March 13 -14 texts

March 13, 2013            Num 27–28, Mark 12:18–44, Ps 35:1–3, Prov 7:3–5

March 14, 2013            Num 29–30, Mark 13:1–23, Ps 35:4–9, Prov 7:6–7

Numbers 27-30

Too often in ancient cultures women had no rights and were looked at as nothing more than property. We see here, as should be no surprise, that God cares for women and their rights. In Genesis 1 we see that God created both men and women in His image and thus all have inherit value. Galatians teaches us that there is no male or female in regards the Gospel, God cares for and brings salvation to all who will come to Him.

Do you think in our society that men and women are treated equally?

While we are equal we do have different gifts, roles, and callings. What are yours?

Moses is shown the land he will not be able to enter (until Matthew 17 that is) and while many of us would feel sorry for ourselves Moses was concerned about the people. He sought the Lord to give them a leader they could follow. I love his humility.

Joshua was chosen as the leader not so much because of his skills (though those are important), but as verse 18 says he had the Spirit upon him. Moses laid his hands upon him to convey his blessing and ordination upon his successor. Oh that transitions of leadership could be done with this great love and humility today. Sometimes it is, but too often it is not.

In Chapters 28-29 Moses reminds the people of the laws regarding the sacrifices.

REQUIRED COMMUNAL OFFERINGS
		BURNT OFFERINGS			SIN OFFERING
Occasion	Bulls		Rams	Lambs
Daily (x 364)* Sabbath (x 52) New Moon (x 4)* Unleavened Bread (x 7) Pentecost Trumpets Atonement Tabernacles	8 14 2 1 1 71		4 7 1 1 1 15	728 104 28 49 7 7 7 105		4 7 1 1 1 8
Annual Totals>>>	97		29	1035		22

Praise God that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all people for all time.

Chapter 30 deals with vows that could be made.  What kind of vows have you made?

Mark 12:18-13:23

Based on Deut. 25:7–10, their question was hypothetical, devised only for the purpose of trying to trick Jesus. However their plan backfired on them and they ended up looking the fool. To Jesus, the answer to every question was in the Scriptures and not in man’s own thinking (Isa. 8:20; see Mark 10:19; 12:10). He referred them to Ex. 3:1–12 and drew the logical conclusion that since Yahweh is the God of the living, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive. There is life after death and therefore a hope of future resurrection. But resurrection is not reconstruction and the continuation of life as it now is. God’s children will not become angels, for we shall be like Christ (1 John 3:1–3); but we shall be like the angels in that we will not marry or have families. It will be a whole new kind of life. It will be better than we can recognize today.

The Pharisees tried one more question, one that the rabbis had been debating for a long time. Of the 613 commandments found in the Law (365 negative, 248 positive), which one is the most important? Jesus replied with the traditional Jewish “statement of faith” (the Shema) found in Deut. 6:4. It was recited morning and evening by pious Jews. He then added Lev. 19:18; for if we love God, we will show it by loving our neighbor (Luke 10:25–37). One of the scribes got the message clearly and boldly agreed with Jesus, but the others missed the point completely.

Jesus asked the final—and most important—question, and it put them to silence (Matt. 22:46; Rom. 3:19). Quoting from Ps. 110, Jesus asked them to explain how David’s Lord could also be David’s son; and they would not answer. The answer is that David’s Lord had to become man, but the “theologians” refused to face the implications of both the question and the answer. Jesus ended this encounter with a warning (vv. 38–40) and an example (vv. 41–44), both of which exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.

Chapter 13

The purpose of this section is to encourage the reader to remain faithful to the Lord while suffering.

While the Temple was an amazing structure Jesus knew that in a just a few short decades (A.D. 70) it would be destroyed. We must be cautious to not put our hope and trust in anything that can be destroyed and is temporal. Rather, we must be put our hope and faith in the eternal.

Jesus warns them to not be deceived by false signs or false teachers. There have always been and always will be those that try to lead us astray. We must remain in the Word as to discern who is of the Lord. We also must remain ready for the coming of the Lord. We need not fear for we are on the winning side. We also must show courage to speak the truth in a time of great wickedness and falsehood. There is always a temptation to compromise to please people instead of God.

Psalm 35:1-9

David asks for God to fight for him against his enemies. How can we be sure that our enemies are also God’s enemies?

Please notice that David did not take justice into his own hands, but rather asked for God to take care of the situation. While that can be difficult for us we must learn to seek the will and following of the Lord.

Proverbs 7:3-7

Consider the relationship that the Lord calls us to have with wisdom and His Word. Do you have this type of relationship?

Praise God today that Christ died once for all.

Pray about if you are ready the coming of the Lord. Pray about your willingness and courage to share the truth and love of Christ today.

Pray for one person you know that does not know the Lord. Pray for one person who is struggling emotionally or spiritually today.