Author: Dave Dishman (Page 389 of 475)

As I read the Bible cover to cover, and do so over and over, themes emerge. It reminds me of tilling the soil to grow tomatoes in the Ozarks. No matter how much I worked, rocks continually bubbled to the surface.

In this case, humility and pride emerge from the rich loam of scripture. Pride as a rocky impediment to life, humility as the fertile soil of growth and blessing.

He (God) guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way (Psalm 25:9).

Blessings for the humble. Our world screeches the opposite. Only the word of God delivers this gracious message of guidance towards loving and faithful ways.

Week four of reading the Bible cover to cover.

Strange to my ears, the Lord speaks in Psalm 108 and declares, “Moab is my washbasin, on Edom I toss my sandal.”

I toss my sandals in the back of the closet. There they lay until I need them again. The back of my closet is not a part of my house I show guests. It’s a place for shoes and dust bunnies and stuff I forgot.

Commentators explain that this idiom, to “toss my sandal,” points to the Lord’s authority over these nations. The Lord relegates Moab and Edom, despite their power, to back of the closet status.

No nation escapes the authority of God, and we look forward to the day when the Messiah’s rule ceases hostilities between all nations.

A truth for me to remember when I think of my nation, our leaders, and the nations of the world today.

Week four of reading the Bible cover to cover.

I’ve always been partial to Biblical names for children. So it’s insightful to read how people in the Bible actually went about naming their children.

Leah bore several children in a loveless marriage. She named them based on how she felt at the time about her marriage and the Lord. The names were shortened versions of her feelings when she gave birth.

Her first son carried a sense of relief in his name – it is because the Lord has seen my misery, surely my husband will love me now (Rueben).

The second, not so much – because the Lord heard that I am not loved (Simeon).

The third, hopeful – now at last my husband will become attached to me (Levi).

And the fourth, finally giving up on her husband, Leah focuses fully on the goodness of God – this time I will praise the Lord (Judah).

The story within the story never ceases to amaze me. Just like our stories within other stories within the story God is telling today.

Genesis 29 in week four of reading the Bible cover to cover.