Contemplative Bible Reading

Numbers 11:1 (New Living Translation)

1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship,

Life was tough. Times were hard. I guess so, right, otherwise the people would not be complaining about the hardships.

Let’s see, in the words preceding this verse God had given the people instructions for living. These instructions were put in a a special container called the Ark of the Covenant. When it was time to break camp and walk, trumpets sounded and a million people packed up and moved on.

God showed them where to go to find food and water and safety and peace.

Well, I don’t like walking around with a million friends and sleeping in tents either. That is a hardship, right? Then we consider being beaten daily while trying to make bricks without straw and having any worthy boy or girl taken from my family to be abused by those who “owned” me and all that slavery in Egypt stuff.

Hardship? Yes, parts of life were hard. Complaining was easy. Memories of the past were nicer than the reality of the present.

And every morning God guided them in the way they should go.

Whoa, wait a minute. Every morning? God guided? I wish I could… Oh wait, I can claim that. Hardship? Who am I kidding? Thank you God.

Leviticus 17:7 (New Living Translation)

7 The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

People used to worship goats. Goats? Yes, goats. Goats were common livestock that provided milk and meat and didn’t require as many resources as cows. If you sacrificed to the goat idol, your goats and sheep and other livestock would breed and produce more and more.

Goats? Yes, goats. Odd at what different people in different places would worship. Delve into it further and you sort of get the picture. But goats?

Of all the things to attribute supernatural power to, we have the goat. Hindsight shows those folks as pretty stupid. Not smart and scientific and logical and reasonable and … oh, like us? Oh, well, maybe on some days we are. Then we scream at a pothole for jolting our car. Let’s see, we attribute supernatural power to a hole in the ground because it “hurt” our car (a machine without feelings).

Goats are goats. Holes in the ground are holes in the ground. God is God. We ought to be able to keep that straight, but… Please God help me in my unbelief.

Job 28:28 (New Living Translation)

“And this is what he (God) says to all humanity:
‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;
to forsake evil is real understanding.’”

Job is talking. Job is relaying what he learned from a conversation with God.

Real understanding means to forsake evil. “Forsake” is one of those Bible words that we don’t use much anymore. Internet dictionaries define it as, “to turn away from entirely.”

Notice what Job does not say about evil. He does not say “eliminate” or “wipe out” evil. He says to, “Just say NO. Turn the other direction and walk away.”

Evil is here. That is the way it is; that is the way it has been. Live with it. Rather, live away from it. See it? Turn the other way and walk.

Note: See other people in evil? Don’t walk away from them. Love them. Show them a different path. Show them a life away from evil. Pray with them.

Exodus 31:15 (New Living Translation)

15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.

Moses is passing along words from God to the people. The seventh day was for rest. It was “holy” meaning that it was a day set apart from the others by Jehovah, the Creator God.

Observing the Sabbath was not just a county ordinance. It was a gift from God. Resting on the seventh day was something that said, “We are following after Jehovah God.” Working on the seventh day was something that said, “We follow our own ways. Jehovah God? Meh.”

It wasn’t the work; it wasn’t the rest. It was about the relationship to God. It was about accepting a gift from God.

Salvation is a gift from God. Rejecting that gift brings death. No one is going to “round up the unbelievers” and shoot them. Inevitable death comes. Salvation is now. Thank you God.

Numbers 13 (New Living Translation)

30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

This speech by Caleb comes after 12 men had explored the land the people were about to enter. Caleb was one of the two wise persons in the exploration party. Still, notice what Caleb says, “We can certainly conquer it!”

The subject of that sentence is “We.”

Roll back up the page to the first couple of verses of the chapter,

1 The Lord now said to Moses, 2 “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”

God describes Canaan as, “the land I am giving to the Israelites.” The subject of the sentence is “I” or God. God gave them the land. Caleb said that the people could conquer the land.

Let me think on this one. I can choose to allow God to give me something or I can choose to do all the work myself and conquer something. (1) God gives it to me. (2) I work hard and conquer it.

It seems that I always choose (2), the path where I work hard. What is wrong with choice (1), the path were God gives something to me and I humbly accept it? Why is it that I want to work so hard and do it myself?

Exodus 20:1-2 (New Living Translation)

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

These verses are the preamble or introduction to the Ten Commandments. God has the attention of the people. Let’s get one thing straight before we begin.

