Zombies Among Us! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 32:1,

"Come, make us gods who will go before us."

Well, here is an incoherent direction. Make a god! God makes people, it's not the other way around. Moses was up on Mt.Sinai receiving the law from God for his covenanted people, and in short order the people demanded a replacement for God out of their impatience.

Why would a crowd demand a lifeless god to serve, a god who had done nothing for them, a god they invented themselves? They really seem like zombies here! They said they wanted a god to go before them, a god to lead them! A lifeless dead nothing to follow!

It seems so foreign to me. Yet, as I look about me today, that is exactly what I see: zombies! People all about me are inventing their own definition of life, their own deity of moral expression found in the muddled jargon of "social justice"! In their scathing hate they demand our acquiescence to their god. The new inquisition is upon us! Devoid of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a rejection of Jesus Christ and the redemption he has made provision for, these people are upon us with a zeal and a hatred and a rejection of the God our national motto declares is in whom we place our trust!

Zombies! Truly, nothing new under the sun! Team Cain is on the move!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Astonishing Depravity! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 32:1,

"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, 'Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.'"

Astonishing! The bizarre and shocking aspect of this account is both the speed and the depth of depravity to which the Israelites sank as Moses was up on the mountain receiving the commands of the covenant and the law from the Lord!

As they turned from the Lord in a timeframe marked by numbers of days, it was the Lord who brought them out of slavery in Egypt they turned from! It was the Lord whom they observed bringing plagues on Egypt on their behalf they turned from! It was the Lord that provided them escape from Pharaoh and his military through sea they turned from! It was the Lord who provided a miraculous supply of manna and fowl in the wilderness they turned from! It was the Lord who provided water miraculously for a nation of several million they turned from!

And, just what was it they turned from him to? A lifeless chunk of gold fashioned into a calf of their own making! A lifeless calf with a mouth that could not speak, as the Lord at the very time was speaking to Moses. A lifeless calf with eyes that could not see. A lifeless calf with ears that could not hear. A lifeless calf with a nose that could not smell. A lifeless calf with a body but could not feel anything. A lifeless calf with hooves but could not walk. A lifeless chunk of metal!

I am reminded of a passage, Psalm 115:4-8, where the psalmist criticizes the idolatrous Gentiles, 

"Their idols are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
    feet, but cannot walk,
    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them."

These could not be truer words spoken about these Israelites. The Lord was so furious with them he set about to annihilate them, and only relented when Moses stepped into the breach and talked him out of it. It is really quite fascinating to behold.

This is the nation God determined to use as his vehicle to pursue his redemption of mankind through. Clearly the Lord had his work cut out for him as he began the centuries long program of bringing them into what he needed when it was time to bring his Son into the world. It is amazing what God accomplished through this dull people!

However, Israel appears on the stage here as such a spiritually dull people as an illustration of the heart of all mankind. Just look about yourself today and see what today's Gentiles have traded an opportunity to know God for. Amazing, bizarre and shocking!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Our Part to Play - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 31:2-5,

"See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts."

The Lord gave a special enablement to certain people for the work he wanted done on the tabernacle and its furnishings. 

I am mindful that in pursuing his redemption of mankind, the Lord gifts us believers, to employ us in that effort in our age.

I am reminded of what Paul said in Romans 12:4-8, "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."

Unlike the construction of the tabernacle where only certain ones were given a special enablement, we all have our part to play-- all of us believers! God enables us in his pursuit of lost and fallen mankind as he holds out his offer of eternal life.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Why the Sabbath? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 31:14-15,

"Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death."

The Lord was deadly serious about having the Israelites observe the Sabbath, the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Here we see the penalty for those failing to do so was death. It was a capital crime to not observe the Sabbath.

In this chapter the Lord explains why he was adamant the Israelites keep the seventh day as "holy to the Lord". "This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy." Verse 13b. The Sabbath was to be an important weekly reminder that the Lord was their God. The Israelites were to carry out their work for the first six days of the week, and then follow the Lord's pattern from the creation week by resting on the seventh.

