Contemplative Bible Reading

Ephesians 2:12 (New Living Translation)

You lived in this world without God and without hope.

This is the last sentence of the verse. The writer is reminding Christians what life was like without God—it was a life without hope. The writer provides several examples of life without God.

• Far from God
• Far from peace
• No unity, constant enmity
• Hostile barriers between everyone
• Burdensome regulations
• Open hostility
• No access to God

Okay, anyone want those things back in their lives? I don’t. Well, at least when I am in my right mind and my heart is not troubled, I don’t want those things. On other days, I have this twisted sense of what I want and why I want it and what I want to do and all those and many other twisted desires.

Go back to life without God? Sigh. No thank you.

Acts 3:6 (New Living Translation)

6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

This is part of the (hi)story of Peter healing a man who was lame. The man asked for money. Peter didn’t have any money, but what Peter had was miraculous and worth more than money (to some).

Notice what Peter gave: what he had.

Hmmm, I may not have the power of healing. I may not have a million dollars in my pocket. I may not have… lots of things I could list, but I do have what I have and I can give what I have in all circumstances.

I can give:

• A smile.
• A handshake.
• One dollar (or two).
• Hope.
• Love.
• Joy.
• Peace.

And this list can go on and on.

Like Peter, I can give what I have.

Numbers 1:5-15 (New Living Translation)

5 “These are the tribes and the names of the leaders who will assist you:
Reuben Elizur son of Shedeur
6 Simeon Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai
7 Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab
8 Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar
9 Zebulun Eliab son of Helon
10 Ephraim son of Joseph Elishama son of Ammihud
Manasseh son of Joseph Gamaliel son of Pedahzur
11 Benjamin Abidan son of Gideoni
12 Dan Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
13 Asher Pagiel son of Ocran
14 Gad Eliasaph son of Deuel
15 Naphtali Ahira son of Enan

The people are out of Egypt and wandering around. It is close to the time to enter the land promised to them. God told Moses to, “…record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families.”

Then we have this list of those who are to assist in the task. This is the part of Bible reading where we skip down a few inches on the page because we can’t pronounce the names and these folks are all long gone anyways, so what’s the difference?

There are a million or so folks out there with Moses. God names twelve specific men to help Moses. God knew the names of every single person in the great, big mass of persons. God knew their name, their father’s name, their grandfather’s name, and on and on for 400 years of fathers and names. Every single person in all those lines of relatives was important to God. And God didn’t even have a database or content management system to track it all and Google to find what was needed.

Every person was in God’s heart.

I believe nothing has changed since that day in the desert when God demonstrated the importance of every single person. God knows every single person alive today and considers each one of us important.

Maybe one day I will learn how to pronounce all those names in that list and I won’t skip over them as I read. An important thing to remember is that God knows and remembers and notices me as I sit in a coffee shop drinking my now cold coffee and God has a plan for me. Perhaps I am not to count the million persons, but I am to do something of great importance in someone’s life.

Luke 22:3 (New Living Translation)

3 Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot…

This is part of the (hi)story of the death of Jesus which precluded the resurrection of Jesus. The prior sentence tells us “The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus…”

Right into the plot steps Judas Iscariot. Well, let’s rephrase that one as right into the plot enters Satan. Satan is clever; Satan is smart. Satan had devised an ingenious plot of how to arrest Jesus in a place where there would be no witnesses at a time when people were busy with other things. Satan had “inside information” on the perfect time and place. Satan used Judas, and Judas was ready to be used.

Then Satan entered the hapless Judas. I believe this act repeats countless times each day. Satan enters someone with a little nudge like, “Hey, bump that person so they spill their coffee and curse,” and “Pull over into the left lane real quick right and watch the anger,” and “Let’s all six of us arrest that one little fella’ and teach him a lesson or two.”

And we let Satan enter because what’s the harm? It’s just a little fun. Everyone has a sense of humor, right? As the old saying goes, “It’s good fun until someone starts crying” or something like that. Before you know it, someone has their ear cut off and someone is lying about who they know and what they saw.

Then Satan entered. Please God help me keep that door closed.

Acts 17:27 (New Living Translation)

27 His (God’s) purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.

Paul is speaking to the educated people in Athens. Paul is telling these smart folks about the God that created everything. I find this all fascinating as it is a case where smart but ignorant people are listening to an explanation of how the entire universe works.

God’s purpose in all of history was and is for people to seek God—to look for God—sometimes feeling their way in the dark as they are inexplicably pulled towards God until they find God.

God is here. God is there, yes, everywhere. Still, God is not inside every person. Each person has to find God and allow God to enter them. That is simple, yet it is something that I cannot understand on some days. It is too amazing to comprehend.

Paul, speaking as a Jew, was telling these Gentiles that God the creator (YHWH or Jehovah) was not longer just for the Jews, but was for everyone. That is why God’s purpose was for the nations—all us Gentile groups—to seek after God and find God.

