Tag Christian

Precept Upon Precept

Todd R Leave a comment

Dear fellow travelers,

Many parts of the Bible can seem repetitive and hard to read for that reason.  Did the Bible really need to be written this way?  Couldn’t we have been given a shorter version, covering everything we need, but only once?  A shorter Bible would be easier to read, right?

It turns out that Isaiah the prophet’s audience had similar complaints.  In Isaiah 28:9-10, they complain about Isaiah’s messages from God:

“To whom will he [Isaiah] teach knowledge,
            and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
            those taken from the breast?
For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
            line upon line, line upon line,
            here a little, there a little.”

The people mock Isaiah, saying he is repetitive, and is treating them as children.  Can’t Isaiah get to the point and then move on?  Why repeat the same lines and precepts?  The context of the quote above is that Isaiah was telling the people that they were about to be conquered and sent into exile because they wouldn’t listen to God.  The message was repetitive because their obstinacy required it, and therefore their discipline will also be repetitive.  They were acting like disobedient children, so maybe they needed to be treated as children.[1]  Isaiah next writes that God’s people will learn from a people “with a foreign tongue” (their conquerors):

“And the word of the LORD will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
            line upon line, line upon line,
            here a little, there a little,
that they may go, and fall backward,
            and be broken, and snared, and taken.” – Isaiah 28:13

Photo by Aurora K on Unsplash

They wouldn’t listen and follow or obey God, and their discipline would be as repetitive as the message they failed to receive.  As is often true, God’s punishment fits the crime as shown by the parallels in the two quotes above.

To an unbeliever God’s words will always seem like nonsense, as we see from 1 Corinthians 2:14,

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”  However, believers can also get annoyed at the repetition of God’s word.  We may ignore it, as if it was nonsense to us.  But like the people of Isaiah’s time, maybe God is being repetitive because that’s what we need.  Often, it’s hard for us to listen otherwise.

In his letters, the apostle Peter recognized the need for this.  He knew that his readers needed to be reminded of things they should already know:

“I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” – 2 Peter 1:13
“This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder” – 2 Peter 3:1

Peter knew from experience that Jesus had to repeat many things to him before he understood (for example, John 21:15-17) and therefore knew the importance of reminders.  The phrase “stirring up” means “to wake fully.”  In a sense, encouraging reminders are like spiritual caffeine, awakening us to basic truths we may drift away from.  Like caffeine wears off over time, unfortunately so can the effect of God’s word in our lives.  So, we need to be “stirred up” again and again.

Sometimes we let Christ sink below our other thoughts and feelings instead of keeping him at the forefront, directing them.  When this happens, we need a reminder.  Sometimes we read the Bible and think “I already know that” but fail to see that we aren’t changed by the truths we read, nor are we acting upon them.  When this happens, we need a reminder.  We need God to nudge us “here a little, there a little,” as Isaiah said.

Until we have achieved complete obedience to God in thought and deed, until we have achieved holiness, God will continue to repeat His messages to us.  Even Christians can find it hard to listen.

If we find that God’s message is seeming very repetitive, we should ask ourselves why and pray that we can be better listeners.

[1] See also 1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12-14

Freeing Ourselves from the Man in the Mirror

Todd R Leave a comment

In Deuteronomy Moses reviews the giving of the Ten Commandments and reminds us that he didn’t just come down from the mountain with the Commandments written on tablets as we sometimes imagine, but that the “LORD spoke with you [Israel] face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire”[1]  Terrified of this manifestation of God, the people responded “we will hear and do it.”[2]

God was pleased that the people pledged their obedience, but lamented to Moses in Deuteronomy 5:29, “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!”  In this statement, our Holy, all-knowing God makes 2 points: that obeying Him is in Israel’s best interest, and also that they don’t always do it.  Not only did they not always obey Him, but they often didn’t have “such a heart” for it.  They didn’t even intend to obey Him, whether neglectfully or intentionally.  Like ancient Israel, we often hear the Ten Commandments and the rest of God’s Word and instead of saying “we will hear and do it,” we continue along our own path.

