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#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 82

Mar22

    Day 82—  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 82 – Joshua 1 – 4  (Commissioning & command of Joshua, Spies & Rahab, Crossing the Jordan, Memorial stones)

Today we begin the 7th book so far, and move from the Torah (& Job) to the Historical books. In the First Chapter, God commissions Joshua to take over the leadership of Israel. He encourages him by telling Joshua that;

  • 1) his campaign to conquer will be successful,
  • 2) that He, Himself will be with Joshua and will not forsake him.
  • 3)  that this success and prosperity will come as he meditates day and night in the Law of the LORD, and obeys everything he reads.

God commands him to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua’s first order is for the people to prepare to cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land in three days.  He reminds the Eastern-settling 2.5 tribes, of their promise to fight and conquer the land WITH their brothers.

In Chapter 2, Joshua sends two spies out to “view the land, especially Jericho.”  They obey (and as God led them) entered the house of Rahab. She was a prostitute, but also possibly a “hotel” owner. Her house was on the wall that surrounded the city and was accessible.  She hides the two Israeli spies when the king’s men come looking for them, and sends those soldiers on a “wild goose chase,” while sending the spies on a different route.

Why? Why would this female, pagan prostitute help enemy spies? Verses 8-12 explains that she KNOWS that the LORD has given the land to Israel. Everyone is in terror because of them. They’ve all heard about Israel’s miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and their successes with Kings Sihon and Og and their hearts are melting.  Then her proclamation of faith: “The LORD your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”  

She then requests, that for her helping them to escape, that they will save her and her family when they attack.  The spies agree, with one caveat. She and all of hers must stay within the house, and she must hang a red rope from her window down the outside of the wall.  When Israel sees that red cord, they will pass over her house, and save her and hers alive.

The spies report back to Joshua that the LORD has indeed given all the land into their hands. And the hearts of all the inhabitants “melt away because of us.”

In Chapter 3, Israel crosses the Jordan River into Canaan, much like they crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt. Except, it is the action of the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, who step into the water, that God  uses it to stop it flowing and open a way through. So, as the “soles of the feet” of the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the water, it bunched up in a heap. The priests/Ark stood in the middle of the dry river bed until ALL OF ISRAEL passed over into the land.

Chapter 4 describes how Joshua, at God’s command, had a representative from each tribe take twelve stones from the river bed, and carry them to Gilgal where they were to camp and laid them down. Joshua set them up as a memorial, something these people would tell their children about in years to come.

When the priests & the Ark followed the people out of the river bed, all the water came rushing back again.  And it was the first day of the preparation for Passover.  (Fitting, huh?)

#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 75

Mar15

    Day 75 —  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 75– Deuteronomy 14 – 16 (More reviews, Soft hearts, Main Feasts)

In Chapter 14, Moses reviews a few dietary laws of things they will face in the Promised Land, listing what is “clean” for Israel to eat. He reminds them “You are a people holy (set apart) to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. YOU shall not eat any abomination.” (14:2-3)

They are also reminded not to forget the Levites and giving their tithes which are to support them.

Chapter 15 goes over the Sabbatical Year, when all indentured “slaves” are to be released, and for the wealthy not to send them away empty, but with supplies. God warns them against a “hardened heart” toward the poor, and to give them freely what they need. Hasn’t God supplied all of them abundantly with more than they need?  “Open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy, and to the poor of the land,” says the LORD.

Chapter 16, reviews their obligation to keep (remember always) Passover, for it is when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. (A “picture” of the deliverance Christians receive through the sacrifice of the ultimate Passover Lamb at the crucifixion of Jesus. We too are to Remember it.)  Details on the first harvest Festival of Weeks (First-fruits or Pentecost) and the Festival of Booths (Tabernacles) when Israel remembered their time living in tents in the Wilderness are also reviewed and encouraged.

The chapter ends with a caution about unrighteous judges, and a warning against forbidden objects or means of idol worship, for the LORD hates such things.

#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.

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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.

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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.

Let These Go, says Jesus

Mar29

Morning and Evening by Spurgeon

John 18:8  Jesus said unto them, If ye seek me, let these go their way.

Mark, my soul, the care which Jesus manifested even in his hour of trial, towards the sheep of his hand! The ruling passion is strong in death. He resigns himself to the enemy, but he interposes a word of power to set his disciples free. 

As to himself, like a sheep before her shearers he is dumb and opened not his mouth, but for his disciples’ sake he speaks with almighty energy. Herein is love, constant, self-forgetting, faithful love.

 But is there not far more here than is to be found upon the surface? Have we not the very soul and spirit of the atonement in these words? The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, and pleads that they must therefore go free. The Surety is bound, and justice demands that those for whom he stands a substitute should go their way. 

In the midst of Egypt’s bondage, that voice rings as a word of power, “Let these go their way.” Out of slavery of sin and Satan the redeemed must come.

 In every cell of the dungeons of Despair, the sound is echoed, “Let these go their way,” and forth come Despondency and Much-afraid. 

Satan hears the well-known voice, and lifts his foot from the neck of the fallen; and Death hears it, and the grave opens her gates to let the dead arise. 

Their way is one of progress, holiness, triumph, glory, and none shall dare to stay them in it. No lion shall be on their way, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon.

 “The hind of the morning” has drawn the cruel hunters upon himself, and now the most timid roes and hinds of the field may graze at perfect peace among the lilies of his loves. 

The thunder-cloud has burst over the Cross of Calvary, and the pilgrims of Zion shall never be smitten by the bolts of vengeance. 

Come, my heart, rejoice in the immunity which thy Redeemer has secured thee, and bless his name all the day, and every day.

Prayer for the Unconverted

Oct27

Buried deep in an old, mostly-forgotten anthology of poetry, I found this little gem from Newman Hall—a poem that expresses in rhyme and meter the longing of many a Christian heart. May it give you words to pray for “those who do not pray, who waste away salvation’s day.”

We pray for those who do not pray!
Who waste away salvation’s day;
For those we love who love not Thee—
Our grief, their danger, pitying see.

Those for whom many tears are shed
And blessings breathed upon their head,
The children of thy people save
From godless life and hopeless grave.

Hear fathers, mothers, as they pray
For sons, for daughters, far away—
Brother for brother, friend for friend—
Hear all our prayers that upward blend.

We pray for those who long have heard
But still neglect Thy gracious Word;
Soften the hearts obdurate made
By calls unheeded; vows delayed.

Release the drunkard from his chain,
Bare those beguiled by pleasure vain,
Set free the slaves of lust, and bring
Back to their home the wandering.

The hopeless cheer; guide those who doubt;
Restore the lost; cast no one out;
For all that are far off we pray,
Since we were once far off as they.