April 3- What if...

April 3, 2011

Scripture Readings:
Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19; Luke 10:13-37
Psalm 75:1-10; Proverbs 12:12-14

Love God.  Help People.

Deuteronomy 23:1-25:14

Remember when we were in school and the day was particularly boring, but everything got interrupted by a fire drill?  It was particularly good if the weather was pretty.  We would stand out in the sunshine on the playground waiting for the principal to announce that we could all go back to class.  If it was a tornado drill, we knelt down in the hallways with our arms over our heads. Fire drills and tornado drills were designed to tell us how to protect ourselves in the case of an emergency.  What if...

Today, Moses gives a list of "what ifs" to the Israelites.  Many of the ones today are really physical pictures of a spiritual reality.  This should not surprise you if you have been following along this year.  By the way, congratulations on making it to April!! April is the month of tornadoes where I live.  Hope we don't have any!  Keep on reading. You can do this! 

Okay.  Back to regular programming.  You may have noticed that our reading started off with what to do if a man's testicles had been crushed and his penis had been cut off.  Ouch and oh, no! Moses' answer was that he was not to be allowed in the assembly.  When I told my husband about this, he replied, "That's probably okay with him."  LOL.  But, what is the point?  The next few topics deal with who and who cannot be invited into God's holy assembly.  The spiritual picture is that the Kingdom of God in heaven is God's holy assembly.  Only people who have been made whole and perfect through faith in Christ will enter heaven.  This is the physical picture of a spiritual reality. Here are some other rules and their spiritual applications:

• A child born out of wedlock (illegitimate child) and their descendants for ten generations could not enter the assembly.  This is a picture of needing to be born again into God's family in order to enter heaven.  No illegitimate spiritual children will be in the assembly of saints in heaven.
• No Ammonite or Moabite can enter.   This is a picture of no false believer will enter heaven.
• No man or woman was to be a temple prostitute.  This was an admonition against homosexuality and sex outside of marriage.  The picture is that our relationship to God is like a marriage.  Anyone who has worshiped false gods and thus been immoral in their relationship with the true God will not enter the assembly.
• The laws about cleanliness, fairness, and slavery show that those in God's assembly will have their sins washed white as snow by Christ's blood.  They will no longer be slaves to sin.
• Divorce represents being separated from the intimate relationship that God intends to have with those He loves.  Although allowed on earth because of the hardness of our hearts, this is not God's first intent.  The picture of His faithful love for us is broken in a divorce. Please note:  God's grace covers believers who have been the unfortunate victims of divorce.

Although these rules were a picture, the Israelites were to live under these laws.  No law actually hurt an innocent person.  They were designed to protect the community, keep it healthy, and keep it viable so that they could fulfill their mission of bringing the Messiah into the world.

Do you gladly follow godly principles in your life?  Do you realize that your life is a living picture?

Luke 10:13-37

Jesus opens today by warning the cities who are rejecting Him that they will be judged.  Remember how we discussed that cities are held accountable for their beliefs?  Here is another proof of that.  Jesus also tells the disciples that they are very fortunate to be part of seeing the Messiah on earth in the flesh.  He tells them that many ancient prophets and kings longed to see this day.  Jesus is confirming that faith in the coming Messiah gave salvation in the Old Testament, faith in the living Messiah gave salvation to the people of Jesus' day, and faith in the resurrected Messiah is salvation for us today.

Jesus then gives a "what if" story.  This is in response to a question about who is one's neighbor.  The story of the good Samaritan shows that belief in God results in certain behaviors  -What if a stranger needs your help? What if that stranger is from a despised community?  If you love God, you help the person in need. That person is your neighbor. Theme:  Love God. Help People.

Do you try to find people to help?  Do you realize you are honoring God when you help others? This may be as simple as being a faithful parent to your children.

Psalm 75:1-10

This psalm declared that God alone judges the wicked.  How true this is.

Proverbs 12:12-14

This is a comparison of the godly and the wicked.  Their behaviors and attitudes will be very different.  God watches and judges.

What did you see today?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton
© 2011