Friday, April 10 Leviticus 14 and Hebrews 11:1-19 - Elizabeth

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 14 and Hebrews 11:1-19

In our OT reading today, disease is a consequence of the fall into sin, which isolates God's people outside the boundaries He established, but God provides the means to readmit those whose skin disease is healed. Thankfully, God now provides a means for the sinner, outside His boundaries, to return to Him: His own Son, Jesus Christ. When we repent, Christ removes our impurities, that we might daily be clothed in our Baptism. Infected individuals and homes must be removed from God's presence. In His mercy, God provides His priests with purification rites to cleanse individuals and homes. Ultimately, God sent His Son to enter the unclean home of sinners. Christ purifies and blesses our homes by His presence, as we pray, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed." This clearly refutes the teaching of theologians of glory, who would have us believe our health, or lack thereof, depends upon our faith, our actions, etc.

According to the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, "If anyone wants a distinction between faith and hope, we say that the object of hope is properly a future event, but that faith is concerned with the future and present things. Faith receives the forgiveness of sins offered in the promise in the present". Luther said, "One of the noblest and most precious virtues of faith is to close one's eyes to this, ingenuously to desist from exploring the why and the wherefore, and cheerfully to leave everything to God. Faith does not insist on knowing the reason for God's actions, but it still regards God as the greatest goodness and mercy. Faith holds to that against and beyond all reason, sense, and experience, when everything appears to be wrath and injustice." Luther's Works American Edition

As we see in our Hebrews reading, faith trusts even without sight what God has set forth in His Word. True faith is active in love and is steadfast under persecution. By His resurrection, Christ conquered death and now provides His Holy Spirit to strengthen us.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Leviticus 15-16; Hebrews 11:20-40

Thursday, April 9th: Leviticus 13, Hebrews 10:19-39

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 13; Hebrews 10:19-39

Leviticus 13 discusses uncleanness resulting from various different infectious skin diseases.  The question that comes to mind is why must the Israelite suffer from something he doesn't have any control over.

According to Bob Deffinbaugh:
The answer to the question, “Why must the Israelite suffer when no wrong has been committed by the individual,” is answered by this principle: The fall of man, as recorded in Genesis 3, has brought chaos and suffering to all creation, including mankind. The fall has rendered man inherently sinful from birth. Thus, man sins because he is a sinner. So, too, he will suffer in life because he lives in a fallen world where the consequences of sin cause chaos and suffering.
God used the laws of uncleanness to teach the Israelites some fundamental doctrines - one of which is the doctrine of depravity of man.  As I said yesterday, we aren't sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. Most of the conditions that caused uncleanness were caused by a result of the fall.  The law could and did declare men unclean, but only Jesus can make us clean.



After about 10 chapters of doctrine about the identity of Jesus Christ, the writer of Hebrews wants a response. Let us draw near through faith, let us hold fast through hope, and let us consider each other in love.  Faith, hope and love are the three features, or evidence, of the salvation response to the gospel message.

The other option is to walk away from Jesus, despite knowing the truth.  According to MacArthur (emphasis mine)....
the unforgivable sin of knowing the truth, having full revelation, professing to believe, then getting over it and walking away. And the Bible calls this kind of a person an apostate. It's the sin that becomes worthy of the severest Hell. To know everything there is to know about the gospel and to identify as a part of it, manifestly or visibly, and then to walk away, never having really been saved, that is to become an apostate. And for the sin of apostasy, there is no forgiveness. You say, well, how do you know when somebody's done that? You don't. Only God knows. And ours is not to speculate as to who's an apostate and brand them thus and leave them alone. Ours is to pray diligently and faithfully for every individual as far as we know and allow God to determine who the apostates are. That's not for us to determine. Only God knows. Don't you ever make the judgment, either that the individual knew everything in the first place, and thus reacted against full knowledge, or secondly, that his rejection is final. Only God knows that. 

Ours is to pray.  Diligently and faithfully. 

The first deterrent to apostasy is to remember.  Remember when they first heard the gospel and considered it, when they were even willing to be insulted and persecuted along with the true believers, when they sympathized with those in prison.

Most people interpret these verses to be encouraging Christians to remain strong in the faith, but MacArthur interprets them to be encouraging those on the verge of apostasy not to reject Jesus, but rather to remember when the Spirit was drawing them to Jesus.  I think MacArthur's interpretation is correct - based on what we've been learning in our study of Hebrews so far.

