30 Days in the Bible, Day 12: Joshua 1:1-9

The book of Joshua might have the most abruptly discouraging opening of any book in the Bible. Not only does it tell us that Moses is dead, that’s the first thing God says to Joshua in the book. Joshua had been trained and commissioned to replace Moses, so he knew this day would come. Moses had almost certainly informed him that he would not be returning from Mt. Nebo. The Lord told Joshua that Moses had died, since no one ever saw Moses’ body.

Yet even as prepared as he was, the reality of becoming Israel’s leader still might have given Joshua some second thoughts. Three times the Lord tells him to be courageous, and He adds a “do not be afraid” for good measure. Joshua had shown himself to be a man of courage during the journey to Canaan, but the Lord still reminded him to have courage as he took Israel into the land.

Certainly that courage came from knowing that the Lord was with him and with Israel, but God gave Joshua another source of courage and confidence. The Law that the Lord had given to Israel through Moses was intended to guide the nation and its leaders as they went forward in following God. Joshua was to constantly be reading, studying, and living the Word of God as the leader of Israel, and in that Word he would find the Lord speaking to him.

In addition to meditating on the Word, which we looked at yesterday, Joshua was to keep the Book of the Law “on his lips.” Whatever he said to Israel and its leaders, whatever judgments he made, whatever directions and orders he gave to the people, they were to be steeped in God’s Word. Although Joshua would speak with his own voice, he was to reflect what God had already said in his words.

A good preacher or Bible teacher will express God’s Word constantly. They won’t simply reflect the words of the passage they are addressing at the moment, but recall other parts of Scripture that bear on their teaching and its application to life. Not only that, but when they give advice or address an issue, it will be apparent that their words aren’t just founded on their own ideas or even a theological or philosophical system, but on the Bible.

We live in a world that wants to tune out Jesus and His Word. In order to engage with ideas and teachings that oppose the Lord’s will, we must be prepared to use the Word as the solid foundation for what we say. When we rely on the Word, and on the Holy Spirit as He guides us in knowing, understanding, and using the Word, we will have confidence and courage as we face the challenges of our society and culture today.

30 Days in the Bible, Day 8: Psalm 19:7-14

[NOTE: In the “30 Days in the Bible” devotional, the reference for this is given as Psalm 10:7-14. It is actually Psalm 19:7-14. This is a typo on my part, and one I failed to correct before sending the document to be printed. I apologize for the error.]

We think of the Bible as a book, but it might be better to view it as a library. Not only are there 66 individual books in the Bible, written by 40 or more authors, but there is a variety of literary genres represented. There is narrative (stories), poetry, epistles (letters), wisdom (sayings), apocalyptic (strange-seeming writings about the future), and several other types of writing. Most books contain more than one kind of literature; for example, many prophetic books are written in poetic form. When we read Scripture, we are getting a cross-section of the kinds of writings that were written over 1500 years of history.

Despite all the differences in form and style, however, the Bible has one message to convey. Every genre brings out different aspects of that message, and we may find we appreciate some forms more than others. The Bible tells us about God, about His standards, about our condition, and about the way of salvation.

In the Old Testament, the Law was the revelation of God’s holiness and the terrible price that had to be paid for sin. Prior to the coming of Jesus to fulfill His earthly ministry and mission, the Law, with its sacrifices, showed that sin required the shedding of blood for forgiveness. The lambs, goats, and bulls that were sacrificed pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that would be made when Jesus went to the cross and sacrificed Himself for the forgiveness of our sins.

The psalmist here uses several words to describe the Word of God. Many of these words refer to aspects of the Law, including the word for Law (Torah) itself. He writes of statutes, precepts, commands, and decrees. While each of these terms has a slightly different shade of meaning, the idea that comes across is that whatever is written in the Word has an incredible value for us.

Perhaps more striking is the inclusion of “fear” in the list. We think of the “fear of the Lord” as our proper response to the majesty of God, not a fear that trembles afraid but one that recognizes our place in light of His glory. Here, though, the emphasis is probably more on the Word as what demands that reverential fear, the revelation of the Lord that calls us to come before Him with humility and holy respect. That use of the term fits in with the general structure of the poetry here.

Each word is connected to both an attribute and an effect:

1)      The Law is perfect, which refreshes the soul.

2)      The statutes are trustworthy, providing wisdom to those open to it.

3)      The precepts are right, and a source of joy for the heart.

4)      The commands are radiant, enlightening the eyes of our hearts.

5)      The fear is pure, and eternally existing.

6)      The decrees are firm, all of them righteous.

This could be a discussion for many posts, but the point is not to dissect the Word into its various component parts and assign them each a specific value, but to open up a larger, glorious vision of just what the Word is and does. As we continue to read and study the Word, may all of its parts continue to bless us in a variety of ways.

