Psalm 24-26

Psalm 24-26

Here's a classic piece of scripture from the Psalms (24:3-4):

"Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully."

I love how this scripture points to Jesus.  There is no one on earth who has clean hands and a pure heart, but through Christ I can ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His presence.  Christ is my righteousness.

I sort of feel like that idea is hammering me lately.  Jesus is my righteousness.  I am not righteous, but I am able to stand before the Lord because Jesus is my righteousness.  I'm having a hard time accepting that, because I feel so sinful and selfish.  It doesn't seem possible that Jesus' righteousness could stand in place for all my sin.  I need to believe this truth.

This is a prayer I have prayed countless times.  Apparently David and I have something in common (25:4-5):

"Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long."

I don't know if David has any measure of desperation here, but I definitely feel such emotions when I read this.  It feels like a desperate plea to me, because if God does not teach me and guide me, then I am completely and utterly lost.  David even comes back to this idea in verse 8, which is very encouraging:

"Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way."

David hopes the Lord will teach him, and also knows the Lord is good and will therefore instruct him.  Seems there's a bit of tension there.

What a refreshment it is to read the Psalms after coming off of Isaiah.  There's so much judgment and prophecy in Isaiah, and the Psalms tug at my heart a whole lot more.  I hopefully can intersperse some days with the Psalms amidst reading other books.

Isaiah 62-66

Isaiah 62-66

62:10 sounds like a song I used to play once upon a time

:"Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples."

I like this little blurb about the nature of the Lord (66:1):"Thus says the LORD: 

"Heaven is my throne,

   and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?"

I'm really not absorbing much today.

So I'm now finished with Isaiah.  So I'm now finished with Isaiah.  There were definitely some cool things in the book, but it was also a difficult read.  It's hard to process chapter after chapter of woes and judgments and prophecies.  It might be a good book to come back to read in smaller chunks, with the help of some good reference materials.

Isaiah 56-61

Isaiah 56-61

57:16 is an encouraging reminder about who God is, about His nature:

"For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made."

It's good to know that God is patient and loving, always returning to grace even amidst punishment and wrath.  I'm thankful that Jesus has ultimately satisfied God's wrath in my life.

After reading Matthew, I'm still fresh on the ways in which the Pharisees conducted themselves, and that seems to also be represented in Isaiah 58 (3-4):

"'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist."

Whether OT pharisees or not, it seems like people always try to use something noble in order to gain something for themselves, of they cling to some trivial act of righteousness while ignoring their myriad of other faults, attitudes and behaviors.  I know I do this.  Yet, this is not what God wants from me!  He wants something more (6-7):

"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

God wants to use us to benefit the people in our lives, to help those who can't help themselves.  God's heart is for the needy!  I shouldn't fast to display my own holiness or discipline to the world, but to do something real with such an act, like using the food I would have eaten to feed someone who has no food.  By doing this, God will strengthen and provide (11):

"And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."

For some reason, this verse makes me think of the life of Mother Teresa.  Her age kept increasing, yet she seemed strong beyond her years, able to serve and minister to the poor beyond what most people would deem necessary.  I think God was in her bones!

It looks like things have not changed all that much in the last couple thousand years, based on 59:4:

"No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,"

This sure sounds like the world I live in.  The implication here is that filing suit or going to law is not in itself a wrong thing.  It sounds like the Israelites were pursuing this avenue in dishonest or self-seeking ways.  

Today's reading ends with a passage familiar to me (61:1-4):

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations."

Jesus has come and this passage is fulfilled, and Jesus is not yet come again and this passge is not yet completely fulfilled.  I can't wait to repair the devastation of many generations and do the work of God's kingdom in a completely restored creation.

Isaiah 51-55

Isaiah 51-55

Chapter 51 seems to be a call of the Lord, proclaming that the time of Israel's suffering is at an end (22):"Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people:

"Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,"

Isreal must have really been feeling it, because the whole chapter gives a pretty vivid description of God and his power.

Chapter 53 is an incredible prophecy about Jesus. Some things that stood out to me:

• "his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind" (52:14)
  
  This parallels with what I read in Matthews.  It's hard to think about Jesus enduring this kind of torment.
  
  
• "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him." (2)
  
  At best, there was nothing remarkable about Jesus, nothing that would point him out as divine.  Heck, maybe he was straight-up ugly, by human standards.  I think at the least, though, he was just another guy, and your probably wouldn't think twice about him when you looked at him.
  
  
• "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (5-6)
  
  What a powerful statement.  His suffering brought us peace, despite the fact that every single person goes astray, and is sinful. 

I really like Isaiah 53.  It is very powerful.  

