The One Year Bible- March 14th

It has been quite a week for me. I was in St. Louis at Concordia Seminary for my theological interview and all went well. I even managed to bring along my One Year Bible and kept up with my readings. But needless to say I am way behind in the office so I will keep this opening short today. On to the study...

Vicar Seth’s Thoughts

The Old Testament

As we have said before, the book of Numbers has a general them of grumbling and complaining by the people. Time and time again God tries to show the people his love but the people don’t seem to get it. The phrase that God uses over and over to show is Grace is, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.” (Numbers 15:41 NIV). This is almost the same phrase God uses when he gives the law with the Ten Words (Ten Commandments). God reminds the people that the relationship he has with them is based on Grace. That being said, God is still a jealous God, who is Holy (meaning without sin and hating sin), therefore he cannot just turn a blind eye to the grumbling and disobedience of the people. A few examples to illustrate my point:

Their first complaint resulted in God sending a fire to destroy the people. Moses prayed to God and the fire left. One verse later the people start complaining again! Now they want meat. They were sick of this manna stuff and they longed to be back in Egypt. Moses even gets agitated with the people. But God, in his mercy, gives them meat to eat. So much meat that they get sick of it. Moses then selects 12 men to go into the Promised Land to check it out and when they return, 10 of the men say that Israel should not go in because the people are giants. Only Joshua and Caleb give a true account. They trust in God’s promises. So the people started complaining again. They even wanted to kill Caleb and Joshua. God gets fed up with this group and tells them that none of them will even enter the Promised Land.

Chapter 16 tells the story of the rebellion of Korah. This story serves as a lesson to all those who do not trust God. All those who followed Korah were either killed by fire or swallowed up by the earth. Then God wants to destroy all the people, but God in his mercy hears the cry of his people and spares them. (Do you see a theme here?) Surely this will put an end to the complaining. But as soon as they run out of water they rebel again. But God in his mercy hears the cry of his people and provides for them.

Then Moses gets into trouble by not giving credit to God for providing the water from the rock and he finds out that he will not enter the Promised Land. So the people start complaining again in Chapter 21. So God sends snakes to kill the people. But God in his mercy hears their cries for help. He tells Moses to put a snake on a pole and those who look at it will live. This is a foreshadowing of Christ, because those who look upon Jesus (on a pole a.k.a. the cross) will be saved (“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up” –John 3:14). Our readings for this week ended with the people looking for safe passage through some of the lands near Canaan. They get themselves into trouble by trying to fight when God said not to.

Then just got to the story of Baalam. This is a story that tells about the power of God. Baalam knows the true God, but was not always faithful. King Balak wants Baalam to curse the people but Baalam will not because the Lord (Yahweh) is with them. God also shows his power by making Baalam’s donkey talk. God will use any means necessary to get his message across.

I hope you can see that our God is a God of mercy. He showed that mercy ultimately in the person of his son Jesus Christ who was the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.

The New Testament

We finished up Mark’s Gospel and it was a quick journey. It is believed that Mark was the first account of Jesus that was written. And it ends just as it begins, with action. In quick succession we have the Last Supper, the time in the garden, the trial, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and Mark’s version of the Great Commission. Like Matthew, Mark mentions the Temple curtain being torn in two. This was very significant. Remember from our readings in the Old Testament that there was a curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy place and that only the high priest could enter it and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement. When that curtain tore, it showed that we no longer need a human person to go to God for us. Jesus has restored our relationship with the father and now we can approach him because of Christ. The book of Hebrews really drives this point home. It is also interesting that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all say that it tore from top to bottom. Thus signifying this was from God. There is an interesting bit of text at the beginning and end of the book that serve as bookends for Mark. In Chapter 1 he writes, “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. Then in Chapter 15 verse 39 we read this that came from the mouth of the Roman centurion, “Surely this man was the Son of God”. Everything in between these two verses tells us all about the ministry of Jesus. Now of course the resurrection was coming but that was just more proof as to who Jesus is. One other textual note, I am sure that you noticed that at the end of Marks Gospel there was some note saying something like “The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20. That is not to say that they are not Biblical. The translators want the reader to know that there are some textual problems with these verses. For the most part the problems do not go so far as to place a great deal of doubt in these verses but theologians do not generally use these verses as proof texts for doctrine.

As we begin the book of Luke I want you to notice the different style that Luke uses as compared to Mark. Luke seems to take more time in the story telling and uses “songs” to show some of the emotion behind the stories. Many have said that Mark is the Gospel for guys and Luke is for the ladies. I know that is stereotyping but I hope that helps you see the difference in the books.

Bits and Pieces

The Old Testament
This week we will finish up with Baalam and his oracles. Then we will read about another census for the people. A few more regulations will be discussed and then Moses will get a peek into the Promised Land before he dies. Chapters 28 & 29 describe the offerings and the feasts that the people are supposed to remember for all times. The people then get some vengeance on the Midianites and get to take some of the spoils of that event. We will talk more about the righteousness of war later. Before the people cross the Jordan the tribes of Gad and Reuben decide that they will stay on this side of the river. Chapter 33 gives an account of where the people have been as they were in the wilderness for 40 years and the regulations for living in the Promised Land start being discussed.

The New Testament
We will read the familiar Christmas story from Luke. We will see Simeon and his gift of seeing the Messiah. We then see Jesus as a boy in the temple and the ministry of his cousin John. Luke gives us the genealogy of Joseph after Jesus’ baptism and then tells of his temptation. Jesus then begins his public ministry as he reads from Isaiah in the synagogue and tells them that the scripture is fulfilled in their hearing. Jesus begins to heal and drive out spirits and then calls his disciples.