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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 73

Mar14
Day 73.  Reading Deuteronomy 8 – 10. 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What do you learn NEW about God’s goodness?

Who can you share that with today?

Deuteronomy 8.

In yesterday’s reading, God, through Moses, left the people of Israel with a solemn warning of how He viewed the images and idols of the Canaanites.  THEY should utterly detest and abhor them, as HE did.

Today, Moses tells them that those idols would be the ultimate test of their love towards God. He tested them in the wilderness, “to know what was in their hearts.” He humbled them and let them hunger “to let them know that man does not live by bread alone.”

Now, in giving them the “good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which they will eat brad without scarcity, in which they will lack nothing” God was giving them another test.

“Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes.  LEST, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied…. YOU FORGET the LORD your God who brought you up out of Egypt.”

“BEWARE lest you say in their heart ‘MY power and the might of MY hand has gotten me this wealth.’  You shall REMEMBER the LORD your God, for it is HE how gives you power to get wealth.

“And IF you FORGET the LORD their God and go after gods to serve and worship them … YOU shall perish like the nations before you.”

Deuteronomy 9.

Moses continues to encourage, scold, and warn the people of Israel.  When they conquer the Promised Land, they are not to think that THEY did it, that THEIR righteousness got them the land.  No, it was God — who is a consuming fire — that went before them and destroyed their enemies.

It certainly was NOT their righteousness that caused them to possess the land, but the wickedness of those peoples, and because of the promise God made to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  No, the Israelites were a STUBBORN, not righteous people who had severely provoked the LORD in the wilderness.

Moses reminds them of that horrible time when he was 40 days with God, that they build and worshiped the golden calf.  He reminded them how God wanted to destroy them all, and how he — in anger — had thrown down the tablets of stone.  He reminded them how he returned another 40 days before the LORD and laid prostrate on his face before God, pleading for them, for his brother, Aaron, and for God’s reputation and Name.   

Deuteronomy 10.

Moses continues the story, how the LORD relented because of Moses’ intercession, gave him two replacement stone tablets with the LAW engraved on them, and how he put them in the Ark of the Covenant as a remembrance.   He reminded them how God set apart the tribe of Levi because of their ZEAL for Him. They were to care for the Tabernacle and the Holy Things.

“And now, Israel, WHAT DOES THE LORD YOUR GOD REQUIRE OF YOU?  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 will all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statues of the LORD ….. for your good. 

“Remember, the LORD your God — to whom belons the heavens and all that is in the earth — has set His heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring, YOU above all peoples, as you are this day.  Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your HEART and no longer be stubborn, 

“For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God.”

“YOU shall fear the LORD your God. YOU shall serve Him and hold fast to him, and by His Name you shall swear. HE is your praise. HE is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. 

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****O Lord, may I also never forget who You are, all the great and mighty things you have done for me, though I too am stubborn, sinful and not righteous at all … except for the righteousness You have given me through Your Son, Jesus. 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 70

Mar11
Day 70.  Reading Deuteronomy 1 – 2. 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What do you learn NEW about God’s goodness?

Who can you share that with today?

Deuteronomy 1.

At the end of Moses’ life (forty years after he led the people out of Egypt) and before Israel enters the Promised Land, Moses reviews their history, bringing up the GOOD that God did and the mostly REBELLION that they did, challenging them to NOW obey and succeed. 

I love that he honored God and blessed them with, “The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as He has promised you!”

He reminded this new generation of people how (at his father-in-law’s suggestion and God’s approval) he chose leaders of their tribes to help him judge all of them. 

He also reminded them how they refused to enter the Land almost 40 years earlier because of fear and a rebellious heart, how God had condemned them to the wilderness again, and how they would not listen but rebelled against the command of the LORD and PRESUMPTUOUSLY went to fight the Amorites. How horribly they failed because the LORD was NOT with them.  

God was angry with them… and him (Moses).  

Deuteronomy 2.

Moses here recounts the years of wandering in the desert, until all that generation died (except Caleb and Joshua and their children). 

Finally, they came up again at the gates of the Promised Land. God told them NOT to invade Edom (descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother), NOR the Moabites, for they were descendants of Abraham’s nephew, Lot.  Likewise, they were not to harass the Ammonite people for they also descended from Lot.  (Blood truly IS thicker than water.)

However, they did fight and defeat the Midianites, who, through their kings and the false prophet, Balaam, had led them into idolatry and sexual sin.  That defeat was a foretaste of their battles when God was with them. Not one soldier died.  

….

to be continued.

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 63

Mar4
Day 63.  Reading Numbers 21 -22. 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What do you learn about God’s goodness?

Who can you share that with today?

Numbers 21.

Let the battles begin!

Living in the Negev (South desert) was the small kingdom of Arad. The king captured a few Jews. Israel vowed to the LORD, if He would give them this people, they would “devote all the cities to destruction.”  God did, and they did, and they named it Hormah (destruction). 

