Day 1/20 – Following the Recipe

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter Henrichsen
Following the Recipe
Day Twenty

“…to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” I Samuel 15:22

The Ark of the Covenant, which belonged in the Holy of Holies, was housed with Abinadab when David became king. When moving the Ark, they laced it upon a cart rather than carry it, according to God’s instruction in the Law. 27 When the cart tipped, Uzzah grabbed the Ark to steady it and God struck him dead.28 God allowed for no deviation in keeping His commandments.

The Old Testament Law is filled with great detail on how things were to be done. The greater the detail, however, the greater the temptation to modify the instructions. “God doesn’t really care about the details; it is the spirit that counts,” is how you can so easily rationalize. Like Uzzah, such people frequently get into trouble with God.

In the New Testament, by and large, God does not give a great deal of detail. In rites such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and congregating in His name, no specifics are given. Thus we are free to improvise as we please. But instead of enjoying our freedom in Christ, we fragment over the details. Denominations come into existence over mode of baptism, the exact meaning of the bread and wine, and what we do when we congregate in His name. Unity is lost in violation of His wish that we be one.

It seems that no matter what God asks, we want to argue with Him. When He tells us that details are important, we want the freedom to improvise. When He allows improvisation, we argue over the details. If Uzzah teaches anything, it is that handling the instructions of God with frivolity is dangerous. The wise servant of God calls essential what God deems essential, and nonessential all else.

27 cf. Numbers 4:1-15
28 cf. II Samuel 6:1-11

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Genesis 49-50 Matthew 13:31-58 (New King James Version)

Genesis 49-50
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
49 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
2
“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.
3
“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.
5
“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of [a]cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6
Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they [b]hamstrung an ox.
7
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.
8
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
9
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He [c]bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10
The [d]scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11
Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12
His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13
“Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
14
“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
15
He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.
16
“Dan shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17
Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
18
I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!
19
“Gad,[e] a troop shall [f]tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.
20
“Bread from Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.
21
“Naphtali is a deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.
22
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
23
The archers have bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
24
But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were [g]made strong
By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25
By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26
The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Burial of Jacob
50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned[h] for him seventy days.
4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”
6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called [i]Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. 13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. 14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may [j]actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke [k]kindly to them.
Death of Joseph
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely [l]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Footnotes:
• Genesis 49:5 violence
• Genesis 49:6 lamed
• Genesis 49:9 couches
• Genesis 49:10 A symbol of kingship
• Genesis 49:19 Lit. Troop
• Genesis 49:19 Lit. raid
• Genesis 49:24 Or supple
• Genesis 50:3 Lit. wept
• Genesis 50:11 Lit. Mourning of Egypt
• Genesis 50:15 fully
• Genesis 50:21 Lit. to their hearts
• Genesis 50:25 give attention to

Matthew 13:31-58
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
The Parable of the Leaven
33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three [a]measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
Prophecy and the Parables
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
The Parable of the Tares Explained
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The Parable of the Dragnet
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
51 [b]Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, [c]Lord.”
52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every [d]scribe instructed [e]concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, [f]Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Footnotes:
• Matthew 13:33 Gr. sata, same as a Heb. seah; approximately 2 pecks in all
• Matthew 13:51 NU omits Jesus said to them
• Matthew 13:51 NU omits Lord
• Matthew 13:52 A scholar of the Old Testament
• Matthew 13:52 Or for
• Matthew 13:55 NU Joseph