I think I might have found the most incredible verse in all the Bible (55:2):

"Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."

YES.  I can definitely live this one out.  In fact, I think I already do.  Of course, I don't think this is really talking about just meat and potatoes, but still...

The last piece that I latched onto for today's reading was 55:10-11.  It's really encouraging to me, that the truth of God's word is powerful and does not return empty:

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

God has won, and his word shall do what He purposes it to do!  That takes a lot of the burden off me to "make" people believe that what God says is true.  If God purposes His word to help someone believe, then it will happen!

Isaiah 45-50

Isaiah 45-50

Isaiah has been a difficult book to read. Sometimes, though, I find some real gems (46:3-4):

"Listen to me, O house of Jacob,   all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth,  carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."

What an incredible proclamation God makes about his own goodness!  God has made all things, and He will bear me throughout life, carry me, and save me.  From womb to tomb, God will protect me and be with me.  There is not a moment that goes by that God does not do these things for his people!

This is also encouraging to me (46:12-13):

"Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay;"

At many times I feel this way, that I am at an opposite end from holiness and righteousness.  Yet, this tells me that God brings HIS righteousness to me, and that He brings me salvation.  Indeed, because Christ has come and my life is in Him, He IS my righteousness.  Hundreds of years before Jesus came, God promised that He would bring salvation, and he did.

This section reminds me of Ethnos (49:13)

"Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted."

There's been a lot of pain in my community.  But I think we all need to shout praise to the Lord, because he has seen us, heard us, carried us, saved us, and comforted us.  It's easy to see in the Old Testament the heart that God has for His people, and that continues until today.  Again (49:15-16):

"Can a woman forget her nursing child,   that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;"

It seems just about impossible for a mother to forget about her nursing child, but even if that DID happen, the Lord would still not forget his people.  We are so close to His thoughts that it is as if we were engraved on His own hands!

God has an incredible love for His people.  What would my life look like if I lived in light of that?

Matthew 26-28

Matthew 26-28
The culmination of Jesus' ministry draws near, as he prepares to be crucified. It's kind of interesting that Jesus states that one will betray him (26:20). Yes, Judas is the betrayer, but it seems like just about all the disciples up and betray Jesus after he is arrested. At the least, they certainly don't come to his defense during his trial.

In any case, in the Matthew account, Jesus seems to name Judas as the betrayer before taking communion with his disciples (26:25). That seems a little strange. Wouldn't that case a little bit of a disturbance at the table? Wouldn't the other disciples be in an uproar at this news?  

The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane I think shows an extremely powerful picture of humanity of Jesus (26:36). He knew what his death would entail, and he knew the pain and shame he would suffer. How many times have I prayed that God would take something from me, that I would be able to avoid the pain I was feeling or knew would come? Yet, Jesus doesn't just end with such a prayer. He prays for God's will more than his own. That's probably the area I need to work on.  

It's difficult for me to even read the account of Jesus' torture and crucifixation. Even after several years, The Passion put the crucifixation in a whole new light for me. I have not yet been able to watch the movie a second time, as it sits on my shelf unopened. Yet, the images and portrayal of Jesus' death are so easily accessible in my mind that it seems I just saw it yesterday. My gut clenches to think about what the God of the universe had to endure on my behalf. There is such joy that results from Jesus' rise to life and his power to grant salvation to his people, but the act of crucifixation itself is heart wrenching. It's really easy to read these passages in Matthew 27 in a casual manner, but knowning exactly what these few sentences encompass greatly reminds me why Jesus is the God that I follow. There is no other man or god in all of history that endured the most brutal event imaginable for me, my family, and my friends.

Yet, Jesus is alive and has been given all authority, as the closing chapter of Matthew shows. He has risen, and just as he was sent into the world, we are also sent into the world to make disciples. God's kingdom is established on the earth, and is also still not yet come. Jesus has not yet returned, so the "age" that Jesus promises to be with his disciples continues even until today. He is risen, alive, and with me! Now I just need to go.

Matthew 23-25

Matthew 23-25

I think Jesus is about to open up another can on the Pharisees. The more I read the Gospels, the harder time I have understanding ultra-conservative or legalist positions. It's pretty clear of what Jesus thinks of those who would put regulation before people. That being said, I thought this statement was interesting (23:1):

"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do."

Seems here Jesus has a way to acknowledge the validity of the OT law while also condemning the Pharisaical interpretation of said law. The Pharisees understand the law and preach it, but they do not live it in the way God intends. Pride was the context of their life (23:5-8):

"They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others."

