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#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 79

Mar19

    Day 79 —  Now that we’ve passed Day 66, we have established a “habit.” So CELEBRATE our habit of daily Bible reading! We are in the THIRD month so far! Praise God!

   Day 79 – Deuteronomy 28 – 29 (Blessings, More curses, God’s glorious Name, Admonitions, Willful sin, Secret things.)

What a joy it is to read the “Blessings” God will shower on faithful people in Chapter 28.  “If you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” 

(Yes, he is speaking of Israel, but it sounds a little like what America was in the beginning. Why have we forsaken the God of our forefathers?)

  • God promised Israel fruitfulness of the womb, in the fields, vineyards, and barns.
  • He promised to bless all their goings and comings, their fights against enemies, and in all they would undertake.
  • He promised He would establish them as a people, holy (separated) unto Himself. 
  • All nations would see this, and fear them.
  • They would abound in prosperity. 
  • They would get good rain in season, and have such an abundance that they would lend to other nations and never have to borrow.  WOW!

If only they would obey Him and not go after other gods to serve them.

BUT…..if they would NOT obey Him and keep His commands…. then all these horrific and terrible curses would assail them.

  • They would experience the plagues of Egypt that they had earlier escaped. 
  • There would be drought and their soil would turn to iron and powdery dust.
  • Their enemies would easily defeat them and their dead bodies would become the food of the birds and beasts of the earth. 
  • They would experience deadly, despicable, and painful, physical disease.
  • They would become captives, their children taken as slaves, and they’d be driven mad by the things their eyes would see happen.
  • They would eat their own children out of intense hunger, even the most refined and tender men and women would do this.
  • Extraordinary, severe, grievous and lasting diseases would cling to them and not be cured. 
  • Trembling hearts, failing eyes, languishing souls. Day and night they will be in dread of their life.

All because they were not careful to 1) do all the words of God’s law, and 2) they did not fear this glorious and awesome name, the “LORD your God.” (28:58) 

In Chapter 29, Moses reviewed the covenant the that LORD made with them at Mt. Sinai, and how He miraculously took care of them.  He reminded them that Israel was standing that day on the brink of their destiny, on the edge of the Promised Land, and that ALL the people of Israel were to join into this Covenant with their God.

“Beware,” he warned, “lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, on the one, when he hears good words of the sworn covenant, that he… “blesses himself in his heart saying, ‘“I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.”   

Oh, this is presuming on Almighty God, and even today we do this! Beware…. “the LORD will not be willing to forgive him… but will blot out his name before heaven.“

29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law. “

Could those “secret things” that God will carry out in the future be the completion of His so great a salvation for sinners in the work of salvation through Jesus, the Messiah?

 

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 74

Mar14

    Day 74 —  Now that we’ve passed Day 66, we have established a “habit.” So CELEBRATE our habit of daily Bible reading! We are in the THIRD month so far! Praise God!

   Day 74– Deuteronomy 11 – 13 (Love, discipline, & obedience, Holy Worship, False Prophets)

Moses continues his admonitions to Israel in Chapter 11, urging them 1) to LOVE their God (who loves them) and 2) to KEEP his charge, statutes, rules, and commandments, and 3) to CONSIDER the discipline of their God for their good, and 4) to REMEMBER His care for them in the wilderness.  Oh, the blessings that will follow, if they do these!

Then Moses offers them two choices. “See, I am setting before you today a BLESSING  and a CURSE; the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today, and the curse if you do NOT obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way…and go after gods that you have not know.” Their choice.

In Chapter 12, Moses tells them God will choose a place where He will dwell and where they are to worship Him. No longer will He be in the center of their camp, but in a permanent place in the Promised Land. BUT they are still to come there to offer their burnt sacrifices, no matter how far away they live.

They are also to tear down all the alters and pagan worship places they encounter in the land, and not be tempted to worship false gods there.  God also now says they can slaughter and eat meat whenever they wish, and not first offer it to God.

Moses then gives stern warning against false prophets or “dreamers” in Chapter 13. Even if these men speak truth, and what they say comes to pass, IF THEY LEAD TO IDOL WORSHIP, they are to be stoned to death, so that “evil will be purged from Israel’s midst.”  EVEN IF their close relatives tempt them secretly to go serve other gods, they are to be killed.

