If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
FEBRUARY 22
Leviticus 13
Now, since I'm not a doctor, I
won't be much help on this section, except, possibly, for comic relief.
It appears to me that this law
for leprosy really signifies that leprosy was being used by God as a kind of
object lesson. I don't think God is devoting two chapters to this because man
hadn't developed a cure yet or that this disease was rampant in the society.
Why didn't God give them a chapter on cancer or heart disease or VD? I think
the reason leprosy is an issue is that God was using it as a way to visually
show Israel what being "unclean" meant in His eyes. He was also
giving them an image of what the spread of sin looked like, physically,
spiritually, or socially. According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT,
p. 192, there is no evidence that leprosy was a huge health danger back then,
and the descriptions given could cover many diseases or simply leprosy in its
very early stages. Equally important, in everything that is said in chapter 13,
is the vigilance and early detection of the outbreak.
In all you read here, it seems
that Israel was to be set on the lookout for this disease or any outbreak or
anything out of the ordinary on man, beast, clothing or building. They were to
catch it at its earliest stage. It looks like this was to create an alert
society toward personal sin and toward cultural sin. The main person in this
was the priest, not the doctor. You didn't need to bring suspected cases of
cancer to him (although with the Urim and Thummim that wouldn't have been a bad
idea), but in all suspected "outbreaks" he became the examiner. That
is significant to God's purpose. As you read this, underline the repeated uses
of the priest shall pronounce him.
We might be tempted to look at
God's warning to Israel, to beware of any "outbreak," as paranoia or
incitement to a witch hunt; but I think it was a kind of healthy caution that
we dismiss. Even as disciples, we treat sin as a silly, three-letter
"boogie man." Sin is the greatest destructive force on the planet.
Paul and the Spirit say it is a spiritual force. Sin is not just "missing
the mark;" it is a power, pulsing in our souls that grows and creeps and
infects. Leprosy is a fantastic picture of it. Without the indwelling Spirit
and the cleansing agent of the Word, we would be absolutely
"leprous," and all that we touched would be unclean. We can still be
that if we decide to ignore God enough. Look at the church in 1 Corinthians.
What is interesting to me, and
I'll probably say it tomorrow too, that although there was a provision for
being healed from leprosy, until Jesus, no Israelite was ever cleansed. Didn't
the lepers come to God for healing? Maybe not. The first time Jesus gets thrown
out of Nazareth, He says to the people there, And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the
prophet Elisha, and none of them
was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. (Luke 4:27) And the whole
synagogue went crazy. In the entire Old Testament, cleansing from leprosy (and
the faith thereof) was only found in Naaman the Syrian, a Gentile, and then,
only because he had good servants.
Vs. 1-46 This has to do with an
outbreak of leprosy or some kind on a person. Notice that vs. 45-46 are a
summary statement.
V. 29 I fully agree with this
verse. If a woman has a disease on her beard, there is definitely something
wrong.
V. 40 Whatever happened to
"The verse of the day?" This custom has fallen on hard times today,
whereas in days of yesteryear, many a soul has been helped by the verse of the
day appearing on doors or screen savers. Years ago, I swapped out the church
secretary's verse for my own (I was a seminary student then, not the pastor.)
out of this chapter. I like it better in the RSV, and feel free to use this
where appropriate.
Leviticus
13:40 If a man's hair has fallen from his head,
he is bald but he is clean.
Vs. 47-59 This is an outbreak of
some sort on animal skins or cloth.
Again, in thinking about sin, as
disciples, is it possible that the disease can spread to stuff? Can stuff be
polluted by our sin and can we be polluted by stuff? I'm obviously using a very
broad view of "stuff." Oddly enough in German, "stuff"
(Stoffe) means cloth.
Mark 6:1-29
Vs. 1-6 This was Jesus' second
visit to Nazareth. The first visit was at the beginning of His ministry, and
now He was the most popular man in Israel. It was a gracious thing for Jesus to
return, considering they tried to kill Him the first time. It mentions that His
disciples were with Him now, meaning not just the Twelve, but the large group
that followed Him. It was like the American Idol winner coming home.