After that victory they set themselves to go around Edom and to turn north on the Eastern side of the Dead Sea/Jordan Valley.  BUT!!!!! The people became impatient. They spoke against God and Moses. “There’s no food. There’s no water. And we hate this worthless manna.”

(Sigh)

Obviously there were still some of the “Old Guard” among them who needed killing.  God sent fiery serpents among them. (Eek!!) The snakes bit many people and they died a horrible death.

“Moses! We have sinned, for we haven spoken against the LORD and against you.  Pray to the LORD to take away the serpents!”

Moses prayed, and the LORD provided a way to defeat the snakes’ poison. Moses was to make an image of a serpent and put it on a pole to hold high up.  When the people looked on the bronze serpent (believing  what God said) they would be healed.   

(Jesus used this Old Testament story to show how HE would be lifted up on a CROSS, and if anyone looked to HIM in faith, they would be saved from death.)

Israel swung around the southern and eastern boarders of Edom, and past Moab on the Eastern side of the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley to the Arnon River**, the boarder between Moab and the Amorites. 

(**NOTE:  I picture the land on the east side of the Jordan River Valley from Galilee down to the bottom of the Dead sea, like the figure of a man with the rivers at parts of his body. 

  • Going into the bottom of the Dead Sea is the ZERED BROOK. Think of that as the feet of the man-figure, wearing zories (flip-flops).
  • The ARNON RIVER enters the Dead Sea about midway. I think of that as an “iron-on patch” on the man-figure’s knees. 
  • Further up the JABBOK RIVER flows into the Jordan between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. I picture this as a finger jabbing the man-figure in the ribs. 
  • The YARMOUK RIVER flows into the Jordan just south of Galilee.  I picture that as the Yarmulka (skull cap) on the head of the man-figure. 

I know, I’m weird, but “pictures” help me remember.)

Numbers 22. 

So, Israel is camped near the Arnon River, which is the boarder between the Amorites and Moabites. They send a message to Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking him to let them pass through their land.  “Nope! Let’s fight.”  And Israel soundly beat them, all the way to the Jabbok River. And Israel moved into the territory.

Og, the city king of Bashon came out against Israel, but God told Israel not to worry. As they’d defeated Sihon, they would defeat Og.  And so they did.  Then Israel camped in the plains of Moab on the East of the Jordan River at Jericho.

Balak king of Moab sent messages to the Midianites about Israel. “This horde will not like up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And he sent a personal message to Balaam, a seer/prophet.  “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”

The elders of Moab and Midian, raised a “fee for divination” to give to Balaam. 

But Balaam told them to wait a night while he asked God.  God said, “You shall NOT go with them. You shall NOT curse the people, for they are blessed.”

So far, so good with Balaam. He told the messengers “no” and they left.

BUT, the kings would not accept “no.”  They sent messages back saying they would give Balaam “great honor” and whatever he asked for. 

Balaam holds steady at first. “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold I could not go beyond the command of the LORD…. BUT….. stay here tonight and I will inquire of the Lord again.” 

Ah-OH. Didn’t God already say NO?

God said, “You can go with them, BUT ONLY DO WHAT I TELL YOU.”

The next part is weird, because “God’s anger was kindled because Balaam went.”  God probably knew that Balaam would actually try to curse the people and get the money. So God sent an angel to stop him. Except Balaam did not SEE the angel with the drawn sword blocking the road. ONLY THE DONKEY SAW IT. What??

Balaam beat the poor donkey because it kept turning aside into the bushes, and scratching his legs.

FINALLY, THE DONKEY SPOKE!!!  “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life to this day?  Is it my habit to treat you this way?”

AND BALAAM ACTUALLY ANSWERED THE DONKEY!  “No.”

And the LORD opened his eyes to see the angel.

Balaam realized he’d sinned and said he’d turn back. But God said THAT was NOT His plan. Balaam was to go with them…. but ONLY SAY WHAT GOD TOLD HIM.  Perhaps Balaam understood this time, for he went with the men and warned the king he could only say what God gave him.

In the morning, King Balak took Balaam up on a hill and showed him “a fraction” of the masses of Israel.

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WHAT WILL BALAAM DO? Stay tuned for tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 61 & 62

Mar3
Day 61 – 62.  Reading Numbers 16-17 and 18-20. (Sunday & Monday Combined)
 

Read today’s scripture.

What do you learn about God’s goodness?

Who can you share that with today?

Numbers 16.

Rebellion, sin, and death starts, and it all begins in the House of the Lord.

Remember how Miriam and Aaron in pride thought THEY should be just as powerful in leadership as Moses was?  Now, Korah, from the family of Kohath, the Levites who served and carried the holy items of the Tabernacle, and two from the tribe of Rueben, stepped forward along with 250 other well-known men, chiefs of the assembly to oppose Moses and Aaron. 

“ALL the congregation is holy,” they said, “every one of them, and the LORD is among them.  Why do you, Moses and Aaron, exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?