Note: phylacteries means "either of two small, black, leather cubes containing a piece of parchment inscribed with verses". Had to look that one up.

Jesus continues to absolutely rock the Pharisees. I heard a great sermon from Rob Bell on this verse (23:23):

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."

The Pharisees were so meticulous that they tithed a tenth of their spices, but they missed those other minor details like JUSTICE and MERCY. Whoops. Again, though, Jesus shows that their attention detail wasn't necessarily wrong. They just should have lived out discipline amidst a love for people. Yet they didn't, and it's worth noting that because of this Jesus declares they are in dire affliction. When Jesus says "Woe to you", you'd better be paying attention, as demonstrated in 33:

"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"

Tough words. Seems like this would be enough to get the Pharisees riled up enough to crucify Jesus, as he represents a direct threat to their power structure.

Chapter 24 starts delve into that surreal realm of eschatology that makes very little sense to me. I don't think now is the time to delve into this more deeply, but there are a couple things I want to latch onto:

• "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." (13) - This is what matters most to me! I think I generally need to know that there will be false prophets, and that they may perform signs and wonders, but they are not Jesus. Despite the world turning end on end, Christ is what I need to build my life on, even until the worst of times.
  
  
• "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." (27) - This is how to know when Christ is come! I've often imagined what it will look like when Jesus returns. I doubt I can really visualize it, but I think it will be something so incredible that it will leave no doubt in any person's mind. I remember watching some terrible Christian movie about the end times. It was a horrible movie, but I remember really liked the effects shot at the end of what the return of Christ could look like. I can't wait for the day when this comes to pass.

And what does it all boil down to? What matters most when the final verdict is cast? The answer is in 25:34-40:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"

This is the life of a righteous person. It is in stark contrast to the preceding passages about the hypocricy of the Pharisees.

Judges 17-21

Judges 17-21

So, there's obviously some break here, as Judges 16 was all about Samson. 17 opens with a story about Micah, and there seems to be some assumption the reader already knows what's going on. Apparently this man Micah's mother lost some silver, Micah returns it to his mother, and his mother makes a metal image out of the portion of it. Micah sets up a shrine with the image, dons some priestly garbs, and ordains his son. A Levite stops by and joins in. Where's the Kool-Aid? This sounds bad.

So, in 18 the Danites invade the land, and they take all idol and robes and such. They lure the Levite away with the promises of being a priest to a larger flock. Micah's ticked, so he gets a possee together to try to overtake the Danites, but realizes he will be defeated. The Danites go on to burn an unsuspecting city to the ground and set up shop there with the idols in tow.

The story seems to end here, and I'm pretty stinkin confused. I read this in a commentary:

"Micah and his mother were sincere in their intention to honor God. But their faith was blended with a sad amount of ignorance and delusion."

That's sad, and it's something that bothers me. How will I know if I'm being ignorant to truth? I guess I just need to keep invested in the Bible.

If that story felt weird to me, this one feels even weirder. A Levite decides to take a concubine. The concubine is unfaithful, and goes away to her father. The Levite pursues the concubine to reconcile with her. His father-in-law, the girl's father, greets him warmly and feeds and houses him for several days. Each day the Levite tries to leave with his concubine, the father-in-law convinces him to stay. The Levite finally takes leave, travels, and stops at a city for the night.

Entirely similarly to the story of Sodom and Gommora, men come to the house the Levite is staying at and demand him to come out. The Levite refuses, but instead gives them his concubine. The gang absolutely destroys the woman, and she crawls to her master's doorstep and dies. Then the Levite finds her the next morning, chops her up into 12 pieces, and sends those pieces throughout Isreal, a la Braveheart.

What. The. Heck.

I have no idea what this means. A few notes from commentary:

• It was lawful for the Levite to take a concubine
• The law prevented the Levite from reconciling with his wife, but he pursued her anyways
• The father-in-law was overjoyed at the idea of reconciliation between the Levite and his daughter
• The Levite ignored his servant's advice to stay the night among aliens instead of his own countrymen, which turned out to be a huge mistake
• There was no government during this time, so the Levite resorts to drastic measure to arouse indignation among his own people

Okay, so that's a couple more details. The story continues in 20.

All of the people of Israel come out to meet with the Levite. The Levite explains the situation to them, and seems to omit the part where he freaking VOLUNTEERED his wife in place of himself. Trivial details, I guess. In any case, all the Israelites gather together and decided to light this town up. The Benjaminites refuse to give up the men who committed the crimes, so they bring about 26,000 men to challenge Israel's 400,000. The first wave of the Israelites gets slaughtered, and God tells them to fight again. Second wave is slaughtered. God tells them to try again. The Israelites set an ambush and they prevail.