Why church history matters

I've been doing a study of the second-century Ebionites for an on-again, off-again project I've had simmering for a few years. The term was originally used of Jewish-Christians in general, but came to be applied to groups that were more focused on law, and some of whom even denied the deity of Jesus. Ebionism died out fairly early in the history of the church, but the Ebionites or their predecessors may have been one of the groups Paul criticized in his epistles.

The study of this group is a fascinating study in and of itself, and I certainly don't want to imply that you shouldn't study something just because it fascinates you. Sometimes I think too much of what we study (and by "we" I mean "me" especially) is done for practical purposes. I do a lot of teaching, and some preaching, and I'm always looking at the texts I'm using and digging into them for those purposes. It's fun to study something just for the sake of study. Yet as I looked into the Ebionites and their beliefs, I found that there is still a relevance to examining their beliefs.

The most prominent difference between the second-century Ebionites and orthodox Christians was their focus on the Law. It may have begun as a specifically Jewish observation among those who had become followers of Jesus as Messiah, but it turned into a requirement for salvation. To the Ebionites, it wasn't enough to be saved by faith in Jesus; you also had to observe the Law to be in right standing with God. This belief may have led to some of the more extreme forms of Ebionism, like the groups that denied Jesus' divinity. The Law became far more important than grace.

So why do I find this relevant? You can probably find a church near you that claims to believe in salvation by grace through faith but has its own "law" you have to keep to really be saved. I have been in and around a number of churches that certainly seem to preach salvation by your good works, even as they gave lip service to God's grace. To be a "genuine" Christian, you have to show it by living up to the standards they have set up. Jesus just isn't enough.

That is no more true today than it was in the second century. I don't depreciate the value of good works, since we're told by Jesus that they are evidence of the change in our hearts. But you don't get to heaven by being good, and you certainly don't get to heaven by keeping man-made rules that some church decides are the right ones. I also think that, just like the Ebionites, churches that focus on "law" tend to move theologically away from the truth about the person and work of Jesus Christ. If I need to keep a law or set of rules to be saved, then Jesus' death is essentially irrelevant.

I don't want to go too far in drawing the parallels here, but I think an awareness of the ways the church and groups connected with it have gone astray is a powerful reminder to us that it's easy to put our own ideas in the place of God's Word. Some modern heresies and questionable teachings actually have historical precedents, and it's our ignorance of our own past that allows them to proliferate.

What's the answer? Of course I'm going to say we need to study and learn church history, but even a simple awareness of our own tendencies to wander from the truth should keep us on guard. We need to subject everything to the teaching of the Scriptures. When we focus on the Word Incarnate and the Word revealed we will have strong help in remaining faithful to God. Then we can learn from the mistakes of the past, and set our future to be as faithful to God as we seek to follow Him.

Leviticus

I began reading through the Bible in a year about 30 years ago. Although there were some years I chose to pursue a different devotional approach, I think I can safely say I've read through over a dozen different translations (some, like the NIV, more than once). While I make no claims at being an expert at reading through the Bible, I think I do have some insight into the discipline it takes to read through God's Word.

When reading through on a "straight through in order" plan, such as I'm following this year, you find a few critical points at which the project may break down. The first of these is usually the book of Leviticus. Sure, there are the genealogy passages in Genesis, and the details of the Tabernacle in Exodus, but Leviticus is where the Old Testament legal system starts to become a bewildering place for many contemporary Christians. Offerings, sacrifices, dietary laws, sanitary laws-it can be a bit of a "wilderness" for us to wander through.

I just started Leviticus in this year's reading, and I must say that over the years the book has grown on me. Partly this is due to my growing love for the OT in general. But a bigger part is the desire each year to examine all of the laws, especially the sacrificial laws, with an eye to the bigger picture they paint about God and our relationship with Him. If you are reading through this book, let me make some suggestions.

First, look at how serious sin is. When an Israelite sinned, even inadvertently, it required a specific offering done in a particular way to atone for that sin. This was true even more so for the priests and leaders of the nation. When we think about the Tabernacle and later the Temple, we think of the beauty and majesty of the furnishings and decoration. Yet I'm guessing that what might have stood out to people who went to those holy places was a smell like a butcher shop, combined with the constant aroma of burnt meat. The contrast between those two sensory experiences would put our position before the Lord in perspective.

Second, look at what sin cost the sinner. The one who offended had to take one of the best animals from his flock or herd, or the best of his produce, to make an appropriate offering. Repeated sin was expensive. Perhaps it caused people to think of how much of what they had could be consumed just in trying to pay for their sins. Sin is costly, and later when Jesus paid the price once for all that piece of good news had to strike the average Israelite as unbelievably gracious.

Third, look at how carefully God's people had to live in order to remain in a condition in which they could come into His presence. While many modern scholars look at the sanitary and dietary laws as God's way of keeping His people healthy, they would indeed impose a burden on any person who wanted to remain ritually clean. Purity in God's sight wasn't easy.

