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John 10
It does no good to ask a question if you are not willing to accept the answer. The Jews didn’t really want to know if Jesus was the Messiah. They wanted to know if He was what they wanted the Messiah to be. So here we are, back to trying to cram the truth into our desired frame again. Their question, “How long will you keep us in suspense?” was a loaded one. The Jews had not been paying attention. They were not concerned about God’s plan for the redemption of the world. All they wanted was relief from Rome; to be ‘on top’ again. They were anxious to know if Jesus was the one to make that happen. And so, once again, they missed the obvious.
God’s ideas are so much bigger than ours. He wants to give us so much more than we are looking for. But we have to be willing to let go of what we think we want to accept what He gives. What good was freedom from Rome, if they still ended up in eternal separation from God? Likewise, for whatever it is we think we want or need. We need to let go of whatever our desire is and trust that God’s desire for us is worth so much more. Only then will we have ears to hear our Shepherd’s voice.
1 Chron. 22-23
I have a few quick little thoughts from this reading. First, the site where David built an altar to stay the wrath of the LORD ended up being the site for God’s Temple. This site was a threshing floor. I can’t think of a more appropriate place to construct a building to represent God’s presence. It is before God’s presence on that final day when He will thresh all humanity. He will reap His harvest and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Second, it seems that foreigners played a very large role in the construction of God’s temple. That seems very fitting to me. I see it as a foreshadowing of how God’s true Temple – Christ’s body of believers – is made up largely of non-Jewish foreigners.
My final thought came from the job description of the Levites. “They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening” (1 Chron. 23:30). Thanking and praising God multiple times a day is certainly not a typical job description! But what if it was? If we are all to do our work as unto the LORD, then perhaps making thanksgiving and praise part of our work is a very reasonable thing. It may not pay wages now, but I suspect it would pay in many other ways, both now and in the future. The trick, though, as with anything that becomes a “job”, is to not lose the sincerity and passion for the work.
Ps. 76
Having just read about the plague God unleashed on Israel due to David’s census sin, parts of this Psalm take on an interesting meaning. It has to do with that threshing floor turned temple site. It was there that God called up His mercy, sparing the rest of the people. I see the story in this Psalm. “His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion. There He broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.” (Ps. 76:2-3). And later, “Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.” (Ps. 76:10). In turn, all of this, as I noted in the reading from 1 Chronicles, points to Gods final judgment when He will bring mercy and peace to those who praise his name.