NUMBERS 13
This was one of those times where God apparently said yes to something that wasn’t so great for the Israelites. That is, sending in spies to scout out the Promised Land.
God defends us.
NUMBERS 12
There is so much going on in this chapter. There were a lot of different things I could have highlighted. But I decided to go in the direction I did because it goes along with one of my favorite hymns, "Praise to the Lord." My favorite line from this hymn says: Praise to the Lord who prospers your work and defends you.
Sometimes God says yes.
God requires only a little.
NUMBERS 10
And so, the Israelites left Mount Sinai: "On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the Lord’s command through Moses." (vs 11-13)
An Etheree on Woman Power {gn21:10}
Photo © Unsplash/Geran de Klerk
Eve
enticed
Adam to
stomach the fruit.
Sarah expertly
bent Abraham to her
will — "Get rid of that woman!"
Hagar summoned (with desert-hot
tears) Jehovah Almighty Himself.
Who says Biblical women were bridled?
Etheree: A poem consisting of 10 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 syllables, respectively.
God has a travel plan.
NUMBERS 9
This chapter of Numbers detailed how the Israelites mapped out their travel through the desert... they didn’t. "Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped... Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out." (vs 17, 22-23)
God is the light.
NUMBERS 8
At the beginning of Numbers 8, God instructed Aaron on how to set up the lampstand in the sanctuary: "The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to Aaron and say to him, "When you set up the lamps, see that all seven light up the area in front of the lampstand."' Aaron did so; he set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand, just as the Lord commanded Moses." (vs 1-3)
God shoulders responsibility.
God wants to share Himself with us.
A Reality Check for Abraham {gn20:11}
Photo © Unsplash/michael podger
Abraham, Abraham,
Judge of Gerar:
Always a tangled web you're weaving,
dependent, as you are, on your deceiving.
Abraham, Abraham,
Judge of Gerar:
You searched Abimelek's soul and found no respect for God—
or so you thought.
You concluded that you were in danger
since nobody in that land, you thought, would ever listen to God.
Were you including yourself in the count?
Abraham, Abraham,
Judge of Gerar:
As between you and Abimelek,
he was revealed as the one with ears open.
Your judgment was wrong.
Yet your judgment was right.
It wasn't so much that your conclusion was wrong,
just the person to whom you applied it.
Perhaps Jesus said to be careful with judging,
because others can be more of a mirror than we think.
Abraham, Abraham,
Judge of Gerar:
In misjudging others,
you judged yourself.
You imagined that no one in Gerar would respect God
...because you didn't.
God protects the vulnerable.
NUMBERS 5
Women didn’t always have it so good in Bible times. Especially women with jealous husbands. Treated as "property," the majority of women were at the whim of their husbands. I suppose it is still like this in many, many countries around the world. So, it’s no wonder that we find this elaborate "test for an unfaithful wife" in Numbers 5.
God likes sneak peeks.
NUMBERS 4
I’m intrigued by the idea that the tabernacle where God dwelt was a symbol of our bodies, which are called the temple of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul said this: "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
God lets us choose.
NUMBERS 3
Here’s what struck me from this chapter: "The Lord also said to Moses, 'I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine.'" (vs 11-13)
God does things for our benefit.
God invented the Extra Value Meal.
NUMBERS 1
So, in the first chapter of the book of Numbers, God has Moses take a census of the Israelites. And the tally of men over the age of 20 was 603,550. That’s just men over the age of 20 (who are able to be part of an army). So, when you figure in women, children, and elderly men, scholars estimate that the total size of the Israelite community at this time was between 2 and 3 million people.
A Sonnet for Sodom {gn19}
This is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud, had plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity; but she didn't help the poor and the needy. They became haughty and did detestable things in front of me, and I turned away from them as soon as I saw it. —Ezekiel 16:49-50
Sodom was destined to go up in smoke.
Wickedness was its perpetual clime.
Evil, like tinder, was ripe for a stoke:
It would ignite in a matter of time.
Greed ripened into perversion untold.
Townsfolk adopted the tricks of the shrike,
Burning with passions and lust uncontrolled,
Raping the wallet and person alike.
Lot was not righteous, not even a lick,
But he was willing to run for his life—
Run from the evil that threatened to stick.
Will we be like him, or more like his wife?
Greed dug its claws in and caused her to halt,
Turning her into a pillar of salt.
Sonnet: A poem consisting of 14 lines with a particular rhyming scheme.
God takes us seriously.
LEVITICUS 27
People who say whatever they think you want to hear. You know some of those, right? I certainly do! And boy, do they ever get on my nerves. I’d rather people just be honest about what they think and feel instead of thinking that they have to try to manipulate my moods with their words... especially when they don’t mean what they’re saying.
God has a battle plan.
LEVITICUS 26
I don’t know that I’ve ever had more utter respect for God than I have at this moment, after going through 26 chapters of Leviticus. There’s this image I have of Him in my mind as a strong, hulking man with bulging muscles who has encountered a rip-roaring, flooded river, and on a tiny piece of land in the middle of this rushing river is a huddled group of soaking-wet, desperate people who have no way to get out of their predicament. And with no thought for Himself, this strong God, with sleeves rolled up, strides mightily into the midst of that roaring river, dodging the debris and deflecting the uprooted trees, with every fiber of every muscle straining against the current to reach and save those people.
God is all about freedom.
LEVITICUS 25
There is something really beautiful in this chapter of Leviticus: "Even if [an Israelite slave] is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." (vs 54-55)
God holds all the blessings.
LEVITICUS 24
This is a very strange chapter, in the way it’s divided. The first part is about the oil and bread to be laid out before the Lord in the sanctuary. The middle part is about a blasphemer who was stoned to death. And the last part is the famous "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" passage. At first, I was going to try to find something inspiring to say about oil and bread (I like them as appetizers at Italian restaurants), but then I decided that would be a big, fat cop-out.