Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Tuesday, March 8 ~ Miriam

So sorry, Jody, that your post for today vanished... technology can be so frustrating sometimes.  I'm sorry we won't get to read your post today.  I always enjoy them.

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Leviticus 25; Mark 11:1-18.

This is going to be pretty short today, as I'm doing this on the spur of the moment, but there was a verse in particular in our Leviticus reading that struck me.  Leviticus 25:23 says "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants."

This didn't stand out for me in particular with regards to land.  I'm not a farmer, nor am I much of a gardener.  I like flowers and I have a perennial bed that I putter around in a bit, but I don't have a lot of time to pursue gardening and don't have enough interest in it to make time for it.  The reason this verse spoke to me is because it reminded me that the things we consider ours, belonging to us, are really not ours in actuality at all.  Our planet, and therefore the land on which we live, belong to God.  Our talents and abilities are given to us by God, and therefore the use of them and the living that we earn belong to Him as well.  Our fertility is in His hands, and therefore the children that are entrusted to us also belong to Him.  It makes a difference in how I think about looking after things if I remember that I am entrusted with the care of those things by the God who made them.

I think it's incredibly amazing that God gave the Israelites the Year of Jubilee.  50 years is a long time - a lot can happen.  Poor crops, bountiful crops, many children born, few children born, illness that causes a significant number of deaths in the community... the list goes on.  All of these things can contribute to the situation of an individual, a family, a community, and a nation.  But every 50 years, they got a do-over of sorts.  They were restored to what they'd originally been given (with some stipulations).  Those who were forced to work for others because of circumstances were given their freedom to try and make a fresh start.  (Hmmm, just read Tammi's comment about them never having observed it.  It seems a terrible shame.)

I love the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Kind of like welcoming a celebrity, maybe?  He had a "red carpet" of cloaks and palm fronds, people shouting praises...

Regarding the covering of the road, Wikipedia has this to say:

  In many lands in the ancient Near East it was the custom to cover in some way the path of someone thought worthy of the highest honour. The Hebrew Bible (2Kings 9:13) reports that Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, was treated this way. Both the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John report that people gave Jesus this form of honour. However, in the synoptics they are only reported as laying their garments and cut rushes on the street, whereas John more specifically mentions palm fronds. The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in Jewish tradition, and is treated in other parts of the Bible as such (e.g., Leviticus 23:40 andRevelation 7:9).

I can imagine the excitement and the joy, a kind of mob mentality.  Have you ever been at an event, like a concert perhaps, where it seems that the excitement and joy and fervor of everyone in the whole place all joins together and it's like a giant bubble just about to burst?  And there's a smaller replica of that bubble in your chest?  Maybe not.  I have had that experience on a couple of occasions, and I imagine this would have been similar.  (Hmmm, perhaps it is something similar that causes preteen girls to hyperventilate when in the presence of Justin Beiber.  ha ha)

Anyway, thanks for reading.  Have a great day!

 Tomorrow's passage:  Leviticus 26-27; Mark 11:19-33.

7 comments:

tammi said...

I was struck, too, by the strong message that what we have isn't really permanently ours ~ it's just on loan from God. That's why being good stewards of everything we consider "ours" is so important; because it's been entrusted to us for a while so that we can use it to glorify God.

Yeah, I found it so sad that it doesn't seem the Israelites ever carried out the instructions for the Year of Jubilee. It DOES seem like a terrible shame. But I guess financially, it would really only have benefitted the poor and if it's the rich who make and enforce the rules, I can see why they wouldn't have been too keen on the idea.

Tammy said...

Awesome application to that verse Miriam.

We always say that without God we can do nothing - which we usually actually mean that without God we can do nothing of value, and specifically eternal value. But the truth is, without God we can do literally nothing. God holds the world in the palm of His hand. He makes sure our rules of gravity remain in place. He makes sure we have air to breath, and that our lungs function. He causes the earth to continue it's incredible orbit around the sun - and if it was off at all we would incinerate or freeze.

We take things for granted, and take credit for things we should not. Without God we really can do nothing.

Tammy said...

Tammi - I, too, was surprised when the Life Application Bible said that there is no evidence the Israelites ever actually carried out this 50 year Jubilee. So incredibly sad. And I wonder, why? Especially since the first time for this would've come during the time that Joshua, a godly leader, was leading the people. (The 40 years of wondering occurred after this, and Joshua led for more than 10 years, so I'm assuming Joshua was leading during their first opportunity to observe the Year of Jubilee)

Sarah said...

The triumphal entry with the palm branches being laid out and them shouting was because they wanted an uprising. They wanted him to take over the Roman Empire and overthrow their government. Jesus wasn't sent to overthrow like that though, and they didn't understand anything about what he came to do. It is again revealed later by the disciples when they didn't even understand what he was there to do. They lived with him day and night, 24 hours a day, for over 3 years, yet they couldn't grasp what his whole purpose was...even though it was written so clearly and plainly (esp when you look at the culture...it is very clear). The people wanted freedom, but the freedom they wanted was that from their physical torturers...Jesus came to give spiritual freedom though, and they didn't even see it.

Jody said...

Great post - thanks so much Miriam! I was so incredibly frustrated this morning! I had found some great material on The Year of Jubilee here: http://www.growthingod.org.uk/jubilee.htm The idea of absolute freedom given every 50 years is so very interesting. The author also gives a lot of information on The Sabbath that I had explored in the missing post... I also found some interesting thoughts on The Triumphant entry here: http://www.inspiredchristian.org/cyber/easter/040901rf.html. Several paragraphs down the author discusses the significance of the young colt etc.

Pamela said...

Great thoughts.

Whenever I read about the Triumphant entry, I am always stuck by how fast the mob mentality changes from "Hosannah" to "Crucify Him".

Rodney said...

Great post! Like the analogy!


Anyways, my wifes name is Annette (pastors wife)and she just opened her blog to public setting as she wants to be an encouragement and blessing to people (she is also hoping to do giveaways). I was trying to be an encouragement to her by asking if you would be willing to swing by and say hi as she does not know many people in the blog world? Thank you for considering. Her blog is

http://continuedwonder.blogspot.com/

Thank You,
Rodney(Annette's husbandcater