Tue, 28 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Luke 14:7-11

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

A ruler of the Pharisees invited Jesus and a number of other guests to dine with him on the Sabbath. At the party, Jesus healed a man, realizing the Pharisees would think it was a violation of the Sabbath (the whole thing probably was a setup to see if Jesus would violate their idea of Sabbath observance or not). After this confrontation, He notes how those who were invited are jockeying for the places of most prominence at the table.

Jesus tells them this parable, to illustrate how we should be humble in our dealings with others rather than always to exalt ourselves.

What do we learn from this?

We tend to think that we must make the most of every opportunity given us. We must do everything we can to promote ourselves, since no one else will do it. If the most prominent seat is available, grab it for yourself. Take it even if you have to push and shove a few people out of the way. Show the world how significant your are. After all, you ARE the most important person.

Jesus tells us we are not to be like this. If we promote ourselves, we will rightly be cut down to size by others. But if we are humble about ourselves, others will realize our true worth and will acknowledge it.

This does have applicability in our lives here in time. We have all known people who are constantly promoting themselves and cutting down others. In most cases everyone sees through their act and despises them. We’ve seen the coworker who claims the credit and denigrates the contributions of others. They might seem to succeed for a while, but soon people realize who really is doing the work, and the credit grabber is unmasked for what they are: an unscrupulous charlatan. We’ve seen the selfish sports star who thinks too highly of themselves to the detriment of the team, and ends up being reviled by the players and fans.

But here in time, things don’t always work out that way. Sometimes the credit grabber is universally admired for something they didn’t do, and the true genius behind their success is never recognized and rewarded.

So this does teach us something about how things work generally (though not always) here on earth. But in eternity, the principle Jesus is teaching is universally true. There are many people who are doing tremendous work for the kingdom of God, and no one knows it, while others who are in fact doing much less are taking all the credit for themselves.

I’ve always thought that it will be interesting when we get to heaven to see who is there and who isn’t. I have a feeling we might be surprised. (That’s the point of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, isn’t it.) And it will be interesting to see who is honored more than the others. I have a feeling those most honored will not always be the ones we expect. I think we might find that the woman no one noticed but who faithfully raised her children and prayed for the salvation of the lost for her 80 years on earth might be seated higher than the mega-church pastor who had a radio and television ministry. The child who gave his entire allowance to further the kingdom of God might be seated higher than the elder who gave the invocation in the most flowery and beautifully worded prayers.

This is not to say that the pastor of the mega-church or the elder with the great public prayers are not serving God. Perhaps they are serving to a greater level. But the great temptation for the person who is performing a spiritual function before an crowd is to perform for the acclaim of the people rather than to be serving God. It is very easy to seek to please people rather than to seek to please God. And in doing so, the person of public ministry is taking for themselves the position of highest honor, when in fact, God has reserved that place for those who have truly served Him, although they have done so in complete obscurity.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jesus’ human existence is an illustration of this principle. He humbled Himself in obedience to the Father and as a result is now exalted to the highest position.

Philippians 2:3-11

³ Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Mon, 27 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Exodus 10:1-2

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, ² and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Why was Pharaoh so slow to realize the destruction occurring to his country? Why didn’t he let Israel go until after the final, tenth plague. We see later in this chapter, before the eighth plague of locusts, Pharaoh’s servants beg him to relent and let Israel go. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined? they ask him. Why does Pharaoh not listen to his servants? Why doesn’t he do what they ask? Why does he refuse to let them go?

Because it is God’s will that this should continue on to the tenth plague. It is God’s will to show His power to the Egyptians, but even more so to show His power to Israel. It is God’s will that His people see this and remember it. It is God’s will that His people tell this to their children so the memory of it will continue.

What do we learn from this?

God is in control of all things. He does use His power to bring good into people’s lives. He also uses His power to bring calamity into people’s lives. We can’t always tell the exact reason something bad happens, but here God has told us why He has allowed His people to suffer and why He has allowed the Egyptians to not let them go. God is using this situation as an opportunity to display His power to His enemies and to His people. He is displaying that He is God.

Also notice how God desires that His people remember what He has done in the past. We are not to forget His great acts done to save His people in the past. We read about them in the Bible, and we should think of them as done for us. This is how God saved our spiritual parents. This is how God saved the church that came before us. We share an heritage with them, and so in a sense God was saving us when He saved them. God brought us out of Egypt when He brought Israel out under Moses. We need to tell our children of how God has displayed His power in saving us from the bondage of Egypt.

Where is Christ in this passage?