James describes a similar scenario in a New Testament context:

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” – James 1:23-25

Photo by Jovis Aloor on Unsplash

James compares hearing God’s law to seeing in a mirror what we really look like: we look like sinners who fall short of perfect obedience and need God’s grace.  God didn’t give us His “perfect law” to condemn us, although because we aren’t perfect His law does condemn us.  He didn’t give the law to make us feel bad, although any of us can struggle with a guilty conscience.  He gave His commands because they’re what’s best for us, and along with them He gave His Son so we could find our way back to Him.  We are blessed when we do what He wants because God gave His commands so “that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever.”  For those with faith in Christ, God’s “perfect law” is a “law of liberty” that frees us to be blessed by acting on God’s will for us.  We have liberty not to sin.

But when we spend too much time looking in the mirror at ourselves, we risk feeling condemned and guilty.  We risk seeing God’s law and our failure to keep it as the end of the story.  Therefore, we must instead focus on our God of grace, who through Christ gives us liberty and freedom from condemnation and guilt.  As Paul wrote in Romans 8:1-2, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

When we don’t feel we have “such a heart” as to follow God always (which is probably often), let it drive us to dwell on the character of our God, who revealed Himself to Moses as “the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”[3]

Don’t start with the man in the mirror.  Start with Him.

“When the outlook is grim, try the uplook!” – Warren Wiersbe

[1] Deuteronomy 5:4
[2] Deuteronomy 5:27
[3] Deuteronomy 34:6b

Daily Readings for September 7 – 13

Todd R Leave a comment

Fellow travelers:

For those looking for a Bible reading plan, each week I post 2 chapters to read per day as a main reading plan, and for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2026, I’ll post the extra chapters to read that week.  The main readings will include nearly all of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Prophets, and a few other Old Testament books.

Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, so the “extra” readings will be about 9 chapters per week.  These readings will cover the Pentateuch, the OT histories, a few other OT books, plus Jude and Revelation from the NT.

Regardless, I hope this schedule encourages others to read and study their Bible more, whatever parts they decide to read.  Follow along (or not) any way you choose!

2 chapter a day plan:
Monday, September 7: 2 Corinthians 11 – 12
Tuesday, September 8: 2 Corinthians 13, Micah 1
Wednesday, September 9: Micah 2 – 3
Thursday, September 10: Micah 4 – 5
Friday, September 11: Micah 6 – 7
Saturday, September 12: Galatians 1 – 2
Sunday, September 13: Galatians 3 – 4

Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2026:
2 Kings 11 – 19

Notes From the Tilt-a-Whirl: Book Thoughts

Todd R 1 Comment

What do you get when you combine equal parts whimsy, theology and apologetics?  A book called Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N.D. Wilson.  Subtitled “Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World,” I would have never come across this book, and wouldn’t have considered reading it if I had, except that a relative (and blog reader) strongly recommended it.  However, the fact that the book begins with “I am a traveler” was a good starting point considering my blog’s typical greeting.

How to describe this book?  I think it was written as an antidote to this quote from the early pages of the book itself: “Marx called religion an opiate, and all too often it is.  But philosophy is an anesthetic, a shot to keep the wonder away.”  The book makes Christianity exciting and wonderful.  It dwells on how interesting, and often bizarre, this world and universe are, and how it can only be explained by an infinitely creative Creator God.  As a bonus, I learned a lot about nature from this book!

The book’s main point of view is that God is an artist, constantly creating in ways that we can’t reproduce or even fully understand.  God is always speaking things into existence and sustaining those things, including us.  “The world cannot exist apart from the voice of God,” and we are “a glop of paint, a character on a stage, an extra in a musical” in God’s creation.  Everything we create is an imitation of His infinite creativity.  Even the painter Jackson Pollock, when trying to create art that looks random and without design, can’t avoid the fact that he is its creator and that he created it on purpose.  It wouldn’t exist otherwise.

