March 22 ▪ Day 81

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 13:21
Exodus 31–32
Luke 10
Psalms 81

Verse Focus (Proverbs 13:21)

Trouble pursues the sinner,
     but the righteous are rewarded with good things.

Meditation

According to the NIV, our verse focus today says, “Trouble pursues the sinner, but the righteous are rewarded with good things.” As I read Proverbs 13:21 this morning in the NRSV, it gave me a slightly different slant, saying, “Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.” Hmmmm. Prosperity. That sounds pretty nice, huh?

So I took a look at a number of different translations. Universally, the different translations contrast sinners against the righteous. Sinners are chased or pursued by trouble, misfortune, hard times, adversity, evil, disaster, and calamity. The righteous, on the other hand, are rewarded (this again is almost universal — although there is an occasional “recompensed” or “repayed”) with good, good things, prosperity, blessings, and success.

The idea that disaster, calamity, or adversity chases after sinners is an interesting concept. We tend to view circumstances and events as random chance, not as purposeful consequences. Our culture believes in luck. We believe in chaos theory. Even as Christians — even though we know God is sovereign — we don’t always see what happens as deliberate orchestration of occurrences. But that God controls what happens is the very foundation of this proverb.

Now, some will see this less as personal intervention and more as universal laws about how things work. Like spiritual physics. With physics, God doesn’t have to make the apple fall in each and every instance since He made rules to govern gravity and falling objects. So God may not be personally engineering adversity for sinners, but in His universe, this is what happens.

I have to say, this proverb gives me added incentive to stay on the right path! Who wants to be hunted by misfortune? To have calamity always just around the corner? To see that trouble coming because it’s hot on your heels? Who wants to be pursued by evil? I don’t think anyone wants this. And then look what the righteous get: rewards! Good things! Blessings, prosperity. Again, who doesn’t want this?

Do you believe that God rewards those who seek Him? That He blesses those who are righteous? That He grants success and prosperity to those who walk in His ways? Do you believe that there are consequences to sin and rebellion? Not just alienation from God, but trouble with a capital T — in all areas of your life?

Father God, we desperately want to receive your blessings. None of us want to go through hard times, even though we know that all of us will go through difficulties. But we make our lives more difficult than they need to be with our disobedience. Keep us close to you. Help us to repent when we need to. Help us to follow Jesus. We pray in his name, Amen.

Exodus 31 is a fairly short chapter, in which God concludes giving Moses the instructions for the Israelites. First, He tells Moses that He has called Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and has given Bezalel of His Spirit; Bezalel is not only gifted in artistry, but is skillful in all manner of craftsmanship — he will be in charge of creating the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant and all the various items needed for sacrifice and worship. Further, Oholiab of the tribe of Dan, also an extremely skillful craftsman, has been appointed to help Bezalel.

There is yet another repetition of the laws about keeping the Sabbath. Since this is now the fourth time in Exodus alone that I have noticed this law has come up, I begin to wonder just how many verses deal with Sabbath observance. I know the Ten Commandments and many laws are repeated in Deuteronomy, but there are also laws in Leviticus. From my online concordance, I count at least 10 times Sabbath observance is mentioned as a law in the Pentateuch; although, who knows how many times the observance is legislated without specifically referring to the name of the day, as happened in Exodus 23!

In this instance of the law, the Scripture tells us twice that the Sabbath is a sign — first, so that we will know it is the LORD who sanctifies his people (v. 13), and second, as a sign of the creation of heaven and earth and how the LORD rested and was refreshed on the seventh day (v. 17). This passage also calls it a “Sabbath of solemn rest” that is “holy to the LORD”; observance is a “perpetual covenant” (v. 15-16). Indeed, verse 15 tells us that “whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.”

Chapter 31 concludes with a brief remark about how God gives Moses a copy of this covenant on two tablets of stone that were “written with the finger of God.”

Exodus 32 covers the story of the golden calf. Moses is up on the mountain for 40 days and nights with God, receiving all the commandments and the details for the tabernacle. Meanwhile, the Israelites are getting into trouble. They have quickly forgotten all that God has done for them in freeing them from Egypt, and they turn to idol worship. They ask Aaron to “make gods for us (v. 1).” So Aaron asks them to give him the gold earrings that their wives, sons, and daughters are wearing — and from this very personal jewelry, Aaron melts down the gold and molds it into the form of a calf. As soon as the people see the calf, they say, “These are your gods, O Israel.” And so Aaron builds an altar, and he proclaims that the next day will be a festival day (v. 4-5). Verse 6 speaks of the festival day in damning words that are also quoted in 1 Corinthians 10:7, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.”

God tells Moses what is happening back in camp — and commands Moses to go down at once. In His wrath, He announces that He will consume these people entirely, and instead make Moses and his descendants into a great nation. But before Moses leaves the mountain, he begs the LORD not to destroy the people. He argues that Egypt will say that God brought the Israelites out of Egypt in order to annihilate them; Moses also reminds God of the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob). And God changes his mind; He relents (v. 14).

Moses and Joshua return to the camp. Moses is so angry at what he sees that he throws down the two tablets of the covenant that he had received from God. They break. Physically and symbolically, the covenant between God and Israel is broken. Moses calls for help, and the men of Levi respond — Scripture tells us that about 3,000 people were killed that day.