All of these help us see just how radical the good news of Jesus Christ was. He truly lifted the burden off the back of people who wanted to remain right with God, and in His mercy removed all of the ritual requirements of the law while making us right with His Father.

So don't let Leviticus get you down. Look at just what we are set free from by Jesus. The narrative will resume soon enough in Numbers, and then it's pretty smooth sailing until the beginning of 1 Chronicles. (Maybe when I get there I'll post some help for that section, too.)

Sunday sermon: "You Know Better"

As a child, when we did something wrong occasionally our parents would admonish us with the line, "You should know better!" Other kids may have gotten away with the same thing we did, but what mom or dad was saying was that we were raised to follow a higher standard. Truth be told, we probably did know better, but we let our own desires and our own will have control instead of doing what was right.

Paul reminds us in Romans 7:7-14 that this is exactly what the Law of God does for us. It reminds us of the higher standard that God holds for His people. If we did not have this standard revealed to us, we might be able to convince ourselves that we aren't so bad after all. Paul says he was "alive" before he knew the Law. We know from his previous discussion that objectively he was still dead in his sins, as we all are, but here I think he is trying to say that he felt alive. It was the Law that revealed what sin was.

Not only does the Law show us what sin is, it shows us what the consequences of sin are. Sin breaks our relationship with God fatally. When we breach the Law, we are separated from God, eternally condemned to death. If we didn't see God's standard, we wouldn't realize just how impossible keeping the Law is.

Yet this revelation of our condition before God is the beginning of the good news. Before we can understand our need for the saving work of Jesus Christ, we need to know that we have that need. As long as we think we can take care of ourselves, we won't look for an answer from Him. Once we know we are dead, and unable to help ourselves, we start to look for the way out. That's when we are open to hearing the good news that our sin was paid for by Jesus on the cross.

Sometimes Christians disparage the Law. "We aren't under Law, but under grace!" we cry. That's certainly true, but we need to have the attitude toward God's Law that Paul had. Without it, we wouldn't know the high holiness of God, the absoluteness of His standard, and the ways we fall far short of it. Without the Law, we wouldn't realize we need Jesus. The Law has a purpose, even for us today. 

Sunday sermon: "You Belong to Me"

If you are doing an annual "Read Through the Bible" program, you have probably been reading through the books of the Pentateuch. As we read through all the laws that God gave to Israel, we are overwhelmed with all the details that had to be followed in order to keep the Law. I recently had someone ask me the reason for all the sacrifices and offerings in Leviticus. There were many aspects to keeping the Law, and the various sacrifices each filled a different niche in maintaining a person's relationship with God.

Keeping the Law became quite a monumental task for the observant Jew. I'm sure even the most devout found themselves wishing for a way to be free from the bondage of the Law. Surely God could come up with a better way to enable us to be right with Him!

Paul picks up that idea in Romans 7, and equates the rule of the Law over humanity to the law of marriage. As long as I am bound to my wife, I am not free to go bind myself to someone else. In order to be free from the marriage vow, one of the spouses has to die. (My wife informed me that if I tried to get "bound" to someone else while she was alive, the death of one spouse could easily be arranged!) Once one of the parties is dead, the law no longer binds the other.

In order for us to be free from bondage to the requirements of the Law, we have to die to it. In Jesus Christ, we have indeed been put to death in relation to the Law, and now we are bound to Him. Our old relationship is gone, and we have a new life in Christ.

What difference does this make in our life? It changes the effect the Law has on us. Where once we were condemned under the Law, and bound to keep every little part of it, now the Law simply shows us what God expects of us. We aren't left on our own trying to obey God, as we were when we were "under Law," but are now empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

Paul stresses this in verse 6, where he tells us that now "we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old letter of the law." (HCSB) The paragons of Jewish piety in Paul's time were the Pharisees (Paul, of course, having been one himself). They kept the Law, the interpretations of the Law, and the side details of the interpretations of the Law. They were "letter" people, who saw righteousness as an external reality, based on how well you could follow the rules. They looked good, but they had not had a change in their heart or in their relationship to God.

In Christ, we are set free from that kind of observance. The Holy Spirit enables us to obey God not to make ourselves righteous, but as a result of being made righteous in Christ. Our relationship to God is not based on what we do, but on what Jesus did for us. We are released from the power of sin through the cross of Jesus, and now given the power of the Spirit as children of God. 

As those set free from the tyranny of the Law, now belonging to Jesus Christ, we have the ability in the Spirit to bear fruit for God. We no longer serve ourselves, but Him. Our lives now show the reality of Jesus as we live to honor Him. This change not only impacts us, but those we meet every day. As we live out our new life, our new relationship, and our new power, we will show the way Christ can change lives, and be a witness to a world that needs to hear that such a change is possible.