For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Gen. 23
There is a lot of strange formality in this chapter. I suppose this was just the way such transactions were handled back in the day, but I wonder why all the formality is recorded with such detail here. Couldn’t it have just said that Abraham transacted a deal to purchase a field and cave from Ephron? With all the things in the Bible that I wish included more detail, when I see some seemingly insignificant thing detailed like this it makes me think there must be a reason for it. Sadly, the reason is lost on me. Perhaps if I understood the customs being detailed in this story, I would see something more in it.
For now, though, they only thing I really know from this story is something I have mentioned before. The first piece of property that Abraham owned in the land of Canaan he purchased himself, and he purchased it for death, not for life. To me this demonstrates that any righteousness we ‘purchase’ through the law is likewise not for life. If there is something else to see in this detailed account, God has not yet revealed it to me.
Matt. 22
When one of the Pharisees, a legal expert, asked Jesus about the law, Jesus finally gave a straight answer. But then He shot back with His own question about the Scriptures of which these people considered themselves experts. He asked, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” (Matt. 22:42a). They answered this easy question with confidence. But then Jesus countered with, “If David then calls Him ‘Lord’, how is He his son?” (Matt. 22:45). With one simple Old Testament passage, Jesus let those so-called experts know that they didn’t know scripture at all because they didn’t know Him.
Neh. 12
Twice Nehemiah mentions a group of priests whose job it was to lead the people in songs of thanksgiving to God. My first thought was what an uplifting job that would be. My second thought was what a difficult job that would be when life got heavy. It is hard to express genuine joy and thanksgiving when your heart just isn’t feeling it. But that may be part of why God prescribed this job to some of His priests in the first place. This life is HARD and we need to constantly remember who God is and what He has done for us to get through it. What better way to do that than through thanksgiving and praise? And somehow doing those things through song has a way of amplifying their power.
As followers of Christ, we are all God’s priests. Thus, while we may not all have musical talent or a gift for exhortation, I think we all have a certain responsibility to lead others toward thanksgiving and praise. We should exude God’s genuine joy, regardless of our circumstances or how we ‘feel’. It’s not an easy thing, especially when life gets heavy. But honestly – what an uplifting job to have!