, possibly at Jesus' face. I think as the disciples saw this man staring intently, they saw the look of satisfaction grow on his face showing that his vision was fully restored and that he could now see clearly. The disciples were like this man. Spiritually speaking, they saw everything as trees walking. They needed to look intently into the face of Jesus.

This makes me think of how often God takes the long approach with us to do something that should have been very easy. The growth of our faith and our dependence on Him is important to Him.

It's interesting that Jesus told the man not to enter the village from which He had led him out. Jesus was more interested in people understanding who He was than having His fame spread for the things He could do.

Vs. 27-30 Jesus and the disciples walked about 30 miles north to Caesarea Philippi. That would have given the disciples some privacy and time to process what had just happened in all of their Gentile travels.

There must have been a crowd there. It says that as Jesus was praying alone the disciples were with Him. That probably meant that this time, Jesus couldn't get away very far because of the people. When Jesus finished praying, He asked them the question that was on everyone's hearts. Who was He? Once again, Peter spontaneously said what was on his heart. Peter didn't understand a lot, but he knew this for sure.

V. 30 One of the reasons for forbidding them to tell anyone would be demonstrated in the next verses. They had a totally false understanding of the mission of the Messiah. What would they share other than ignorance?

Vs. 31-33 Now that they confessed Him as the Christ, Jesus told them what the Christ would do. Peter spontaneously puts his foot deeply in his mouth. I don't think Satan put these words in Peter's mouth. Peter was simply being a satan (adversary). Notice that he was focusing on the things of men.

Vs. 34-38 This is the Discipleship Manifesto. Notice that a crowd was there.

In order to be a disciple and set our hearts on the things of God, we must deny ourselves and take up the cross. That is one thing. It is the willingness to give all.

Vs. 35-37 This spells out the real issues in denying ourselves and taking up our own cross. It is giving ourselves fully as opposed to holding back.

What is interesting to me in Mark's gospel, is verse 38. This definitely means that Jesus expects His disciples to live a "telling" life. Tradition says that Mark spent a lot of time with Peter and that Peter's memory was the basis for these facts. That might explain why Mark has verse 38. Mark 9:1 is connected to this verse to complete it.

Psalm 42

When you read this, you might think that it was written by David, but it is written by the sons of Korah. Whatever the background of the writer, you can feel that he had known hard times. The psalms, or songs, of the sons of Korah, will have some other big hits, but this psalm is the best known.

Vs. 1-2 This is the key to why the Lord takes us through hard times. He doesn't just want us to wait for Him, He wants us to long for Him.

V. 3 It is interesting to think that the Lord allowed him to remain in this situation to develop that longing.

V. 4 This is what both the psalmist and the Spirit are recommending to us. We are to encourage ourselves and make ourselves strong in our remembrance of God's love and blessing.

V. 5 It is interesting to find "soul" here with all Jesus just said about our souls. God never changes, so we are to hope in Him. Our emotions change, but God remains the same.

Vs. 6-8 You can almost visualize this man standing in the middle of a storm. During the day he is focused on God's steadfast love; and at night he is singing songs that remind him of God, songs which naturally lead him into prayer.

Vs. 9-10 Yet there is still the present, persistent fears and threats.

V. 11 But God is telling us that those things will pass. We need to wait in courage on the Lord.

I don't know what the Lord took this man through, but aren’t we happy He did? This range of emotion and need is what everyone goes through and the psalmist gives us hope and directs us to hope in, and wait on, the Lord.

It's interesting to be thankful that the Lord made this psalmist go through this despair, so that we benefit from the expression of his faith and hope in God. As disciples, God does the same with us; or should I say, to us, so that we can comfort others with the same hope and encouragement that helped us.