The second deterrent to apostasy is the promise of a reward.  Don't get trapped into looking at the present with all it's problems and get stuck there.  Look back and remember how wonderful the stirrings of the Spirit were, and look ahead to how wonderful it will be for all eternity.  Have patience, and go on to full belief and live by faith.

Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and only left us with two choices - accept Him or reject Him.  




 Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 14; Hebrews 11:1-19

Wednesday, April 8th: Leviticus 11-12, Hebrews 10:-18

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 11-12; Hebrews 10:1-18

Leviticus 11 deals with clean and unclean animals.  I don't know why God chose some animals to be clean and some to be unclean, but I think that's the point.

Animals are clean or unclean because God says so.  Sin is sin because God says so.  We do not get to determine what is sin and what is not - that is for God alone.  He is holy and He is God, so what He says goes.  If my opinion differs from His, I am wrong, every single time.

Leviticus 12 deals with uncleanness due to childbirth.  Of course, the first question is why is there double the time for girl babies as there is for boy babies.  I read up on it a little bit and found a few opinions that make sense to me.

First, the whole point of being unclean due to childbirth is to remind us of the origin of sin - we are born into it.  We aren't sinners because we sin.   We sin because we are sinners, right from birth.   Here, the woman was symbolically responsible for bringing another sinner into the world.  And, when giving birth to a female, the woman gives birth to a sinner who will give birth to more sinners, hence the longer period of uncleanness.

Another theory is that it is a reminder of the fall of man, and the specific curse on the woman and childbirth.

One good thing about these periods of uncleanness is that it gave the new mother a time of rest and seclusion that would be welcomed.  In the case of a girl baby (which was likely a bit of a disappointment, simply due to the culture at the time) it gave more time to bond more deeply with the newborn girl.

The book of Hebrews ties in very well with the book of Leviticus.  Our passage today specifically speaks about the sacrificially system being needed year after year because it didn't take away sin, it pointed to Jesus who is the Perfect Sacrifice, and who is the only One who can make us clean.

This past Easter weekend we celebrated exactly that.

Jesus' job of being the perfect sacrifice is done! And He signified that it was done by sitting down at the right hand of God.

And when Jesus died, He dealt a deathblow to His enemies - over Satan and all the fallen angels, and over all who reject Him. Death is Satan's greatest weapon, and Jesus completely destroyed it.

It was a one time act, and it was the most magnificent masterpiece of all time.



Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 13; Hebrews 10:19-39

Tuesday, April 7th: Leviticus 8-10, Hebrews 9 ~ Nathan

In chapter 8,  God gives Moses commands that he is to pass on to Aaron,  his brother, about preparing a sin offering. In this chapter it is mentioned five times that Moses did exactly as the Lord had told him. God gave him detailed descriptions about how to go about making themselves pure again after sinning. Aaron and his sons,  who were to be the priests,  were to follow these instructions to the letter, and did so at the beginning.

In chapter 9 Moses gives more instructions and says a few times that if they follow the commands of God,  then the glory of the Lord will appear to them. Sounds to me like, even though there's a lot of detail to keep in mind,  it very important to follow just as God instructs.

In chapter 10 we read what happens when Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu get sloppy and don't follow exactly. These boys were destroyed by fire right there on the spot.

This makes me wonder why I don't always listen to God, I need to respect and honour God more than I do and listen without questioning. I hope I won't be taken out that quickly if I sin,  but I nevertheless need to honour God more by listening to Him.

In Hebrews 9:15 we read,

"so Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people.  He brings this agreement so that those who are chosen by God can have the blessings God promised,  blessings that last forever. This can happen only because Christ died to free people from sins committed against the commands of the first agreement."

When Jesus came and died for us,  their was then a new way to be forgiven. The old law was over. At this Easter time especially we're thankful for the sacrifice He made for us.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 11-12; Hebrews 10:1-18

Monday, April 6th: Leviticus 6-7, Hebrews 8 ~ Conrad

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 6-7, Hebrews 8

In our OT passage, it begins by God speaking to Moses in regards to someone being found guilty of sinning and how they are to repay restitution for their sin.  In this reading, the offender is guilty of honesty or integrity in his dealings with either his neighbours or the priests.  Whatever the damage incurred here, it has to be restored and compensated with a 20% penalty in addition to the sacrifice of an unblemished ram.

I wonder if the same restitution penalties were enforced today, would people think twice about doing what they do?

These instructions served as the framework for the people of Israel to know what to do when they sin.  The next commands given by God to Moses were regulations to be followed by the priests.