LOVE the LORD only, and SERVE HIM only.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 73

Mar13

    Day 73 —  Now that we’ve passed Day 66, we have established a “habit.” So CELEBRATE our habit of daily Bible reading! We are in the THIRD month so far! Praise God!

   Day 73– Deuteronomy 8 – 10 (Remember, don’t forget, not your righteousness, 2nd chance)

In these chapters Moses continues with his admonitions, reminders and challenges to Israel while on the brink of entering the Promised Land.

In Chapter 8 Moses tells them to remember how the LORD led them and took care of them for 40 years. How he humbled and tested them, how he fed them and kept their clothes from wearing out and their feet from swelling.

He also tells them not to forget the LORD once they are in that good and fruitful land, and their homes are built, crops & herds flourishing, and bellies full.  But remember how he kept them in that terrifying wilderness and watered and fed them there.  They are to remember it is the LORD who gives them the power to get wealth, and to NOT forget their God and go after idols.

In Chapter 9, Moses reminds them them that it was NOT THEIR righteousness that brought them to the Promised Land, but because of the wickedness of the nations they will be driving out.  These nations’ iniquity had grown to full ripeness, and Israel was going in to pluck and destroy it.  THEIR wickedness, not ISRAEL’S righteousness is bringing them into the Land, for they are a stubborn people.

Moses reminds them of the horrible golden calf they built and worshiped, and how he fell flat on his face before God for forty days interceding for them and for Aaron that God would not destroy them all, not for THEIR sake, but for HIS great name’s sake.

In Chapter 10, He tells them again of the tables of stone which contain the Ten Commandments for them to keep. “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD…..for your good.”

And they were to “circumcise their hearts and no long be stubborn, for “the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God.”  “He is your praise, He is YOUR God.”

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 70 & 71

Mar11

    Day 70 & 71—  Now that we’ve passed Day 66, we have established a “habit.” So CELEBRATE our habit of daily Bible reading! We are in the THIRD month so far! Praise God!  (Note: SUNDAY’s reading is combined with MONDAY’s)

   Day 70 – Deuteronomy 1 – 2 (God’s orders & Moses’ Recap so far)

Deuteronomy means “Second Law” so in this book, Moses repeats a lot of what has happened so far, and explains and clarifies the law God gave them. He will also tell them what will happen if Israel obeys, and what will happen if they don’t.

In Chapter 1, Moses reviews the journey from Mt. Horeb (Sinai) to where they are at present, east of the Jordan River.  Their journey should have taken eleven DAYS, but here they are in the fortieth YEAR.  Why?  He recalls how they had originally approached the Promised Land, sent in spies, and believed the fearful report from 10 of the spies, and decided to choose a new leader and go back to Egypt.

God responded by telling them they would indeed go back, but just into the wilderness until ALL that generation was DEAD. When they heard that, they wept bitterly, but “the LORD did not listen to their voice or give ear to them.” (1:45)

In Chapter 2, Moses tells how God eventually instructed them to turn NORTH.  But He warned them not make trouble with Edom (descendants from Jacob’s brother Esau) or with Moab & Ammon (sons of Abraham’s nephew, Lot), because they were “Family” and God had also given them their land (for Abraham’s sake). God promised to put “fear and dread” in the hearts of all the rest of their enemies for their sake as they moved into enemy territory.

    Day 71 – Deuteronomy 3 – 4 (Reminders of God’s power in war, Moses’ request denied, No other God like Israel’s God)

In Chapter 3, Moses recalls to the people how God helped them war & win against King Og and King Sihon, without a man of Israel lost, and how they were enriched by all the spoil.

(A fun side note is that King Og was the last of the giants (Rephaim) in that area, and that his bed (or coffin) was 13.5 feet long and 6 feet wide.  In reminding Israel how God had defeated him, they were not to be afraid of the other giants in the land.)

Moses then pleads with God. “Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan.”

The LORD answers sternly, “Enough from you. Do not speak to me of this matter again.”

However God does allow Moses to “see” the Land from the North to South, and East to West from Mt. Pisgah, but it is Joshua who will lead the people to possess the Promised Land.

