Crimes Against the Persons

Moses continues to explain the laws around criminal justice which the ultimate crime is murder. And with that he then make sure to explain that no innocent person is to be punished if it is done accidentally or if you are accused and you did not do it. It is especially important to mention that the evidence against a person must stack up and be conclusive. Also that a person who lies will be dealt with harshly!!!!

This chapter really speaks not only of those who are the trouble makers but also to make sure that those who are innocent are protected! This is plainly seen in the cities that they set aside as a refuge as well as the requirement for witnesses and penalty for perjury.


I loved this chapter. An eye for an eye, a hand for a hand, a tooth for a tooth. I think I really likes the one that said "Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murder." There were so many things in here that are elementary, but to the Israelites they were a way to take the 10 commandments and explain them further. There were also the laws against hitting a pregnant mother, rape, and even the striking of parents.

You know this is how it should be. Society working together to guard against each mans right. Yes, we need to take an active role is seeking out justice and punishment for the guilty and freedom for the innocent. But you have to admit. In today's society this is really hard. Everyone wants to sue everyone for every little tiny thing. I suppose it was like that then, but as I read the Bible I feel as if it was so much more cut and dry then it is today with all the little loop holes there are.

Laws of Government

OK, I have to say this and I may step on toes, but that's life and we are all entitled to our opinion. Right?!?!?

OK, so as i am reading this chapter about the governmental laws I was taken back at how our beautiful country wants to do aways with God in the government, but almost all our original laws were taken directly from the Bible. I wish our President would read the chapter that we just read. Maybe I will photo copy it and send it to his cabinet.

The one that really struck me was about the king (president) to serve under the law. He is to read the laws all the days of his life so that he may LEARN TO REVERE THE LORD his God and FOLLOW CAREFULLY ALL THE WORDS of this law and these decrees and NOT CONSIDER HIMSELF BETTER then his brothers and NOT TO TURN THE LAW tot he right or to the left. Hmmmm. If only our government would have to read just that one line daily to remind them really what they are to live by.

Then there is the subject of bribes. "Do not accept a bribe for a bribe BLINDS those who see and TWISTS THE WORDS OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

Then there is the death penalty. That is such a sore subject in our country. Even for myself I have always been sitting on the fence. However, is it not biblical for the death penalty?

Then there was this one simple line that I have lived by most of my life. I may not always agree with our President and sometimes I may state that. I may not like some of the presidents (current one too) that have been in office But one thing I have always held true is STAND BY THE PRESIDENT! He is our ruler no matter how he really got into office. He needs our support and not our nasty bitterness. And the Bible states that nicely. "Do Not curse the ruler of your people" It doesn't say that we can not have an opinion, but we need to watch our tongue.

This was a great reading. I wish our President would read this chapter too.

Persons Excluded from the Congregation

OK, so here was talk about mutilation of the genital area. OK, I get it. There are some that did funky thing with those parts, just as there are today with piercings and tattoos on the genital area....OUCH! But it states that no one may enter if they crush or cut the penis. Any insight? So does it mean those who did circumcise (cut the foreskin off) could not enter the assembly of the Lord?

The next few pages go on to explain more rules and regulations concerning cutting of hair, more contact with the dead, the value of animals, land, house and plants etc.

OK, can I make an observations here. Think about all the rules and regulations we have today in the USA. Do you know them all? No I suspect not. I don't. But we have the Internet, the library and numerous other resources to go to for this information. Back then they had only the priest to go to. But they would still have to know the basic rules. How on earth did they keep them all in their heads? How many of the people messed up and forgot to sacrifice because they did not know or forgot? What did God do to them when they messed up and did not follow the regulations? I guess it really is the same today. We have cops to keep us in line now.

Please, do not get me wrong. I am not saying that there are too many rules or that with God it was not possible to remember. But, I just wonder how!

However on the other hand I see that through all these rules and regulation there is a complete love for us. I think about my own kids. I make the rules for them because I LOVE them not to make it hard for them or to give them so much so that they do mess up. But to help them to learn and to make them a better person. Only God loves us even more then I can ever love my own kids. We should serve Him gladly when we finally realize that He is committed to us 100%. I think that knowing that God does not reject us completely is important to know when we mess up as well as to help us to keep from messing up! Don't you think?!?

Regulation Concerning Uncleanness

These uncleanness regulations are carefully spelled out in these pages. It seems to me that none of the issue found here involve willful sin. Its also seems that with each of the definitions of uncleanness there is this process of I guess you could say restoration to the next step which is cleanness.

There are rules for the bodily secretions which include after childbirth, sex as well as semen and menstrual cycle, boils or discharges of those types. Rules for the disease of the skin which back then they called everything leprosy. Even regulations for dealing with the dead.

I guess you could say that God really wanted them to be sensitive to anything that could interrupt fellowship with Him. I guess that is why He made all these regulation for being unclean. Yet He provide cleansing from everything that defiles us not just back then, but today too.

Laws, Laws and More Laws

Wow, there are so many laws I was having a hard to reading them and really understanding them. I decided to wait a couple of days and read a bit more to see if I could put more information together. Then I decided to do a bit of research on the computer and I came up with this handy dandy chart.

Sacrifices Brought By Individual Israelites:

Burt Offering (Lev 1; 6:8-13) This usually included a bull, ram, he-goat, or (for the poor) a male dove or young pigeon without defect. The offerer lays hands on the head of the sacrifice. He kills, , cuts up and washed the sacrifice. Priest pours the blood on the alter and burns the carcass. The significance was that this was a voluntary offering symbolizing the complete surrender to God.

Grain (meal) Offering (Lev 2; 6:14-23) This was a grain, flour or bread with olive oil and salt but NEVER with yeast. The food was prepared by the offerer and a Priest burns a handful and kept the rest for food. This was also a voluntary offering which accompanies most burt offerings and symbolizes devotion to God.

Fellowship (peace) offering (Lev 3; 7:11-36) An unblemished animal from a herd or flock was the sacrifice for this offering. The offerer lays his hands on the head of the sacrifice and then kills it. The Priest throws blood on the altar. part of it is eaten by the worshiper and his family. The meal following this voluntary offering symbolizes fellowship with God and Thanksgiving for blessings.

Sin offering (Lev 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30; 12:6-8; 14:12-14) Specific animals were required depending on status and position. The very poor are allowed to bring an offering of fine flour. The offerer lays his hands on the head of the sacrifice and kills it. Priests pour blood on the altar. The best of the carcass is burned and the rest goes to the priest. This was a sacrifice for sin or ritual uncleanness. the hands on the head signify identification of the offerer with the sacrifice that made atonement for him.

Guilt offering (Lev 5:14-6:7; 7:1-6; 14:12-18) A valuable ram or lamb was used for this sacrifice. the offerer makes restitution plus 1/5. He then lays his hands on the sacrifices head and kills it. the Priest pours the blood on the ground around the altar. The best parts are then burned and the Priest receives the rest. This offering was required when a person violated the rights of another such as in theft. It was also required when healed from leprosy (which was all sorts of diseases) as God had been deprived a worshiper while the person was diseased.

OK, so this really helped me a lot to understand the 5 main offerings. I hope it helped you too.

Religious Calendar

*Passover: held now around March or April. This was a memorial festival celebrated at home eating the passover meal symbolizing the exodus from the Egyptians as the death of the Egyptians first born. This was also the first day of their religious year.

*Unleavened Bread: held around March or April also. This was a week long holiday marked by sacrifices, which people ate bread without yeast. This was a reminder of their forefathers hasty departure from Egypt.

*First Fruits: held around may or June. This was a celebration of Thanksgiving held around harvest time, during which the first ripened barley was presented to the Lord. In some reading this is to represent the resurrection of Jesus.

*Pentecost: held around May or June. The new grain is offered in thanksgiving to the Lord and there are special sacrifices that go on during this time too. In There is a extreme significance that the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and 3000 were converted.

*Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah: held Sept or Oct. This day of rest was the first day in Israel's civil year.

*Day of Atonement / Yom kippur: held Sept or Oct. This was a solemn day of fasting and prayer in which the high priest entered the innermost room of the sanctuary and made atonement's for all the sins of the people of Israel.

*Tabernacles: held Sept or Oct. This was a week long festival in which the people of Israel lived outside in shelters made of branches. No work was to be done during this time and the family was to relive the days of ancient Israel's travel through the wilderness.

