Numbers 27:12-29:11
Moses really was amazing. The Lord is reminding Moses that he will be punished for his sin and Moses, rather than being defensive, turns his thoughts and prayers to the people who he has let down. Moses believes that the best possible thing for the people of Israel is to have a God-appointed leader who will be like a shepherd to them and if that can’t be him any longer then he is going to ask God to provide someone else. The Lord responds to the desires of Moses (if Moses hadn’t asked would the Lord still have commissioned someone else??) and tells him to pass on his authority to Joshua. This is a fascinating passage for seeing the importance of leadership and the way that it is passed, through the Spirit of God from one person to the next. It is also deeply inspiring to see a man like Moses so deeply committed to the Lord that he will obey him even when that is giving away all that currently defines him.
Luke 8:1-18
Jesus not only cries out “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” but he also, in verse 18 ties hearing into what we receive (those who have etc). Listening is important to Jesus. Hearing is probably even more so. Lots of people listened to the parable of the sower, lots of people saw Jesus taking out the lamp and putting it on a stand. But not that many people really heard what he was saying. Real hearing takes time and it takes effort. We can slant an ear towards someone and listen to their words but it won’t touch our soul, it won’t take root inside of us unless we really attend to it, unless we choose to hear it. Listening is something we do with our ears but hearing is something we do with our minds and our hearts. Hearing is a submissive act that places our agendas and our assumptions at the feet of the one who is speaking. Hearing is an act of worship and an act of devotion. That is why Jesus spoke so highly of hearing and why he tied it into our destiny. Jesus doesn’t want people to just listen to his words and watch what he is doing; he wants people to fix all their senses on him and to be willing to be defined by what he says and does. If we approach Jesus in this way we will find ourselves continually accumulating more and more of his presence and his understanding. He (or she) who has ears, let him (her) hear!
Psalm 38:13-22
David actually thinks the Lord will get him out of the terrible real-world situation he is in. So David calls the Lord his saviour. I’d not quite grasped that before, and I think it is really helpful for understanding what the gospel writers and others are likely to mean when they call Jesus “saviour”.
