Thank you for joining us this week. Deuteronomy is a unique book where we read of the man and the event that establishes the religion and faith of Israel and tells us of the divine calling and destiny of Israel. The existence of Israel even today is bound up in its faith. There is the assurance of God, the reality of his existence and his chosen people.As we began our read we must take note of the lack of responsiveness of the people. They wandered for 38 years, a whole generation had passed because a majority of Israelites had not the courage and faith to follow their calling. They were a faithless generation. This fact should cause us to take a hard look at our direction in life and our response to the calling of Christ. Do we wander in a faith of convenience or do we labour in the call of our Lord and Savior? If we learn anything from this book it should be that the call to faith is essential for every generation.

This series on Deuteronomy will be a challenge for all of us. It is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, credited to Moses and it is the ending book or scroll of the Pentateuch, also referred  to as the first five books of the Bible. This first five are also referred to as the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. In chapter 17: 18-20 it is indicated that this could also be a second law.

Deut: 17- 20

18 When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. 19 It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

When you get into scripture study, especially as a layman, you are confronted with a number of rabbit trails that lead to a number of rabbit holes. Rabbit trails are the many directions that the information can take you, then leaving you stranded in a hole of contributing thoughts. I hope to avoid this and spare you this confusion. Sometimes referred to as the Book of Laws, the theological community finds that description to be inadequate. The book describes itself by content as being composed of law but also containing instruction, directives, guidance, and adds also that it is made up of decrees, statues and ordinances, Deut: 4: 44-45

44 This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the decrees and the statutes and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites when they had come out of Egypt, 

There was one reference that caught my attention…and without going into detail that might take us down one of the many trails here I offer an insightful thought from the NIB page 272 which says that this book could be considered as a comprehensive guidebook for Israel to live as the people of the Lord God. If we want a comprehensive term to describe what we will find in the book it most likely would be polity. I found Webster’s to have the best definition… the form of government of a religious denomination. So far we have discovered that the book of many names is a possibility when discussing Deuteronomy as we have referenced it as the last book or scroll in the Pentateuch, the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint or Greek Bible, and the one that was most familiar to me, a book of laws. These first five books make up the first part of the Hebrew Bible and lay the foundation for what we have come to know as the Jewish Nation. They provide the catalyst for the heirs of Abraham who are considered to be bound by a covenant to the Lord God through Moses on Mt Sinai as to how to live their lives as people of God. At this point I think it best to move on into this book. We start with Chapter 1 vv. 1-5.

Moses spoke in the wilderness before crossing the River Jordan into the promised land. The expanse and totality of this land that they are to live in is stated as simply “beyond the Jordan”. Moses prepares to introduce a divine law, for it stands above the “law of the land” or the “law of the King”. This is a law intended for the entire nation of Israel. We read in Deut: 6:20, that even the children are to be taught the law and are expected to respond to it in a proper manner. We read also v. 4 that Israel can win victories when obedient to the law. We began in the first chapter which I will break down into three segments.

Let’s look at vv. 1-8.

Moses recounted to the people all that God had given him. Here they were at Horeb, only eleven days from Kadesh-bernea. How could this be? They had wandered for forty years due to their disobedience and bad conduct. Had they now come to understand the value of and need for obedience? If so, they might be ready to go forward. How many times have we as church or as a believer been disobedient to God’s will in order to do our will? But God in his wisdom and mercy having brought us into hard times knows when we have been tried enough. When God commands us to go forward his word and law sustains and encourages us.

vv. 9-18

Moses reminds the people they now have in place a body of fundamental principles and law by which they are to be governed. He then says that my and your presence here is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. We have good laws that have been given to us and good men to carry them out, in these things are the proof of God’s goodness to the people of Israel and the care of Moses.

Vv.19-46

To paraphrase Moses he says to the people….You have gone through so many trials, come through that terrible wilderness and now you are so close to that happy settlement in the land of Canaan. It must have been hard on those hypocrites to find their work for naught, to be so near to the kingdom of God. The core of all this was an unbelieving heart. Had any of them ever looked into the Holy Land and understood that for it to be a good land they must go into it? The problem is that disbelief springs forth from a disobedience to God’s laws. Can they not give thanks for God’s  mercies received, confess and seek forgiveness of their sins, renew their covenant to God and seek the courage to renew their service to God? Do you reading this today perhaps believe that as a nation we also should do the same?

