Tag Archive | Moses

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 33 & 34 (Part 1)

Feb3

Day 33. Reading in Exodus 10 -1 2. 

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

Exodus 10.

After the horrendous hail had stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind yet again. 

The LORD said to Moses, “I have hardened Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his servants.” Say to Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?  LET MY PEOPLE GO, THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME. If you refuse … I will bring locusts, such as you have never seen, to cover the face of the land. They will eat whatever is left from the hail. They will fill your houses.”

Then Moses turned and left the king’s presence.

Pharaoh’s servants begged him, “Let the men go that they may serve the LORD their God! Do you not yet understand that EGYPT IS RUINED??”

Moses and Aaron were called back in.  “Okay! Go! Serve the LORD your God. But who will go?” 

“We will go with our young and old, our daughters and sons, our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

“I will NEVER let you AND your little ones go! YOU HAVE SOME EVIL PURPOSE IN MIND!!” yelled Pharaoh. “No! Only you and the men will go. That’s what you asked for!” 

And he drove them out of his presence.

And God sent the locusts when Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt. The early East wind brought them. The sky was dark. The land was covered with the winged insects, chomping, chomping.

Quickly, Pharaoh called them back. “Oh, I’ve sinned against the LORD your God. Forgive my sin only this once!  PLEAD WITH THE LORD TO REMOVE THIS DEATH FROM ME!!!”

Moses prayed. The LORD heard. He blew every last one of them into the Red Sea.  And … “The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”

Then, without warning, God told Moses to stretch out his hand toward heaven. A complete, deep darkness descended on Egypt for three days. A darkness that could be “felt.” They could not see each other or their hands in front of their faces. They all were confined to their beds. (Goshen had light!)

“GO! Serve the LORD; your little ones may go with you! Only not your flocks and herds.”

“Sorry,” said Moses. “Everything must go. Not a hoof must remain. We don’t know what we’ll need.”

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

“NO! Go away! I never want to see your face again!“

Exodus 11.

“I have one more plague yet,” said the LORD.  “After that, he will let you go.  He will drive you away completely. Now tell your people that every man and woman shall ask their neighbor for gold and silver jewelry.”

“Here’s what will happen, Moses…

“About midnight, I will go out in the midst of EGYPT, and EVERY FIRSTBORN in the land of Egypt SHALL DIE of Pharaoh, his servants, and his cattle. There will be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt. But not a dog shall growl in Israel.  And all Pharaoh’s servants shall say to you, “GET OUT, YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW YOU!”

Exodus 12.

Earlier, God had told Moses about the glorious exodus and how it would go down for the Israelites. In fact, the exit from Egypt would signal a new calendar. This event would signal a new year – a new beginning as the “nation” of Israel.  It would be an event that should be remembered forever, told about to all generations to follow. It was to be “Passover.”

Moses had been instructed by God how to prepare the people.

  • They were to select a spotless lamb, watch him for 3 days to make sure he was perfect,
  • Then all of Israel would kill their lamb at one time and roast it whole. 
  • Its blood was to be caught and swiped on the doorposts and top bar of the door of their house. (VERY IMPORTANT TO DO THIS!!  Because when the Angel of the LORD came to kill all the firstborn of man and beast in Egypt … He would see that blood of the lamb and PASSOVER that house.) Everyone inside the “blood-stained” houses would live.
  • They were to have their things packed (including all the jewelry and clothing the Egyptians had given them) and to eat the lamb standing up in their travel clothes and sandals. 
  • They were not to wait for the bread to rise but bake/eat it without leaven.
  • None of them was to go outside until daybreak.

The people of Israel did all the LORD had commanded them through Moses. 

Midnight arrived.

Israel ate in silence. 

Then, they heard that great cry rise and echo through Egypt. Every house wailing for a loved one dead.

.Pharaoh summoned Moses. “GET OUT FROM AMONG MY PEOPLE!  GO!  Serve the LORD. Take your flocks and herds and everyone!  BE GONE!

All the Egyptians were URGENT with the people to send them out of the land in haste. “We shall all be dead!” they cried. 

