READINGS FOR OCTOBER 1, 2024: NUMBERS 13, ACTS 17, PSALM 104:10-23 NUMBERS 13 Did everyone know that God originated the CIA? It would be more accurate to call it the forerunner of the Mossad, Israel’s current spy agency. God told Moses to send a spy from each of the twelve tribes to collect specific intelligence about the nature of their future opponents and the quality of the land. Moses being Moses sent them out just as God directed. They came back in 40 days (that number keeps recurring) and brought back some grapes, pomegranates, and figs. They reported that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey as God told Moses at the burning bush: “I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8). Once again, man finds God’s word is trustworthy. We can still trust it, but we need to know it first.
On the other hand, most of the spies thought these people and their defenses too formidable for them. They considered themselves grasshoppers compared to these current inhabitants. One group was identified as the Nephilim, who were contemporaries of Noah: “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown” (Gen. 6: 4). Only Agent Caleb from Judah thought Israel could conquer the land. Do we cede ground to the forces of evil because we think we are grasshoppers? Remember who our leader is from yesterday’s reading in Psalm 104: “He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks on the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers.”
ACTS 17 After getting out of prison in Philippi, Paul and Silas decided they needed to take it easy. No, that’s what we would do! They pressed on to Thessalonica. Once again, they first went to the synagogue. Notice that for three Sabbaths Paul “reasoned with them from the scriptures.” For those who have any appreciation for the Bible at all, reasoning with them from it is a best way to persuade them of God’s truth. For those for whom the Bible is outdated or too narrow, likely it won’t do any good.
Paul gave evidence from the scriptures that “Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.” The evidence for this truth still needs to be given to today’s churches! Here is a comment from a popular author while he still self-identified as a Jesus follower: “Jesus did NOT have to die on the cross. In other words, God did not require Jesus to be crucified to fulfill some mystical prophecy.” Not surprisingly, but sadly, this man no longer believes in the divinity of Jesus and follows “the notion of Divine Unity.” Do we know the Biblical evidence Paul referenced?
READINGS FOR OCTOBER 1, 2024: ACTS 17, PSALM 104:10-23 Paul did indeed persuade some to be Christians, including God-fearing Greeks who apparently attended the Synagogue services and others called “leading woman.” We already met Lydia, who was a businesswoman from Philippi. Now we meet leading woman and in verse 12 “prominent Greek women.” Perhaps a common view that women were always treated like property in the New Testament is not supported by the Biblical evidence. Once again, jealousy prevented the Jews from coming to faith and prompted the Jews to falsely claim that Paul was undermining Roman rule. Thus, Paul and Silas slipped out of town out at night.
The evangelistic team now arrives at Berea. The Bereans were given perhaps the greatest compliment of any city in the Bible and one to which our church should aspire: “They received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (vs.11). Please take that approach for any comments written in these studies! As President Reagan used to say, “verify.” Although many believed in Jesus, the Jews from Thessalonica were still angry and rode into Berea to cause trouble, forcing the team to move on.
This brought Paul to likely the intellectual capital of the world: Athens. Because Paul got to Athens before Silas and Timothy, he used the time to walk around. The fact that many gods were worshipped there disturbed him, as we should be disturbed by those who don’t practice Christianity. It’s more than just one religion among many, but it’s the universal truth. Paul again reasoned in the synagogue, but he also matched wits the Greek philosophers. Even with the Stoics and Epicureans he preached Jesus and the resurrection, but he did not use the Bible. When Paul was walking around Athens alone, he noticed an altar with this inscription: “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Paul used that as a bridge to sharing the truth of the one true God who was not idol made by human hands, but the creator of all things. He even quoted Greek poetry to describe Him: “For we also are His descendants.” He then again pointed to the resurrected Christ, as we all must when witnessing for Jesus. Some believed; others did not. Can we take contemporary non-Christian culture and thought to point others to Jesus? It’s possible! PSALM 104:10-23 Here is perhaps an interpretation that won’t be shared by everyone. As implied above about the Bereans, verify it. These verses say God supportsanimal habitats and replenishes the earth in such a way to foster agriculture. He plants cedar and juniper trees which maintain wildlife. He goes out of his way to help endangered species such as lions and forest animals survive. Might it be that when we as a fallen human race selfishly work against the sustainability of the natural environment, we are dishonoring God? Just asking.
