One Year Bible, February 4

EXODUS 19:16-21:21
God gave us the 10 commandments because He loves us and these will protect us and separate us from everybody else. They were given 50 days after their salvation, and so they represent the "setting apart" of sanctification. In the New Testament, Pentecost is its equivalent. Each commandment is for cleansing us from a mixture of world and spirit.

(1) "You shall have no other gods before Me." Cleansing from putting anything ahead of God as being your "treasure", because it will have the effect of drawing you away from God. (2) "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of ....." Idolatry is any kind of man-centered ideas, opinions, actions, beliefs, systems, anything at all that does not have the ability to satisfy us. (3) "You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord Your God." This is not only to cleanse us of profanity, but also doing deeds of unrighteousness "in the Name of Jesus". (4) "Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy." This is a warning and a cleansing from secularism. The Sabbath Day is a sign (a non-violent protest, if you will) that we are not like everybody else. (5) "Honor your father and your mother...." This commandment is against disrespect. Even if our parents are wrong or evil, the Bible still assigns them the respect due to the office. As we discover later in chapter 21, the penalty is death. The main function of parents is to teach us "the fear of God". (6) "You shall not murder." Notice it did not say "you shall not KILL." Not only is this an injunction against murder, but as Jesus noted, against murderous thoughts. This is because God holds Life as something precious. (7) "You shall not commit adultery." This is a most heinous sin because it affects the SPIRIT of a man. Once you join yourself with someone else, you become one spirit, as well as one flesh with that person. (8) "You shall not steal." This is talking about theft of anything from another person, whether material or otherwise. Do not defraud anyone, but "owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8) (9) "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Don't lie about anyone. (10) "You shall not covet..." Colossians 3:5 says, "Mortify (put to death) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" This is because covetousness is the desire for gain INSTEAD OF desiring God. He wants us to be satisfied with Himself.

Altars (I AM an altar) must be made of piled-up dirt or uncut stones. Cutting the stones to fit with a hammer "pollutes them". This refers to any efforts to change, other than by God. They were not to climb to the top of the altar on a ladder or stairs because they didn't wear underwear, and would be exposed! Efforts to climb up to God OUR way, only exposes our shame. 

RESPONSE:   Ex 33:11 says that "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." I want to be God's friend. I think the qualifier was unquestioned obedience and faith. It would have taken courage to walk INTO the black darkness, thunder, lightening, shaking atmosphere at the top of the mountain. Everyone else backed away in fear. Hebrews 10:38-39 says there are only two choices: draw near or draw back in fear. You have done a lot to bring us close. You freed us for Yourself. Your love is overwhelming and I am just "knocked out" when I think about it. 

MATTHEW 23:13-39
Eight times, Jesus says, "Woe to you". This is a real threat, because the people He is addressing were about to be destroyed. Why? The reasons are listed here: (V.13) They barred others' entrance to the Kingdom of God because they are false leaders. They are imposters and they prevented others from entering because they stood between them and the door. (V.14) They took advantage of the vulnerable and covered it up by being "religious" ("in the Name of Jesus", of course). (V.15) They actively pursued new converts, but didn't disciple them. So, the new "converts" now have the WORST of both worlds - twice the sons of hell. (V.16) They have made a mockery of oath-taking and Truth in general. Any REAL oath is to God, Who alone is the purveyor of Truth. (V.23) They scrupulously perform small matters, but totally neglect the practice of real godliness. They strain out the small stuff, and don't avoid things like hypocrisy, deceit, and oppression. (V.25) Hypocrites! They look good on the inside, but actually supported themselves with greed and extortion (pressuring people for offerings) instead of doing honest work. (V.27) They looked good to outsiders, but were actually corrupt and unclean on the inside, like an unwashed coffee cup. (V.29) They were no better than their wicked ancestors. In fact, they were about to finish what their fathers had started in killing their prophets. Their actions betrayed what was in their hearts. They will NOT escape hell fire. Specifically THIS GENERATION would endure unrivaled judgment.

RESPONSE:   Nothing about our old lives belongs to the new life in Christ. What we do now should be a reflection of Jesus living in us. We are His image-bearers. We don't have to pretend any more. Instead, we stay connected to our Life-source, Jesus. The old dies off as we neglect it.  

PSALM 28:1-9
If God doesn't answer our prayers, we are no better off than anyone else. But, praise God, He is my ground of confidence. "My heart leaps for joy." 

PROVERBS 7:1-5
Sexual perversion and sexual sin is unclean , and it binds us one-flesh, one-spirit with undesirable things and people. Wisdom and understanding in life are so important that we need to keep it constantly with us, as the very dearest of friends. Never forget wisdom!

RESPONSE:   When we just barge ahead with our mouths and our actions, not consulting "wisdom and understanding", we are being self-destructive, much like poking ourselves in the eye with a stick. "Praise be to the Lord, for He has heard my cry for mercy" because I get myself into some bad fixes. He sees right into the two-faced people who smile at me while biting me (that's what flattery really is). I know I can trust Him.