Faith Seeking Understanding

Good Bye

2008-08-14T00:45:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I have to close this blog. I am now busy that I don't have the time to write about what I read in the Bible. But don't worry, I still have time to read and reflect on what I read in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 12

2008-06-04T00:27:00.000-07:00

"Do not worship the LORD your God in the way that these people worship their gods.
Deu 12:4

God is to be worship in spirit and truth. Our God is a jealous. His jealousy is not the jealousy of a scorned lover; the Lord’s jealousy is the jealousy of a God who keeps his covenant. God continually seeks to remind me to keep his words in my heart, not to serve other masters but to serve the God alone.

I was listening to today’s sermon and I was reminded of how I sometimes forget to check motivations for serving God. I sometimes forget to ask myself, “is this really for God or is this for me?”

I have thought of shutting this blog down because I have not been posting for a long time. I am ashamed to admit but it’s easier to write about negative things than to tell of how God answers my prayers and how I sometimes receive blessings that I haven’t even asked for. God has continued to bless me even though I sometimes forget to acknowledge him for all His goodness.

Deuteronomy 11

2008-02-20T03:58:00.000-08:00

Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working.
Deut. 11:18-19

Moses reminded the Israelites of teaching the Lord’s commandment to their children.

"Today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse--- a blessing, if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; but a curse, if you disobey these commands and turn away to worship other gods that you have never worshiped before.
Deu 11:26-28

Moses was telling the Israelites what God had done for them. How the Lord had freed them from Egypt, all the miracles God had done for them in the wilderness. Moses also reminded the Israelites what happened to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben. How they were swallowed by the earth because they had been disrespectful to the Lord.

Here the choice was given to the Israelites either to obey and receive blessings or to disobey and receive a curse. Here the freedom of a person to choose is emphasized, the freedom given by God to choose right and wrong, the freedom to be accountable for every free action, the freewill of humanity.

Deuteronomy 10

2008-02-03T01:44:00.000-08:00

Deu 10:17 The LORD your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes.

God does not accept bribe.

We received salvation by grace through faith alone. When we do work for the Lord, we do so out of love, out of gratitude. It is because our faith grows and as our faith grows we become strong, we give more. We do not work for our salvation because Christ died for us and his blood is enough to cover our sins. We do not work for our salvation because we are not in a position to ask something from God, we receive only what He has given, what Christ has given-his life. We cannot work for our salvation for we are justified only by our faith.

Deuteronomy 9

2008-01-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

"After the LORD your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the LORD is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. It is not because you are good and do what is right that the LORD is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You can be sure that the LORD is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people. "Never forget how you made the LORD your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him.
Deu 9:4-7

Since when did I receive something form God that I truly I deserved?

I remember a pastor (or is it a teacher) defining grace as getting something that you do not deserve.

Listening to pastors and preachers preach about law versus grace, I, in my mind developed this understanding that the law is a device for the salvation of the Israelites. It’s like a state law where if one got convicted of a crime, punished for it and after serving that punishment he/she is cleared of the crime. Maybe it is, maybe it is not. The relationship of God with the Israelites shows more of his grace. How many times have the Israelites angered God and how many times have God forgiven them?

The law reveals sin but, I think, the most important thing that the law has done and is doing is to reveal grace. Getting something you do not deserve like mercy, salvation, blessings and even trials.

And I prayed, 'Sovereign LORD, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them.
After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Deut. 9:26-29

Deuteronomy 7-8

2008-01-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

Deuteronomy 8

"Obey faithfully all the laws that I have given you today, so that you may live, increase in number, and occupy the land that the LORD promised to your ancestors. Remember how the LORD your God led you on this long journey through the desert these past forty years, sending hardships to test you, so that he might know what you intended to do and whether you would obey his commands. He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the LORD says.

Deuteronomy 8:1-3

I was talking with one of my church co-worker who together with her husband is the junior church ministers, and she told me that she has applied for a job as a call center agent. I was depressed because this husband and wife team has started a very good discipleship program for the juniors in the church, and the first thing that came into my mind is what will happen to their ministry?

Another church worker, this time the youth minister, I later found out tried to apply for a job as a call center agent too. They are also a husband and wife team ministering to the youth in our church. I was loosing a little sleep with the idea of two church workers working as a call agent centers. Call center agents work graveyard shift and it would be difficult for them to work in the church on their rest days because their bodies will want to catch up on sleep.

I am praying that God will provide for these people the way he had provided for the Israelites. I pray and believe that God will supply the needs of these people.

This is the challenge facing our church today.

And after reading this chapter, the message is clear, as it was in the old testament that God will provideas long as we do our part.

Deuteronomy 7

Remember that the LORD your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him.

Deu 7:9-10

God has given to the Israelites the defeat of the seven nations. God also reminded the Israelites against idolatry and intermarrying with the pagans. The Israelites are a chosen people and that God will keep his covenants with them. Obedience is rewarded and disobedience punished.

2007-12-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

"Israel, remember this! The LORD ---and the LORD alone---is our God.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Never forget these commands that I am giving you today.
Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are
away, when you are resting and when you are working. Deu 6:4-7

"Teacher," he asked, "which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus answered, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Mat 22:36 -37

Deutoronomy 5

2007-12-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

'The LORD our God showed us his greatness and his glory when we heard him speak from the fire! Today we have seen that it is possible for people to continue to live, even though God has spoken to them. But why should we risk death again? That terrible fire will destroy us. We are sure to die if we hear the LORD our God speak again.
Has any human being ever lived after hearing the living God speak from a fire?
Go back, Moses, and listen to everything that the LORD our God says. Then return and tell us what he said to you. We will listen and obey.'
"When the LORD heard this, he said to me, 'I have heard what these people said, and they are right.

Deu 5:24-28

Deuteronomy 4

2007-12-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

There you will look for the LORD your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the LORD and obey him. He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors.

"Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?

Deu 4:29-32

Deuteronomy 3

2007-12-12T21:28:00.001-08:00

'Sovereign LORD, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! Deu 3:24

With God’s help the Israelites defeated the King of Bashan, Og. The defeated kingdom is then divided to the two tribes and a half. God only allowed Moses to see the Land; he is not allowed to enter it.

Instead, he said, 'That's enough! Don't mention this again!

Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan.
Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.' Deu 3:27-28

Deuteronomy 2

2007-12-11T19:26:00.001-08:00

"Remember how the LORD your God has blessed you in everything that you have done. He has taken care of you as you wandered through this vast desert. He has been with you these forty years, and you have had everything you needed. Deu 2:7

This is God’s reminder to the Israelites as they pass other kingdoms and territories. It is a reminder for the Israelites not to make war for plunder.

Deutoronomy 1

2007-11-16T00:45:00.001-08:00

The LORD your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.' But in spite of what I said, you still would not trust the LORD, even though he always went ahead of you to find a place for you to camp. To show you the way, he went in front of you in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day. Deu 1:30 -33

Lord, forgive me for my faithlessness
For sometimes doubting your will
Like the Israelites,
I sometimes question you, Oh Lord

Forgive me Lord for doubting
That you will not give burden that I cannot carry
That it is you who will fight for me
And it is you who will find a camp for me
When I grew tired and weary

Forgive me Lord for doubting you
For doubting your guidance
For doubting that in times of troubles
You are my pillar of fire that will guide me at night
At day, You are my pillar of cloud
That will hide me from my enemies

Forgive me Lord, forgive me
For doubting that you are the Sovereign Lord
The Lord of my life.
Amen.

Numbers 36

2007-11-05T01:18:00.001-08:00

These are the rules and regulations that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.

Num 36:13

Here ends my readings on the book of Numbers. Though I tried to keep my re-readings of the Bible daily, unfortunately and admittedly busi-ness and I admit laziness overcomes me most of the times. This my second time to reread the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation and like the first time I did it, it’s proving to be a challenge especially with these O.T. books which deals mostly with rituals, rules, traditions, genealogies, histories and even genocide. It’s not fun reading these books but it has its moments.

1. The story of the exploration of Canaan by the twelve spies. A good story on minority report (not the movie of course).
2. The quail from the Lord. An ironic story.
3. The mutiny of Korah, Ditham and Abiram.
4. The Budding of Aaron’s staff. This is a good story on leadership. Those who challenged the leadership of the priesthood were silenced when they saw how the Lord made Aaron’s staff blossomed and fruit.
5. Balaam’s donkey.

These stories blessed me.

NUmbers 34-35

2007-11-04T01:17:00.000-07:00

Choose six cities, three east of the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. These will serve as cities of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners who are temporary or permanent residents. Anyone who kills someone accidentally can escape to one of them.

Num 35:13-15

The Lord commanded Moses and the Israelites to choose six cities of refuge. Here those who have committed manslaughter and murder may flee for temporary refuge from avengers until trials.

NUmbers 33

2007-11-03T01:16:00.000-07:00

Chronicles of Israel’s Journey.

There in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the LORD gave Moses
the following instructions for Israel: "When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land. Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship. Occupy the land and settle in it, because I am giving it to you. Divide the land among the various tribes and clans by drawing lots, giving a large piece of property to a large clan and a small one to a small clan. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you.

If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them."

Num 33:50- 56

Numbers 32

2007-11-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them?

Num 32:1-7

The children of Reuben and Gad found a fertile land and they asked Moses if they could settle there. Moses was angered because he though that they would desert their brothers in their quest and fight for the Promised Land. Moses made these tribes to give their vow to the Lord to fight for their brother Israelites before he gave them permission to settle there.

NUmbers 31

2007-11-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Num 31:15 -17

God has ordered Moses to kill the Midianite women. This is understandable because the Midianite women seduced the men of Israel. The virgin children were spared.

Numbers 30

2007-10-31T01:14:00.000-07:00

Num 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Number 26-27

2007-10-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

Numbers 26

Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron took a census of Israel.

Numbers 27

Num 27:12 The LORD said to Moses, "One day you will go up into the Abarim Mountains, and from there you will see the land I am giving the Israelites.
Num 27:13 After you have seen it, you will die, just like your brother Aaron,
Num 27:14 because both of you disobeyed me at Meribah near the town of Kadesh in the Zin Desert. When the Israelites insulted me there, you didn't believe in my holy power."
Num 27:15 Moses replied,
Num 27:16 "You are the LORD God, and you know what is in everyone's heart. So I ask you to appoint a leader for Israel.
Num 27:17 Your people need someone to lead them into battle, or else they will be like sheep wandering around without a shepherd."
Num 27:18 The LORD answered, "Joshua son of Nun can do the job. Place your hands on him to show that he is the one to take your place.
Num 27:19 Then go with him and have him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the Israelites. Appoint Joshua as their new leader
Num 27:20 and tell them they must now obey him, just as they obey you.
Num 27:21 But Joshua must depend on Eleazar to find out from me what I want him to do as he leads Israel into battle."
Num 27:22 Moses followed the LORD's instructions and took Joshua to Eleazar and the people,
Num 27:23 then he placed his hands on Joshua and appointed him Israel's leader.