Moses responded by falling to his face, an attitude of desperate prayer to God. He told them all that “In the morning the LORD will show who is His, and who is Holy.” 

They were to all bring their lit censers  to the Tabernacle and the LORD will choose who is the holy one.

“You have gone too far, sons of Levi! Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that He has brought you near HIM, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?  What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

But Korah’s two buddies from the tribe of Rueben, Dathan and Abiram, refused to make an appearance.  Instead they blasted Moses,  “Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey (that they feared to enter), nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men?  WE WILL NOT COME UP!”

Oh, dear.

Next day, the LORD proposed a wipe out of the whole congregation, yet Moses pleaded before the LORD. So God told everyone to step away from from the tents of Kohath, Dathan, And abiram.  The people moved away, but these three men stood in defiance with their families at their tent doors. 

And Moses announced, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent ME to do all these works, and that it has NOT been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, then the LORD has not sent me.

“BUT … if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will KNOW that these men have despised the LORD.”

And then ………………………….. the ground under them split apart. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. And the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 

PANIC!!! 

All Israel fled.

And the LORD’s fire came out and consumed the 250 unqualified men with censers.

Aaron’s son Eleazar, at God’s word, collected all the censers because they were holy. Later they were hammered into a bronze covering for the Altar. 

All this was to be a reminder to the people that NO OUTSIDER WHO WAS NOT OF THE DESCENDANTS OF AARON should burn incense before the LORD. 

AND STILL THE PEOPLE GRUMBLED!!! “You have killed the people of the LORD!”  The whole congregation turned against Moses and Aaron.

Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tabernacle and the glorious Presence of the LORD appeared.  The two men fell on their faces as a PLAGUE OF WRATH was sent out from the LORD into the people.

Then, at Moses’ word, Aaron put holy incense on his own censer and ran among the company of dying people.  He stood between the dead and the living and made atonement for them.  And the plague stopped. 

But not before 14,700 people were killed (besides those in the affair of Korah).

Number 17.

Then, the LORD preempted another rebellion by showing clearly just WHO was to be Priest to the Lord God of Israel.

A staff from the head of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, including Aaron’s staff representing the tribe of Levi, were to be gathered.  Each was to have the person’s name written on his staff.  Then Moses was to take them inside the Tabernacle and to lay them before the Ark of the Covenant.  

“The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. In this way, I will make the grumblings of the people of Israel against you TO CEASE.”

Moses did as the LORD instructed.

The next morning, Moses went in and brought the staffs out.  Behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had not only SPROUTED, but PUT FORTH BUDS, and PRODUCED BLOSSOMS, and BORE RIPE ALMONDS. 

No question at all.

Moses then put Aaron’s staff before the Ark of the Covenant (later inside it) as a testimony and a sign for the rebels.

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Numbers 18.

In an unexpected way, the LORD speaks directly to Aaron (not through Moses) as the High Priest. He tells him that the priests are directly responsible for the priesthood and the things inside the Tabernacle. He and his sons are to keep guard of the Tabernacle, and the rest of the Levites are to keep guard over them and the rest of the tent while they minister. 

For this special duty to the LORD, the rest of Israel will bring a tithe to them of all the earn and raise as their support.  The Levites will then give a tithe of what they get to the LORD. 

“You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and inheritance.”

Numbers 19.

In the following 38.5 years, over 1.2 million people died in the wilderness. As the old generation died off (as God had said they would) many, people were touching dead bodies, to dispose of them. ALL needed purification ceremonies. The “water for purification” that would be sprinkled on them was made in a certain way.

Aaron’s oldest son (deputy high priest) Eleazar would take a spotless red heifer outside the camp to slaughter it. (This is the only sacrifice noted of a female animal. A heifer was a cow that had not yet given birth, and in this case, had also never been yoked.)  After it was killed, Eleazar would flick some blood on his finger towards the front gate of the Tabernacle seven times. Then the entire animal would be burned up, with the addition of cedarwood, hyssop and scarlet yarn.

Later a man who is clean is to gather the cooled ashes and deposit them in a clean place outside the camp. The ashes of the heifer and the other three items (used in the skin disease purification ritual) would be mixed with water to make a symbolic cleansing agent.  (For people who had touched a dead body.) Anyone clean (not just the priests) could sprinkle an unclean person. Then both will be considered unclean until evening.

  • Weird, I know. But think how all these rituals kept their eyes on a HOLY God and themselves as unclean sinners with an ultimate death sentence. Also remember how the Lord Jesus was taken “outside the city” to be crucified. And it is by this horrible act that we can be cleansed from all sin.

Numbers 20.

As the years pass and grow towards 40, first we see Miriam dying.  If she was a young girl when Moses was put into the Nile in a basket, she is probably at least 130 by now. The people mourned this great prophetess lady for a month. She was buried near Kadesh.

