You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
(Deuteronomy 5:15 ESV)
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In the first announcement of the Ten Commandments, there’s a different reason as to why Israel must observe the Sabbath than this retelling in Deuteronomy. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11).
In Exodus, God tells Israel to observe the Sabbath day because it is a reminder of God’s work in creation. Here in Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people to observe the Sabbath because they need to remember they were once slaved in Egypt.
In both cases, the focus is on an act of God. He creates, and he rescues. The principle is to take one day of intentional rest to remember the Lord, that because of who he is, we need to take one day out of the week and rest in the presence of this awesome God who has the power to create all things and the love to show mercy to the lowest of people.
The focus is on God, not the abstaining from work. It’s all about him. It’s about setting your mind to remember your God and all he has done. I’ve honestly had a hard time doing this, because I tend to just remember all the busy and crazy things that happened throughout the week, and I reflect on them and rest from my work. But I need to use the sabbath day not to rest from being a workaholic, rather, I need to rest in God and commit myself to considering who God is and all he has done. That’s how to rest in worship, rather than relief from work.
Resting in God
Murder Pollutes
[33] You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. [34] You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”
(Numbers 35:33-34 ESV)
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It’s very clear here that murder is something that pollutes; it’s a poison to the land and society. Wherever there is murder, you have people living in fear, people seeking justice and revenge, people apathetic and numb to the pollution. Murder is something that not only affects the victims and the immediate area; one of the reasons God wanted his people free from bloodshed within is that the surrounding nations were supposed to see Israel as a light to the world. They were supposed to see that God was with them in power and blessing. God himself said repeatedly that he would physically dwell with them, in their presence, in their midst; a holy king. If God is living among you, and you poison everything by unleashing the pollution of murder, it is a huge act of disrespect to the holy God who dwells among you.
Sin is not just about abstaining from what’s wrong. It’s about living in a way that is worthy of a holy king who mercifully chooses to live with you. It’s a response of love toward God because he has chosen to dwell among us; not a response of fear because there’s an angry deity who lives next door.
We know that God is loving because he states in v.33 that no atonement can be made for bloodshed except by the blood of the one who murdered. God is loving because even though the blood of mankind was required for sin, he willfully chose to become a man and pay it himself through Jesus.
"That's not a knife..."
As I read the Bible this morning I was constantly blown away at the big picture God operates in. I think about my 2-year old son and how he goes about his day. Whatever goes on in his little head lacks the foresight and bigger picture that I possess. When we put him in the carseat to go somewhere, he often fights it; he doesn’t want to get in that seat and ride in the car. But he has no idea how long the ride will be or where we’re going, how long we plan to stay at our destination, how much fun it’ll be, how much money it’ll cost (well, for him it’s free...lucky), and how happy and fulfilled he’ll be when it’s time to get back in the carseat and head home. I operate on a much bigger picture than my 2-year old son does.
The same is true with God, but he has THE big picture, times infinity. Look at Numbers, chapter 33, where Moses recounts every single place Israel camped after they set out from Egypt, following the ten plagues and the first Passover.
“They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments” (v.3-4).
I think while the people of Israel are leaving Egypt, they’re feeling pretty victorious. It’s probably easy for them to feel like the center of the universe, since their God, on their behalf, has been pwning Egypt and Pharaoh (who himself was supposed to be considered divine). But here in Numbers, Moses adds this little flavor: God also executed judgments on the gods of Egypt. Israel was probably more focused on their freedom from slavery and the saving grace of their God; which is good, but God was concerned with more than just Israel. True, he loved Israel and chose the people as his “bride,” his peasant princess, but he was also concerned with displaying his glory in an earthly and heavenly way. The ten plagues showed Egypt and the divine Pharaoh that they were weak sauce standing before the Lord of all things.
It reminds me of that timeless American classic film, “Crocodile Dundee.” Mick Dundee is a weathered Aussie Outback-ian, he’s like a Horse Whisperer + Rambo fusion. The movie shows his survival skills in the Outback, and then moves over to New York where “fish out of water” antics ensue. A famous scene from that movie involves Mick and his lady friend Sue walking in New York and a street punk (plus 2 others) who looks like Billy Dee Williams going through puberty and wearing Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” jacket approaches the two asking for a light and then pulls out a switchblade, ordering Mick to hand over his wallet. The rest of it goes like this:
Sue: “Mick, give him your wallet.”