Moses was still alive but he was already praying for the rightful successor. God gave Joshua as his successor so that when Moses dies Israel will not scatter like a sheep without a shepherd.

Numbers 25

2007-10-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

Num 25:6 Later, Moses and the people were at the sacred tent, crying, when one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to meet his family.
Num 25:7 Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron the priest, saw the couple and left the crowd. He found a spear
Num 25:8 and followed the man into his tent, where he ran the spear through the man and into the woman's stomach. The LORD immediately stopped punishing Israel with a deadly disease,
Num 25:9 but twenty-four thousand Israelites had already died.

The Israelite man blatantly disobeyed the order against idolatry and sexual immorality when he brought a Midianite woman into his tent. He brought not only punishment to himself nut to the whole of Israelite, so Phinehas did what the Lord had commanded.

Numbers 24

2007-10-20T00:43:00.000-07:00

Num 24:12 Balaam answered, "I told the messengers you sent to me that
Num 24:13 even if you gave me all the silver and gold in your palace, I could not disobey the command of the LORD by doing anything of myself. I will say only what the LORD tells me to say."

Numbers 23

2007-10-19T00:41:00.000-07:00

23Num 23:8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

When Balak asked Balaam to curse Israel, this was Balak’s reply. God is all powerful that no magic or anything can harm those that God has blessed unless God permits it.

Numbers 22

2007-10-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

Num 22:28 Then the LORD gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?"
Num 22:29 Balaam answered, "Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you."
Num 22:30 The donkey replied, "Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he answered.
Num 22:31 Then the LORD let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground.
Num 22:32 The angel demanded, "Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey.
Num 22:33 But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey."

If God can use a donkey to convey his message, how much more for a saved sinner like me.

Numbers 8

2007-10-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Num 21:8 Then the LORD told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed.
Num 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

It was by looking and believing in God that the Israelite who had been bitten by the snakes lived.

John 3:14 As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up,
John 3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Numbers 20

2007-10-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

Num 20:24 "Aaron is not going to enter the land which I promised to give to Israel; he is going to die, because the two of you rebelled against my command at Meribah.
Num 20:25 Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor,
Num 20:26 and there remove Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. Aaron is going to die there."
Num 20:27 Moses did what the LORD had commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community,
Num 20:28 and Moses removed Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. There on the top of the mountain Aaron died, and Moses and Eleazar came back down.
Num 20:29 The whole community learned that Aaron had died, and they all mourned for him for thirty days.

After many years of wandering, the Israelites arrived at the desert of Zin. The Israelites, again, quarreled with Lord about water. The Israelites, again, reminded Moses of their former life in Egypt and their fear of dying in the desert.

The Lord heard the quarreling and told Moses to strike a rock with his staff and when Moses did, water came out from it. But the Lord told Moses that they wilkl not see the promise land.

Aaron died and his son Eleazar replaced him.

Numbers 19

2007-10-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Num 19:11 Those who touch a corpse are ritually unclean for seven days.
Num 19:12 They must purify themselves with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on both the third and the seventh day, they will not be clean.
Num 19:13 Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the LORD's Tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people.

The Jews have a sophisticated hygienic practices.

Numbers 18

2007-10-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Num 18:1 The LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood.
Num 18:2 Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent.
Num 18:3 They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death.
Num 18:4 They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you.

Aaron’s staff blossomed and so his authority is affirmed. It is now the Lord’s turn to remind Aaron of his responsibilities and accountabilities.

Numbers 17

2007-10-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Num 17:7 Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the LORD's Covenant Box.
Num 17:8 The next day, when Moses went into the Tent, he saw that Aaron's stick, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!
Num 17:9 Moses took all the sticks and showed them to the Israelites. They saw what had happened, and each leader took his own stick back.
Num 17:10 The LORD said to Moses, "Put Aaron's stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops."
Num 17:11 Moses did as the LORD commanded.
Num 17:12 The people of Israel said to Moses, "Then that's the end of us!
Num 17:13 If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!"

Rebellion and mutiny were one of Moses’ problems. Some of the Israelites yearned for the priesthood and the leadership of the tribes. They have forgotten that leadership and priesthood is through the Lord’s anointment (appointment). To prevent further bloodshed the Lord asked for the twelve staffs representing each tribe. And through this staff the Lord will make his will known to the people thus the sprouting of Aaron’s staff convinced the Israelites of the legitimacy of Aaron’s priesthood.

I don’t know if this is allegorical, but even in the secular world the legitimacy of leadership is usually measured in the blossoming and sprouting of the leadership. This story is a good illustration on identifying the anointment of leaders in the church—blossoming.

Put today, this story a simple reminder that leadership is tending or doing what God one’s expect him/her to be in the role that he/she plays in the body of Christ. Aaron did not get the authority from God because he was Aaron. The Lord gave Aaron the authority because he was anointed from the start of the exodus and he also deserved the authority because God recognized the effort Aaron gave in His service. This is similar to what Paul has said in Corinthians:

1Co 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.
1Co 3:7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow.
1Co 3:8 There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done.

Aaron planted, worked, strived to deserve his leadership (servanthood) and priesthood and God made his staff blossom thus legitimizing his leadership. The relationship is there: anointment for leadership or servanthood in the body of God is through appointment and is earned through faithful work before God can make their staff blossom and thus earning the anointment of God.

Sadly this relationship of anointment and effort is sometimes taken for granted because of “titles.” Sometimes the “titles” are taken for the anointment of God and not the blossoming of God’s anointment.

Numbers 16

2007-10-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Num 16:1 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben---Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth---and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community.

Moses’ leadership was challenged.

Num 16:12 Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, "We will not come!
Num 16:13 Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us?
Num 16:14 You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!"

Not satisfied with challenging Moses, these Israelites also despised the Lord by telling Moses that they were freed from Egypt only to die in the wilderness. The mutineers were punished by God. They were swallowed by the earth.

Num 16:41 The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed some of the LORD's people."

The Israelites protested to Moses about what happened. They even called the mutineers “God’s people.” God was angered and He sent plague to the people. Moses and Aaron stopped the plague by performing the ritual for purification.

God’s showed his justice by destroying the mutineers and their supporters but he also showed mercy by heeding Moses and Aaron’s ritual for purification. God did not destroy the whole of Israel.

Numbers 15

2007-10-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

Num 15:22 And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses,
Num 15:23 Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;
Num 15:24 Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.

All the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering…

The community has accountability for the actions of the individual members. The fault of one, even unintentional can tarnish the community before the eyes of God. To appease God, the community must do their part in offering sacrifices to the Lord.

This is a good insight for the local church: communal accountability.

Heb 10:24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.

Numbers 14

2007-09-17T23:58:00.000-07:00

Num 14:1 All night long the people cried out in distress.
Num 14:2 They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, "It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness!
Num 14:3 Why is the LORD taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?"
Num 14:4 So they said to one another, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!"

The Israelites had this habit of threatening God and Moses of going back to Egypt. They love to remind God and Moses of the better life they had in Egypt. Although they were slave, at least they are sure of getting their ration of food compared to the uncertainty of their freedom.

The early Israelite and God relationship is a love-hate relationship that sometimes reminds of a father and child relationship.

God struck down the other spies. Only Joshua and Caleb was left alive.

When the Israelites heard this, they rushed on to the high hill to take the land. But Moses told them that God is not with them and that they will be defeated. But the people still continued and they were defeated.

Numbers 13

2007-09-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

Num 13:25 After exploring the land for forty days, the spies returned
Num 13:26 to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had brought.
Num 13:27 They told Moses, "We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit.
Num 13:28 But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there.
Num 13:29 Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River."
Num 13:30 Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against Moses, and said, "We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it."
Num 13:31 But the men who had gone with Caleb said, "No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are."
Num 13:32 So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, "That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall,
Num 13:33 and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them."

Moses sent out spies to look over Canaan. The spies, one from each tribe, came back and told Moses of the abundance in the land. Unfortunately, the place was inhabited by powerful people, giants. The spies reported that these giants are powerful and that they cannot be defeated.

Joshua and Caleb were enthusiastic about taking the land. Caleb was sure that the giants could be defeated but he and Joshua was out voted by the other spies.

Numbers 12

2007-09-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

Num 12:1 Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it.
Num 12:2 They said, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us?" The LORD heard what they said.
Num 12:3 (Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)
Num 12:4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "I want the three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence." They went,
Num 12:5 and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, "Aaron! Miriam!" The two of them stepped forward,
Num 12:6 and the LORD said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams.
Num 12:7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel.
Num 12:8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

Miriam and Aaron resented Moses for marrying a Cushite woman. They criticized Moses but God took Moses’ side. Moses did take offense with his siblings’ behavior, which shows his humility. When God punished Miriam with leprosy, it was Moses who interceded to God for his sister’s healing.

God affirmed his anointment of Moses as the leader of Israelites and aborted the power struggle among the siblings.

Numbers 11

2007-09-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

Num 11:1 The people began to complain to the LORD about their troubles. When the LORD heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp.
Num 11:2 The people cried out to Moses for help; he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down.
Num 11:3 So the place was named Taberah, because there the fire of the LORD burned among them.
Num 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat!
Num 11:5 In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had?
Num 11:6 But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat---nothing but this manna day after day!"

Complaints! The Israelites were complaining because they have no meat. They listened to the foreigners complaints about meat because they themselves want meat. They would rather be slaves as long as they can eat better food.

Num 11:18 Now tell the people, 'Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The LORD has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will have to eat it.
Num 11:19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days,
Num 11:20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the LORD who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' "

A good reminder on complaining.

Numbers 10

2007-09-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

Num 10:1 The LORD said to Moses,
Num 10:2 "Make two trumpets of hammered silver to use for calling the people together and for breaking camp.
Num 10:3 When long blasts are sounded on both trumpets, the whole community is to gather around you at the entrance to the Tent of my presence.
Num 10:4 But when only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders of the clans are to gather around you.
Num 10:5 When short blasts are sounded, the tribes camped on the east will move out.
Num 10:6 When short blasts are sounded a second time, the tribes on the south will move out. So short blasts are to be sounded to break camp,
Num 10:7 but in order to call the community together, long blasts are to be sounded.
Num 10:8 The trumpets are to be blown by Aaron's sons, the priests. "The following rule is to be observed for all time to come.