As we tell our children the great story of God saving His people in history, the story continues beyond what God did here in Exodus. We see Him acting in many times and ways, but it is all building until we get to the New Testament. Then we come to the great salvation that God provides for all of His people in all of time: Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus Christ that we find God’s complete display of His love and power as He defeats sin and makes a people for Himself. We need to personally know this salvation God has won for us in Jesus Christ and to teach it to our children as well.

Sun, 26 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

We have now come to Paul’s great love chapter where he rhapsodizes on the vital necessity of our love. Through the use of hyperbole (tongues of angels, understand all mysteries, faith to remove mountains, deliver up my body to be burned), Paul makes clear that in all we do, we should seek to be displaying love to those around us.

What do we learn from this?

It is possible for us to do the right things even great things, but to do them for the wrong reasons. We can do them motivated by the desire for people to praise us. Or we can do them hoping to please God and to be accepted by Him on the basis of our “good” work.

Paul has been talking about how a church should use the various talents God has given its members. There is something important for everyone to do. And everyone has some gift God has given them to use for service to the church. But in all the activity, in all the exercise of these skills, Paul emphasizes that we must do it all motivated by love.

Where is Christ in this passage?

When we think of the love of Jesus Christ, we are drawn to what He did for His people: He took their sins upon Himself on the cross. He bore the punishment due to the people whom He loved. The greatest act ever done was motivated by love.

Sat, 25 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Job 26:2-4

² “How you have helped him who has no power!
How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
³ How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?

Today’s reading completes the third and final round of the discourses of the friends of Job.

In today’s reading, Bildad doesn’t bring any specific charge against Job. Instead, he speaks on something they all agree upon: God’s greatness. God is too great for man, a mere worm, to be justified before Him.

Perhaps Bildad is trying to defuse the situation. He knows Job might be right, or he knows Job will not back down, so why fight any more. Or perhaps he sees the position of the friends as only slightly different from Job’s position: The evil perish versus the evil eventually perish. Perhaps Bildad is just so upset that he can’t speak anything to the point.

In any case, his speech makes no new contribution and makes you wonder why he bothered to speak at all. In any case, Bildad is the last of the three friends to speak as Zophar doesn’t even bother to take his turn in this third and final round of discussions.

It is clear that the friends have completely failed to refute Job, and they are giving up on the attempt.

And so Job asks what they intended to do. How does attacking a man when he is in a desperate situation help anything? How can it help to continually heap abuse upon a man who has just lost everything?

Job then asks where such words could possibly come from. These are not the words of counsel from his wise friends, but they come from another source.

What do we learn from this?

I believe Job has realized the true source of the oppression he has been experiencing from his friends. Eliphaz told us in his first speech that the source of his understanding of God’s judgment against man was a spirit that visited him in the night. The three friends then build upon this to claim that Job is clearly guilty because they can see God’s judgment against him. I believe this was an evil spirit and that is the moving power behind this sustained attack against the suffering Job.

In all of this, Job’s friends are arguing Satan’s case to Job. Satan has said that Job will curse God when things go badly, and to this point Job has not done so. He has spoken rashly. But his wife takes Satan’s side and urges him to curse God and die. The three friends keep heaping abuse upon Job, encouraging him to be angry with God. They bring a message of God’s anger and condemnation, and they do not bring a message of God’s love and mercy. The friends are leading Job to despair of God’s love and mercy rather than to find it a source of hope.

Where is Christ in this passage?

It is possible for us to cause great harm for people who are suffering. We can bring a message of condemnation and judgment that crushes those who are weak. And when we do so, although it is not intent, we are uttering the words of Satan.

There is a time to bring the word of God’s anger against sin. But we must be quick to follow it up with the message of God’s love and mercy upon those who are in Christ Jesus. Our goal isn’t to crush them, but to point them to their need for Jesus Christ.

Fri, 24 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Luke 10:1-12

¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ² And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Jesus tells His disciples to pray for workers to bring the gospel to the myriads of people who need to hear. He encourages them to be concerned about the lost. He tells them to consider the needs of the people and to pray for God to provide them what they need.

And as they are encouraged to pray, Jesus sends them out to fulfill the prayer they are praying.

What do we learn from this?

God ordains the end. What is going to happen is ordained by God. The people who are going to come to salvation are already chosen by God. Scripture calls these people God’s chosen and His elect. God has ordained their end: Heaven.

