Tag Archive | Sabbath breaking

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 282

Oct9

    Day 282—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 282 – Matthew 12, Mark 3, Luke 6 (Man with a withered hand, blasphemy, crowds, mom & brothers)

Several of the incidents and teachings of Jesus are in all three of these passages today. 

Matthew, Mark, and Lukeall tell about a man with a withered hand whom Jesus encounters in the synagogue. The conversation begins with the Jewish leaders’ strict rules (not the law) about how to keep the Sabbath.  They say healing someone is breaking the law. Jesus says mercy rules and that it IS lawful to do good on the seventh day. (Their priests do good and work every sabbath when they offer sacrifices.)

“Stretch out your hand,” He tells the man, and his hand is restored. Fury burns in the Pharisees’ hearts, and they discuss what they can do to Jesus.  Jesus is grieved by their hardness of heart. Because of this, He withdraws from there. Crowds follow Him, and he ministers to them ALL. 

Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4 about Jesus’s ministry.  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench until He brings justice to victory; and in His name, the Gentiles will hope.”

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Matthew and Mark tell us about the next incident and teachings.  Jesus heals a man who is blind and mute because of a demon. The healing amazes the crowd. “Can this be the Messiah?”   But the Pharisees say that Jesus is possessed by a demon and only heals by the power of Beelzebub (the devil).  Jesus must have chuckled at that. “If Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided against himself.” Then He corrects them.  “But it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, and the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Then Jesus levels a grave accusation at them. “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, EXCEPT the blasphemy against the Spirit. It will NOT be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven…. in this age or the age to come.“

Do you want to know the truth about someone? Look at their fruit. “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the HEART, the mouth speaks.”   “I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for EVERY careless word they speak, for by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.”

“We wish to see a sign from you,” said the Pharisees. (In other words, PROVE IT!)

Jesus answers them with Old Testament scripture. “You evil and adulterous generation.  The only sign you’ll be given is that of the prophet Jonah. As he was three days and nights in the belly of a fish, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.” (Speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection).   “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for THEY repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold….. someone greater than Jonah is here.”

Meanwhile, Jesus’ mother and siblings are concerned about Him. They hear about his ministry to the crowds and confrontations with the Jewish leaders. He is so involved that he doesn’t have time to eat. (Of course, a Mom would worry about this.) “He is out of his mind,” they say.

They stand at the edge of the crowd and call to him.  Some notice and tell Jesus, “Your mom and your brothers are seeking you.”

But Jesus gestures to those around Him, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  Jesus was not “trashing” his family but emphasizing the importance and eternality of a spiritual relationship with Him.

(NOTE:  Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 mention the names of Jesus’ four earthly half-brothers and the fact that He also has sisters.)

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Luke 6 also begins Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.”  But we’ll read that tomorrow with Matthew 5 – 7.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 272

Sep28

    Day 272—We are in the NINTH month of Bible reading with more of Israel’s history and the end of the book of NEHEMIAH, with a PSALM.

    Day 272 – Nehemiah 11 – 13, Psalm 126 (leaders in Jerusalem, the dedication of the wall with choirs, Nehemiah leaves & returns & scolds people)

Nehemiah 11.  This chapter lists the secular and religious people living inside Jerusalem and tells how 1 in 10 were chosen by lot to live within the city’s walls. 

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Nehemiah 12.  This chapter begins by listing the priests and Levites who had returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua/Joshua and Nehemiah and Ezra. 

Next, the completed wall of Jerusalem, which Nehemiah was sent to rebuild, was dedicated in a large and joyful ceremony.  (With gladness, thanksgiving, singing; with cymbals, harps and lyres.)  The leaders of Judah were put up on the wall, and two great choirs were appointed to give thanks.  Ezra, the scribe, led the procession up to the temple. They sang and rejoiced, “for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.”

Men were appointed over the storerooms, contributions, first fruits, and tithes to gather into them portions required by the Law for the priests and Levites.  “And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers as well as the Levites and priests.”

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Nehemiah 13.  On that day of dedication, they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people.  This time, they discovered the law that said no Ammonite or Moabite (descendants of Lot) should be allowed in the assembly of God. This was because of how they had treated Israel when they came from Egypt. (Numbers 22-23).  As soon as the people heard this, they separated from Israel those of foreign descent.

NOTE: It appears that after this, Nehemiah returned to the service of cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. He had been gone for two years.  While he was back in Persia, things began to fall apart. The priest, Eliashib, who was over the chambers for grain & offering storage, had cleaned out one of the larger ones and made a room for Tobiah. (Remember him? Arch foe of the Jews, back in Nehemiah 1-8) 

Other things had happened, too. The offerings for the Levites had fallen off, so they had to go work their farms outside the city. All kinds of work and buying & selling were done on the Sabbath, which had caused God’s anger in the past.  And, the people had begun intermarrying again with women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, so much so that their children couldn’t speak or understand Hebrew. 

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Nehemiah 13.  Nehemiah (after about 9 years, asked King Artaxerxes if he could return to Jerusalem to set things right. He was given approval.

He first threw Tobiah and all his furniture out of the temple storage chamber and had it cleaned.  Then, he confronted all the officials of Jerusalem and asked why the tithes had stopped coming in.  Soon, the people were bringing their tithes of grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. Nehemiah chose reliable men to distribute it to the Levites.  (The prophet Malachi – which we’ll read tomorrow – also prophesied against these people for neglecting this very thing.)

Next, Nehemiah raged against the people for buying and selling in the city on the Sabbath. “What is this evil thing you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers act this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and this city?”  He regulated the opening and closing of the city gates, closing them at the beginning of the Sabbath and not reopening them until afterward.  When merchants camped outside the walls to sell there, he chased them off. 

Nehemiah got very angry with those who were intermarrying with pagans. He confronted them, cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair.  He made them take an oath that they would not give their daughters to pagans or take women from them. 

 “Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin on account of such woman?. He was beloved by his God and God made him King over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.  Shall you do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women???

Even a grandson of the high priest had married a daughter of Sanballat (Remember him?).  Nehemiah chased him out. 

“Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work.”  Remember me, O my God, for good.

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NOTE: We don’t know if Nehemiah ever returned to Babylon/Persia.  And even though we study the prophet Malachi tomorrow, the book of Nehemiah was the final book in the original Old Testament.  It was the end of the Biblical history of the Jews for about 400 years until the next prophet came saying… “Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (A voice crying in the wilderness: John the Baptist)

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Psalm 126. 

"When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, 
we were like those who dream. 
Then our mouth was filled with laughter 
and our tongue with shouts of joy; 
then they said among the nations, 
'The LORD has done great things for them.'  
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad."