Day 31: The End

Posted on October 31, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

Well, it’s my day 31. For 31 days, I’ve read no books or magazines, just the Bible.

But here’s what else I’ve done.

watched a lot of TV at night
kept up with my Google Reader, which I haven’t done in ages
stalked Facebook, probably to a worse degree than usual

So although I haven’t “cheated,” I’m not sure that I’ve been especially virtuous, either.

I’ve read about two and a half months in my one-year Bible in the span of a month. And here’s what I’ve found: for some reason, during this time, the amazing works of God in the Old Testament have spoken to me amazingly. Seeing Christ as far back as Leviticus (and only because I’d already read Genesis and Exodus) is beautiful.

I’ve also read in Mark and Luke, but as you’ve probably seen for some reason those passages haven’t spoken to me in the same way. I don’t know why, and I feel kind of guilty about it. Because, of course, those are Jesus’ words! THE words that form our A.D. faith!

Maybe someone out there needed to know that God speaks through the Old Testament, too. It’s just a relevant to our modern-day faith, even if we don’t have to follow the Levitical law.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series and you’ve learned along with me.

And now I’m going to go break my fast by rereading The Passage and taking a long, hot bath.

Day 30: Atonement

Posted on October 30, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

“He cared for them [the Israelites] with a true heart and led them with skillful hands.” Psalm 78:72

The same skillful hands that led the Israelites lead me today. A wondrous thought! Am I as precious to Him as they? I know the answer – it’s found in a Love Letter and nailed, scarred hands and feet.

I wonder if He is ever impatient, full of fire at our tactless lethargy. Has it really taken us more than two thousand years to spread His Gospel to all people?

Where the God of Jeremiah had righteous anger, where He literally saw blood – the spilt blood of Israel – He now sees just The Blood. Blood of His lamb. The only sacrifice that made Him breathe deeply and say, “Yes. That. Is. Enough.” Thank You, Jesus.

Black as my sins were,
He said, “I will take them
Pound them to My feet
Push them to My skull
Anchor Me to the cross
For your communion
Your atonement
Your redemption
– Your chance.”

__________

I share these thoughts again this year because I want to end with atonement. We began with the scapegoat in Leviticus, a gorgeous sign of what was to come in Jesus’ sacrifice.

Everything, EVERYTHING in the Old Testament sets up the atonement in Christ. Yes, there have been other lessons and stories scattered here. So much to learn in the whole Bible.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one more time that the whole shebang is about Christ. It’s all His story and God’s work and His plan. And His plan was redemption. Not through animal sacrifice, but through the blood sacrifice of His only precious Son. The true spotless Lamb.

There will be a wrap-up post tomorrow on what this 31 days has been like for me. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it … but more than that, I simply desire to give Him glory. I hope I have done that.

Day 28: Ruth

Posted on October 28, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

I’ve been contemplating my reading of The Book of Ruth for a few days now.

(Of course, the true reason I haven’t written is that despite the best intentions, these posts weren’t written in advance as I had hoped; yesterday was Libbie’s 4th birthday and I threw her an entirely-too-big Beauty and the Beast party!)

Here is what I noticed this time around reading Ruth: despite the fact that she had been married for 10 years to her husband (Naomi’s son), Ruth had not had children with him. I think that must be significant; because in other parts of the Bible, a woman’s barren womb is a big deal – think Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth.

I read a few articles/sermons about the topic. One argued Ruth was not barren per say. Her first husband’s name (Mahlon) means sickly, so it’s possible he (and perhaps his brother, Orphah’s husband) were sterile from childhood sickness. Another sermon by John Piper argues that because the Bible says “the LORD gave [Ruth] conception” (4:13), Ruth was barren but God opened her womb.

I don’t think it especially matters, but the fact is that Ruth was without children in her first marriage. Yet she clung to her mother-in-law in Naomi’s time of trouble and trusted her enough to go to Israel with her. As a Moabitess, I doubt Ruth expected to be regarded with much favor in Israel. But she leaves everything she knows in Moab to go with her mother-in-law in search of a new life.