So, after plundering Egypt, the promised children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-Israel began to move out of Goshen toward the city of Ramses—and then home.  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with them. (13:19)

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There were 600K men, plus women and children, and livestock. A “mixed” multitude of non-Jews (other slaves?) also went with them.

It was 430 years to the very day they came down, that they went out from Egypt.

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 32

Feb1

Day 32. Reading Exodus 7 – 9.  (February)

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

Exodus 7.

“Let the “plagues” begin!” 

God renews His commission to Moses to tell Pharaoh to “Let the people of Israel go out of his land.”  He warns Moses that Pharaoh will NOT allow it, but so that the Egyptians will know that He is the LORD, He will perform “great acts of judgment.” When Pharaoh asks Moses to perform a miracle, Moses is to tell Aaron to throw down his staff in front of the king so it will become a serpent.

(Aaron will speak for Moses. Aaron is much more at ease with the Egyptian language than Moses, who has been away for 40 years.)

It goes just like God said, except Pharaoh’s sorcerers were able to make their staffs become snakes as well.  Did that surprise/worry Moses?  However, the “rod of God” swallows their “serpents” before Aaron picks it up.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.

Next, God tells Moses to meet Pharaoh by the Nile River as he goes out to get water. Moses is to repeat the request (“Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.”)  To show that the LORD is God (and not their pagan river god), Moses will tell Aaron to strike the water with his staff. When he does, ALL the water in Egypt will turn to blood. Pharaoh ignores the warning, so Aaron hits the water.

All the water in the Nile turned to blood, the fish died, and the river stunk. All the connecting canals, ponds, and pools became blood, and all the pots, buckets, and pitchers of water also became blood. (Egyptians had to dig in the sand along the river to get fresh water, or they would have died of thirst.)

And Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same. Huh? How? And why not REVERSE the plague instead of making it worse. They couldn’t.

Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened.

Exodus 8.

A whole week later, Moses goes to Pharaoh and repeats the request. “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” If he doesn’t respond, Moses (though Aaron with the staff) will call up frogs from the River. Millions of frogs will swarm over the land and into their houses, bedrooms, beds, cooking pots, ovens, and kneading bowls.  YUCK!! 

(BTW, frogs were considered sacred to Egyptians, so they wouldn’t try to kill them.)

Pharaoh does not respond, so Aaron stretches the “rod of God” over the waters, and Voila! Up come those masses of amphibians.  And guess what!  The sorcerers made MORE frogs.  Seriously?? 

“Moses, Moses! Plead with the LORD to take away these frogs!” says the Pharaoh, now stepping on and throwing off the creatures. “And…. I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”  Whoa! Really??

(I love this.) “Be pleased to command me WHEN I am to plead for you and our servants and your people that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile,” Moses (or Aaron) says. 

“TOMORROW!”   (Huh?  Why not this minute?)

“Okay, so you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God… tomorrow it is.“

Moses leaves and prays. God hears and answers. The frogs die and are gathered into piles. They stink, but they are no longer hopping into houses.

When Pharaoh saw there was a respite, he hardened his heart.

Then, without warning, Moses tells Aaron to strike the dust with his staff. He does, and the dust becomes gnats. (Think “no-see-ums,” you folks in the South.)  They swarmed and buzzed and landed on and bit man and beast. 

Ho, ho, ho! The sorcerers could NOT duplicate this one. “Pharaoh, this is the finger of God!” they cried.

But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.

Next, Moses is told to meet Pharaoh again when he goes out to get water. “The LORD says, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Or else…flies will swarm everywhere! EXCEPT in Goshen where My people live.” And the next day, it happened. No “rod of God” this time. 

“Moses! Go, sacrifice to your God within the land!” Pharaoh cries, swatting at the awful insects.

“Nope. The offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD are an abomination to the Egyptians. (They worshiped cattle.)  “We must go a three-day journey into the wilderness.”

“Okay, okay,” says the fly-covered Pharaoh. “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD in the wilderness, but you must not go very far away. PLEAD FOR ME!” 

“Okay, the flies will be gone tomorrow, but YOU’D BETTER NOT CHEAT AGAIN!”

And so, the LORD removed the flies so that not one remained.

But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also.

Genesis 9.