And….. there was no water. This younger generation quarreled with Moses. “Would that we would have died with our brothers.  Have you brought us out into the wilderness that we and our cattle should die of thirst? This “evil place” is not for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates…AND THERE IS NO WATER TO DRINK.”

Seriously!!!  The new, younger generation is now going to start up complaining about water?? It’s like they just came out of Egypt. I’m with God. Kill them and dust off your hands.

But when Moses and Aaron went to God, fell on their faces before Him, His glorious presence appeared to them.  He gave them instructions – VERY EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS – on how to give the people water.

“Take the staff, and the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and TELL THE ROCK before their eyes to yield its water. So (in this way) you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

Moses and Aaron gathered the people before the rock and Moses said… TO THEM (not the rock), “Hear now, you rebels: shall WE bring water for you out of this rock?”  And Moses lifted up his hand and STRUCK THE ROCK WITH HIS STAFF, TWICE.

And water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their livestock.

The people were happy and knew nothing about the utter disaster this was for their leaders.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold ME as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore YOU shall not bring this assembly into the land that I gave them.”

Period. 

  • Why? You might ask?  For one, Moses and Aaron glorified themselves not God.
  • And two…. remember Paul says that all that happened to them was for OUR instruction (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).  Christ is pictured as that Rock in the wilderness. Struck once for their life giving water. (As Jesus died ONCE for all for our salvation). After we are saved, we need only ask of Him for our daily needs and He will supply them.  Moses ruined that “picture” by striking the Rock again, not once but twice, making the picture seem to say that Christ had to keep dying again and again in order to save us. 
  • This was a big act of rebellion and disobedience BY MOSES.  And, like with that older generation, he would NOT be allowed to enter the promised land. Aaron too, since he was with him.

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Next on the agenda was to pass through the land of Edom (descendants of Esau, Jacob/Israel’s brother). Edom rightly refused (Imagine 2 million people with lots of animals trudging down your freeway for hours and hours).  Moses asked “Please” to pass through a second time, and the Edomites sent out a large army to protect their boarder by force.  So, Israel had to go around them. (They were not allowed to fight their “brothers.”)

Israel came to Mt. Hor on the boarder of Edom and the LORD told Moses and Aaron that Aaron was going to die there (for they had rebelled against Him at the rock).  Moses was to take Aaron and his oldest son, Eleazar up the mountain and take off the high priest’s garments and put them on Eleazar. 

Moses did this in the sight of the whole congregation. And when only Moses and Eleazar, wearing the priestly garment came down, they KNEW Aaron had died. They mourned for him for 30 days.

His death foreshadowed Moses’ own death.

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 60

Mar1
Day 60.  Reading Numbers 14 – 15 and Psalm 90. 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What do you learn about God’s goodness?

Who can you share that with today?

Numbers 14.

Yesterday’s reading ended with a showdown. Two against ten.

Two spies (Joshua & Caleb) said the land of Canaan was ripe with food, and ready for picking. The inhabitants were big, but no problem for the children of God. Let’s go in and conquer!

Ten spies agreed that the land of Canaan was ripe with food, but bemoaned the giant cities with tall walls, and the giant people that made them look (in their own eyes) like grasshoppers.  NO WAY can we conquer!

And the rest of the two million people?  They were swayed by the TEN, and cried with a loud voice and wailed and wept. They grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They bemoaned (get this, for God will answer this prayer), “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in the wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sward? Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the people.

Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes and cried, “PEOPLE OF ISRAEL! The land is exceedingly good.  If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us… Only DO NOT REBEL AGAINST THE LORD! Do not fear the people – they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them. THE LORD IS WITH US. Do not fear them!

As the masses were picking up stones to stone the two, the GLORY OF THE LORD appeared.

“MOSES, how long will this people despise me? How long will they not BELIEVE IN ME, in spite of all the signs I have done among them.  I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of YOU a nation greater and mightier than they!”

And once again, Moses interceded for the righteousness of the LORD’s name and honor (“If you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, It is because the Lord was not able to bring them to the land as He swore.”).

And Moses pleaded for those horrible rebellious people too. He claimed and clung to God’s promises of love and mercy and forgiveness. (Please pardon the iniquity of the people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now!”)

Oh, for such an intercessor today!

And the LORD heard Moses’ prayer. “I have pardoned according to your word. BUT…..truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, NONE of the men who have seen my glory and my signs… and yet have put me to the test…and not obeyed my voice… shall see the land I swore to give to their fathers.  NONE who despised me shall see it.  And so, TURN BACK TOMORROW AND SET OUT FOR THE WILDERNESS.”

And to the people, God said, “As I live, what you have said, I will do. Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and all those listed in the census, 20 years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, SHALL NOT ONE COME INTO THE LAND, except Caleb and Joshua.  Your little ones – whom you said would fall prey – THOSE I will bring into the land.

“Your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness FORTY YEARS, and shall suffer for YOUR faithlessness UNTIL THE LAST OF YOUR DEAD BODIES LIES IN THE WILDERNESS. I the LORD have spoken.”