I think Ruth had a tender heart, and she wondered what would happen to Naomi, deep in her grief, if she was left alone. Perhaps Ruth related to Naomi more as women and less as mother-in-law.

It’s through Naomi that Ruth finds her new life, her new husband, and a new hope. As does Naomi.

In everything I’ve ever heard about Ruth, I got that it was fairly miraculous that Ruth, a Moabite, bore Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David – and thus won herself a place in the line of David! What great honor to be in the lineage of Christ.

But Ruth also had a child, which perhaps to her seemed a miracle, too, after years of infertility.

I want to offer up a prayer for those of you who might be dealing with infertility or another seemingly insurmountable issue.

God, We know that You care about every big and small issue in our lives. You know our hearts. For those women who might feel displaced, forgotten, or lonely, like Ruth and Naomi, I ask Your blessing. Open wombs, bring peace, and make the miracle in their lives even bigger than they could ever imagine. In Your Son’s name, amen.

This is day 28 of my 31 Days of The Book series.

Day 24: UGH.

Posted on October 24, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

It’s day 24 and it’s the first day I’ve REALLY been tempted to cheat.

My kids are on “Fall Break,” which means no reprieve from parenting this week. No couple hours to myself. My daughter (we should just call her mini-me) has had 53 meltdowns this morning. I know she’s exhausted but she’s been fighting a nap for two hours, so somehow I don’t think she’s going to give in now. The rest of the afternoon should be SUPER with her not napping and in what we like to call her “Attitudey Judy” mood.

I’m pregnant, tired, have piles of work not to mention housework, and yet all I really want to do is lay on the couch with a heating pad on my knotted-up shoulder and read a magazine or a fluffy novel. Not think.

That’s been the hardest part of this, I think – no escape. Reading some light is my happy place, my escape pod from parenting two tiny ones and being pregnant with a third. Introvert Mama just needs her half an hour to pretend she’s anywhere but here.

Reading the Bible just doesn’t do that. It makes me reflect and think. It makes me consider what I could do better, what’s wrong in how I view Jesus, and oh for the love of everything how awful I am at parenting compared to our Heavenly Father.

Is it OK to want to escape? I really don’t know.

Days 22 and 23: Judges

Posted on October 24, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

I’m having a harder time with Judges than I thought I would.

You know I was kind of dreading it, right? I’ve read Judges before and it’s not a pleasant circumstance.

But after reading about Moses and Joshua, who are just such pure heroes … the little heroes of Judges are depressing. Gideon? He tests God, brings glory to himself, and is kind of a twit. Samson kills tons of people and gives away his secrets and likes women too much. This whole thing with Micah making idols and hiring his own priest? I am pretty sure it’s a lesson in what not to do, but I don’t really get it.

I will say, I am writing this after my 31 days is up and I’ve been reading a lot more book than Bible lately. It’s sure easy to fill up my head with stuff that doesn’t matter … and it makes me wonder how to find a balance. Does one exist? Is balance even the answer, anyway?

I feel stuck. And I’m ready to be done with Judges. Perhaps a good dose of David is what I need. Unfortunately, that’s still a lot of Bible books away.

Day 17: The Lady with the Tent Peg

Posted on October 17, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

There are a lot of interesting characters in the Book of Judges, but one that I’d never heard of until I worked on a study for Serendipity is Jael. Have you heard of her?

If you’ve read Judges, you probably remember her tale, because it’s a little gruesome and not easily forgettable.

In the era of the judges, Israel goes back and forth between being oppressed by the natives in the land of Canaan and remember the Lord, generally because of a judge who helps rescue them (Gideon, Deborah, and Samson are some examples).

In Judges 4, Israel is oppressed by King Jabin of Canaan and the commander of his army, Sisera. The army was infamous for having 900 iron chariots. It took 20 years of oppression before the Israelites bothered to remember God and called out to Him for help.