The LORD sends Moses again to Pharaoh. “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me.'” 

This time, it would be a very severe plague on the livestock in the field. Horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks will die.  BUT NOT IN GOSHEN. The animals belonging to the people of Israel would be safe.

The next day, it happened as the LORD said, and the animals of Egypt died. (Pharaoh even sent to check in Goshen and found the Israelite animals well and chomping grass in the fields.)

But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.

Next, God told Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of soot from the kiln and let MOSES throw it in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It will turn to fine dust, spread over Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast, says the LORD.  EEEK! 

So they did it before Pharaoh.  His sorcerers could not even stand on their feet because of the boils, as was true for all of Egypt.

But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh.

Next, Moses was to go before Pharaoh in the morning and say, “The LORD the God of the Hebrews says ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me.”  Furthermore, He said, “This time I will send all my plagues on YOU, YOURSELF, and the people, so that you may know that there is NONE LIKE ME in all the earth.“

God then explains why He continues to plague (and harden his heart). “For this purpose, I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that My Name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 

Then, through Moses, God proclaimed that the next day would bring hail like they had never seen, VERY HEAVY HAIL.  But, the merciful God warned all in Egypt who would listen to “Send and get any livestock you have in the field into a safe shelter. Every man and beast in the field will die when the hail falls on them.”

(Whoever feared the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into houses.)  Well done, you!

Moses then stretched out his hand toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth (lightning?). There was fire flashing continually in the hail, very heavy hail, not seen since Egypt became a nation.  And all in the fields; man, beast, plant, and tree were stuck down or broken.

But not in Goshen. 

Pharaoh sent for Moses. “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. PLEAD with Him, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”  REALLY… Pharaoh?

“I’ll do it, O Pharaoh, but you do not yet fear the LORD God.”

And Moses was correct. As soon as the rain, hail, and thunder stopped, the king sinned again.

The heart of Pharaoh was hardened.

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Mass destruction and the final blow will come tomorrow for Pharaoh and Egypt. But deliverance for Israel, as God promised.

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 31

Jan31

Day 31. Reading in Exodus 4 – 6. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and meditate on it. What stood out to you?

Exodus 4.

From the burning bush, God told Moses that He was sending him back to Pharaoh to bring the children of Israel OUT OF EGYPT.

By now, Moses has twice told the LORD that he is “unable” to do it.  God has assured Moses that He would be with him all the way. God gave Moses His sacred Name by which he could persuade the people and even told him HOW He would rescue them. (Many times, Pharaoh would refuse, but God would plague Egypt until he agreed. )

“But the people won’t believe me,” Moses counters now.

Then, God gave Moses three signs to convince the people.  First, his staff turned into a snake and then back into a staff.  Next, his hand turned leprous, then back to clean. Finally, when Moses poured a little Nile River water onto the ground, it would turn to blood.  WOW!

“Oh, my Lord,” whines Moses, “I am not eloquent. I’m slow of speech and tongue.” (He’s spent the last 40 years with only sheep to talk to.)

God assures Moses that HE is God. He makes mouths (and ears and eyes with their deficiencies).  Moses is not to worry about that, but to “Go! I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

“Oh, my Lord. Send someone else.”

Okay, that is enough!  God is angry.  “Ok, Moses, but this is the last concession. Your brother is coming to see you. Tell and show him all I’ve revealed.  He will be your spokesman.  I’ll tell you what to say, and you can whisper it in his ear.” 

  • Wow.  Indeed, God has been exasperated with me like this many times as I make excuses not to obey Him.  Oh, the patience and kindness of our God!  Forgive me!  What a wonderful example I have in Jesus when it was time for Him to become human and die for my sins. No hesitation. And God said of Him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Moses asks permission from his father-in-law to go and is graciously relieved of his shepherding duties.  He packs up his wife and son on a donkey. At a rest stop, God threatens Moses’ life. Why? Because he did NOT follow through with the covenant commandment of circumcision, which he should have done to his son when he was 8 days old.  Does Moses want to be part of God’s family or not?

While Moses lies dying, Zipporah circumcises their son and flaunts the foreskin. “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” she says.  