In Chapter 4, Moses repeatedly WARNS Israel not to make or worship any carved idol-gods, for WHO IS LIKE OUR GOD?  What nation has ever had so powerful and righteous a god as the God of Israel. They are to remember all He has done for them, rescuing them from “the Iron Furnace” of Egypt, caring for them, loving them, providing for them, protecting them.

They are also to remember that the LORD their God is a “consuming fire, a jealous God” (for the people He chose, loved, and rescued).  He warns that if they turn from this truly magnificent omnipotent God, He will send them to exile. But even there, He will not forsake them. And if they seek Him with all their hearts, they will find Him. For their God is also “a merciful God.” He would not leave or destroy them or forget the covenant He swore to their forefathers.

He is like no other!  There is no other besides Him. THEREFORE, they were to keep his statutes and His commandments.  From there Moses gives an introduction to the Law that God wrote on the tablets of stone.

(Next chapter will review the TEN in detail)

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 63 & 64

Mar4

    Day 63 & 64—  We have begun the THIRD month of Bible reading! We’ve been reading for over a 1/6 of a year now! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue till the end of the year. (Note: SUNDAY’s reading is combined with MONDAY’s)

   Day 63 – Numbers 21 – 22 (War begins, snakes, singing, a prophet & donkey)

Numbers 21. After mourning for Aaron a month, the people begin the Canaanite campaign. The king of Arad attacks and takes some captives. Israel prays and they completely destroy them at Hormah. (Where 40 years earlier they’d try to do it against God’s will and been soundly defeated. (14:45))

Next they began the trek AROUND Edom and get impatient. They again complain against Moses, and the desert, and no food, and no water, and they are sick of Manna. Enough! God sends fiery serpents among the people to bite and kill them. Eeek! They repent and beg Moses to pray for them.

He does. God tells him to make a representative snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. He tells Moses that if the people LOOK on (not worship) the bronze snake in faith they will be healed. Moses did, they did, and they lived. (Jesus referenced this pole in John 3:14-15, saying that HE would be lifted up on a pole like that bronze snake, and people who looked on Him in faith would have eternal life.)

(Note: later Israel did begin to worship that bronze snake and it had to be destroyed. 2 Kings 18:4)

Perhaps with the excitement of finally approaching the Promised Land and defeating enemies and surviving poisonous snakes, Israel is seen/heard singing, first about a well that God provided for them, and then a song of anticipation of defeating Heshbon and Moab, and King Og of Bashan and Sihon, king of the Amorites.

Chapter 22 begins the confusing, and sometimes humorous story of King Balak and the seer/diviner Balaam. The king offers to pay Balaam to curse the hoard of Israel that he sees coming toward his land. Balaam inquires of the LORD, who says, NO, in no uncertain terms.  They offer him more money, and he asks the LORD again, who says, Okay, you can go, but say only what I tell you.

(Why does God change his mind?  Always for His glory we know! But after a firm denial, why say, okay. Well, isn’t Balaam like us? We don’t like a “no” answer, especially if we are losing a profit, and we keep praying (pestering) God who maybe says, Okay, go ahead, but it won’t be good. Perhaps that is happening here.)

So… Balaam goes along with the kings men, but says he will only say what God tells him (Boy, won’t THAT be true??)  As Balaam is merrily riding along on his donkey, perhaps thinking of that huge monetary reward from King Balak, God’s anger is revealed. He sends what seemed like one of his mighty angels, but could be a very manifestation of God Himself to stop Balaam.

Balaam is blind to God in front of him, just as he was deaf to God’s instructions. But the DONKEY could see very well and shied away three times, making Balaam absolutely livid. (He must have looked so foolish to the kings men, not able to even control his own donkey! Tee-hee.)

He beats the donkey in anger, until God allows that animal to SPEAK!  And then, BALAAM ARGUES BACK WITH THE DONKEY!!!  (I wonder if the other men could see/hear what was going on, or if they only perceived Balaam as being totally crazy… or perhaps speaking to unseen spirits.)  Anyway, Balaam finally is able to see the fiery being with a drawn sword. He confesses he has sinned and offers to go back home. But God, perhaps observing Balaam as more compliant now, sends him on, emphasizing again that he will only (be able to) speak what God says.

