One Year Bible for Tuesday, February 15th - Moses Completes the Tabernacle Just as God Had Commanded! Mark's gospel begins with the Kingdom of God coming to those who repent and believe the Good News!

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Exodus 39:1-40:38

Once again we see the garments and other elements of how Aaron was set apart as holy to the Lord. As you read through all and see the beautiful colors and other adornments one can only imagine how striking it was. It shows the importance of beauty to the Lord. One phrase used over and over is, "And all this was done just as the Lord had instructed." I counted this phrase 11 times. 

Next, we see the Lord's glory filling up the tabernacle. As a result of their obedience God showed up in great and promised glory. The glory was too much for any man to behold, so Moses could not enter into the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud would move it was a signal for the Israelites to move along with the Lord's presence. They moved by the pillar of cloud by day, and the fire in the cloud by night. And so God guided Israel all throughout its journey to the Promised Land.

We see the relationship between obedience and experiencing God's glory and presence. And we see that when we are in relationship with God, he guides us day and night. He is ahead of us. We don't get a ahead of him. He is our leader and we are his followers. When we keep in step with him we experience his power and presence. 

Mark 1:1-28

Today, we begin in the gospel of Mark. John Mark was a disciple of Paul's, and traveled with he and Barabbas until they split apart. Mark was also a disciple of Peter, as we read in Acts 12 and 15. Mark is the shortest gospel at 16 chapters. Most commentators conclude it is the first gospel written between 60 and 70 A.D. Matthew and Luke included a lot of Mark's material, and then added their own particular stories and emphases. Mark's gospel often uses the phrase "immediately" to describes Jesus' journey to the cross.  There also is a focus on power and discipleship in Mark's gospel.

In today's reading Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus as foretold by the prophet Isaiah. Jesus moves from being baptized, as the heavens are "torn asunder", and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. Jesus' ministry begins with a proclamation showing the importance of the moment. He says,

"The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

Note the focus on the "nearness and proximity of the kingdom". In Jesus the kingdom of God had drawn near and was available to all who would turn from their sin and believe in Him. The Good News being Jesus' embodiment of everything that God had promised. In order for the disciples and us to be empowered by God we need to repent and turn to Jesus. 

The first chapter ends with the calling of the first disciples and Jesus using his power and authority to cast out a demon, who recognized he was the son of God. He uses the simple phrase "Come out of him." The people recognizedJesus' real authority as he taught and then saw his authority in action, as Jesus ordered the evil spirit out of the man. True authority is show in words and actions. 

Psalm 35:1-16

Proverbs 9:11-12

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