Laws Against false Spiritualists, Blasphemy, Dedications, Tithing & Sabbath

The practice of divination, sorcery, interpretation of omens, engagement in which craft, casting of spells, or a medium who consults the dead are considered detestable to the Lord. If you are caught doing this you are to be put to death. Now I want to stop for a moment and take a look at some of the television shows that are on TV right now. There are so many weekly shows that are all about dealing with the dead. Movies all about which craft. I have to admit I have watched Harry Potter several times not really thinking anything about it other then it is a make believe, well made movie. And now I have to re-think that. It is not just a harmless movie, it is another way for the devil to get his claws into the lives of Christians. We need to be careful of this. Yea, now a days most people do not believe in witches and which craft, but it is so easy for us to believe in ghosts and ghost hunters and famous mediums that will tell you what you want to hear about your dead dad. Be wise and be careful!

The Bible warns us about false prophets. He states that the Messiah will be coming among our own brothers, but we are to watch out for those who presume to speak in My name. I can remember as a child my aunt was so into the TBN gang. Now please do not get me wrong, there are a lot of good that comes from that station and I do watch it myself. However, just like any other TV station, we need to be careful with what we watch even on a Christian station. There are many false Prophets out there who claim to heal the sick and claim they know when the Christ will be coming and claim, claim, claim. he tells us if these things do not come true then it is not of God! This is all FALSE phophecy and we need to again be wise and careful.

BLASPHEMY! OMGooodness. This is one I deal with daily in my house. My mom, Mom in law and husband all use "Oh My God" all the time. It is so much so that my son is constantly correcting dad and my mom who lives with us. I absolutely despise the fact that this is used in our home. If you are a prayer, please pray for more understanding from my family about how much God despises this too and a change of heart for them. I have explained it as if someone were to go around saying Oh My Kristin. Yea, that sure makes sense. I would eventually get really upset. My mom says "Well, it is kind of like I am praying when I do it". My words back to her? "A prayer is a prayer, Blasphemy is blasphemy. You can fool yourself but you can not fool God!

Uugghh! We are back to tithing. This is so hard for me right now. But I feel so convicted that the Lord will provide for us. We are still getting out of the hole we dug ourselves in over the past 6 months. This past week was my first week of tithing in months (money not volunteering). It really felt good to do so.

Lastly He call us to observe the sabbath once again. This is pretty easy for me. I have been doing this for almost 20 years now. It is a rare thing to see me really work on Sundays. When I use to work outside the home I had a sales job. When I started the job I was asked to work on Sundays. I refused! At first I was labeled a bit of a trouble maker, but after due time they realized I was not and I was a good worker, but was unwilling to compromise my faith for someone else. Yes, I cook dinner and do a few dishes, but other then things to keep our bodies going (food) I play, rest or just have fun. This weekend we are going to the mountains after church. I am so excited. I have not seen snow since last Feb.

The one thing I really noticed here was the fact that almost everything has a punishment of death. I guess you could say that God really means business with His laws. We need to be wise and careful with obeying these laws. I know some will say we live in the 21st century. God does not strike people down for these little things. My answer is...Oh yea? Are you willing to take that chance? Are you sure He will not get tired of telling you and telling you and one day for no reason you find yourself in the hospital!?! It happens and you have got to wonder, is this Gods way of sending a message to that person or is it just coincidental?

The Laws of Moses: Religious and Ceremonial Laws

Laws, laws and more laws. Here we see some new laws in place for the first time and some old ones reemphasized. So in this chronological order Bible they have written the laws by lumping them together per subject matter. So here in today's reading we are talking about Religious and Ceremonial Laws.

Once again the subject and law of idolatry is brought up. You have to wonder if maybe this is a very important matter to God. (She says with sarcasms). We are not to have sacrifices, images, pillars etc of any God. We are to watch ourselves around those who believe in pagan gods or for today those who do not believe in God at all. Moses even states that we are to show no pity to those (even our family) who try to entice us to worship other gods. Now think about this in modern times for a moment. Yes there are other religions that our family and friends could entice us to go and visit, but what other things are gods to them and us?