Once he arrives, and after King Balak makes a bunch of sacrifices, he takes Balaam up a high hill where he could view a fraction of the hoard of Israelites  (To be continued tomorrow.)

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    Day 64 – Numbers 23 – 25 ( Balaam’s 3 curses/blessings, Baal worship, Phinehas’ zeal)

In chapter 25, we left Balaam and King Balak on a hill overlooking a portion of Israel’s camp, but before he proclaims any curses, Balaam insists on seven bull & ram sacrifices and King Balak complies. (One wonders to whom or what they are sacrificing.)  Then Balaam goes higher up the hill “to get the Word from God.” He returns and tells the King and the princes of Moab, “How can I curse what God has blessed?”

The King is understandably angry.  “WHAT??? That’s what I’m paying you for!!

They try a different view, from Mt. Pisgah and offer another seven bulls and rams. Balaam inquires of God and returns with –

“God is not a man that He should lie,

Or the son of man that He should change His mind.

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?

Behold, I received a COMMAND to bless

He has blessed and I cannot revoke it.” 23:19-20 

King Balak is furious. “Don’t bless. Don’t curse. Don’t speak at all!”  But….. he takes Balaam to another hill, ditto on the sacrifices, but this time Balaam just begins his “blessings” on Israel, ending with part of the Abrahamic covenant, “Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.” 24:9b 

Anger fills King Balak, but Balaam reminds him piously that he cannot but speak GOD’S WORDS.  Then almost as a final jab, he prophesizes about how Israel will overcome their enemies…. including Moab.  The two men part ways and return to their homes.

But Balaam, ACTS in favor of King Balak even though he cannot SPEAK curses. According to Numbers 31:16, he instructs the Moabites and Midianites how to provoke God’s anger against His own people, and they send in beautiful, seductive (idol-carrying) women to entice Israeli men. 

And in Chapter 25, they fall for it.  Sure enough, God’s anger is provoked and He instructs Moses to take all the chiefs (elders?) of the people and “hang them in the sun.” So as they were told, the judges of Israel kill those men who had yoked themselves to the idol Baal, via the women. But God also sends a plague among them.

Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, zealous for the LORD, takes a spear and goes after Zimri, the Simeonite, an arrogant man, who openly brought a Midianite woman into this tent in front of all the people in defiance to God.  Phinehas thrusts the spear through the two of them while they were in the act.

God was pleased with Phinehas’ zeal and jealousy for His holiness, and stops the plague. God also blesses Phinehas’ line with a perpetual priesthood.  

 

 












			


	



			
				


	

		
#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 62


					
Mar2
			


	

		
    Day 62—  Today we begin the THIRD month of Bible reading! We’ve been reading for over a 1/6 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that we will continue.


   Day 62 – Numbers 18 – 20 (Reviewing Levitical duties & purification, Miriam, Aaron, Moses)


After the last few days of Levite rebellion and God’s swift punishment & affirmation of Aaron & Moses, it’s suitable in Chapter 18 for God to review the duties of Priests and Levites, and their compensation for service. The LORD reminds them that in the Promised Land, they will get no real inheritance of property, but will have Himself as their inheritance and provider.


Chapter 19 reviews the laws of purification after touching a dead body. (Remember in chapter 16, how God’s plague killed 14,700 rebels. Lots of handling and burying!)


Chapter 20, (as the end of the 40 wilderness years approaches) lists several SAD, but necessary, things. First, Miriam, Moses’ oldest sibling, dies and is buried in the Wilderness of Zin.


Next, at the “Waters of Meribah (“questioning”), the people – yes, this newer generation – again grumble about not having water for themselves and their animals, and yearn for the figs, grapes, and pomegranates of Egypt. (YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING, how can they even remember that?)  And Moses loses it.


God tells him to take the staff (Aaron’s rod that budded?), assemble the people before a rock, and SPEAK to the rock, which will yield abundant water for them all.  Moses is so fed up with these people (he’s 120 years old and has been with the grumblers for 40 years), that he, 1) gets the staff, 2) takes the people to the forementioned rock, and 3) speaks…. but NO! Moses STRIKES the rock, not once, but TWICE!!