On our own plans don’t always work out but here we read that with courage in the exercise of our faith as we go about our duty to our calling and to follow the Lord fully, when we look past the opposition we will triumph and firmly hold onto our promised blessings. 

Life is Good

jk

Resources: New Interpreters Bible Volume 2

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary/ Deuteronomy

                                                                                                       

Luke writes of Paul’s coming to Macedonia in five short verses in Acts 16: 6-10.

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

The significance of Paul’s arrival did not express itself in the few words written by Luke in Acts. This would be the first time the Gospel came to Europe. Alexander had believed that he had been sent by God to unite the whole world. This whole area was still very much enamored with and still had memories of Alexander. I am sure this fact was not missed  by Paul; it is not unreasonable to think that Paul also saw it as much more than a country or continent but as a new world ready for Christ. There is a lot more to this journey of Paul to Thessalonica but for this week we will go to 1st Thessalonians 5: 1-28, or simply the 5th Chapter. Just a short bit of history here to set us on the right path. The New Testament book known as 1 Thessalonians is one of the earliest of Paul’s letters. A bit of history before we continue. The city of Thessalonia is in northern Greece. Its location was excellent being situated along a highway linking east and west. We know that Paul had sent Timothy back to Thessalonia to continue the word  and report back later as to the state of the believers there. Timothy reported back and Paul was pleased at the generally good report. It was at that time that Paul wrote this letter we know as 1st Thessaloians. You may of course want to read the whole chapter for context but for now I will be sharing vv. 12-28 with you.

One thing about this letter is that expresses Paul pleasure with the people there and the progress of the church. Chapter five gives details about Christ’s return and some of that famous Pauline advice.

We ask you, brothers, to give due recognition to those who labour among you and to those who preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to hold them very highly in love because of the work that they are doing.

Paul starts in v. 12 got to lay out some good advice, he does so in a very ordered way and each one could apply to the church today. First Paul encourages the people to respect their leaders. It is not the title, the office held or position within the Christian community that Paul is alluding too, it is simply the task, the service being given that is the badge of honor and requires their respect. We know in this day that the Spirit cannot be present in a community of hate. You must live at peace with one another. It would be far better to leave a congregation if you are unhappy there, for their peace and your own.(added jk) Paul is very thorough in being sure to mention those who need special care. This next bit of advice is not all that clear until we understand the meaning of lazy in this context. It was originally applied to a soldier who had left the ranks. In this context it means we are to warn the quitters. In every Christian community there are those that are fearful, not secure in their faith and there are those whose faith is strong and they should step up and assist those who are falling away. We must hold on to the weak and provide them a place of refuge as they grow in the faith. We as the Church should work to strengthen the bonds of fellowship and that will require patience. We must seek the better good for all people. There is also the New Testament thought that there should, be no “eye for and eye’ because in the end we will be victorious by seeking to forgive and do good to that person.

In vv. 16-18 Paul writes to what makes the church real and genuine. There is a joy, the church is a happy place to be. The people are excited, true Christianity is not depressing. Prayer is an important part of the church. Prayer is a powerful thing when we come together in Jesus’ name and it is made even more so when we pray as individuals. There is always something to be thankful for. A thankful church is a strong witness for the blessings of our Lord. There is a warning in vv. 19-20 concerning spiritual gifts. We can compare the Prophets of Paul’s day to the modern preachers of today, they bring the message of God to the people. Paul here is saying, if the people have something to say, then let them say it.

In these last few verses Paul puts down the first and most important duty of Christians. The teachings of Christ must be the standard they adhere to and by which they judge the actions of themselves and others. They must hold themselves above evil and strive to keep themselves apart from it. They must keep on doing the right thing, they must follow the way. The Church must be a light among the darkness, having the God given power to win others to Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:23–28

May the God of peace himself consecrate you through and through; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete so that you will be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can rely on him who calls you – and he will do this very thing. Brothers, pray for us.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I adjure you by the Lord that this letter should be read to all the brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

“Brothers, pray for us”… Paul believed in the power of prayer and that no man was so great that he did not need the prayers of others.