We read that this fire had to burn 24 hours each day, seven days each week. Every morning one of the priests had to put on his priestly garment and go empty the ashes of the altar. After removing the ashes, he changed clothes before he carried the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. This priest refueled and stoked the fire in this process, and the ashes were removed while the fire was burning.

Back then they had the altar burning 24/7 and it was always ready for an offering to make atonement for ones sin.  Today, we have Jesus who made the ultimate sacrifice for us and is always ready and waiting for us to bring Him our sins.  How fitting that we would be reading this passage at this time of year!

The instructions for the grain offering I found to repeat of those found in Leviticus 2:1-16 with a couple of additions. First of all, the priests are told in this passage how they are to eat their portion of this sacrifice brought by the people. Secondly, we find instructions regarding this sacrifice when it is brought by the priests themselves on the day of their anointing for the priesthood. On this occasion, this sacrifice is not eaten, but wholly offered and consumed on the altar.

For the sin offering, it would appear from these verses that one of the big sights to see in the outer court area of the Tabernacle was a bunch of the priests feasting on the sin offerings brought to them by the people; these meals had to be eaten there. Everything had to be thoroughly washed of this sacrificial blood.

During the guilt offering, not only do the priests eat this food there on the premises, but the priest that assisted in the sacrifice gets to keep the skin (Leviticus 7:8).


And finally the peace offering.  We see three occasions as to why someone might bring a peace offering. 

1. as an expression of thanksgiving (12)
2. as the result of a vow (16)
3. as a freewill offering (16).

These offerings were eaten by laymen and rules for guarding their sacredness were therefore needed. They must be kept clean (vs19). An unclean person must absolutely not eat of the sacred meal (vs 20).

In verses 28-36 we see the parts of the fellowship offering that belonged to the priest - the breast (vs 30) and the right thigh (vs 33).


In our Hebrews passage, the writer continues from chapter 7 indicating a change with regard to the law.
Obviously, Jesus is the high priest of verse 1, and he's seated in heaven where the "true tabernacle" is located in contrast to the tabernacle/temple on earth.

With the old covenant, it consisted of temporary priests and a temporary tabernacle.   While the new covenant will consist of an eternal priest and a heavenly tabernacle.

Verses 3-5 tie in well with our Leviticus passage saying that the priests had prescribed gifts and offerings on the old covenant.  So it was necessary for the High Priest of the New Covenant to offer it too.  Jesus made one offering once for all.  The writer explains that the Messiah (verses 1-7) is not working from a pattern of true things like Moses and Aaron, but he is working with the true things themselves in Heaven.

I imagine it would have been very difficult for the Hebrew Christians at the time to fully understand what was happening.  We have the luxury of reading what was, and is, and is to come.  I am preparing this posting on Easter Sunday and what this day means.  How thankful I am for Jesus as my High Priest and the sacrifice He made for me, for which I did not deserve!

 Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 8-10; Hebrews 9

Sunday, April 5th: Leviticus 4-5, Hebrews 7 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 4-5; Hebrews 7

The sin offering was a required sacrifice and it's purposes was to make payment for unintentional sins of uncleanness, neglect, or thoughtlessness.  Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to sin.  Even unintentional sin separates us from our holy God.  This sacrifice restored the sinner to fellowship with God and showed the seriousness of all sin.  It again points to the sacrifice of Jesus, which is the only sacrifice that can fully restores our fellowship with God.

The guilt offering was also a required sacrifice and it's purpose was to make payment for sins against God and others, and included providing compensation for the injured parties.  Again, Christ's death is the only death that truly takes away the deadly consequences of sin.

The most important part of the sacrifice is the attitude with which it is given.  They had to then, and we have to now, have an attitude of repentance and a willingness to confess or sin in order to be restored to right relationship with God.

There were many different sacrifices and many different specific rules about which sacrifices were to be done for which reason and how they were to be performed.  This helped to prevent the sacrifices from simply becoming a ritual, because it forced the people to consider what they needed to do in order to be restored into fellowship with God.

When we come to our Hebrews passage we see that Jesus is the only priest we need.  Aaron was the high priest of Israel, but Melchizedek was the priest of all men.  Jesus' priesthood is in the order of Melchizedek because He is the priest of all men, but Jesus is our perfect high priest.

Jesus is also a permanent high priest.  All of the other high priests that had gone before eventually died only to replaced by another priest who eventually died.  But Jesus is our high priest who lives forever.  He always lives to intercede perfectly on our behalf.