God is faithful. Water flows to the ingrate people, but Moses’ fate is sealed. He WILL NOT lead the people into the Promised Land, but die at its boarder. Wow.  Seems harsh, right?  I mean, which of us wouldn’t be as frustrated at those millions of “babies” and lose our cool?  Why would God condemn him for this ONE little human mistake?


Well, it is abject disobedience, of course, before the Priest and all the people. Punishable for a leader.


#


But I’d like to consider a few other possible things. I’m thinking that in striking the rock this time, Moses “ruined” the “picture” or “type” of Christ’s work on the cross. Jesus our Lord is often called our ROCK of our salvation.  He’s referred to as the corner stone.  Jesus died for sin and experienced the wrath of God ONCE, on the cross. God approved and raised Him to life again.  After that, Jesus told His disciples they could pray to God for anything in his name. They could (and should) confess their sin and ASK for forgiveness, and God would hear and answer (for Christ’s sake).  


Jesus did NOT have to be crucified (sacrificed) again and again, like the bulls and rams in Moses’ time.  He – once and for all time – took the wrath of God for sin, and whoever believes in Him can have eternal life (rivers of living water).


Picture Jesus as that rock at Mt. Horeb, struck once, and yielding abundant water for Israel. Then, Moses was just to SPEAK to the rock (ask, if you will) and water would flow.  But he STRUCK the rock. It could be seen as having to crucify Jesus again to receive that eternal life. 


This is how I see Moses’ sin. It does not say specifically in God’s Word that this is so, so take it as a possible suggestion.  And also remember direct disobedience of a leader of God is very serious in it’s own right.


#


After this incident, Moses continues to lead Israel toward the Promised Land.  They are taking the route to the East of the Jordan River Valley/Dead Sea, which will take them right through the land of Edom. These people are descendants of Isaac. Esau/Edom was Jacob’s brother, so these would be their closest relatives. Moses asks permission to move through the land – NOT march forward as against enemies – and Edom refuses twice, and then brings out their army.


God had told Moses (Deut. 2:5) NOT to wage war on their “brothers” or even take any food or water from them, so Moses leads Israel the long way, around Edom and Mt. Seir, the land God had given to the descendants of Esau.


But before they start, at Mt. Hor, on the boarder of Edom, God tells Moses to take Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of the mountain, remove the priestly vestige from Aaron and put it on his son, for Aaron will die there. It seems he was involved in some way in striking that rock, so he also could NOT enter the Land. Moses obeys, and when the people see him coming back with only Eleazar in priestly garb they know Aaron is dead, and they weep for him 30 days.

			


	



			
				


	

		
#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 61


					
Mar1
			


	

		
    Day 61—  Today we begin the THIRD month of Bible reading! We’ve been reading for over a 1/6 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that we will continue.


   Day 61 – Numbers 16 – 17 (Rebellion among the elite & Aaron’s budding staff)


Yesterday, we left the camp of Israel defeated, despondent and angry. They’d been promised the Promise Land, but failed to enter. Now they face 40 LONG years of desert wandering. (The one year at Sinai was bad enough!) They’d even tried to elect a new leader and go back to Egypt.


Grumble, grumble.  In Chapter 15, the rebellion goes to a higher level, to the Levite priests, to the elitist of priests, the ones responsible for the holy objects in the Tabernacle, including the Ark of the Covenant. The Kohathites, led by Korah.


They assemble themselves against Moses and Aaron. “You’ve gone too far!” They claim.  All the congregation is holy, not just you!


In response does Moses argue? No!  He falls on his face (in horror?) He says that God will decide in the morning whom He chooses.  “You’ve gone too far, sons of Levi.”  It’s against God you grumble, not Aaron.


“Who made you a prince over us?” they yell back.


Next morning Korah and all his gang meet at the entrance to the Tabernacle.  God’s glory appeared  to them all, and God told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves and all the “innocent” congregation from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan & Abiram (leaders in the high-rebellion).


Moses then puts a test before them.  If nothing happens to these, then you will KNOW that I am not sent of God. But if the LORD opens the ground and swallows up them and all of theirs, then you will KNOW that they have despised the Lord.


Immediately the earth under them opened and swallowed the three men up, with their households and all the people and goods that belonged to them.  Then the earth closed over them completely.  And fire from God came down and consumed the 250 Kohathites with them who were falsely offering incense. Yikes!


