May 1 ▪ Day 121

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 16:21
Leviticus 17–18
Acts 18
Psalms 121

Verse Focus (Proverbs 16:21)

The wise in heart are called discerning,
     and gracious words promote instruction.

Meditation

Happy May Day! And happy birthday to my niece — you know who you are. 🙂

Proverbs 16:21 says, in the NIV, “The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.” This seems straightforward enough. However, the ESV translated the proverb a bit differently, saying, “The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.” As I dug into the Hebrew wording, I found out that the word being translated as “instruction” does mean teaching and learning, but it can also mean persuasiveness.

I love what the proverb is teaching us today! Gracious words — sweetness of speech — increases persuasiveness and promotes learning. Of course, this is something we know by experience. We learned better from those of our teachers who spoke kindly and encouragingly. I remember those of my teachers who were grumpy or mean, but I don’t have much of a clue as to what I learned in their classes!

Parents also know the truth of this proverb. Speaking in love and with encouraging and kind words, they teach their children what to do and how to behave. (Not to say that parents never have bad moments where they speak less than kindly, but they know their children respond best to those gracious words.)

Father God, help us to become wise in heart! Let us be discerning, but most of all let our speech be kind and encouraging. May we build people up by what we say. May we encourage learning, and may we persuade people by our gentle and kind words. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Before we begin our discussion of today’s chapters in Leviticus, I want to comment a little further on yesterday’s topic of being clean or unclean. Part of “clean” versus “unclean” has to do with God being holy. The Israelites needed to learn that God was separate and pure — sacred and holy, not common. And even though some uncleanness required a sin offering to complete the cleansing, being unclean is not the same thing as being sinful. Unclean helps us understand about sin. But you can be unclean without sinning. Think about it: Jesus was sinless. And yet he did things that would have made him ceremonially unclean. He touched people who were dead, for instance (of course, then he raised them to life, so perhaps you wouldn’t become unclean if the person who was dead was later found to be living!). Similarly, he healed lepers and other people who were unclean. (Again, you could argue that because he healed them he did not become unclean by touching them when they were unclean.) However, not to be too blunt, but I can’t believe that Christ never had an emission of semen at some point during adolescence. That would have made him unclean for a day — thus, my point, that unclean is not the same thing as sin.

I don’t fully understand how unclean relates to sin. Sometimes it’s the same thing. Sometimes it’s not. Nor is it as simple as physical versus spiritual. Menstruation is a natural process, but unclean. This does not make a woman sinful half the month. She is merely unclean. Well, she might be sinful, too — but not directly because of her menses.

Okay. Enough on that topic for now!

Leviticus 17 teaches us that those who kill animals away from the Tabernacle suffer from “bloodguilt” because they have shed the blood of the animal (v. 4). This is a very different idea than how our modern culture thinks of bloodshed. We do not respect the lives of animals; only the taking of human life is seen as reprehensible in Western culture. But as verse 11 tells us, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”

Apparently another reason for requiring the people to bring their animal sacrifices to the temple was so that they would no longer sacrifice to “goat demons, after whom they whore (v. 7).”

The chapter continues to emphasize how important it is for the people to refrain from consuming blood. As we learned from our reading in Acts the other day, this prohibition is one that predates the giving of the law.

Leviticus 18 contains laws about inappropriate sexual relationships. As the chapter begins, the LORD reminds the people that they are not to follow the laws of the Egyptians or of the Canaanites; instead, they are to obey God’s laws and decrees.

It is interesting to see that these laws are more restrictive than the laws we have about incest or relations between close relatives. As the Bible defines relationships, it is not just a matter of blood kinship but of the relationship a person has with your kin. So although our culture might believe that relationships between step siblings is okay because there is no blood connection between them, the Bible declares these relationships as forbidden.

I also find verse 18 very interesting. Even though the Israelite tribes are descended from two sisters and their servants, now God tells them that this kind of relationship with two sisters who are currently living is forbidden.

Depending on the translation you read, these laws may speak about not dishonoring or violating your relatives by having sexual relations with certain people. In the Hebrew, the more literal translation is “to uncover nakedness.” Thus having sexual relations with your sister-in-law is uncovering her nakedness, but it is also uncovering the nakedness of your brother (v. 16). And when I read the laws in this context, of uncovering nakedness, I begin to understand that these laws protect intimacy in marriage. Sleeping with your brother’s wife violates the intimacy your brother has with his wife as much as it violates your sister-in-law’s intimacy. The laws also protect marriage relationships from the kind of terrible jealousy that might occur should sexual relationships encompass close kin (such as having two sisters as wives).

So although these laws have one purpose of protecting the Israelites from birth defects from marrying close kin, the more important aspect relates to privacy and intimacy in marriage. A husband and wife are joined; but that union is not to be “uncovered” for any relatives of either the husband or the wife. As verse 17 describes having sexual relations with a woman and her daughter or granddaughter, “They are relatives; it is depravity.”

