Grains of Sand

Pixabay It is both amazing and appalling what is done “in God’s Name.” Jacob continues to practice deception. Not only has he manipulated things so that he comes away from his father-in-law with enough wealth to make Laban’s heirs jealous, but he lies to Leah and Rachel by saying that God blessed him with all this wealth because Laban had cheated him of the wages he deserved over the course of the twenty years that Jacob remained in exile from his own family. One sin does not require another to correct it. But Jacob had yet to learn that lesson. Genesis 31 continues the sad story of "deceive and be deceived." Whatever goodwill Laban had extended to Jacob is well tarnished now. Genesis 31:2 says, “ And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. ” I guess Laban noticed that Jacob was getting richer while he was getting poorer. So Jacob deceives his father-in-law again and runs off into the night with his family and his belongings. Rachel even s...

Pixabay Remember...the Day. Our speaker last Sunday focused his message on Mark 2:23-3:6 and the Lord's confrontation with the Pharisees over what was permissible on the Sabbath. The Pharisees criticized Jesus and His disciples for "harvesting" a few heads of grain to satisfy their hunger. Harvesting was forbidden on the Sabbath according to the traditions that the religious authorities had added to the law. A little later Jesus challenged His detractors by healing a man on the Sabbath and then posing this question: " Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? " (Mark 3:4). The Pharisees wouldn't have lifted a hand to save a drowning man on the Sabbath. Jesus was not denying the validity of the fourth commandment given to Moses. He was trashing its abuses. We just can't leave things alone, can we? We feed on the extremes: ignore the instruction completely or tie it up in so many knots that it is impossibl...

Restoring Eden—Google Images Because the chapter and verse division were not part of the original Scriptures we often have to do a little investigation to determine where one section of teaching ends before another begins. In any case, the whole of Scripture is connected by it’s central theme: the redemption of a lost creation through the blood. But here in Exodus 35, I felt a certain quirky connection that might only be a connection in my mind. As Exodus 35 begins, Moses repeats an important instruction: “ These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath Day ” (Exodus 35:1-3). Then he gives instructions to the Israelites about giving to furnish all that was needed for the Tabernacle.  He also refers to those who, because of their skills, were to be re...

CollegeHumor.com Google Images Exodus 20 and the guiding principles that God gave His people through Moses are straightforward. We can understand the logic behind the commandments. It’s what comes after Exodus 20 that can turn into a snake pit for many of us.  The Ten Commandments were only the beginning of the instructions that God gave Moses. We prefer to stop at the end of Exodus 20 because, in our modern Bibles Exodus 21 is separate from Exodus 20 which, somehow, seems to give us permission to ignore what follows. But in the days when the Scriptures were written there were no chapters, verses, or punctuation. Don’t take the comments that follow as “gospel” because I don’t know for sure whether my theory has any basis in fact. But based on what I know about the nature of God — as little as that may be — here’s what I think. Exodus 21 begins with, “ These are the laws you are to set before them .” Then follows something that disturbs a lot of people, including me, because the...

Google Images Anticipation. All the preparations have been made. The people have done all that they were instructed to do. A people, described by God as one that would become “ ...a kingdom of priests and a holy nation ” (Exodus 19:6) awaits the message God has for it. The phrase is remarkably like 1 Peter 2:5: “ ...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ” This was what God wanted—and still wants—of His children. Moses comes down from a mountain whose display of light and sound has left the people below terrified (Exodus 19:16). He delivers the message known to us as the Ten Commandments. Each one is huge in itself. But it is the first phrase that grabs my attention this morning: “ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery ” (Exodus 20:2). Would the people have remembered how Moses introduced himself to them when he appe...

“ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning’ ” (Exodus 20:20, NIV). Bit of a contradiction, isn’t it? Don’t be afraid, but be afraid? From the foot of Mount Sinai, the light show was terrific—and terrifying. The sound rolled over the Hebrews like a shock wave. The top of the mountain was enveloped in smoke that hovered ominously overhead. To coin a phrase, they were “scared spitless” (20:18). They had been warned to stay away from the foot of the mountain—a warning that they had no problem paying heed to! Google Images If this was only the overture, and God was about to speak, they were afraid of what the sound of His voice might produce. “You deliver the message, Moses, because if God speaks to us directly we’re all dead men” (20:19, my translation). Moses’ statement in verse 20 was both a promise and a warning. The Hebrews did not have to fear the fist of God meting out judgment....

Reading: 2 John I suppose I could be accused of seeing the Ten Commandments everywhere I look these days. That’s the natural outcome of preparations for the series that I am teaching beginning in January. But honest, I saw them again as I was reading 2 John this morning. Traditionally, we see our relationship to God in the first four commandments: ·       No other gods ·       No images ·       No misuse of God’s name ·       Honouring the Lord’s Day. We consider that the last six of the Ten Commandments have to do with our relationship with others: ·       Honour your parents ·       Don’t murder ·       Don’t commit adultery ·       Don’t steal ·       Don’t lie ·       Don’t covet. Keeping the rules turns into legalism if the proper moti...

Reading: Malachi I wasn’t going to post anything on this book, not because there wasn’t anything to be said but because there is so much to be said. Blogs are supposed to be short, or so the experts say. However, I am compelled, pricked all day to say something about this wonderful book. The first thing that impresses me about Malachi is the emphasis on the reputation, the Name of God. This aspect of the book is fresh in my mind because this week’s study on The Lord’s Prayer, which I teach on Wednesday evenings at my church, was all about the phrase: “ hallowed be your name. ” Through the prophet the Lord charges His people, specifically the priests, with defaming His Name by presenting to Him unworthy sacrifices. Not only did the people bring their second best to God, they brought the worst! (Malachi 1:6-9). Their negligence was such a poor testimony to their pagan neighbours that God went so far as to pronounce this condemnation: “ Oh, that one of you would shut the temple d...