And immediately those ten unfaithful spies died of a plague.  ZAAPP!!!

After hearing that horrible 40 year sentence of death, the people changed their minds.  “Here we are!  We will go up into the land that the LORD promised us!”

Moses: “No! Now you are being more rebellious. The LORD is not with you!!!”

People:  “But we WILL go up into the country and fight them!”

But  neither the Ark of the Covenant, nor Moses left the camp. And the Amalekites and Canaanites came down and defeated them.  (And so, the first of those thousands of fit-for-battle rebels died.)

  • O LORD, I confess that I am so often like the people of Israel. Please keep me from walking in my own sinful rebellious ways. Grant me faith to believe ALL You promise, and courage to obey. And Father, please keep me from presumptuous sins!  Give me a humble, loving heart as Moses had.

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Numbers 15.

Even though God had pronounced the “death penalty” on the older generation of Israelites, he still had in mind to give Israel (eventually) the land of Canaan.  And He still required the sacrifices and offerings to continue as the roamed the desert. Both unintentional and intentional (knowingly and deliberately done) sins are next covered. 

Unintentional sins require and offering. A Person who sins intentionally “with a high hand” despising the word of the LORD, shall be put to death.  The example of a man who deliberately went out to gather firewood on the Sabbath, was stoned to death.

God then gave a way for Israel to always remember His commands.  They (the men) were to make tassels for the corner of their garments (shirts), each with a blue thread on it. These would be visible to themselves and to each other.

When they looked at them, they were to remember “all the commandments of the LORD, to DO them, not to follow after their own heart and their own eyes, which they were inclined to whore after. They were to remember to DO all His commandments, and be holy to their God. ‘I am the LORD your God.'”

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Psalm 90.  “A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God”  

(Here Moses seems to be asking God to have mercy on sinful humans living in a sin-cursed world. It seems to have  been written to the older generation of Israelites who were dying off in the wilderness.)

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.”  ” …from everlasting to everlasting YOU are God.”   “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”

“You return man to dust.”  “You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning…in the evening it fades and withers.”

“For all our days pass away under Your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone and we fly away.”

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”

 

 

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 59

Feb28
Day 59.  Reading Numbers 11 – 13. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Numbers 11.

Complaints by the PEOPLE and by MOSES

With the Tabernacle finished, the priests consecrated and dedicated, and the camp organized, it was finally time to set out for the Promised Land.  It’s been over a year, but the slaves have become a nation with organization, a law system, an army, and priestly, godly leaders.  So, the Ark, carried by the Kohathites starts out.

  • 1) There should be singing – “We are bound for the promised land.” – but instead the people “complain in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortune.”  Say, what??  What misfortune?

God heard it and was angered.  He sent some of His fire among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.  “Moses! Moses! HELP!”  cried the people.  Moses prayed and the fire died down.

  • 2) THEN, the “rabble among them” had a strong craving.  (Remember those non-Jewish slaves who came out of Egypt with Israel? Exodus 12:38)  THEY complained, which caused Israel to weep too.  “Oh that we had MEAT to eat!  Remember the free fish we ate in Egypt? And the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and the garlic? OH! The garlic!!  But now our strength is dried up, and there is NOTHING AT ALL BUT THIS MANNA to look at!!!”  And each one stood at the door of his tent and wept out loud.

The Lord was angered and Moses was displeased (and complained to God).

  • 3) “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You lay the burden of all this people on Me? DID I CONCEIVE ALL THE PEOPLE? DID I GIVE THEM BIRTH THAT YOU SHOULD SAY TO ME, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child?  WHERE AM I TO GET MEAT TO GIVE TO ALL THIS PEOPLE?  I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.  If You will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in Your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.“

Whoa, Moses!  Are you frustrated or what? 

Notice that God FIRST addresses the heart of His servant Moses.  He tells him to gather the 70 elders of the people and bring them to the Tabernacle. God will put some of His Spirit on them, so they can bear the burden of the people with Moses. 

Then God addresses the complaints of the people. They are to consecrate themselves, for THEY WILL EAT MEAT the next day.  In fact they will eat meat for 30 days, so much that they will get sick of it.

It’s interesting that Moses asks God HOW He will do it. (Boy, Moses really is shaken.)  He asks God if all the flocks and herds are to be slaughtered, and would that be enough for them all to eat meat for a month?  

  • (This makes me wonder why SOME of the animals are not killed for food along with the manna.  Certainly a lot were sacrificed, and some of that meat was for the priests to eat. Hmmm.)  Perhaps the people – like me – just like to complain.

Moses obeyed and the seventy elders received a bit of the Spirit God had put on Moses.

And God sent a quail-carrying wind from the sea. The birds flew in at 3-feet off the ground. The people caught them all day, all night, and all the next day. The LEAST amount of birds gathered per person was 60-70 BUSHELS (small laundry baskets!).  They spread them out for themselves around the camp. (To count or to dry?) 

