December 27 - 2 John; 3 John: Loving and Inviting Christians into Your Home

Today’s Reading: 2 John; 3 John

The Message

English Standard Version

You have been reading the Bible now for 360 days. Only five to go! What a journey through Scripture!

Thought to Guide Your Reading

John wants both groups (or tells the same group twice) to be careful of people who do not love their neighbor as themselves.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

2 John

The Elder to my dear congregation: Everyone in the Truth loves you.
May grace, mercy, and peace come through truth and love from the Father and Son!
I am thrilled that you live the Truth. Conduct your lives in love. You know this already because it never changes.
There are many who deny Jesus was human. They are the Antichrist! Don't be influenced by them. If you stop believing in Jesus you stop believing in God. Don't let them in!
Let's speak face-to-face soon. Everyone here greets you.

3 John

The Elder to Gaius:
I love you, friend! I pray for your fortune, health, and soul. News of my children's faithfulness always brightens my day.
Hospitality shows your faith—a good work worthy of God. By helping passing Christians when unbelievers wouldn't you joined in their work.
Diotrephes questions my advice. He will answer for spreading rumors and throwing out travelling Christians. Don't join this evil! They know nothing about God.
Good for Demetrius, he excels in the Truth.
I'll have more to say in person.
Peace and greetings from us to you.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

We obey God by loving others.

Just as John wrote, there isn't much new in this book. There isn't much new for me to comment on, either. We know loving is how we obey God from several sections already. It is the basic command that never changes.

To deny Jesus as human and divine is to walk away from God.

Yesterday we read how the Antichrist is someone who denies Jesus was divine. Today John adds that a person who denies Jesus was human is anti-Christ. We cannot choose what we want from God. We must have all of Him or none of Him.

Don't invite people who deny Jesus' humanity or deity to teach—no matter how interesting they may be.

The reason is simple—we do not want their influence on our lives. That doesn't mean we stay away from them completely, though. We simply do not give them a place of influence. That is very different than having conversations as equals.

Hospitality is very important to God.

John has nothing but good things to say about Gaius' hospitality. It is worthy of God's Work. God's Chosen Messengers deserve to be taken care of by His Chosen People. The world will not do it, so it is our job to do it. Diotrephes had a lot to answer for because he showed no hospitality to God's Messengers. Show hospitality for God's Chosen People travelling through. They deserve any support we can give them.
I have stayed in many Christians' homes, sometimes for extended stays. Their willingness to share part of their lives with me can never be taken away from them and I will always stay grateful of their sacrifice. May it continue!

Have you any stories of great hospitality shown to you?

March 18 - Deuteronomy 21-23: Moses Reminds the People of Various Laws

Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 21-23

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Some of the laws God gave the Israelites are higher moral laws than we have today.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

The nearest city should bury abandoned corpses.
A female war-bride could be married after she mourned. If divorced, she was freed.
Birth order must stay the same. Execute a rebellious child. Bury the executed the same day.
Be good neighbors—return lost property and do not harvest another's field.
No mixing.
Wife-slanderers must be severely punished. Execute adulterers—unless the woman had no one to protect her. A virgin raped became the man's wife forever.
God restricted entry to the Tabernacle.
Defecate outside the camp.
Israel could not bring a prostitute's wages into the temple or charge interest to Israelites.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

God protected women more than any other culture of the day.

