Tag Archive | Bible Study

#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 65

Mar5

    Day 65—  We have begun the THIRD month of Bible reading! We’ve been reading for over a 1/6 of a year! Praise God! I hope it’s become a GOOD habit that we will continue.

   Day 65 – Numbers 26 – 27 (A new census, Passing the baton)

Chapter 26 is maybe a bit tedious to read with all its names and numbers. But it was very important to Israel. They are now about to conquer the Promised Land, and it will be divided up among the 12 tribes according to their number; bigger areas to bigger tribes, etc.

This census was also to determine that ALL of those who rebelled against God 38 years earlier and refused to go into the Land were dead. Remember at this point, only Joshua and Caleb (in their 80’s now), and their families, plus Moses remained. (26:64-65)

In the count of tribes, SEVEN had grown in size, while FIVE had decreased. The total number of Israelites 20 years of age and older (suitable for the army) was 1,820 fewer than the tally in chapter one. The Levites, who would receive no land as inheritance since the LORD Himself was their inheritance, had increased in number by 1,000.

Chapter 27 begins with a new problem. Five women, daughters of one man, came to Moses saying that their father had no sons and had died in the wilderness.  Was their family to lose the rightful inheritance because there was no sons?  Moses inquired of the LORD, Who said that the daughters were correct and they were given their father’s inheritance.

Then a NEW LAW was written for Israel about the Land and the absence of male heirs. The inheritance would first be given to the daughters, or, if none, to the diseased man’s the brothers, and then uncles. If none of these were alive, the “nearest kinsmen” of the tribe would possess it.  (This very law will come up in the book of Ruth.)

Then, THAT time comes. God tells Moses to set apart Joshua to lead Israel in his place – because of his sin of “failing to uphold God as holy in the people’s eyes” at the waters of Meribah.  So Moses takes Joshua before the high priest, Eleazar in the presence of all the people, and lays his hands on him as a symbol of passing his authority and leadership. And so, in the eyes of God and the people, Joshua is officially commissioned to lead the people into the Land when the time came.

Moses was not to die yet, but the people had confidence that they would not be left without a leader when he did.

#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.