I remember receiving a call from one of my daughters who is in Germany serving with OM. When she began to tell me about some recent discouragement, almost involuntarily, I began to comfort her with things the Lord did, and has done in my life. The neat part is that He is the comfort. In some respect, what we share and suggest is how we found Him in the mess we were in, how we learned something about Him that brought our hearts to a place of insight and peace and rest. The simple answer is, "Trust in the Lord," but each of us shares with others how God led us through the maze of our fear and discouragement or anger, to find Him again.

I know this song is sappy, but I always get an allergic reaction in my eyes when I hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

Proverbs 10:17

For a disciple making disciples this is vital truth. Often in our arrogance, as we teach, we pass on our "attitude" rather than the love of Christ. Read Luke 6:37-42. We actually can lead people astray teaching them about the Lord if we are log ridden disciples. This is written as a warning to disciples making disciples. The disciple maker needs to be the guy from the first part of this Proverb, not from the second part.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comment or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.

February 25, 2012 Reading Notes

February 25, 2012 Reading Notes

http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/

Leviticus 16:29-18:30

As you read this remember one thing. No one was forced to live in Israel. Even the Israelites who didn't want to live as God's people could have just packed up and gone back to Egypt. Once they were in the land, no one kept them from moving to one of the surrounding countries. But, if you wanted to be called one of God's people and claim the promise given to Abraham, you entered into this covenant of blessing. So keep in mind that in reality, individuals or families could have defected. But if you want to belong to God, it is only rational to understand that you have to belong to Him His way.

The issues of course are really life or death in their consequences. God's way is the only way. Our sin tells us something different and that is irrational. To think that gravity should be suspended because we don't agree is crazy. These people were saved by their faith in the promise for a savior, now expressed in the promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. I was reading this morning, and it hit me that in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is in Hades, but Lazarus is in "Abraham's bosom." Just as Hades is a place, Abraham's bosom is a place and not Abraham's lap. Abraham's bosom is the designation for the dwelling place for all those who were saved before Christ. It was called Abraham's bosom, because their faith was in God who promised a savior, and that savior would come through Abraham and the nation that would spring from him. That is why the place isn't called "Moses' bosom," or the "Law's bosom."

Leviticus 16:29-34

It makes you wonder why this section wasn't included with the section from yesterday.

Israel's first month would have been March. It is notable that this is the only Sabbath in Israel's year where the people had to fast during the Sabbath. The fasting or "affliction" would have been in preparation for the receiving of forgiveness before the Lord. Those with a heart of faith would have found great meaning in this, but those without faith would have just seen this as a religious ceremony.

Can you understand that this event and the Passover were to be two of the main events of their year? All of the males in Israel were supposed to be on hand for both of these events. Note that John 8-9 take place during this Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths which followed.

Just think of all the reminders God built into the year and culture of the Jews. But what were they reminders of? As disciples, we have even more reminders and things to keep us focused. The greatest of these reminders is our commission to follow our Lord into the harvest. Can you understand what the harvest is supposed to vividly remind us of ?

Leviticus 17

As you read this chapter notice the recurring phrases, "you shall say to them," and "anyone of the house of Israel." These will help you see where a new directive begins.

Vs. 1-7 This was an educational commandment that seems to be given for the time they were living in the "camp." The people had lots of livestock. We think of them only having manna to eat and that was their main dish. But they did bring animals with them, God provided rotisserie quail on occasion and I'm sure they were able to buy from passing merchant caravans. Since they were all tented around the tabernacle, God said that if they slaughtered an animal, even for food, they had to bring it to the tabernacle and offer it as a fellowship offering. This would have served many purposes. The people would have gotten used to offering to the Lord. It would have been shared with the priests. It would have been shared with the poor and with their families.

V. 7 And it would have gotten them out of the bad Egyptian habit of making pagan sacrifices out in their fields.

Vs. 8-9 This was the design of what God was doing during those years. Of all the existing religions of the world, the Jews were the only ones who could only offer on one altar. Why do you think that was? What was it meant to create?