Then there is the punishment for idolatry. Stone them to death! Ouch! They do this to purge the evil. Just think if stoning for idolatry were to come back into law today. How many dead people would be lying in our streets? Gosh, let me re-ask that differently. How many people would still be walking around? Our world has really put God on the back burner. There are so many who profess to love and honor God , but really don't.

I know a person who proclaims to love God and even goes to church once in a while, but this person really has no love or respect for God. The things this person does behind Gods back and behind the back of their children and family are only from the devil himself. Yet, they profess to love God. Hey, let me make it very clear that I am not saying I am perfect. OMGosh...no way. And yes I know that there is no sin greater then the next. But when you have a lover of Christ who verbally says they know what they are doing is horrible in the sight of God and worthy of burning in hell, you got to wonder what will happen to that person at the time of death. If they never try to go away from their evil doings, do they still get that golden ticket to heaven?

All I know is I love God with all my heart, soul and mind. I try daily to live in His word. And every day I fail miserably of course, however, everyday I am on my knees asking Him to forgive me and to help make me a better person. Who knows maybe someday I will be perfect in Gods eyes. OK, well maybe that is not until I go to heaven, but one can dream, right?

More Reminders and a Victory Promised

There is really not much to say here that was not already said when these events happened earlier. Moses continues to remind the people that they are a stiffed neck people and reminds them of their past. There are a few passages however that spoke out to me.

* Yet the Lord set His affections on your forefathers and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations.
* For the Lord your God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts NO bribes.
*Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

Lastly I love the fact that Moses reminds them that God chose them not because they are so perfect and righteous that He is giving them this land, but because the other lands are so much more wicked.

All the above so much applies to all of us. We are His chosen people to. How? Because of Jesus Christ and the relationship we can have in Him. We are to Love our God like no other. He is to be first and foremost in our lives. We can never promise God something and not keep our end of the bargain. Yes, we have all been guilty of promises that we have not kept! And we are to keep His laws. How? Through reading of his word daily, through knowledge and through prayer. And lastly, we have to remember that we do not deserve to go to heaven. Not one of us is righteous enough or good enough to go there. However through the love that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us and through faith and forgiveness of sins, we have a golden ticket into the glorious gates of heaven.

The Lawgiver Urges Obedience

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it when Moses says you are to impress upon your children these commandments. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on your door frames or your houses and gates. Oh how I try to do this. I bring God into almost everything I do all day with the kids. Some of the curriculum I have chose is specifically chosen because of its contents with God. When we hear an ambulance we stop and pray for the people. (We live near a hospital so we hear them quit a lot in the distance). I want my kids to think of God in everything they do. I want it to become second nature to them to pray at every turn in their lives.

He also states that the people of Israel were few and not mighty. He said this not to put them down but once again to show Gods power and His love for them. Moses is pleading with the people to keep Gods laws. It is a very sad thing what is going on here. Moses is at the end of his life and he is pleading for their obedience because he knows how these people are. They are a grumbling, non-obedient people. Hmmm, sound like anyone you know?

This chapter focuses on Moses remembering all the trials that made them depend on God. Now that they are about ready to be a prospering nation, he is fearful that they will forget. Which we know is all so easy. When things are going good we tend to back away from God. When things get really hard we are on our knees. In EVERY circumstance we need to remember God! Prosperity can snare us into idolatry. All of us either are doing that now or have fallen into this trap. All we have to do is just look around our home. hey, i am not saying that we have to live in a tent and own nothing. What I am saying is that when we are buying the best and bigger things that we must have we need to remember who is giving the ability to buy these things and we have to remember that these things are NOT God. They are just things. The people are warned that if they do not obey and they turn to paganism that their nation will be surely be destroyed like the nations the Lord destroyed before them. Lets make sure we remember all the things God has done for us so that we will surely not be destroyed!

A Review of History and Purpose

Moses clearly lays out all the history of the past 40 years. He want to make sure that they realize where they have come from, what the process was to get where they are today and especially he wants them to know and see that it was all God that allowed this to happen. I guess you could also say that he wanted them to look back and see Gods love through their humanistic failures. To see the lessons God taught them through their grumbling and set backs. Lets see what lessons has God taught me over the years that I have walked with him? How about you?

