Contemplative Bible Reading

Haggai 1:14 (New Living Translation)

1:14 So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of the people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

This is part of the (hi)story when the people were attempting to restore the Temple in Jerusalem. The building had been neglected. It basically became a warehouse of stuff.

This was a difficult task. It was possible, but difficult. Just work hard and get ‘er done. What was needed was some motivation and desire, i.e., some wanta’.

God sparked the enthusiasm of the leaders and the whole remnant of the people. They began to work.

In human history, we see people accomplishing amazing things. We also see more examples of people just sitting on the porch and saying, “Oh woe is me.” The difference is motivation, desire, some wanta’.

We read in black and white that sometimes, in some places, in some situations, God sparks the enthusiasm. God provides the motivation and desire. I am not writing that all great achievements of man come from the spark of God. I am writing that some great achievements of man come from the spark of God. Sometimes, we have the faith in what we are doing. We believe that God wants us to do something. We are sparked. We allow ourselves to be used by God.

Please God, spark me this and every day.

Genesis 47:22 (New Living Translation)

47:22 The only land he did not buy was the land belonging to the priests. They received a regular allotment of food from Pharaoh, so they did not need to sell their land to buy food.

This is part of the (hi)story of the seven-year famine in Egypt and how Pharaoh had Joseph administer the distribution of food. During a part of the famine, Joseph bought the land of the Egyptians with a food-for-land exchange. Exempt from this were the Egyptian priests.

Note, Egypt had priests. These were people who conversed with the Egyptian gods for the Egyptian people. Yes, the Egyptians were religious people. They believed in the supernatural, i.e., things that could not be explained by the natural sciences. And remember, the Egyptians built the pyramids and conducted all sorts of impressive civil engineering projects. They were experts in the natural sciences.

The Egyptians were educated, accomplished, and were not a bunch of superstitious folks bumping into the walls.

They were, however, practicing idolatry. They worshiped the sun, the moon, the stars, the river, the desert, etc. They had priests to converse with all these gods or idols. They were held in high esteem, and that is shown in the verse above in how they owned land, received a regular allotment of food from Pharaoh, and were not involved in the food-for-land exchange.

Still, they worshiped the wrong things. They did not worship Jehovah, the one true God who created everything. Pharaoh told Moses he did not know Jehovah. I suspect that some of the Egyptian priests had heard of Jehovah. Still, religious does not equal belief in God.

There are people today who follow the practices of the Egyptians. They believe in the supernatural, but not in the one true God. There are inroads to reaching these religious people. Please God, help me to find these people and point them to You.

Numbers 10:13-16 (New Living Translation)

13 When the people set out for the first time, following the instructions the Lord had given through Moses, 14 Judah’s troops led the way. They marched behind their banner, and their leader was Nahshon son of Amminadab. 15 They were joined by the troops of the tribe of Issachar, led by Nethanel son of Zuar, 16 and the troops of the tribe of Zebulun, led by Eliab son of Helon.

This is part of the (hi)story of the people traveling from Egypt to the land promised them by God. There were about a million people (maybe two million) in a camp. They would break camp and “set out” on their journey. Pack up all the stuff and walk. Mundane life.

Note who walked first: troops or soldiers or men armed for a fight.

This wasn’t just a walk through no man’s land. There were people in the areas surrounding the trail. Some of these people didn’t like visitors. Some of these people liked visitors as a source of poll tax. Some of these people liked visitors as the visitors were weakened by travel and could be killed and robbed, i.e., easy pick-ens.

This walk required armed protection. Who trained this army? Who armed this army? Who was in this army? This was a bunch of former brick layers, farmers, and herders turned into walkers. Army? Where?

Faith provided the army. Fear provided the army. Love provided the army. Those troops in the front protected their wives and children who walked behind. This was actual sacrifice for your family. This was not a picnic or a family hike.

And sometimes I worry if I have saved enough money to provide for my kids and grand kids. These guys were willing to be stabbed to death and lie dead in the desert.

Thank you God that I have such an easy and blessed life.

Genesis 43:18 (New Living Translation)

The brothers were terrified when they saw that they were being taken into Joseph’s house. ‘It’s because of the money we found in our sacks last time,’ they said. ‘He plans to pretend that we stole it. Then he will seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.’

This is part of the long (hi)story of Joseph and his brothers. The brothers sold Joseph into slavery and prison. Through many hardships and years of struggle, Joseph becomes a ruler in Egypt with the power of life and death. The brothers no nothing of that rise to power.

Joseph sets up his brothers for a big fall. The evidence shows that they stole from the government of Egypt. They are in big trouble. The brothers realize their situation and lament about being taken as slaves to toil under cruel masters for the rest of their lives.

And they will also lose their donkeys.

Huh? What? Faced with the end of the lives, they lament the loss of their donkeys.

Huh? What? Donkeys? Of all the things to contemplate, they think of their donkeys? Isn’t that like us, like me? There are major problems on the horizon, and I am concerned about spilling a little of my coffee and not getting every penny’s worth of it this morning. Really?

There are big things in life and there are things that are not so big. Why is it that I open my mouth and mention those little things that mean nothing? What do other people think of me when I mention that I will lose my donkeys?

There are many question marks in the above. Answers are lacking. I guess that’s part of my life as a believer trying to be closer to God. Stop asking questions and start doing what is righteous. Donkeys? They are worth something, but they are not worth much compared to cruelty to me and my brothers. Please God, help me to see the big things as big and the rest as donkeys.

Numbers 11:34 (New Living Translation)

So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means ‘graves of gluttony’) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt.

This (hi)story comes from the people wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before entering the land God promised them. Each morning, God put life-sustaining food on the ground for the people to gather and eat. Pretty miraculous stuff but, like in the school cafeteria, you grow weary of spaghetti every Thursday and complain.

Okay, fine. So God had a flock of quail so big that it darkened the sky fly in and drop dead right in their laps. Food! Variety! Let’s chow down (an old phrase that old people remember). That is gluttony exemplified: people who were not starving gorging themselves as if they were.

Here comes the punishment for the unbelief and revolt. “Many” died. They were buried on the spot in the graves of gluttony.

The people ate of a miracle with the wrong heart. Instead of thanking God for yet another miracle and eating from thanksgiving, they ate with hatred and discontent. Finally! God gives us something worthwhile! If we complained loud enough, God would do what he’s supposed to do. What’s wrong with God, anyways? Huh?

Today in America, at least in my neighborhood, the problem with food is that we eat too much of it. Not the food’s problem but my problem.

The real problem is understanding that the abundance of food is a blessing from God. Thank you, God. God has given me more than I would ever need. I sit in a warm coffee shop on a frigid morning (wind chill somewhere below the pain threshold) eating warm buttered bread and drinking a hot beverage. I can complain about how much it cost and that the person who served me didn’t smile as much as I prefer. I can eat with malice and fall into a grave of gluttony. I can look to God and do much better.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Titus 1:16 (New Living Translation)

16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Can you believe such people? I mean can you believe the things such people do? They deny God. And not with their words, but with their actions. Such people are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Hmm. How about that? How about me? Uh, well, you know, I live right. Right? Well, maybe some days, but I shoveled out someone else’s driveway and helped a person whose car was stuck in the snow become unstuck. Surely those things are acknowledging rather than denying God. And God gives good people like me a break, right?

Yes, God gives us all a break. It’s called grace. And I can have bad days, and God will give me a break. And I can’t work my way to heaven by the way I live. And now we’ve come around in a big circle back to the beginning.

God has saved me. I couldn’t do that. I cannot live so good that I earn that. I can wake each morning and ask God to help me through the day and live in a way that acknowledges what God has done for me. I can obey and do good for others.

2 Timothy 4:11 (New Living Translation)

11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.

This is at the end of Paul’s second letter to Timothy. This is the usual, “I’m done writing the meaningful stuff and here are a few afterthoughts for you.”

I confess to glossing over these things. For some reason, this statement stuck with me. Paul asks that Timothy bring Mark with him when he visits. It seems the Mark would be helpful in the service Paul was performing. Nothing specific like, “Mark is good a summarizing my sermons,” or, “Mark is a great cook and we are really hungry at the end of the day.” Nope. Simply, “Mark will be helpful to me in my ministry.”

Sometimes, that is all that is needed. Someone who will be helpful. Sometimes that is essential—someone who will be helpful.

Not a great speaker or writer or healer or butcher, baker, or candlestick maker? Simply helpful. Simply helpful is often the necessary role. Let’s not push it down the ladder and belittle it. Let’s try to be simply helpful. Paul needed it. Others still do.

Exodus 32:35 (New Living Translation)

35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.

This is part of the (hi)story of the people’s journey from Egypt to the land promised them by God. Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the agreement and law from God. The people were restless. Aaron, to calm the crowd before a riot erupted, fashioned a golden calf statue similar to what the people had seen in Egypt. They worshiped the golden calf.

The LORD sent a great plague upon the people.

I’ve looked for definitions of a plague. Most are like, “a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes ( bubonic plague ) and sometimes infection of the lungs ( pneumonic plague ).”

There is a contagious bacterial disease. Different bacteria cause different things. Most cause this thing called delirium. Delirium is defined as, “an acute, fluctuating disturbance in attention, awareness, and cognition that develops rapidly over hours or days. It is a temporary, often reversible state characterized by confusion, disorganized thinking, and potential hallucinations, commonly caused by underlying medical conditions, infections, medication side effects, or withdrawal.”

Gosh. Imagine a million people suffering such. I don’t want to be in the neighborhood.

Enough definitions. God caused the plague. Hmm. At some times, in some places, with some people, in some situations God sends a plague on people. Here it is in black in white in the Bible.

Uh. That’s not nice. Uh. That is reality. Oh what horror and terror it is to fall at the hands of God.

Pray for forgiveness. Pray for guidance. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Exodus 34:15-16 (New Living Translation)

15 “You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. 16 Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods.

Don’t mingle with those folks who believe in things contrary to the true God. That is pretty good advice. That is pretty strong advice.

Application today? Well, uh, er, this becomes complicated quickly. It is real simple if you and that girl you grew up with in Sunday school are married and have a bunch of kids you bring to Sunday school so they marry other Sunday school kids. Sure is. Otherwise, well, sigh.

People influence other people. Am I influencing that person for God or is that person influencing me for something else? Should I marry non-Godly people so that I can show them the Godly way? How can I show them God if I don’t mingle with them?

Yes, this becomes complicated quickly. Please God, help us, guide us, care for us.

Genesis 5:22-23 (New Living Translation)

22 Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!”

Moses, after some strong convincing by God, has returned to Egypt to bring the people out and to the land promised to their ancestors. Moses has spoken to Pharaoh. That didn’t go well. Pharaoh changed the work rules and now demands more product in the same amount of time for the same food.

Things are worse.

Moses has the nerve to accuse God of bringing more trouble on the people. Pharaoh is more brutal and you, God, are doing nothing. YOU ARE DOING NOTHING! YOUR PLAN ISN’T WORKING!

Let’s add the word “yet” onto the end of that statement.

Stop. Breathe. Wait. God works in God’s time. Sometimes, despite all my patience and wisdom and understanding, God’s time does not match my time and that just drives me nuts. It was driving Moses nuts those thousands of years ago. Not much has changed in those thousands of years.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.