Vs. 10-16 We've talked about the theme of this section. God makes a big point about blood. Verses 10-12 are the clearest explanation of the importance of blood. One interesting thought here is regarding God giving blood so as to make atonement. I wonder if, as God created life, blood was created as a symbol for what would eventually be necessary in forgiveness. When we have immortal spiritual bodies, I doubt that blood will be necessary for life. It makes you think. Since this reminder about not drinking blood is mentioned here, it might also be that the drinking of blood was associated with pagan religion. In any case, blood was to be seen as precious.

Vs. 13-14 This had to do with wild animals that could be eaten. Here also, they could not drink the blood. The blood had to be drained and poured out. Being cut off could either mean being sent out of the covenant community or it meant being punished by death. I think, more often than not, it meant death. Again, if you didn't like God's rules, all you had to do was move, thereby removing yourself from God's covenant people.

Vs. 15-16 Apparently it wasn't against the law to eat road kill, but it did make you ceremonially unclean.

Leviticus 18

Vs. 1-5 After reading verses 1-5, it is probably a good idea to read 18:24-30. God was not speaking theoretically here. Notice what He says of Egypt in verse three. Note that God told the people what to expect. Thirty-eight years from this point, Israel will reestablish their commitment to the covenant just before they go into the land. No one had to say, "I do."

God was not only giving them regulations, He was keeping them from the excesses that already existed in the world around them.

Just as a note of trivia, Paul quotes verse five in Romans 10:5. Paul knew Leviticus.

Vs. 6-18 As you go through the list, you see that all of this had to do with sexual intercourse. "Uncover the nakedness" was a figure of speech having to do with violating someone sexually. Some of what is forbidden here is incest and child abuse. This means that what is forbidden here was normal in Canaan.

Notice that both Abraham (verse 11) and Jacob (verse 18) would now be out-of-bounds.

V. 19 This is specifically dealing with a sense of respect that God wanted to instill in Israel.

V. 21 So why do you have the mention of Molech in this verse? I don't think that God is now talking about religion, but He is talking about the outcome of uncontrolled sexuality, babies. Since the beginning of man's lust for sexual freedom, unwanted pregnancies have been a problem. Molech was a pagan society's version of abortion. Because of the very loose sexual behavior back then, sexual intercourse was a part of pagan worship (Baal, for example), and there were a lot of unwanted kids. Figuratively speaking, in this society of perverted morality, where you had the temple of Baal on one corner, you also had a temple to Molech on the other. In Molech worship you offered the baby in sacrifice, throwing it into the "mouth of Molech," which actually was a flaming pit with a mouth-like opening. Even Solomon did this at the end of his life. They didn't have abortion back then, but they did have unwanted babies because of Baal worship, so they needed Molech. He is also called Molech (Le 18:21 20:2-5) etc., Milcom (1Ki 11:5,33) etc., and Malcham (Zep 1:5) This god became Chemosh among the Moabites. Eaton Bible Dictionary

The issue here is not pagan worship. God is saying that Molech wasn't the answer to unwanted babies. Following God's rules was the answer.

V. 22 Notice that homosexuality is forbidden.

Vs. 24-30 These laws are more than ceremonial laws for Israel. There is a universality to all of them, except, maybe, verse 19. That God allowed certain things in different cultures (for example, Abe's marriage to Sarah), at different periods of time, does not mean He approved them. These laws tell you what He approves of. The fact that God adds words like perversion and abomination show you that these are not "object lessons" for Israel, but real social and moral laws.

Notice how often God mentions that the nations who dwell in Canaan were doing these things.

Mark 7:24-8:10

Mark 7:24-37

So why is this story here? It has a lot to do with where Jesus is, where He is healing and what the response is. Jesus has been unofficially rejected by Israel. He knows that He will be rejected and that the gospel will go to the Gentiles. Jesus is now introducing His disciples to working with Gentiles. This wasn't going to be easy. They were true-blue Jews. When we get to the book of Acts, we'll see that God went through great lengths to help the apostles go beyond their deep-seated prejudice against the Gentiles.

This wasn't the first time that Jesus had healed Gentiles. It is mentioned that great multitudes from Tyre and Sidon came into Galilee and Judea to be healed. But now, Jesus was in Gentile territory.

Vs. 24-30 Notice that Jesus was trying to stay out of sight. Again, He is showing the disciples how to be flexible when the Father changes your plans. We have talked about this story in Matthew. Since the woman addressed Jesus in Matthew as the Son of David, Jesus knew she had faith. The real lesson and even His treatment of her was to show her faith to the twelve. The Gentiles could have great faith in their Lord.

Vs. 31-37 Again, this story is important because of where Jesus is. This is the area that was prepared by that other disciple, who was not only clothed and in his right mind, but was glorifying God all over the place.

If this man was a Gentile, what the apostles were seeing was symbolic of what would happen later in the book of Acts. The Gentiles would not only hear, but proclaim the gospel.

Mark 8:1-10

Jesus didn't have to feed large crowds twice to prove He could do it. And the gospel writers didn't have to mention Him feeding two large crowds. The difference, again, is where this happened. Most of the people in all of these stories were Gentiles.

The Gentiles are coming to Jesus. Jesus is still making His offer to the Jews, but it is obvious already, that He is welcoming all nations to salvation. I think it is so interesting that Jesus saves us to be like Him. And working in the harvest, getting our hands dirty, reaching the lost and making disciples is so like Him.

Psalm 41

It's hard to know when David wrote this. This psalm has the feel of when David was running from his own son Absalom, and some of David's trusted friends turn on him.

Vs. 1-3 One hallmark of David's faith was his protection of and help to the poor. During the years he ran from Saul, David was still protecting Israel's towns and bringing them money and livestock. I suppose in this situation, David was the poor man that was being treated wrongly. In fact, it looks like David may have been sick.

Vs. 4-9 If this was written as David is running from Absalom, the sin mentioned is his taking of Bathsheba and killing of her husband Uriah.

V. 6 This seems to show that David was sick, and everyone was hoping God would take David through this illness.

V. 9 This could be referring to Ahithophel, David's chief counselor. This verse is an allusion to Jesus' betrayal.

Vs. 10-13 This is David's confidence in God's love for him.

Proverbs 10:15-16

Seems like a dark proverb, unless the man is rich because of working in righteousness, and the poor man is in poverty because of pursuing gain from doing wrong.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comment or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.

February 24, 2012 Reading Notes

February 24, 2012 Reading Notes

http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/

Leviticus 15:1-16:28

This is the chapter that we've all been waiting for…not. But hey, it does make you wonder a little, why we have it in the Bible. God is the one who told Moses to tell this to the people. There is a message in all of this. One message was for the nation, having to do with their view of their need before God. These things taught them what was holy and what was common, and what was clean and what was unclean. All of their lives and disciplines would have daily reminders of how they stood before God. For us as disciples, the other message is that even though these "rules" don't apply to us, God still wants us to have a mindset that there is to be holiness in how we live before the Lord and that holiness is to be valued. There is a "cleanness" that is important that we should seek to maintain in our behavior and attitudes as we honor God. This mindset has nothing to do with "works" or earning God's love, but it has to do with having a sober attitude toward where we live, and a grateful attitude toward whom we serve.

One of the challenges today is to think of why chapter 15 comes before chapter 16 topically. I think it has to do with the fact that chapter 15 deals with very regular parts of life and ceremonial cleanness, that is, readiness to worship at the tabernacle. Chapter 16 has to do with the national day of atonement. If you understand the importance of chapter 16, chapter 15 is letting people know that before that day or any of the important days of worship, (the Passover for example) they needed to plan their lives accordingly so they would be ceremonially clean and able to worship at the tabernacle. This reminds me of what God told Moses to tell the people when they were about to come before the mountain and make the Mosaic Covenant in Ex. 19:15. Apparently this command didn't have anything to do with cooties.

