READING GUIDE FOR JULY 3, 2024: EXODUS 16, COLOSSIANS 3, PSALM 63 EXODUS 16 It is difficult to know exactly how Israel was feeling, given the extreme heat of the desert and the food insecurity they faced. Still, after having watched God deliver them from Egypt, it is disappointing that their attitude was so negative. They could have prayed for their daily bread without grumbling to Moses about their condition, especially since they originally asked to be liberated from Egypt. Read Paul’s better response: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live inprosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11-13).
Despite their poor attitude, God again responds to their expressed need. He does this with us: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God’s provision was from an unexpected source and required Israel’s obedient collection. It fully responded to Israel’s complaint about lack of meat and bread and never failed them throughout their 40 years of travel: “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you.” (Heb. 13:5).
It is interesting that, before officially giving them the ten commandments, God instituted a forced Sabbath by not providing manna on the seventh day. Another forced Sabbath occurred when God exiled Israel into Babylon: “He took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath until seventy years were complete” (2 Chron. 36: 20-21). God is serious about our obeying Him. We have continually doubted this from Eden to the present day.
God ordered a jar of manna to be preserved for eventual inclusion in the Ark of the Covenant. He clearly viewed his provision of food as a major event upon which Israel should reflect far into the future, just as communion is a vital act of remembrance and praise for us today.
COLOSSIANS 3 This chapter eventually focuses on practical living among family members and work colleagues in the here and now. You may have heard the phrase, “She is so heavenly minded that she is no earthly good.” Paul contends just the opposite. Unless we intentionally set our minds upon heavenly truths, we will be an earthly disaster. Living life as God intended on the earth God created requires constant focus on Jesus, plus a vigilant rejection of the sinful values that currently dominate our world. Oh, and this lifestyle will also fit us well when Christ is fully revealed, and we are revealed with Him in heaven.
READING GUIDE FOR JULY 3, 2024 CONTINUED: COLOSSIANS 3, PSALM 63
Paul starts by listing some sins, mostly of the body, that we should never consider as even a possibility for us anymore: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed. Jesus saved us from all that so we can live a better, happier life—not to mention that this sinful lifestyle rightfully invites God’s wrath. Paul then lists sins that might seem more common but are equally deadly: anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene speech, and dishonesty. Surely, we don’t need these dead weights in our lives anymore. Our new primary identity in life must be Jesus Christ. This far supersedes any other characteristic of our personhood such as race, class, occupation, age, education, political party or nationality. Resist those cultural pressures, even if connected with the church, that separate us as believers based upon those identifiers.
Christianity, unlike some religions, is much more than just avoiding sins. It should be primarily a relationship with a loving God, who empowers us with His Spirit to develop positive, John Wesley would say holy, characteristics, such as compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. These may strike some as a bit weak, but to practice them calls for great internal strength to go against the cultural norm of self-centeredness. This strength can only be developed through interacting with the Bible and the church body through the Spirit.
That finally brings us to verse 18 and the practical guidelines for family and work. These guidelines are much the same as found in Ephesians 5-6 and in 1 Peter 3. To those of us who find them amusingly out of date, we might do well to consider Peter’s thoughts on the authority of scripture: “And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1:19-21). But does this include Paul’s letters? “Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15-16). PSALM 63 David begins by claiming the God who created and rules the universe is also his God, with whom he has an intimate connection. Some of us have walked in the Arizona or California desert and know the feeling of intense thirst. That is a picture of David’s thirst for his God. Due to his experience of the magnificent reality of God, David knows how worthy He is of our total praise. Experiencing this reality is more satisfying than any other pleasure. In fact, thoughts of God come to David when lying awake at night. These naturally evoke additional meditations upon God. Yes, David is endangered by enemies, but his joy in his God gives him confidence of God’s ultimate protection. Is our relationship with God this reassuring? In an episode of “Peanuts,” Linus says to Lucy, “Sound theology has a way of doing that!”
