Hmm, I've not been getting through these very well recently - far too much to do!

Let's start with Judges 6:11-7:25

Beating out wheat in a winepress. Interesting - I've seen the stone circles that the mediterranean peoples used to thresh wheat - the general idea was that you would lay out all your wheat and run a donkey or ox over it, with the beast pulling a sledge with sharp pieces of rock or metal drilled through the bottom of the sledge, so that as it moves over the wheat, it cuts it down and the chaff is cut up and flies away. A winepress was usually a large carved stone bathtub in which grapes would be put to be crushed - a hole in the bottom would allow the juice to flow out. To thresh in a winepress suggests that Gideon is a coward - hiding from the public location of the threshing floor, which would necassarily be on hillsides - and penned up in his homestead. Also, this contrast makes me wonder about Gideon's status - is he like wheat being threshed in a winepress i.e. out of place in some way? Let's see what happens next.

An angel appears and declares that God is with Gideon, the man of valor - who is cowering in his home, hiding from the midianites. This continues the idea of things not being the way they should be - or not the way they seem.

I have a theory about the way that God works in the world. I had this theory whilst considering the weather. I have an allotment, which requires rain to water it (or a watering can, but the rain is obviously a better option!) and so sometimes I think 'I hope it rains today!', but then when I want to go to the beach or go for a picnic, I hope that the weather will be hot, sunny and dry - and then I remember my crops and find myself torn. At this point, the plight of many a marrying couple occur to me - we all want nice weather for our weddings, but if everyone had nice weather when they wanted it, where would the rain be for the farmers who are praying for rain? I think that God doesn't get too involved with the weather - He has set up the climates to work in certian ways, and if He wishes to, I don't for a second doubt that he can over-ride the weather, but if God were to listen to us every time we prayed for nice weather, then there would be no rain for the farmer - and vice versa. So I think that God chooses to ignore prayers like this one, because he ultimately knows what is best for our whole community. I believe instead, that He works in us - if we spend time praying for a change in the weather and are listening to God, I think that He will eventually draw our attention to the need for all types of weather in our climate in the UK, and that really our attitude should be one of gratefulness - that we have lovely days in the spring, summer and autumn, and that we generally have it pretty good here. We'll change through our prayer to God, not the other way around.

I bring this up because of Gideon's response to the Angel and the Angel's subsequent reply - Gideon whinges that God isn't doing enough for the Israelites, what with the Midianites ruling the place. The Angel then responds to Gideon that he has to go out in his might and save Israel. Gideon comes back with his excuses - he is the weakest member of the weakest family of the weakest clan of Manasseh - who are divided into two half-tribes! Not the person that most of us would choose to be our hero!

Gideon then provides a sacrifice for the Angel - and only after the Angel disappears in a cloud of pyrotechnics does Gideon realise that he was talking with an Angel - which makes me think that they definately do appear in unimpressive forms when they have need to.

Gideon does have some redeeming courage - he's not courageous enough to stalk out into the town and destroy the Baal/Asherah alter during the day, but instead will do as God commands at night - he's a bit of a sneak - fearing God enough to do that which God has called him to do, but only in secret. It's a little like Christians who are scared to talk about their faith. Gideon continues in this vein - the cheeky fleece-laying episode allowing him time to think through what God has asked him to do, and to definately know that this is what God is asking of him. Again, we Christians do this quite a lot - in the service on Sunday morning for instance 'is that you God, are you really asking me to speak to the whole church?...just confirm it for me and I'll go and tell them....' or 'You want me to go and speak with that person? But I don't know them... okay, if this is really from you, then send past a blue car next. Okay, well there's lots of blue cars - how about a red one, followed by a black, green and then pink car and I'll talk to them'.

The mext episode looks a bit like my youth group. We have a big team and have a huge group - more than 100 kids on a Friday night. Our problem is that we can find ourselves looking for something that we can easily do and do well. God is asking Gideon and his men to do the impossible - take out an army with 300 men. This takes massive courage and bravery - something Gideon's not especially comfortable with, as we know!