Leviticus 15

This chapter follows a pattern: Man who is sick, man who is not sick, woman who is not sick, woman who is sick. In the case of both sick people, after they were well, they were to go to the tent and make an offering of devotion and an offering for the cleansing of sin. This is easy for them to do now, since they are living around the tabernacle, but later when they are in the land, this will mean taking a road trip (depending when they lived) to either Gilgal, then Shiloh, then Nod and finally Jerusalem. That would require obedience, but most importantly, gratefulness to God for their cure. I wonder if they ever obeyed this once they were in the land and the tabernacle was harder to get to? In the case of the well people, their normal bodily functions only made them "unclean." The passage of time and bathing made them clean again.

Vs. 1-12 These general rules seem to apply to anyone who has any emission. Notice that it means that if it involves intercourse, both people are unclean and the sheets have to be washed.

Vs. 13-15 This emission could have been due to disease or infection, but it is definitely sickness. One recurring thing in this section will be the seven days of cleansing followed by sacrifice. There is one suggestion I read that linked this to gonorrhea. Who knows. This meant that this person was a perpetual hazard to people who wanted to be ceremonially clean. Also, when this person was cured, they would have to travel to the tabernacle, wherever it was, and offer sacrifices for their cleansing. I wonder if they did?

As disciples, what is interesting to me is our response after we have recovered from something. We don't have to give an offering of devotion and an offering of cleansing and forgiveness. We offer up (if at all) a quick prayer, and we thank God that we can eat bratwurst again. Even though doctors and antibiotics are involved, we need to remember that only God can cure. We should be grateful. This is what Israel was learning.

Vs.16-18 Does this surprise you? Since this involved the normal functions of life, it was cleansed by water and a person didn't need a sacrifice or a trip to Jerusalem. If so, that would have really kept the population down.

The first part has to do with a wet-dream or masturbation. I get that. Any emission of semen made a man unclean until the evening. The second part has to do with making love, being one flesh. This is something good and, being mentioned here, was obviously in the context of marriage. This is something good and commanded and invented by God. So why the uncleanness? I think it is because of touching the semen. I think God is making a point, not because of it being "yucky," but because of it being special in some sense. As part of the reproductive process there is an aspect of the transfer of life, the transfer of sin, the fact that there is a divinely ordained miracle involved and maybe that in this miracle there is a measure of tragedy because of what is transferred along with the life.

Another thing that is interesting is that the whole reason to be ceremonially clean, was to be wholly ready for God and to be able to receive His blessing. The "cleanness" was symbolic of total devotion and separation to God. There were times when God demanded that the people were to be clean, and He gave the command (Exodus 19:15), "Be ready by the third day; do not go near a woman." As already mentioned, it probably wasn't because women have cooties, it was because husband and wife were to appear before Him, "clean," devoted, fully focused on Him and separated to Him. The NT version of this is 1 Corinthians 7:5, "Do not refuse one another except perhaps by agreement for a season, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, lest Satan tempt you through lack of self-control."

Now this is not the case with us at all, but just think of the logistical ramifications there would be in our lives if we knew we couldn't go to church if we had done something the night before. It would keep our actions in the forefront of our thinking and planning. We would have to think, "Ok if I do that after 9pm, it will go into the next day so I'll be disqualified. So we'll have to do that earlier so we'll be cleansed by evening.

Since the real focus is being cleansed to stand before God, you would always be thinking about the events before you and your actions. In a positive way, it would keep your connection with God always at the top of your thinking and planning. I'm glad we don't have those laws, but I would probably benefit, as a disciple, from that kind of thinking.

Vs. 19-24 I just have a few notes here.

First, the reason for the longer time of cleansing here was because of the blood. Blood has a special character in the Bible, because Leviticus 17:11 says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood…" Also, the blood after menstruation is "dead."