It is just amazing how distracted people can become when it comes to acknowledging the Lord's presence. Since the Lord was preparing the nation of Israel to be his selected people he would bring his redemption into the world through, he wanted them mindful of himself. Sabbath keeping aided that.

Since the birth of the church, its members have been released from the law. Paul reminds us the purpose of the entirety of the law was to demonstrate our need of salvation, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." Romans 3:20. Once we embrace Jesus Christ in faith we serve the Lord differently than the Israelites were expected to when God was developing them as his people. "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Romans 7:6.

Sundays are not Sabbaths. The Sabbath fell on the evening before Saturday (Friday evening) and lasted until the evening of Saturday (and still does). Whether we decide to set aside one day a week or a portion of a day to focus on the Lord is an entirely optional matter for each of us (and it need not be a Sunday, although many Christians do so in remembrance of the day of the week the Lord arose from the dead.) "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord." Romans 14:5-6a.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Anointing Oil and Incense - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 30:32-33, 37-38 ,

"Do not pour it [the sacred anointing oil] on anyone else's body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people."... "Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the Lord. Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people."

The environment for the presence of the Lord among the Israelites and the worship they were to perform there was to be one that engaged the senses. The Lord gave Moses a recipe for the "sacred anointing oil" that was to be used to apply to the various furnishings of the tabernacle as well as the priests. The fragrant spices to be used in the formula were liquid myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, fragrant calamus and cassia mixed in olive oil. (One wonders what the odor might have been like in the precincts where so many animals were sacrificed.)

Additionally, the Lord gave Moses a recipe for the incense that was to be burned on the altar to be constructed for that purpose. It was to be made from "fragrant spices": gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense.

It is interesting that with both recipes, the Lord forbade the Israelites from the misuse of either or copying the formula of each for their own use. Both were to be used exclusively for the worship at the tabernacle and only at the Lord's pleasure (and no one else.)

This drives the point to me that there are some things in life that are to be exclusively the Lord's - for his use and pleasure. Things we are not to take in hand to use for ourselves apart from the Lord or for other purposes. In a very specific sense, for example, human life is exclusively the Lord's - not for us to take (apart from his direction).

Possibly in a more general sense, in attempting to mimic what the Lord has done, counterfeits have been pursued. The Qur'an is an example of Muhammed, who did a poor job of attempting to copy what he found among the Jews - God's revelation of himself in the Scriptures, as he sought to retain loyalty from his troops. Copycat cults of Christianity might be considered others. I'm sure you could come up with a few.

Just a few thoughts this morning...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Are You Cleansed? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 30:18-20,

"Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die."

In this chapter the Lord gives Moses direction on making an incense altar, the recipe for the incense, a method of census taking and taxation to support the tabernacle activities, a recipe for anointing oil with instructions for its use, and a bronze basin for washing.

The basin for washing was not a bathtub. It's purpose was not for hygiene but for ceremonial "cleanness." Aaron and his sons were to ceremonially wash their hands and feet in order to acceptably enter into the tent of meeting to carry on their responsibilities and for approaching the altar with food offerings. The  importance of this is seen in the admonition that doing so would keep them from death, "so that they will not die."

A common theme in the Scriptures concern the "unclean" nature of lost and fallen sinful mankind. It makes no difference how often you may bathe, the sinful condition in our hearts makes us all "unclean" in a spiritual sense, before God. In the tabernacle, and later in the temple worship, ceremonial cleansing was required. It speaks of our sinful condition before our holy and righteous God, a condition mankind has inherited since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden.

In this age, following the payment of sins by our Savior, we are made clean in a better and permanent way. Paul tells Titus, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7.

Becoming born-again by the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit brings a permanent cleansing of us before God. "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Revelation 7:14. 

Aaron and his sons, as priests of Israel, had to be ceremonially cleansed each time they performed their duties. We, as believers that make up a priesthood in Jesus Christ, have been cleansed forever!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Is God the Lord of Our Lives? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 29:46b,

"I am the Lord their God."

