Contemplative Bible Reading

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?

1 Samuel 25:23-25 (New Living Translation)

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. ²⁵ I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests.

Abigail is speaking to David about a man named Nabal. Abigail tells David that Nabal is wicked, ill-tempered, and a fool.

Nabal is Abigail’s husband.

Given all of chapter 25, Abigail is correct in her description of her husband. Still, if you are married, would you appreciate it if your spouse went to a stranger and described you as Abigail described her spouse?

Still, at the end of the chapter, Nabal dies, and David quickly marries Abigail. David saw something the the life and actions of Abigail that was highly desired.

Go figure?

1 Samuel 22:6-9 (New Living Translation)

⁶ When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals.^{[a] 7} This was their song:

“Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands!”

⁸ This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!” ⁹ So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

Saul was jealous of David. Note, jealousy is one of those things that no one can push on me. I decide to be jealous. Saul decided to be jealous of David.

Saul was King. He wanted to be King forever. He could not accept that one day he would die and David would be King. Saul’s jealousy drives him for years to come and leads to the death of thousands of innocent people.

Today, many of us decide to be jealous. We cannot accept the passing of this or that thing or person or status. Our jealousy doesn’t lead to the deaths of thousands, but it does lead to sin and a miserable life.

God, help me keep jealousy out of my heart.