Daily Reading Passages
Click below for access to the passages. Biblegateway.com is an excellent site with many versions of the Bible. The link below opens in NIV. Youversion.com is a new site that allows you to annotate your own Bible, make notes, and comments once you create an account. That link opens in the TNIV version. Other versions are available at both sites.
Coaching Comments
Today's Old Testament reading, Numbers 14:1 - 15:16, is a critical moment in the story of Israel. In yesterday's reading the spies returned from the promised land, and all but two of them said it was too dangerous for the people to move forward. Word of this got around the camp and the people became afraid. They panicked, forgetting everything God had done. The attitude turned so quickly, that the people organized to rebel, wanting to stone Moses and Aaron to death, pick a new leader and return to Egypt. Only the appearance of God's presence at the tabernacle stopped this from happening. The people had rebelled against God's plan for them. They begged to go back to Egypt, they said it would be better to die in the desert, than to move forward trusting God's promise. So God decided to give them exactly that. God speaks out their future: For 40 years they will wander the desert as shepherds, until every last adult over the age of 20 dies, except Joshua and Caleb. Only then will He lead them into the promised land. This terrible delay is the consequence of their sin, their rebellion, and their unwillingness to move forward trusting God.
What a warning against standing still when God is asking you to move forward! Father, give me courage to obey You, so that I can move forward in faith, and not get stalled out in Your plans for me.
When Moses told the people what God had said, they were immediately sad and sorry. They promised to make it right, they promised to obey, and they decided to move forward toward the promised land anyway. But God was not with them and they were beaten by the people who lived there. If they had moved forward the day before with God's blessing they would have been victorious, but now a day later, it was too late, and their wandering in the desert had begun.
The New Testament reading for today, Mark 14:53-72, continued into the night of Jesus' arrest.
The soldiers took Him to the Sanhedrin, the high ruling council of the Jews, with authority in both civil and religious matters. Peter alone followed. The leaders could not get any charges to stand against Jesus, because Jewish law required that two independent witnesses verify any accusations, and they could not get two different people to agree. Finally the High priest asked directly if Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus affirmed that He was, and the council immediately found Him guilty of blasphemy, a capital offense.
While this was happening Peter was spotted in the courtyard and approached. In his fear he denied knowing Jesus three times. When the morning rooster crowed, it reminded Peter of Jesus' words. He broke down and wept.
Today's Psalms reading is Psalms 53:1-6, the 53rd Psalm. It presents a commentary on those who don't believe in God and as a result live for their own aggrandizement. They take advantage of others. The Psalm ends with a cry out to God, asking for deliverance from this kind of people.
Proverbs 11:4, the Proverbs reading says one simple and powerful thing. On the day of God's judgment no amount of wealth will be worth anything. The only thing that counts in that moment is righteousness. The Old Testament understanding of this would be that it is my own righteousness before God that delivers me from death. But following Jesus, we know that it is the righteousness of God that delivers us from death, through the gift of grace made possible in Jesus, and accessible to us through faith.
2007 Cohort Comments
Comments (6)
Rich Rawlins said
at 5:42 am on Mar 10, 2009
There are many more questions I have about the OT passage today, but not enough time to comment on all of them. The thing that sticks out the most to me again is the contrast between God in the OT and God in the NT. In the NT it's stated somewhere that God completely forgives sin, as far as the east is from the west, and does not even remember it anymore. Maybe that is because of Christs sacrifice? In the OT, God sort of forgives, in that Moses is able to talk him out of killing everyone on the spot, however, he still condemns them to death in the desert for complaining about things, that in all honesty, I can see anyone complaining about. I must say that it bothers me to even bring some of this stuff up as after reading all this I wonder if God will punish me either in this life or the next for questioning everything so much. I also hope I'm not irritating everyone for constantly questioning so much of this stuff.
...rich
Jim Huddart said
at 10:39 pm on Mar 10, 2009
It is hard to reconcile and understand the seeming difference between OT and NT God. On the other hand, the grace God has provided all of us repeat offenders through Jesus Christ is even harder to reconcile and understand. Thank You Lord for that kind of love!
Marc Schelske said
at 9:32 am on Mar 11, 2009
Hey Rich - one thing I can tell you unequivocally. God is not afraid of your questions. Ask what you want, and seek His truth. Give the Holy Spirit permission to guide your heart and mind, and then keep studying scripture. God is big and more than capable of leading you. In fact, it is one of Jesus' promises in John 15. The Holy Spirit is available to lead you into "all truth." So, don't fear.
Now, one more comment on the disparity between the OT and the NT. I think part of the struggle that we have is that we relate to the individuals that we see in the stories, and when God exercises judgement in ways we feel are unfair or perhaps excessive, we feel for those individuals. After all - they might be us! But I think one of the keys to understanding the ancient OT lies here. Our Individualistic world view is an alien interpretation to the text. It is a modern view, backed by the theological development of the NT that we - as individuals - are God's children.
Marc Schelske said
at 9:32 am on Mar 11, 2009
(continued...) In the ancient OT, it's more like Israel was God's child. All of Israel was one corporate personality that God related to, and the OT is the story of God raising His child Israel, and helping Israel grow up to the point where Jesus could come and God's plan of salvation could be opened up to the whole world. This idea of corporate personality is completely weird and unfair to us, but it was pretty common to most all ancient cultures. For example, in feudal Japan, when you did something dishonorable, the problem was not the dishonor you brought on yourself; it was the dishonor you brought on your family. In the story of Ai and Aachan, for example - all of Aachan's family gets punished for something that only Aachan did. Not justice by our standards, but in the ancient semitic culture, they were all the same family, and they shared the same destiny. By the way, this idea of corporate personality lies at the root of Paul's explanation of the the impact of sin and the power of the cross. We all died "in Adam," because of Adam's sin. Essentially, we are all a part of Adam as his children, and we all share his destiny. But then because of the cross, we are all now "in Christ," which means that we share in his destiny.
Jacqui Wheelhouse said
at 9:41 am on Mar 11, 2009
When I was younger I really didn't like Peter much. Everything he did seemed to be done out of pride and arrogance and I thought, "who is this guy and why did he get so many breaks?" Today, he is probably one of the people I identify the most with in the bible. Funny how that works. Kind of like what you said Marc. We feel for those people because we somehow relate to them or see ourselves in them. Peter had so much confidence in his love for Jesus and when pressure and accusation met him on the road, he crumbled. I know it wasn't his heart to deny Jesus, it was his fear. I bet it was terrifying to walk through crowds in the midst of this uproar around who Jesus was. Claiming to be the Son of God is a pretty big thing and the people were in a stir. Like on a witch hunt. My heart grieves for the pain Peter must have felt to deny his best friend, not once but three times. Ouch. I've been there. I have tooted my religious horn and then felt the fear of man and cowered.
Wish I could say I don't relate, but Peter is such a great example of our human frailty. I wonder what Jesus' heart felt in the moments that His words came true. Did his heart feel heavy for Peter? I can only imagine that it did. He knew humanity was a pile of broken vessels and not understanding the bigger picture. And we still are.
Jesus, help me in my unbelief. I need your power and strength in my life to see the goodness in all the brokenness of this life on earth.
Nate Burton said
at 1:41 pm on Mar 12, 2009
Really good stuff, thanks for sharing your perspectives, Marc & Jacqui, that helped me too!
You don't have permission to comment on this page.