God relents, and Zipporah is left alone with the boy until he heals before they return home. Moses leaves on foot to meet Aaron at the Mountain of God. He tells his brother everything God said, and together, the two men go to the elders of the people of Israel in Egypt and do the signs.  The people believe, and there is great rejoicing and worship of the LORD. 

Exodus 5.

Buoyed up by this reaction, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness‘.”

“Um, no!” answers Pharaoh. “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I don’t know him. I will not let Israel go.”

“Please let us go three days into the wilderness to worship our God, or He may send a pestilence on us.”

“No!  Get back to work!  You have too much idle time on your hands. Now you will have to find the straw for the bricks for yourselves instead of me supplying it.  AND YOUR QUOTA IS THE SAME!”

The elders of Israel go to Moses and complain. “You have made us stink in the eyes of Pharaoh! Things are worse than they were before!!!”

Moses goes to God. “Lord, why have You done evil to this people?  Why did You ever send me?  I have not delivered the people at all!”

Exodus 6.

“NOW, you will see what I will do to Pharaoh,” the LORD says. “For with a strong hand, he will send them out, and with a strong hand, he will DRIVE them out of his land.” (Just you wait and see!)

God speaks to Moses. “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan. 

  • 1) I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians HOLD AS SLAVES. 
  • 2) I have remembered my covenant. 
  • 3) Say to the people, “I am the LORD, and I will DELIVER you from slavery, I will REDEEM you with an outstretched arm with GREAT ACTS OF JUDGMENT. 
  • 4) I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.
  • 5) I will bring you into the land I swore to give to your fathers, and give it to you as a possession. I AM THE LORD.”

“Now, Moses, go in, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel go out of his land!” 

And so the contest begins. In the end, Israel will be free and wealthy. Egypt will be broken and without an army, a leader, or a son to take his place.

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As the writer of this book, Moses takes a moment to give us his and Aaron’s genealogy.  Jacob’s third son, Levi, had three sons (important regarding the duties of the Tabernacle and Temple worship). They are Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.  Moses and Aaron are descended from the line of Kohath through Amram and his wife, Jochebed.  (Levi lived 137 years, Kohath lived 133 years, and Amram lived 137 years.  At this time, Moses is 80, and Aaron is 83. Their sister Miriam is somewhere between 87-92 (sources differ).

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 30

Jan30

Day 30. Reading in Exodus 1 – 3. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and meditate on it. What do you learn about God?

Exodus 1.

.And … the eleven sons of Jacob-Israel are named again (Joseph already has been in Egypt). They and all that generation die. And the children of Israel greatly increase, multiply, and grow strong so that the land is FILLED with them. 100 years after, the number of men, women and children had grown to TWO MILLION. They had become a nation, just as God had told Abraham.

Several Pharaohs had reigned since the one who elevated Joseph. The current king was ruthless and evil. He looked at the mass of strong Israelites, and fear gripped his heart. “If” war broke out, these “foreigners” might join the enemy army. So he gradually turned them into slaves with taskmasters to build store cities for him. When that didn’t slow the population growth, he worked them harder in the fields and in making bricks.

Then, this diabolical king (probably Thutmose 1) told the midwives to kill all boys being born to the Israelite women.  They refused and lied to him, so he made it a “national” law that everyone, seeing a Jewish baby boy, was to grab him and throw him into the Nile River to drown or to be food for the crocodiles.

How many were killed, we don’t know, but before we judge this wicked man, think of the hundreds of thousands of abortions our country has allowed (promoted) over the years.

Exodus 2.

During these atrocities, two descendants of Levi (Amram and Jochebed) marry and begin a family. They have a daughter (Miriam), then a son, a beautiful, healthy baby.  The mother keeps him as long as she can, but his cries will soon bring vengeful neighbors to take him to the Nile.  So, she does it herself, except her baby is wrapped up and placed into a watertight basket before going into the river. A gentle push and the baby’s amazing voyage begins. He is carefully watched by his older sister.

The baby floats into the reeds near the pool where Pharaoh’s daughter (and her ladies-in-waiting) are bathing. THEN it starts to cry. The ladies bring her the basket, and immediately, her heart goes out to the beautiful infant. She smiles and perhaps tickles the little one until it stops crying, then she takes it into her arms and cuddles it close. She opens the blankets and discovers that the baby is a boy … an Israelite boy. (He is circumcised.) But she already wants him for her own. 

