Time to celebrate again! Today you will finish
the third book in the OT and begin the fourth. You deserve a Blarney© Latte!
Leviticus 27:14-34
Vs. 14-25 The temporary donation or
"vow" of a house or land will make more sense when we read Numbers.
The Levites did not inherit any land. They had to live among the people. As the
nation became more organized and social needs grew, people could
"vow" houses and land to the Levites to use for themselves, or for
the widows and orphans, for example, that the Levites helped. It could also be
that some of these houses might have been used by the Levites for schools. You
get the picture.
V. 19 If a person needed the house or land
back, they could redeem it but all of this was done with respect to the year of
jubilee.
Vs. 26-27 All firstborn animals belonged to
the Lord, even the firstborn donkey or camel. These would have to be
"bought back" from the Lord. It is interesting that they didn't call
this a tax. It was a redemption, therefore having a very symbolic meaning that
would become a part of their lives and culture.
Vs. 28-29 This is referring to things given
permanently. This was different from something vowed for a period of time. A
person devoted to death meant that he had committed a felony punishable by
death, and therefore he could not be ransomed, but had to pay for his sin.
Vs. 30-34 Even the tithe of the crops could
be redeemed.
One of the first blog entries I wrote in
February of 2010 was titled "Who needs Leviticus?" The answer is,
"We do." Because of the relational nature of Christianity today, we
are tempted to treat God as common, like a buddy; and we forget how awesomely
holy and separate He is. We imagine Him as just a big, mighty version of
ourselves, who will even occasionally laugh at our crassness and bad habits.
Not so. The fact that He loves us and helps us should be beyond our
comprehension, considering how holy and majestic He is. Leviticus brings us
back to a place of balance, understanding that our heavenly Father, our Lord
and the Holy Spirit are holy and worthy of our complete and holy devotion.
Numbers 1:1-54
V. 1 The time marker here is very important.
This is taking place one month after they set up the tabernacle. (See Ex. 40:2.)
This means that everything in the book of Leviticus took a month.
Vs. 2-19 I wonder how they came up with the
name for this book? Even though there had been a census when the people came
out of Egypt, this is official and emphasizes the ordering of the nation before
God. The people will be organized around the tabernacle and be given a specific
organization for traveling to the land. The people should have been kind of
excited.
One thing to constantly keep in mind is that
they had the manna every day and they had the pillar of cloud by day and pillar
of fire by night. They lived in the presence of God and the supernatural. Also,
notice that the only ones counted were men 20 and up. If you understand this,
you realize that the size of Israel had to be in the millions. That the Lord
was feeding them every day was amazing.
Vs. 20-46 Notice the size of the tribes.
Which tribe is the biggest? How does this relate back to Jacob's parting words in
Genesis 49? Now (and this is a trick question), who is the second largest? This
also relates back to Jacob. In Jacob's parting words, Joseph receives a huge
portion. Although Ephraim is given the firstborn designation, two tribes are
counted here as the people of Joseph. Judah is still bigger. In one very
important event in Numbers, the tribes of Judah and Ephraim will be exalted in
Israel, represented by two men.
Vs. 47-54 The Levites are given a great
honor. God already had this planned, obviously, since both Aaron and Moses were
of the tribe of Levi. But, remember when Moses asked who was on the Lord's side
when he needed help regarding the golden calf? It was the entire tribe of Levi
that came to him and helped to avert God's anger in the camp of Israel. Though
the Levites would receive no inheritance in the land, they were given a special
position in the nation, literally and figuratively, as mediators between God
and the people.
V. 53 This means that the Levites would camp
encircled around the tabernacle as a kind of buffer zone between God and the
people. Again, there is great symbolism in God choosing this one tribe to have
no inheritance on earth, but to be near the Lord and serve His people.
The church (Jesus' disciples following during
this time of harvest) is also told it has no inheritance on earth. Jesus taught
His disciples that as they abided in Him, their reward was in heaven and their
commission was on earth to follow Him in the harvest, making disciples, who
make disciples. The disciple's role in assisting people to come before the Lord
and worship Him has a sense of being a Levite or a priest. Look at 1 Peter 2:9
and then read how Paul saw his service to the Gentiles in Romans 15:16. It is
clear that in order to serve, worship and follow Jesus now, we must have our
inheritance in heaven and see our time on earth as service for Him in making
disciples and leading the lost to Christ.
Mark 11:1-25
Vs. 1-11 This is Jesus' triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. The people thought He was coming as the eternally reigning king, but
He was coming as the Lamb of God.
Vs. 2-6 Notice that even though
"disaster" would follow, Jesus was showing the disciples that all was
divinely planned.
Vs. 9-10 Apparently Hosanna means something like, "God, come and save us."
They misunderstood what this "coming" meant. Next time Jesus will be
coming to reign over the world.