I remember my boy scouts days. One part of the boy scouts training is deciphering whistle codes. There’s a whistle for general assembly, a whistle for troop leaders assembly, a whistle for emergency. It’s really all about learning order and discipline. This is the same for the early Israelites as it is for today.

Num 10:9 When you are at war in your land, defending yourselves against an enemy who has attacked you, sound the signal for battle on these trumpets. I, the LORD your God, will help you and save you from your enemies.

God’s assurance for his people never changed as it was during the early Israelites’ days and today.

Numbers 9

2007-09-12T23:54:00.000-07:00

Num 9:22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
Num 9:23 At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

Numbers 8

2007-09-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

Num 8:1 The LORD said to Moses,
Num 8:2 "Tell Aaron to put the seven lamps on the lampstand so they shine toward the front."
Num 8:3 Aaron obeyed and placed the lamps as he was told.
Num 8:4 The lampstand was made of hammered gold from its base to the decorative flowers on top, exactly like the pattern the LORD had described to Moses.
Num 8:5 The LORD said to Moses:
Num 8:6 The Levites must be acceptable to me before they begin working at the sacred tent. So separate them from the rest of the Israelites
Num 8:7 and sprinkle them with the water that washes away their sins. Then have them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothes.

Intricate rituals for the cleansing for the Levites before appearing in the temple.

Christ cleansed us with his blood.

Numbers 10

2007-09-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

Num 7:12 So each leader brought the following gifts: a silver bowl that weighed over three pounds and a silver sprinkling bowl weighing almost two pounds, both of them filled with flour and olive oil as grain sacrifices and weighed according to the official standards; a small gold dish filled with incense; a young bull, a full-grown ram, and a year-old ram as sacrifices to please the LORD; a goat as a sacrifice for sin; and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five goats, and five rams a year old as sacrifices to ask the LORD's blessing. The tribal leaders brought their gifts and offerings in the following order: On the first day Nahshon from Judah, on the second day Nethanel from Issachar, on the third day Eliab from Zebulun, on the fourth day Elizur from Reuben, on the fifth day Shelumiel from Simeon, on the sixth day Eliasaph from Gad, on the seventh day Elishama from Ephraim, on the eighth day Gamaliel from Manasseh, on the ninth day Abidan from Benjamin, on the tenth day Ahiezer from Dan, on the eleventh day Pagiel from Asher, on the twelfth day Ahira from Naphtali.

The early Isarelites are good custodians of God. These lists shows good temple accounting practices.

Numbers 6

2007-09-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

Num 6:24 I pray that the LORD will bless and protect you,
Num 6:25 and that he will show you mercy and kindness.
Num 6:26 May the LORD be good to you and give you peace."

I remember our church choir singing this as a benidiction.

Numbers 1-5

2007-09-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

Num 1:1 On the first day of the second month in the second year after the people of Israel left Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses there in the Tent of his presence in the Sinai Desert. He said,
Num 1:2 "You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men

The Israelites was counted.

Num 5:20 But if you have committed adultery,
Num 5:21 may the LORD make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up.
Num 5:22 May this water enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to shrink." The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the LORD do so."

Interesting bit about the genitals.

I am tempted to skip this book of the Bible but I made a promise to re-read the whole Bible again. To tell the truth I don't understand this book.

Leviticus 27

2007-09-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Lev 27:9 If you promise to sacrifice an animal to me, it becomes holy, and there is no way you can set it free.
Lev 27:10 If you try to substitute any other animal, no matter how good, for the one you promised, they will both become holy and must be sacrificed.

We have this church practice of offering our children to the Lord. It’s a reminder that to us that our children came from God and that they belong to God. We offer them to God so that God will bless them; so that they can be a blessing to God too through service and worship when they become of age. But sometimes, when the time comes that the church needs them, most parents, I for one too, thinks that life in the ministry is a "suicide" that the parents’ attitude become something like this: let others do it. Life in the ministry has become a fear. Why do I say this? Because I too think that life in the ministry is something to be feared because of my childhood’s first hand experience as a pastor's kid.

All my siblings are also involved in the ministry as pastor, missionaries and teachers.

This is the reason and I can’t blame parents in for not having that Abrahamic faith because I too am the same, I fear the minsitry too. But God’s grace is sufficient and everyday faith is added on and on…

Leviticus is all about rules. The book is all about the Israelites exclusion from the profane, from the worldly as a sign of election by God. God’s demand is for obedience, or else, be cut off from the people of God.

God also gave these assurances:

Lev 26:3 Faithfully obey my laws,
Lev 26:4 and I will send rain to make your crops grow and your trees produce fruit.
Lev 26:5 Your harvest of grain and grapes will be so abundant, that you won't know what to do with it all. You will eat and be satisfied, and you will live in safety.
Lev 26:6 I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear. I will wipe out the dangerous animals and protect you from enemy attacks.
Lev 26:7 You will chase and destroy your enemies,
Lev 26:8 even if there are only five of you and a hundred of them, or only a hundred of you and ten thousand of them.
Lev 26:9 I will treat you with such kindness that your nation will grow strong, and I will also keep my promises to you.
Lev 26:10 Your barns will overflow with grain each year.
Lev 26:11 I will live among you and never again look on you with disgust.

Lev 26:12 I will walk with you--I will be your God, and you will be my people.

Leviticus 26

2007-09-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Lev 26:23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
Lev 26:24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

Ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. This is God’s warning to the Israelites if they persisted with their disobedience.

Leviticus 25

2007-09-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

Lev 25:42 The people of Israel are the LORD's slaves, and he brought them out of Egypt; they must not be sold into slavery.

Lev 25:55 Israelites cannot be permanent slaves, because the people of Israel are the LORD's slaves. He brought them out of Egypt; he is the LORD their God.

Rules on slavery. Those who belong to God cannot be a permanent slave. We are blessed because when Christ came his death gave us the right to be called sons of God. Now we have become not only His servants but we can also become sons of God. NO more slaves of sin.

Joh 8:34 Jesus said to them, "I am telling you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
Joh 8:35 A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free.

Leviticus 23

2007-09-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Lev 23:42 All the people of Israel shall live in shelters for seven days,
Lev 23:43 so that your descendants may know that the LORD made the people of Israel live in simple shelters when he led them out of Egypt. He is the LORD your God.

This is an interesting command from the Lord, to ask the Israelites to live in booths for seven days as a reminder of how God took them out of slavery into freedom. This is interesting because Christ himself was born in a manger, what could be a more humble shelter for a Jew, or for anyone.

Leviticus 22

2007-09-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

Lev 22:31 The LORD said, "Obey my commands; I am the LORD.
Lev 22:32 Do not bring disgrace on my holy name; all the people of Israel must acknowledge me to be holy. I am the LORD and I make you holy;
Lev 22:33 and I brought you out of Egypt to become your God. I am the LORD."

Leviticus 21

2007-09-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

Lev 21:17 to tell Aaron, "None of your descendants who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me. This applies for all time to come.
Lev 21:18 No man with any physical defects may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;
Lev 21:19 no one with a crippled hand or foot;
Lev 21:20 no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch.
Lev 21:21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me.
Lev 21:22 Such a man may eat the food offered to me, both the holy food offering and the very holy food offering,
Lev 21:23 but because he has a physical defect, he shall not come near the sacred curtain or approach the altar. He must not profane these holy things, because I am the LORD and I make them holy."
Lev 21:24 This, then, is what Moses said to Aaron, the sons of Aaron, and to all the people of Israel.

Wow! Reading this made me wonder about God and his demands for perfection and holiness. What is God telling me? It seems that God is so obsessed with perfection that no one can enter his temple at all!

Reading the Old Testament is a challenge. I am trying to read the Bible again without any commentaries and it’s proving to be difficult especially with passages like these.

I am thankful that we have the perfect sacrifice that will erase all our defects before God.

Eph 5:2 Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.

Leviticus 25

2007-08-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

Leviticus 24

2007-08-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

Lev 24:20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return.

Lev 25:42 The people of Israel are the LORD's slaves, and he brought them out of Egypt; they must not be sold into slavery.

Leviticus 23

2007-08-23T02:43:00.000-07:00

Leviticus 22

2007-08-22T02:42:00.000-07:00

Leviticus 21

2007-08-21T02:41:00.000-07:00

Lev 21:16 The LORD commanded Moses
Lev 21:17 to tell Aaron, "None of your descendants who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me. This applies for all time to come.
Lev 21:18 No man with any physical defects may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;
Lev 21:19 no one with a crippled hand or foot;
Lev 21:20 no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch.
Lev 21:21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me.
Lev 21:22 Such a man may eat the food offered to me, both the holy food offering and the very holy food offering,
Lev 21:23 but because he has a physical defect, he shall not come near the sacred curtain or approach the altar. He must not profane these holy things, because I am the LORD and I make them holy."
Lev 21:24 This, then, is what Moses said to Aaron, the sons of Aaron, and to all the people of Israel.

Wow! Reading this made me wonder about God and his demands for perfection and holiness. What is God telling me? It seems that God is so obsessed with perfection that no one can enter his temple at all!

Reading the Old Testament is a challenge. I am trying to read the Bible again without any commentaries and it’s proving to be difficult especially with passages like these.

I am thankful that we have the perfect sacrifice that will erase all our defects before God.

Eph 5:2 Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.

Leviticus 20

2007-08-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

Lev 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

Chapter 20 is full of “Do not.” It must be very difficult living in that age where there’s so much rules. One of my students at Sunday school commented that it’s so difficult being a Christian. He’s right because as a Christian, a born again at that, there’s so much pressure to be Christ like that it can drive one crazy. You’re not supposed to do this because you’re a born again; you’re not supposed to be like that, to speak like that, to dress like that, etc. I don’t know. All I said is that if you think and live your life as simply as possible, without thinking about the don’ts and start more with the do’s of living the life of a decent, hardworking and law abiding citizen (sometimes being a Christian is as simple as that) maybe he can lighten his burden.

He’s right it’s difficult being a born again Christian. But after reading this chapter of Leviticus and trying to imagine living under the law and not under grace…I mean...We’re blessed.

I am blessed for the law revealed the power of the grace of God.

It’s difficult being a Christian but it’s a lot better than living under the law.

God’s grace is sufficient.

Leviticus 19

2007-08-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

Lev 19:11 "Do not steal or cheat or lie.
Lev 19:12 Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the LORD your God.
Lev 19:13 "Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night.
Lev 19:14 Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the LORD your God.
Lev 19:15 "Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich.
Lev 19:16 Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the LORD.
Lev 19:17 "Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them.
Lev 19:18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 18

2007-08-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

Lev 18:4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the LORD your God.
Lev 18:5 Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the LORD."

