Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday, March 24 ~ Miriam

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Deuteronomy 1-2; Luke 2:1-24.

So today we begin the fifth book in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy.  Basically, the meaning of the word deuteronomy is "second law", or in this case, the 2nd time going through the law.  Moses is giving a history lesson and laying down the law, so to speak, to the new generation of Israelites, those born in the desert who remember neither Egypt, nor their disastrous first attempt at claiming the Promised Land (after God told them not to, I might add).  He doesn't go into great detail here, but starts off with them having already come to what was to have been near the end of their journey, describes the selection of judges because of the large number or people, and their rebellion against God and subsequent 38 years of wandering.

I notice that he was very clear to say that they were not to harass or provoke the Ammonites to war, as God had promised that land to the descendants of Lot.  This reminded me of Kathryn's post yesterday regarding the boundaries set down.  God basically told them "I'm giving you this -- it's plenty for all of you -- don't you dare try to take more than you've been promised because it's not going to go well for you if you do."

The other thing I thought of is that God keeps his promises.  ALWAYS.  He promised the descendants of Lot something and even though they were not his chosen people, he did not allow the Israelites even one speck of the Ammonites land.  He even gave the Ammonites victory over the strong and numerous, tall and imposing people that had lived there before them.  The same for the descendants of Esau.  God destroyed the Horites from before them and gave them that land.  So when God makes a promise, whether it is to his chosen people or to someone else, HE NEVER GOES BACK ON IT.

Think about that for a minute.  Think of all the things He's promised and then remember that He keeps each and every last one of them.  One thing I'm learning more and more about as we read the Old Testament is who God is.  His character.  He is who He is.  He hasn't changed.  He won't change.  He is God.  He is not only love, but holy, just, awesome, he gets angry (righteously), he shows mercy... he never promised that we wouldn't have sickness, sorrow, pain, persecution, difficult decisions, worries, regrets, or fear.  He DID promise to be with us, never to leave us, to carry our burdens, to forgive our sins (if we believe and repent), and to provide a home for us in Heaven one day, where all those other things will be gone.

At Bible study last night the subject of the earthquake in Japan came up briefly.  So many people died, and so many others were hurt, or lost friends and family members, or lost their homes and all their belongings, not to mention the nuclear explosions and the aftermath of that.  But one lady said something that hit me hard, and I didn't bring it up again because we ran out of time, but she said "death is the worst".  The worst thing that can happen to someone is that they die.  And yet for Christians, that should be the absolute BEST thing that could possibly happen to us!  I'm not saying I want to die, certainly not right now while my children are young.  I enjoy life on this earth.  But over the past year +, as I've learned more and more that this life is so short and temporary compared to eternity, as I've learned more about storing up treasure in heaven rather than on earth, as I've become more secure in my faith and what it means, I've really started looking forward to heaven... someday.  I don't see death as something terrible, certainly not the worst thing that could happen, and I know I can't choose when, where, or how, but I would prefer to see my children grow up, and hopefully have their own children one day (preferably not as teenagers... boy, I don't want much, do I?).

In our Luke reading, I noticed that Luke was careful to point out that Joseph and Mary followed the Law of Moses to the letter in circumcising Jesus on the eighth day, waiting out their time of purification, presenting Jesus to the Lord, and offering the necessary sacrifice.  I can't say why Luke chose to point this out, but to me it brought two things to mind.
1.  Jesus came, not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.  Therefore it is important that Jesus was consecrated as a firstborn son as dictated by the Law, and that his parents were purified.
2.  Joseph and Mary were chosen by God to raise His son, and the fact that they followed the Law speaks to His having chosen them carefully.  Obviously there would have been many other qualities that made them the right ones for the job, but I'm sure adherence to the Law would've been an important one.

Anyway, there are my thoughts on today's passage.  Hope you have a great day!


 Tomorrow's passage:  Deuteronomy 3-4; Luke 2:25-52..

5 comments:

tammi said...

I think too, that it's a very key mention about Mary and Joseph being devout Jews. Obviously, following God's laws is important to God!!

I think you're so right about the attitude that death should be the best thing in a Christian's life; the thing we look forward to most in its proper time. But it's a tough concept to actually put into practise, isn't it?! I'm like you ~ I want to see my girls married and hopefully, with children of their own before I leave this place. And yet, even though those wonderful things pale in comparison with the glory of heaven, I find myself getting a little misty-eyed when I think about possibly missing out on those things. Like I'd be missing out if I could watch those events transpire from heaven!

I know it's silly, but yeah, though I don't fear death itself, I hope it will wait for a good many years yet! (and that it will be quick and painless too, of course ~ preferably in my sleep!!!)

Miriam said...

I'm with you there, too, Tammi!

Gian Cañada said...

Your very religious, i can say that you are a deep believer and you have my opinion in there,.. but can you give a an excerpt in the bible that i can relate on Family Blessings? im writing a post about it and i want to relate it from a bible excerpt

Tammy said...

Love the reminder that God's promises never chnage and that He never changes.

It's not so much death that I have a problem with (though I'm hoping for a relatively painless one!), at least not MY OWN. It's the death of one of my children that scares me. Obviously not the fact that they would be heaven - that would be wonderful of course. But the separation - no matter how "temporary" is the painful part.

But you're right, we often do have a wrong perspective on death as a whole.

Pamela said...

Great thoughts. I thought about the death of the generation of fighting men before the entry in the promised land. We may not know when we will die but these men knew. God promised (and we know he keeps His promises!) that these men would not see the promised land. I can't help but wonder if all the other people were sitting around waiting and looking at these men wondering when they would go so that they could move to what God had promised them??

In our church, the grade 5 and 6 class memorize this part of Luke 2. The girls one year and the boys the next so that they have this passage of scripture in their hearts before they leave Sunday School. These last few weeks, Kiandra has been studying Ancient Rome and when she came across Caesar Augustus in her readings she was surprised. She attends a Christian school and it was awesome that the teacher could connect the Bible to the content that they are studying and not treat it as a separate piece of history.