The Israelites seem to be remorseful about the whole situation. Even though the tribe of Benjamin was sinful and corrupt, there was still sadness over the death and war. The Lord orders the Isrealites to ransack a group who did obey the summons of the Lord. The Israelites kill the whole group except the virgin women, and give the virgins to the tribe of Benjamin as a peace offering. Then the Benjaminites go and steal some other women for their wives.

Man. I really don't understand a lot of this. Maybe all I need to know is how the chapter/book ends with a huge understandment:

"In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

Man is corrupt and when left to his own devices destroys and murders and rapes and committs all kinds of atrocities. There is an obvious need for a savior.

One thing that also confuses me is that the Lord has very little to say throughout these two stories. He addresses the people during battle, but there is not much from the mouth of the Lord condemning the idol worship, rape, war, poor choices, etc. I guess if there is no king or prophet in Israel, then the Lord is probably mostly silent. I don't think I understand all this, though.

Romans 15-16

Romans 15-16

These chapters wrap up the book of Romans, so there doesn't seem to be a ton of teaching.

I think 16:17-18 is important:

"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive."

I see this all the time, and I see people get sucked into it all the time. I hope I never do. I want the Gospel to remain pure in my life. I want the Bible to be the loudest and most authoritative teacher in my life. I think relativism is lot more ingrained into our culture than I previously realized. I want to hold absolutely true to the Bible. Maybe that makes me a fundamentalist or a dogmatic. I don't care. When I see the risen, glorified Christ, I want him to be pleased with my life. I'm not interested in pleasing everyone else (okay, maybe Ciara).

Romans 16:25-27:

"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 that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen."

Amen indeed!

Judges 12-16

Judges 12-16

This judge was a busy man (12:8-9):

"After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons."

After a bunch of small time judges, we finally get into some meat with Samson. The story starts out in typical fashion for Israel (13:1):

"And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years."

Samson is also of miraculous birth (13:3):

"And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son."

Samson is the ultimate man. Ultimate because he does manly things like rip lions to pieces, and ultimate because he does none of it on his own strength but on the Lord's. However, what in the WORLD does this verse mean (14:6)?

"Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat."

Okay, how in the world is this a valid analogy? Who goes around tearing young goats apart? This verse made me chuckle out loud. Some things I read in the Bible just seem humorous to me. Does Samson regularly tear young goats in two? Is that something easy to do? One commentary mentions that maybe Samson didn't literally tear the lion to bits, but strangled it and tore its throat out, which would probably be easy to do with a young goat. This is is implied by verse 8, where the carcass of the lion now holds honey. Still, this is just a funny image to me.

Samson's wife sounds like a real winner, whining and crying and bitching at him to reveal the secret of his riddle to her people, and then betraying his confidence when he finally yields and tells her (14:1-18). I'd love to do a more detailed study of the story of Samson. At first glance, it seems like an extremely bad idea for Samson to have married a Philistine, but apparently it was the Lord's doing (14:4):

"His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines."

At the least, Samson killed a bunch of Philistines to hold up his end of the bargain for those who had solved the riddle.

In 14:19-20, there are some subtle things going on that are easy to skip over, that I discovered from commentary:

"In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man."

The idea of Samson going back to his father's house was more than just a walk over to cool off. It signifies that Samson essentially seperated himself from his wife, and that she was free to marry another, which she did so to one of Samson's friends. This is important because it gives Samson a reason to exact vengeance upon the Philistines. They have wronged him, and his wife has wronged him.

Things get even worse in chapter 15. Samson's anger eases, and he goes to see his estranged wife seeking reconciliation (1). His father in law won't let Samson enter, explaining that he gave Samson's wife to the wife of Samson's companion, and instead offers Samson his younger and more beautiful daughter (2). Such marriage are immoral based on Jewish law. Now Samson is righteously pissed, and ties foxes together with torches and lets them run through the Philistine fields (3-5). The Philistines found out that Samson did it, and in retaliation burn his wife and father in law to death (6). Samson takes them down, makes an escape and hides, which brings even greater wrath down upon the Israeli people (7-10). The Israelites bring Samson to the Philistines, and Samson becomes filled with the Spirit of the Lord and proceeds to kill about a thousand guys with a friggin' donkey bone (13-16).

What a huge mess. I'd say Samson has some pretty high grievances with the Philistines. It's good to remember that all this is happening so the Lord can bring his wrath upon the heathens.

Chapter 16 tells the familiar story of Samson and Delilah. For some reason, I had not previously put together the fact that Samson had a wife before Delilah, and that the two are seperate.