Contemplative Bible Reading

Numbers 27:21 (New International Version 2011)

He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

• What is in the world is the Urim?
• Why would anyone inquire of it before the LORD to obtain a decision?
• Why in the world would I wait until my age to ask these questions and find the answers?

So I go to Wikipedia for the answers (I went to several other sources to confirm the answers).

The Urim, and the Thummim were stones or jewels. These stones were placed in the vest of the priests like Eleazer in the above verse. The priest was to inquire of the stone before the LORD. It appears that these stones would turn colors or change brightness (on and off like a light bulb). The change in color would provide the LORD’s answer to the priest.

Now this is a bit weird. Praying to God and then looking a the color of the stones on my shirt.

Weird or not, this is what God instructed the priests to do. I have to believe that, for a while at least, the priests obeyed.

Jonah 1:4-16 (New International Version 2011)

4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.    But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.⁶ The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

⁹ He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)

¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried out to the LORD, “Please, LORD, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, LORD, have done as you pleased.” ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

The is a relatively long passage in today’s contemplation. I like this passage because it is an unusual encounter. In many scriptures, a prophet or a King of God’s people met with generals or kings or priests from other peoples who worshiped other Gods. What sets this passage apart is that Jonah – a prophet – is talking with a bunch of sailors – just plain folks – who do not know the LORD – YAHWEH – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Note what these other just plain folks do:

They each cried to their own gods. This was diverse group of people from different places where they worshiped different gods.

They did what they could – throw things overboard to save the ship.

They asked Jonah to pray to his god. Everyone believed in a god (or two). They knew that there was more than just the physical world.

They cast lots. God’s people also cast lots to make decisions. The practice was based on faith in a deity, not just luck.

The lot fell on Jonah, and the sailors believed that Jonah was responsible. Such was their faith in the lot.

Jonah identifies his god as the LORD – YAHWEH. The sailors had heard of the LORD and were frightened. This showed their respect, awe, and fear of the LORD.

Jonah told the sailors the solution – throw him in the sea.

The sailors refused to do so. That was part of their code of conduct – you don’t throw someone in the sea in a storm. They had a code of right and wrong.

With all alternatives exhausted, the sailors decided to throw Jonah to his certain death.

They prayed to the LORD for understanding and forgiveness.

They believed in the existence and power of the LORD.

Proverbs 25:21-22 (New International Version 2011)

²¹ If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
²² In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.

This proverb is quoted in the New Testament in Romans 12. That chapter in Romans is about change – changing my mind and my life as a response to Christ. I believe that these verses are telling us how to respond to an angry person.

Try this theory:

Angry people are angry because they are hurting in some way.

A young Christian woman once told me about an experience she had while entering a church building for a worship service. An older woman scowled at the young woman and spit the words, “women should wear dresses to church, not pants.”

The young woman was frightened and shrunk away into a corner of the worship center. That is a “normal” response to an attack – flight. Another normal response to an attack is to return the attack – fight.

How about the water-like-burning-coals response:

The older woman was frightened by a young woman dressing in a way that was unusual. The unusual is often uncomfortable, and the uncomfortable often brings hurt, which often brings anger and the spiteful words the older woman used.

A water-to-drink response would have been for the young woman to step close to the older woman, draw near, appear vulnerable, smile, and say something like, “I love the clothes you are wearing today. They fit you so well and the colors match your complexion.”

Meet anger with kindness; meet the enemy with a drink of water.

2 Kings 19:27 (New International Version 2011)

But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.

In the above verse, the prophet Isaiah is relaying a message from the LORD to King Hezekiah about the attacking King of Assyria. These words are a warning to the King of Assyria.

In today’s slang, God is saying

I know where you live.

Aha, yet another part of western culture that was plagiarized from the Bible. Sometimes I wonder if I will find any “new” idea today that is not just like this one – taken from the Bible and changed a bit to obfuscate the source. And some people say there is no God as they go about their lives quoting God’s word all day.

Isaiah 10:8 (New International Version 2011)

‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he (God) says.

The prophet Isaiah is relaying words from God. He has been writing about how God employs earthly kings and kingdoms to accomplish His intentions. The verses preceding the one above speak of Assyria. God used Assyria to punish His own rebellious people. The Assyrians, however, went too far. They assumed that their military victories were their own and did not acknowledge God’s role.

Then comes the verse given above.

We don’t have many “kings” in the 21st century. We have lots of presidents and prime ministers and just plain old fashioned dictators (president for life, you know – one man, one vote, once, then a suspension of elections). I could write on and on about the leaders of nations.

Instead, let’s look at me – a husband, a father, a neighbor, an acquaintance. I don’t know why verse 8 cannot be extended to something like:

Are not my captains all husbands (fathers, neighbors, acquaintances, you pick the role)? he (God) says.