Jesus is holy. He is blameless. He is pure. He is exalted above the heavens. He remained completely untouched by the evil He encountered while on earth. And because of this, He did not need to first offer a sacrifice for His owns sins before He could atone for ours. He had no sin of His own to atone for.

And He didn't need to repeat the sacrifice over and over again either.

He was a perfect priest.

He was a perfect sacrifice.

He was a perfect priest offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice.

In order to save us to the uttermost, completely and forever redeeming us and granting us full access to God. Forever. Amen.



 Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 6-7; Hebrews 8

Saturday, April 4th: Leviticus 1-3, Hebrews 6 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 1-3; Hebrews 6

The main theme in Leviticus is the holiness of God, and discusses how unholy men can approach a holy God - only through sacrifice.

We see three sacrifices in our reading today.

The burnt offering was voluntary, and it's purpose was to make payment for sins in general.  It showed a person's devotion to God and pointed to Christ, whose death was the perfect offering and the only one that could actually take our sins away.

The grain offering was also voluntary, and it's purpose was to show honour and respect to God in worship. This offering acknowledges that everything we have belongs to God.

The fellowship offering was also voluntary, and it's purpose was to show gratitude to God.  Though this sacrifice symbolized peace and fellowship with God, only through Christ can we experience true fellowship with Him.

Thoughts about our Hebrews passage (this is a little long, but I thought it was very interesting!)

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 

The book of Hebrews is a contrast between Christianity and Judaism.  It's an encouragement to those who have become Christians that they made the right choice.  It's a call to those standing at the edge, those who know all the information, but haven't yet made the commitment.  And it's giving information to those who have never heard it before. 

According to MacArthur, this is how we need to view the entire book of Hebrews.  Always asking ourselves what is it that the writer is saying about the superiority of Christianity over Judaism.  He is not contrasting a new, baby Christian with a mature Christian.  He is contrasting an unsaved Jew in Judaism with a redeemed Jew in the new covenant.  The emphasis is the superiority of the new covenant over the old, the new mediator or great high priest, over the old, that Jesus is better than angels, that Jesus is better than Moses, better than Joshua, better than Aaron, better than Melchizedek, better than everyone.

Some have said that this is talking to Christians, and he's saying to Christians, "You shouldn't be immature Christians. You should be grownup Christians." That's a good principle. That's terrific principle. That's a Biblical principle. I don't think that's what being taught in Hebrews chapter 5. I think he's talking here to Jews who are intellectually convinced, but still hanging onto Judaism and, incidentally, folks, Judaism is the ABCs of the new covenant, is it not? And he is saying to them, "Come on to maturity in the new covenant." Now, I'm gonna try to defend that thesis, because it is a little foreign to most interpretations; but I think it's consistent. So we say then that the question is not a question of whether one's a baby Christian or a mature Christian. The issue is...is an evangelistic appeal. Come on to Christ. Come all the way. Many of these readers have professed to believe, but they're still hanging onto the patterns of Judaism. They wouldn't let go. They weren't saved, and they're in great danger, chapter 6 verse 4, of falling back and then finding it impossible to be renewed to salvation again. So when we're talking about maturity here, we're talking about the maturity of accepting Christ, you see, and coming into all the full-grown truths of the new covenant....


Now, lemme give you an overview of the passage very quickly. In 5:11 through 6:3, the Holy Spirit says, "Grow up from the...the ABCs of Judaism, and come all the way to maturity. Leave the milk of the Old Testament. Come to the solid food of the new covenant. Come to Christ. Leave Judaism." That's exactly what he's saying. Then in 6:4, he says, "If you don't, you're in serious danger of coming all the way up, hearing all of the truth, then falling away, and being lost forever."Because, my friends, if a man hears all the truth of Jesus Christ, considers it carefully, and walks away, he's hopeless. What else can God do once he's known the truth?...

It says they were enlightened, not saved. They've tasted, not eaten. They were partakers, not possessors of the Holy Spirit; and there is no direct salvation term in that passage that is used elsewhere in the New Testament. It doesn't say they were saved, justified, righteous, called, elect, believers, sons, children of God, redeemed, sanctified, adopted, made holy, chosen, bought, regenerated, born again. Nothing. They had all the information. That's the point.