Now Moses has given the Israelite many laws but here he gives them just a few more or at least elaborates on them. Did you notice that he mentioned Idolatry several times here. He wants to make sure that they are clear about WHO God is. He is not a piece of wood or stone or precious metal. He is the One and Only God who brought them out of Egypt. You know these laws that Moses and God gave us all are not here to tie us down or make us feel guilty or give us a lack of having fun. They are a blessing if we obey and keep them.

Lets take the speed limit for example. Yea, it kind stinks that when you are driving on the 15 to Nevada that you can only do 65. You want to go 80+. Come on there is hardly anyone one around on a deserted desert highway. But the law is there. Why? Not to hold you back from having fun and getting to Vegas sooner. But if you go 100 then, Joe does it, Mary does it. What happens then? Three car pile up because someone lost control at 100 miles per hour. It is the same with Gods laws. They are there to protect his children. Same as you give your children rules to protect them. Idolatry is just one of those protective laws. When we get to involved into the world of cars, jewelry, clothes etc (IDOLS) we forget about what is important...GOD!

Tribes East of Jordan and Getting Ready for Conquest

Now Moses is told that his time is up so Joshua will succeed him. Not really replace Moses. Joshua has been Moses' right hand man since the beginning. Now God tell him to appoint Joshua as his successor and give him SOME of his authority. Notice SOME. Moses saw God face to face, where as Joshua will not. He will be going through the priests as well as he will not be doing miracles that Moses was able to complete through God.

When the men of Gad and Reuben want to live in a different area Moses thinks that this might be a sign of cowardliness. And he also realizes that there is a lot of men that may not be willing to fight in the battle. But after a bit he realizes that this is not the truth and he allows them to go there. You know I think that this request form these people are kinda like a lot of Christians today. Somewhat materialistic. I know that is a weird statement, but think about it. We, as Christians, are sometimes no better then a non christian. We try to keep up with the Jones, buy the fancy clothes, huge houses with all the re-modeling etc. Is that a sign of the world or of God? Was it a sign from God for them to move to a different area just because it was a really nice place and bigger for their cattle etc. Did God instruct them to get a bigger and better place to live or would they have lived just fine where God originally instructed everyone to go?

Here we go. We are off and running for the battle. God once more instructs the people to drive out ALL the people. They are to take possession of what God is giving them. What God has promised them. The blessing from God. All they/we have to do is reach out and by faith take what He has promised them/us!

Isreal's Second Numbering

Well while the Israelites wait to conquer Canaan, moses takes another census. Guess what all (except Caleb and Joshua) the adults from the Exodus have died and a new generation is going to lead the way. And now they realize that they lose nothing through waiting on the Lord. They have had their freedom, yes they have had to work, but at least they were working for themselves and God and not a slave driver.

there really is not much in site here. It really is just a list of the names of the tribes and the number that each tribe has. So on to tomorrow!

Israel's Sins in Moab & the Destruction of the Midianites

OK, so now we have the story of seduction. Go figure women trying to seduce men. Who would have thought. You know I have always believed that the people who you hang out with the most are what you turn into. And I think the people back then knew that too. The men put aside and did not care enough about Gods honor to try to stay away from those Midianite women. And as they hung out with them they started to worship their Gods. Think about our own lives with our spouse. How much are we like them today after 24 years of marriage then we were while we were dating? You know we remain vulnerable to sin no matter how far we have come into our spiritual journey with God. So we always need to be on guard!

Then when God commands them to kill all the Midianite people and they once again disobey by saving ALL the women. Now I have to admit, as I was reading this I was a little taken back by the harshness of all the killing, but it comes as no surprise that there is a lesson to be learned in every passage of the Bible. You see for every action that God has the Israelites do there is a reason, there is a lesson. The Israelites were getting farther and farther away from God. They went with women that they knew they should not have. The worshiped Gods that did not exist! I think God called them to kill these people to not only show them what punishment comes to those who worship idols, but also with the plague upon the Israelites and the death of those who participated in the pagan rituals and the sexual relations with the pagan women. However I still question why He would have them save the virgins. I know it is to keep as slaves so to speak, but would there not be a chance of the idol worshiping to continue and for the men to still be tempted to lay with these women? But God knows best and we may find the answer in later readings.

