Deuteronomy - Listen

It's been a few days since I've been here to my "Day by Day" blog... I guess I got a little bogged down in Numbers.... but now we have broken free into Deuteronomy! One of my favorite books of the Bible. Maybe it's because it's primarily one long sermon by Moses. He's got a real good gift for rhetoric.

The Jews name their books differently than we do. They usually name the book after the first significant word in the book. So Deuteronomy is simply called, "The Words" since the first sentence is, "These are the words that Moses spoke..." It's an appropriate title. And it reminds us that our attitude toward this book should be the same as that of the Israelites - listening. It's so hard to listen because of the daily distractions around us. Deuteronomy urges us again and again, however, to set aside the distractions and turn to God alone.

Meanwhile, I will try to set aside enough distracts to be a bit more daily with this blog. Have fun reading and listening!

Leviticus - thoughts

I thought I'd offer my thoughts on what it's been like reading the Bible on my Kindle so far. For those of you who don't know, a Kindle is one of those new electronic book readers. It's about the size of a small book, but it can hold the content of about 500 books. Right now, 66 of them are from the Bible. As I expected, the Kindle is very easy to use for going straight through a text, but is more cumbersome than a paper book at flipping back and forth between pages. Therefore, when I'm in a discussion and we're going all over the place, the Kindle is nearly impossible to use. However, it's been great as I do my initial reading. At first, I really had a hard time, but then I settled in to the discipline of going straight through the text without a lot of doubling back. This is a new way of reading the Bible for me. I'm more used to dodging in and out, back and forth through scripture. Now, I am spending much more time going through it as it is set forth for us. All in all - not a bad thing to do!

I've finally gotten to the end of Leviticus and heading into Numbers. I'm anxious to leave all the confusing rules behind and get back to more of a story format. But as I do, I realize that these rules form the backdrop for so much of the story that follows. Isn't that the truth of life - much of what we struggle with comes in the context of our worldview - the "right" and "wrongness" of what we experience. Guilt, joy, fulfillment and sadness all center on the way that we perceive the expectations upon us. If anything, Leviticus helps us understand some of those expectations.

Leviticus - Different

I'm still slogging through Leviticus. It's probably one of the most difficult books to get through trying to deal with some awful strange stuff - how to properly dissect a bird? Where to toss the blood? It seems, though, that a lot of Leviticus is concerned with God's people being distinctively different from everyone else around. The words "Holy" and "special" are used a lot. It might be useful to think about how it is that we are different. Do we really stand out as God's people? As the song goes, do people really know us by our love? Maybe we blend in a bit too well with the world around us. Should I let my beard grow long?

Leviticus - Dangerous God

Leviticus leaves little doubt that God is dangerous. The construction of the tabernacle seems designed to keep people from accidentally stepping into the toxic holy of holies where one glimpse of God's presence might obliterate you. The elaborate costume of the priests seems more like a hazmat suit designed to protect the wearer from being destroyed by God. Maybe we need to pay more attention to this idea that God is not like Caspar the friendly ghost. God loves us and cares for us but does not exist to serve our every whim and need. God is unpredictable and dangerous. Getting close to God is not necessarily good for your health. Maybe we all need some kind of protective gear in church.

Leviticus - Lists Update

Here's how I'm doing on the lists I'm keeping: So far, I've counted 12 scripture passages that talk about God's breath/wind/spirit (all the same word in Hebrew) but in Leviticus, just about everything is "pleasing to God's nostrils." The phrase "Here I am" - 7 times. God's covenant with Israel is repeated 15 times. The "Fear of the Lord" - 4 times. Sabbath related laws - 5 places so far. God is "Gracious merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love" - only once so far...but I know this one is going to pop up again and again. Laws that are difficult to understand - too many to count.

Exodus - Tabernacle

I always wondered why the Bible went off on a long excursion about how to build the tabernacle while God was meeting with Moses on the top of Mount Sinai. Then it occurred to me that maybe the purpose of the tabernacle was to build sort of portable Mount Sinai - a place where God and the people could meet no matter where they were. The word "tabernacle" itself means "abode" or "tent". It's the word used in the first chapter of the gospel of John to describe God's dwelling with us in the person of Jesus "...and the Word became flesh and "tented" among us...". All throughout this section of Exodus the text keeps returning to the topic of God's dwelling with us - meeting with us - abiding with us. This section really isn't about constructing a portable building as it is about paying attention to how we relate to God. ... imagine that...a portable mountain!?!?...