But not only does God ordain the end. He also ordains the means to accomplish His ordained end. And so we see in this passage that God has the disciples consider the lost and pray for their salvation, but He also sends them out to bring them the gospel so that they can be saved. And in having them pray for the lost, Jesus uses those who are praying to accomplish the answer to their own prayer. He uses them to bring the very message that they need to hear in order to fulfill the prayer for the salvation of the lost. He has ordained them as the means to bring about the salvation of His people.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jesus Christ gives us the great privilege and responsibility to bring the news of His gospel to the people around us. He wants us to pray for the salvation others, and to look around us to see how God can use us to bring the message of salvation to those around us who need to hear it.

Thu, 23 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Exodus 6:1

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

Moses has returned from his first encounter with Pharaoh and he is greatly discouraged. Things haven’t well so far. When Moses asks Pharaoh to let Israel go for three days to celebrate a feast to the LORD, not only does Pharaoh not release the people, but he increases the difficult of their task in making brick. They still have to make the same amount of bricks in a day, but the Israelites are no longer given straw. So now they have to gather straw in addition to the work they previously had to do.

The previous chapter ends with Moses crying out to God in frustration at what is happening. God hasn’t delivered the people, and by following God’s commands, things are only getting worse.

In the beginning of this chapter we have God’s reply to Moses. This is God’s comfort to Moses’ distress.

What do we learn from this?

Once again we see that God is in control in the difficult times. We are tempted to think that when things go “wrong” for us, God has abandoned us, or that God has lost control of the situation. But instead, we see that God is in control in the midst of our difficulties. God has a purpose for the trying times we face, and they only come to us through God’s providence.

God tells Moses that it is in this context of increased suffering that He will work to bring the release of His people. God will show His strong hand and cause the very Pharaoh who now persecutes them to drive them out of his land. God is telling Moses to be patient and watch. God will act in a powerful way to accomplish His purposes. Things are bad, and they will get worse. But this is because God is in control, not because He has lost control.

We don’t always know what purpose God has in what He brings into our lives. But we can be confident that God will use everything, good and bad, for His glory and for our good.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Moses has been the mediator between Pharaoh and God and between the people and God. He speaks God’s words to both Pharaoh and to the people, and he prays for the plight of the people, bringing their suffering before God.

Moses is a picture of Christ as our Mediator. Jesus Christ is our go-between. It is through Jesus Christ that we have access to God the Father. Jesus Christ has brought us the full and final word of God to us. And He intercedes for us even now, pleading our case before the Father.

Wed, 22 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

1 Corinthians 9:1-2

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

In this section of his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul is dealing with people who are questioning his authority. And so he asks the rhetorical question, Am I not an apostle? Why is Paul an apostle? Because he was specially appointed an apostle when Jesus Christ appeared to him. And Paul tells us that the churches formed under his ministry, especially the church at Corinth, are the result of his apostleship.

What do we learn from this?

God worked specially in Paul, calling him to the role of apostle (sent one) to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. He has faithfully served in this role. He doesn’t lightly throw around His credentials, just to impress people, but because of the harm that was going on in the church. He is greatly concerned for them, and he is afraid of the harm caused by those who who are undermining Paul’s authority. And so this chapter is to reassert his credentials and authority.

The role of apostle has died out with the specially appointed apostles of the first century, but God used these apostles to build His church and through the preservation of their writings in the New Testament, He continues to build His church.

Where is Christ in this passage?

When he thinks of the source of his authority, Paul points to what changed his life: Jesus Christ appeared to Paul when he was on the road to Damascus. He was granted a rare privilege, and his life was changed when he encountered Jesus Christ. He went from being Saul the persecutor of the church to being Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ to the church.

Tue, 21 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Job 21:27-34

²⁷ “Behold, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
²⁸ For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
²⁹ Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony
³⁰ that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
³¹ Who declares his way to his face,
and who repays him for what he has done?
³² When he is carried to the grave,
watch is kept over his tomb.
³³ The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
all mankind follows after him,
and those who go before him are innumerable.
³⁴ How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Today we finish round two of the friends discussion with Job. It is interesting to note how Job’s friends take the argument personally, and as Job refuses to repent after their first round of arguments, they begin to get more personal in their attacks on Job. In round two, they drop the call to repentance and simply state that the wicked are punished in the way you are treated; therefore YOU ARE WICKED.

In the previous chapter, Zophar says the things that are happening to Job are the heritage of the wicked: swift, complete destruction. In other words, Job, you’re just getting what you deserve.

Job destroys the argument of his friends by again calling them to just look around. The wicked grow old enjoying their power. Their flocks flourish. The wicked enjoy life until the day they die while others die in pain and sorrow, never having enjoyed life.

Not all the wicked suffer in this life as you claim. Just ask the travelers and you will see that this is true.

How can you comfort me when your arguments are so obviously false? The wicked do not always suffer.

What do we learn from this?

