Tuesday, 2/3/2015

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” ~ Mark Twain

EXODUS 31-33

12Then the Lord said to Moses, 13“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy...
18When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

God then tells Moses to return to the Israelites because they have become corrupt.  God states that he will destroy them all and Moses pleads with God to have mercy. 

So Moses comes down from the mountain and hears a noise that he initially thinks is war, Joshua however states that it is singing and dancing.  When he arrives he sees that the people are worshiping a golden calf.  He is infuriated and throws down the tablets and burns the calf in the fire and then makes all the people drink the melted pieces. 

Moses then confronts Aaron...

22“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

Moses then asks all the people who is willing to follow God.  Everyone who came to him he told to strap on a sword and all those who didn't where slaughtered.  

31So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”33The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”35And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made. 

The rest of chapter 33 is devoted to Moses' relationship with God.  Moses would set up the tent of meeting and he would enter it and the cloud of God would cover the entrance... 

11The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. 

MATTHEW 22:23-46

The Saducees come to Jesus and outwit him and trap him in his words.  In the first encounter they ask him regarding the resurrection who will be married if someone remarries while on earth...

29Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^b ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Next the Pharisees ask him which is the greatest commandment in the law.

37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^c 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^d 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Then Jesus poses a question to the Pharisees as to whose son is the Messiah, they respond that it is David's and Jesus responds...

43He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

44“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your feet.” ’^e

45If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

JOURNAL

There is so much in these passages.  I find that I often pass judgment in my initial reading.  I have thoughts of how wicked and stupid the Israelites are and then how wicked and evil are the Pharisees.  

Yet if I am really honest...I am no better.  I don't trust fully and believe God's promises...evidenced by my anxiety, worries, rebellion, lies etc. I am wicked and hypocritical just as the Pharisees based on my judgment, self-righteousness and arrogance.  I am not righteous and I will never be able to rid myself of my unrighteousness.  

This is the inexhaustible burden of sin but its realization is the foundation of my ultimate dependence on God.  

16It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:16)