Life is Good

jk

 

Each Gospel presents Jesus in a different way and we lose this uniqueness when we try to blend, mix, or create a general consensus. Their beauty lies in their difference. As a whole the four gospels present a total picture of Jesus but each inspires and challenges the reader in different ways. Matthew brings to us a Jesus who fulfills the Scripture through the authority of his words. Following the Jesus of Matthew means keeping his teachings and making other disciples. The Jesus of Mark, we find him to be misunderstood and abandoned. To follow Mark’s Jesus we must take up the cross and follow him. John’s Jesus is the word incarnate. He is the revealer, sent to make known God to us. It is a symphony of living water, the bread of life and taking our place within the community of “the children of God.” Luke presents us with a compassionate Jesus, one of deep concern for the outcasts.  It seems that Luke’s Jesus tends to tell the story of God’s redemptive power while relating to the history of Israel, the scriptures and the contemporary world of his day. Jesus is sent to save the lost and for Israel there would be tragic consequences. The religious leaders reject Jesus and hand him over to be crucified but the people in general seem to survive the harsh judgement of history. Luke brings his Gospel to end with the disciples going forth with the good news and “the rest of the story” following in Acts.

I in the past have written other blogs with scripture verses from the  book of Luke as the basis. I think one of the interesting things about this book is the author. First off, Luke is a Gentile. Luke is the only Gentile writer with a book included in the New Testament Bible. As to authorship there can be little doubt that Luke is the author. It was a custom of early writers to attach the name of a well known author or church person to increase the chance of it being accepted but Luke was never one of the famous persons of the early church. Luke wrote this Gospel and there is little chance that anyone one would have attached their name to it. We read in Colossians 4:14 he was medical doctor and it is often cited as the reason for his sympathy for all people, it gave him a gentle and caring spirit. As a doctor Luke truly saw people as they really were. Over time emblems have been assigned to the Gospel writers, interesting to note that the symbol of Luke is the calf. The calf was viewed as an animal of sacrifice and in Luke’s eye that was how he viewed Jesus….God’s instrument of sacrifice who broke down the barriers between Jew and Gentile, a Savior for all people, all the world. Luke wrote his Gospel mainly for the Gentiles. Luke is writing in one sense to most likely answer a request or question from Theophilus, he himself a gentile. Luke was a trusted companion of Paul and most likely knew or knew of all the great figures of the church. His was a life of walking through history and he was meticulous in his recording of it. He was careful in all he wrote and it is evident his careful research included the opportunities he had to ask questions of these figures. Luke very seldom quotes the Old Testament. Luke quite literally was writing not for the Jews but for people just like us.

Luke’s Gospel paints a picture of Jesus that gives us a side of Jesus that while noted in the other Gospels, comes to the forefront in Luke’s writings. Luke’s Gospel puts forth the picture of a praying Jesus…at the moments of great stress or challenges we see Christ at prayer. Luke believed that to open the door to prayer was a powerful thing. Luke was a native of Macedonia where women were respected more than anyplace else. It comes across in his writings about Mary, Martha and of Mary Magdalene. With Luke it was a praise thing and here in Luke’s book the phrase praising God occurs more often than all the rest of the New Testament put together. There is Mary’s song of praise Luke 1: 46-55, The Benedictus 1:68-79 and the Nunc Dimittis 2:29-32. But there is yet the wonder of the Gospel, the Universal Gospel; the Gospel of no barriers, the Gospel for all people.

These are just a few of the wonders of this beautiful book. In the DBS, Barclay takes note of this written by F.W. Faber….

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea;

There’s a kindness in his justice,

Which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man’s mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

A good summation of Luke, The Book Beautiful.

God Bless,

Life is Good

jk

This parable we are studying today is often referred to as the Parable of  the Drag-Net or other wise known by its proper name the seine net. We note that most scholars consider vv. 47 and 48 to be where this one stops and vv. 49-50 were added later.