So this is when God raises Deborah as a judge for His people. Deborah asks Barak, a commander, to form an army. And then she prophesies, “The LORD will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman” (Judg. 4:9 NIV).

The battle rages and Sisera’s troops fall. Apparently being quite the chicken, Sisera goes to the tents of Heber the Kenite, because there is some sort of alliance between the king and this family. He’s met by Heber’s wife, Jael.

Jael is bashed in a lot of commentaries for what she does. She’s never mentioned in the New Testament. So let’s see what you think.

Jael welcomes the man into her tent (a good hiding place, as only a woman’s husband would be allowed into her tent). She gives him milk instead of water, a sign of honor. She covers him with a blanket. But then he asks her to lie if anyone asks about him.

Maybe it was all innocent until that point. I think it’s possible. But when he asks her to lie, Jael must know something’s going on in that battle. That he has fled as a loser. Remember, even if there was an alliance, the king and Sisera had oppressed her people for 20 years. And if now Israel was winning …

Well, I’ll let the author of Judges tell you what happened next.

When Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died (v. 21, NLT).

Some commentators think Jael was possessed, a crazy woman. Some think she purposefully deceived Sisera. Who knows?

Should we bless or blame Jael for what she did? She invited Sisera into her tent, treated him kindly, and told him not to be afraid; so she was deceitful. The Kenites were at peace with Jabin, so she violated a treaty. She gave Sisera the impression that she would guard the door, so she broke a promise. She killed a defenseless man who was under her protection, so she was a murderess. Yet Deborah sang, “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent” (5:24). …

Let’s keep in mind that the Jews has been under terrible bondage because of Jabin and Sisera; and it was God’s will that the nation be delivered. … Jael not only helped deliver the national of Israel from bondage, but also she helped protect the women from the most vicious brutality [had they been captured by Jabin]. She wasn’t a Semitic “Lady Macbeth” who murdered her guest for her own personal gain. There was a war on, and this courageous woman finally stopped being neutral and took her stand with the people of God.

I like to think Jael was a heroine, given the gumption to do what she had to do at the exact right moment by God.

What do you think?

Day 15: Moving On

Posted on October 15, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

I’ve just made the jump from the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) to Joshua in my one-year Bible, which is what I’m using for the majority of my reading. After reading about half of Leviticus and the whole of Numbers and Deuteronomy in just a few short weeks, it was harder to lose Moses than I thought it would be.

It would be peculiar to know you were going to die right then, wouldn’t it? But God takes Moses up on a mountain, shows him the land of Canaan, and then Moses dies. He knows it’s going to happen. I guess he’s ready for it. He isn’t taken up in a cloud or anything – although that’s what you think might happen for one of God’s greatest servants. No, he simply dies.

The end of Deuteronomy, chapter 34, is really beautiful to me.

⁵And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. ⁶He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. ⁷Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. ⁸The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over. …

¹⁰Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, ¹¹who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. ¹²For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Just a few thoughts on this passage:

God buried Moses. That’s really, really cool. Somehow I imagine it wasn’t easy for God to let Moses die without entering the promised land – and yet, don’t you think He was eager to have Moses with Him fully? That God buried him seems exceptionally tender.
Moses knew God so personally – “face to face.” He followed instructions, disciplined the people as God told him to, sought God’s wishes on every matter. It reminds me of what Jesus teaches us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer – “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Moses sincerely wanted God’s Kingdom on earth and did everything he could to follow God’s instruction.
Moses faltered, though, and that was why he didn’t get to enter the promised land. Like us, even our greatest biblical heroes were human.

I’m glad to have followed Moses’s life and walk since Exodus. I’m starting to feel more like this part of the Old Testament is a beautiful novel, and I’m itching to pick it back up and read more.

Miss some of the series? You can see all the posts in order on this page.

Day 14: Light of Your Presence

Posted on October 14, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

original photo source

Day 13: Two Ways

Posted on October 13, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

There are two ways to view God.

OK, maybe that’s a little simplistic, but hang in there with me.