AND STILL!!! the people grumbled against Moses & Aaron. God send a plague that quickly spread through the came.  Moses told Aaron to take fire and incense from the alter and go among the people.  He did, and as High Priest stood between the living and the already dead. And the plague from God that had killed 14,700 Israelites stopped.


Plagues!!  These were supposed to be on the Egyptians, not the Children of God. Oh, how far they had strayed.


In Chapter 17, God further affirms Moses and Aaron as His chosen leaders before the people.  A staff (a dry wooden pole) was gathered, one each from all the heads of tribes. These twelve, along with Aaron’s were placed in the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle – next to the Ark of the Covenant, where the presence of Almighty God dwelled.  The next day, the one marked with Aaron’s name had brought forth buds, blossomed, and bore ripe almonds. Overnight. Fruit from a dead stick. Proof positive.


(His staff was then stored in the Ark along with the tablets of stone and the jar of manna…. as a remembrance.)


And the people wail that they are “undone” by what they had … done. “Are we all to perish?” they cry.

			


	



			
				


	

		
#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 60


					
Feb29
			


	

		
    Day 60 —  We are still in the second month, but we’ve begun a new book! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.


   Day 60 – Numbers 14 – 15, Psalm 90 – (Turning Back, Defeat, Promise, and a psalm of Moses)


Yesterday we saw the rebellious Israel turning from the Promised Land out of fear of the “giants in the land.”


Numbers 14 take up where we left off.  Not only does Israel fear to go into the Land, the want to kill Moses, choose a new leader and GO BACK to Egypt.  (Are you guys crazy??)


Joshua and Caleb plead with the people to enter the land, testifying that their God will surely give them victory. But the people decide to stone them.  Only the appearance of the Shekinah Glory of the LORD stops them. God offers Moses a SECOND chance to become the progenitor of His people, and he refuses, stressing God’s honor and glory that is involved. He begs that God will PARDON their sin according to the greatness of His mercy.


God hears Moses’s intercession for these rebellious ingrates, and pardons them. But there is a consequence they must endure – 40 years of desert wanderings until THAT generation (age 20 and up) all die. Only their teen and young children will have the chance to receive that Promised Land. (Joshua & Caleb and their families will also be exempt.)


So, TURN AROUND and head into that dry and barren land……


But still the people rebel!!  “No, we were wicked,” they confess. “We will go in as directed!”  But it is too late. As they swarm forward – against God’s word, without Him, the Ark of the Covenant, and Moses – they suffer absolute defeat from the Amalekites and Canaanites, giving those pagan enemies a chance to gloat, deride, and shame the LORD God Almighty.


Can’t you just see God dusting his hands of them all and turning his back on Israel? But no. God, our God, is ever faithful to his promises and his people. Instead in Numbers 15, He speaks of WHEN the people of Israel come into the Land to inhabit it, which HE is giving them.


Whoa! Such grace and mercy. Sure, they will endure consequences of their sin. Sure, it will be their children who go in and conquer the land.  But God does not utterly desert them.  He even describes the offerings they will make to Him with the produce of that Land.   He also distinguishes unintentional sins from outright defiance, giving grace to the one and harsh punishment to the other.


He reaffirms the importance of keeping the Sabbath sacred to Him, as He’s directed. And He tells ALL the people of Israel (not just priests) to make tassels on the corners of their garments, with a blue cord binding them, to remind them of all the commandments of the LORD which they are to obey and so be a holy nation go God.


Psalm 90 is the only psalm written my Moses. He writes of the eternality of God, and fact that man is made from dust. (Remember Moses wrote the book of Genesis too.)  He writes of God’s majesty and man’s sins (even the secret ones). Man’s life – in contrast to God’s everlasting existence – is but 70-80 years, and is full of toil and trouble, and ends with a sigh.  He asks God to teach his people how to “number” their days and apply their hearts to wisdom.  Then he ends with pleas for God’s presence and love and power and favor to be with and on his children.

			


	



			
				


	

		
#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 59


					
Feb28
			


	

		
    Day 59 —  We are still in the second month, but we’ve begun a new book! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.