God then gives Gideon instructions, with a proviso - 'if you're afraid, then go down just with Purah' - God knew this guy well, and never pushed him too far - he knew that Gideon would follow, but he needed a little extra grace to get him there!

Gideon's expedition brings out a frankly weird conversation going on in the camp of the Midianites - one man dreams about barley bread, and the other translates it as meaning that Gideon is going to wipe them out - how does he come up with this translation? Well, I assume that is because God had pre-ordained this - He wanted Gideon to get in there and get on with being the hero that he's meant to be - and hearing this word from God is all the encouragement that Gideon needs. 

Finally in this passage, a prince is killed a winepress - where this story begins, with a young man who is a hero out of place and not knowing it yet. 

Psalm 55:15-23

Not much jumps out from this section for me today - a passage looking at pain and strife and particularly betrayal. The psalmist is trusting the Lord for deliverance. 

Proverbs 12:27-28

Whoever is slothful will not roast his game - weird phrase, but looks like a standard exhortation to not be lazy. Precious wealth is interesting - the translation is vague, so it's hard to make a good case for what is meant here - is it that diligence is precious in itself, or that it brings precious wealth - perhaps like a good life? Hard to say. 

v28 - There is no death in the pathway to righeousness. Interesting idea - a call to righteousness - but what is meant by death? Can I assume he means spiritual death, or is this a physical one? The physical would suggest that there is no physical death on the path to righteousness - carnally, that is half-true - we wouldn't expect a righteous person to commit murder, yet they will surely die one day! This must refer to spiritual death, surely? 

Luke 21:20-38

The idea of a destroyed Jerusalem is interesting in the light of 70AD and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. But what is meant by the times of the Gentile? Is this an age which will end at end-times? Is it a time already passed?

Jesus on the clouds - a glroious day - one we can not predict, but will know when it arrives. Interestingly, Jesus is addressing his followers and is saying that when He returns on the clouds that they should 'look up' - this argues against the idea of the people simply vanishing a-la-Left Behind (which I'm not a great fan of from pretty much any angle literary or theological, anyway). 

The idea of being ready is common and important, I'm sure - I just don't understand its import - is this idea of being ready something more than not being surprised when it occurs? Because I can go throughout my life doing very little 'spiritual' (another argument about the spirit/body/soul divide will occur one day on this blog - just not today!) and when Jesus arrives be only mildly surprised - will this be a problem? Or should i always have a bag packed? And would a bag being packed make any sense, since we don't take anything with us when we die anyway (and I assume this extends into Jesus' second coming - that we take nothing to heaven with us then). 

Or is this idea something else - should we live a life free from unresolved conflict and difficulty? Is this a call to keep short accounts, as we may be asked to pay up our final bills at very short notice when Jesus appears in the clouds? It's an interesting thought, because it requires a shift in mind-set. I often live for next week, next month or next year - should I instead be planning these time periods, yet prepared for huge change at short notice - like a space ship, ready to pull up legs very quickly and take off? 

It's a thought!

Bed time - I'm exhausted!

Quick note for anyone interested - I've come to the conclusion that if for any reason I'm not able to do my Bible Study on any given day (such as driving 8 hours back from Cornwall yesterday and basically losing the ability to think, let alone study!) then I'm not going to give myself a hard time about it - I'm going to crack on and keep with the date I'm actually in - otherwise I'd always be playing catchup - and I simply don't need the extra stress in my life!

So here's May 2nd

Judges 1:1-2:23

Cutting off big toes and thumbs! Not a very nice thing to do - but useful - it prevents the vanquished from ever reforming as an army and attacking - without thumbs you can't hold a sword, spear or bow, and without big toes, running at any great speed or holding a defensive line without your main gripping toe must have been impossible.There is also a sense of God's justice here - this is not a practice Israel indulges in often - but it is a practice that the king who has been captured, Adoni-bezek, had indulged in previously. 