We can view God through the lens of our own life and experience. We blame Him when things go wrong. We praise Him when things are good. We wonder why He is not liking us when we can’t sell our house and we have to foreclose and then we find out we still owe a ton of money on a house we foreclosed on. Or when we have a stupid bum car that won’t start half the time when two kids are in the backseat and it’s 30 degrees outside.

Just for instance, maybe. Ahem.

Hello, can you tell I have been there? And here’s the thing: God cares about the things that matter to us. He DOES control everything. But when bad things happen does that mean He hates us? Not at all. God IS love. It’s His nature.

Bad things happened to Job, and yet God loved Job and called him “blameless and upright.” Bad things happened to Jesus, God’s very own Son. Bad things – a LOT of bad things! – happened to Paul, the most prolific missionary of his time.

In Psalm 77 (NLT), the psalmist Asaph writes:

I think of the good old days,
long since ended,
when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and ponder the difference now.
Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? (vv. 5-9)

It amuses me to no end that Asaph calls it “the good old days.” But the questions he asks here are ones I think most believers have encountered: Does God not love me? Is He going back on His promises? Is He not compassionate?

But Asaph turns the corner in Psalm 77 and makes himself remember the bigger God.

But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
You are the God of great wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph (vv. 11-15).

This is the second way to view God: through an eternal lens. I might have some problems – who doesn’t? But God is still the God who parted the Red Sea (v. 16). He showed Himself to the Israelites in pillars of cloud and fire. He was born to a virgin, conceived only by the Spirit, grew up blameless, and died for everyone. And He died for me.

Christianity is both eternal and personal. I think it’s OK to see God through both lenses. But through the first, it’s so much easier to feel that God is personally against you. And He’s NOT. He may allow things to happen that you don’t like. Trust me, I sure haven’t liked the last three years of my life especially.

But I firmly believe the Bible is true. I believe God works everything for His good and our good (Romans 8:28). Our “good” will probably not be easy, pleasurable, or fun, always. But it will be good, in the end.

See this post to see a listing of all my 31 days posts in order.

Day 12: Jumping to Action

Posted on October 12, 2012 by vanderbiltwife

It’s kind of easy to laugh at Peter sometimes.

He was so full of passion and yet so quick to lay everything out on the line, whether it was right or not.

He swore he would never ever ever deny Christ … and then did, right away.

He cut off a guard’s ear when Jesus was arrested.

Even after the resurrection, he loudly proclaimed how much he loved Jesus without really getting was Jesus was asking.

Peter reacted on impulse, first instinct, so much of the time. Take the instance of the Transfiguration.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John onto a mountain. They fall asleep, and meanwhile Jesus is transfigured. Luke says, “As he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white” (9:29). Moses and Elijah appeared and began to chat with Jesus about his coming “exodus” (oh my word how I LOVE the use of the word exodus there!).

Well, the disciples wake up and take in a glowing Jesus and two really dead, famous dudes. And here is where Peter jumps in.

“As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, ‘Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’ ” (Luke 9:33).

Peter doesn’t even get a response; because, at that time, a cloud appears and God speaks. Yeah, that. But just the wording in that verse caught me: “Peter, not even knowing what he was saying …”

Peter earned a reputation in the gospels for being pretty foolish … all because he did stuff like this. Jumped to conclusions and forged ahead, not thinking.

Hm.

How bad are you at acting without thinking? How bad am I? I tend to let my emotions take hold of me, especially in my current emotional-overdrive state. I spend a lot of time regretting, especially my words to my kids and husband.

I’m thankful Peter’s story doesn’t end with the gospels. He preaches at Pentecost, becomes the leader of the Christian church. The first pope, if you’re of Catholic leaning. His wisdom is found in the books that bear his name in the Bible.

And I think during that time, especially while preaching the most eloquent sermon in history, he probably did a lot more relying on Jesus and the Spirit’s words than his own.

Let’s consider today whether we’re leaning on our own words and emotions or on those of the One who formed languages and hearts.