Denying the truth does not protect me from the consequences of the truth

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is denying the truth does not protect me from the consequences of the truth.

My primary takeaway from each of the passages was this:

• Numbers 33 & 34: A recounting of the entire journey from Ramses in Egypt to their final destination, still ahead of them, in Canaan. Instructions to wipe out the inhabitants of the land as they enter, and destroy all of their idols and symbols. 
• John 7: No one who heard the words of Jesus is immune from their effect. Everyone who came in contact with him had a decision to make.
• Psalms 75: “At the appointed time I myself shall dispense justice.”
• Proverbs 13: “The upright hates a lying word, but the wicked slanders and defames.”

In Numbers 33 and 34 we encounter one of the unpalatable recurring themes in the old testament: God telling the Israelites to take possession of the land and wipe out the inhabitants. Considering that “history is written by the victors,” it is difficult to know whether God really told them to do that and they justified themselves after the fact, or perhaps God really did tell them to do that because the inhabitants of Canaan needed to be wiped out. Throughout the entire journey from Egypt to this point, the Israelites have repeatedly encountered peoples with abhorrent practices (child sacrifice, for example). Perhaps the Canaanites were guilty of similar abominations. We’ll never know because they were wiped out by the Israelites and can’t speak for themselves now. Meanwhile, I like to consider all the potential variables and reasons for stories like these in the old testament which are so difficult to digest, and for which we don’t have all the facts or complete context. The most important thing about these chapters, for our purposes, is that they are setting us up to watch the Israelites finally enter the Promised Land.

Coincidentally, there’s a clue in John 7 about why (or if) God might have told the Israelites to wipe out the Canaanites. In verse 7, Jesus says, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” As we’ve discussed previously, John is different than the other three gospels. Not only do we see in this book a version of Jesus that is more mystic and spiritual, we also see a version of him that is more angry and exacting. He’s already cleared the temple of the money changers, and now he’s talking about how his mere presence is what angers those in power because it convicts their consciences of the sins and crimes of which they are guilty. Again, “A hit dog hollers.”

In this chapter, Jesus’ “brothers”* encourage him to go speak out in the open. As of late, he has taken to avoiding crowds, especially in Jerusalem, because the Pharisees want to arrest and kill him. He tells them that his time has not yet come, speaking of the fact that he will soon be crucified, but he still has work to do before that happens. Then, the next thing we see is that he IS out in the open preaching again. He starts teaching right in the temple, a place sure to draw the negative attention he was just saying he wanted to avoid.

In the temple, the Jews ask him where he learned to read. It was uncommon at that time for a common laborer to be literate. He answers that his teaching comes from God, and is beyond human education. He also accuses them of being hypocrites because of their criticism of him healing someone on the sabbath. He tells them that they hide behind the law of Moses to defend themselves and their actions, but they do not follow the law of Moses (the spirit of the law).

The people talk amongst themselves about whether he could be the messiah. Jesus responds by speaking of his coming departure from this world. He also speaks to them about the living water they will receive once he’s gone (speaking of the Holy Spirit).

In the crowd are men that were sent to arrest them, but they go back to the authorities empty handed. When asked why they didn’t arrest Jesus, they respond that they had never heard anyone speak the way he did. Jesus’ influence was spreading to everyone who heard him, and he was having an effect even on those sent to arrest him.

Psalms 75 gives us basically the same thing that Jesus says in John 7:16-19 and 21-24. The entire psalm is about the Universal judge (God), who will dispense justice at the appointed time. Jesus could have quoted this psalm when he was talking to the crowd in Jerusalem in John 7.

In Proverbs 13:5, we find a verse that condemns those who were seeking to kill Jesus in John 7. When Jesus told them that they hide behind the law of Moses but don’t abide by it, he could have quoted this verse to them. Their own scriptures convicted them.

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

To participate in a discussion about the posts, please join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day.

If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can download it here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us!

Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit. 

This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

———————————————————

* According to the footnotes in my New Jerusalem Bible, these could have been his actual brothers or his cousins.