V. 2 These questions seem to
imply that they were impressed with Jesus.
V. 3 This shows what they really
felt. A carpenter was a lowly blue-collar worker. To name Jesus by His mother
was demeaning in that culture. Even if your father were dead, you were still
referred to as his son. The people were hardened in unbelief. They knew His
family; they knew Him, so, big deal. The word "offense" means
"to stumble." Jesus wasn't so special, and now the religious
authorities had "explained" Jesus' power.
Vs. 5-6 The fact that Jesus
could not heal many doesn't mean that His power didn't work, like He could only
get "one bar" of connection to God's power or that He had a slow
download speed because of their dense hearts. It means that they didn't bring
many sick people to Him to be healed.
Vs. 6-13 Jesus had prepared the
Twelve to do this by example. This is a good discipleship principle. Show
people how to do things by example, doing it with them. They had seen Jesus
enter town after town for the past year, and the Father had always provided.
Both Matthew and Luke say that they were not to "acquire" a staff.
Apparently they were allowed to take the one they already had.
Vs. 12-13 I'm always amazed at
the simple message and the power the Lord gave them. By the way, Jesus also
went out preaching, but He wasn't alone. All the other disciples and the women
who accompanied them were with Him. In Acts 1:20-23 it mentions two disciples,
Joseph and Matthias, who had been with Jesus from the beginning just like the
others. These two guys were there but not chosen to be part of the Twelve.
Vs. 14-29 Jesus' popularity was
still climbing, and now that the disciples were going out and performing cures
and miracles, apparently the talk increased. We covered this in Matthew, so
I'll only add a couple of comments.
Vs. 14-16 These
"guesses" as to Jesus' identity will be mentioned again when Jesus
asks the disciples, and Peter confesses that He is the Christ. Apparently Herod
had a guilty conscience.
Vs. 17-29 This is a
"flashback" to what happened to result in John's death.
I don't know what lessons you
get from this section, but I'm always struck that John's ministry might not
have been as long as his imprisonment. It's hard to find dates, but the
consensus is that John sat in prison a long time, perhaps a year.
Today, we still look at
"success" as a measure of blessing. I think as disciples,
faithfulness is our real goal in following Christ in the harvest. Romans 8
assures us that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who
are called according to His purpose. However, we have to trust that God and
what He does is good even if we don't understand it. Look at Abe and Moses.
They spent many years trusting God out in the wilderness. John was faithful in
his testimony and service. And then he was faithful in prison, fulfilling God's
plan for him.
Psalm 39
Vs. 1-3 It appears that David
tried to cope with his situation by just keeping his mouth closed, but the
situation caused him real questions regarding the justice and purpose in life.
It is interesting that this is very much like what happened to Job. Job didn't
sin with his mouth, but things did boil within him until he had to express his
frustration and desire to understand God's purpose.
Vs. 4-6 How would you title
this? What is David's question? It seems, like Job, that David wants to
understand God's purpose.
Vs. 7-11 How many men in the
Bible have we already read of who had to put their hope in the Lord and had to
wait? Waiting in hope and trust is the norm, not the exception.
Vs. 12-13 It is interesting that
David cries out like this with such distress and need. It is just as
interesting that God brought him to the place where David had to cry out like
this, to encourage us to wait on the Lord and cry out like this too.
As disciples, it is in God's
plan to bring us to places like this to learn, as David did, that life is
short; and when we can't understand God, it is better to be silent publicly in
our waiting, and privately, to be crying out knowing that our hope is in Him
alone.
Proverbs 10:10
After reading this, I really
have a hard time winking at people, except to encourage them. Otherwise, it smacks
of deceit and hiding. And the message about babbling seems to be that if you
don't have anything to say, don't say it. Fools babble, not the wise.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, 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 (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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