In Our Image and Likeness to Rule and Subdue – God was Kind – On his behalf to make atonement for him – The Lord Commanded, 603,550+ men – The Lord Our God
I started a new sequence of daily reading, so these are not quite as random as before. For a while I will be reading the first chapter of each book in the Bible as my daily devotional. Just an idea I had and decided to follow.
I read Ruth today. As something totally separate, yesterday I read a book called Judith that is included in lists of books that could have been in the Bible. The Old Testament is basically the Jewish Bible, and Judith did not make it in the Jewish Bible, so it is not in the nominal “Christian” Bible either. I have no idea if Judith is historically accurate (and I do not really care), but especially after reading Ruth this morning, I know in my heart that God did not breath the Word (His Son) into the author of Judith simply because the Holy Spirit within me was not stirred by reading it. It sounds kooky maybe, but I read the Word of God to learn more of Jesus and how to make Him part of my living, and Judith did not do it.
When I read Genesis 1, the part that stuck out to me was that God made us “In Our Image and Likeness, to Rule and Subdue.” We are not animals without reason. We are to take charge and work the resources that God gave us. All this furor about climate change comes about from the actions of the ignorant or uncaring or powerless. As a Boy Scout, I was taught that we have a duty to God and to Country and to everyone around us to care for the earth. Last night, I had a discussion about methane leaks during hydrocarbon operations. If it is too expensive to clean it up, then we should not be using hydrocarbons. Pass a law and make it happen. A law does not have to have 2400 pages to do something right. Our government is not a well-functioning machine. Therefore, why do we let it set the conditions in law and then do no better?
In Exodus 1, I keyed in on the phrase “God was Kind”. It is a simple phrase with words that most any age child can repeat, but the meaning behind them is mighty powerful. At a recent Bible study we spoke about the fallacy of perfection (not in those big words of course). The idea was that if the Jews could be perfect, then they could be right with God. People still want to be perfect as Christians in order to be right with God. People are not perfect and the attempt will either end you up in hell or falling short of God’s will for your life. God was kind. He helped others, was nice to others, did little things to make them happy. That is love. We are to love others. When we love God and love others, perfection is not an issue. So just be kind.
In Leviticus 1, I keyed on the phrase “on his behalf to make atonement for him”. This is from the discussion about sacrificing to be right with God. The Bible gave the Jews a set of rules to follow in this regard. They are but symbols of the sacrifice God made of His Son for our sins to make it right between us and Him. I do not have to sacrifice animals to be right with God, but I do have to recognize the need for atonement and the mechanism that God provided me for that.
In Numbers 1, I keyed in on a number (of course) and came up with “The Lord Commanded” 603,550 men and their families. This is a whole lot of people compared to how many left for Egypt in the first place. I am often overwhelmed by just how many people God brought out of Egypt and provided for during 40 years in the desert. Its basically the size of the population of the City of Houston. All wandering in the desert, needing to be fed.
In Deuteronomy 1, I keyed on the phrase “The Lord Our God.” The first five books of the Bible and the main idea is “The Lord Our God”. God made everything, is able to do so, loves us, and wants to have a relationship with us. Christ appears through out these five books, but is only revealed as people are ready to receive the Lord our God.