Leviticus 17

2007-08-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

Lev 17:11 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the LORD has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins.
Lev 17:12 That is why the LORD has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it.
Lev 17:13 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt.
Lev 17:14 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the LORD has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people.

Leviticus 16

2007-08-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

Lev 16:11 When Aaron sacrifices the bull as the sin offering for himself and his family,
Lev 16:12 he shall take a fire pan full of burning coals from the altar and two handfuls of fine incense and bring them into the Most Holy Place.

It must be pretty expensive making sacrifices for atonement of sins for one’s self and family. For how many times does a person sin in a day?

In the Mosaic times a priest has a lot of complex cleansing rituals before they can enter the Most Holy Place because God’s nature demands it.

Made me appreciate Christ more and more because through him we can enter in God’s presence without hesitation for Christ has taken it upon himself to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice.

Heb 9:28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Leviticus 14

2007-08-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

Lev 14:8 You shall wash your clothes, shave off all your hair, and take a bath; you will then be ritually clean. You may enter the camp, but you must live outside your tent for seven days.
Lev 14:9 On the seventh day you shall again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body; you shall wash your clothes and take a bath, and then you will be ritually clean.

The Israelites knew quarantine.

Shaving the hairs removes disease carrying parasites.

It is amazing how these ancient people knew these things.

Leviticus 13

2007-08-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

Lev 13:1 The LORD gave Moses and Aaron these regulations.
Lev 13:2 If any of you have a sore on your skin or a boil or an inflammation which could develop into a dreaded skin disease, you shall be brought to the Aaronite priest.
Lev 13:3 The priest shall examine the sore, and if the hairs in it have turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the surrounding skin, it is a dreaded skin disease, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean…

The early Israelites practice, even in today’s standards, rigorous and sophisticated hygienic practices.

It is interesting that the priests not only played spiritual roles in the life of the early Israelites but they also act as doctors that diagnose diseases.

They even have regulations against mildews.

Leviticus 12

2007-08-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

Lev 12:1 The LORD gave Moses the following regulations
Lev 12:2 for the people of Israel. For seven days after a woman gives birth to a son, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period.
Lev 12:3 On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised.
Lev 12:4 Then it will be thirty-three more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; she must not touch anything that is holy or enter the sacred Tent until the time of her purification is completed.
Lev 12:5 For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. Then it will be sixty-six more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood.
Lev 12:6 When the time of her purification is completed, whether for a son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.
Lev 12:7 The priest shall present her offering to the LORD and perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean. This, then, is what a woman must do after giving birth.
Lev 12:8 If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean.

Leviticus 11-20

2007-08-09T00:07:00.001-07:00

Lev 11:44 I am the LORD your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.
Lev 11:45 I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.
Lev 11:46 This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground.
Lev 11:47 You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

I saw a TV evangelist expounding this chapter of Leviticus. He showed data proving the health benefits of eating this animal and that. He also showed data on why eating this kind of animal is harmful. The preacher was attempting to justify these regulations through scientific data. But I think he missed the point of all these regulations. Though trying to back these regulations with hard science to prove its validity and divinity is a noble endeavor, unfortunately these things are secondary considerations in the study of these dietary laws because what they are all about is obedience.

The Lord is guiding his chosen people to maturity.

Another thing is science is continually changing. It contradicts itself, revises itself and sometimes it is simply wrong. This makes it doubtful, even inappropriate to use science to justify immutable divine truths contained in the Bible. For thousand of years science has evolved but the Bible and its message remained as it was and will be.

Leviticus 1-10

2007-08-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

Lev 1:17 And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Lev 2:16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Lev 3:17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

Lev 4:1 The LORD commanded Moses
Lev 4:2 to tell the people of Israel that anyone who sinned and broke any of the LORD's commands without intending to, would have to observe the following rules.

Lev 5:15 If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:

Ignorance is not an excuse. Either one learn the hard way, that is, by making restitution, or one learn the easy way by taking the time to learn the Lord’s commandments.

The rules on sacrifices for the sin offering also acted as economic sanctions to the sinners.

The Lord demands perfection in sacrifices.

So many regulations, it seems that these regulations not only acted as a guide but they also acted as a sort of civilizing reigns for the primitive Israelites.

Exodus 35-40

2007-08-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

Exo 40:33 Moses set up the enclosure around the Tent and the altar and hung the curtain at the entrance of the enclosure. So he finished all the work.
Exo 40:34 Then the cloud covered the Tent and the dazzling light of the LORD's presence filled it.
Exo 40:35 Because of this, Moses could not go into the Tent.
Exo 40:36 The Israelites moved their camp to another place only when the cloud lifted from the Tent.
Exo 40:37 As long as the cloud stayed there, they did not move their camp.
Exo 40:38 During all their wanderings they could see the cloud of the LORD's presence over the Tent during the day and a fire burning above it during the night.

Chapters 35-40 is all about specifications. I can’t make anything out of these chapters. I am tempted to skip these chapters and the next book which is Leviticus which talks about more specifications and more specifications. What are these specifications all about?

Maybe I can’t understand these chapters because there’s no story in there. There are no characters to characterize, no conflict to learn something from, nothing. It’s like reading an engineering manual.

Three things I noticed about these chapters though:
1. Details--It seems that God love details.
2. Order—Everything must be done in such a way that God prescribes it.
3. Beauty—The articles, the dress, the tabernacke in everything that God told the Israelites to make, there’s beauty in them. The tabernacle must have been a beautiful structure.

It’s the little things. Why does God pay attention to little details? The Israelites ever obedient (and ever disobedient) to God executed the design that God had given them paying attention to every detail. What benefits the Israelites from these?

Maybe, God in telling the Israelites to build a tabernacle and all its implements and all the priestly garments paying attention to every detail was telling the Israelites that in following God up to the very littlest details, God was in fact helping the Israelites build a personal tabernacle of faith for themselves.

God seemed to be telling the Israelites this: “Hey, Israelites, my children, get busy and build the tabernacle and at the same time build your Godly character and identity.”

Exodus 34

2007-08-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

Exo 34:20 …"No one is to appear before me without an offering. “

Well, well, a very good reminder during the tithes and offering part of the worship service.

Chapter 34 talks a lot about rituals and offerings and feasts. Maybe a lot of nonsense today but writing down these specifications down is an order that came from God.

Exo 34:27 The LORD said to Moses, "Write these words down, because it is on the basis of these words that I am making a covenant with you and with Israel."

These rituals, offerings and feasts serves as a reminder to the Israelites of their covenant with God.

Exodus 33

2007-08-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

Vs. 12-17

Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. ‘You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”

Then Moses said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?

The people of Israel have survived because of their belief in YHWH. YHWH has become part of their identity that to think of an Israelite who does not believe in YHWH is to think of an Israelite that is not an Israelite. When Moses came back from Mt. Sinai, he commanded the Levite to put to the sword those who denied YHWH by worshipping the golden calf.

Lord what will happen to us once you remove your presence? Moses asked God, because Moses knew that once the Lord removes his presence from the Israelites his people will not last. Either they will be vanquished or they will be absorbed by the other people. It is their belief in YHWH that makes the Israelites different that separates them from all the other nations on the face of the earth and this made them the chosen people of YHWH for YHWH had chosen them first (Gen. 12).

What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?

Obedience, plain and simple obedience to God.

Exodus 32

2007-08-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

Exo 32:19 When Moses came close enough to the camp to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing, he became furious. There at the foot of the mountain, he threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them.
Exo 32:20 He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it.

The Israelites thought that Moses was gone. They thought that he would not come down again from Mount Sinai. With Moses gone (so they thought) the Israelites began to be restless. They asked Aaron to make a golden calf that they can worship, a god that will replace the God of Moses, a god they can manipulate.

When Moses and Joshua heard the noise, they thought that the Israelites were in battle. But Moses knew that it’s not the sound of battle but a sound of celebration for the Lord spoke to Moses and told him what was happening in the Israelite camp. When they returned, they found the Israelites celebrating, feasting and worshipping an idol.

In anger the Lord meant to destroy the Israelites but Moses pleaded on their behalf.

Exodus 25-31

2007-08-02T04:56:00.000-07:00

Exo 31:16 The people of Israel are to keep this day as a sign of the covenant.
Exo 31:17 It is a permanent sign between the people of Israel and me, because I, the LORD, made heaven and earth in six days, and on the seventh day I stopped working and rested."
Exo 31:18 When God had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two stone tablets on which God himself had written the commandments.

I was reading these chapters of the exodus and just like the last verses I can’t make anything out of it. The chapters talked about building these and building that complete with specific measurements and rituals and priestly ornaments. But these traditions have served the people of God for so long but are they still useful and meaningful for Christians today?

But reading these chapters made me realize how God put order to the Israelites—through little things.

Maybe I can learn something from these chapters like making sure that little things are within Gods specifications like my Sunday school lesson plans, or my prayers, how I pray, who I pray, devotions etc. Little things that I take for granted little things like measurement of an altar, priestly garments, little things, those seemingly meaningless little things that if we add together becomes a tabernacle.

Exodus 21-24

2007-08-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

To tell the truth I want to skip these parts of the Bible that deals with legalities. So many rules and laws that, speaking today, is so primitive and some are even so common sensical that they ought not to have been written at ll. What benefit are these for so devotional reader of the Bible. Unless one is a biblical scholar or a theologian or a law student, these chapters can be a fascinating area of study.

These rules and laws are the foundation of our jurisprudence; that is undeniable. These divine-human laws created civilization and paved the way for the revelation of God in Christ.

Exo 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Exo 24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

These laws are a revelation of God for God is God of order.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Up to now these laws and rule are still much relevant as they were during the times of the Patriarch.

These laws reveal grace.

To tell the truth I don’t know what to make of these chapters.

Exodus 20

2007-07-27T05:12:00.000-07:00

The Ten Commandments

Exo 20:1 God spoke, and these were his words:
Exo 20:2 "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.
Exo 20:3 "Worship no god but me.
Exo 20:4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.
Exo 20:5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.
Exo 20:6 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.
Exo 20:7 "Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the LORD your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.
Exo 20:8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 You have six days in which to do your work,
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work---neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country.
Exo 20:11 In six days I, the LORD, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the LORD, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
Exo 20:12 "Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.
Exo 20:13 "Do not commit murder.
Exo 20:14 "Do not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 "Do not steal.
Exo 20:16 "Do not accuse anyone falsely.
Exo 20:17 "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns."

What can I say? Still meaningful and powerful and relevant today. Hearing some sermons and sometimes even in reading some Christian literatures, there’s this tendency to make the ten commandments non-relevant because no one can really be expected to follow them, no one can perfect them, it cannot save, Christ is the fulfillment of the law, grace abounds etc. But the ten commandments has guided God’s chosen people for almost all its existence and that, I think, should make me think twice about relegating the Ten Commandments to “simply revealing sins”--it is still a powerful guide on Christian living.

