One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Monday, March 1st

Congratulations we are two years into the One Year Bible, or 1/6 of the way through the entire bible. Woo hoo!

Click Here ot LIsten to the Readings 

Click Here to Read Leviticus 24:1-25:46

Pure Oil and Holy Bread - Oil was used to light the lampstands, which was the only light in the tabernacle. The eternal flame, which kept burning at all times, looked forward to Jesus the light of the world, who dispelled the darkness. The twelve cakes of bread symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel. The bread was symbolic of the presence of God. 

"The bread was not only for display in a ritual. God wanted the people of God to actually receive, enjoy, and be nourished by the bread – which symbolized their relationship and fellowship with Him. Significantly, God wanted the fellowship fresh. The bread was to be replaced every Sabbath. He didn’t want a stale communion with His people, but a continually fresh relationship." (Guzik)

An Example of Just Punishment - We see the principle, "the pnnishment matches the crime." Whether it was a person taking someone's life, the killing of person's animal, or if a person was injured, they were punished to the extent of the injory. The most serious punishment was for a blasphemer, someone who used God's name in vain. In this case they also cursed the name of the Lord and were to be taken outside the camp and stoned to death by the whole community. 

The Sabbath Year - As we have seen the observance of the Sabbath once a week was at the core of the Jewish piety. It was a day to rest from work, worship God, and be rejuvenanted for the next week. In the same year the land was to take a Sabbath. Nothing could be planted in the seventh year. But they could eat what the land produced on its own. 

Year of Jubilee. "Jubilee" stands for a time of praise and celebration. It happened every seven times seven years, or every forty nine years.  In the fiftieth year on the Day of Atonement would start the Year of Jubillee. Slaves would be set free and allowed to return to the land of their original tribe. The price of land was determined by the number of years left before the Jubilee, The more years left until the Jubilee the higher price of the land, based on the number of harvests left. 

Though they would not plant crops in this year, the Lord would provide a bumper crop equal to two years, so they would be fed. It shows when we obey the Lord, God is a God of abundance and not scarcity. Our nature is to preserve and hoard, rather than trust God to provide for us. 

Redemption of Property. The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, because the land belongs to the Lord. Through the books of Moses there is so much emphasis on the "land". A person's wealth was measured by the amount of land they had. That is why when the Israelites entered Canaan it was called the "Promised Land", a land flowing with milk and honey. 

The seller of the property always had a right to buy back the land. If the seller went into poverty, a family member could buy it. In the year of Jubilee, the land was returned to the original owner, thus keeping the amount of land in each family even. This was a way not too much property could fall into one person's hands. 

Redemption of the Poor and Enslaved  Here we see all the laws given to protect the poor within the Jewish community. If a Jewish person was in poverty, a neighbor must provide them with a place to stay without charging interest on loans or on the food sold to them. 

If an Israelite was forced to sell himself as a slave, they were to be treated like a hired servant and paid wages. They would only serve until the year of Jubilee when they were allowed to go back and occupy the land allotted to their families. The principle here is that a fellow Israelite should never make a person a slave. For it was God who delivered them from slavery in Egypt, and they shall never be put in shackles again. 

In a similar way, we were slaves to sin, until Jesus set us free. We should never again go back in slavery to sin. When we do sin, we should confess our sins to God and each other, so we do not become a slave to it again. It is for freedom that Christ Jesus set us free. 

If the Israelites bought a slave from the nations around them, they could eventually include them in their family if they chose to. 

Click Here to Read Mark 10:13-31

When some people brought some children to Jesus, the disciples tried to take them away from Jesus thinking they were a distraction to him. But Jesus said, "Do not take the children for the kingdom belongs to such as these." In fact Jesus re-iterates, "If someone does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child they cannot enter it." 

"Children love to come to Jesus, and it says something about Him that children loved Him and that He loved children. Children don’t love mean, sour people." (Guzik)

Why do you think Jesus singled out children? Because children trust until they are given a reason not to. "Children are not only for blessing; they are also examples of how we must enter the kingdom with a childlike faith, not with a childish faith. We must come to God with a faith that trusts God just like a little child trusts his father – and leave all the problems up to daddy." (Guzik)

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

Though there is nothing wrong with "riches" or material wealth, Jesus shows how dangerous it can be when it takes over a person. A rich, young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus simply told him to keep the ten commandments. Naively the man assured Jesus he had kept the commandments since his youth. But Jesus knew he had not been able to keep the first commandment to have no other gods before him (money). When he asked the rich man to sell all his possession and give to the poor, he walked away sad because of his great wealth. In this case the man's wealth more was important to him then entering into the kingdom. 

The disciples were a little disturbed by this, so they asked Jesus about it. And Jesus says the famous words, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter into heaven." 

So what does he mean by this? If you are rich you can't get into heaven. No, he means that if one is like the rich man in the story, their wealth can become more important to them than God. Many people get confused by the camel going through the eye of needle. Jesus is using a hyperbole here to point out that just as impossible as it is for a camel to go through an eye of a needle, it is equally impossible for someone who trusts in riches over God to go to heaven. He can't do it! Why? Because in order to get into the kingdom of heaven, you need to trust in Christ, not riches!  

As Matthew says, "You cannot serve two masters, because you will either grow to love the one and hate the other. You cannot serve both God and money!' Matthew 6:24

"What Now" Study Questions:

While we would never stone those who blaspheme God, how do you react when you hear God's name taken in vain?

Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. ~ Mark 10:14-15 -- Ponder the distinction between child-like faith and childish faith.

Click Here to Read Psalm 44:9-26

Click Here to Read Proverbs 10:21-22