March 26 ▪ Day 85

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 14:7
Exodus 39–40
Luke 14
Psalms 85

Verse Focus (Proverbs 14:7)

Stay away from a fool,
     for you will not find knowledge on their lips.

Meditation

Proverbs 14:7 counsels us to “Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips.” In some ways, this proverb is telling us something that is very obvious: fools are foolish. They do not have wisdom, they do not have knowledge. But it’s what the proverb implies that I find more fascinating. The proverb implies that the only reason you would want to be with someone is because that person has wisdom.

Of course, we know that’s not what typically motivates people. We hang out with people who make us feel at ease. Or with people who make us feel good. We become friends with people who are very similar to ourselves. On the other hand, we also like people who have a very different way of looking at life because they can challenge us. In many ways, we are completely motivated by the way we feel as to whom we want to spend time with.

This proverb, on the other hand, asks us to consider the relationship with our head more than with our heart. Regardless of how we feel, will we benefit from this relationship? Will we grow in the right direction?

This proverb is also phrased as a command. It is an imperative. Leave the presence of a fool. Why? Because you won’t find words of knowledge there. But there’s more to it than that. It’s not only that you won’t find knowledge, but that it’s somehow dangerous to be in the presence of fools. Only a few days ago we looked at a proverb that talked about how we become like those with whom we walk. And the danger of walking with a fool is that you will start to become foolish yourself.

So what is a fool, exactly? In our modern culture, we tend to think of being foolish as looking stupid. An appearance more than the reality. But the Bible defines fools as wicked and morally bankrupt people. In fact, there are several different types of fools, although they share similar characteristics. We’ve talked previously about sluggards, mockers and scoffers, and those that are selfishly proud and arrogant. Another type of fool is the simple person — the one who is gullible. Those who are obstinate and those who are troublemakers are also considered fools. We know that fools hate discipline, they hate learning, and they hate turning from evil.

Father God, please help us to form and maintain wise relationships. Sometimes we are foolish, and sometimes the people we love are foolish. Help us to change; help our loved ones to change. Help us also to avoid becoming entangled with fools. We pray for your transforming grace in our lives, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Today we read our last chapters in the book of Exodus. In Exodus 39 we learn about how the Israelites created the priests’ vestments. Real gold was used along with the blue, purple, and crimson yarns in the patterns that decorated the ephod, shoulder pieces, and breastpiece. The engraved stones of remembrance on the priest’s shoulders, and the engraved gems on the breastpiece (“like signets”) symbolically carried each tribe into the presence of the LORD. Twice in this chapter we are told that the Israelites did everything “just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” The chapter ends with Moses’ blessing on the people because of how they had fulfilled all the work just as they were instructed to do.

The final chapter records the setting up of the tabernacle. It was timed perfectly. The tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month of their second year. It was just shy of the exact anniversary of the Exodus, of their leaving Egypt — which, was, as you recall, also an anniversary: 430 years to the day from when the Israelites had gone down to Egypt in the first place (Genesis 12:41). They left Egypt after Passover, on the 15th day of the first month. So now, they set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month. As you know, it will take seven days to consecrate the priests. Then there will be one more week before the anniversary arrives, before they launch into the celebration of their first Passover after Egypt.

So on the first day they set everything up. Moses anoints the tabernacle and all that is in it with the special anointing oil. He ordains the priests. He finishes the work. And then we are told that the cloud of God’s Presence moved to dwell inside the tabernacle, and “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (v. 34).” From then onward, the cloud by day and fire in the cloud by night rested in the tabernacle. When it would move up out of the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out to travel. And whenever it rested in the tabernacle, the Israelites would stay put.

I was really struck by the sense of completeness that we get from these chapters, and from the book of Exodus in general. The Israelites did all the work just as the LORD commanded Moses. Moses also “finished the work (v. 33).” Doesn’t that sound completely amazing? And also a little bit alien, too? I often feel like my work will never end. And as one who labors for the kingdom of heaven, I often feel like I’m missing the mark — I don’t feel like I am doing everything that God wants me to do.

But the Scripture tells us that the Israelites did complete things as God desired for the building of the tabernacle. And Moses also completed his work in this matter. The book begins with the people enslaved and oppressed. Moses is born, raised in an Egyptian palace, and then runs away to live as the son-in-law of a priest for 40 years. And then he is sent back to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Great and miraculous wonders occur — the LORD thoroughly humiliates the Egyptians, and ends up destroying Pharaoh along with his officers and his army. And the people who had begged to leave Egypt “to worship God in the wilderness” are now doing just that — they have built a marvelous sanctuary. They are free. They are ready to worship. And so Exodus is complete.