Exodus 19

2007-07-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

Exo 19:16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled with fear.
Exo 19:17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

I was preparing my Sunday school lesson about the doctrine of God when I encountered the word “transcendence.” I was a little apprehensive to use the term “transcendence” in the class because it’s not an everyday word—too fancy. But once in a while I had this feeling that in talking about God, we can’t help but use fancy words because God is too much for ordinary words.

The Israelites went out of their camp to meet God. Of course, they can’t stand the holiness of God; they wouldn’t survive if they caught even just a glimpse of God’s glory. God is communing with the Israelites but there’s a natural divide that the Israelites cannot bridge--the perfection, holiness, spirituality and glory of God.

Exo 19:21 and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die.

Christ bridged that gap.

Gal 4:4 But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law,
Gal 4:5 to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God's children.
Gal 4:6 To show that you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, "Father, my Father."
Gal 4:7 So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children.

But still God is God and as long as I am here in this world my understanding of God will still be limited by what I can understand about Him but through Christ I can now come into God’s presence without fear for I am justified in God’s presence, declared holy by the blood of Christ.

Exodus 18

2007-07-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

Exo 18:24 Moses took Jethro's advice
Exo 18:25 and chose capable men from among all the Israelites. He appointed them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
Exo 18:26 They served as judges for the people on a permanent basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding the smaller disputes themselves.

Jethro must have seen Moses haggard, tired and stressed because Moses is doing everything by himself. He’s making big and small decisions and he’s settling big and small disputes, in short he’s governing Israel alone. Jethro advised Moses to organize Israel, to give responsibilities to responsible Israelites and for him to work only at the important matters about government. Moses listened to his father in law’s wisdom and he was freed of most of his burdens.

God is a God of order.

This reminds me of Paul and the Corinthians. The Corinthians was a disorganized church. There was factionalism, tongues, super spirituals vs. baby Christians and immorality and legal suits and many others. What is Paul’s admonition? “Hey you people, behave! Put everything in order!” (1Co 14:40)

Organization….hmmmmm…lives should be organized according to God’s will, churches should be organized according to God’s will, everything should be organized according to God’s will.

Exodus 17

2007-07-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

Exo 17:11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning.
Exo 17:12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down.
Exo 17:13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites.

Moses must have been so tired holding both his hands up while the battle rages on below him. So, Aaron and Hur helped by holding his hands up. The Israelites won the battle because God helped them, because Moses held up his hands, because Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands, and because Joshua and the Israelites fought bravely.

God helps Christians win their battles if they do their part, if they help one another like Aaron and Hur helping Moses (Gal 6:2) to hold up his hands to bless the Israelites while they fought for the Lord, by fighting each of their individual battles bravely (Gal. 6:5) the way Joshua fought the Amalekites, and by putting one’s trust in the Lord (Isa. 40:31) the way the Israelites had done when battling the Amalekites.

Exodus 16

2007-07-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

Exo 16:1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.
Exo 16:2 There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron
Exo 16:3 and said to them, "We wish that the LORD had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death."
Exo 16:12 "I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the LORD, am their God."

God heard the Israelite’s complaining and acted on them.

Maybe complaining to God is not that bad. Maybe complaining to God about circumstances and money and all that needs and wants is not bad because the scripture says that God hears complaints and acts on them. Like the Israelites and Sarah and Ishmael’s mother, they all complained and God heard them.

Yes, there’s nothing wrong with complaining to God for God hears my complaints. The wrong here is when I think that God is obligated to hear and act upon my complaints positively and instantly. Yes, there’s the error especially if I thought of biblical verses as if the verses were magic enchantments to make God “behave favorably” to my complaints. One theologian says that this kind of thinking about God belongs to the realm of magic and technology. He’s right. Sometimes I think that my God is too small, an idol, an enchantment, a servant at my beck and call.

God hears my complaints and acts on them according to his will and his sovereignty as the true God. Faith is believing in the truth that God is sovereign and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Exodus 15

2007-07-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

The song of Moses and Miriam

Vs. 1-18

The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.

Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.

Amen.

Exodus 14

2007-07-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Exo 14:13 Moses answered, "Don't be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the LORD will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again.
Exo 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still."

The exodus had already begun and Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt and they camped in the desert. The pharaoh hardened his heart, just as the Lord told Moses, and he pursued the Israelites. The Israelites, upon seeing Pharaoh’s troop, became restless and told Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”

Moses must have been a very patient man. As the leader and the pastor of the Israelites, people who have been enslaved by the Egyptians for hundreds of years, he faced the great challenge of leading a weakened people out of Egypt and out of bondage. When the going got tough and the great challenges came, the Israelites looked back and longed for the “comfort” of their former condition. They would rather have been a slave who knows that they will always be a slave than freemen with a promise of a land of their own. The Israelites faith in the Lord wavers every now and then and despite this, God still loved them and is still faithful to them.

Why is it that I can’t keep still? Whenever I have no money, I can’t keep still and I always looked back to the time when I was having fun, when I can do things that I can’t do now…etc.

God why is it that bad people have money? Why is it that politician have a lot of money? Why is it that I’m angry because I have no money? Why?

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

God I’m sorry that I sometimes forget that you’re blessing is not measured in money in good living, in an easy life. I always forget that the only measure of your blessings that we do not deserve is the blood of Christ, and that alone should be enough to grant peace in my heart. Help me be still and know that you are God, help me be still and be focused on You and your work, I pray that Your vision for my life will be my vision and not the vision of my old, sometimes creeping back, old nature. Help me God, help me God.

Amen.

Exodus 13

2007-07-17T23:08:00.000-07:00

Exo 13:11 "The LORD will bring you into the land of the Canaanites, which he solemnly promised to you and your ancestors. When he gives it to you,
Exo 13:12 you must offer every first-born male to the LORD. Every first-born male of your animals belongs to the LORD,
Exo 13:13 but you must buy back from him every first-born male donkey by offering a lamb in its place. If you do not want to buy back the donkey, break its neck. You must buy back every first-born male child of yours.
Exo 13:14 In the future, when your son asks what this observance means, you will answer him, 'By using great power the LORD brought us out of Egypt, the place where we were slaves.
Exo 13:15 When the king of Egypt was stubborn and refused to let us go, the LORD killed every first-born male in the land of Egypt, both human and animal. That is why we sacrifice every first-born male animal to the LORD, but buy back our first-born sons.
Exo 13:16 This observance will be a reminder, like something tied on our hands or on our foreheads; it will remind us that the LORD brought us out of Egypt by his great power.' "

I remember doing an oral report on Filipino Literature. I was explaining the Filipino pagan moon dance that symbolizes sacrifices to the native Filipino deity, Bathala. I was explaining sacrifices when the instructor, of all the people in the classroom, asked me why the need for sacrifices. I told the instructor that every religion has an idea of sacrifice, of redemption. Then not satisfied with my answer she asked the difference between Christian sacrifice, the death of Jesus, and the pagan sacrifices. I was stumped for a while, but I told her that the Christian sacrifice is the perfection of sacrifice, of one sacrificing for the redemption of all. I don’t know if the instructor was convinced but in reality that what Christ had done; he sacrificed himself for all humanity.

Col 1:13 He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son,
Col 1:14 by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.
Col 1:15 Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things.
Col 1:16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him.
Col 1:17 Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.
Col 1:18 He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.

Even the Lord God sacrificed his first born for our redemption. I should be reminded of this like a sign on my hand and my forehead.

Sometimes I forget this.

Exodus 6-12

2007-07-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

Exo 6:6 So tell the Israelites that I say to them, 'I am the LORD; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you.
Exo 6:7 I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt.
Exo 6:8 I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the LORD.' "

The Lord saw the suffering of his people and He reminded the Israelite of his covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses asked the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go but Pharaoh’s heart was hard just as the Lord told Moses. The Lord sent plagues to Egypt until the Pharaoh learned that he and his magicians were powerless against the Lord.

The Israelites celebrated the feast of pass over.

Exo 12:50 All the Israelites obeyed and did what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
Exo 12:51 On that day the LORD brought the Israelite tribes out of Egypt.

Exodus 5

2007-07-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Exo 5:22 Then Moses turned to the LORD again and said, "Lord, why do you mistreat your people? Why did you send me here?
Exo 5:23 Ever since I went to the king to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly. And you have done nothing to help them!"

Moses went to pharaoh and asked him if he could let the Israelite go so that they can make sacrifice to the Lord. Pharaoh refused and made the Israelite’s life more difficult by not giving them straws for making bricks while at the same time forcing the Israelites to make the same number of bricks.

The Israelites blamed Moses for their difficulties.

“Lord why do you mistreat your people?”

This is the impatient question of a person that had been under slavery for so long, like the Israelite. For these people there is comfort in the security under slavery and freeing them is more difficult than enslaving them.

Exodus 4

2007-07-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

Exo 4:31 They believed, and when they heard that the LORD had come to them and had seen how they were being treated cruelly, they bowed down and worshiped.

The Lord ordered Moses to perform the miracles he had shown to Moses in order to convince the pharaoh to free the Israelites. But the Lord knew that the pharaoh would resist.

When the Israelites heard that the LORD had come for them, they all bowed down and worshipped him.

Exodus 3

2007-07-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

Exo 3:13 But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is his name?' So what can I tell them?"
Exo 3:14 God said, "I am who I am. You must tell them: 'The one who is called I AM has sent me to you.'

Moses was tending his father in law’s sheep when he came upon the holy mountain of Sinai. There the Angel of the Lord appeared as a burning bush and spoke to him about freeing the Israelites out of Egypt.

Exodus 1-2

2007-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Generations had passed and the Egyptians have forgotten Joseph. The Egyptians were threatened by the growing number of the Hebrew so the king enslaved the Hebrews and he ordered the midwives throw in the Nile River every Hebrew male baby born. The midwives didn’t do what the king had ordered and in return they were blessed by God.

Moses was born. In order to save him from the Egyptians, his mother made a papyrus boat and floated the baby down the Nile River. The baby was picked up by an Egyptian princess and she named the baby Moses. Then the baby’s sister volunteered to provide a sitter for the baby—Moses’ mother.

Exo 2:11 When Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews, and he saw how they were forced to do hard labor. He even saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew, one of Moses' own people.
Exo 2:12 Moses looked all around, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
Exo 2:13 The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you beating up a fellow Hebrew?"
Exo 2:14 The man answered, "Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, "People have found out what I have done."