Mick: “Why?”
Sue: “He’s got a knife.”
Mick: (chuckles) “That’s not a knife...”
(Mick pulls out much larger, much more intimidating Bowie knife)
Mick: “That’s a knife.”
Then he cuts Billy Dee Jackson’s sleeves and the street punks run away.
Hopefully, this journaling time will end up being more about God than pop culture, but we’ll see.
If for some outlandish reason you have no idea what I’m talking about, watch the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NHcTM5IA4&NR=1
This is also a good version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqghpm4gXf4&feature=watch_response (it might be in 3D; don’t know what that’s all about)
The point is, Israel probably thought they had a great understanding of what was going on (they have the little switchblade), and God reveals that he’s got the biggest picture possible and it will blow your mind when he reveals the grand scheme that you failed to recognize (the huge Bowie knife).
So we all read the Bible, learn the Bible, memorize the Bible and think we really know what it’s about; but God steps in and reminds us, “you have some of the picture, but you certainly do not have ALL the picture.”
Another thing to pull from this significantly insightful illustration is our reaction to God’s big picture. We have to remember that when we face God’s majesty and the breadth of his power we’re “Sue” and not the “street punks.” I mean, if you love God and know you have this relationship with the king of all creation through the Son, Jesus, then you and I are “Sue” and not the “street punks” (what a weird thing to say).
Anyway, the street punks run away in fear because Dundee’s power is greater than theirs. This is the common reaction when we realize we are enemies of God; we run from him because we don’t want him to stab us or cut our jacket, and we never want to see him again because we’re just too afraid of him. But after the punks run away Dundee asks Sue, “Are you alright?” To which she replies, “I’m always alright when I’m with you, Dundee.”
(It’s totally cheesy, I know, but c’mon! It was 1986!)
The point is, if you love God and know you are right with him and on his side, you have that experience of seeing his power and big picture first-hand and not being overcome with fear to the point of fleeing his presence. If you know and love him, you feel safe and protected, knowing that he is with you. There’s a sense of fear and awe and safety, rather than fear and danger and a weak bladder.
There’s another good incident of God’s big picture when I was reading the book of Mark, chapter 10. The Pharisees approach Jesus and ask him a question about divorce under the Law of Moses. They’re trying to test him. They ask him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (v.2). Jesus answers, “What did Moses command you?” (v.3). He’s playing their game, for now. They’re asking him about a lawful regulation under the Law of Moses, so he points them to Moses. The Pharisees are feeling comfortable with this, since they’re experts in the Law they know all the answers and are ready to launch a retort that will surely get Jesus scratching his head and sweating with uncertainty. So they answer, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away” (v.4). They then wait for Jesus to say something liberal. They want to expose him as a Rabbi who is opposed to the Law, discrediting his teaching ministry and making him an enemy of the Jews. So this is basically the Pharisees pulling out their New York switchblade.
Then Jesus says, “Because of your hardness of heart he (Moses) wrote you this commandment” (v.5); and then Jesus pulls out his proverbial Bowie knife and says, “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female’” (v.6). He takes them back to Moses, which is where they’re expecting to go. And then in Jesus saying, “But from the beginning of creation” he takes them where they never expected to go but should have known that’s where they should have looked. The Pharisees are looking at this small picture of “Jesus is a hater of the Law” but Jesus steps out and says something like, “The Law was not a part of God’s original intent in creating the world and mankind; it’s a small, necessary part in the history of the world, but why are you focusing on such a small point of view when there is a much bigger, much older intention that God wants you to see? Moses gave that commandment about divorce not because that’s God’s will, but because you people have hard, rebellious hearts and don’t want to follow God’s heart. To you, the Law is everything, but is the Law greater than the Kingdom of God?” (my words).
Jesus almost always answers a challenge by opening his opponents eyes to a bigger reality than the one they are currently living by. This type of mind-blowing continues throughout Mark 10.