Second, "menstrual impurity" doesn't really appear in the Hebrew. The word is either "menstruation" or "separation," but it seems that the word "impurity" was added to the range of meaning because of this context, that is, menstruation causing ceremonial uncleanness. This is one place where you want to go with the KJV or NKJV. There is nothing impure about the process, and impurity isn't necessary to the translation. Yucky might work, but not impurity.

In verse 24, there is the case of a husband unwittingly making love to his wife at the beginning of her period. Since he touches the blood, he too is unclean for 7 days. In a couple of chapters ( Lev. 18:19), husbands will be commanded to leave their wives alone during their "separation," or "menstruation."

As said before, these commands are object lessons for the nation of Israel, not for anyone else. God is weaving the regard for His holiness, and their separation to Him, into the daily fabric of all they do.

Without being legalistic or rigid, it is good for us as disciples, to have a high regard for God's holiness and our lives as being separated to Him. As we live for Christ every day, following Him in the harvest, Christ becomes woven into all we do.

Vs. 25-30 This is a sickness, and therefore the healing was followed up by sacrifice. This is the woman we just read about with the issue of blood in Mark 5:25.

Vs. 31-33 I made this its own section because of verse 31, explaining the purpose of these laws. The real focus was that the people should know they need to be separated unto God, coming to Him with a sense of holiness and purity. God allowed exceptions, for example, in Mark 5:25, the Son of God allowed Himself to be approached and touched by an "unclean" woman.

Leviticus 16:1-28

This chapter describes the Day of Atonement in October. The priest could only enter the Holy of Holies one time a year. Just as an exercise in Bible study, go slowly though the chapter and try to list the order of events.

Vs. 1-5 Aaron and his sons were only to go beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. God says it is because of the mercy seat and His glory being in that place. What is emphasized here is that Aaron could only come in with the blood of the sacrifices and, first, as a sinner needing forgiveness and serving the people. It isn't until verse 23 that Aaron wears the high priest's clothing.

Vs. 6-10 This explains what the animals are for. In verse three only the goat for the burnt offering, now we see there are actually two goats in the ceremony. That second goat is very significant in the symbolism that God is building into Israel, and it has something to do with us and our understanding of Jesus.

Vs. 11-14 This is Aaron's sacrifice for his own sins. Notice that the censer had to be filled with holy fire from the altar of sacrifice. Also it is significant that the entire place had to be smoked up. If that represents prayer, I'll bet we don't pray enough. Hebrews refers to what we're reading here, especially Hebrews 9. Jesus, as our high priest, had no need to offer a sacrifice for Himself since He was sinless.

Vs. 15-19 The main purpose of this event was the yearly covering of the sins of Israel. Before this could happen, Aaron and the tabernacle had to be cleansed. Aaron needed cleansing from his own sin, and the tabernacle needed cleansing because of the effects of being surrounded by sinful people. When all these were cleansed, then payment was made for the people.

Vs. 20-22 One of the goats, the scapegoat, had the sins of the people placed on it and was sent into the wilderness to Azazel. Azazel means removal. To get the best take on this, I'll give you a couple lines from Eaton's Bible Dictionary:

This word has given rise to many different views. Some Jewish interpreters regard it as the name of a place some 12 miles east of Jerusalem, in the wilderness. Others take it to be the name of an evil spirit, or even of Satan. But when we remember that the two goats together form a type of Christ, on whom the Lord "laid the iniquity of us all," and examine into the root meaning of this word (viz., "separation"), the interpretation of those who regard the one goat as representing the atonement made, and the other, that "for Azazel," as representing the effect of the great work of atonement (viz., the complete removal of sin), is certainly to be preferred. The one goat which was "for Jehovah" was offered as a sin-offering, by which atonement was made. But the sins must also be visibly banished, and therefore they were symbolically laid by confession on the other goat, which was then "sent away for Azazel" into the wilderness.

Vs. 23-28 After this cleansing of Aaron and the tabernacle, Aaron would put on his high priest's clothing and be ready to offer other sacrifices for the day of atonement. Notice that everyone that is associated with taking the offerings out, etc., is required to wash with water.