There’s also a good deal of philosophy in this book, but in a philosophy-for-poets kind of way that goes just deep enough so you can follow where he’s going, which is usually to show how the philosophy falls short of what the gospel offers.  He covers a lot of different viewpoints and always with a touch of whimsy (and at times a little condescension).  There’s a bit of Hume, a bit of Nietzsche, and a few others.

My favorite part of the book was his answer to an unbeliever who asked him whether he thought she was going to hell.  I won’t spoil it here (you’ll have to read it to find out), but I’m not sure C.S. Lewis could have come up with a better response.  If or when I’m asked that question, I hope I remember it.

For some the book’s whimsicality may seem irreverent as it explores our strange universe in all its forms over time.  For instance, Wilson at one point wonders: “As for God, His Son turned water into wine.  And so we end the story before He turned that wine into urine.  (Should we deny that He did?)”.  Sometimes Wilson goes for shock value to make us think, and here he asks us whether we really consider how complex and yet orderly this world really is, and how we think about the miracles Jesus performed.  And speaking of shock value, now is also probably a good time to warn you that there is a little bit of bad language in the book, if that bothers you.

So, if you’re looking for something to read that is likely very different from other things you read (at least for me), pick up Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N.D. Wilson.  It was very funny, thought-provoking and edifying all at the same time.  I look forward to reading it again, and soon!

Check it out.

God Overcomes the Green-Eyed Monster

Todd R Leave a comment

In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the evil Iago says the line: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on.”[1]

Jealousy can be a monster that takes control of us if we aren’t careful, so since at least 1603, people have been describing this powerful emotion as being taken over by the “green-eyed monster.”  What is this emotion?  Merriam-Webster says we are jealous when we feel “hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage.”[2]  Even though jealousy is a hostile emotion, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,”[3] so He must be able to work through the green-eyed monster.

The first use of the word jealousy in the ESV Bible comes from Genesis 37:11, which begins with: “And [Joseph’s] brothers were jealous of him.”   This jealousy came from the favoritism Joseph’s father Jacob showed toward Joseph over his 11 brothers, but also the dreams Joseph shared where his family was bowing to him.  So, in Genesis 37:19-20, the brothers “said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer.  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.’”  But Joseph was rescued and ended up in charge of Egypt’s food supply during a famine, enabling him, through God’s providence, to feed and save the rest of his family.  Therefore, what started as jealousy resulted in Israel’s deliverance from famine.  Joseph tells his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  (Genesis 50:20)

Later, in the New Testament, jealousy was a cause of the persecution of the early Christian church.  Acts 13:44-45 says “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.  But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him” and Acts 17:4-5 says “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.  But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.” (Emphases added)

The apostle Paul was quite aware of this fierce jealousy, but instead of getting upset and annoyed about it, he knew that God would use it for the good of His people.  In fact, while Paul knew his ministry to the Gentiles provoked jealous feelings among Jews, he also hoped jealousy would bring some Jews to faith in Christ: “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.” (Romans 11:13-14)

But the biggest example of God working through jealousy and its relative, envy, can be found at the cross.  Pharisees and other religious leaders of Jesus’ day were jealous of the crowds that followed Him, of the authority He wielded, and of the miracles He performed.  Therefore, they plotted against Jesus to silence Him, and when they finally seized Him and turned Him over to Pilate, the Roman governor of the region, Matthew 27:18 records that Pilate “knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.”  What began as jealousy led to the cross and the only way our sins could be paid for was fulfilled!

Jealousy remains a harmful emotion, and God never creates evil in us, but jealous feelings not only resulted in the temporal salvation of Israel from famine and eternal salvation for some Jews in the New Testament, but jealousy also contributed to the crucifixion of Jesus, which made all salvation possible. When Paul wrote “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,” it included God overcoming “all things.”  Even jealousy, the green-eyed monster.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/top-10-phrases-from-shakespeare
[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jealous
[3] Romans 8:28