God decided he would redeem lost and fallen mankind from their sinful estrangement from himself. Adam and Eve, the first human couple, had sinned against the Lord and earned for all of us death, both temporal and eternal. Yet, God had made mankind from the depths of his desire to do so, and so he determined to redeem them from his own judgement of them for that sinful fall.

That determination of his was rooted in his pleasure that only those among mankind who wanted him would be welcomed into his family: only those who might embrace him in faith. Abraham had found favor with God because he manifested that very kind of faith he would look for in the hearts of mankind.

God's plan of redemption would not be at the expense of his sense of justice, and so he provided for the punishment due mankind vicariously through his own Son by having him enter into the human family to be sacrificed as that provision.

God determined to carry this out through the vehicle of a nation he would prepare for himself, a nation that he would send prophets into the world through, to inform mankind of his intentions, and a people he would bring his Son into the world through specifically for that sacrifice. Israel was chosen to be that people because of the faith their patriarch, Abraham, displayed and would become a model for all to view.

In fulfilling these things he made his covenant with Israel and began to prepare them to be instrumental in what he would do to redeem mankind. God made a covenant with this people on the basis of the laws he gave them, he provided for a tabernacle and a priesthood and a calendar of offerings and worship at the tabernacle to prepare them to fulfill the role he determined for them in his agenda of redemption.

After he provided his plans to Moses to carry out, he said they would know that he was the Lord their God, and as a summary statement at the end of this chapter he proclaims, "I am the Lord their God."

This is the very statement that he makes over those who have responded to his offer of redemption. It is a statement that we need to fashion into a question for ourselves, "Is God the Lord of our lives?"

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Specificity and Silence - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 29:19-21,

"Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar. And take some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated."

In this chapter the Lord tells Moses how to consecrate Aaron and his sons to be the priests of God's people. The instructions include how they are to be dressed, how they are to be prepared, how the offerings are to be carried out, what to do with the various portions and the bull and the rams involved, the disposition of those parts, who consumes what and where and so on. The verse above is just a sample of the specificity within which the Lord gave his instructions to Moses.

God has no problem being very specific when it matters to him.

I am reminded how specific many churches like to be when it matters to them, and, yet, in many of those matters God has chosen not to be specific. I'm thinking of the ordinances within the church, baptisms, celebrating the Lord's supper, and what music and instruments are to be allowed in worship services and so on.

Over the years I have been known to point to Exodus 29:19-21 as an example of God being explicit when it is important to him. When he wants things done a certain way, he has no problem expressing himself. Therefore, when God does not provide specific instructions on some things, why do we insist they have to be done just so? Churches and denominations have split and gone their separate ways (clearly violating the Lord's desire we remain in unity) over these things.

Where do I go in my Bible to find out exactly how a baptism is to be performed? If I can't find it, why should I demand it be done in just a certain way I say it should be? Why would I insist the liturgical formula be just so-and-so? Why do we insist only these certain people are qualified to perform it? How about the Lord's supper? How often? The appropriate liturgy to attend it? The method of distribution?

It seems to me there are way too many misguided people (possibly well-intentioned???) within the church demanding things in a certain way that God has not chosen to be specific about. Like I say, God can be very specific in how he might want something done. Perhaps we might find within ourselves the love and tolerance in those things God has been silent about when we make demands of one another.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Our Priestly Garments - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 28:2-5,

"Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen."

Moses' brother Aaron and his sons were chosen by God to be the priests of Israel. In this passage the Lord instructs Moses on the design and construction of the priestly garments Aaron was to wear in this role. Quite opulent in gold fixtures and filigree, precious stones, the most luxurious of materials, these materials combined with the craftsmanship that was to be employed in its creation was really quite something.

In spite of the opulence of these garments, I am reminded of other garments other priests wear that Aaron's outfit could not possibly compare to.

All who embrace Jesus Christ in faith join the priesthood of believers as Peter reminds us, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." As such we wear a garment of righteousness, far surpassing Aaron's garments and beyond the value of anything that can be produced in this world. In Revelation 7:14, in speaking of the saints that have come out of the great tribulation, the elder tells John, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb".