Anyway, we all have lustful thoughts, feeling, and actions. the point is to keep those in control, in check and in prayer. If you find yourself watching soft porn on cable, then get rid of cable, if you find yourself lusting after a man at work then pray about it or pray for a new job opportunity. We can never really completely be 100% in control of all our thoughts and actions, but with a bit of prayer and a bit of self control, we certainly can have a better grasp on controlling it. And by the way, this goes as well for food addictions, alcohol, cigarettes...you name it. It all comes down to lust doesn't it!?!

Blessing and Prophecy of Balaam

Israels military success scares the Moabites so King Balak hires a man named Balaam to curse the Israelites. Now I think Balaam is suppose to have some sort of supernatural powers or something. Well, anyway, Balaam is told by God not to go to the King and he obeys that until greed gets in the way and the Kings offers lots of money. So what does Balaam do? He asks again in hopes that God will change His mind. Does this sound familiar in your own life? Yea? Balaam knew Gods will. He knew what God wanted. He simply did not want to obey. We find ourselves in this situation so many times in life. We know what God wants for us to do, but we keep going back asking and asking for God to change His mind. Later on after things go a bit array then what do we do? We say "Oh, I did not realize!" Yea right! This is a lie. I think probably one of the worst lies we can tell ourselves. Oh we knew. We can fool others, but deep down inside we can not fool ourselves and most certainly can not fool God. We can not let our prayers deteriorate into asking God for permission to do something we already know that He does not want us to do.

I find it kinda ironic that God uses Balaam to do His work. I mean here you have a man that clearly is not a man of God, otherwise he would not be involved in sorcery. He obviously is interested in wealth from the King. Yet God decides to use this man to bless Israel. He states that "A Star will come out of Jacob". Now I am taking a wild jump at this. I have the daily reader and a small concordance that I use and that is it. But it seems to me that this has to be the speaking of Jesus Christ. My concordance has a reference to Revelation 22:16. I think it is very funny that God uses this kind of a person to talk about the coming Messiah. God is fully capable of using whom ever He wants to do His work. He is fully capable of protecting His children no matter what harm is in the way. We just have to trust Him.

From Kadesh to Moab and Moses's Journal

Oops, Moses disobeyed God. I actually think that maybe he became distracted. You know with so many people constantly complaining and bickering to him about what they don't have and telling him it is his fault, I think it would be easy to get distracted and not do exactly as God commands. So God tells him to speak to the rock for water and instead he strikes the rock. Because of this he now will not be able to see the promised land. OK, everyone who agrees that that stinks raise you hand. However, looking at this from Gods point of view, any act of disobedience indicates a lack of trust in God. Right?

Just think about your own kids. When they dis-obey you it shows how much they do not trust that what you have told them is true. "Do not run in the parking lot!" Yet they do. Why? Because they think you are just setting restrictions to hinder their lively spirit. I think it is sort of the same with God. He gives us these rules and some of them seem so silly or outdated to us. Yet there is a divine reason for every single rule He has made. It is not for us to ask why but for us to not get distracted from the path of obedience!

I love that Moses kept a journal. This shows that he was thinking about the future of his people. That he wanted not only a history of what had taken place but for the future generations to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of their ancestors. Just like we do with our children. We teach them things based on our experience either as an adult or as a child and how our well or not so well our parents did. That is why it is so important what we are doing today. Reading the best and most complete and truthful history book we can get our hands on to our children. The Bible! If we can teach our children about God and about the mistakes the Israelites and others have made, they too can learn from this and teach their children and so on. This information is NEVER outdated! We just have cars instead of camels and running water instead of wells, but the truth is still the same! The rules are still the same and heaven and God have not changed ever.

I praise God that he has allowed me to stay home (even though it is hard money wise sometimes) and homeschool my children so that I can teach them the truths of God. So that they too can learn from those truths and hopefully they too will teach their children and so on and so on. Yesterday we talked about tithing and how you can tithe with your time when you do not have money. This in one of my hugest contributions to God. I give Him my children.

An acquaintance told me he did not want to believe in God cause what if we were wrong. He would have wasted all that time when he could have been having fun. I told him, well, I have fun now. Yes, I do not drink or smoke, or have sex with hundreds of men, but I have a good time in my life. Besides, if I die and find out there is no heaven and no God, well, so be it. But if you die and find out there is a heaven and God and you burn in hell, well you will have wished you wasted your time then. Either way, I have got nothing to loose by having this relationship with God, but you have everything to loose in the end.

