Week 9. Blessings and Curses.

Well, we finished Deuteronomy!  This week contained lots of blessing and curses... 

Heads or Tails.  Obedience or Disobedience. 

So many beautiful passages...  One of my favorites is Deuteronomy 12:7.  And I love the beautiful blessing of Deuteronomy 33:13 – 16.  And of course, there is 33:27.

Chapter 34 was poignant.  I felt that I was losing a sweet old friend when Moses died, who the Lord knew face to face. 

And I loved the insight on the bottom of Feb 28^th’s meditation about the Mount of Transfiguration.  

That was a new thought for me. It is mysterious and I do not need to understand it all.  Just embrace it.

  And now, we move into Joshua together.  

Week 8. Lessons in the Wilderness

It’s hard to believe that we have been reading for 52 days.  4 books down! We can do this.

 This week’s readings in Numbers were surprises!  I must say, sometimes God’s dealings seem harsh with his own people after they disobeyed or rebelled…Stoning the Sabbath-breaker in chapter 15 for gathering wood on the Sabbath day…the death of all the insolent people when the ground swallowed them up…the burning death of the 250 men who were offering incense…the venomous snakes…and Moses was not able to enter the promised land because he stuck the rock in anger instead of speaking to it in a way that honored God.   

Don’t you wonder why the Israelites just couldn't stop the complaining and rebelling? 

OK, so we get it.  We know that God is very serious about all this.  But don’t we still complain to God all the time…even today? 

Chapter 22 has that interesting section about Balaam and the talking donkey.

And I love the phrases in Chapter 24, verses 4 and 15…”whose eyes are opened” “whose eye sees clearly”… sometimes we can understand when our eyes are opened.

Did you notice the prophecy of the Messiah in Chapter 24 verse 17-19? 

And wow, the event with the Midianites in Chapter 31 was just astonishing. 

I highlighted Chapter 32 verse 23: “If you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

An insight from Chapter 33: verse 3&4:  Did you ever think about the fact that when the Israelites were finally able to walk out of Egypt, all the Egyptians were burying their firstborn?  What a sight. 

As they prepared to take the Promised Land, did you notice how many times they were told to be brave and not to be afraid?   

I love the beautiful passage in Deuteronomy 4: 29 -31: “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart with and with all your soul.  When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.  For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget you or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he confirmed to them by oath.”

Here is a map from another Bible that shows the paths of the desert wanderings. 

And we are still walking…

Week 7. God is Holy. Now this is serious.

What a week of reading!  We covered a lot of territory.  It’s fascinating.  God talked to Moses and told him such precise details about how to do everything.  It was all very important.  The festivals were all important.  I feel that we have barely scratched the surface and there will be so much more to learn as we read.  But I guess the main thing I “get”  loud and clear is that God wants us to take him seriously.  How many times did he say “I am the Lord”.  He is holy and he wants us to remember that.  I wonder if we are honoring God today.  Do we have confidence in him to fulfill his promises?  He is still holy. 

Today, I read Hebrews chapter 10.  Wow, it is beautiful to read it in the context of these Old Testament scriptures we have been going through.  Ah yes, I understand it better now.

I am still eager to read each morning and so thankful for this “Daily Walk Bible.” Today is DAY 46!  We can do this.

And we are still walking…

Week 6, Offerings, Offerings, Offerings….

Wow, what a week!  Our readings have immersed us up to our ears in all kinds of offerings:  Burnt Offerings, Grain Offerings, Fellowship Offerings, Sin Offerings, Guilt Offerings… Then there is all the meat, fat, blood, skin diseases, molds, unclean, unclean!  Then comes the Day of Atonement.

 All these chapters just make me so thankful that we don’t have to live like that anymore. 

The meditation on Feb 5 said it: “Aren't you glad Jesus Christ ended that uncertainty for all time?”  Yes. 

But I still hear God loud and clear: “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.  Keep my decrees and follow them.  I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”     

This is serious.  It matters. 

And we keep reading!

Week 5, Walking with the Israelites...

WOW, it's hard to believe that we've been reading the Bible together for a month.  So far, it has not been hard to stay up to date.  I still look forward to reading each day's scripture and I really enjoy listening to the "Listener's Bible" through my phone. (See week 3 if you want to see how to use a Bible App on  your phone.)  I find that HEARING the scripture helps me to pick up on little hidden gems that I would miss if I just read silently.  I also really like the daily devotions that are in the "Daily Walk" Bible.

When I started this venture on January 1, I decided to look for hidden treasures and mysteries as I read this year.  So far, I have found many.  ( I am highlighting them and making notes in my Bible as I read.) Some are insights, some are promises, some are little nuggets of information that I had forgotten or did not know.  It's like hunting for treasures in old manuscripts.

I love how God spoke to Moses face to face, like a friend.  (Exodus 33: 11.)   And I love how Moses' face was radiant after he had been with God.

Many of the ancient methods of worship seem so strange to us today, but I understand that God wants to keep his covenants.  I love this promise from God: "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Exodus 33:14.)

One insight I am intrigued by is the Sabbath.  I see how important it is to God.  He knew it would be important to us because we need it.  As the season of Lent approaches, I feel compelled to incorporate more times of Sabbath rest into my daily and weekly routine.        

---and now, we are moving into Leviticus!  2 books down, and how many to go?
and we're walking...Audrey