God declares to the people of Israel, who have refused to follow the covenant that they have made with God about driving out the peoples of these lands, that he remembers their covenant and so curses them for not obeying it. 

I used to have a problem with this concept of covenant - in the OT it meant that these people - the Israelites were God's special and privileged people. And this was true - however, it also meant that they had grave responsibilities - they had to honour God by following His commands - and in not doing so, they have brought down his wrath upon them. As I say, I used to think that these were the special ones who could get away with pretty much whatever they wished to - but the reality was that they were under an almighty and just God - merciful as we shall shortly see, yet just as well. 

God's mercy is exhibited here in his non-destruction of the Jews. They have broken covenant with God, and the just and holy God must punish them for doing so. But here I see something of God's mercy as exhibited in Genesis. I wonder how these people got to this stage - they were a generation removed from slavery in Israel - had they thought it would be handy to have a few servants? Had they become arrogant enough to think that they were special and so whatever they did, God wouldn't punish their wrong deeds? Had they forgotten God? Or had the snake gotten into the garden and asked once more 'did God really say that?' I don't know, I wasn't there - all I can read are the consequences - but all of those surmises may well occur in any of our lives - I'm glad that God's so merciful - or He would have been forced by justice to strike me down many times already (and several times today!)

It is amazing how quickly these people forgot God - though they may have not been slaves in Egypt, they were sons of the slaves of Egypt, and they wandered the desert, God gave them great victories - and their reaction? To turn from God to other idols - and why? What is it about the human heart that makes us want to forget God and find substitute Gods? Clive at Leadership Training suggested something that has stuck with me since - specifically, he was speaking of the Holy Spirit and how we often attempt to sanitize the HS by thinking of Him not as a part of the all-powerful God, but rather as a weak and wimpy dove. Similarly, we imagine Jesus to be a soft, fluffy hippy-man who wouldn't hurt a fly if it could be at all avoided. Our reason for sanitizing God is to make Him more controllable - if your god is a little wooden idol, then you can hide your god away from view if you want to get up to tricks with your girlfriend - if your god is not omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, then you are absolved from accountability to your god - indeed, you are in control of it and you can make it say whatever you wish. And really, we've been doing that since the fall - taking responsibility for our own lives and conscience into our own hands, and putting God in our little boxes. We really need to realise that and look up more often. God's big, powerful and not a little bit scary!

Joshua 22:1-23:16

Joshua sends the Reubenites, Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh to the land that God had given them. He sends them with this statement;-  

5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 

This instruction is very similar to Jesus' statement in Luke 10:27 'And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”'

  

Obviously, there is the issue of following the law - an OT emphasis. Jesus refocusses this verse and sets a new covenant in place - he can because of what happens next. 

To explain;-

The Old Testament covenant was characterised by following many rituals and trying to follow all of God's commandments. The New Testament held a very important difference which effectively turned everything on its head - Jesus has fulfilled all of the law - and He did it through living a perfect life before His father - Jesus was able to 'complete' the law by having done everything that God had required of man - to live a life of loving obedience and relationship with his creator God. When Jesus died and took our sin on himself, he opened the way for us to be seen as holy and blameless - as only Jesus truly is. So when Jesus re-emphases the importance of loving with al lour heart, mind, strength and soul - he is asking for everything - not to follow lots of rules, but instead, he's asking for everything of us. This is a big ask, but only Jesus deserves this and anyone who truly understands what Jesus has done should respond either in disbelief or total adoration. More on that some day later...

Verses 6-20  

This passage describes a perceived rebellion on the part of the Reubenits, Gadites and the Half-Tribe of Mannaseh, who build an altar. 

The remaining 9 and a half tribes of Israel all send leaders to the Reubenits, Gadites and the Half-Tribe of Mannaseh and ask what they think they're doing - God has specifically stated that they shouldn't build altars, that they must worship only Him. The concern of the majority of Israel is that if some of the tribes rebel against God, then God will respond against the entire community of Israel, rather than specifically selecting the sinners themselves and dealing harshly with them - no, if part of the community sins, then the whole community is liable for judgement. Jesus also deals with this question (Matt 18) - He states that if our hands cause us to sin, we should cut them off - the same is true of the eye. Of course, Jesus is using hyperbole - after all, we know that sin comes from the heart (Mark 7:14-23). 

