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I had my office torn apart yesterday to do some reorganizing and never got the computer clear to make this post.
God’s message to me: My God is a God of numbers and exact timing. This book starts with a date.
Promises: God promised that the nation of Israel would be nurtured in Egypt. They went in a family under 100 and came out as a nation of around 1 million. That’s a promise fulfilled.
Commands: God commands a census and record keeping in these passages. He shows us that Dates, Numbers, timing, and precise records are all important to Him.
Timeless principles: God made you for a destiny. He knows where you belong and what you are meant to do. Within His perfect plan is the perfect duty for you and the perfect place for you to be. You are not lost in the crowd, He has recorded your name, your place and your destiny.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: God was quite specific that the Levites were not part of the census. Counting them with the census would have brought punishment. When your counting up over 90% of the population the temptation is to finish the job. Do as God says precisely. Over kill is just as bad as not finishing. (yes, I realize that the Levites were, eventually, counted. It was separate from the census and made a point dedicating the first born. This is only the first census and knowing who not to count in future census takings will be important. God will reiterate the point about not taking the census to far. Keep this in mind When King David takes a census in the future)
more to learn for in-depth study: Entering Egypt with 66 able bodied men and their wives and little children. Leaving Egypt the nation included 603,550 men of war over the age of 20 plus women children and those to old to fight. This didn’t even count the tribe of Levi since they were set apart for the Lord’s work. This is also after the loss of a number of people do to sin against God in worshiping the Golden Calf.
Keep in mind also, the number of times God has commanded records to be kept and things to be written down. In spite of the claims by those who try to prove inaccuracy in the Bible, this is not an oral tradition. This was a written record from the beginning. Even if we reject evidence that writing existed before the flood we cannot reject the plain evidence of writing in Sanskrit, Hieroglyphs and other forms after the flood. Joseph was prime minister of Egypt. His family lived as the family of visiting royalty in the land for generations until the last 2 pharaohs. Moses was a prince of Egypt. There is no way that writing was unavailable to these people and God’s specific command to write things down makes it clear that things were written.
The Levites became the replacement for the firstborn. The first born were to be dedicated to the Lord but the Levites were taken as payment for the firstborn of the children of Israel. Their entire tribe was dedicated to serving the Lord in and around the temple. Aaron was of the tribe of Levi and became the subdivision. It was His descendants who would serve as priests. A Levites served the temple but only the sons of Aaron served as priests. There were 22,000 males over the age of one month in the tribe of Levi who served the temple. There were 22,273 first born males over the age of 1 month in all the other tribes of Israel. The extra 273 were redeemed for 1,365 shekels which were given to Aaron and his sons.
tomorrow: Numbers 4-5
Showing posts with label God's timing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's timing. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Leviticus chapter 15-17
My sincere apologies. It’s been a rather hectic couple of days so I will catch up here and now before I go to bed.
God’s message to me: It does no good to do all the things a Christian is supposed to do and then, when your away from the church, go back to acting like one who doesn’t know God.
Promises: God promises to turn against those who worship the false gods and who eat blood and involve themselves in the other pagan rituals that glorify false gods and insult The God who created them.
Commands: God has a time and place for things. Aaron’s sons rushed out to offer incense when they weren’t supposed to. In their zeal to act on behalf of the priesthood they ignored God’s timing and died. It is good to serve God and better to desire to serve Him but to do so in a way that isn’t His is to trivialize the act. God called us to teach and to baptize but running around and randomly dunking people in His name is insulting to Him and to everyone who truly desires to know His will.
Timeless principles: Oprah Winfrey did a show about charity work. In one episode a man was sent out to help a family at their home. He saw the garage needed cleaning and he cleaned it. He saw some odd jobs that needed done and did them. What he didn’t do, was ask them what they needed. Because of that, he missed the opportunity to help them with things they truly needed outside help to get done. He lost the task. That is what it’s like to serve God inappropriately. Doing a good thing, in the right spirit does not make it the right thing at the time.
