As I was continuing my daily reading today some things popped out to me, info I already knew but thought it was interesting. It concerns with eating, marrying and profiling. Things we are all a part of in some form or another, unfortunately some take it to extremes, which causes havoc in society.

Eating

I was reading Genesis 9 this morning and came to verse 3,

Every moving thing that lives shall be  food for you. And as I gave you the green  plants,I give you everything. 4 But you  shall not eat flesh with its life, that is,its  blood.

What God was telling Noah and his family is hey eat up, every living thing that moves is food for you. Just like I gave you the vegetation (which some of us enjoy to ignore this part) I give you the animal kingdom. But notice the restriction, make sure you do not eat its life, which is the blood.

As we will notice later in Exodus and on, God made other dietary restrictions when it came to food. But for right now the Lord says to Noah and his fam to add meat to their diet.

As I read this I find it interesting that God had to tell them this, as I read I began thinking, were they not eating meat prior to the flood, and if not why not?

The conclusion I could think, in the few minutes that i thought about it, was back in the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve they were given the vegetation for food. Can you imagine after about 2000 years the descendants of Adam were still vegetarian, I am sure there was some meat eating going on some where, but for the most part they were veggie/fruit eaters.

You know what this gets me thinking about, the power of discipleship? From Adam to Noah it was passed down to prep veggies and fruit trays for your meals, and it took a word of God to add meat to their diet.

What are you passing down to your family, that in 2000 years they will still be doing with their family. It is a frightening thought, I challenge you take a snap shot of a 24 hour day period and write it down, then think what am i modeling to my kids about what is important in life? What am I teaching is important in regards to how and what I communicate with them? In 2000 years what do I want my family to be doing? How do I want them to be living?

Marrying

I recently read a twitter feed on how a pastor thought interracial marriage was a sin. I will not post here mainly because no one needs to read that garbage.

But as I was reading in my reading today in Ezra 9, it has to do with interracial marriages. Unfortunately people have latched on to these passages to promote that interracial marriage is wrong and sinful. Peeps have used these passages to promote their own racial agendas instead of asking, what is the text actually saying.

Ezra 9:1–2, 10-12

[1] After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. [2] For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost…[10] “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, [11] which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. [12] Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ (ESV)

A closer examination of the text and the Old Testament as whole and we will discover that God is not a racist, Ezra wasn’t a racist. The command of God and the prayer of Ezra had nothing to do with racism, and everything to do about the faithlessness of Israel and the holiness of God’s people.

God’s command to the nation of Israel had nothing to do with racism and everything to do with preserving and protecting God’s people from adopting the religious practices of those around them. God knew the hearts of his people would be attracted to the idolatry of the culture that surrounds them. Nothing changes, the idolatry of our culture is what distracts us from being faithful to Christ also.

If interracial marriage is a sin, unholy and an abomination from God then we have some problems. As we examine the genealogy of Christ we will discover 4 women who were great grandmothers of Jesus who were Gentiles, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. We serve a Savior who is multi ethnic. This fact alone should destroy any arguments promoting racism and arguments for interracial marriage being a sin.

Profiling

Unfortunately, we all have experienced this in some form or another. I have been stereo typed, and profiled as a Hispanic male growing up. But I do not want to talk about racial profiling right now, I want to talk about a different type of profiling, that we as the church can do at times. Can we call it religious profiling or Pharisaical profiling?

My other readings today were in Matthew 9 and Acts 9 were I read about Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector and Saul who was looked up to in his culture but attacking the church.

In Matthew’s case we read,

Matthew 9:9–13

[9] As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

[10] And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [12] But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (ESV)

Acts 9:10–19

[10] Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” [11] And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, [12] and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” [13] But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. [14] And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” [15] But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. [16] For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” [17] So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” [18] And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; [19] and taking food, he was strengthened.

In Matthew’s case, he was profiled as not good enough because he was a tax collector, an extortioner of money from his own people. Just think of how you feel about the IRS and multiply it by 10, 100 or 1000 times, this is what his culture thought of Matthew. In the eyes of the people around him Matthew wasn’t worthy of the Gospel of Jesus.

Fast forward to Saul, he is on the other side of the Jewish spectrum, the best heritage, a top notch Pharisee, persecuting the church. But yet at the same time, he was not consider a prime target to share the Gospel with either. So much so that it was Jesus himself who came and shared the Gospel with him.

We have two people Matthew and Saul who were profiled against as being unfit/unworthy for the Gospel. To the point when Jesus told Ananias to go talk with Saul, he is like I know this guy, are you sure you want me to do this?

Who do we not share the Gospel with because we deem them unfit/unworthy? If we do have that perspective that there are some who are unfit/unworthy of the Gospel, is there something wrong with our hearts? Is that a Gospel attitude to have?

Just some thoughts

Soli Deo Gloria

Josh

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