It is interesting to note that our society today is much more fractured - we don't really believe that God is interested in our reaction to the sins of our brothers, do we? Well, I think that we should!

I then love the response of the Gadites, Reubenites and 1/2 Manasseh - they state that if they are sinning then they should be destroyed - their heart is contrite, and the same as their brothers over the river! It is great to see that their reaction isn't a defensive - 'hey man, you're in my space - I'll explain it when I feel like it' - no! They react as brothers - 'Do not spare us today if it was in rebellion or treachery against the Lord that we built for ourselves and altar to turn away from Him. May the Lord Himself hold us accountable....' Brilliant.

Psalm 52:1-9

The very first verse of this passage throws me;-

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

 This psalm is written when Doeg kills the priests of Nob. Doeg does this on the command of Saul - the other men wouldn't kill the priests, but Doeg had no such difficulties of conscience. I can see a couple of ways of reading this - the evil man is Doeg, and David is asking why Doeg lies to Saul and describes the priests' support in the worst way he can. Yet the priests who love God and whom God loves are now in a better place - His love continues forever for those He loves. Alternatively, Saul could be the evil, mighty man - and God loves David. I possibly lean toward the former, but it could be a mixture of Doeg and David, rather than Doeg and priests. 

Reading on, I think it is probably directed at Saul - he is the evil, mighty man and David is the one that God loves. 

Proverbs 12:15-16

15 - A fool's way is right in his own eyes; but whoever listens to counsel is wise. 

An easy one, really - a fool in this case would be someone proud - they know better. They 'but' that hinges the verse suggests that listening to counsel is being compared against a fool's way being right in his eyes - i.e. one who doesn't listen to counsel, who thinks he knows all the answers - is a fool. 

16 - A fool's displeasure is known at once, but whoever ignores an insult is sensible. 

Again, I think that these verses stand together because of the nature of this 'fool' being discussed. Clearly, one who reacts suddenly and violently to any and all provocation will simply be provoked by evil people around who like to cause trouble. Whoever ignores and insult and realises an evil person is not worth getting upset about will be insulted less because they get little if any rise out of them - classic 'sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me'. 

Luke 19:1-27

Zacchaeus - ah, Zacchaeus. 

A rich tax collector - we're already in dangerous territory! The jews (especially the zealots) would have seen any tax collector as being a sell-out, working for the Roman invaders. But a rich one? Insult upon insult. Jesus doesn't seem the slightest bit bothered by Zacchaeus' status, but has decided to stay at his home. 

Why?

Zacchaeus is libelously accused of being evil and so offers to give half of all he has to the poor, and to payback four times anything that he has wrongfully extorted. Jesus recognises him as a son of Abraham - a spiritual son of God - not just a biological descendant of Abraham. 

Joshua 20-21

This passage starts by talking about 'cities of refuge'. These are places where an Israelite can run to, if they have unintentionally killed someone. God hates murder, not death - this is partly why war is (sort of) acceptable, whereas intentionally looking for somone to kill in malice is evil. In the passage, it speaks of a situation where a man who has killed by mistake (industrial accident perhaps) then runs to the city of refuge and stands before the elders, giving account of why he needs sanctuary. The elders are to protect the manslayer, and not to hand him over to anyone who comes looking for him, but instead must hold a trial. Numbers 35 looks at this in great detail and is a brilliant example of an early civilisation lawbook - holding that it is the sin and the actions of the man that need to be judged, not how high the man comes in the pecking order. 

The role of the elders and their open acceptance and protection of someone who has killed unintentionally seems to me to talk of community. The manslayer is to seek protection and to have it granted - but not as a half-citizen, fleeing from the wrath of one wronged, dodging the law and hoping for freedom. Instead, he is to openly be accepted and to become part of the society. He is to be fairly judged and not simply under the testimony of one witness. All of this is done in the context of community and indicates the emphasis that the Israelite people where to place on community. 