Moses saw the suffering of his people and was moved by it. But he was also disappointed at the Hebrew’s attitude towards their condition. It seemed that they had accepted their fate and were surrendered to it (2:14). When Moses killed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew he was forced to leave Egypt and flee to Midian. There he met his wife Zipporah and she gave birth to their first son Gershom.

God heard the groaning of his people and He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Moses was destined by God to lead God’s people out of Egypt.

God hears his people’s groaning.

Genesis 39-42

2007-07-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Story of Joseph

C. 39 Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife and when Joseph resisted the wife of Pothipar’s advances, he was accused of Rape and was imprisoned.
The Lord was with Joseph and Joseph was made in charge of those held in prison.

C. 40 Joseph interpreted the cupbearer and the baker’s dreams.

C. 41 Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams.

Gen 41:39 The king said to Joseph, "God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else.
Gen 41:40 I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine.
Gen 41:41 I now appoint you governor over all Egypt."

C. 42 Joseph’s brother’s

Gen 42:21 and said to one another, "Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now."
Gen 42:22 Reuben said, "I told you not to harm the boy, but you wouldn't listen. And now we are being paid back for his death."
Gen 42:23 Joseph understood what they said, but they did not know it, because they had been speaking to him through an interpreter.
Gen 42:24 Joseph left them and began to cry. When he was able to speak again, he came back, picked out Simeon, and had him tied up in front of them.

Joseph cried upon seeing his brothers. He can have his revenge on them but God’s grace in him made him forgiving and humble. He tricked his brothers so that he can see his younger brother and his father.

Joseph’s brother remembered what they did to Joseph and they were repentant.

2007-07-09T06:53:00.001-07:00

Genesis 38

Gen 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered.
Gen 38:16 He went over to her at the side of the road and said, "All right, how much do you charge?" (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.) She said, "What will you give me?"
Gen 38:17 He answered, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She said, "All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat."
Gen 38:18 "What shall I give you as a pledge?" he asked. She answered, "Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying." He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant.
Gen 38:19 Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow's clothes back on.

What is God telling me in this story? I don’t know maybe I don’t have to understand this one.

Gen 38:24 About three months later someone told Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant." Judah ordered, "Take her out and burn her to death."
Gen 38:25 As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are---this seal with its cord and this walking stick."
Gen 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her---I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage." And Judah never had intercourse with her again.

Tamar was accused of prostitution and when Judah found out he ordered that her daughter be taken out and burned. But he was humiliated when he found out that he was the one who made her daughter into a prostitute by sleeping with her.

How easy it is for me to pass judgment but how humiliating it is to find out later that in passing judgment I am passing judgment upon myself, like what happened to Judah.

I have failed in my obligations…I thank the Lord that it’s not late there’s still time to make up for it.

Praise the Lord for Pastor Pete Calderon’s operation. Pray for his recovery.

2007-07-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Genesis 35-37

C. 35- The death of Rachel and Isaac.

God has never faltered in his covenant with Isaac.

C-36 Esau’s descendants

C-37 Joseph’s dreams

Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

Joseph was his father’s favorite son. This caused his brothers to envy him. Joseph had visions and in his visions he saw his brother bowing down to him. This drove his brother to get rid of him by selling him to the Midianites, slave traders. Joseph was sold in Egypt.

Joseph’s brothers like Cain was taken over by their envy. They plotted to kill him but Reuben, who loves Jacob but not love Jacob enough to strongly oppose his brothers and protect Joseph, instead suggested that they threw him in an empty cistern. Then they sold Joseph.

This is a story that imparts a lesson about parenting—favoritism causes resentment. Jacob suffered because of this; he was heart broken when he heard the news that Joseph was slain by wild animals not knowing that it was his sons that did harm to Joseph.

But more importantly this story imparts a lesson on envy and the evil that it brings in the heart of men, evil that causes one to think of evil things about his brother, evil that makes one do harm to his brother; the evil that breaks the fellowship of love between brothers.

But the story does not end here for it still God’s will that prevailed.

Genesis 34

2007-07-03T00:51:00.000-07:00

Gen 34:30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have gotten me into trouble; now the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and everybody else in the land will hate me. I do not have many men; if they all band together against me and attack me, our whole family will be destroyed."
Gen 34:31 But they answered, "We cannot let our sister be treated like a common whore."

Shechem. Son of Hamor, ravaged jacob’s daughter Dinah. Shechem loved Dinah so he asked his father Hamor the Hivite, to negotiate with Jacob about marriage. Jacob’s son agreed but on the condition that Hamor and his people was to be circumcised. The Hivites agreed and circumcised all the Hivites so that they will be worthy of Jacob’s people. Unfortunately Jacob’s sons deceived the Hivites and when the opportunity came, they attacked and killed the Hivites.

Jacob was very disappointed at what his son had done.

If it was my sister maybe I would have done what Jacob’s son did. The Bible was quiet about Dinah, on how she felt about all these things. Maybe her grief was so great that it drove her brothers into a killing frenzy. But the Hivites humbled themselves to Jacob and did all what Jacob’s sons had suggested they do, but in the end they were still executed by Jacob’s son.

A difficult story in the Bible since I tend to think that the Bible is God’s word, the Bible is all goodness, spirituality and all those religious and beautiful and powerful ideas about the book. But this is a story that tells so much about human nature and not about God. Learn from it, this is the message of the story and of the Bible.

I should learn from it.

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Pray for Pastor Pete Calderon’s operation. Pray for financial provisions, healing and strength. Pray for his ministry.

Genesis 32 and 33

2007-07-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

Gen 33:1 Jacob saw Esau coming with his four hundred men, so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two concubines.
Gen 33:2 He put the concubines and their children first, then Leah and her children, and finally Rachel and Joseph at the rear.
Gen 33:3 Jacob went ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
Gen 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. They were both crying.

This is a beautiful story of brotherly love and reconciliation. Better read, not explained.

Gen 33:20 He put up an altar there and named it for El, the God of Israel.

Again a memorial for the Lord’s faithfulness to Jacob.

Genesis 31

2007-07-01T00:49:00.001-07:00

Gen 31:44 I am ready to make an agreement with you. Let us make a pile of stones to remind us of our agreement."
Gen 31:49 Laban also said, "May the LORD keep an eye on us while we are separated from each other." So the place was also named Mizpah.

This is the way the people in the early Old Testament settle differences, they separate and make covenant of peace making God as their witness from Abraham and Abimilech to Isaach and Abimilech and now between Jacob and Laban. They separate in peace with the promise and the assumption that each will keep his part of the bargain, or the oath breaker will have God to reckon with for his infidelity.

There is a lesson in all these. When conflicts arises where there’s no solution, separation in peace is a valid option and can be a blessing too.

Don’t use the name of God in vain, like in a promise that in the first place is not meant to be kept.

Gen 31:51 Here are the rocks that I have piled up between us, and here is the memorial stone.

This practice of erecting a memorial is good. I am thinking of practicing this in our church. I am teaching the Sunday school teachers and in our sharing time they have a lot of ideas and proposal for Sunday school projects and trainings etc. The problem is the people in my church tend to forget things. So one day I’ll just tell them to erect a stone in the sanctuary for every project proposed and after each project is accomplished, the stones will be removed from the sanctuary. Hmmmm… I don’t know but…the sanctuary may end up looking like Stonehenge. People in my church are good Christians they just have to be nudged into action once in a while.

I have to erect more memorials for God has been faithful to me and my family.

Genesis 29-30

2007-06-29T23:44:00.001-07:00

Gen 29:20 Jacob worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her.

Hmmm….Jacob really loved Rachel.

It seems that Abraham’s descendant is cursed with barren wives.

Gen 30:27 Laban said to him, "Let me say this: I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.

Laban is right, a person who believed and fears God is a blessing in the home.

Genesis 28

2007-06-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

Gen 28:12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.

How wonderful it must have been to see what Jacob had seen, a stairway from earth reaching to heaven, with angels going up and down on it. Jacob set up a stone pillar to remind him of God, he also promised to give God a tenth of what God will give to him.

God keeps his promises.

A reminder on tithing, ouch!

Genesis 27

2007-06-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

Gen 27:35 Isaac answered, "Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing."

Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup and now Jacob took away his blessing. Maybe Esau didn’t deserve the blessing.

This is a difficult story to understand because Jacob deceived Esau and yet Jacob was not punished by God and instead, in the later chapters, he was blessed by Him.

Genesis 26

2007-06-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

Gen 26:28 They answered, "Now we know that the LORD is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise
Gen 26:29 that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you go peacefully. Now it is clear that the LORD has blessed you."

God was Isaac’s ally and Abimilech knew that compared to the power of the Lord his army is no match against Him. So, rather than make Isaac an enemy, Abimilech deemed it better to make a treaty with him.

Rom 8:31 If God be for us, who can be against us?

Genesis c. 25

2007-06-24T23:41:00.000-07:00

Gen 25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Abraham’s lived the life of a faithful man and God, in his wisdom and goodness, kept his covenant with Abraham.

Gen 25:31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Gen 25:32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

The story of Esau and Jacob is one of the difficult stories in the Bible—most O.T. stories are, in fact, difficult because of the ethical issues posed by these stories.

Why did God favor Jacob?
Why did God favor Abel?
Why did God favor Isaac?

Why, it seemed that God always favored the second born.

Esau made one wrong decision; he has forsaken his future—his inheritance-- in favor of the need of his stomach. He had exchanged his inheritance for a bowl of soup. He had taken his birthright lightly and it was too late when he found out the consequences of his mistake. Esau put his physical need first.

What is my inheritance from the Lord? I pray that I be on guard lest I forsake my inheritance for the need, the pleasure and the gain of the body.

Genesis c. 24

2007-06-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

v. 7 The LORD, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son.

This is the story of how Isaac and Rebekah met and got married.

What is the story all about?

This is the story of Isaac and Rebekah but this is also the story of a faithful and prayerful servant.

The servant’s task is not easy; Abraham is asking him to find a wife for Isaac. He must really trust his servant because it is usually the fathers that do this task yet he gave the trust to his lowly servant. The servant proved that Abraham is right in his decision for he was not only a good servant but he was also believer in God, a worshipper of the LORD—a witness to the goodness of the Lord to his master. “I am Abraham’s servant and the Lord has blessed my master…”

The servant’s prayer is a prayer of good servant with a good master: “And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.”

Gob blessed Abraham because God gave Abraham a good servant.

Good friends and co-workers are blessings from God.

Genesis c. 23

2007-06-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

v. 4 "I am a foreigner living here among you; sell me some land, so that I can bury my wife."

Abraham mourned Sarah’s death. He went to buy a piece of land from the Hittite and there he buried her.

Abraham and his people led a nomadic life. They had no land to call their own, even burial land.