V. 11 This is interesting. It was apparently
late so Jesus just looked around to get the lay of the land and prepare for the
next day.
Vs. 12-14 This passage has always puzzled me.
When Jesus curses the fig tree, why does Mark mention that it wasn't the season
for figs? That sort of makes Jesus' expectation unrealistic and the curse
senseless.
What I understand is this. If it had been fig
season, Jesus could have seen the fruit, or lack thereof, from a distance. This
explains why he went to the tree to look. It wasn't fig season. It was,
however, common food for people to eat the buds where the figs would grow.
These came out first and then were covered by the leaves, making them
invisible. People ate these buds. Jesus assumed there would be buds but
couldn't see them. He could have seen the figs. He had to go and look, because
it wasn't fig season, so he couldn't see that there were no buds to eat. The absence
of the buds meant no figs later in the year and that the tree was unfruitful.
Vs. 15-19 This was the second time Jesus
cleansed the temple. He did it at the first Passover of His ministry and now at
the final Passover of His ministry.
V. 17 It is interesting that Mark mentions
that the temple was meant to be a house
of prayer for the nations. It will be in the future.
V. 18 Jesus taught right up to the end and
the people were astonished at His teaching. The astonishment of the people made
the leaders fearful. How funny.
Vs. 20-25 Now, after reading about Jesus
cleansing the temple, we can see how symbolic this sign was. The nation was the
unfruitful tree. Within 40 years, that generation would be judged for their
lack of faith and unfruitfulness. The temple would be destroyed and the city
left in ruins, and many of the Jews would be killed by the Romans.
Vs. 22-24 So, why does Jesus give the
disciples, what appears to be, a lesson on faith that can curse trees and move
mountains? In the context of the harvest and in the coming commission to the
church, they were given authority to use God's power. I think the lesson is
regarding fruitlessness vs. fruitfulness. If we are working in the harvest and
have faith as a mustard seed, we will never be fruitless. Our asking will be
focused on the harvest and the Spirit will direct His power to the harvest.
V. 25 Jesus mentioned forgiveness frequently
in the training of the Twelve. You cannot mediate forgiveness if you are
harboring unforgiveness toward others. In that case, God withholds mercy from
us for our failings, and we lack authority in His service. This is a very
important thing for us as we work in the harvest. For the disciples, the events
that would follow would stretch them in terms of being able to forgive others.
My take on this.
Psalm 46
A probable time for Psalm 46, and the
historical period for the other psalms written by the sons of Korah, is the
reign of Hezekiah. Psalm 46 was probably written after the events recorded in 2
Kings 18-19. Jerusalem was surrounded by the invincible army of an arrogant
king.
V. 1 This is the declaration, after the fact.
What God did was amazing. One night, there was no hope. In the morning, there
was no enemy.
Vs. 2-3 Compare the threat of the Assyrian
army to the poetic threat of the raging seas, shaking the earth to its
foundations, waiting with its mouth wide open, devouring mountains. The
Assyrians had "defeated" all the other gods, and thus
"devoured" all the other mountains or hopes or refuges of the
surrounding nations. Now they made a mistake. They came to the wrong mountain,
and to the wrong, actually the real, God.
Vs. 4-5 These verses are a contrast to the
chaos outside Jerusalem and the situation in the middle of God's city on top of
His mountain. A stream flows out from His throne, spreading throughout the
city, bringing peace and a mellow, intoxicating joy. God is the cause, because
of His presence. Deliverance will come in the morning, usually seen as the time
of worship and prayers to God.
Vs. 6-7 The nations have to rage to make kingdoms totter, but God only needs to
say a word. Verse 7 is God's victory and Israel's declaration, which will be
repeated again.
Vs. 8-9 This tells the people to look and see
what God did with a word. In 2 Kings 19 it says in very few words, almost
anticlimactically, that God sent out an angel, and 185,000 soldiers were slain
in their sleep. The Assyrians awoke; the camp was full of dead bodies, and they
went home. There was a lot of supplies and equipment left behind, and the
people used the weapons and chariots for firewood.
Vs. 10-11 This tells us what to do when we
have no place to find refuge or help or hope. Amen.
Proverbs 10:23
Basically this Proverb is a gauge to see if
we are fools or people of understanding. A fool gets "a kick" out of
doing stupid stuff. It feeds his heart to frustrate a boss or get some
silliness going. It's like telling a good joke.
For a person of understanding the same is
true. It feeds his heart to find wisdom and to put it into practice, seeing it
work through his family or group of friends.
It may be that we can say of ourselves that
while we are not fools, we haven't yet learned to be persons of understanding.
If finding and using wisdom doesn't yet feed our hearts, it needs to.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://oneyearbibleonline.com/weekly-one-year-readings/?version=47&startmmdd=0101. This version is set
to the ESV but you can reset this to a different version or different language.
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 complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