Right then, Miriam steps up, bowing, and offers a wet nurse to feed the baby. Pharaoh’s daughter is not fooled, but she wants the boy and sees the practicality of having “his mother” feed him.  She promises to pay this “wet nurse” and expects the boy to be brought to her as soon as he is weaned. And so, for three to four years, Amram and Jochebed sing and speak the stories of their God and His promises to the little boy.

“God has chosen them. God is with them. God has promised to rescue them and bring them to their own land. God always keeps His promises.”  A lullaby and alphabet lesson of faith.

The time comes. and Jochebed presents her son to Pharaoh’s daughter. She’s done all she can to instill in the boy his Hebrew heritage. Now, she entrusts him to God. 

Your name is Moses (drawn out) because I drew you out of the water. “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.” (Acts 7:21)

At forty, Moses was a man of stature, education, and importance. Raised an Egyptian, he nevertheless remembered that “his people” were Israel.  One day, as he watched how they were being treated, he saw a taskmaster mercilessly beating a Hebrew. Fury rose in him, and he struck the Egyptian down dead. Quickly, he buried him in the sand. (not a ‘smart’ move, as the wind would soon uncover the body).  

Moses felt good (if a bit scared) about his actions.  Surely, his people would recognize him as “their savior.”

NOT SO!  The next day, when he tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews, they reminded him of what he’d done to the Egyptian. “Who made you PRINCE and judge over us?”

Ah-oh!

Suddenly, Moses was afraid. Pharaoh would kill him if the stern man learned he’d murdered an Egyptian. So Moses ran.  He ran and ran, all the way across the desert he would one day lead God’s people.  He ran to Midian. (Midian was a descendant of Abraham by his second wife, Keturah.) 

At a well (where it seems all Hebrew men meet their wives), Moses met seven daughters of a priest of Midian.  When the man learned that a handsome, strong Egyptian had helped his daughters, he invited Moses to dinner.  The rest is history. Moses married Zipporah and they had a couple sons.

And he became a shepherd of sheep.  (This began the second 40-year phase of his education.  How do you lead, feed, run after, and care for a bunch of unruly, dumb sheep? Or people.)

Meanwhile, Pharaoh died. The slavery of Israel got tougher.  They groaned and cried out for help.  God heard the groaning and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (For 400 years they’d serve another nation, then He’d bring them back to the land.)

“God saw the people of Israel, and God knew.”

Exodus 3.

One day, the 80-year old-shepherd Moses, was out with his sheep on the west side of the desert near Horeb (Sinai), the “mountain of God.” He was watching the white wooly backs serenely, when suddenly the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush, that didn’t itself burn. 

“Whoa. What’s going on here?”

“Moses, Moses!”

“What?  Here I am.”

“Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”

And Moses quickly untied and took off his sandals.

“I AM the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look AT GOD.

“I have SEEN the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have HEARD their cry because of their taskmasters. I KNOW their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them up to that good and broad land, flowing with milk and honey.

“Come,  I will send YOU to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

“WHAT??? I can’t do that!! Who am I to deliver Israel out of Egypt???”

“I will be with you, and this is a sign for you, that I’ve sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God ON THIS VERY MOUNTAIN.”

“Who shall I tell the people sent me? (A bush?)

“I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel. The LORD the God of your fathers… has send me. This is His name forever. Go, Moses, gather the elders of Israel and say that the LORD, the God of their fathers has appeared to you and promised to bring them up out of affliction.

Then, go to the king and ask that the people go a three-day journey into the desert to sacrifice to their God. He won’t let you go, so I will strike Egypt with plagues, and then he WILL let you go. And when you ask them, all the Egyptians will give you silver and gold jewelry, and clothing. AND YOU WILL PLUNDER THE EGYPTIANS!

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Tomorrow, we will see Moses’ response.

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 360

Dec26

   Day 360—We are in the LAST month of Bible reading for the year, studying the LETTERS of the Apostles.

