For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Ex. 21
A male slave served for six years and then went free. A female, however, “is not to go free as the male slaves do.” Despite how that sounds, I think the female may have actually had the better deal. If you look at it, God protected the women with this rule. It seems to me that when a man bought another man’s daughter, she was really more a wife than a slave, either for the man himself or for his son. As such, he made a commitment to care for her. If he failed in this commitment, then he lost all rights to her. Thus, God made sure that a woman, who had little control of her position in life, was cared for.
Luke 24
The men on the road to Emmaus grieved due to failed expectations. Their stated hope was that Jesus would be the one who redeemed Israel. Their hopes went down with His crucifixion. Or so they thought. In reality, they had simply set their expectations way too low. Jesus did fulfill their hopes, but He did it in a way that far exceeded anything they had their sights on. Thus, they missed the miracle that stood right in front of them.
I think we still have a tendency to limit God with our expectations. Then we complain when He doesn’t comply with our puny plans. When things don’t go as we hoped or we think our prayers went unanswered, perhaps we need to consider another possibility. Perhaps God didn’t miss the mark, as we thought; perhaps we were just looking at the wrong mark. Maybe, instead of giving us the small thing we thought we wanted, God gave us the big thing we really needed. So let’s not be discouraged. Instead, let’s look up and ask God to open our eyes so we don’t miss the miracle.
Job 39
If we spent a lifetime studying just one aspect of creation, just one creature, we wouldn’t know and understand all there is to know and understand about it. God, however, is intimately acquainted with ALL creation because He designed and created it all. And His creation is not all the same. He gave each creature its own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses, according to the vastness of His creativity. It’s mind blowing. If it makes us feel small before God, it should.