This raiment of righteousness is given to all believers, "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Romans 3:21. Aaron had a breastpiece made of gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and of finely twisted linen, with precious stones mounted on it, braided chains of gold, but we believers have a breastplate of righteousness, Ephesians 6:14.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Urim and Thummim - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 28:30,

"Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord."

What is the "Urim" and the "Thummim"? The words mean "lights" and "perfections". From the context we see they were to be kept in Aaron's breastpiece and used for decision making. While there are other passages that refer to the Urim and Thummim we don't really know much more about them, exactly how they looked, how they performed the decision making, etc.. Many feel they were for the purpose that casting lots performed, as in "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord", Proverbs 16:33. Or for obtaining divine guidance with a Yes/No or True/False provided preternaturally.

The online "Jewish Virtual Library" claims, "By means of the Urim, the priest inquired of YHWH on behalf of the ruler (Num. 27:21; cf. Yoma 7:5, 'only for the king, the high court, or someone serving a need of the community'); they were one of the three legitimate means of obtaining oracles in early Israel (Urim, dreams, prophets; I Sam. 28:6)." https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-urim-and-thummim

What I find interesting about this fascinating part of Aaron's toolbox is that it is not explained in further detail. From the text it almost seems as though Moses (and possibly the nation as a whole back in the day) might already be familiar with the Urim and Thummim-- even though we have many questions about them. They are referred to by the Lord in this passage where many other details about other things are given to Moses. Not so the Urim and Thummim, only where they were to be kept with the rather vague reference as to their purpose.

One thing I do know about the Urim and Thummim: I have all I need to know about them. If God intended I know more about them, there would be more detail. I have all I need to know. We all do. This springs from my conviction that the Scriptures are both intentional and plenary. They are not happenstance and what I find in the Scriptures are those things the Lord wants me to know. What he has not provided falls outside his intentions and purposes of me knowing him, his agenda of redemption and the revelation of himself to us all.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

The "Durable" Things of the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 27:1,

"Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide."

Acacia wood was the wood used in the furnishings of the tabernacle. The ark, the altar of burnt offerings and the other accoutrements of the tabernacle were to be made using acacia wood as specified by the Lord.

Acacia wood was available to the Israelites in the wilderness, possibly one of the only types of trees there. From an article on it at gotquestions.org we learn that acacia wood is "dense and extremely strong". Also, "This wood is resistant to decay because the tree deposits in the heartwood many waste substances which are preservatives and render the wood unpalatable to insects making the wood dense and difficult to be penetrated by water and other decay agents." Durable.

This made for a great material for these furnishings as they would be in use for centuries. I believe there is no spiritual significance in the use of acacia wood and that it was simply a great choice given its availability and its durability. Given that, I can't help but think of those "durable" things of God.

God's nature is "durable" in that it never changes. His love for us never changes. We are told in Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Our standing with God as a redeemed sinner and imbued with the righteousness of Jesus Christ will never change, it is durable, "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9. We also read in Ephesians 1:13b-14, "When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory." Our salvation is "durable"!

Given there seems to be so many things that change in this life, isn't it great to know the things of the Lord that are durable? There are many things about the Lord that are "durable". What comes to your mind?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Approaching God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 27:9a,

"Make a courtyard for the tabernacle." 

The courtyard would be the place where the Israelites could come to worship the Lord with their offerings and sacrifices. It is here they came to worship him.

As Moses received these instructions from the Lord on Mt. Sinai, the people were not allowed to approach the mountain. A distance was required by our holy and righteous God between himself and sinful mankind. During an initial meeting between Moses and the Lord, the Lord told Moses, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them." Exodus 19:24.

However, with the establishment of the tabernacle and worship that was to be performed there, a meeting place would be set up between the Lord and his people, a "point of contact": the Lord's presence within the most holy place and the people that would come to the courtyard.