Day 360 – 1 John 1 – 5 (God is light, confession, God is love, assurance)

1 John is one of three letters the apostle John wrote to the churches in Asia Minor, probably from Ephesus, probably in 90+AD.  He is the only survivor and eyewitness to Jesus’ earthly ministry, which he mentions in the first few verses.

He writes about the danger of false teachers and heresy by asking his readers to remember the fundamentals of faith.  He writes as ‘a loving father to his children’ and tells them how they can be assured of God’s love.

1 John 1.

 John reminds his readers that he has personally seen, heard, and touched “the word of Life” Jesus in the flesh. And what he heard with his own ears he proclaims to them so they may have the joy in knowing Him intimately too.    

The message? “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”  If we know Him, we will walk in the light and have fellowship with Him, and His blood will cleanse us from all sin. If not, we still are in darkness. 

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 2.

“My little children, I am writing so you may not sin. But IF anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins.” (what satisfies God that our sin has been punished)

Then John writes about the perfect love in Christ that should also be in believers. The “old commandment” was to LOVE GOD supremely and your neighbor as yourself.  The “new commandment” from Jesus was to love your neighbor, as He loved you and gave his life for you.  (sacrificially: John 13:34-35)  There is no place for hate in the heart of a believer.

Then John writes about the family of God in three spiritual stages: little children, young men, and fathers.  They know the Father, their sins have been forgiven, and they have overcome the evil one…because they are strong and the Word of God abides in them.

“Do not love THE WORLD or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh (to indulge yourself), the desires of the eyes (to acquire for yourself), and the pride of possessions (to impress others about yourself) — is NOT from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

1 John 3.

See what kind of LOVE the Father has given us – that we should be called ‘the children of god.’ And we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. 

This is the message you have heard from the beginning that we should LOVE one another.

By this, we know LOVE, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  Little children, let us not LOVE in word or speech but in deed and truth. 

“This is His commandment that we BELIEVE in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and LOVE one another.” 

1 John 4.

Do not believe every spirit, but TEST THE SPIRITS to see whether they are from God, for many FALSE PROPHETS have gone out into the world.  BY THIS, you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Every spirit that does NOT confess Jesus is NOT from God, but antichrist.  Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is IN YOU is greater than he who is in the world.

“Beloved, let us LOVE one another, for LOVE is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not LOVE does not know God because GOD IS LOVE.  In this, the LOVE of God was made manifest (clear) among us, that God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is LOVE, NOT that we have loved God, but that He LOVED us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the satisfaction that our sins have been paid for) for our sins.”

If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

By this, we KNOW that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

There is no fear in LOVE, but perfect LOVE casts out fear.

We love Him because He first loved us. 

1 John 5.

“Everyone who BELIEVES that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who LOVES the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments.”

Whoever BELIEVES in the Son of God has the testimony in himself –that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does NOT have the Son of God, does not have life.”

“I write these things to you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.”

(Amen.)

 

 

 

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 88

Mar28

    Day 88 —  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!  TODAY, we finish the 7th book in our Bible reading!

   Day 88 – Joshua 22 – 24 (Eastern tribes, an alter, Joshua’s charge & challenge, Joshua’s death)

In Chapter 22, with the land settled and divided, it’s time for the armies of the Eastern two-and-a-half tribes to return to their lands and settle down.  Joshua charges them with the basis of the Covenant, to “love the LORD their God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all their heart and soul.”

These tribes received Joshua’s challenge and blessing and headed East, stopping at the border to erect a massive altar.  WHAT??  Rightly, the other ten tribes, plus the High Priest, come and confront them. They fear that God will judge them ALL if these eastern tribes are already worshiping at a place other than where God signifies.  But the eastern tribe allay their fears, saying the alter is NOT a place to worship, but only a memorial to reinforce that the eastern tribes are a part of the whole of Israel.  All outcry is calmed with this explanation.

In Chapter 23, Joshua—well advanced in years at 110—tells how faithful God has been to ALL his promises, even though Israel repeatedly fails Him. He says, “You know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you.”

  • Therefore, be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses.
  • Don’t turn aside from it to the right or left.
  • Don’t mix with the nations remaining among you or even mention the names of their gods.
  • Don’t swear to their gods, serve them, or bow down to them.
  • Cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day.
  • Be careful to love the LORD your God.

