Deuteronomy 18:1 – 20:20
Notable Verse 18:2 “They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.
The whole tribe of Levi got nothing, at least in the eyes of the people. Nothing physical at any rate. The tribe were to consider God Himself their inheritance. It struck me reading this how much families can feud over who gets what, why an individual got a certain item that another wanted. What would happen if every Christian said to their family “Don’t bother leaving me anything, God is my inheritance, it is enough.” It would be a fantastic witness to the world, but I can’t help fearing the reality of this situation.
Is doing this putting God to the test, something like playing with poisonous snakes? Would God be pleased with this action or would he say “A different time, a different place, a different reason”?
Rabbit Trail Warning: In reading the Bible it seems that the priests always got the short end of the stick. No land, no inheritance, there were more stringent rules on their conduct and actions. It seems that most Christians live that way. 70+ countries have made Christianity illegal, evangelism forbidden. Most of the world lives in a post-Christian, never been Christian or Christians driven out land. We are constantly being asked to trust God as a father who may or may not provide for our needs, at least material ones. If that seems harsh, what can we tell the North Korean Christian living in a concentration camp, a Sudanese believer living in slavery, a starving Christian mother praying for milk for one more day and being denied? I don’t know what to do with this. Christians are constantly being judged to a different standard. Imagine a Christian who has an affair. The world screams “hypocrite” but has no problem with serial monogamy or sleeping around. If they have no problem with it for themselves, why should they be bothered by people who strive for an ideal they can’t meet. If it is a problem, why do they do the activity themselves. What do Christians really inherit of value? Nothing and everything.
Yet, despite my doubts, I would love to tell my family. You don’t need to leave me anything. I have God, what more could I need?
Luke 9:28 – 50
Notable Verse v. 45 “But they did not understand what this meant [Jesus just said he was going to be betrayed]. It was hidden from them, so they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
Here is a very interesting interplay between God and man. God (Jesus reveals truth), yet it was hidden from them (Holy Spirit?) and the Apostles decide not to ask what he means. Who is responsible for their ignorance.?
Beyond the issue of God and/or man, there is the issue of the desire for ignorance itself. How many times have we, have I, asked God to show me something only to be terrified that He actually would. “Show me my sins.” “Show me how I can share the gospel more effectively.” “Teach me to trust and walk in greater obedience.” or the most terrifying prayer for Christians “Lord, teach me patience.”
Why would God hide the whole truth from them? Probably for the same reason God doesn’t show me all of my sin at once. I don’t think I could really handle it. I’d like to think I was brave enough to survive, but I don’t know if I could. The Apostles must have felt the same way. The man they have trusted in, left everything to follow, they had seen many miracles, had put their hopes on just told them He was going to die. I don’t know if I would be ready to learn more or stay in denial and hope that the idea goes away
Psalm 73:1 -28
Notable Verse v.13 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in vain I have washed my hands in innocence.”
I would like to think it is only children who say things like “It’s not fair!!!!” but let’s face it, we all do it. I imagine this comment is especially for true for Christians. We are constantly fighting an uphill stream against a world that at best thinks we are a bit backwards and crazy if not purposefully trying to shut down our voices.
It does seem that purity has little value. Imagine a gathering of co-workers on a Monday morning. One man is sharing in far too much detail about his weekend sexual adventures. Another is talking about a great party where alcohol flowed like water and everyone got wasted. Another is dishing out the new weeks gossip, another on how using “creative accounting” she was able to avoid paying taxes from her income. Finally it is your turn – “um…. Saturday I went to a prayer breakfast and met a friend for lunch… Sunday, I went to church….The pastor said something really interesting.” I can feel the embarrassment and shame leaping off the page.
Luckily there is more to the story. Like the passage from Deuteronomy, God is our inheritance and our portion. We don’t have to compete, we shouldn’t even try. The ungodly, will have their day, either in this world or the world to come. There are quiet benefits in obedience, even if we can’t always see them and when we can’t feel them
Proverbs 12:10
“A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal; but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
I remember when I was a teenager coming to the odd realization, or at least was able to put into words, very few people do evil for the sake of evil. Almost everyone had what seemed to them a perfectly logical reason for doing what they did. I remember being and I guess I still am intrigued by this.
The first idea that popped into my head as I read this passage today was the idea of abortion. Ask someone who supports abortion rights why and you will hear many reasons like being concerned about overpopulation, the rise in poverty, not able to care for a child, the child will have massive birth defects etc… and the list can go on. But in the end, what do you have? A dead baby and a woman dealing with the aftermath of killing her own child.
I would love to keep this verse as an “out there in the world problem” but how often do we do the same thing. How much do we justify our sins, just as evil, on a daily basis.
Even the “best” of things can be done for the wrong intentions and is an act of cruelty. Let’s say I volunteer to do something at church like teach Sunday school. I really don’t care about the people, but I want to move up in the church hierarchy and know this is a good place to start. In the end, the people get a teacher that doesn’t care about them. I see them as something to be stepped over or on to achieve something I believe is for the greater good, me having power.
(btw, this is not the reason I teach Sunday school. 🙂 )
The second thing that hit me in this verse was the saying of Jesus regarding the care of “the least of these” The proof of goodness is not in how we treat our superiors, or our equals. The proof is in how we care for the weakest and frailest among us.
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