I have no idea why I added that, other then to vent out my frustrations with this acquaintance . I pray for him and his wife! Anyway, this reading evoked a lot of different thoughts about how we teach our children and how we learn form our pasts.

Challenge to Leadership

I still do not understand the human heart and its quest to be better then the person next to you. To overtake any one in leadership. We all have this desire for some reason and I guess that is a good desire because it makes us continue to work hard to better our self. However when it is used like it is here, it seems as if it is an evil thing. Korah challenges Moses' leadership. Poor Moses, he seems to be a very humble leader and I think that is one of the reasons he continues to be challenged in his leadership roll. However, God makes it clear once more that Aaron isto be the priestly leader for the Tabernacle and Moses is still the one whom God will speak directly to.

I love the way God shows the Levites that Aaron is to be the leader of the priests. By the use of the staffs. He has everyone of the leaders write their name on their staffs and then guess whos staff buds and bears fruit? Aarons! Ouch, what a strike to their ego. But what a powerful gentle way to demonstrate to the people the power of the Lord.

Then we go into the tithing aspect of the passages we read today. This was a real good reading for me. Especially right now since we have had some extremely difficult times lately with money. Finally we are coming out of it a bit and I am feeling more convicted then ever to go back to tithing. God state several times here that a 10th of all the land (or of your income) is to be "Holy to the Lord". I think here it is stating that this tithe is a kinda rent in which Israel owes to God for the use of His land. And a portion of this tithes was to be used to maintain the Levites who worked for God.

It also talks about a 2nd tithe. A every third year tithe of a 10th to be stored for the poor. I guess that would be like our emergency needs offering our church takes once a month for those in dire need. I think those who tithed were keeping a divine commandment and expressed this confidence in Gods ability to provide and take care of them. There are so many ways to tithe to God. When we were not able to tithe due to not having any income, we tithed with our time and volunteering at our church. God appreciates it no matter how small or large as long as it is done not out of obligation, but out of love and trust that He will continue to provide for you.

Now that finances are back in order, my son will start having a small allowance of $5.00 a week. However, when he gets his money weekly he is to take $1.00 and put it aside for tithing at church and as a good example we will be doing the same now that we can once more. Serving God in this way is a privilege not a chore!

Miriam Rebuked and the People Lack Courage

"Has the Lord only spoken through Moses? Has He not spoken through us too?" Such powerful and selfish words spoken by Miriam and Aaron. Just goes to show once again the weakness of Aaron. I love how God made it very clear to Aaron and Miriam that He speaks to Moses face to face but to others He speaks in visions and dreams. This is how it is still today. He still speaks to us, but through His word (Bible), dreams and visions. As humans though we seem to always want to be better then our neighbor. This is exactly what was happening to Miriam and Aaron. We need to be content with where God has put us in our lives and not always want to be better then the next! I am not saying we can not work towards being better, but not because we want to keep up with the Jones'.

Now 12 spies are sent out to scout out the land of Canaan which they find out it flows with Milk and Honey. However, the people there are strong. The spies come back and complain that they can not overtake the land. Except for Joshua and Caleb. These two men held fast to the Lord and did not follow the crowd. They were rewarded for this. Just think if we could hold fast to the Lord. Just think if our kids who go to school could hold fast to the Lord. No one has to follow the crowd when we have the Lord to follow! We will be rewarded!

Anyway, Now the spies put the thought into the Israelites minds that they can not overtake the land. So God gets a little upset and wants to strike them down for their contempt, but Moses pleas with Him to not do that for fear the Egyptians as well as the land of Canaan will hear about it and not think that the Lord is not strong, not slow to anger and does not have a fairness in discipline. Well, God agrees, but not without punishment to those who are guilty. His decision...Not to allow any of those He actually brought out of Egypt to see this promised land. Only their descendants will see it. So begins the 40 years of wandering. Did they deserve this treatment? Heck ya! Do we deserve harsh punishment for the things we do or don't do? Yup!