In Chapter 24, Joshua reviews Israel’s history from Abraham’s first call to this day in detail, and concludes with these thoughts.

  • Now therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness
  • Choose this day whom you will serve.
  • As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

And the people answered, “we also will serve the LORD, for He is our God. Joshua contradicts them, saying they are NOT able to serve the Lord, but they double-vow that they will.

Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 yeas old.  They buried him in his own inheritance.  And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD had done. Finally Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the High Priest dies too, and his son, the righteous Phinehas becomes High Priest.

Then the chapter and the book close with a rightful conclusion to Genesis 50.  The bones that Joseph made his brothers promise they would carry out of Egypt and bury in the promised land are finally buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor. (Near the very place Joseph’s brothers kidnapped him and sold him to slavery in Egypt.)

God is faithful always and honors those who serve him.

END of Joshua. And a new, spiraling down period of Israel’s history – JUDGES.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 81

Mar21

    Day 81—  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 81 – Deuteronomy 32 – 34, Psalm 91  Song of Moses, Moses’s final blessing on each tribe, Moses death, Israel’s refuge)

God commanded Moses to write a song that would be taught to all Israel, so whenever they sang it, they would REMEMBER. It would be a witness for God.

In 43 verses and 10 stanzas of Chapter 32, Moses wrote the song of Israel’s glorious past, their hopeful present on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, and the disastrous future when they turn from God to worship other gods, who are not gods at all. And a glimpse of His everlasting love for them and restoration when the turn again.

“Rejoice with Him, O heavens;
bow down to Him, all gods,
for He avenges the blood of His children
and takes vengeance on His adversaries.
He repays those who hate him, 
and cleanses His people’s land.”

Deuteronomy 32:43

In Chapter 33, in the mode of Jacob when he blessed his sons, Moses now gives a “blessing” to the tribes of Israel, beginning with Reuben, and covering, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph (Ephraim & Manasseh), Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, and Asher.

Only Simeon is missing. Why? Because later, Simeon is assimilated into the tribe of Judah. (See Joshua 19:9 – “The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.”)

(It might be interesting to compare Moses’ blessing on the tribes with Jacob’s blessings on his sons in Genesis 49.)

Chapter 34, tells of the death of Moses, written perhaps by Joshua.  Moses ascends Mt. Nebo and the LORD shows him the Promised Land. And there “the servant of the LORD died, and He (God) buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, but no one knows to place of his burial to this day.

Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. And Israel mourned for him for thirty days.” 

And then… Joshua, the son of Nun (full of the spirit of wisdom) took over. And the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

“And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt…. and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.”

 

(Alas, Moses DID get to enter the promised land, in the day when Jesus (“the prophet like himself”) was “transfigured.” Both he and Elijah stood with Jesus and encouraged the Savior about His upcoming death.  Luke 9 28-31.)

Psalm 91 is a glorious hymn, beginning with the familiar “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

It goes on to encourage its readers (Israel) that HE is their protection against all the ever-present dangers and terrors that surround them.

“A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come year you.”

 

(A wonderful Psalm for any believer to read, why not go there now, and hold to the promises of God to those who love Him.)

 

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 80

Mar20

    Day 80 —  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 80 – Deuteronomy 30 – 31 (Repentance & hope, Choose life, Joshua commissioned, Command to read, a song written)

Moses’s life is winding down. He’s “mopping up” his leadership and readying himself and Joshua to pass the baton. Moses has been with these millions of people for over 40 years. He’s all the leader that some of them have ever know. What will it be like without him?

At 120 years old, Moses is ready to brush his hands of this people and “go home.”

In chapter 30, he tells the people he knows they will fail in all the commands and love toward God. He knows they will experience the really hard discipline of God, but  if/when they repent, return to the LORD, and obey his voice with all their heart and soul…. the gracious, long-suffering, and merciful LORD their God will have compassion on them and restore them.  And at that time, He will “circumcise their HEARTS so they will love him with heart and soul and LIVE.