Moses takes the idol and grinds it up into a powder; he mixes it with the water supply and makes the Israelites drink it. I’m not sure what effect this would have had on them. Gold dust is occasionally used in food preparation, more as fancy decoration than anything else. The gold is considered “biologically inert” — it won’t poison you, and should pass straight through the digestive tract. But I imagine it would have tasted bad — metallic and unpleasant if the concentration was high enough. I think the point was symbolic more than anything else, making the Israelites physically consume their false god.

I’ve always snorted at how Aaron described what happened to Moses. He says in verse 24, “I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” A miracle, so it seems (or so Aaron would claim). No personal intent at all: it just magically became an idol. Yeah, right.

The next day Moses tells the people that “perhaps” he can make atonement for them for this massive sin (v. 30). He goes back up the mountain to speak to the LORD. And Moses confesses this grievous sin, imploring God to forgive the Israelite people. But if God will not forgive them, Moses asks that God will instead blot him out of His book — that is, out of the book of life (v. 32). God’s answer is a little enigmatic. He promises to blot out those who sin against Him, but does not mention if atonement is possible. He does agree that His angel will go with them into the Promised Land, but then again says that He will punish those who sinned. The chapter ends by telling us that God sent a plague against the Israelites because of the golden calf.

Like Abraham, Moses earned the title of Friend to God. I think it was perhaps this incident more than anything else that solidified that friendship. Abraham bargained with God and obtained His promise that He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten righteous people living there. Moses also argues with God, and gets Him to change His mind about destroying the Israelites. When Moses next speaks with God, he puts his own salvation on the line for the Israelite people.

In yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus sent out the 12 apostles to heal and to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. In today’s reading, Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out 70 disciples in pairs to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near. He sends them to towns and villages that he himself intends to visit before he arrives in Jerusalem. I didn’t realize until this recent reading just how close this happened in time to Jesus’ final Passion. But Jesus had already started foretelling his death and preparing his disciples for what would happen before he sent out the 70 disciples.

Jesus cries “woe” to the unrepentant towns of Galilee and Judea. Matthew, who tells the gospel story for a Jewish audience, cites Sodom as the town that will find it more bearable on Judgment Day than the towns of Galilee and Judea that reject Christ (Matthew 11). But Luke, who writes for a Gentile audience, tells us it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than it will be for the towns where Jesus spent time. Tyre and Sidon are Gentile cities; in fact, the two most important cities in nearby Phoenicia.

I was struck by Jesus’ inclusion of Capernaum in verse 15. Jesus says, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.” Capernaum was where Jesus lived during his years of ministry. It became his base of operations. Whether he went there originally because the townsfolk of Nazareth had rejected him, or if he had gone there earlier because it was more convenient spot for visiting other places in Judea is unknown. But surely he must have loved this town. So I find it surprising to hear it listed among those that will have a difficult time on Judgment Day.

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in response to an expert in the law who asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer to love God and your neighbor as yourself must have seemed too simple for the lawyer. So he asks Jesus, Who is my neighbor? And so we get the story of the Good Samaritan. Verse 29 tells us that the lawyer wanted “to justify himself.” He wanted vindication that he would inherit eternal life. I interpret it as pride — he was, after all, an expert in the law.

As we hear the story, we hear of both a priest and a Levite who pass by the injured man “on the other side.” Hearing this story from centuries of Christendom, we rather despise these religious people who would not stoop to help someone in need. And yet, for the Jews, they would have understood that both the priest and the Levite had an ethical, moral, and legal obligation to remain pure — to stay “clean” so that they would be able to minister and serve in the temple. Touching a dead body would have made the priest unclean for seven days. It’s possible the man was so injured the priest and Levite weren’t sure if he were even alive (but they certainly didn’t want to find out, either, and risk contamination).

But as Jesus tells the story, the conclusion is that the neighbor is one who shows mercy. Jesus tells the expert in the law, “Go and do likewise.” This parable ties in with Jesus’ oft-quoted passage from Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” The priest and the Levite were concerned about being able to continue serving the community by handling sacrifices. But Jesus reminds us that mercy is far more important than sacrifice and legal obligations. Even with our redefinition of sacrifice as servant leadership, the call to mercy is still more important. I find it fascinating that Jesus defines one’s neighbor not in terms of relationship or proximity, but in terms of service. The question is not, who is my neighbor, but to whom can I be a neighbor?

Psalm 81 is another psalm of Asaph. Although the psalm begins with a call for the people to praise the LORD, it is not long before the perspective changes. Soon we hear God speaking as He appeals for Israel to listen to Him. But Israel is stubborn and unrepentant.

I love the poetry in verse 7a: “I answered you in the secret place of thunder.” God speaks of how he shepherded Israel during the wilderness. God longs to shower blessings upon His people. “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it,” He says in verse 10. God laments at Israel’s unfaithfulness, at the blessings He is unable to pour out upon them. Verse 13 cries plaintively, “O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!”

Father God, please help us to listen to you and to walk in your ways. We long to be blessed, even as you long to bless us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit that we might experience abundant life in Christ.

Help us also to be merciful to the people you place in our lives — those we know well, and those who are strangers to us. Let us be like the Good Samaritan and be more concerned about who we can help rather than who might love us in return.

Father, if nothing else, today’s readings in Exodus show how easily we can be turned aside from you. But it also shows the power of being an intercessor. Thank you that in Christ Jesus we too can count you as our Friend. Thank you that you are even more than Friend, you are our loving Father. We’re so grateful that you paved the way for this through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. We pray in his name, Amen.