• Do I acknowledge the role that God has in my life?
• Do I realize that God employs me to change the lives of others?
• Do I accomplish God’s will with the attitude of a humble servant?
• Am I more like the Assyrians and tout my influence as a result of my own wonderful abilities?

God, let my realize that you created and enabled me and am using me daily for your glory. And it’s not the other way around.

This contemplation is a little different. I have a friend who reads a lot of novels. Sometimes he reads one novel a day. One of the things he does to read so much is that he only reads where the characters are talking. He skips all the description of events that are not conversations.

Here is the book of Jonah with all the descriptions of events removed. I list only the conversations between God and Jonah.

Jonah (New International Version 2011)

1:2 God, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

2:1-9 Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. ² He said:

“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
³ You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
brought my life up from the pit.

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
⁹ But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’”

3:2 God, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

4:2-3  ² Jonah prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. ³ Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4:4 God, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

4:8, Jonah, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

4:9, God, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

4:9, Jonah, “It is and I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

4:10-11, God, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

What does Jonah say?

• Save me
• You are a gracious and compassionate God
• Take away my life
• It is better to die
• I wish I were dead

What does God say?

• Go preach
• Go preach
• Is it right for you to be angry?
• Is it right for you to be angry?
• You were angry about a plant while I was concerned about 120,000 people

God seems to be a bit more consistent than Jonah. That is a gross understatement as Jonah wants to live and then after being saved and being a wildly successful preacher wants to die.

Are we all like Jonah? Am I like Jonah? I am afraid so.

God, help me in my inconsistency.

Deuteronomy 28:20 (New International Version 2011)

The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.

I work as an engineer and a manager of engineering projects. In these projects, we must have every little detail correct or the plane won’t fly or the car won’t run and so on. Projects involve people – dozens of people. All these people need to understand their part and how their part fits into the whole system.

Confusion is a curse.

When I read this verse, I felt as if life would be one continuous bad dream. I have bad dreams often. The worst of the bad dreams are about confusing situations where nothing works. Such is the life of an organized engineer.

Personal quirks aside, confusion can cripple a nation. People talk with one another, and no one seems to know what they are to do. Farmers and marketers don’t understand each others’ condition, so they squabble weekly and food production dwindles. Water stops flowing; walls crumble, and everyone spends their day trying to fix something that worked yesterday. Things that seem to work, things to ought to work, well, they don’t work.

Confusion is a curse.

Lord, grant me the blessing order in my life.

1 Peter 4:1-6 (New International Version 1984)

¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ² As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵ But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.

They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.

living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry

Acts 9:20-22 (New International Version)

²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Ho hum. Of course we know this. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Messiah. Why waste time on this point? It is easy to have this attitude 2,000 years later. Let’s try to go back to the time of Paul in Damascus.

Nazareth was a small town – a really small town. Jesus of Nazareth was a well known figure of the day, but he had died and gone away without restoring the kingdom of Israel. Therefore, Jesus of Nazareth was just another of those guys claiming to be someone, but actually being another nobody. This was the prevailing attitude of the Jewish school, i.e., the synagogue.

Paul enters the synagogue and tells everyone that Jesus is the Son of God. That seemed odd as Paul was famous for killing people who said the same. What happened to Paul? Why had he changed?

The key words for me come at the end of verse 22. Paul proved that Jesus is the Messiah. How did he do that? Paul had no photographs or video of before and after the crucifixion. Would people have believed those? I mean, you can Photoshop those things. Paul and the people in the Jewish school had what we call the Old Testament. Paul was able to step through the Old Testament and prove that this nobody from a nothing town was the Messiah.

I wish I had a recording of Paul’s words. I wish I could do the same, take the Old Testament and prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of God, convince a group of people who had rejected Jesus that they were wrong about Jesus.

God, give me the wisdom and knowledge and dedication to study. Push me to show people that Jesus is the Messiah.

Let’s step aside for a few moments from the regular posts on this blog.

Most of the Bible verses shown on this site come from the New International Version of the Bible. I go to the Biblegateway site, type the verses I want to show in the blog, and copy and paste.

Well, the New International Version (NIV) has changed. The vast majority of the NIV verses shown on my blog are from the 1984 release. Some of them are from the 2011 release. I am trying to be precise when showing verses as to which version of the NIV I have used. If I put “New International Version” in the parentheses next to a verse, that was from the 1984 version. Otherwise, I put “New International Version 2011.” At least, this is what I have tried to do. I don’t guarantee perfection.

Which version are you reading in your hand? Look at the copyright page in the front of the book.

The Holy Bible, New International Version

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

The above indicate the 1984 version. If “2011” appears in these lines, that is the 2011 version.

Please avoid confusing the version of the translation with the version of the printing you have. For example, I have an NIV Study Bible from Zondervan. Below the two lines shown above are the lines

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Fully Revised)

Copyright 1985, 1995, 2002 by Zondervan

Other publishers have printed other “study Bibles” as well as other special-purpose Bibles.