rhuff163
2010-05-11 09:56:31 UTC
Devotional Guide For the Week of May 9, 2010
JESUS IN NUMBERS
About sin and grace
To Know:
³While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on
the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and
Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was
not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, The man
must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.¹ So the
assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord
commanded Moses.² (Nu. 15:32-36)
How is it just to inflict the death penalty for Sabbath breaking? Idolatry,
blasphemy, false prophecy, murder and certain sexual sins were punished by
death, but should Sabbath breaking rank with murder? In our times, many do
not believe murder worthy of the death penalty. The seriousness of violating
the Sabbath resided in the fact that the Sabbath was the sign of the
covenant. ³Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God
brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.²
(Deut. 5:15)
The law of God often demands the death penalty for what we deem minor
offenses. Here the death penalty is for gathering wood on a particular day?
The God of the Bible is perfect and will abide nothing less than perfection,
yet we readily confess that, ³Nobody¹s perfect.² If we are imperfect and the
Lord will allow nothing less than perfection to enter his presence, why are
we not struck dead when we so much as entertain a single thought that
offends his holiness? Is it not because of God¹s grace in Jesus Christ?
Ought we not to be filled with awe of the grace of God that we sin and yet
survive? No sin is trivial to God. Christ suffered the death penalty in the
stead of those whose faith is in his name.
051110$-051110
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JESUS IN NUMBERS
About sin and grace
To Know:
³While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on
the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and
Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was
not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, The man
must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.¹ So the
assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord
commanded Moses.² (Nu. 15:32-36)
How is it just to inflict the death penalty for Sabbath breaking? Idolatry,
blasphemy, false prophecy, murder and certain sexual sins were punished by
death, but should Sabbath breaking rank with murder? In our times, many do
not believe murder worthy of the death penalty. The seriousness of violating
the Sabbath resided in the fact that the Sabbath was the sign of the
covenant. ³Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God
brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.²
(Deut. 5:15)
The law of God often demands the death penalty for what we deem minor
offenses. Here the death penalty is for gathering wood on a particular day?
The God of the Bible is perfect and will abide nothing less than perfection,
yet we readily confess that, ³Nobody¹s perfect.² If we are imperfect and the
Lord will allow nothing less than perfection to enter his presence, why are
we not struck dead when we so much as entertain a single thought that
offends his holiness? Is it not because of God¹s grace in Jesus Christ?
Ought we not to be filled with awe of the grace of God that we sin and yet
survive? No sin is trivial to God. Christ suffered the death penalty in the
stead of those whose faith is in his name.
051110$-051110
<{{{{{{><