I find it interesting that the city of Hebron (Kiriath-arba) is given into the care of the Levites. It had been in the centre of so much warfare, strife and division that its being handed over to the Levites is somehow funny. 

Verse 21:45 ends on a particularly sunny note;- 'None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of ISrael failed. Everything was fulfilled.' After all the lists of everything that has occured, what has been divided, when and how; it feels like a positive full stop to end the passage there. 

Psalm 51:14-19

This is continuing the theme of penitence. Asking that God save him from his guilt - David has an almost tit-for-tat attitude - not in a malicious way, but he honestly acknowledges that when he knows that God has granted salvation from David's evil deeds, that he will turn his repentance into thanksgiving. Perhaps we are missing something in our worldview in the 21st century? Perhaps we should remember that God is a God who saves us from all evil and forgivess us our sins and debts against him. Perhaps we should pray like David - that we seek God's salvtion, and that when we find it - or when it is granted us - we know that we will worship Him. Perhaps David's realistic view of his sin and his God is something we've forgotten - David doesn't hide and hope that God won't notice the bad things he's done - once convicted, David sets our wholeheartedly to ask for forgiveness and worship his good and gracious God. 

David also recognises a pleasing sacrifice not as being the biggest or best that a man can do for God, burn for God or give to God - instead, he sees that God loves a humbled heart - one that sees himself as broken, needing God desperately. Again, do we see ourselves like this before our Holy God?

This psalm ends on an upbeat petition. These are songs - and they were sung by huge crowds - this people have sung that God doesn't want empty sacrifices (acknowledging that a physical sacrifice is not God's ultimate desire) but that God desires a people whose heart is soft and humble before him - they are asking for God to build them up in righteousness, and their sacrifices will come from a right heart. 

Proverbs 21:13-14

Verse 13 is typically confusing - an evil man being trapped by rebellious speech is dtraightforward enough, but the righteous man escaping from trouble doesn't make quite as much sense - what does he mean? That righteousness are saved even though they are rebellious? And does that feed into my understanding of righteousness being conveyed by God's grace, rather than by anything that we can do? 

Maybe not - maybe I'm reading too much into this. In the wider context, the surrounding parables are to do with contrasting righeous people against wicked people - and this seems to be another of those times. 

The second half of 14b makes enough sense - the work of a man's hands will reward him - being morally neutral, one could see this as being 'you reap what you sow'. And fair enough, I suppose. The first half is just confusing, and I'm going to leave it there for now. 

Luke 18:24-43

Jesus looks on the rich man and sees in him someone who cannot leave his wealth behind to follow God. He challenges him to do so and when the rich man is unable to, the young man leaves, saddened. Jesus then uses hyperbole to show the impossibility of rich men getting to heaven. The people of the time would have been shocked to hear that the rich aren't able to get into heaven - they (as many do now) would see wealth as being a reward from God - and clearly God would only reward the righteous?

Jesus then gives the disciples hope - those who have given away that which they have in this life will be rewarded in the kingdom of God. 

Jesus then gives a preveiw of his impending death and resurection, and then ends this passage with the kingdom of God coming in the form of sight being restored to sight - through the faith of the blind man.

It's come to my attention that I learn best when I am then going on to teach. And so this blog is an attempt to help me to learn from God's word, through the simple act of make observations as though I am teaching from the passage that I am reading. 

I am using the Everyday with Jesus Bible, which is a Holman Standard. It's easily readable, though a little less transliterative than my prefered ESV.

Joshua 19

The final part of the dividing of the land of inheritance. It also sets out the first loss of land by the Danites, who then recaptured it. Israel has not had an easy time getting to the stage of holding their land, and now find themselves not in an ideal situation where God provides an easy life - on the contrary, they have only just taken the land that God has given them and have to then fight again to retake it. Life is like that sometimes - we've picked up a strange idea somewhere that now that we're Christian, God will make life easy to us - this often is not the case!

