365 Reflections

Impartial Judges, Respected Priests and Humble Kings were to be the marks of the governing bodies of ancient Israel. When we read Deuteronomy 16-17 today, we have come to expect that God's standards are such. But we must put ourselves in the position of Israel. They were saved from a nation who worshipped their king (Pharaoh) and lived luxuriously off the backs of Israeli slave labor. They saw the priest fawn over Pharaoh and do his bidding, they were familiar with judges who had one rule for Egyptians and one for Israel. They also would have been familiar with the nations in Canaan who most likely lived similarly in such matters pertaining to their governance. What we find in Deuteronomy 16-17 is nothing less than the most unexpected code of conduct for an ancient people concerning their national policies. Today we herald these values as essential to a thriving country. They come from the Nation God founded and freed. First, Israel was to have impartial judges. Deuteronomy 16...

Exodus tells us of the unstoppable and unimaginable growth of the nation of Israel in Egypt in the first chapter alone. This 400 year period turns a band of 70 into 600,000 men over 20 and much more in total. The estimates could be a nation of over 2 million including the other members of Israel's society. They are growing fast enough to alarm Pharaoh and move him to drastic measures to impede this phenomenon. Exodus 1:9–10 (ESV)  And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Pharaoh tries three things to impede the growth of the nation of God: 1. Make them slaves with bitter forced labor. This makes them grow even faster. Exodus 1:12 (ESV)   But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in...

The more you read about the kingdom as Jesus describes it, the more you realize, you may have had it wrong. The kingdom of God is not "in your face." The kingdom of God does not "kick but." The kingdom of God does not "shove it's way into your reality." Here's how Jesus describes the kingdom of God: Mark 4:26–29 (ESV) And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  A man scatters seed and it grows without human agency.  It doesn't burst forth ferociously, it sprouts.  It doesn't overwhelm society, it grows.  And we don't truly know how it happens!  It's mysterious.  The earth is involved, the process is slow and gradual and most of it is UNSEEN. Unseen. This is the nature of God's movement.  Someth...