People are bringing children to Jesus so he can touch them and heal them and bless them. His disciples are rebuking them and trying to turn them away, as if it’s bothersome to Jesus. Then Jesus gets “indignant” and rebukes his disciples, telling them that the kingdom of God belongs to children, because if you do not receive the kingdom like a child, you will not enter it (v.13-16).
A young rich man asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life and Jesus pulls out the latter end of the Ten Commandments. The young man says that he has kept all these commandments since his youth. And even though this young, rich man has a shallow, small perspective it says that Jesus looked at him and “loved him” (contrasted to being indignant with his disciples) before he spoke to him, telling him that he lacks one thing: to go, sell his possessions and then follow Christ (v.17-21). Jesus essentially tells this young man that he lacks the “childlike faith” required to inherit the kingdom; because he’s replaced a trust in God and treasure in heaven with earthly possessions and riches. The rich man is under the assumption that if you do well and live a good life, you will inherit the kingdom. Jesus flips it on him and says that the kingdom is something that is given if you are willing to receive it and lose everything for it, because it doesn’t matter how good you are; the Ten Commandments shed light on the fact that human righteousness is a cover-up for every person’s rebellion against God.
Two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John, two of his “inner three,” his closest disciples, come up to him and ask him that both of them can sit at his right and left when he victoriously inaugurates his kingdom in glory. He asks them if they can also “drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (v.38). They assume that they can, that they’re ready for it, that they can handle whatever Jesus can handle. They want to be great and they think that being favored by Jesus and being hand-selected by him will ensure a high position in his kingdom. They had a narrow view and misguided understanding of Jesus’ kingdom. They assumed it would be an earthly kingdom, like in the days of David, but Jesus later tells a Roman official that his kingdom, God’s kingdom, is “not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus tells his disciples that if they want to be great in his kingdom, it won’t be anything like how they hope to attain it. If they want to be the greatest, they need to become the least; they need to be the slave of all if they expect to be great in God’s kingdom. And no one will be greater than the one who is able to humble himself the most, he who has the highest rank yet stoops the lowest--the Son of Man who comes to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (v.35-45).
We all think we get it at some point, and Jesus chuckles and says, “That’s not a knife...THAT’s a knife.”
My hope for today is that I can live in a way that is open to having my mind shattered and changed by God because I don’t have it all figured out. My hope is that I live lovingly toward all and seek to correct my errors to the bigger picture of God. In addition, that I rest in the manifold wisdom of God in joy and safety. Knowing the love of Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings that I may experience his kingdom life.
Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership
Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.
(Numbers 31:13-16 ESV)
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In this episode, the 12,000 soldiers return from battle against the Moabite Midianites and they’ve brought back spoils of war, including all the women and children. Moses is angry with them because they did not put to death the women who played a huge part in seducing Israel into Baal worship earlier (under the guide of Baalam). Moses then orders the army to put to death all the women who are not virgins, along with all the boys among the children. While that certainly wouldn’t slip past the UN today (and it would give Starbucks a chance to come up with a tumbler that supports Midianite women and children), the part that hits me today is about who Moses is angered with. He’s angry with (seemingly) only the officers of the army--those who are commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
Moses holds the commanders of the army responsible for the actions of the entire army. It is under their leadership that the army is guided and decisions are made. Leaders are held responsible for those under them. While this particular situation probably doesn’t apply directly to Christian ministry, there is a principle to be taken from it. I’m on full-time staff at a church, in charge of directly leading at least 2 separate ministries within the church. Even though there may be other leaders over certain areas of these ministries, it still is ultimately my responsibility to ensure that these ministries achieve what they are meant to.
Pastor Dave always says that everything in ministry and the church “rises and falls on leadership.” It’s one of those phrases we hear a lot in church staff meetings where everyone nods their heads in agreement (maybe even the occasional, enthusiastic “amen!”), but how much of that phrase do we actually really take seriously? How many leaders in the church actually live and breathe it? How many leaders in church have that phrase written on their hearts, in the core of who they are, rather than on a framed note on their desk? For myself, this is something that I’ve only really been accepting this past year I’ve been on staff.