Perhaps I fail to explain this well. I am to go to God. I am to accept God’s terms. God welcomes all who come to God. But, hey, okay there are a few things I want to keep, that will be okay with God, right? Well, wrong. Go to God. Leave everything behind. Gosh, that doesn’t seem fair. Let’s negotiate on that, you see there are some things that are really important to me and I want to hold onto them and… No. Come to God.

Please God, help my in my unbelief.

Luke 18:34 (New Living Translation)

34 But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.

Jesus is talking to the group of insiders who walked with Him daily. Jesus told them what was to happen in Jerusalem. Given our perspective of several thousand years, it was obvious was Jesus was saying. The Son of Man would be given to the Romans for torture and execution.

The followers didn’t understand any of it. Was Jesus speaking in some code? Was it not obvious that Jesus was “the Son of Man?”

And then there are the words, “The significance of his words was hidden from them.”

Here is my theory. Jesus spoke clearly about what was to happen. The time, however, was not right for the followers to understand. Had they understood, who knows what they would have done—probably the wrong thing.

Sometimes I am just not ready to understand something. Sometimes I need more time and experience and life before I am ready. Sometimes the significance of something is hidden from me for my own good.

Rats. I don’t like to admit that “I can’t handle that,” but often that is the truth.

Exodus 4:20 (New Living Translation)

20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God.

This is part of the (hi)story of God sending Moses back to Egypt to bring God’s people out of captivity and into the land promised to them.

Egypt is rich. It is a powerful nation—one of the world’s great powers at this time.

Their opponent? A middle-age flop of a livestock herder. He has his wife and little boys on a donkey. He walks. And, let’s not forget, he is carrying a stick.

Are you kidding? This is what God sends into a powerful nation to bring a million or so people out carrying gold and silver and riches from the people of the rich nation? This is preposterous.

The next thing you is that God will send the savior of the world to be born to a poor teenage girl in a damp, stinky cave in a backwater town… and, oh wait, that is what God did next. Never mind.

I live in one of the richest towns in the richest country in the history of the world. I am typing these words using rich technology invented by rich people in the last twenty rich years.

Where is God? Where is the next great messenger from God? Probably sitting on a cold sidewalk somewhere huddled in rags. Why do I think that? Look at Moses, his donkey, and his stick. Look at Mary and Joseph and that smelly stable. The examples go on and on.

God, please help me to see You and the people You send.

Exodus 4:10-12 (New Living Translation)

10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

This is part of the (hi)story of God sending Moses to Egypt to bring the people out of captivity and to the land promised to them. Moses doesn’t want to go back to Egypt. Moses can foresee the stress and angst all this will bring to his life.

Excuse #1: I’m not a good speaker.

God replies: Are you kidding me Moses? I am the Creator. I decide who is a good speaker or a good listener or who notices what they see and who jumps high and runs fast and is good at math and…

Sometimes I need little reminders and sometimes I need GREAT BIG REMINDERS of the power and presence of God. “God, I am not the right person to do this.” How silly is that? God says go; God says do, and God says, “I have provided.”

Any further questions?

Well, when I read the above verses, I guess I have to stop making excuses and asking silly questions. God provides. Sometimes God nudges me along like God nudged Moses along. Sometimes God even provides someone to stand next to me just as God provided Aaron to stand next to Moses. Aaron was the brother of Moses. Oh, so that’s why God gave Moses a little brother. Is that why God gave me … (long, long list of things God gave me).

Exodus 5:1 (New Living Translation)

1 After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”

This is part of the (hi)story of God bringing the people out of Egypt. God has sent Moses back to Egypt where Moses and his brother Aaron spoke with the leaders of the people, i.e., the Israelites. Now Moses and Aaron go and speak to Pharaoh.

Stop the story at this point. These two raggedy Israelite fellas’ just waltz into the palace and chat with Pharaoh who is the all-powerful leader of one of the most powerful nations on earth. Just walk right in and chat. Are you kidding me?

There are miracles on every page of the Bible. This is yet another one. It is mentioned so briefly that I have overlooked it for years, but here it is.

I believe that God performs miracles everyday right in front of me. Sometimes I notice them and, to my shame, most of the time I am just to busy to see. Please God, help me keep my eyes open and notice Your magnificent works everyday.

Exodus 4:3 (New Living Translation)

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

This is part of the (hi)story of God charging Moses to go to Egypt and be God’s spokesman to bring the people out of Egypt. God demonstrates some of what will happen in Egypt. God had Moses put his staff on the ground. God turned the staff into a snake.

Moses jumped back.

Some translations write, “Moses ran away.”

A stick is not a snake. If I were to drop my pocket knife onto the ground and it became a snake, I would jump back and … well, I don’t know what I would do next.

Context: Moses is talking with a voice that is coming from a bush that is burning but not burning down. That is not an everyday occurrence. I would think that Moses would be prepared for another supernatural thing to happen.

Still, Moses was startled and frightened.

God does amazing things right in front of me everyday. And then on top of those amazing things, God tosses in things that are … super-amazing or something. They are frightening. Someone in traffic is heading right for me and they swerve clear at the last moment. That is a staff-turning-into-a-snake moment.