Luke chapter 14 begins with Jesus healing a man with dropsy, next telling a story about how you should be humble in social settings, and then telling us that we should take care to extend hospitality to those who are unable to pay us back. Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet, talks about the cost of discipleship, and discusses the need for salt to be salty.

Jesus tells us in verse 11, “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The story he tells to illustrate this principle — of a man who takes the seat of honor, only to be humbled by the host who had invited a more distinguished guest — is a very familiar story. I have thought of this teaching almost as quintessential Jesus. So it was with some surprise that I discovered a few years ago that there is another source in Scripture for these principles. Proverbs 25, verses 6 and 7 say:

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,
     and do not claim a place among his great men;
⁷it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”
     than for him to humiliate you before his nobles.

Of course, it makes perfect sense that Jesus knows Scripture inside and out. He is, after all, the Word of God. And Wisdom. 🙂

As Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet, I am stuck by the word “compel.” When the servant tells the master there is still room, the master tells him to go out and “compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled (v. 23).” As we think about proclaiming the gospel, we think of it as an invitation. We want to be polite; we want to respect free will. But when the master was polite and invited guests to his banquet, they all started making excuses. So first the master sends out the servants to find other guests — the poor, the blind, the lame, the crippled. But there is still room.

Those who recognize their poverty, those who are suffering and hurting, those who are marginalized: these are people we can invite into the kingdom of God. These are people who will appreciate the invitation. But there are others who do not know that they are poor, blind, lame, or crippled — and these are people who must be compelled. I don’t know what compelling someone into the kingdom of God looks like, practically speaking. I only know that I need to first adjust the way I even think about evangelism.

Near the end of the chapter, Jesus says, “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.” We have heard him say this before, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. There, he talked about the disciples as being the salt of the world. In Mark 9, Jesus talked about being salted with fire. He again talks about the need for salt to be salty, and tells the disciples to have salt among themselves and to be at peace with one another. Now we encounter this idea for the third time in the gospel of Luke.

So, what are we to make of this idea of salt losing its saltiness? Especially considering that it is impossible for salt not to be salty. Salt is a mineral compound that is very stable. By its very nature, salt doesn’t lose flavor or degrade over time.

Commentators take a number of different approaches to the problem of salt losing its saltiness. Some claim that Jesus wasn’t talking about real salt — he was talking about something that may have been sold as “salt” by unscrupulous merchants, but it wasn’t genuine salt. Others say, well, he was trying to make a point — he didn’t care about chemical accuracy. Still others say, the fact that salt couldn’t lose its saltiness was part of the whole point: it was meant to encourage the disciples about the strength of their faith. In my opinion, all of these explanations leave something to be desired.

Salt, of course, was used as a preservative. It was also used to season food, to give it more flavor — to enhance. And, of course, it was symbolic — particularly of God’s covenant with the people of Israel.

Here, though, we must first realize that Jesus isn’t talking about literal salt. He is using salt as a metaphor for the people of God. And people are human, not stable mineral compounds. In other words, the people of God may display an inconsistency that true salt may not. But in functioning as salt for the world — as seasoning, as an enhancer, as a symbol of God’s covenant love — there is a real need for the salt to remain salty. Thus Jesus’ question is of vital importance: how can it be made salty again? How do we remain consistent? How do we remain faithful? What can we do to make it more likely that we will remain salty?

For me, the answer to that question is to stay as close as possible to God. To seek Him every morning. To pray, and to ask for the Holy Spirit to fill me. Ultimately, of course, this rests upon the grace of God — but we know the work has already been done for us by Jesus Christ.

Psalm 85 is another psalm of the Sons of Korah — a prayer for God to favor Israel once more. Verse 4 pleads, “Restore us again, O God of our salvation.” In fact, God has already forgiven Israel’s sin. God previously restored Israel from past iniquities. But they need restoration again.

I was struck by the final verse in this psalm: “Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.” In the past, I have seen this verse as talking about God’s attributes. But today I saw it as the people of God making things ready for God to come. Think John the Baptist: Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him (Isaiah 40:3). As we walk in righteousness, we make a path that God will follow.

Father God, please help us to prepare the way for you to come. May we remain faithful disciples of Jesus Christ; may we walk in righteousness; may we be consistent as we season this world. Give us wisdom so that we may know how to bring people in to your kingdom. May we one day be able to enter your Rest, knowing that we also have completed the work. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, and thank you for the example that Jesus set. We pray in his name, Amen.