Read To Me DAILYনমুনা

EXODUS 25-26:
Yesterday in Exodus we read the commands for the Israelites to be good neighbors and to practice justice. And we heard the requirement for all Israelites to celebrate three festivals, and God gave promises of how He would bring them into the land. Then we read the story of how Moses led the people in accepting the covenant. Note how important the sacrificial blood was in this ceremony. The Israelites promised to obey the covenant. Moses told them to wait for him, then he obeyed God's call to go up to the summit of the mountain, where he stayed for 40 days and nights.

PSALMS 1:
Job— as I said before, is a book of sophisticated poetry, one that uses literary devices and makes reference to a well-developed mythology. And we find a book that defies simple analysis. Why was Elihu not included with Job’s three friends who were ordered to bring sacrifices? My personal theory is that the author wrote himself into the story at this point. I hinted on day number two who that author might be.

At the conclusion of Job, some of you may be feeling that some basic questions were not really answered. Some of you may be saying, “But I have suffered injustice, and God has not responded to me the way he responded to Job at the end of the book.” To those of you, I say that we can learn several things from Job, and one would be that there are many things God takes into account that we do not know about. And secondly, we can be sure that God is just and fair, and in the final analysis— when we reach heaven, all issues of justice will be resolved. And I also say this: I hope you continue to follow this reading plan right on through the year, because we will find more answers about God’s sovereignty and justice as we go along. 

We turn today to the book of Psalms, which is the hymnbook for the nation of Israel. The poems were compiled over time, with most of the first half by King David. The Psalms fall into these categories:

Instruction, Praise, Thanksgiving, 
Penitence, Trust, Distress, 
Aspiration, History, and Prophecy.

Under the prophecy category, the Psalms talk of Jesus' prophetic office, his priestly office, his kingly office, his sufferings, and his resurrection. (For details, see HC Mears.)

LUKE 2b:
Yesterday in Luke’s gospel, we read of Jesus' birth, of the angels announcement to the shepherds, and of Jesus being presented in the temple— which is where we pick up the story today.