Author: Dave Dishman (Page 208 of 458)

The Lord gave the nation of Israel a long list of laws to follow as they left Egypt for their new home. It helps to remember that good reasoning exists behind every rule, each placed to protect from harm and to provide for a better life.

God told Moses, Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow before it. I am the Lord your God.

Why this rule?

Venerating an idol diverts devotion from the Creator to the creation. A spiritual battle rages unseen around us, and our enemy delights in confusing religious affections. Rocks smoothed and scraped appear harmless, but behind them demons snicker as prayers bounce off.

Fervor of this type twists the worshiper into coaxing gifts or offering appeasements. Either way, getting what benefits them. But transactional worship fails to settle the heart. As the Lord said, you will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

The Lord desires us to know him, to savor a relationship that develops over years and lasts into eternity, a relationship that is rich, fulfilling, and growing ever deeper. We are made to enjoy the Lord.

A carved image stops all this cold. God wants to protect us from the dead end of transactional worship, and provide the peace of a life lived alongside the Lord.

Leviticus 26 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Mick Haupt

In the laws given to Moses, the Lord imposed an radical new practice. Every seven years the land was to lay at rest, no sowing or reaping, a Sabbath year. Then, after seven Sabbath periods (49 years), the nation celebrated a year of Jubilee. Here’s how the year started:

On the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a jubilee for you.

What a wonderful morning waking up to trumpets proclaiming liberty throughout the land! The displaced returned to their family homesteads. Debts were settled and servants set free. A societal reset every fifty years.

An interesting idea for today. One mark of good government are systems where people can work off debt, set themselves free, and find good homes for themselves and their families. Be grateful when such structures are in place, and work to ensure they stay.

We can personally bless in jubilee-type ways. Perhaps it’s helping a co-worker succeed and advance, whether you benefit or not. Maybe it’s lending a hand to a neighbor, or serving in a disaster zone, or giving to good organizations caring for the needy.

Or perhaps it’s simply telling of the Jubilee we’ve experienced.

The good and gracious God created a system of liberty and rest for the children of Israel. The same good and gracious God sent his Son proclaiming liberty to all who respond. Accept his gift, tell others, and enjoy the jubilee.

Leviticus 25 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Fuu J 

Ever watch someone make a bad decision? You know disaster looms, and you speak up, but no change in behavior. Then the disheartening moment when your premonitions prove true.

I sense this type of frustration while reading the Lord’s admonition in Psalm 81:

Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—if you would only listen to me, Israel! You shall have no other foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.

To these people searching in the wrong places, the Lord presents a better way—Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Return to the Lord wholeheartedly and experience the Lord stuffing you like a mama bird feeding her young. Enjoy the finest of wheat and honey. But we know the end of the story. The children of Israel never quite abandoned those foreign gods.

What foreign gods entice me? Where do I look to meet my needs instead of turning to the Lord? Perhaps giving in to the desire for security and comfort, or accepting the norms of our world and no longer pushing back. Joining the narcissistic hordes and just coasting. But in the end all such gods only provide pockets full of holes—everything falls out and I’m left wanting more.

These ancient words apply today. If I focus my adoration solely on the Lord, and shove all other gods away, then at least the promise of his filling opens to me. Otherwise, I’m on my own. Better to open wide and see how the Lord stuffs my mouth.

Psalm 81 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Mateusz Stępień

Perhaps you watched the Super Bowl ad that drew both raves and criticism. Or any of the other videos urging people to take a fresh look at Jesus. If not, check out hegetsus.com. I find them fresh and compelling.

Of course, Jesus indeed gets us. As the writer of Hebrews explained, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who have been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

In other words—He gets us.

Jesus faced temptation, no different than you and me. He identifies with us in our struggles and failures. Jesus understands our lack of resolve and periods of despair, and still he’s 100% in our corner.

This allows us to pray with confidence, to go searching for mercy and grace with hopefulness. No locked doors or stiff arms await. Only the patient, comprehending Son of God who suffers alongside you and me.

He get us. What an amazing thought to rest our souls in today.

Hebrews 4 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Gift Habeshaw