And they began eating, and eating, and while the meat was still between their teeth, the LORD “struct down the people with a very great plague.”  

And there they buried all those dead people. Then they moved out from that “Graves of Craving” place.

Numbers 12.

Complaints by MIRIAM and AARON

Okay, this seems strange. Moses married a Cushite woman. Wasn’t he married to Zipporah, a Midianite woman?  The term “Cushite” COULD HAVE referred to Zipporah, but it’s most likely Moses remarried after Zipporah died. Cush is a section of southern Egypt. She might have been among the “mixed multitude” in the camp.  

Regardless of where she came from, Moses’ older siblings (Miriam and Aaron) didn’t like it.  Could they have become (as Levites) “purists” or “racists?”  Miriam, the oldest, probably got Aaron to agree and they went to Moses, questioning – not his marriage – but his special relationship with God. 

  • 4) “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses?  Hasn’t He not spoken through US as well?”

Moses – ” meeker than all the people on earth” (Really, Moses???) – did not answer them.  BUT the LORD heard what the two siblings said, and called all three of them to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where He appeared in a pillar of cloud.

“You, Aaron and Miriam, step forward.” (They did.) “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision: I speak with him in a dream. NOT SO WITH MY SERVANT MOSES. He is faithful in all my house. WITH HIM I SPEAK MOUTH TO MOUTH, CLEARLY, AND NOT IN RIDDLES, AND HE BEHOLDS THE FORM OF THE LORD. Why then were YOU not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

And the LORD was angry.  When the pillar lifted, OH NO! Miriam was leprous like snow!

Aaron saw her and cried out to Moses, “Oh, please do not punish us, because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away!”  Yikes!!

And Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her! PLEASE!

“Nope,” God said. “Should she not be ASHAMED?  Let her be shut outside the camp seven days. After that she may be brought in again.“

So, THE ENTIRE CAMP paused their journey to wait for Miriam. After seven days and she was okayed to come back, they set out and camped in the Desert of Paran. (Just south of Canaan)

Numbers 13.

Complaints by the SPIES.

God told Moses to send out 12 men to “spy out the land of Canaan,” hopefully to bring back a report of what an amazing land they were to inherit. Lush with food, a land of “milk and honey.”  (That spoke of green pastures full of cows (milk) and orchards of fruits pollinized by bees, producing honey.)

Moses obeyed and sent out a man from each tribe.  The two we know, are Caleb from the tribe of Judah, and Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim (1/2 of Joseph).  He charged them to —

  • “Go up into the Negev (south) and the Hill Country, and see what the land is, 
  • whether the people are strong or weak,
  • whether they are few or many, 
  • whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, 
  • whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,
  • whether the land is rich or poor, 
  • whether there are trees in it or not.
  • Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.”

Forty long days later, the twelve spies returned.  There were two very different reports.

  • “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (a huge cluster of grapes that it took two men to carry)
  • However … the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large, and besides, WE SAW ANAK THERE (Giants).  The Amalekites dwell there. The Hittites and Jebusites and Amorites, and Canaanites!!
  • No matter, Let us go up at once and occupy it for we are well able to overcome it!”
  • 5) No, We are NOT able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we. The land, through which we have gone to spy is a land that devours its in habitants, and all the people that we saw are of great height. They are GIANTS, and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers!”

So, which will it be?

Will Israel go in to conquer this good land, like Joshua and Caleb reported?

Or … will Israel turn back out of fear for the pagan peoples and especially the giants, like the other ten spies said?

WE WILL SEE IN TOMORROW’S STUDY.

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  • O, LORD, I confess I have a cranky, complaining heart. Please forgive and cleanse me. Let me see and acknowledge the wonderful love and care you show me every day! I do not need to be afraid for my strength is in YOU, in your joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 53

Feb22
Day 53.  Reading Leviticus 26 – 27. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Leviticus 26.

IF-THEN declarations from the LORD to Israel, for blessing and cursing.

IF you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, THEN …

  • I will give you rain in their season
  • the land shall yield its increase
  • the trees, grain, and grapes shall yield their fruit
  • you shall eat bread to the full
  • you shall dwell in the land securely
  • I will give peace in the land
  • I will remove harmful beasts
  • the sword shall not go through your land
  • your enemies will flee from you
  • I will make YOU fruitful and multiply you
  • I will make my dwelling place among you
  • I will walk among you and be your God. I am the LORD your God.

BUT IF you will not listen to me and not do my commandments, and if your soul abhors my rules and you break my covenant, THEN….

  • I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consumes the eyes and makes the heart ache
  • you shall sow seed in vain for your enemies will eat it
  • those who hate you will rule over you and pursue you
  • I will discipline you sevenfold for your sin
  • I will break the pride of your power
  • I will make the heavens like iron and the earth like bronze
  • your land will not yield its increase nor the trees their fruit
  • I will let lose wild beasts against you that will bereave you of your children and livestock
  • I will bring the sword on you and execute vengeance and send pestilence
  • I will break your supply of bread and you will eat the flesh of your children
  • I will destroy your high places and altars and cast YOUR dead bodies on the dead bodies of your idols
  • I will abhor you.
  • I will lay your cities waste and devastate the land
  • I will scatter you among the nations

“Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ hand; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. It will have the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it.”

