One Year Bible Reading Plan January 12, 2018

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Even though I’m a few days late, I want to take the time to respond to our readings and some of the comments of the group. Based on our readings in the past week and the comments made by group members I want to add my two cents worth.

First, let me encourage you not to get discouraged if you are having trouble keeping up with the reading. Establishing any new habit is difficult. It will take time for you to find a new rhythm of life that includes daily reading of Scripture. Remember why you wanted to start this reading plan. You wanted to know more about the Bible, about your God, but most of all, you probably wanted to grow in your faith. Stick with it. I promise you that if you read the Bible daily and seek to learn from it, and seek God through it, God will honor your “stick-to-it-iveness” and reveal Himself to you.

Second, there is a great deal of ethical diversity in the Bible. Several people were troubled by the fact that Lot’s daughters were not immediately punished by God for their incest with their father. Given God’s wrath toward Sodom and Gomorrah, in part because of sexual sins, you might have expected that God would be equally wrathful toward these two young women. After all they were probably just continuing to live by the same moral standards they saw among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. I get it. Immediate justice would be very satisfying in this case. In response, let me offer three observations.

First, take note of Genesis 19:37-38. Lot’s oldest daughter was the progenitor of the Moabites and his youngest daughter the Ammonites. What do we know about these two groups of people? Look at Deuteronomy 23:3, “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the LORD.” The reason for their exclusion in this instance is that they were not supportive of the Israelites leaving Egypt. If you read about the history of the Moabites and Ammonites, they were considered enemies of God with whom Israelites were not to associate. In short, they were excluded from God’s Covenant. One has to wonder how Lot’s family line would have faired had these two young women made a different choice and trusted God for children.

Second, we have to be very careful about demanding swift justice when others do wrong, or when we perceive others to have done wrong. Clearly, Lot’s daughters were wrong. They sinned (even though God had not given His Law, yet). If we are quick to pass judgment for their sin, or someone else’s sin, how might God treat us? A couple of verses from Matthew 7 come into play here, “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and aby your standard of measure, it will be measured to you (v. 2).” And, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets (v. 12).” We have to remember that our understanding is limited, but God’s is unlimited. We have to remember that God knows that beginning, middle, and end of time. We are limited by our time perspective. We have to remember that God's justice is not our justice. While some parts of the Bible are difficult to understand, if we trust that we serve a good God, then we can trust that His action is what is best.

Third, as we read the Scriptures, we must keep in mind one very important principle of interpretation: Jesus is the final authority. Five times in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said…but I say to you…” Jesus is reinterpreting and clarifying God’s intention in the Law. He is claiming moral and ethical authority above that of the Law and the prophets. Jesus authority is not limited to those passages of from Matthew 5, but all of Jesus words are the final authority. Does this mean that other passages of Scripture are any less inspired? No! Does it mean that they aren’t important? No! It means that Jesus, as God’s clearest revelation of Himself, has the final say. So, when we read passages from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and we have concerns about who God is or what God intends for us as His followers, or for the world, we need to look to Jesus as revealed in the New Testament, to clarify any ambiguity.

God bless you as you continue on your reading journey through the Bible in 2018.

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