One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Monday, April 4th "Blessings and Curses"
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Click Here to Read Deuternonomy 26:1-27:26
Harvest Tithes and Offerings
There are three major themes in these first verses in chaper 26.
1. By putting some of their first crop of harvest into a basket and presenting it to the Lord, the Israelites were acknowledging that it was God who had brought them into the Promised Land to fulfill the covenant he had made with Abraham.
2. As they started this new era in the nation of Israel, they needed to remember how God had delivered them from the Egyptians and also provided for them and helped them to grow into a large nation of people in the 400 years in the wilderness.
3. Every third year they were to give a special tithe to provide for the Levites, foreigners, widows, and orphans so they had enough to eat. When God provides for us, we are to do our best to provide for others who are in need, especially vulnerable classes of people like this.
A Call to Obey the Lord’s Commands
At the heart of Israel's relationship with God was obedience to His commands. Their obedience would show both their love and trust in God. It also set them apart from the other nations they would be next to in Canaan. The Israelites had declared they would obey the Lord and his commands and now it was time to put their words into action.
The Altar on Mount Ebal
So the Israelites would remember all that Moses had instructed them to do, they were to build an altar on Mount Ebal with uncut stones with a summary of the Ten Commandments written on them. This tangible reminder would help them to remember the commitment they made.
"So, the words could be easily seen, they were to whitewash them with lime. Anything we can do to make God’s word more accessible to others is a good thing, as long as the integrity of God’s word is preserved. Any time God’s word is presented, it must be presented very plainly. Every preacher and teacher must endeavor to make the Word of God plain." (Guzik)
Curses from Mount Ebal
"When Israel came into the Promised Land, they were to separate the tribes according to these two groups. One group would gather on Mount Gerizim, and they would bless the people. The other group would stand on Mount Ebal and they would curse those who disobeyed the law of God." (Guzik)
We see the many curses for various acts of disobedience. Notice after the announcement of each curse the people reply, "Amen". This was their conscious agreement with the declaration of each curse,
If someone were to feel they were not guilty of any of the curses we see the catch all verse at the end,
"Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
"It is important to recognize that we, in Jesus Christ, do not have an Old Covenant relationship with God. We expect to be blessed, not because of our obedience, but because of our position in Jesus. The curse we deserved was laid upon Him (Galatians 3:10-14). Though there may be an inherent curse of consequences in our disobedience, or even the correcting hand of God, under the New Covenant, He does not punish us or curse us – because all that we deserved, past, present, and future, was poured out upon Jesus." (Guzik)
Click Here to Read Luke 10:38-11:13
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
It is not that Martha was doing the wrong thing by making preparations for the dinner for Jesus', but Jesus says Mary did what was better. Why was what she did better? Was there something about the way Martha was going about the preparations that caused Jesus to say, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!"
In Martha's defense someone has to manage the details. But I think that Martha was so concerned about the tasks that she forgot the purpose of the occassion. The Son of God was in their midst, and though the dinner was important, being in his presence and being present was more important.
I know from the experience of being a pastor for 25 years that we can get so caught up in doing things for God, we can forget Him in the process. We can get so caught up in putting on a great worship service, we might forget who we are worshipping. We might get so caught up in having the best children's or youth ministry, we might to lead the youth and kids to the foot of the cross.
As we serve in obedience like Martha, let's not forget the reason we serve like Mary.
Jesus' Teaching about Prayer
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he gave them this prayer, which we know today as the Lord's Prayer. It would be interesting to count how many times this prayer has been prayed in the past 2,000 years.
The version in Luke is not the same as in Matthew's, but the basic petitions are the same. The phrase, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen", was added in by the Protestant Church in the Anglican Book of Prayer in 1549, which was influenced by William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament. The six petitions which make up the Lord's Prayer include:
1. Hallowed or holy be your name. We keep God's name holy by calling on him in prayer, praise and thanks, not using his name glibly or even as a curse word.
2. Your kingdom come. Luke's version does not include "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". The idea is that prayer is asking for God's rule to come on earth as it is in heaven. We know God's kingdom came when Jesus came to earth. As his disciples we pray we would continue to usher in the kingdom in our lives and in our churches.
3. Give us our daily bread. Just like God provided just enough "manna" each day in the wilderness for the Israelites, he gives us JUST enough bread for the day.
4. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Notice the assumption is that as God forgives us of our sins, we also forgive others. This can be a huge challenge for us. For someone who has been hurt in significant ways, or even abused, this can be a difficult process. Though forgiving someone is a decision, it doesn't mean someone has leave themselves open to an abusive situation.
Also there is a difference between forgiveness and reconicilation. For a relationship to be reconciled both parties need to come to the table and own their part of the problem. If one refuses to acknowledge their part in the wrongdoing, another can forgive them, but the relationship won't be reconciled.
5. Finally, in Luke it only records Jesus saying, "Don't let us yield to temptation", whereas Matthew adds, "And deliver us from the evil (one)". Though the devil can tempt us, he cannot make us sin. We choose to sin. Unfortunately we cannot say like Flip Wilson the comedian, "The devil made me do it!" We can pray though when we are tempted that God give us the strength to resist the devil. We can rely on the spiritual weapons he has given us like prayer and the Word of God. The devil's temptations can be seen as a time of testing where our faith is actually strengthened when we stand up under it!
Click Here to Read Proverbs 12:15-17
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