Moses challenges them, saying, “But the word is very near to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so you CAN do it!”  Moses sets before them life and death, blessing and curse. “Choose life, that you and your offspring may LIVE, loving the LORD your God, obeying His voice, and holding fast to him…..for He IS your life.”

In Chapter 31, Moses calls aside Joshua and encourages him, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of THEM, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave or forsake you.” He then sets Joshua before the people and says the same thing.  This is your leader now. God will go before you and be with you and not forsake you.  Before all the people Moses officially commissions Joshua with the job, and the LORD, in a pillar of cloud, affirms it.

Moses finishes writing the words of the law in a book “to the very end.”  He commands that the Levites put it by the side of the ark of the covenant, and read the whole thing to the people every SEVEN YEARS, in the “year of release” when they all gather in the fall for the Festival of Booths/Harvest.

Then Moses (at God’s word) writes a song to teach to Israel, as a witness for God.  He wrote it in one day and taught it to the people of Israel.

(The song will be in tomorrow’s reading.)

#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, days 77 & 78

Mar18

    Day 77 & 78—  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 77 – Deuteronomy 21 – 23 (Unsolved murders, Captives, Firstborns, Rebellious sons, Hangings, Neighborliness, Exclusions, Andy Gump,  )

Wow! Moses gives a list of eclectic rules and laws for community life in Israel in the Promised land (like tying up loose ends). Chapter 21 tells how to atone for an unsolved murder, the kindnesses required in marrying captive women, the undeniable birthright (double portion) of the firstborn son, no matter from loved or unloved wives, and then how to deal (very harshly) with a rebellious, unrepentant son – by stoning.

Lastly in this chapter, Moses mentions putting a criminal to death and then hanging him on a tree as a public display of the consequences of sin. Hanging on a tree is considered “a curse” by God, and their body cannot stay there over night.   Paul mentions this in regard to the death of Jesus in Galatians 3:13. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a cruse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”

Chapter 22, list the sorts of things that are “neighborly” – helping someone out, finding a animal or possession and returning or keeping it safe for a neighbor, building a parapet around your roof so no one falls off.  He also mentions unequally yoked animals together (ox & donkey) for they would just go round in circles, with the ox pulling hardest.  Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6:14 urges believers in Jesus, “do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has light with darkness.”

Chapter 23 looks at some hard things, such as the exclusion from gathering before the presence of the Lord to worship Him, and participation in the religious rites at the Tabernacle and later the Temple. They were to exclude those with crushed testicles or cut off male organs, any man born of a forbidden union, no Ammonite or Moabite. Why?  Often frenzied pagan worship rituals would involve male mutilations. And Moses explained that these two nations did not help Israel, but instead hired Balaam to CURSE them.

And finally, he told Israel that the LORD “walked in the midst of their camp to deliver them,” so the camp must be holy and “decent.”  Therefore they were to go outside the camp, take a trowel, and dig a hole for their “poop” and cover it up when they were done. God is so practical!

 

Day 78 – Deuteronomy 24 -27  (More miscellaneous laws, Levite marriage, offerings, and the curses from Mt. Ebal)

In Chapter 24, Moses gives more eclectic laws that show the goodness and kindness of God and also His holiness and  justice. There is protection for a woman divorced, leniency for a newlywed man, mercy for poor debtors, and safety for the parents of a murderous son. God, through Moses’ words, promotes generosity for the “sojourner, the fatherless and the widow, and even a prodding ox.

In Chapter 25, he lays out the special rules for marriage among the Levites, the rightness of fair weights, and a sworn duty to annihilate the Amalekites.

In Chapter 26, Moses reviews the required offerings and tithes, and ends with a glorious promise for Israel if they will be faithful. “And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for His treasured possession, as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that He will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that He has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God as he promised.”

Chapter 27 begins the explanation and command of the dual pledge of God and Israel together once they cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. He names half of the Twelve tribes that are to go up on Mt. Ebal and then names the other half that will go up on Mt. Gerizim, with the Levites standing between and calling out curses and blessings.  All the tribes, first on the North, then those on the South are to respond with “AMEN” (so be it).  In this chapter, Moses lists TWELVE curses that are to be called out.  TWELVE “Amens” are to be the answers.