Through the Bible in one year - Day 86

Psalm 86:5

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Exodus

This is the passage that made me stop when I first read it. Stop and think Oh NO! I am amazed at how soon the people forgot what God had done, what Moses had said - and how soon they drifted away from God. Samuel Clemmons, in his Autobiography of Mark Twain said that people are always tending toward monarchy - that they wish to be ruled. Yet, what we see here seems to be that the people wish to have a manageable god - one made by their own hands. The Lord was too scary and was not manageable. I don't know if Samuel Clemmons was correct when he wrote that people want a monarch but in the case of the Israelites they wanted something, something different, and if I think about what Mr. Clemmons was getting at in his Autobiography of Mark Twain, it was his critique of people that I thought of here and especially when the Israelites decide they want a king so they can be like everyone else. Maybe, that in the end is what it is all about. We want to be like everyone else. In this Exodus passage it was a case of mob rule - and it certainly did mimic the surrounding nations-they all had little man-made gods. The Israelites did not wish to be a light to the nations; they did not want to show the world that the kingdom of God had come near.

There is more going on here, of course. The intervention of Moses, and the mercy of God who had been set aside at the earliest possible convenience. I am amazed that although God says he will visit their sin upon them, Aaron lived through it. I noticed in this passage we read that the Levites did as the Lord commanded, and as we read on in the Nehemiah passage, the Levites are front and center when the Wall of Jerusalem is dedicated; what a joy to participate in that it must have been for them. We see that the Lord blesses their obedience - maybe this isn't a direct line but it is what stood out to me today as I read these passages. We see that in the time of Nehemiah the Levites were allotted portions as were the sons of Aaron. God, in His mercy, does not visit all our sins upon us - He is instead merciful.

1 Corinthians 4:2

Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Psalm 86:11

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

Today’s readings: Psalm 86, Exodus 32, Nehemiah 12:27-47, 1 Corinthians 4