Churches can often be overwhelmed by people volunteering for little projects in their favorite areas but still find themselves unable to find people who will do the things that really need to be done. Volunteering to clean the bathrooms is a wonderful thing but if there are several people willing to do that and none willing to help teach Sunday school to elementary school aged children the church is in trouble. I have known pastors who would gladly spend the week scrubbing the church if someone could take a class of school-age children for lessons while the sermon is being given.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Pray, search God’s word for direction, seek His will for your life and ask where you can be useful. God doesn’t pick the perfect person for the job. God make the willing person perfect for the job.
more to learn for in-depth study: Chapter 15 can be seen as strange to modern eyes but followed simple and reasonable treatment of bio hazards. The fact is that responsible handling of bodily fluids, particularly when they are associated with potential illness is something we could learn from. The biggest fear of anti-terrorist agents is the bio-weapon. Drop a couple of suicidal terrorists, infected with a deadly virus into a couple of our major population centers to mix and mingle and we could see hundred to thousands dead, ten times that sick and the country shut down. How many people do you know who go to work when their feeling a little ill because there are to many problems associated with staying home?
As for the sacrifices, I refer you back to God’s promise of health to the Israelites for following His commands. I should also note that sacrifices were not involved in the issues natural to marriage but I’m sure that’s one situation where most parties would be glad to call themselves unclean for a day.
tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 18-20
God’s message to me: It does no good to do all the things a Christian is supposed to do and then, when your away from the church, go back to acting like one who doesn’t know God.
Promises: God promises to turn against those who worship the false gods and who eat blood and involve themselves in the other pagan rituals that glorify false gods and insult The God who created them.
Commands: God has a time and place for things. Aaron’s sons rushed out to offer incense when they weren’t supposed to. In their zeal to act on behalf of the priesthood they ignored God’s timing and died. It is good to serve God and better to desire to serve Him but to do so in a way that isn’t His is to trivialize the act. God called us to teach and to baptize but running around and randomly dunking people in His name is insulting to Him and to everyone who truly desires to know His will.
Timeless principles: Oprah Winfrey did a show about charity work. In one episode a man was sent out to help a family at their home. He saw the garage needed cleaning and he cleaned it. He saw some odd jobs that needed done and did them. What he didn’t do, was ask them what they needed. Because of that, he missed the opportunity to help them with things they truly needed outside help to get done. He lost the task. That is what it’s like to serve God inappropriately. Doing a good thing, in the right spirit does not make it the right thing at the time.
Churches can often be overwhelmed by people volunteering for little projects in their favorite areas but still find themselves unable to find people who will do the things that really need to be done. Volunteering to clean the bathrooms is a wonderful thing but if there are several people willing to do that and none willing to help teach Sunday school to elementary school aged children the church is in trouble. I have known pastors who would gladly spend the week scrubbing the church if someone could take a class of school-age children for lessons while the sermon is being given.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Pray, search God’s word for direction, seek His will for your life and ask where you can be useful. God doesn’t pick the perfect person for the job. God make the willing person perfect for the job.
more to learn for in-depth study: Chapter 15 can be seen as strange to modern eyes but followed simple and reasonable treatment of bio hazards. The fact is that responsible handling of bodily fluids, particularly when they are associated with potential illness is something we could learn from. The biggest fear of anti-terrorist agents is the bio-weapon. Drop a couple of suicidal terrorists, infected with a deadly virus into a couple of our major population centers to mix and mingle and we could see hundred to thousands dead, ten times that sick and the country shut down. How many people do you know who go to work when their feeling a little ill because there are to many problems associated with staying home?
As for the sacrifices, I refer you back to God’s promise of health to the Israelites for following His commands. I should also note that sacrifices were not involved in the issues natural to marriage but I’m sure that’s one situation where most parties would be glad to call themselves unclean for a day.
tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 18-20
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Genesis chapters 32-34
God's Message to me: God will fulfill his promises more fully than you can imagine. Jacob would have been happy to come home in peace but God brought him home to find his brother happy to see him and welcoming him back with open arms.
Promises: If God says it you can depend on it. Jacob was protected and made to prosper on his journey and returned home safely and with such wealth that large gifts to his brother and the price of land for his new ranch were pocket change.
Commands: Trust and follow God's commands. Jacob didn't leave Laban until God told him to. When he did leave he left as one of the wealthiest men in the land.
Timeless principles: God will not let you down.
How can I apply what I've learned: Seek God's guidance and follow it when I find it. It does no good to search for truth if you choose to do your own thing anyway. People today place great stock in "situational ethics". They give lip service to the "timeless wisdom of the 10 commandments" but ignore them when the feel that they get in the way. If your going to make up the rules as your going along why learn them in the first place?