Christians are like Abraham’s people. They are nomads mingling with strangers; this world is not their home.

Genesis c. 22

2007-06-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he picked up the knife to kill him. Gen 22:9-10

It was faith that made Abraham offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. Heb 11:17

And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend. Jam 2:23

But, how about Isaac? What about his faith?

I remember a Sunday school discussion we had about Abraham. One of the members of the class said that Isaac trusted Abraham. Isaac had faith in Abraham that as his father he will not allow any harm to come to Isaac. So Isaac has faith in his father that no harm will come to him and Abraham has faith enough in God to trust his son, even his death, to God knowing that God giveth and God taketh. Will I do what Abraham has done? Listen to a voice telling to sacrifice our children in the name of God?

I will never be able to understand and experience Abraham’s faith. That’s why Abraham’s faith is the standard of faith.

Genesis c. 21

2007-06-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

v. 17-20 God heard the boy crying, and from heaven the angel of God spoke to Hagar, "What are you troubled about, Hagar? Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy crying.
Get up, go and pick him up, and comfort him. I will make a great nation out of his descendants." Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went and filled the leather bag with water and gave some to the boy. God was with the boy as he grew up; he lived in the wilderness of Paran and became a skillful hunter.

Abraham and Sarah had sent Hagar and Ishmael away for it was Isaac where Abraham’s offspring will be reckoned. But God did not forget Hagar and Ishmael.

Is God unfair?

A story like this is difficult to understand. Hagar and Ishmael were wrongly treated by Abraham and Sarah and yet God took their side. I remember the old and worn illustration of the white paper with a small dot in the middle and the first thing that people notice is the dot and not the white paper.

As I was trying to ask myself the question, is God unfair? The thing that comes into my mind is that of Abraham and Sarah banishing a mother and her child with so little provision that in reality it can only be called murder, and yet God still took Abraham and Sarah’s side and allowed the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael.

Now I’m seeing the dot and not the whole paper.

Maybe God allowed Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael because God knows that Hagar and Sarah will not be able to live together. Maybe this story teaches women that being a second wife has consequences, maybe this is all about family, maybe this is about Abraham and his leadership, maybe and maybe…

Maybe God is telling me that despite Hagar’s condition as the second wife and not deserving of anything at all, God still comforted her and made her son into a great nation.

God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians. Heb 6:10

Is God unfair?

Maybe it’s me who’s being unfair to God.

Now I’m starting to see the paper.

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Pray for one of our hardworking pastors, Pastor Pete Caderon, the Pastor of Ahon Evangelical Christian Baptist Church. Pastor Pete needs to undergo medical operations and he needs money for the procedure. Pray for God’s provisions and healing.

Genesis c. 20

2007-06-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

Vs. 3-6, One night God appeared to him in a dream and said, "You are going to die, because you have taken this woman; she is already married." But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, "Lord, I am innocent! Would you destroy me and my people?
Abraham himself said that she was his sister, and she said the same thing. I did this with a clear conscience, and I have done no wrong."

God replied in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience; so I kept you from sinning against me and did not let you touch her.

Abimilech must be very upset at Abraham because he lied to him and it almost cost Abimilech his life and his kingdom. But God kept him from sinning.

Temptation. This is the first thing that comes into my mind upon reading this story. Here was a Abraham with Sarah, a beautiful wife, offering her to Abimilech for good favor. It’s sexual trading, may I say. Abraham is tempting Abimilech to sin.

I tend to think that anything or anyone who (I think) tempts me is to be faulted. If I see a beautiful lady with a cleavage, and my eyes were tempted, my first instinct is to tell that lady to, “Hey, you’re a temptation! Get thee behind me Satan!” or I may pray “God keep that lady away from me”.

I sometimes forget what Christ said “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.” Mar 9:47

It is I that sins because I entertained temptation, not the object of my temptation. Sometimes I forget that. I can’t go around telling ladies prescribing what type of underwear to wear, what kind of shirt to wear so that I will not be tempted, so that others will not be tempted. Sin starts in the mind and grows in heart.

Can I blame some women for being beautiful and sexy? Surely not, their beauty and sexiness is God given and to treat God given attributes, like a beautiful face and a beautiful body, is wrong. I can only appreciate beauty, I hope, without sinning. Difficult!

Vithel, one me of my classmates asked me why “men are like that.” Like what? I asked. “They look at us girls as if they want us.” I told Vithel, “I am a man. It’s an instinct. If I see beautiful or attractive women, I will look. I can’t help it.” “Then you are sinning?” She smiled at me. “Vithel, looking is not sinning. When analysis sets in, that’s sinning.” She laughed.

God grace is sufficient and God’s grace keeps me from sinning, I just need to do my part—resist it. I hope when temptations sets in God will find me like Abimilech. "Lord, I am innocent! I have done no wrong.”
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Pray for one of our hardworking pastors, Pastor Pete Caderon, the Pastor of Ahon Evangelical Christian Baptist Church. Pastor Pete needs to undergo medical operations and he needs money for the procedure. Pray for God’s provisions and healing.

Genesis c. 19

2007-06-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Pray for one of our hardworking pastors, Pastor Pete Caderon, the Pastor of Ahon Evangelical Christian Baptist Church. Pastor Pete needs to undergo medical operations and he needs money for the procedure. Pray for God’s provisions and healing.

Sodom and Gomorrah

I can’t understand Lot’s story so I’m posting one sermon that I think will be helpful in understanding the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. This about compassion also.

Remember Lot’s Wife
By Sally Baehni Burgess
[Sally Baehni Burgess is the Associate Pastor of the Broadway Baptist Church
in Kansas City.]

What images come to mind when you hear the word compassion? Do you
think of righteousness, strength, power, and justice? Or do you think of
sentimentality, softness, maybe flabby convictions? Does the word compassion
stir up the image of a winner, someone who comes out on top in the end? Or
does the word conjure up the image of a loser, someone who feels too much,
isn’t rational enough, wears her bleeding heart on her sleeve?

The image that usually comes to mind for me is Jesus weeping over Jerusalem,
and I hear the words God said to Moses, “I AM Yahweh, the compassionate
and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness….”f1 And
just as I’m about to settle down into this image of compassion, I hear this little
voice coming from somewhere deep down in that “bad neighborhood” f2 part of
my mind saying, “Oh yeah? Well, what about Lot’s wife? And what about
Job’s wife? And Miriam? And Eve?

Seems like I’m always running smack dab into these Old Testament women
who are getting kicked out of paradise, contracting serious skin disorders, or
turning into salt licks.

Now some might view this as an obstacle. But I see it as good sermon fodder.
How come compassion and grace don’t seem to abound for these women?
What would we hear if we listened with compassion to their stories?
Last fall when I was on my old Seminary campus to hear Phyllis Trible’s
lecture series, I mentioned to Dr. Graves, my former preaching professor, that I
was thinking about preaching a sermon on Lot’s wife.
“Oh,” he said. “That’s an easy 3 point sermon. You don’t even need a poem at
the end because it rhymes.”
I waited.
Dr. Graves cleared his throat: “Lot’s wife in three points. She halted; she
faulted; she salted.”
The crowd that had gathered around us in the lunch room laughed.
“Good one, Dr. Graves,” I said. “Only, I’m not sure she faulted, at least not
any more or less than Lot did.”
“I’m not either,” he said. “But that’s about what her story has been reduced
to.”
And he’s right, because Lot’s wife is one of the losers in the Bible. But Phyllis
Trible said: If we want to hear the loser’s stories we just have to listen; we
have to look and listen with compassion for the voices in scripture that have
been silenced.

So I want to focus on the story of Lot’s wife because I want to invite you to
begin listening with compassion for the losers’ voices in Scripture. It’s a
discipline I’ve been practicing, and Iwant you to practice it with me now
because listening for “the view from below”f3 in Scripture helps tune our ears
to the voiceless ones in our communities, in our churches, in our city, our
country, in the world.

In our story from Genesis, Chapter 19, Lot’s wife is one of the losers along
with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 19 says: “But Lot’s wife looked
back, and she became a pillar of salt.” The comment at the bottom of my NIV

Study Bible says:

“Her disobedient hesitation became proverbial in later generations.
Even today grotesque salt formations near the southern end of the Dead
Sea are reminders of her folly.”f4
Poor Mrs. Lot. She never says a word through the entire story. And yet, she is
defined as foolish, disobedient, doubleminded — even greedy — generation
after generation after generation. It makes me curious. How do they know so
much about her, about her motives when she never says a word.
As the story begins, her husband brings home these alien travelers (who
actually are angels; the Lots don’t know it but we do because the narrator lets
us in on that little secret). Lot didn’t call before he came home with guests. He
didn’t give Mrs. Lot any warning that he was bringing two rough looking
strangers home to spend the night. She didn’t have a chance to pick up the
toys, do up the dishes, make up the guest room. No, he just appeared at the
door at the end of the day and said, “Honey, I’m home. And, uh, I brought a
couple of aliens home with me for dinner. Uh, they’ll be spending the night,
too.”

What does she say, what does she feel? We don’t know. She is silent.
Verse 3 says “He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast….”
Yeah, right! He’s been hanging out at the city gate all day. When did he have
time to cook a meal? My guess is that unless Lot was the first liberated man in
the Bible, he instructed his wife to prepare a meal and she did so — silently.
Well, then this horrible scene erupts outside of their house. A gang of men
surround the house and taunt Lot and his family, “Send out those aliens, those
foreigners. Send them out so that we can have a little fun with them, show
them where they stand, run them out of town, or kill them.” The verse says
“send them out so that we can know them,” and it is translated “so that we can
have sex with them.”

Because of that some want to stop listening here. It’s too uncomfortable so
they quickly and easily dismiss the “sin of Sodom” as homosexuality.
Something we wouldn’t do. But there are at least two very serious problems
with that interpretation. One is it assumes that having a same sex orientation
automatically means someone will engage in a violent gang rape. That tells me
we haven’t been listening — we haven’t been listening to the reports of the
war crimes, the gang rapes, that have been perpetrated in Bosnia by soldiers
against women and men; we haven’t been listening, we don’t want to hear the
reports about these same kinds of crimes being committed against inmates by
other inmates in our own American prison systems. Rape isn’t about
homosexuality or heterosexuality. It’s not about a sexual relationship at all. It’s
about power and humiliation and abuse. But we haven’t been listening; we
haven’t wanted to hear.

The second problem is this interpretation doesn’t take seriously what the Bible
says the sin was in Sodom and Gomorrah. It lets those of us who are
heterosexual off the hook; but we are not off the hook. Isaiah names the sins of
Sodom and Gomorrah as mistreatment of the alien, abuse of the outcast, and
lack of justice for the powerless, for those with no voice. We must allow the
scripture to confront us about those parts of ourselves that commit the same sin
as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah: We lack hospitality; and we lack
compassion for the “aliens” in our midst, for the ones who are different from
us.