This is all pretty cool. God not only forgave, but He gave them a visual aid of removing their sins. Their sins were loaded on a scapegoat, and they watched the animal pass out of sight, taking their sins farther and farther away. That is a symbol of what Jesus did for each of us. Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oV4ndllEY8&feature=related

Hebrews 10:4 says, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." It is referring to this event that only covered their sins for a year. By contrast, the sacrifice of Christ covers our sin forever. That forgiveness and relationship with God is something good to take into the harvest as we follow our Lord.

Mark 7:1-23

One of the things you wonder about is why Jesus was so hard with the Pharisees and scribes. I don't think we appreciate how dangerous it is to substitute our traditions for God's Word. I don't think we fully grasp how easy it is to use the Word to justify anything, including our lack of mission or fruit. And what gets lost in all of our tweaking of the Bible to conform to our lifestyle, is our understanding of God and living in authentic relationship with Him. Jesus was God and could understand their hearts and the ramifications of what they were doing and teaching.

Vs. 1-5 Isn't it interesting that they went after Jesus on the topic of being ceremonially clean. These traditions of the elders were not in the Bible. They were rules, however, that became law for every Jew.

Vs. 6-13 Notice how Jesus shows them that rather than honoring God, they are fulfilling a prophetic judgment that God gave through Isaiah.

Honoring father and mother had a very strong financial component. Honoring meant caring for them as their age increased and their health declined. A son was to shape his life accordingly, to prepare for this coming event. "Corban" was a trick that neither honored God or family. I wonder if the opposite of "Corban" was "Nabroc," giving everything meant for God, to your parents? J

Vs. 14-23 One note here is that after Jesus taught this in public, humiliating the Pharisees, it intensified their hatred for Him and He had to leave Judea for a while.

So what is the real point in all Jesus says about cleansing? Interesting that we're talking about cleansing here and in Leviticus. What really defiles us is within, that is, sin. Jesus makes this clear. So, what really cleanses us? That is what the Pharisees and scribes wouldn't and couldn't find, because the answer wasn't a "what," but a "who." Who cleanses us is He who forgives us and then sends His Holy Spirit to live in us. Once we know Him, it is only by living in that close, daily connection in the Word and following the Spirit, that we can make sure that what comes out of us is honoring to our Father.

This is why for us as disciples, like the priest, the first order of business is to make sure we are close to Him, in love with Him, in His Word. It affects how we follow Him in the harvest, making disciples. This is why it is so important for us to be reaching out and making disciples, because without Christ, no one has a chance to be forgiven and to have the power of sin broken in their lives.

Psalm 40:11-17

V. 11 After that great declaration of yesterday, David states his confidence in the Lord and in His steadfast love and faithfulness. It looked like David's trials were over but they weren't. It is interesting to me that God gave David many small deliverances in all the years he ran from Saul, but He made David learn slowly, waiting for the day when all would be at peace. That is so much like how God works with us. He teaches us to depend on Him as we follow in the harvest, not making our lives easy, but showing us over and over that He is faithful and that He loves us. I think of Paul in this regard. God didn't heal Paul, but made His grace sufficient for all of Paul's needs. Paul said that he gloried in his weakness because when he was weak, he was strong. Probably living on his knees before God like David was.

Vs. 12-15 David was harassed and being pursued.

Vs. 16-17 My heart clings to these verse realizing that in order for me to say these as David did, I need to walk through those same valleys with God. That's how David and Paul learned. That's how disciples in the harvest learn, and the reward of living closely with our Lord is worth it.

Proverbs 10:13-14

Try putting the parallel parts together. The reason these are in couplets is because of the parallel ideas that are being woven together. To understand them better or see them clearer for a devotional or short lesson, sometimes rearranging them helps focus on the real comparison or contrast being made. Just a suggestion.

On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

The wise layup knowledge (to guide them?), but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense (to guide him?).

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comment or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.