Week 16: No Fibbing Mephibosheth

Way back when, my church put on a little Christmas musical called, "No Fibbing Mephibosheth". The premise is that even Mephibosheth, a physically-disabled boy could and would be accepted into the presence of Jesus on the night of his birth and for the rest of his life. When we put this on, I was seriously disappointed because I had to be a shepherd - a boy - I digress, but as I ran across the name, in 2 Samuel 4:4, the main song came flooding back:

"No fibbing Mephibosheth, you are invited to Bethlehem. Don't worry you've passed the test, just by being His child. So bring all the blind, the lame, they're all precious in Jesus name..."

Now why do I remember all this - no clue. It probably has to do with the months of practice that went into this particular Sunday School Christmas pageant! (I wish I was kidding about the months part.) So what does this particular memory have to do with this week's reading about David running from Saul, and eventually becoming king? Not sure, but it is part of the story that makes that Christmas song so true. David willingness and desire to follow God, lead to the greatest gift of all for us. We see repeated the opportunities (1 Samuel 24: 1-22; 1 Samuel 26: 1-25) that David has to take Saul, but he refuses to kill God's anointed - even if that man is trying to kill him!

David shows his reliance on the Lord in his comment to Saul after he admitted to taking his spear instead of his life, "Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all of my troubles." (1 Samuel 26:24).  He is not looking for Saul's favor or acceptance, David is putting his trust in God to guide him out of this trouble with Saul. What faith David shows as he faces his persecutor.

On of my favorite verses from the week (other than the Mephibosheth one...) is Psalm 56:4:

"I praise God for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?"

I think that I'm going to pray this verse this week, so that I may remember to put my trust in God and His promises and strength, and because I have a big presentation on Thursday. With my trust in God for the bigger picture of my life, why should I be afraid of such a little thing, right?

Week 15: Goliath vs. David vs. Saul

The Israelites complained and got their king. God had anointed Saul as the king of the Israelites; however, Saul did not follow God and God rejected him. Then God had instructions for Samuel to anoint another, who would be called "a man after God's own heart". David was anointed to be king after Saul's reign.

Probably one of the most well-known Bible stories is David versus Goliath (I probably have a Sunday School song about it in my head some where! ha.). David takes down the Philistine giant with one stone from his sling. A great verse from this story is "And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear." 1 Samuel 17: 47. David yells this to Goliath right before his demise, which I think foreshadows God eventual gift of is His Son who rescued us all without sword and spear.

Shortly after David saves Israel by defeating the Philistines, Saul decides to kill David (I know for sure there is not a Sunday School song from my childhood about this story...). David escapes the hands of one larger than life enemy to be delivered into the hands of another. Throughout all of the trials of running from Saul, David praises and calls out to God through various Psalms (including 57, 142, 52, 54). He keeps his focus on the one who can deliver him from all of his trials.

One of my favorite verses is when David is anointed:

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16: 7 (emphasis mine)

I always think of this verse when I'm feeling bad about how I perceive people to be treating (or maybe not) treating me, or when I need a self-esteem boost :)

Struggling

It has been absolutely forever since my last post it seems.  I finally decided that I'd better just start typing, and eventually I'll be caught up with Kristi :)  Some of the things that stood out to me while reading the exodus of the Israelites were as follows:

~God had to give Moses the Ten Commandments two times because the first set was smashed to pieces in anger.

~The manna from heaven is flaky and fine, life frost covered trees in the winter.  It is said to be white in Exodus 16:31 but pale yellow in color in Numbers 11:7, looks like coriander seeds, and tastes like honey wafers.  Can you imagine going out and collecting jars of this every morning? Aaron placed 2 quarts of manna in the Ark of the Covenant so that future generations could see it as a testament to what God provided for his people.

~God also provided quail in the evening for the people according to Exodus 16: 8 and 11.  Here I am confused though. In reading these passages, I assumed that God provided quail every evening just like the manna was provided every morning.  However, in Numbers 11, the Israelites start complaining that they want meat, and God gets so angry he says he'll give them so much meat they will vomit because they'll be so sick of it.  Turns out, not only did he provide a ton of quail, the complainers were struck with a terrible plague and died.  Because of this account in Numbers, I assume that the quail were not an every evening type of provision. 

~If the people were going to build an alter to God with stone, they must all be natural stones.  If the stones were shaped they became unfit for holy use.