More to learn for in-depth study: It is interesting to note that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all took precautions to ensure their safety and the safety of those around them. They did so despite promises from God that they would be protected. They were never rebuked for doing so. In point of fact this is a recurring theme through the entire bible and even Christ himself accepted that the better part of valor sometimes meant escaping to continue another day.
Throughout the bible our heroes have willingly given themselves into the hands of persecutors and killers when God's appointed time had come but, until they knew that was God's plan they made every effort to protect themselves and God prospered them for doing so.
We also see here that pre-marital sex was considered wrong long before the law of Moses. The son of the local ruler ignored that rule and violated Jacobs daughter. Had he come for marriage first it would not have been a violation, on the other hand, Jacob would probably have turned him away anyhow but, it would have been a lot less bloody.
This brings us to war. While Jacob may not have approved of the slaughter by two of his sons it seems clear to me that 2 young men with swords could not wipe out a city without the help of God. The fact that they had the swords in the first place shows the family was prepared for armed conflict. In fact, Abraham led a war against more than one city in order to free the people of Sodom and Gomorrah when they, along with his nephew, were taken as prisoners.
War is never pretty and rarely desirable but it is acceptable. God ordered many wars throughout the Old Testament. Some where surgical, taking out the fighting force but sparing the non combatants. Some where "all out" with orders to destroy everything and leave not even a memory of the enemy. It all depended on provocation and the record of the opponent.
Secondary thought: If God expects us to all live happily in poverty, why did He make so many biblical heroes rich? There is around 3 times as many verses on money management in the bible as there are verses on prayer. God expects you to be a good steward of your finances and, as in the parable of the servants and the talents, wise use which makes it grow will convince God to give much more into your stewardship. "you have been faithful in a little I will make you ruler over much." Jacob arrived with nothing and tended Labens flocks as carefully as if they were his own and ended his work with his uncle with great flocks of his own.
Promises: If God says it you can depend on it. Jacob was protected and made to prosper on his journey and returned home safely and with such wealth that large gifts to his brother and the price of land for his new ranch were pocket change.
Commands: Trust and follow God's commands. Jacob didn't leave Laban until God told him to. When he did leave he left as one of the wealthiest men in the land.
Timeless principles: God will not let you down.
How can I apply what I've learned: Seek God's guidance and follow it when I find it. It does no good to search for truth if you choose to do your own thing anyway. People today place great stock in "situational ethics". They give lip service to the "timeless wisdom of the 10 commandments" but ignore them when the feel that they get in the way. If your going to make up the rules as your going along why learn them in the first place?
More to learn for in-depth study: It is interesting to note that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all took precautions to ensure their safety and the safety of those around them. They did so despite promises from God that they would be protected. They were never rebuked for doing so. In point of fact this is a recurring theme through the entire bible and even Christ himself accepted that the better part of valor sometimes meant escaping to continue another day.
Throughout the bible our heroes have willingly given themselves into the hands of persecutors and killers when God's appointed time had come but, until they knew that was God's plan they made every effort to protect themselves and God prospered them for doing so.
We also see here that pre-marital sex was considered wrong long before the law of Moses. The son of the local ruler ignored that rule and violated Jacobs daughter. Had he come for marriage first it would not have been a violation, on the other hand, Jacob would probably have turned him away anyhow but, it would have been a lot less bloody.
This brings us to war. While Jacob may not have approved of the slaughter by two of his sons it seems clear to me that 2 young men with swords could not wipe out a city without the help of God. The fact that they had the swords in the first place shows the family was prepared for armed conflict. In fact, Abraham led a war against more than one city in order to free the people of Sodom and Gomorrah when they, along with his nephew, were taken as prisoners.
War is never pretty and rarely desirable but it is acceptable. God ordered many wars throughout the Old Testament. Some where surgical, taking out the fighting force but sparing the non combatants. Some where "all out" with orders to destroy everything and leave not even a memory of the enemy. It all depended on provocation and the record of the opponent.
Secondary thought: If God expects us to all live happily in poverty, why did He make so many biblical heroes rich? There is around 3 times as many verses on money management in the bible as there are verses on prayer. God expects you to be a good steward of your finances and, as in the parable of the servants and the talents, wise use which makes it grow will convince God to give much more into your stewardship. "you have been faithful in a little I will make you ruler over much." Jacob arrived with nothing and tended Labens flocks as carefully as if they were his own and ended his work with his uncle with great flocks of his own.
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