Mar 11th

Exodus 22     Job 40     Judges 1     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Exodus 22: In the remainder of Exodus and the subsequent 3 books God puts laws in place for His people. Although some of them are undoubtedly culture specific we should not overlook these passages as we can discover plenty about God’s priorities as he lays down a society’s boundaries from scratch. Here we can see that God favours restitution over vengeance and is concerned with justice for the poor and foreigners.

Job 40: As we’ve journeyed with Job we’ve seen a man resolutely refusing to forsake God even whilst his world comes crashing down around him. After 2 chapters of God’s rhetorical questioning Job gets his chance to address Him but is overwhelmed by the greatness and power of the Lord. Job’s demands for detailed answers to his suffering fade away in the face of Almighty God.

Judges 1: It’s easy to skim over some passages here with their details of military tactics and various battles but there are plenty of things to be challenged by. For instance the rather odd note in v6 where Adoni-Bezek has his thumbs and big toes removed. One presumes this would be a measure taken to destroy your enemy’s ability to fight in the future as they would be unable to move quickly or grip a weapon. Reflecting on this leads me to question if there are any ‘enemies’ in my life that I have fought and beaten for now but failed to completely immobilise therefore leaving the possibility for them to attack again in the future.

(lay member of staff)

Mar 10th

Exodus 21     Job 39     Luke 24     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

It may seem strange to read both Exodus 21 and Luke 24 in the same day. Exodus 21 is part of a law-code and is concerned with how justice applies to concrete, practical situations. It is part of God revealing to his rescued people how the life of freedom under his rule will work. He is concerned to see justice and goodness in every aspect of human life. This will then be an attractive model of holy living for the rest of world.

In Luke 24 we read of how the future God has planned for the world has already broken into the present as he overcomes the death of Jesus by raising him to new life. This is not a promise of some disembodied life in the clouds (as many people think of our future hope) but of resurrection – God bringing new life to the physical world. Jesus is flesh and bones. He walks, talks and even eats with people. Talking to the disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus, he explains how the Old Testament Scriptures point to him. He may even have said how the minutiae of Exodus 21 show the resurrection life to be one of holiness in every part. And he passes the baton on to his disciples (us included) to be witnesses of all this to the world.

For thought:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->How can I obey the call to be a witness to my bit of God’s world?

(Christ Church lay preacher)