There is an inherent fear of the foreigner that we humans feel. You can see the
evidence of our fear if you listen to the things we humans say. Remember how
we were so sure, at first, that an Arab terrorist had bombed the federal building
in Oklahoma? Remember the disbelief expressed in Israel recently when they
learned that Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by a Jew? “Jews don’t do
this to Jews,” they said. “We would expect this from a foreigner but not from a
Jew.”

We’re not that different from the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. This
hospitality thing, this welcoming the stranger in our midst, hearing the voice of
the voiceless is hard stuff for us, too. We don’t do it very well either.
Last May my husband and I visited his sister, Mary, in Ohio. While we were
there, one of my husband’s nieces came through with some of her friends.
Anna is an art major at Kansas University. She and her friends had been
traveling around the country visiting some of the nations art museums.
I’ve known Anna since she was little and I’ve always liked her. She’s very
creative, very intelligent. And so when she turned sixteen and dyed half of her
hair orange and the other half purple, I didn’t think too much about it. That
was just Anna. I knew her. She was all right. But when she arrived at Mary’s
and her friends got out of the van with their hair sticking up in these spiked
things, and their leather jackets and chains, I said to Mary, “They look really
scary. Do you think they’re trying to make a statement? Do you think they’ll
hurt us?”

Mary said, “I don’t know. Why don’t we go in and make a pot of coffee? We’ll
sit and talk, find out who they are.”
Ah, Mary! Hospitality — the compassionate way!f5
Holding a cup of boiling hot coffee in my hand I felt a little more secure. We
talked; we asked questions about their travels, about their plans for the future.
We listened to their dreams about the places they wanted to go, the art
businesses they wanted to open. They really loosened up, and so did we.
And then I noticed that their “chains” were actually pieces of jewelry they had
designed and made themselves. Now it’s not like any jewelry I would wear;
but then I’m 40.

The scene at the van saying goodbye was a whole lot more fun than saying
hello had been. There were hugs all around.
After they left, Mary kidded me about my fears: “Sally, when you were in high
school didn’t you have really long hair and hang out with kids who wore a lot
of beads and macrame and bell bottoms?”
I didn’t say a word. I was silent.
Hospitality, that’s what Lot offered the strangers. He was so earnestly
hospitable he was even willing to sacrifice his daughters for the strangers’
safety. “Here are my daughters,” he says to the angry mob in verse 6. “Do
what you like with them.”

Thank heaven the angels were more liberated than Lot. Thank heaven that
daughters, women, were not aliens to the messengers of God. And Lot’s wife?
What did she feel when she saw her husband’s lack of compassion for his own
daughters? What must she have felt when she saw the messengers of God
value her daughters, save them from their own father? There is only silence.
When the angels finally tell Lot and his family to flee, Lot hesitates a couple of
times, bargains some with the angels, even changes the arrangements. His wife
hesitates one time and yet “her disobedient hesitation becomes proverbial”; she
turns into a pillar of salt. And we assume this means she was punished for her
disobedience; that the God who had been so patient with Lot, lost patience
with her.

Well, there’s another interpretation. It’s called a midrash. A midrash is a story
(sometimes a very old story passed down to us by our Hebrew ancestors) told
by those who study the Old Testament stories and wonder about what has been
left out, about the silent parts. So they add an explanation, a midrash to help us
listen.

Why did Lot’s wife turn around and look? Was it disobedient hesitation?
Maybe. Was it greed? Was she foolishly longing after all the material things
she had to leave behind in order to flee? Maybe. And why did she turn into a
pillar of salt? Was it punishment?

Well, the midrash says “she turned around out of compassion for those who
had been left behind, and the pillar of salt was from her tears.”f6
Compassion can be costly; compassion can seem like folly. The cross seems
like foolishness to some. And yet, the Apostle Paul writes: “…the foolishness
of God is wiser than [human] wisdom….”f7

Let me close with a story about an ordinary, foolish — somewhat costly —
compassionate act that Anne Lamott writes about in her book, Operating
Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year. Lamott is the single parent of a
newborn baby. The baby’s father has chosen to be out of the picture so she’s
on her own with a few good friends. Well, the baby is colicky and has been
ever since he came home from the hospital six weeks ago. No one — not the
baby; not the mom — is getting any sleep, and Lamott has finally reached that
“zombie point” where you’re so exhausted you’re not sure if you’re going to
cry or kill something.

Then something truly amazing happened.

A man from church showed up at our front door, smiling and waving to me
and Sam, and I went to let him in. He is a white man named Gordon, fiftyish,
married to our associate pastor, and after exchanging pleasantries he said,
“Margaret and I wanted to do something for you and the baby. So what I want
to ask is, what if a fairy appeared on your doorstep and said that he or she
would do any favor for you at all, anything you wanted around the house that
you felt too exhausted to do by yourself and too ashamed to ask anyone else to
help you with?”
“I can’t even say,” I said. “It’s too horrible.”

But he finally convinced me to tell him, and I said it would be to clean the
bathroom, and he ended up spending an hour scrubbing the bathtub and toilet
and sink with Ajax and lots of hot water. I sat on the couch while he worked,
watching TV, feeling vaguely guilty and nursing Sam to sleep. But it made me
feel sure of Christ again, of that kind of love. This, a man scrubbing a new
mother’s bathtub, is what Jesus means to me. As Bill Rankin, my priest friend,
once said, spare me the earnest Christians.f8

Spare me the earnest Christians; give me the compassionate ones.
May God grant each one of us the grace and the strength to follow the
compassionate way, to see the view from below, to listen to the voices of the
voiceless, and in doing so to experience new life, new joy, healing and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Endnotes
ft1 From Exo. 34: 6.
ft2 In her book, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year, Anne
Lamott writes: “My mind is a bad neighborhood that I try not to go into
alone.” It’s a metaphor I connect with not only because I, too, have a
family of Greek “furies” living in my head ready to pounce and beat the
stuffing out of me at the least little mistake. But also because the questions
I ask lead me into unconventional thoughts that have gotten me in trouble
more than once with conventional thinkers.
ft3 I first heard this expression in Fr. Richard Rohr’s articles and tapes. I have
since heard it in various forms from other feminist and liberationist
theologians.
ft4 From The NIV Study Bible, page 34
ft5 For a marvelous description of “the compassionate way” read Compassion:
A Reflection o the Christian Life by Henri J. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill,
and Douglas A. Morrison.
ft6 I read this midrash in the introduction to a book titled But God Remembered:
Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land by Sandy Sasso.
ft7 1Co. 1:25.
ft8 Lamott, Anne. Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year,
page 70.

Genesis c. !8

2007-06-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

v.13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Just like Abraham who fell faced down and laughed when the Lord said he will have a child, Sarah laughed too. But the Lord reacted to Sarah’s laughter. Why? Maybe it’s because Sarah’s laughter was tinged with scorn. Who would not be? She’s already way, way past the fertile age. Abraham can laugh all he wants but he can still sire children; but for Sarah, the thought of getting pregnant at that age must have sounded to her like a big bad joke. I can’t blame Sarah for laughing at God.

I doubt God, I laugh at God because I tend to think that some things are difficult for the Lord.

How can one have faith without doubt?

If a person has only faith and no doubt, nothing that the Lord can do can be called divine. Just like Sarah when the Lord said she will conceive Isaac, she doubted the Lord. But when she did give birth to Isaac, she knew that because of her doubt, God performed an act that is beyond the power of anyone and anything ever known. She doubted God but she later realized that there is really nothing too difficult for the Lord to do.

If she did not doubt all she would have said is, yeah, yeah, yeah, so what, I’m preggy and I will name the baby Isaac…blah, blah, blah as the Lord commanded…But because of her doubt and Abraham’s doubt, the fulfillment of God’s covenant is ever more sweeter.

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. The opposite of faith is unfaithfulness, infidelity to God—idolatry.

Little by little doubts are overcome and every time doubts are overcome faith grew little by little for in weakness there is strength.

….when I am weak God makes me strong. (2 Cor. 12:10)

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Pray for one of our hardworking pastors, Pastor Pete Calderon. He needs to undergo surgery for his hernia and prostate. Pray for healing, financial provisions and strength.

“All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28

Genesis c. 17

2007-06-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

v. 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear at the age of ninety?”

Maybe what’s funny was that at the age of hundred years Abraham was still uncircumcised. Nah, just having fun. Of course what made Abraham laughed was that at his age and at Sarah’s age, it is impossible for them to conceive a child.

Funny, funny, funny…

How many times have I laughed at God? Me do this, me does that? Me go there, me go here? Lord you know my conditions and my weaknesses will I not be that I will become funny an oddity, a stumbling block?

Funny, funny, funny…

I always laugh at God. I hope I’m not sinning but I do laugh at God. I doubted God. I doubted his abilities, I doubted his grace.

I laugh at God sometimes.

I remember Thomas. He must be laughing inside (like Abraham) when he saw a man claiming to be the risen Christ.

So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!" (John 20:25-28)

Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Maybe this is the funniest and the most powerful words that Thomas exclaimed in all of his life. Why? Thomas was a disciple and those times that Christ’s taught salvation and resurrection he thinks of himself as convinced of this truth, yet when Christ appeared to him in person he doubted.

How many times have I laughed at but I always ended up shouting my Lord my God!

I remember when I resigned from my job (my boss resigned so I had to resign also) and the first few weeks and months is so depressing that I shouted, to myself of course, “My Lord, My God help me!”

Abraham laughed because he doubted.
But God is faithful whether I doubt or not is not important as long as I have enough faith in my heart to laugh at God and to laugh at my doubts.

God keeps his promises. Though it is beyond our powers to claim them for God is sovereign.

“I am God almighty, walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between you and me…(vs. 1-2)

Genesis c.16

2007-06-16T04:12:00.000-07:00

v.11…you shall name her Ishmael for the Lord has heard your misery.

Sarai blamed God for their barrenness and instead she chose to decide for her own on starting a family. Sarai ordered Hagar, her servant, to sleep with Abram, so that she could conceive. Sarai hoped to start a family with Hagar’s baby, but it backfired on her. Hagar began to despise Sarai and Sarai mistreated Hagar. Hagar Fled and the Angel of the Lord found her near a spring in the desert where the Lord gave his promise to Hagar to increase her descendants.

To tell the truth I don’t like this story, it may take time before I understand biblical stories like these.

But that’s the Bible it’s a book of the stories and history of humanity and how God acted within history; it is not a collection of fairy tales.

The Lord hears our misery.