Through the Bible in one year - Day 73

Psalm 73:25

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

In Exodus we read that this has been 3 months; on the third new moon...(verse 1) and what does Moses tell the people – that if they do what the Lord commands and remember all that he has done for them they will be his treasured possession among all the peoples. And the people reply YES we will do all that the Lord commands. We’ll see...

Ezra 9:10-14

"And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, "The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever." And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?”

According to Ezra the Israelites didn’t keep the commandments, and yet were not punished as they deserved. How often do we hear the lament ‘that’s not fair’? And yet in this case fair would have been worse – fair is not justice. The Lord does not punish as we deserve, he is merciful.

Romans 9:8

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

As indeed he says in Hosea,

"Those who were not my people I will call "my people,"

and her who was not beloved I will call "beloved."

26"And in the very place where it was said to them, "You are not my people,"

there they will be called "sons of the living God." (verses 25-26)

Paul says in his letter to the Romans that God gets to be God – and we do not; we aren’t the ones to tell the creator what we will or will not do, and yet in all that, God wishes us to be adopted into his family, not by our own merit or the lineage we ‘possess’ but rather out of his love for us.

Today’s readings: Psalm 73, Exodus 19, Ezra 9, Romans 9:1-29