Remember, women were thought of as property and child-bearers only by most people. If a man could not trust his wife then he could never really know if his children were his. So God's laws may not have given her equal rights to men as we would hope but God was not working with the same group of people. Let me explain through the examples given in the text.
A man could marry a slave captured in war but only after she had the opportunity to grieve for her loss. Later, if the man decided he no longer wanted her she went free. A man could not marry a slave girl, take advantage of her, and then sell her back into slavery when he grew tired of her.
A man who had two wives (often one married because of his parents' choice and one because of love) could not give the loved wife's children more than the other children. How does this protect the women? By protecting their children.
A man could not have remorse and get rid of his new wife by slandering her. The parents could protect her by showing the marriage bed's stains and prove she was a virgin.
An engaged woman who was raped would not be executed if she had no one to protect her. Protection is the reason a woman raped in a city did not have that excuse. She had the opportunity and ability to cry out and (because their walls were not very soundproof) have a protector come and save her. If she did not cry out then she must have been implicit in the act and would be executed with the man.
A virgin who was not engaged would become the man's wife. Remember, virginity is prized to these people. If a girl was not a virgin she would no longer be marriage material. A man could not use a girl and throw her out when he grew tired of her. Her virginity was lost but she forever had the protection of a man.
God protects women and will not allow men to treat them as possessions.

Parents are responsible for teaching their children. Children are responsible for obeying their parents.

God does not put the responsibility on one and not the other. Both sides must work together to make things right on the earth. God requires both parents and children to set things right in a family.

God wants His Chosen People to be good neighbors.

These seem like simple laws. However, think about this situation today. How often does lost property get returned to its proper owner? Not as often as it should. God's chosen people should be good neighbors.

God punishes the Ammonites and the Moabites for not allowing Israel to cross into their borders.

This event comes from Numbers. The people of Moab would not allow Israel to cross into their borders because they were scared and were inhospitable. God is punishing them for not allowing refugees into their land. God will punish those who are not hospitable to people in need.

God's law about taking from a field show that God is not the black-and-white god some present

God forbids stealing in the Ten Commandments, the first laws of Moses' law. Reaping a field that is not your own is stealing. However, God allows people to eat from someone else's field. How is this righteous? The person is hungry. The person is not allowed to take a bunch home or sell it to others. This is important because it shows that God is not a black-and-white god who has no exceptions to any laws. He does not want anyone to steal, but he will allow them to take some when they are hungry. God's laws are not so stiff that no exceptions can be made, but these exceptions must have a non-self-serving reason behind them.

God protects the poor from interest.

God has already told the people that if they obey Him they will not have poor in their country. So now God protects the poor who will be in the land from having to pay more than they borrow. God's Chosen People do not lend to other Chosen People and charge interest.

March 3 - Numbers 18-20: Moses and Aaron Sin, Aaron Dies

Today’s Reading: Numbers 18-20

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Moses—the greatest non-Jesus prophet ever—disobeyed God out of frustration.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

God instructed Aaron that his descendents were the only ones allowed to work with the Tabernacle's sacred object. The Levites would receive a tenth of all Israel gained instead of land.
The ash of a heifer was used to reinstate a person who had touched a dead body. If anyone did not follow the rituals they were excommunicated from the community.
Moses and Aaron angrily struck a rock to produce water instead of speaking to it as God commanded; therefore, God barred them from entering Canaan.
Edom would not allow Israel to cross its borders.
Aaron died on Mount Hor.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

God wanted the Levites to be full-time diplomats between the Israelites and God.

God did not want the Levites to have split priorities. So he offered them the ability to not work the land and become His priests. In return, they would receive 10% of the entire crop. God required only 10% of that to be given to Him (1% of the country's total). God wishes to have His Chosen People fund full-time, dedicated workers for Him.

Moses' frustration with the people comes out by disobeying God.

With all that had happened since the scouts were sent into Canaan, it is almost understandable why Moses would be so upset that he either forgot or purposely disobeyed God. These people are scum compared to Moses and they do not learn anything from God. But this mistake costs Moses and Aaron dearly. They are a cautionary tale for leaders. When leaders act out of frustration, they cannot set things right.

Edom does not allow Israel to enter both because of its lack of hospitality and its fear.

This is a difficult text. On the one hand, Israel did not have a great relationship with the Egyptians and word has mostly likely passed to the Edomites. They are also a huge group of people who could wipe out Edom's resources for the entire year. On the other, Edom must show hospitality to others. Since Israel was willing to not trespass off the roads and repay anything eaten or destroyed they should have allowed the people to pass through their land. This will come back to haunt them in the future. Those who are hospitable set things right.