Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 27:32-34 (New Living Translation)

32 Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise counselor to the king, a man of great insight, and a scribe. Jehiel the Hacmonite was responsible for teaching the king’s sons. 33 Ahithophel was the royal adviser. Hushai the Arkite was the king’s friend. 34 Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada son of Benaiah and by Abiathar. Joab was commander of the king’s army.

Here is a list of King David’s close advisors and assistants. David was a successful King in the way most measure success. He gathered riches, acquired lands, and won battles. He had good advisors and assistants — for the most part.

Buried in the middle of these names is Jehiel the Hacmonite. Jehiel was responsible for teaching the king’s sons. Oops. Not good at this job. We read in 2 Samuel of the horrible actions of several of David’s sons. This actions ended in a deadly civil war, attempted coup, and what not. What’s more, those actions sowed the seeds of a division of God’s people where ten of the tribes went their own way into idolatry and sin.

Jehiel was an inept teacher. He taught poorly. We aren’t told what happened to him. Did he witness the failures of his former pupils? How did he feel later?

Teaching isn’t easy. Even the best teachers who teach the best lessons have students who go on to misdeeds. Pray for teachers. Pray for learners. Pray for all of us.

Joshua 9:14 (New Living Translation)

14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.

This is part of the (hi)story of the people coming into the land the LORD had promised them. Joshua was leading them. As they progressed, they won a string of military victories. People in the land were rightly afraid.

Some people in Gibeon had a plan of deception. The plan worked. The Israelites examined the goods held by the people from Gibeon. Everything seemed in order. The deception was well crafted and was working. The Israelites believed what they saw. They did not, however, consult the LORD.

They were fooled. They were foolish.

Consult the LORD. Everything I see, taste, touch, hear, and all that tells me one thing. Consult the LORD. But, but, but… wrong. Consult the LORD. Just do it. Consult the LORD.

1 Kings 11:4 (New Living Translation)

4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.

This is part of the (hi)story of Solomon. He was a successful King in many ways. He was a failure in a few, major ways. He was the son of David chosen by God to be the King. Solomon was blessed by God with wisdom.

We read here, however, how Solomon failed in his old age. Many of Solomon’s wives turned his heart to worship other gods. Let’s note that marriage and wives and such among the kings of the time was not like marriage in today’s America (in many ways).

Many of these marriages for kings were political treaties. A king would say something like, “I won’t invade your country and kill your people because your people are the descendants of my daughter. That is why I gave my daughter to you as a bride. Be nice to my daughter. Build her a palace. Build her a place of worship where she can worship the gods of my country.”

Oh, that last part. God didn’t like that last part. Solomon tripped on that last part. He had all these political-treaty wives who worshiped all these gods. Well, the thinking goes, since Jehovah, the one, true God, gave me this wife with all her gods, there must be something worthwhile in worshiping these gods. Right? Wrong.

Then we have the departed father and King David. David had many faults. David caused the death of a good man so David could have the man’s wife. David killed, and killed, and killed some more—a stone-cold killer in battle.

Nevertheless, David never turned to worship other gods. Bad things happened to David. In despair, David always turned to Jehovah the God who created all. David, stumbling and bumbling as he did, remained faithful to God.

David is a good example to follow. I stumble and bumble and all that everyday. I can always look to the one true God. Thank you God for forgiving me all my stumbling and bumbling.

Joshua 1:8 (New Living Translation)

8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

God is speaking to Joshua after the death of Moses. Pause for a moment and consider that one. God is speaking to Joshua. How? Better listen up Joshua!

God had given the people a Book of Instruction via Moses. Hey Joshua, study it. Read it day and night. Think about it. Figure out how to apply it.

The result? Prosperity and success. There are many different ways to prosper and succeed. An obvious one is money. And how about health? Family? Friends? People who live peaceably with one another and work together for common good?

Still, want to prosper and succeed? Who will answer, “Naw, I want to struggle and fail.” No one. Here are plain instructions. Step A leads to situation B. What else do I want?

Okay, I live today. I have this Holy Bible. Is it the same as the Book of Instruction? Not exactly, but it has many similarities. Do I want to prosper and succeed in several ways or other? I do. I have. There is more to come. Thanks be to God.

Acts 11:48 (New Living Translation)

18 When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

In this verse, Peter is explaining to Jews why he entered the home of Gentiles. That was the wrong thing to do, enter the home of Gentiles. Peter’s explanation convinces the Jews about the Gentiles believing in Jesus as the Christ.

The Jews, “stopped objecting and began praising God.”

This was no small thing. It was a really big deal. History changed. Following Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who created all, was now open to people who were not descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Everyone else could do this and receive the benefit.

Everyone else now had the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.

My ancestors were not related to Abraham (as best as I can tell). That doesn’t matter. I can follow Jesus the Jew from Nazareth. I have the same privilege as Peter and the other Jews in the room. Of course. Right? No, it is not “of course.” It is a miraculous gift from God. It is a change in the history of mankind.

Please God, let me never forget the miracle of all this. Let me not forget the privilege You have given me.

Acts 10: 47-48 (New Living Translation)

Then Peter asked, 47 “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

I don’t understand all I know about baptism. It is beyond me.

