Matthew 16

For some reason I don't feel like I have a lot to say about this passage. There is some good stuff here, no doubt, but the only thing I want to really bring up is Peter's actions. In verses 15 to 17 he rightly identifies who Jesus is, and is blessed by Jesus - but then five short verses later he goofs up enough to be rebuked quite sternly by Jesus.

To me, this is a good reminder / example for us that we can be spot-on following God one moment and then screw up royally the next. We are still human, after all, and though the grace of God covers us if we have put our faith in Jesus we still make plenty of mistakes. God loves us no matter what, though, and while He may rebuke or correct us we need to learn from it and not get bogged down in depression or self-pity for our errors. We need simply to confess our sins, and repent (turn away from them)... God takes care of the rest!

Numbers 15

After the preceding passages, I wasn't really expecting the reading today to drop back into rules and regulations about sacrifices. The section demonstrating the differences between unintentional and deliberate sins is quite interesting, though, and a good reminder to us today that intentionally violating God's laws is a very serious matter. In older times it would have been a death sentence, but now with the gift of Jesus' sacrifice for us it is not quite so lethal any more - but that does not mean we should take our freedom lightly or for granted.

Leviticus 4

The regulations in this chapter cover "sin offerings" - which were apparently special for circumstances in which a person or group had fallen into sin unintentionally. Once that was discovered, this type of offering would be made to cleanse the affected person/people.

What really surprised me here were two things:

- It seems that every time one sinned accidentally this was to take place. If that is correct, and was followed to the letter, I would expect a non-stop stream of people coming to give offerings day and night!

- For the way things are phrased, at least in the NIV I was reading tonight, it sounds like one wasn't considered guilty of the sin until one had realized it had happened. This was backwards of what I thought previously: I always assumed that once one committed a sin (intentionally or not) one was guilty of it; this, though, makes it seem that guilt traces back to the moment of realization of the sin. I suppose that could be instantly after - or even during - the sin, or it could be days, weeks, or years later.

How interesting these items are! Furthermore, I wonder what one was to do as restitution if one sinned willfully...

Genesis 3

Adam and Eve - those to whom we owe our sinful nature! Though I suspect that any of us, in the same situation, would have made the same mistakes. Hindsight is 20/20 they say, and I'm sure that holds true here.

Anyways, one thing I find interesting here is the excuses that Adam and Eve give to God when they are discovered. Adam blames his wife, though he fully made the decision to eat for himself even if he may not have been able to control her actions. He also tried to point the finger at God for giving him the woman! She in turn blames the serpent, or Satan. I wonder if the temptation took place in the short couple of minutes that it sounds like, or if it was an ongoing effort over a length of time. I'm also curious about how long Adam and Eve had been alive before they gave in to the serpent's urgings... again, a good question for God some day.

The other section that stands out in this passage is the curses God puts on all three of the participants. Eve's penalty hits especially close to home for me, since my wife is nearing the end of her pregnancy. All of the pain that she will have to go through - and has already had to deal with - is because of sin. Of course, sin's spiritual effects are much worse and more permanent, but it is still interesting to think of the enormous difficulties women have in childbirth as part of the curse... (shudder).

This chapter in:
New America Standard, New King James, New International