Month: September 2023

Digging in Deeper: Mark 6:17-20

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“For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever been in a situation that blew up to such an extent that you figured God had completely forgotten about you, or perhaps was punishing you for something you didn’t even realize you had done? That can be a scary and disorienting place to be. You thought you were right on track with Him, but suddenly things go sideways, and it seems like the devil had won that particular battle. There was no way God could do something to redeem this. It was simply a lost cause. And then some well-meaning jerk came along to remind you of Romans 8:28 where Paul said that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes. And while perhaps he didn’t mean it this way, the implication is that either you didn’t love God enough, weren’t being called according to His purposes, or both. You didn’t punch him, but you did wonder a bit if maybe he wasn’t on to something. What are we supposed to do when our situations blow up and it feels like God is nowhere to be found?

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 12:37-42

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“The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand able-bodied men on foot, besides their families. A mixed crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they were driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared provisions for themselves. The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the Lord’s military divisions went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’m sure we’ve talked about this before, but there are some places in the Scriptures that leave you wondering a bit exactly why they were included. They don’t appear to tell us anything of particular applicational worth. They just give details that we don’t really feel like we need. What is the point of these places? Why would God include them? Can we just skip them without missing much? Today, let’s see about answering some of these questions and more as we talk through what’s happening in these verses, potpourri style.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 12:35-36

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“The Israelites acted on Moses’s word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold items and for clothing. And the Lord gave the people such favor with the Egyptians that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things we have to keep in mind when engaging with the Scriptures is that they were written a long time ago. A very long time ago. They feature stories and people and cultures which were vastly different from our own. The kinds of assumptions they made about what was okay to do and what wasn’t, about what kinds of behaviors were normal and which weren’t can occasionally seem utterly alien to us. This is one of those stories. Let’s talk briefly about what’s going on here, and why it nonetheless reveals something important about God’s character to us.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 12:33-34

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“Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, ‘We’re all going to die!’ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes God’s instructions don’t make any sense. He tells us to do something in a certain way that doesn’t really fit with how we would do it, and our first instinct is to question Him and do it our own way. When God gave the Israelites the instructions to have a feast with unleavened bread, that didn’t make a lot of sense. It seemed arbitrary and random. At least it did until it didn’t. Let’s talk today about God’s odd instructions, and why following them really does make the most sense.

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Morning Musing: Matthew 10:37-38

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“The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Today is going to be just a little bit different than our normal Friday conversations usually go. There are several reasons for this including the priority I endeavor to give to life and ministry (in that order) over writing these. The reason for this particular post as well as next week’s post at this time, Lord willing, is that the adult Bible study I teach on Wednesday nights has been having some powerful and challenging conversations as we have been working our way through Matthew’s Gospel. Our most recent conversation struck me as important enough that I wanted to share a glimpse of it with you. I’m going to keep this pretty short and to-the-point, but it’s worth your time to begin reflecting on the idea because it is a life-changing one. The idea is this: Are you worthy of Jesus?

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