And, finally, in verse 9, he turns to Christians and says, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things which accompany salvation." And, at that point, he turns to Christians and lays on them the need to grow spiritually and to make sure they, too, don't fall back into old patterns. So the passage, then, is directed primarily as a warning to the unsaved. Now, someone is bound to ask me, "Do you think that the passage has anything to do with Christians?" Well, in an indirect sense, very definitely. If spiritual ignorance and fooling around with the ABCs is a serious problem for an unsaved person, how much more serious would it be for a Christian? How much more tragic for a Christian who never really grows up to fully understand the new covenant. But the direct issue is to the unsaved. Each warning in Hebrews is directed to the intellectually convinced who are on the edge of decision, but haven't yet responded to Christ. So we believe it to be a warning to them. (emphasis mine)




 Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 4-5; Hebrews 7

Friday, April 3rd: Proverbs 30-31, Hebrews 5 ~ Elizabeth

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Proverbs 30-31; Hebrews 5

In Proverbs, Agur demonstrates the futility of life without wisdom, and also the blessings obtained from God's Word. We cannot obtain enough insight, correct every injustice, or curb some of the most common sins. It is only through knowledge of the Holy One-God's only Son, Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died, and resurrected-that we are rescued from pressure of inadequacy, failure, and ultimately, eternal damnation. Knowledge and soundness of mind gained from the Lord enable us to approach life in this world with confidence.

King Lemuel was taught God's Word by his mother in order to equip him to serve his subjects. While we may never find ourselves in such a high position of authority, let us learn from his mother's example. Rather than focusing her teaching on how he could achieve financial and material success or how to increase his power, she taught him God's Word. God's Word from cover to cover bears witness first and foremost to another son: God's Son, who, at the appropriate time, took on human flesh and was born to a virgin mother. He did so to fulfill God's promise to bless all nations. Indeed, His death for the sins of the entire world opened up the gates to heaven. Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem; each line begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There is no indication who wrote this final second of the Proverb. On account of its different style, this poem is probably not an extension of King Lemuel's words. Yet this is a wonderful poem, praising virtuous women. It also serves to instruct men in what to look for in a potential spouse. The woman described here is truly remarkable. While it is often assumed that women played a subservient role in the home and society of ancient Israel, this woman defies such description. Not only is she the manager of the household, she is also a shrewd businesswoman (and is praised for it). Notice, however, that everything she does is for her family and, by extension, her community. She lives and works for the well-being and livelihood of others. She is not interested in promoting her own self-worth, but her worth is demonstrated by her service, which is ultimately motivated by her love for God. Such a woman should be treasured and honored.

The most basic human relationship, according to God's design, is the joining of a man and woman in holy matrimony. However, due to our active rebellion, this relationship has been undermined. In His mercy, God still blesses our marriages. Since our relationship with the Creator is restored in Christ, this likewise serves to restore our marriages and all other human relationships.

In Hebrews, Jesus Christ, our true High Priest, shares our humanity and knows the weaknesses that we experience. Being one with the Father, He is the source of God's full forgiveness. If we approach God confident in our own goodness, we will be condemned according to the strictness of the Law. But Christ Jesus is gentle and understanding. He forgives us, gives us confidence before the Father, and helps us in all our needs. Christians grow in maturity by building on the basic teachings of the faith and connecting God's promises with the new way of life that He gives. Those who reject God's promises should fear the just judgment of God. If we fail to be fruitful in love, mercy, and generosity, we become like thorns and thistles, fit only for His fire. However, we can be confident that God, who has given us the gift of salvation, will grow the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 1-3; Hebrews 6

Thursday, April 2nd: Proverbs 27-29, Hebrews 4 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Proverbs 27-29; Hebrews 4

Proverbs 27:2  Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips

A reminder to be humble and not to boast about our accomplishments.  We always need to remember that any of our accomplishments are only by the grace of God and all the glory should go to Him, not us.

Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend

A friend that genuinely loves you will speak the truth to you in love, even if it hurts sometimes.  When our good friends need to have a conversation like that with us, we need to be humble enough to listen to what they have to say.  When we need to have that conversation with a friend, we need to make sure we speak in love, that we have the right motive, that we've grounded ourselves in the Word to make sure we're speaking truth, and that we've prayed and received assurance that it is the right time to speak up.  And of course, take the plank out of our own eye first.

Proverbs 27:17  Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
That's what we're doing here!

Proverbs 28:9   If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
I'm pretty sure that hearing, in this case, also means obeying.  We can pray and sing praise songs with tears streaming down our eyes all we want, but if it's not followed up by obedience, we need to examine ourselves.  Is our faith genuine or are those tears simply an emotional but empty response?