Due to the sinful condition of mankind and the resulting estrangement following the fall, mankind lost the ability to approach the presence of God. In Moses' first encounter with God, when God called out to Moses from the burning bush, God told him as he approached, "Do not come any closer... Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:5. Moses had hidden his face because he was afraid to look at God.

However, since Jesus Christ, we now have the ability to approach God in a much better way than coming to the courtyard of the tabernacle. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we can come into God's presence. He is our great Mediator! "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people." 1 Timothy 2:5. Because of Jesus Christ, we can approach God in a way not previously available, "In him [Jesus Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Ephesians 3:12.

As a result of this, the writer of Hebrews tells us, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16.

How wonderful is that?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

The Best of Things - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 26:29,

"Overlay the frames with gold and make gold rings to hold the crossbars. Also overlay the crossbars with gold.

As we read of the design of the tabernacle and the materials the Lord asked to be used, he asked for the best of things as noted in the verse above. Even the frames that provided for the walls of the tabernacle were to be placed on silver bases!

The best of things. Not just what worked, although this design was certainly that which provided for durability and  strength as seen in the specifications for a covering of ram skins and "the other durable leather" (possibly the hides of large aquatic mammals per the footnote in the NIV), etc.

Items overlaid with gold, items of silver all remind me that the things of the Lord should be the very best of things. Possibly not always the most expensive of things, but certainly the best of things nonetheless.

When it comes to my time with the Lord, it shouldn't just be any time I might have as extra time. I should make time for him. When I make an offering, it shouldn't just be what I have left over in my pocket at the end of the week.The Lord should have the best of my efforts when it comes to those things like prayer, meditation, investigating him in the Scriptures. How about memorizing some portions of Scripture? Isn't he worthy of my efforts?

The Lord gave me the best of his things: Jesus Christ! Certainly I should honor the Lord with my best when it comes to the things of him in my life.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Our God of Order and Structure - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 26:30,

"Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain."

The plan shown Moses by the Lord for the construction of the tabernacle reveals order, it reveals structure of design, it reveals coherent form. All the pieces and parts have their place in the overall construction. Nothing is happenstance, nothing is afterthought and it clearly is not vague or harbors any hint of disorder.

It is my strong conviction that the design of the tabernacle reveals something of the character and nature of God. He is all that he reflects of himself in his design of the tabernacle. Throughout the Scriptures he consistently reveals himself just so.

This morning I think about the history of God's redemption of mankind. Some see the accounts in the pages of Scripture as snippets, as pieces that do not necessarily fit together as the parts of a puzzle might, to form a flow of thought and action that demonstrate order, structure of design, coherence and the like. Not me. I see in the pages of Scripture a consistent flow of history, each and every stage lending itself to the overall design and completion of God's agenda of the redemption of mankind.

It all fits together, beginning with the account of creation and the fall of man, the development of a people, Israel, through which God communicates his redemption and brings his Redeemer into the world. All this followed by an account of the rollout of redemption through the propagation of the gospel and culminating in the return of our great Redeemer to usher believers into his eternal presence to experience the joy of his pleasures for all eternity.

Just like the design of the tabernacle, the agenda of God to redeem lost and fallen mankind is an orderly rollout throughout history. If we fail to see it, we will never quite understand just what it is we read in the Pentateuch, we will fail to see God's purposes in the history of the nation of Israel, the life and times of Jesus Christ our Messiah, and this golden age where God reaches out to all those who are willing to embrace him in faith. 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Specifications for the Sanctuary - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 25:8-9,

"Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you."

The specifications for the tabernacle, its furnishings and the worship activities to be carried out there were exacting as given by the Lord. This chapter provides the dimensions and measurements, the materials and even the disposition (the golden covered acacia poles for transporting the ark were to remain in the rings of the ark provided for them - never to be removed) for the various furnishings for the tabernacle.