I mean, I hate to admit it, but leadership has always been one of those things I’ve nodded in agreement with, but never really lived out. I thought leadership was a really great, really true thing, but the gravity of leadership and it’s intense commitment and responsibility has only begun to well up in me for the past twelve months. So for me, one of the things that must take center stage in my life in terms of focus and intentionality is the development of my leadership. Not because I have to, or because it’s the right Christian thing to do, or because I’m on staff at a church; but because it’s who God has crafted me to be, and to not fully step into this role is disobedience and apathy towards God. I want to be who I’m meant to be, because I love the Lord. When you really love someone, you are willing to change for them, even when the change is uncomfortable and painful--because it’s worth it for the greater depth of relationship that can be experienced.
Secrets & Declarations
Jesus would often heal people or perform miracles and strictly tell people not to tell others. At other times, he would tell them to announce and declare all that happened to entire cities.
I’ve often wondered why and how he chose to conceal some things, and reveal other things.
After reading Mark chapter 5, I have a better grasp on this.
Jesus heals a man with a “legion” of demons in the area of the Decapolis, a place somewhat removed from the political centers of Israel. The Decapolis was filled with Jewish and Gentile people, but they didn’t pose a threat of misunderstanding Jesus as a military or political messiah, unlike places such as Jerusalem. In a place like this, or Samaria, Jesus could tell people, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (v.19).
The next episode in Mark’s narrative deals with people who are directly tied to the synagogue (Jairus). He revives Jairus’ daughter and “strictly charged them that no one should know this” (v.43). I think the reason Jesus does this is to prevent episodes like those in John 6, where he feeds the five thousand. After seeing that Jesus had done this, “they were about to come and take him by force to make him king” (John 6:15) and Jesus had to withdraw to a solitary place. When people misunderstand Jesus’ identity and purpose, they want him to fulfill certain things that he himself never meant to fulfill.
After Jesus heals the man with many demons, he tells him in verse 19 to tell his friends how much God has done for him and to tell people about the mercy he has received from the Lord. This simple declaration is what Jesus desires from those who have been changed; “the Lord has done something amazing in my life! He has had great mercy upon me.” Even when he cleanses a leper in Galilee, he tells him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them” (Mark 1:44). His intention here is for the religious leaders to see the mercy of the Lord, and proof that God’s kingdom is indeed at hand.
Jesus is out to fulfill the agenda of the Father, not the agendas that men want the Christ to fulfill. As I reflect on this today, do I find myself in awe of the Savior, simply telling others what he has done for me and the mercy I have found in his great love? Or do I find myself seeking the Christ to fulfill certain agendas in my own life, because of his great power and authority?
Mature Maturity
(Philippians 3:12-17 ESV)
[12] Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. [13] Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [15] Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. [16] Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
[17] Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
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- [verse 12] Paul makes the claim that most of us would make: "I'm not perfect." Most people would agree with that. He goes on to say that because of that, he is always striving to be better and more mature (the word for "perfect" he uses is also the same word for "mature" down in verse 15). However, this is much different than bettering himself simply for the sake of self-improvement. He gives the reason he continues to strive forward: it's because Jesus has taken Paul as his own; it means Paul fully recognizes that Jesus has paid a penalty on his behalf and because of Paul's faith in that, he is a possession of Jesus. Paul is not talking about self-help as the answer to maturity, but self-denial.
- [verse 13] Paul will never consider himself to have "arrived." He knows fully well that the only way to have attained full maturity, or perfection, is to die and be united with Christ. Because of this fact, he refuses to dwell on what is past and move forward in a life that is a process of dying to oneself that he may be formed more into the image of Jesus daily. The goal is not death, but life in abundance (John 10:10). This comes through a repentant life, walked with Christ.
- [verse 15] Paul calls all believers who are mature to have this attitude: the attitude of verses 12-14. He's saying that mature believers should know that they are not as mature as they should or could be. My hope and prayer is that I never forget this. I don't want to be one of those Christians who seems unteachable; who seems like they have everything under perfect control; who knows it all; who gives advice to anyone and everyone but is unwilling to take any advice from anyone other than their senior pastor (even though they've never really talked to their senior pastor at great length). Being a mature follower of Christ means knowing that you are really not all that mature yet.
- [verse 17] At the same time, we need to be confident enough in our maturity that we are worthy of being imitated by fellow believers. So my two questions for the day:
- How "perfect" do I see myself?
- What in my life is not worthy of imitation; and what must I do to remove them?
