Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 53:8 (New Living Translation)

Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.

This verse is from what some people call the Song of the Suffering Servant. I believe this describes Jesus Christ. Note the phrase in the middle of the verse:

he died without descendants

To the Jews in the Old Testament and also in the time of Jesus, having a family, having descendants was important – far more important than it is to us today. Descendants kept the land that God gave His people in the tribe. Descendants cared for you and distant relatives. Descendants maintained life.

The suffering servant dies without descendants.

That was horrible, almost beyond imagination to the people who read this verse. That was part of the suffering that our Savior endured for us – for me.

Exodus 15:13-15 (New Living Translation)

¹³ “With your unfailing love you lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them
to your sacred home.
¹⁴ The peoples hear and tremble;
anguish grips those who live in Philistia.
¹⁵ The leaders of Edom are terrified;
the nobles of Moab tremble.
All who live in Canaan melt away;
¹⁶ terror and dread fall upon them.

In the above, Moses and the people are singing a song after leaving Egypt and escaping through the Red Sea. Notice in verses 14 and 15 how the news of these events spreads. No, they didn’t have the Internet, but somehow news of major events spread through the world.

Sometimes we think that the Bible stuff, especially the Old Testament, was done by a bunch of backwards people living in backwards times. Take note of the technology and lifestyles recorded in the Bible. They weren’t as backwards as we might think.

Exodus 7:10-13 (New Living Translation)

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. ¹² They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.

Notice the second half of verse 11. There were magicians in Egypt who performed magic. I am guessing that these were not slight-of-hand tricks, but actually supernatural acts that could not be explained by science and nature.

How did the magicians do this magic? Were they powered by Satan? I can speculate all day.

Another question for which I don’t have an answer:

Are there magicians today who perform magic like those in Egypt?

Numbers 10:9-10 (New Living Translation)

⁹ “When you arrive in your own land and go to war against your enemies who attack you, sound the alarm with the trumpets. Then the Lord your God will remember you and rescue you from your enemies. ¹⁰ Blow the trumpets in times of gladness, too, sounding them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month. And blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. The trumpets will remind the Lord your God of his covenant with you. I am the Lord your God.”

Have you ever blown a trumpet? Have you ever blown any brass instrument. They make a loud sound. They call attention.

God tells His people (verse 10) to blow trumpets when they bring offerings. Yes, this is part of the Old Testament law, and I am not calling for trumpet sounds every time we offer something to God.

Still, do we do anything that calls to God?

Deuteronomy 7:25-26 (New Living Translation)

²⁵ “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. ²⁶ Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

In the Old Testament (hi)stories, God’s people often held onto idols. The initial reason was the monetary value. Idols were usually covered with gold, silver, and precious stones. Hence, the command in verse 25 about not coveting the silver or gold that covered the idols.

Then there was (is) the danger of prolonging the life of the idol. Just keeping them around for a curiosity or for a museum of world religions.

God’s command regarding these idols: You must utterly detest such things.

To me, that means trash them, destroy them, rid the earth of those detestable things.

Cute little statue? Detestable object.

Job 1:18-19 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. ¹⁹ Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

Satan did this. Satan spoke with God and then went about making Job’s life miserable. One thing Satan did was cause a powerful wind to sweep in from the wilderness and hit the house where Job’s family was feasting.

Simple: use the weather to bring misery into the lives of people.

It is easy to go too far with this. I can blame every cloud in the sky and every inopportune drop of rain on Satan. Still, I can be blind to Job’s experience and say, “Oh, well. That’s just the weather.”

1 Corinthians 16:14 (New Living Translation)

And do everything with love.

Why am I doing this?

It doesn’t really matter what “this” is, the question is valid. Is the answer, “Because I love someone?” If it isn’t, I’m probably doing the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way.

God provides us with simple yet powerful guidelines on how to live. This is one of them. If I am not acting out of love for someone, I should do something else instead.

Numbers 23:18-19 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ This was the message Balaam delivered:

“Rise up, Balak, and listen!
Hear me, son of Zippor.
¹⁹ God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

Balaam begins his message with a simple yet profound statement:

God is not a man

Perhaps all discussions of God and all discussions of man should begin with that statement. Without agreement on the statement, there is no use continuing. Once we agree on that statement, many other ideas become easier to understand and judge.

God does not act like man; man does not act like God. God:

• does not lie
• does not change His mind

Hmmm

Exodus 32:25-26 (New Living Translation)

²⁵ Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies. ²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

The above incident occurred after the people had just left Egypt. Moses called out, and all the Levites gathered around him. These people had spent 400 years in Egypt. After 400 years, the direct descendents of Levi knew one another and felt an allegiance to one another.

How did the sons of Israel maintain such strong family ties through 400 years of living in another land under another culture?

Genesis 44:5 (New Living Translation)

Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup, which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!’”

In this verse, the speaker is talking to Joseph’s brothers. The “master” in this verse is Joseph. The speaker believes that Joseph uses this silver cup to predict the future.

This future-predicting ability is further emphasized later in the chapter:

¹⁴ Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him. ¹⁵ “What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”

With the help of the LORD, Joseph did predict the future. He predicted the years of plenty and the years of drought. The Egyptians were convinced Joseph could predict the future.

Where did they Egyptians come to the belief that it was the silver cup that provided Joseph with this ability?