Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. God did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; also they beheld God, and they ate and drank.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, July 7, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Have I ever really “seen” this before? I know I’ve read it, but obviously it never sank in because I think I would remember so vivid an event: with all the language in the bible around how seeing the face of God mean instant death, here we have more than seventy people seeing God and then eating and drinking to celebrate. Um…what?
I guess I don’t have much to say about this from a devotional perspective, except that no matter how many times you read it, scripture can surprise you. Sometimes pleasantly, sometimes unpleasantly, and sometimes…well…bewilderingly, like this one. I continue to be so grateful to be in these texts, reading and pondering, digging and discerning, just waiting for God to surprise and challenge me all over again. It’s just awesome.
When have I been surprised by something I’ve read in scripture?