BUT IF they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in the treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me…. AND IF their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, THEN… 

  • I will remember my covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham
  • I will remember the land
  • When they are in the land of the enemies … I will not spurn them 
  • I will not abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them
  • I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers.

Leviticus 27 (the last chapter)

Here are lists of how to value “special vow” offerings and also tithes pledged or given to the LORD (people of different ages for service, and animals and land for support of the Levites.)

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Tomorrow we begin Numbers. (You mathematicians will love this book!)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 52

Feb21
Day 52.  Reading Leviticus 24 – 25. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Leviticus 24.

Oil & Bread in the Tabernacle.

The priests must replenish the Tabernacle Lampstand oil and the Table bread regularly.  Pure oil from beaten olives is used to light the lamps before the LORD every morning. The Shewbread is to be made of fine flour, twelve loaves, put into two piles of six on the Table in the Holy Place each Sabbath. Pure frankincense is to be put with each pile of six.

An incident of Blasphemy, what to do?

Two men fought in the camp. One of them (whose father was an Egyptian) blasphemed God’s Name.  The shocked people brought him to Moses who held him in custody until he could inquire of God. The LORD’s instructions were to…

  • bring the man outside the camp
  • gather all who had heard him blaspheme as witnesses;
  • have them lay their hands on his head
  • then let the congregation stone him to death.

“Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the Name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.”

An eye for an eye – just retribution.

Whoever murders a person must also be killed. If anyone injures a neighbor, as HE has done to that one, so it shall be done to HIM. (Not more and not less)  An eye for an eye, fracture for fracture, tooth for tooth. If anyone kills a neighbor’s animal, he must make equal compensation. 

Leviticus 25.

Sabbath and Jubilee (50th) years.

As the people and animals rested every seventh day through the year, they AND the land were to rest every seventh year.  No crops were to be sown or vines pruned. The crops produced were left to fall to the ground (and/or for the poor).  

The same for the 50th year.  Of course that meant two years in a row (49th – 7×7 – and 50th) there would be no harvest.  God promised them if they would be faithful to let the land have its Sabbath rest, that HE would make a huge bumper crop on the 6th and 48th years. They would have enough to last until the harvest of the 8th and 51st year.  

“Would they trust God?  It turns out no.  Did they become greedy?  Yes.  And when God finally sent them off into captivity for 70 years, one reason He gave was to give the land its Sabbath rest, which they had neglected. “The land is MINE,” said the LORD.  If you don’t let it rest, it will be taken from you. 

NOTE: agriculturally, it was good for the land. Needed nutrients would be replenished in the resting years.

Jubilee Year was also a time to reset indebtedness.  Land that had been sold to get one out of debt, was returned to the original owner that year. (Remember each tribe was allotted certain land in Canaan.)  If a person had sold himself into servitude because of debt, he would be freed that year.  The price of the land or servant would be calculated according to how many years were left before Jubilee.  All’s fair.

Because the Levites had the job of Tabernacle and Temple upkeep and service, they were not given a portion of land in Canaan.  However they were given cities to live in with small fields around them for veggies & fruit to eat. 

An Israelite that is sold to a “sojourner or foreigner” because of debt, may been redeemed (bought back) by a wealthy relative in Israel.  (Think of Boaz with Naomi and Ruth.)  All are released on Jubilee year.

“For it is to me,” says the LORD, “that the people of Israel are servants.  They are MY servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 49

Feb18
Day 49.  Reading Leviticus 16 – 18. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Leviticus 16.

The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur.

From the way this chapter begins, it’s possible that the horrendous sin that caused the death of Aaron’s two oldest sons by the LORD, was their attempting to come into the Most Holy Place.  Perhaps they had tried to bring “unauthorized fire” (which would be ANY fire/incense other than what the High Priests, brough once per year).

God set up VERY strict laws about anyone coming into the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant was, which represented God’s throne on earth.

  • Once per year on the tenth day of the seventh month.
  • The High Priest clothed in special all-linen “holy” garments.
  • Bringing a burning censer with holy incense which made a cloud obscuring the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat. 
  • Also bringing the blood of the sacrificial bull (for the High Priest’s atonement) and then the sacrificial goat (atonement for the people). 
  • Sprinkling the bull’s blood, then the goat’s blood on and in front of the Mercy Seat seven times.

Outside the Tent, the High Priest would sprinkle the bull’s and goat’s blood on the Bronze Alter.  Then he would take the second, live, goat and lay his hands on its head. After confessing ALL the people’s iniquities, transgressions, and sins, he would send the goat away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who was waiting to do it.  This was the “scapegoat.”  It pictured the total removing of sin from the camp.