Given that, these verses are part of the (hi)story of Peter and the Gentiles. Peter went to the home of Cornelius, who is a Gentile. That was not right in some respects. Peter observed miracles in these Gentiles as the Gentiles spoke in languages that they did not know by human means. Peter recognized the Holy Spirit working in these Gentiles.

Given the Holy Spirit, there was no objection to these Gentiles being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Note the phrase, “to be baptized.” The Gentiles did not baptize themselves. The people who followed Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ baptized the Gentiles. These followers of Jesus accepted these Gentiles as followers of Jesus. They immersed the Gentiles in water and said, “We recognize you as one of us. There is no longer us and you, it is now we.”

There is something about baptism that is an acceptance of an unbeliever by believers. The unbeliever has passed some test of belief. I am not sure about that statement or how all that works. Again, I don’t understand all I know about baptism. It is beyond me.

I do know that thank God for the saving grace — the gift of salvation that I cannot earn. There is nothing I can do to receive it.

John 10:19 (New Living Translation)

19 When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him.

This is what the people felt about Jesus. Jesus had just finished talking to them about a sheepfold, a gate, thieves, sheep herders, and sheep. Jesus was the gate. Jesus was the sheep herder. The father sent the sheep herder Jesus. Huh? Wait. What are we talkin’ ’bout here?

Some of the people said Jesus was crazy and, “Why listen to a man like that?”

Other people absorbed what Jesus said. They were amazed at wisdom and thought and everything. This was not a divide of ditch diggers on one side and Oxford philosophers on the other. This was a divide of common folk with common experiences and beliefs. Some believed; some didn’t.

I see the same today. People with much in common divide over Jesus. People with little in common unite through Jesus. What are we talkin’ ’bout here?

I find this to be the timeless miracle of the story of Jesus. Some people here a paraphrase of, “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son,” and they life changes. Others study for decades only to walk away shaking their heads.

It doesn’t make sense to me. I guess that is the nature of miracles. I can observe and note them. I can’t explain them. Thank you God.

Acts 10:43 (New Living Translation)

43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.

Peter is talking to a group of Gentiles at the home of a man named Cornelius. Peter is telling them about Jesus, that fellow from Nazareth who had recently been executed by the Romans. Peter refers to “the prophets” and their prediction of a person who would come and have sins forgiven.

The first question I had was, “Who were these prophets.” I needed references and cross references and all that. Well, a little research produced dozens of mentions in the Old Testament. Okay. And I won’t repeat them all here, but see, e.g., Isaiah chapters 43, 44, 53, and 55 for a start.

Then we come to the question of audience. Peter, a Jew, is mentioning old Jewish prophets in old Jewish writings. Peter is speaking in the home of a Roman army officer. Wrong audience, wrong. This Roman army officer lived in the homeland of the Jews. He had been converted, so to speak, to the religion and beliefs of the Jews. He, being an officer in the army of Rome, had some money and much education. He could afford copies of the Jewish writings. He could read, think, contemplate, and believe.

And then again, Peter is in the home of an officer dedicated to subjugating the Jewish people. Peter is in the wrong place, wrong. Peter is in just the right place at just the right time. God arranged all this.

There is too much here that doesn’t make sense. It does, however, make perfect sense. This is how God works. God does everything wrong (it seems wrong in my puny mind) to make things right and righteous. Please God, help me to stay out of the way of your miracles.

Luke 13:1 (New Living Translation)

13:1 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple.

Jesus is teaching about sin and repentance. He begins the lesson with this statement of fact that He uses as an illustration. Pause for a moment and consider this.

Pilate murdered some people in the Temple.

Note, this is not lawful execution for breaking ordinances. This is not after trial by a jury of peers. There is nothing right about this. Pilate simply murdered some people in the Temple. Pilate didn’t like some people, so he had them killed right in front of everyone else. Take that. See the power of Pilate? The rest of you better behave or you are next!

I have never seen a governor send someone into a church building and have people murdered. I pray that I never do. This is not a nut walking in and shootin’ up the place. This is the government murdering people. I cannot understand this. This is impossible, right? Wrong. This is possible. This happened with Pilate and this happens today in some parts of the world.

Thank you God that I live in a time and a place where this doesn’t happen. At least it hasn’t happened in front of me. Some say that such a thing would wake Christians from our complacency and cause something good. I don’t know about that. I don’t know what would happen. I am thankful for how God has blessed me. Please God, help me to live according to that thankfulness.

John 14:27 (New Living Translation)

27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Jesus is speaking soon before the crucifixion. Jesus is leaving Jesus is leaving the followers with a gift —peace of mind and heart. Well, that’s a nice gift. We could all use peace of mind in these troubled times. Thank you.

Note, however, this gift cannot come from anything on earth. My wife can’t give me this. My grandchildren can’t give me this. My … the list continues. This gift comes from Jesus O N L Y.

Well, that sounds sort of arrogant. What do you mean no one else can give this? I can find that in a lot of places! Really? Nope. Don’t waste time and breath arguing with Jesus. There is no other source of true peace of mind and heart. Hmm. I don’t like that. Hmm. I better accept what Jesus says and stop trying to be God or make the coffee shop God because I get peace of mind in the coffee shop on Saturday morning and … Nope. Wrong direction. Wrong idea.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.