   Day 59 – Numbers 11 – 13 (Complaints, Gossip, Rejection)


In Chapter 10, we saw the newly organized and militarized nation of Israel leaving Mt. Sinai on their way to the Promised Land. Ideally, it was a journey of about 11 days, but they are burned, choked, delayed, and stalled in today’s reading, beginning in Chapter 11.


Verse one doesn’t say what they originally complained about, but God responded by sending fire around the perimeter of the camp. The people screamed for help, Moses prayed, and God relented.


Next the “rabble” (mixed group of Egyptians who had come out with the Jews) began to ache and moan for the juices and spices and meats of Egypt.  They were complaining about God’s gracious and nutritious supply of Manna. No work, just pick it up. But they yearned for… Egypt, weeping and wailing like a bunch of babies. (But, oh, am I like them too at times!)


Even Moses seems to have had ENOUGH of these two million cry babies….and did a little crying himself. “I’m not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me.”  “Kill me at once!”  You wonder why God didn’t brush his hands and walk away from the sorry bunch.  Why?  Because of His promises to Abraham, and God doesn’t lie.  Instead He has Moses gather 70 elders of Israel (the beginning of the Sanhedrin?) and puts some of His Spirit on them. They will help carry the burden of the people (because they can’t walk, it seems).


But the people are not done (and either is God!). They whine and moan for meat, tired of “this manna.” And God sends them guail, lots of them, three feet deep, and spread out a day’s journey beyond the edges of the camp.  They ate meat till they were sick of it. And God brought a very great plague on them, and they buried many corpses there. They named the place Kibroth-hattaavah (graves of craving.)


Chapter 12 tells of Miriam & Aaron (Moses’ older siblings) complaining about Him, and God struck Miriam with leprosy. (Why not Aaron too?  Remember he was the high priest of Israel. He needed to say “clean” to offer sacrifices.)  Moses prayed for Miriam and God healed her, but she had to stay outside the camp for the days of ritual cleansing. While she was there, the entire nation remained in one place.


In Chapter 13 Israel reaches the boarder of Canaan, their Promised (by God) Land. God told Moses to send a representative of each tribe in to check out the people and produce of the land.  He does, including Caleb from Judah and Joshua from Ephraim. They are gone 40 days, “testing” the Land and bringing back huge produce to show off.


However, their report is divided.  Joshua & Caleb say “Let’s go!  We can do it!  Let’s take the Promised Land!!”  But the other ten collectively shrink back in fear and tell of the “giants” who made them feel as small as grasshoppers. (A slight exaggeration, guys, don’t you think??)  So…….  what did they do?


(Tune in tomorrow.)

			


	



			
				


	

		
#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 53


					
Feb22
			


	

		
    Day 52 —  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue. TODAY IS THE LAST READING IN LEVITICUS.


   Day 53 – Leviticus 26 – 27 (Blessings & curses, Vows & valuations)


Leviticus 26 is much like the closing chapters of Deuteronomy. In it, God, through Moses, tells the people how He wants to bless them and WILL bless them in the Promised Land with goodness and plenty if they will obey Him.. 


“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase…. and (you will) dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land….”  (Leviticus 26:3, 4a, 5b, 6a)


“I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my People. I am the LORD your God…  And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”  (Lev. 26:12, 13b)


But…..  God then warns the people of FIVE, increasingly strong waves of discipline He will bring on them if they do NOT obey all His commandments, and instead break His covenant when they get to the Promised Land. (Sadly, if you know Israel’s history, this is exactly what happens.)  


(I too, often disobey and then feel God’s hand of discipline. But it is because God loves me that He disciplines me. Read Hebrews 12:5-9.)


After God lays out these waves of curses, there is another “BUT.”  IF His people will confess their iniquity….  IF their uncircumcised hearts are humbled…. THEN God will remember His Covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham…  “I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I AM the LORD.   


(It reminds me again of 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.”) (Because of Jesus)


The last chapter in Leviticus (27) is about vows and the valuations of things. God tells the people through Moses that they should be involved with and help to support the spiritual aspects of living with Him. Their vows and dedications of themselves (paid in shekels), their animals given as gifts, and their tithes of land will all help to support the priesthood once they are in the Promised Land, and will remind them of being the chosen people of the LORD God who redeemed them.