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April
17
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Reading
1 - Numbers 36
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here to Listen
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v.
3 - The occasions when women reach equality with men in the Old Testament
are rare, but this is one. Another is the Nazarite vow (6:2)
Peter Cresswell |
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The practical implication of the previous decision regarding Zelophehad's
inheritance being passed to his daughters as he had no sons was that this
land would pass to another tribe if they married outside the tribe. So we
have a new rule for those (few) women who have an inheritance that they
must marry within their own tribe. As always, with privilege comes responsibility.
Peter Cresswell
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v.1
This concern develops the problem raised by the daughters of Zelophehad.
Time had gone on and reflection on the situation had caused the implications
of inheritance to be brought to the fore - one wonders whether one of the
daughters was planning to marry - and so a solution has to be found. Clearly
Yahweh knew that this problem would occur when he gave the legislation for
the daughters of Zelophehad. So why was not this point covered as well?
The reason is that the Father gives us as much as we need at any one time
and leaves us to reflect and use our own minds to be exercised in the things
we know. Additional issues are presented as we need them - or grow. This
is how we deal with the 'first principles'. We certainly do not see the
implications when we are baptised but as we grow we see more and more implications.
We have the Scripture to answer our questions which is 36:5
'according to the word of the Lord' in the case we are considering.
Peter
Forbes |
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| 36:9
The land was distributed 'by lot'. The laws of inheritance meant that the
land went with the man who had married the daughter who had inherited from
her father - like the daughters of Zelophehad. Thus the requirement to marry
within the tribe would ensure that no marriages would destroy the Divinely
appointed division of the land.
The counterpart
in our ecclesial life is that our marriages should not upset the equilibrium
of the ecclesia. So marriages to the unbeliever, for example, are totally
unacceptable.
Peter
Forbes
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:13
So even though Moses is dead we are reading things that Moses commanded.
We should be alert to the fact that the record does not always run chronologically.
Peter
Forbes
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Reading
2 - Proverbs 27
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here to Listen
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v.
1,2 - Warnings to be sure that we remain humble and wise to possibilities.
We are in God's hands, we have no control over what might come next in our
lives but we trust him to order our lives for us and only by his grace are
we praiseworthy.
Isa.56:12,
Luke 12:19-20, 2Cor.10:12,18, 12:11, James 4:13-16.
Peter Cresswell |
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v.7
has a reference obliquely to the attitude of the children of Israel in the
matters concerning manna. When they were hungry for it but as soon as they
were filled with it they fast became fed up with the same food every day
and the events of Num
11:4-20 take place. We must take care in our spiritual feeding each
day that we do not suffer the same loathing.
Peter Cresswell
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27
v.1-12 Describes
the thought patterns and behaviour of different individuals in the circumstances
around the last week of Jesus life.
27:1 'boast not
of tomorrow' Peter, who said that he would not deny Jesus 27:2
Jesus, by 'holding his peace' Mark
14:61 was not
praising himself. 27:4
The 'envy' that was so cruel that Jesus was not able to stand before it
was the 'envy' of those who delivered him to Pilate - Mark
15:10 27:6 The 'kisses' is the kiss by which Judas betrayed Jesus. 27:9
Which contrasts with the 'ointment and perfume' or Mary in John 12 when
she anointed Jesus feet. 27:12
Peter did not 'foresee the evil' so instead of hiding he went into the palace
of the High Priest.
Peter
Forbes |
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:14
The man who behaves in this way is only doing things for show. It is like
the 'greetings in the market place' [Matthew
23:7] and is the way in which the world behaves. True friendship does
not require a show and a noise. The one greeting does not make the show
and the one being greeted does not need the show.
Peter
Forbes
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:20
The servant of God should really take this to heart. We are never satisfied
with the things that we want. This is exemplified in children. They 'have
to have' something but when they have it they very shortly afterwards want
something else. We, as adults, are just like that, though we pretend that
we are not.
Peter
Forbes
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Reading
3 - John 9 & 10
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here to Listen
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9
v.4 - Here again is our required reliance on God shown to us in our
master. We should adopt the same attitude - 'I must do the will of him that
sent me, while it is day.' Our lifetime is of unknown length but definitely
no more than a wink of time in eternity. Life is the time to serve the Lord,
there is no time left afterwards, and we don't any of us know how long we
have left. This seems to have been a theme today. John
4:34, 5:19,36, 10:37, 17:4
Peter Cresswell |
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9:14
We doubtless are aware that Jesus healed on the Sabbath much to the annoyance
of the religious leaders. Here is a list of the occasions where the Sabbath
day is recorded as the day when Jesus healed or taught.
Matthew
12:1 Mark 1:21 2:23 3:2 6:2 Luke 4:16 31 6:1 6 7 13:10 14 14:3 John 5:9
here
10 The
story about the sheepfold is actually a parable [10:6]
We should not confuse the fact that we understand what Jesus was talking
abut with the inability of Jesus' audience to understand. This was typical
of his miracles which were designed to make his audience think abut the
message.
Peter Forbes
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Notice
the three fold, developing, acknowledgement that the man born blind had
of Jesus
9:1
A man that is called Jesus
9:17
He is a prophet
9:33
If this man were not of God he could do nothing.
10:22
By telling us that we are now at the feast of dedication which is around
December time we know that we are now only a few months - about 4 - from
the crucifixion of Jesus.
Peter Forbes
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9:1
Notice the thematic link between 'passed by' and 8:59
'passed by. The healing of the blind man contrasts with the Jewish leaders
who were 'blind' and not healed in the previous chapter.
10:33
Both here and 5:18
show that the Jewish leaders understood that Jesus came 'from God' but
they misrepresented his claims. Rather than seeing him as 'that prophet'
(Deuteronomy
18:15) speaking the words that He gave him they chose to portray Jesus
as claiming equality - which he did not (Philippians
2:6-7)
Peter Forbes
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