The Israellites were not to decide for themselves what the Lord's tabernacle would look like. They were not the ones to determine which things the tabernacle would contain, the size of those things, what they looked like or what they were to be made of. That was the Lord's to decide. The design of the tabernacle, its furnishings and the worship activities to be carried out there were things the Lord specified to fulfill his purposes. It is my thought the design of them reflected what the Lord wanted to communicate to his covenanted people and how he wanted to be approached by them. The Lord said he would dwell among them within this sanctuary, verse 8.

I am reminded of another sanctuary, a temple the Lord dwells within. Paul asks the believers in Corinth, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" 1 Corinthians 3:16. To the Ephesians he wrote, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Ephesians 2:19-22.

Peter tells us, "As you come to him [Jesus Christ], the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4.

As the Lord had his specifications for the sanctuary that Israel was to build and that he would dwell within, so he has his specifications for the temple or sanctuary he has made of us to dwell within. As an example Peter tells us, "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22. Another is, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1 Peter 2:1-3.

Paul has a great "specification" for us, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:12-17.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

An Offering from the Heart - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 25:1-7,

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.'"

When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to meet with the Lord, the Lord told him to take up an offering from the people. The purpose of this offering was to provide the materials for the construction of the tabernacle the Lord asked Moses to have constructed, as well as the furnishings attending it together with the activities the Lord would prescribe to take place there.

So, how were these vagabonds trekking in the desert to provide these materials of gold, silver, precious stones and the rest of what the Lord asked for? Earlier in Exodus we read where I suspect a substantial amount of it came from.

In Exodus 11:2, prior to the plague of the firstborn and Israel leaving Egypt, the Lord told Moses that Pharaoh would finally concede and allow Israel to leave. Then the Lord told Moses, "Tell the people that men and women [of Israel] alike are to ask their neighbors [the Egyptians] for articles of silver and gold." This they were to do when leaving Egypt. In Exodus 12: 35-36 we read, "The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians."

What the Lord asked for he had provided! I happen to notice that when the Lord asked for the offering, he only wanted what he asked for from those "whose heart prompts them to give."

I am reminded that so it is today. The Lord provides for us. Whatever it is we have has come from him. Even the health and strength required for us to make a living, the Lord provides it all. As the Lord builds his kingdom, it is from those whose hearts are willing that he receives gifts to carry on the work. 

The Philippian church provided a wonderful example for us all, "Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:15-19.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

The Beginning of Scripture - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 24:4,

"Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said."

The first "book" mentioned in the Bible comes three verses after the verse quoted above, "Then he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people." Verse 7.

Moses is known as the great lawgiver. God met with Moses and gave him his expectations for his people that he intended to enter into covenant with - the Law of God. Moses, in turn, delivered this law to the nation of Israel and to all mankind. Not only did Moses provide God's law verbally, "...  Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws..." verse 3, he also wrote it down. Having written it down, he then read what he had written down to the Israelites.

Moses wrote the first five books of our Bibles, referred to as the Pentateuch. Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses as well as the book of Job (per the Babylonian Talmud and many others). The wonderful thing to me about Moses is he was the first to begin writing the Scriptures.

Scripture-writers, prophets, were very unique people who were given a unique task from God. God desired to communicate to mankind, not only through the verbal communication the prophets provided, but also in written format. We have in our Bibles the very words of God.

Peter's observation of this process is fascinating, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21. The production of Scripture provides us with God's very words cast in the language, regional dialect and usage of language by the various prophets God chose to use. The book of Hebrews (?) sounds nothing like the book of Romans (Paul). The gospel and letters of John sound nothing like Luke and Acts (Luke). Yet all have a common author, God himself. Moses is the man God chose to begin this process.

Over forty human authors were used to produce the Scriptures over a period fourteen-hundred plus years - and Moses stands as the man God chose to be the first as we read in Exodus 24. Through all these writings, we have been given from God the means to be taught by God, to be rebuked by God, corrected by God and trained by God for righteousness to be fully equipped for him and his use, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Through these writings we find the strength for endurance and encouragement that leads to the great hope we have, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." Romans 15:4.

Exodus 24 contains the beginning of something that just cannot be overlooked!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Forty Days - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 24:18,

"Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

The Lord called Moses up to Mt. Sinai where he had manifested himself to the nation in what looked to be a consuming fire on top of it. We are told when Moses went up a cloud covered it and he "entered the cloud". We are told Moses stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Not 38 and not 77, but 40!

It occurs to me there are a number of instances where this period of forty days is illustrated in the Scriptures:

When God destroyed the earth with the flood in Noah's day, we are told it rained forty days an forty nights, Genesis 7. We are also told forty days after the water receded from the earth Noah sent out  a raven from the ark, Genesis 8:6.

The Egyptian physicians took 40 days to embalm Jacob when he died. This, however, seems to be the normative period for embalming (so this reference probably doesn't relate to anything other than embalming.) Genesis 50.

In addition to the first time Moses spent with the Lord forty days, he spent another forty days and nights with the Lord (without eating bread or drinking water) when he chiseled out the second set of tablets with the Ten Commandments, Exodus 34:24

The Israelite spies spent forty days exploring the promised land when they brought back a report that communicated their lack of faith in God, Numbers 13.

Goliath terrified the Israelites for 40 days before David took him out, 1 Samuel 17.

Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights after he fled from Jezebel, 1 Kings 19.

When Jonah finally went to Nineveh to proclaim God's judgment, he told them it was coming in forty days, Jonah 3.

Certainly the most famous period of forty days and forty nights was the period Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and being tempted by the devil, Matthew 4.

Following his resurrection, we are told Jesus spent forty days speaking about the kingdom of God to the apostles, Acts 1.

All of these passages speak of forty days or forty days and forty nights. While forty days can be a reference without further meaning (the embalming of Jacob by the Egyptian physicians), other references appear symbolic to many of "probation" or "trial". Times of trouble and hardship.

I'm not one given to "numerology" in Scripture, but the Bible does have a feel to it that some numbers are significant or important, such as the number twelve.

Do you see a theme here associated with 40 days?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Favoritism in Court? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 23:3,

"... do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit"

In this verse the Lord tells Moses to not grant a person partiality in court simply because he or she might be poor. Partiality has no place in the courtroom. Justice is not really just if favor is extended to anyone-- justice is to be blind. The Lord knows there are those who might pervert the cause of justice to make amends for circumstances not having anything to do with the business at hand in a courtroom.

The Lord certainly is not picking on the poor. Two verses later he tells Moses, "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits." While this direction focuses on what we would call civil law, it would certainly apply to criminal law as well.

The book of Proverbs talks about justice and provides us guidance, "Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the Lord detests them both." Proverbs 17:15. It is equally a miscarriage of justice to fail to convict a guilty person as it is to convict an innocent person.

When it comes to outcomes of justice, some might prefer to end the practice of capital punishment to prevent the possibility of executing an innocent person by mistake. This misses the point of justice. An appeal to determine the appropriateness of penalties for violating law should be made to the Scriptures, and not predicated on the veracity of justice itself. This is why justice is such an extremely important business.

I might point out that those who reject the Scriptures have absolutely no basis for determining the appropriateness of various punishments for crime. I think that is why we see criminals today being punished by whatever the popular whim of the people might be at a given time. (Remember "three strikes and you are out"?)

Oh, and "social justice"? That is not about justice at all. lt is only about political domination and the grasping of power. It is stunning to me how many churches and denominations have adopted the language of such political groups. How about we all get back to our Bibles?

Real justice requires the conviction and punishment of the guilty as well as the  exoneration of the innocent - and no one is to be afforded favoritism.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

No Safety in Numbers Regarding Guilt - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 23:2a,

"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong."

What might a crowd be doing that is wrong? We might say it doesn't matter what it is if it is wrong. The entirety of the law defines right and wrong. What is consistent with God is right and what contradicts him in any way is wrong. Right and wrong can be articulated in a variety of ways, but the truthfulness and proper expression of right and wrong comes from our Creator.