~God loves beauty and intricacy, just in case you hadn't picked up on that from observing nature :)  His instructions regarding the tabernacle and priestly garments were incredibly detailed and specific.  Every instruction spoke of beauty.  Blue, scarlet, and gold thread; gold, silver, and brass metals; precious stones-a different and specific one to represent each tribe of Israelites (by the way, the priestly garments matched the tabernacle), acacia wood and almond blossoms.  An interesting thing about almond blossoms:  God had them crafted on various things throughout the tabernacle...the lamp stand with it's arms comes to mind immediately.  Almond blossoms look similar to cherry blossoms and symbolize hope.  Now, I don't know who decided this or how long ago it was decided, but it's pretty amazing to me.  Think about it...God filled his tabernacle with a symbol of hope.  That hope was later fulfilled in Jesus.

~Aaron had to wear a medallion of pure gold engraved like a seal with "HOLY TO THE LORD" on the front of his turban.  This allowed him to take on the Israelites guilt when they consecrated their sacred offerings and then God accepted the people. 

~Moses had quite the work out routine climbing up mount Sinai to talk with God.  In Exodus 19:20-25, God called Moses up the mountain only to tell him to go back down and get Aaron up there too.  I'm thinking my first thought would have been, "Couldn't you have told me that before I got all the way up here?!"

~What is the point of all the yeastless bread?

~Lev. 25:18 says that if the people want to live securely in the land they need to follow God's decrees and obey his regulations.  In 25:23 it states that the land must never be sold on a permanent basis because it belongs to the Lord, and the Israelites are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for him.

~So many things make me think about what is going on in Israel today.  The old testament is filled with so many things the people are supposed to do generation after generation, and I wonder how much of it is being followed today.

~Of course, the other thing that stood out to me was how incredibly stubborn and silly the Israelites were.  For instance, God tells them to collect manna in the morning but not save any for the next day.  What happens, some people save it for the next day, and it is really not good anymore.  That took one day for the people to disobey.  The only day you are to save it over night is the night before the Sabbath so that no work is done in order to honor the Sabbath.  God specifically states there will be no manna on the morning of the Sabbath so the people were to gather twice their need the day before.  Then some knuckleheads still go out on the Sabbath searching for manna wondering where it is! I know this is true in all of our lives.  God tells us not to do something but we go do whatever it is anyway.  But the Israelites had so many signs and wonders!!! All the plagues they witnessed in Egypt; the parting of the red sea, the manna, the quail; Moses' face shining so brilliantly he had to cover it; they had an every day, every minute reminder with the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night, and the list goes on.  They even saw God and ate a covenant meal in his presence for crying out loud!!! (Exodus 24: 10-11) How could you keep complaining and doubting?  Then again, I'm sure God is wondering the same thing about me.

This is going to have to do for now so I'll leave you with one of my favorites...Numbers 6:24-26

~May the Lord bless you and protect you.  May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.~

Week 14: No King?

Wow, I've had a couple of great weekends full of energizing, fun times with friends. I'm so thankful that God knows just when to place those special people in our lives!

It was an interesting week of reading, which included the story of Naomi and Ruth (Ruth1:6-4:22). A powerful story about two women who are a part of the lineage of Jesus. But earlier in the week we were still in Judges, and I found it interesting that there were several times it was called out that Israel had no king (Judges 18:1, Judges 19:1, Judges 20:25). Those happened to be the three verses I had underlined as standing out to me this week.

Judges 20:25 says "In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." Now I know that this is referring to an actual king, but I wonder how it might tie to the coming King of Kings? Maybe it doesn't, but it was interesting to me to have a similar phrase repeated. Any ideas?

Week 13: The Battle Continues

One of the verses I underlined this week was Joshua 21:44-45;

"And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true."

Wow, those are some powerful words - and "everything he had spoken came true." God fulfilled all of his promises to the Israelites, and continued to fulfill his promises to his people since then. He has never let us down. We might imagine that because we are not getting what we want God is failing us in some way, but it really the opposite. It's amazing how so much of our being is about trust and developing relationships to have that net of trust and faith for when there is nothing else to hold on to. I think that this goes for both our relationship with God and with other people. Trust is not easy, but if it was it wouldn't have the life-changing powers it does.

I have a slight fear of dependency. I guess I don't want to seem weak, or maybe it's because I'm super stubborn and need to figure out things on my own, but I have been learning of late just how important it is to trust and have faith when all I want are to figure out the answers on my own. The story of Gideon reflects some of this attitude (Judges 6-8).

As in all the stories in the cycle of the Judges, the people misbehaved, were punished, called out to God, repented, were saved, and after a time misbehaved again kicking off the cycle once more. Gideon was called by God while Israel was under Midianite control. Gideon had some trust issues, he asks for not only one sign, but two that God will be with him and save the Israelites from the Midianites (Judges 6:1-40). God stretches Gideon's faith by having him whittle down his army of 32,000 men to just 300. These 300 men followed God's plans and succeeded in defeating the Midianties (Judges 7:1-25). What a victory because Gideon decided to trust in God's plan. 

I pray this week that we may have the faith to fully trust in God's plans for our lives.