All this would be done once per year, a statute forever for Israel. 

Besides the Passover Lamb and all that belonged to that ceremony, the Day of Atonement with the one-time entrance through the veil into the Holy of Holies, AND the Scapegoat, represented the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins.  God looked on Him on the cross – bearing all the sin of any who would believe in Him – and “passed over” that person for the death they deserved.  He accepted Jesus’ blood and death INSTEAD of the sinners’.

Meanwhile, for the people, the Day of Atonement would be a “Sabbath Day” of solemn rest. They would do no work, and would fast the entire day, mourning and confessing their sin. 

Leviticus 17.

Strictly forbidden is sacrificing any animal outside the camp and not bringing its blood to the entrance of the Tabernacle as a gift for the LORD.  Otherwise it would be “pagan worship” and bring bloodguilt on the person.  Blood and fat are always to be burned on the Bronze Altar.

They shall no more make sacrifices to goat demons (Azazel), after whom they “whored.”

God reminded the people again that they were NOT TO EAT BLOOD. The blood of a creature contains its LIFE, and it is ONLY for atonement to the LORD on the altar.  If one is out hunting in the field and kills an animal to eat it, the blood shall be drained out and covered with earth. 

Leviticus 18.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them,

  • “I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you lived,
  • and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you.
  • You shall not walk in their statutes.
  • You shall follow My rules and keep My statutes and walk in them.
  • I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.
  • You shall therefore keep My statutes and My rules;
  • if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”

The LORD then gives Moses a long list of how the people will keep morally and sexually pure, taking for their spouses only ONE woman or ONE man, as God created them in the beginning. 

Incest, bigamy, bestiality, and homosexuality were strictly forbidden.  

“For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.  So keep My charge NEVER to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them. I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.”

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 46

Feb15
Day 46.  Reading Leviticus 8 – 10. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Leviticus 8.

God told Moses (and us) about the offerings, the glorious garments of the priests, and the ordination ceremony. Now, Moses called the whole congregation to the Tabernacle to witness (or at least be present at) the ordination of Aaron and his four sons.

Moses then did it all, according to what God had said, washing them at the Bronze Basin, dressing them in the garments, anointing each on their right ears, thumbs, and toes, and on Aaron’s head.  Moses brought the prescribed bull for a sin offering, and after all five had laid their hands on its head, he killed it. Moses took the blood and all the parts of the bull and did as the Lord had commanded.

Aaron and his four sons remained inside the court of the Tabernacle for seven days, performing what the LORD charged them as part of the ordination. 

Leviticus 9.

After the seven days, Moses called Aaron, his sons, and the elders of the people. Aaron then performed the sin offering in minute detail for himself and his sons. He then took the offered specific animals and offered them for the people for sin, burnt, and peace offerings. 

After the offerings/sacrifices, Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them.

Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the Tabernacle, and when they came out, again blessed the people.

“And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.  And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar.

And when the people saw it, they SHOUTED and FELL ON THEIR FACES.”

Leviticus 10.

A hard lesson is learned.

After all the pomp and glory of the ordination ceremony and the majesty of the LORD’s glory appearing, a dark thing happened that (I’m sure) shocked Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation to their very core.

Aaron’s two older sons, Nadab and Abihu (perhaps drunk from celebrating and the fantastic realization of their high position in the community of Israel) took their censers, put incense in them, and offered “unauthorized” fire before the LORD.  (Remembered God had given Moses, Aaron, and sons the EXACT, God-authorized way to perform holy worship towards Him. In pride or drunkenness, these two men sinned grossly.

And God responded.

Holy fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

“Among those who are near me, I will be sanctified, and before all the people, I will be glorified,” said the LORD God Almighty.  (God had clearly shown them the details of worshiping Him and they had ignored them.)

Moses told Aaron’s uncle Uzziel’s two sons to come in and carry the bodies outside the camp. These Levites obeyed, carrying the bodies in their coats.

Grief and terror must have mingled in Aaron’s heart. His two oldest sons, newly ordained to serve God and the people in the Tabernacle, had been annihilated before their eyes…by the God he served. 

And God told Aaron and his remaining two sons, “Do not grieve for them, lest you die and wrath come on all the congregation.”

Aaron obeyed.  (God did allow the rest of the family and congregation to grieve.)

God then spoke directly to Aaron and his remaining sons. “Drink NO WINE OR STRONG DRINK, you or your sons, when you go into the Tabernacle, lest you die. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach Israel all the statutes the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.”

Then Moses told Aaron and his sons to get on with the offerings. Eleazar and Ithamar made a mistake in offering the sin offering. They had brought the sacrificial blood to the wrong place and had not eaten what they should have. Moses was angry. 

Aaron confessed his and his son’s faults before Moses and alluded to the stress and conviction of losing the two other sons. When Moses heard that, he realized their grief-prompted mistake and relented.