What we see in this life isn’t the whole story. The premise that the wicked always suffer and the righteous always prosper in life is false. There is life after death, and it is in eternity that all things are made right. The wicked who has enjoyed a full life of ease will no longer be at ease, and the righteous person who has suffered for their whole life will suffer no more. Everyone is destined to die and then to face judgment. At their death, the wicked will be condemned and the righteous will be justified. It is then that justice is ultimately accomplished, and not always before.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Why will the righteous be justified? Will it be based on their good works? Will it be because they have earned God’s favor by doing enough good works?

No. We can never be good enough to cancel out our sin. The sins we have committed must be punished, either in ourselves or in a substitute. And not only must our sin be punished, but we must also have perfect righteousness to be accepted by God. If we have committed even one sin, that sin must be punished, and we lack the positive righteousness required. We will be condemned by God when we stand before Him in judgment if we come based upon our own inherent righteousness.

Our only hope is in what God has done for us. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life, earning the righteousness that we need. He offers to take the punishment for our sins upon Himself and to give His perfect righteousness to any and all who come to Him trusting in Him for their salvation.

Mon, 20 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Luke 6:6-11

⁶ On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

One Sabbath, a man with a withered hand went to the synagogue to worship. There is nothing in the text that tells us the man knew Jesus was going to be there, or that the man came with the hope of being healed. From what we see in the text, all we know is he came expecting to worship as usual, not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen that morning. But something extraordinary did happen.

Jesus saw the man and called him out of the crowd. All of the sudden, the man was the center of attention as everyone turned their eyes upon him to see what Jesus was about to do. When Jesus asked about doing good and saving life, the man’s heart must have stood still. Everyone knows that Jesus can heal people. “Is it possible,” the man must have thought, “that He might heal me? Could it be?”

Then Jesus does the unthinkable. He tells the man with the withered hand to stretch out his hand. The one think he could not do is the very thing Jesus tells him to do. What do you suppose went through the man’s mind at that point? Do you think there was a moment of fear and anger as he thought, “I can’t stretch out my hand!” Or was it a moment of excitement and hope as he realized what was going to happen? What we know is that the man responded to Jesus’ command by doing what he was previously unable to do. And as he responded in faith to Jesus’ call, his hand was restored and he was enabled to do what Jesus had commanded.

What do we learn from this?

What a picture of salvation this is. We are all dead in our trespasses and sins. We reject everything about God. We, in our natural state, are at war with God and are in rebellion against Him. But God’s command for us to repent of our sins and turn to Him in faith, trusting only in Jesus Christ for our salvation comes to us. This is foolishness to us, and it is the last thing we would ever do.

But the Holy Spirit works within the lives of the elect, changing and regenerating them so that they can respond to the call. They are enabled to do the very thing they previously couldn’t do, because of the call of God upon their lives, regenerating them and empowering them to respond.

Where is Christ in this passage?

The man responds in faith, trusting Jesus Christ to enable him to stretch out his hand, and in the act of trusting Christ, he finds the ability to do what he was commanded to do. The same is true with us. We are commanded to repent of our sins and come to God, trusting only in Christ for our salvation. And as we respond to His call to faith in Jesus Christ, we find that He enables us to trust in Christ Jesus for our salvation.

Sun, 19 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Exodus 2:1-10

¹ Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ² The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³ When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. ⁴ And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵ Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Pharaoh has decreed that all the males born to the Israelites are to be killed. This edict is the background to Moses’ birth. Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, can’t hide him any longer, and so they turn him over to God’s providence, setting him loose on the Nile.

God has a purpose for Moses. Moses will lead the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. He will lead the newly formed nation, and so it is God’s intent to have Moses trained in Pharaoh’s court. And so the outcome of Amram and Jochebed turning loose their son on the Nile river is that Moses is adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, and is educated and trained as a prince of Egypt.

What do we learn from this?

Once again we see that God is in control of all things. Even the currents of the Nile flow as God decrees so that the ark floats to exactly where Pharaoh’s daughter is about to bathe. The river brings Moses to one of the few people who can win him a reprieve from the death penalty. The father has decreed destruction upon all the Hebrew boys, but the daughter when she comes face to face with one under the death sentence is struck with pity. And so, Pharaoh’s command is countermanded, and Moses is spared.

What a series of coincidences? No. It is God’s hand of providence in guiding the flow of the river and the sympathy of a woman’s heart all to further His purpose. God is in control.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Moses’ birth has some similarities with Jesus’. King Herod had all the boy infants of Bethlehem murdered in an attempt to kill the Savior of the people, but Jesus was spared through God’s intervention as His parents were warned to take Him to Egypt.