“I am Jehovah (YHWH) the God that you worship. I rescued you from slavery in Egypt. Therefore…”

Oh, well, uh, I guess we should pay attention to what comes next. I mean, uh, that slavery thing was a big deal and not being in slavery sure feels good and, well, okay, what comes next? What came next were page after page of how to live in their time and place. The peoples around them read those instructions as well and proclaimed how wonderful the instructions were.

And now for the part where we write about today. “I am God. I sent my Son to you to take away all your sins and make you clean enough to be with me. Therefore…”

Then came a few thoughts of about living with an attitude that made life much easier, pleasant, enjoyable. We could be here and enjoy life with God and God’s creation. Think about God. Love and serve one another. Be faithful to God and one another. Such an attitude respects others and their property. Breathe more. Bless more. Why would anyone not follow this “Therefore…”

Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Exodus 12:28 (New Living Translation)

28 So the people of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses and Aaron.

This is the (hi)story of the first Passover. God’s people held captive in Egypt did just as commanded.

What is odd is, just a couple week’s earlier, they wanted to throw Moses in the river and be done with him. They complained bitterly about everything Moses told them was coming from God. Now, however, they followed instructions precisely.

We are a strange lot. One day we are devoted to one thing; a few days later we are devoted to the opposite. It seems that nothing has changed in a few thousand years and a few thousand generations.

How does God tolerate us? I cannot explain that. I thank God for mercy Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 94:16-17 (New Living Translation)

16 Who will protect me from the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had helped me,
I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.

The last year or so in America have seen one travesty after another. The wicked kill the innocent. The innocent turn on the wicked and become wicked themselves. The circle goes around and we wonder if it will end.

The LORD God helps. That is the hope of the believer. The non-believer has no hope. Those who turned away from God and walked a different path are hopeless. We turn from victim to oppressor to victim and on and on in a tragedy of God-less human suffering. We “wallow in the mire” as the Bible phrases it.

Suffering from than hands of an oppressor is bad. Forsaking God and living without hope is a tragedy. I alone can bring that tragedy on myself. Life without hope is self-inflicted. Please God, help me to choose to live in the hope of your light.

Ezra 6:22 (New Living Translation)

22 Then they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria to be favorable to them, so that he helped them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel.

Other translations of this verse state the the LORD caused the King of Assyria to change his mind or change his heart. Hmmm, God can change the minds and hearts of earthly rulers (politicians). Allow me to use an old word to describe current American politics: we tend to have scoundrels in elected office. That is a great shame. Perhaps the future will be better.

Still, God can change hearts and minds. The translation above tells us that the King had changed to be favorable to God’s people. Oh, I like that one. A politician being favorable to Christians. I could use a lot more of that. Or would that be a good thing? Of course it would. Right? Maybe?

Let’s stop discussing what is good for me. Let’s focus on the power of God to alter the events of human history. The return to Jerusalem recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were tiny in human history. The events in one little city in a corner of an empire that stretched most of the world were tiny.

Still, they were very important in the history of how God would send His Son to us to take away all our sins. That stretched across all the earth and all of human history. And one key step in that history-altering event was when God caused a king of a forgotten kingdom to be favorable to a displaced people.

Thank you God.

2 Chronicles 10:16 (American Standard Version)

16 And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So all Israel departed unto their tents.

This contemplative thought on scripture is a bit different for me. I made a note of this about a year before I attempted to write a few words. What struck me as noteworthy had escaped my mind. Perhaps I should make better notes as I become older.

It seems the phrase that is the title of this post is quite famous as it has been used throughout western history in the 20 or 30 centuries since Jeroboam uttered it. The use of it has been to remind persons of the dangers of harsh rule by a malevolent person. “The King hates us. Let’s go home and do what we can.”

It is also a reminder of the folly of arrogant rulers. “I am in charge. You will do as I say.” Really? We shall see about that. The arrogant king sent a tax collector. The taxed returned the dead body of the tax collector (the ensuing verses tell us that sad story). King Rehoboam lost more than half the kingdom in one day due to one proclamation. That was really putting his foot in his mouth.

Then there are the tents and the cities. Israel returned to its tents. Judah returned to its cities. The country folk rebelled against their rich city cousins. I suppose we are still doing that today. There is an old Country Western song about “A Country Boy Can Survive” from Hank Williams Jr. or something.

Where does this lead me? When confronted with a “either this or that” question, the answer should be,

“Loving brother, let’s sit, have a cup of coffee, and talk about a few things.”

Please God, grant me the wisdom when I need it, and I need it often.