Here in this short sentence we have a prohibition against following the crowd in doing wrong without the "wrong" being identified. Consequently, this law doesn't define the "wrong" but instead declares that no matter what the numbers are in a crowd, wrong is wrong and there is no escape from culpability in doing wrong simply based on the number of those doing it. There is no safety in numbers when it comes to God's justice and his judgment.

This is certainly applicable today when large numbers of people have hijacked a protest concerning the murder of George Floyd to loot, plunder, assault and destroy property. Each and every last person involved in this episode of lawlessness is just as culpable for their actions as if they were the only one on the planet doing it.

No safety in numbers when it comes to God's justice.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Don't Eat Roadkill! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 22:31,

"You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs."

The Israelites were to be God's "holy people", and so God had an expectation they would comport themselves in a manner reflecting that. In this law I see something akin to our day, where we might joke about someone who would cook up roadkill to eat. God says don't do it!

The term "holy" in this context equates to Merriam-Webster's third definition of "holy": "devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity." Israel was set apart by God for his special purposes to bring his redemption to mankind. God desired their standard of living to reflect that.

By the time the gospel went out to the world through the apostolic witness, historians tell us that the Jewish quarter within a city during the Diaspora was the part of town that reflected higher moral virtues. Although Israel has had her shortcomings, and notably their rejection of God's Son, God nevertheless has left his fingerprints all over this people.

I am reminded that the redeemed of the Lord are to live our lives reflecting that status with God. As Peter quotes Leviticus 11:44, 45 and 19:2, "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:13-16.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/

Capital Punishment and God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 22:18,

"Do not allow a sorceress to live."

In this chapter of sundry laws given by God for Israel, the death penalty was required for a variety of things. Here in this verse, if a woman is found engaging in sorcery she was to be put to death. A sorcerer or sorceress was one who used the power gained from the help or control of evil spirits.

And, no, I'm sure the same applied to men who engaged in the same. I assume the female practitioner was the more common gender which probably is why the prohibition references "sorceress" instead of "sorcerer". We can find the prohibition for any and all who engaged in divination, sorcery, interpreting omens and witchcraft in Deuteronomy 18:9-13.

In addition to sorcery, in this chapter we find the death penalty prescribed for bestiality and idolatry. In the case of taking advantage of widows or the fatherless, God says he himself will have the perpetrator killed by the sword, verse 24.

God chose Israel as a people for himself with a purpose. That purpose was to provide for the redemption of all mankind from their sins. He chose Abraham's offspring as a vehicle to accomplishing this by communicating through Israel's prophets his intentions and to provide many types and examples that would point us to Jesus Christ. And, of course, the biggest use of his people was to bring his Son into the world through them to be the atoning sacrifice to provide that redemption.

These laws, in addition to defining for sinful man what God finds repugnant and worthy of damnation, was to provide for Israel's development as an appropriate people to pursue his agenda of redemption. The law God gave Israel and his handling of Israel over the centuries was to pursue this purpose.

A part of God's activity in this pursuit included capital punishment where he deems it needful. We say that human life is sacred. By that we mean that life is to be protected because all life comes from God and our lives belong to him. We are not to take human life. Human life is only God's to take. Here in the these laws, God delegates to appropriate human authorities he has established to take human life as he prescribes it.

There are many today with good intention who oppose capital punishment. Whether they deem it unjust or unfair, whether they feel capital punishment is not ours to exercise because we might make a mistake or for whatever reason, I would point them back to the Scriptures.

Many, myself included, feel the law God gave Israel has application for all human authority. We are told that all governing authority has been established by God (yes, including your favorites to hate on), Romans 13:1. The laws God gave Israel lay a firm foundation for systems of justice in all nations. Obviously some of the laws pertained only to Israel in her role as God's chosen people for rolling out his agenda of redemption, but much of the law God gave Israel provides a blueprint for the rest of our nations.

When it comes to capital punishment, it is God who determines what is right, just and fair. Not us sinful human beings.

Here is a fascinating passage on God's reasoning in mandating capital punishment for murder, a seeming paradox: "And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here:  http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/