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Parents who truly love their children discipline them.  Allowing children to do whatever they want is not love.  It may stem from laziness, disinterest, frustration, helplessness, pessimism, or a myriad of other things - but it is not loving.  We are all inherently sinful - children need their parents to teach them the Word and to train them to be men and women after God's own heart.

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
When our actions are guided by our fear of man more than by our fear of God, we are in trouble and headed down the wrong path.  


Hebrews 4:2 "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith."

Lots of people that grew up in church know a fair amount about God, but they don't know Him personally and so that knowledge is worthless. After all, Satan knows a whole lot about God!

But on the flip side, the more we know God personally and love Him and desire to serve Him, the more knowledge of Him we will also desire.

v12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.First, in order for God's Word to do its work, we need to know it.  We need to read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it.  The Word brings both judgment and grace, conviction and encouragement.  What a great gift God has given us in His Word!  We need to remember too, that so many generations before us didn't have access to the Bible like we do today.  For years the majority didn't even own one Bible, let alone multiple copies.  Their only access to the Word was what they had stored in their hearts - they treasured it!  How much do we take that access for granted today!

v15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

I think we are quick to discount many of the things that Jesus did as being possible because He was God. Obviously it is true that He was and is God, but He was also fully human. He set aside His God-ness, so to speak, when He was born, and He faced temptation as a human, just as we do. Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and armed with the Word of God He had memorized as a man schooled in the Jewish synagogues, He faced temptation and yet was without sin.

We have that same power available to us! We have the very Word of God to study, to meditate on, to memorize, to rely on, to sustain us. And we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us. And because of this, Jesus called us to be like Him. To be like our Rabbi. And when we are like Him, we show the world who He is.

May we be like our Rabbi.


Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Proverbs 30-31; Hebrews 5

Wednesday, April 1st: Proverbs 25-26, Hebrews 3

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Proverbs 25-26, Hebrews 3

I thoughts this portion of our Proverbs passage was rather fitting for today - being April Fools Day and all.....
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!” Proverbs 26:18-19
Good natured teasing is fun, but mocking, deceiving, and making fun of others is not.  There is a huge difference between the two, and we need to make sure we stay on the right side of that line.


The verse that really stood out to me was.....

Proverbs 25:28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls
Alexander Maclaren expanded upon these 3 points in his sermon, but it's summarized pretty well in his introduction....

We may see here three points: the city defenceless, or human nature as it is; the city defended, human nature as it may be in Christ; the city needing no defence, human nature as it will be in heaven.


My thoughts on Hebrews come from some of my previous posts....

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. Hebrews 3:1-6
Moses was truly a great man. He led the Israelites from Egyptian bondage to the edge of the Promised Land, he was given the law by God, he wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, he was a prophet, he was a prayer warrior who interceded on the people's behalf so God would not destroy them.

But Moses was still only a human servant.

Jesus is more than just human. He is also God himself. And He is the One on whom our faith rests, giving us the courage and hope to live out our faith daily.

So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” Hebrews 3:7-11

No matter how many miracles God performed, no matter how faithful He was, the Israelites hardened their hearts over and over again. And so they missed out on the Promised Land. If we resist God's will over and over again, we will eventually harden our hearts and miss out on the rest God wants for us - spiritual rest in this lifetime, and eternity to come.

One thing that stood out to me was "Today". Today! Recognize God's voice, resist the hardening of your heart - today! Now is the time. We do not know when Christ will return. And we do not know at what point our continual bad choices will result in the hardening of our hearts. Our opportunity to repent is now...today!


See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Hebrews 3:12-15

There's a few tips in here about remaining faithful.

One is to recognize sin's deceitfulness - it can be attractive, but it is destructive.

Another is to encourage each other. Fellowship with other believers is vitally important for our own walk, and to encourage others in their walk.

And again, the urgency of "today". It never pays to put off strengthening our spiritual lives. There is no better moment to start then today, this very moment.

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:16-19

The Israelites failed to enter the promised land because they didn't believe in God's protection and ability to help them conquer the giants of the land. They sinned due to their unbelief.

What are you not believing God for today?
How I am sinning due to unbelief?

God has always been faithful and trustworthy. He has never given us a reason for unbelief. Don't rely on your own faulty, human knowledge and understanding. Rely on our God who knows everything and trust in His promises.




 Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Proverbs 27-29; Hebrews 4