As the chapter comes to a close, the LORD warns the Israelites that depravity of this nature will defile the land and cause the land to “vomit” them out (v. 28).

Acts 18 covers the end of Paul’s second missionary journey, and the beginning of his third missionary journey. After leaving Athens, Paul spends at least a year and a half in Corinth, possibly longer. He then stops briefly in Ephesus, but soon sets sail for Caesarea. He stops briefly at the church in Jerusalem before returning once again to his home congregation in Antioch. Verse 23 tells us that “after spending some time there,” Paul then leaves to begin the third missionary journey, traveling through Galatia and Phrygia for the purpose of “strengthening all the disciples.”

As we have been reading about Paul’s actions on these various missionary journeys, I’m beginning to see how very important discipling and mentoring was — as if not more important than communicating the gospel message. On the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas returned to towns they had previously left because of violence for the purpose of checking in on the believers in those towns. When Paul started his second missionary journey, his motive was first to strengthen the believers he had previously left behind. He took Timothy along with him, mentoring him and teaching him. In Corinth, he stayed with fellow tentmakers Aquilla and Priscilla — but when he left Corinth, Aquilla and Priscilla came along with him. He then left Aquilla and Priscilla with the fledgling church in Ephesus while he returned to Judea. When he starts his third missionary journey, he doesn’t say — “Oh, I need to make sure I communicate the gospel to all those who have not yet heard of Jesus Christ!” No, he is motivated by wanting to strengthen the believers in Asia Minor. Indeed, this is the motive in almost all the letters Paul writes, too — to strengthen the believers.

This is not to say that communicating the gospel message was not important. It was Paul’s practice to go first to the synagogues in a new town or city. And he would argue and reason and expound upon the Scriptures with the Jews as long as they allowed him to. In some cases, it was mere weeks. In other cases, months. But once the Jews rejected Paul, then he would focus on the Gentiles in that area.

I was amused to see that in Corinth, when Paul declares that he will go to the Gentiles, his first stop is at the house of Titius Justus, which just happens to be right next door to the synagogue (v. 7). Perhaps this was a coincidence — but perhaps also Paul hopes that proximity will make the Jews jealous of God’s blessings on the believers. Verse 8 tells us that Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, became a believer, along with his household. Indeed, many Corinthians believed and were baptized. Even though we see some of the beginnings of trouble with the Jews (enough that Paul focuses his efforts now on the Gentiles), Paul receives a vision from the LORD that he should not be afraid, but to go on speaking out “for I have many in this city who are my people (v. 10).” So, Paul stays and teaches and preaches in Corinth for a year and a half. Whether this was a year and a half after receiving the vision, or in total, is not clear.

Later, the trouble with the Jews intensifies. Those opposing Paul and his message try to bring Paul up on charges before Gallio, the Roman proconsul, but Gallio refuses to hear them. Even when the agitators beat Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, Gallio pays no attention (v. 17).

I did wonder about the difference between Crispus in verse 8 and Sosthenes in verse 17. In church tradition, Crispus later becomes the Bishop of Chalcedon (located across the water from Byzantium, later known as Constantinople — now known as Istanbul), which was several hundred miles north and slightly east of Corinth. Sosthenes, on the other hand, is believed by most scholars to be the same individual who co-wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians with Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1). Of course some scholars argue against this identification, and some also argue that Crispus and Sosthenes are the same person. This seems a bit of a stretch to me — but it is interesting to see how both men ended up leaving Corinth, perhaps with Paul, perhaps without Paul, on potential missionary journeys of their own. It just adds ammunition to my earlier point about discipleship and mentoring.

Psalm 121 is our second Psalm of Ascent. When the psalmist begins in verse 1, “I lift up my eyes to the hills,” we remember that the pilgrims would literally be looking up to Jerusalem. (Indeed, in Acts 18:22, it says that Paul “went up and greeted the church.” I wondered about the verb since Jerusalem is located a bit south of Caesarea. In English we would say “go down” if we meant someone went south, and “go up” if they went north. But the Greek verb here literally means to ascend, or to mount up. Paul “went up” to the church in Jerusalem because he literally had to go up in elevation to get there.)

I love how Psalm 121 focuses on the LORD as our keeper! He is our guard, our protector, the one who watches over us. I take joy in the concluding verse, “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Father God, I praise you because of how you watch over us and keep us. Thank you for your protection and care. Thank you for being our help — now and forevermore. Please work within us to mentor and disciple the believers you place in our circles; may we train others to teach and encourage in the faith. Thank you for teaching us your laws. Thank you for teaching us what holiness means. Most of all, thank you for Christ Jesus, and for making it possible for us to come to you. I pray in his name, Amen.