Psalm 51:10-13

This is a prayer from a man who has seen in himself a heart that is unclean, who has seen that his spirit is not 'steadfast' (or 'renew a right spirit in me - ESV). Seeking petition to not leave this fallen man, to restore joy of God's salvation and to reform his spirit so that it is willing (to follow God?) and in so the man will then turn to teaching the rebellious God's ways. 

This being a psalm of David and a 'penitent psalm' and probably coming after Nathan's convicting words to David regarding his relationship with Bathsheba, this is a good study of how a man in authority who has messed up can come back to the Lord. Answer: On his knees. 

I find this touching, as David is not being specific about his sin, nor is he making bold promises of how he will make himself right with God - instead, he is falling on God's grace and mercy and coming out of that, is seeing that he will then be able to continue his duties to God - God's grace is empowering David to go back to being the leader that God made him to be. Also, I see here a recognition of the importance of testimony - 'then I will teach the rebellious your ways and sinners will return to you' - David can see that a testimony of God's grace to a fallen man is very powerful to a race of fallen people. 

Proverbs 12:11-12

I love 12:11. It's talking about XBOXs - 'The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense'. I take it to mean that my owning an allotment is godly and that I must work hard at it - living on computer games is senseless. I also see the phrase 'lacks sense' as being held up against 'plenty of food' as though they are in conflict. the word 'but' in the middle of the verse is quite a handy indicator to that affect.

Luke 18:1-23

The first parable in this section is potentially dangerous, and I know of someone who takes this verse to mean that the way to get what you want is to pester people into giving into your wants. I wouldn't say that it is particularly dangerous - but the potential is for people to get confused and pick this veiw up - it doesn't say that! The important point is that even though the judge was 'bad' he was also open to petition - in a similar way to Luke 11:10-13 (that fathers give their sons good gifts, even though they are compared to God, evil).

18:8 is an interesting question - I tell you that He will swiftly grant them (the elect) justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man omes, will He find that faith on the earth? Luke is asking if we believe this - do we believe that God will grant justice to the elect - His people, or do we not believe God's promises? Do we follow other gods?

Verses 9-14 compare a Pharisee and a tax collector - one, the upright living by the law 'good' person. The second someone who has sided with the Roman oppressors and inevitably has done his own share of opressing. The possible hyperbole used that the Pharisee would stand and openly thank God that he's not as bad as such an evil sinner is amusing to me - I can't be sure that it is hyperbole of course, but I like to think that people are much as they always have been - and rather than standing openly denouncing others, he's more likely to be subtly telling everyone around how great he is - for instance 'thank you Lord, that you have given me the fortitude and the strength to fast twice a week, that you have made my desires holy and pure in your sight - that you have made this, your humble servant, honest and full of integrity. I thank you that you have given me work that means I don't have to live as a bully - much like the tax collectors that also worship here....' etc. 

The tax collector on the other hand has an attitude of self-flaggelation, stating that he is evil and that he knows it - unable to look up to where God dwells (the temple) he instead is asking for God's mercy. He knows that he's a sinner - but also knows that God is merciful, whereas the Pharisee seems to have forgotten that no matter how good he thinks he is, he is still not the perfect man that God's justice demands. Later on, we realise that actually, the tax collector has a more open heart to Jesus' message than the Pharisee - the Pharisee has a lot to unlearn before he can accept Jesus' sacrifice. 

Verses 15-17 catalogues an episode which confirms the idea of an open heart to Jesus - the little children represent an openness to Jesus which the tax collector is a step behind on - the tax collector recognises that he is a sinner, this is the first step. The little children come to Jesus with an open heart and mind, this is the second step and the final step comes next;-

Verses 18-23 - the rich young ruler. This rich young man comes to Jesus and states that he has followed all of God's laws since he was a child - an interesting continuation from the children, and Jesus loves him. He then issues the final step - give everything away in order to follow God. Remove those things that distract you from following Him, put Him first and follow as a drowning man searches for water.