Matthew 13: 47-50

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I am getting ahead of myself but it is at v. 48 that the sorting out starts. In those added verses 49-50 we have the when and how those sorted out are dealt with. So now back to the net. The drag-net had corks at the top and the weights were at the bottom. When the net was dragged it formed a cone into which all creatures of the sea in its path were caught. In Galilee the net was drawn to the shore and the fishermen started the sorting out process. There were vessels there on shore that most likely contained water into which the fish were put. This was done to ensure that the fish remained as fresh as possible for the market. Those things that were useless or unusable were cast away. Our first point to be made is that the seine net gathers every kind of creature. We have seen how Jesus through these parables would paint a picture that all who had ears could hear, see and understand. We might picture the church much like that net. When we cast our net it should also bring in all people. Ours must be the invitation of Christ…all are welcome, the gospel is for all. It is an all embracing call to salvation and there can be no selective preaching of the gospel. The gospel was for everyone. We as the church have over the years accepted this with no hesitation because it is the right way and the will of our Savior. Not so in the ancient world, there were barriers and blatant contempt between the people everywhere.

In the Greek world those who could not speak that language were look on with contempt. There was the difference between slave and free man. Aristotle believed there were those that were meant to serve, so as to leave the cultured class free of any of the ordinary tasks of the day. There were those who spent their lives seeking wisdom and then those simple folk of simple minds. These people were the uneducated and ignorant and they were held in contempt. The Roman world was much simpler. There was the Roman citizen and then the rest of the world, commonly referred to as the lesser breeds. Rome in its day was truly a thing of wonder. In the latter years it became a place that used the lesser folks for the ease and comfort of the Roman citizen. The Jewish world had the most barriers. The first was short and to the point…They believed themselves to be the chosen people, the only people in the world God loved. They looked down with contempt on any other race. The next barrier was between man and woman. Pretty much a case of women being despised. There is no better proof of this than their morning prayer…The Jew thanked God, that, “Thou hast not created me a Gentile, a slave or a woman.” The attitude of most Jews was that women didn’t matter. Sadly we are not done yet. Two other groups, those who keep the law and those that did not. Those that didn’t, they were called,  The People of the Land. Most Jews would not do business with them, or allow marriage between a Jew and them. In addition to that they did not keep company with them or travel anywhere with them. The Jew had utter contempt for those who did not keep the law.  To the Jew goodness and badness was related to your keeping the ceremonial law, but they went past that. They believed there was a great joy in heaven when a sinner went down. Barclay uses the story of the woman who was caught in an act of adultery (John 8: 1-11) to make this point. She was to be stoned to death as per Jewish law. Stoning though a harsh and horrible death administered by the people was not shied away from by the people and they did not see the harshness of it. They were most eager to get on with it. The picture presented here is they seemed to find a grim and sadistic pleasure in it. This attitude prevailed among the Jews. The Jews were disappointed by the fact that Jesus was a friend to the sinners and outcasts. Let’s go to vv. 3-5 in Psalm 24.

3 

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

    And who shall stand in his holy place?

4 

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,

    who do not lift up their souls to what is false,

    and do not swear deceitfully.

Without the presence of God or the grace of Christ this shuts most of us out. This was the Jewish thought and was the example of utter contempt for the sinner.

There are still the barriers of this day. The Parable tells us of an all inclusive, wide open invitation to Christ. Unfortunately the sins of exclusiveness and contempt still are part of the church today. We can find the attitude that a person can sink so low they are no longer redeemable. There is the story of the great scholar Muretus. He traveled to many cites teaching and learning, then found himself sick in an Italian city, no-one really knew who he was. The doctors treating him thought him to be a vagrant with no friends or resources. They felt no one would miss him and he was of little use. They were speaking in Latin, the scholar’s language.  At the close of their conversation he looked up and said to them“call no man worthless for whom Christ died.” We are of course in this day and in this country dealing with a race problem, the issue of color prejudice. Our attitude toward persons of color is one of condescension. That is not the Christian way of treating all people as brothers and sisters, all are equally a part of the family of God. We still as members of the church have an attitude problem. We tend toward the habit of labeling people good or bad, closing our hearts, minds and doors to the sinner because they make us uncomfortable. We must ask ourselves if we turn them away where can they go? There is and always will be a mixture in the church. If the church were for only the perfect people it would be hard pressed to seat a choir. The mixture of good and bad within the church is a testament to its purpose.

Remember the net and the fact that it gathered all in its path, then when brought ashore the sorting out of the good and bad started? The bad were cast away. We would do well to understand that when we are confronted with Christ it is at that moment. our actions judge ourselves and are judged by God. We are making the decision in which direction our lives will go. Will you be cast away?

Life is Good

jk