Gosh will they ever learn? Moses tells the people about Gods decision and what do they do? They try to go and fight the Canaan people. Do they win? Nope! And rightfully so. God told them not to do it, but once again they did not listen and did things according to Their own will. How many times in my own life do I do that. Just think about all the things that WE try to rule over by ourselves. Money, Marriage, Children, School, Weight, Smoking, Alcohol, Work etc. Just to name a few. Praise God He is so forgiving and does not make us wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

If we would just follow God wholeheartedly it would bring to us such great rewards. I pray daily that He will help me to follow Him more closely. It is hard to always lean on Him, but each day, each week, each month and each year, I get closer and closer to letting go of me and drawing closer to Him. But only with His help!

The Journey Begins with Doubts

Moses is told to build two silver trumpets to call the community together. One horn blown is to call all the leaders and Two horns blown is to call the community. I guess in biblical time you could call this their cells phones! LOL Sorry, just had to make that silly joke! Can you imagine the scene? To see ALL of Gods people working TOGETHER for one purpose. Just think if our churches all worked together for the same purpose and stopped worrying about the type of music played during worship or the color of the walls or whatever silly thing we can complain about in church. Work together for one common goal. To glorify Christ!

The people complained that they had no meat. Well, I guess I missed something here. I suppose all those animals the own are strictly for sacrifices and not for food. Anyway, they complain that they had fish in Egypt at no cost. Are you joking? No cost? Did they forget about the fact that they were slaves and severely beaten? Did they forget about all the suffering they endured in Egypt? I guess, we can all forget about how bad things were at one point or time in our lives and how God delivered us from that. But we need to do something to remember these things God does for us. He needs a Thank you Once in a while instead of always complaining.

God sure has a sense of humor. So He hears their cries and you know what His first response is? He says, OK I'll give you meat. I'll give you so much meat that you'll have enough for a month and you know what it will be so much it will come out of your nostrils. I don't know why, I just found that to strike my funny bone. Anyway, I think He was certainly trying to prove a point here. He is all powerful. They need to trust Him. They need to put ALL their trust in God and He will provide for them all the necessities they/we will ever need.

Levites Numbered

OK so there is a census of the Levites and they total 22,000. That is a lot of people! Then God says to break down the clans and gives them specific duties. The Kiathites get to care for The Most Holy: everything in it. The Gershonites carry the burdens: all the covering to the Tent of Meeting. The Meraris carry the frames, crossbars etc.

Once again we see God take the Levites in place of the of the first born Israelites. This to me says more of how those who belong to God are drawn closer to Him through the service we do for Him. Now the Levites are the direct descendants of Jacob and Leah. The whole tribe is to serve God and care for the Hebrews' worship center. They are to maintain the Tabernacle and they are supported for their work through tithes and offerings.

This is basically how I see this story play out...Israel gives God the Levites. God gives the Levites to the son of Aaron to assist in the priestly duties and the priesthood is a gift from God to the Israel people because this now allows them to have some sort of access to God through them.

Oh, by the way, did you notice that it was always the age of 20+ for the military service but for service in the Tabernacle it was the age 30+? Maturity is an essential element when it comes to spiritual leadership. Not to say that a 20 year old can not have some sort of leadership. I have seen many college kids in my church be better leaders then their parents. But in general, I think the maturity that comes a bit later in life helps us to understand Gods word much better. I can see this clearly in my own life. As I read this I looked back to my 20's and my spiritual walk then. OMGosh...talk about NIGHT and DAY! God just clearly asks us or maybe you could say He claims our service to Him. Why? So we can bless others. So we can tell others of His loving kindnesses and forgiving nature. So that we can show our obedience.

A Nation Under Law Con't

OK, so now a year has passed and it is time to celebrate the passover and take a military census of the tribes of all adult men except for the Levites. With the Tabernacle in the middle each tribe is placed around it in the order God wants. God then claims the Levites as his own, in place of the Israelites first born whose lives He spared in Egypt. Now the Levites are assigned specific duties according to each family.

Can you believe it? 603,000+ men of military age. How long did that census take and I feel for the man who had to count and write it all. Then they had to list each man by name. Just goes to proves that each one of us is equally as important to God and that He really does know us by name. I mean come on who on earth could have counted all those people and wrote all those names without the help from God?!

Now it becomes so clear why all the offerings. I mean in yesterdays reading there was so much animals and flour etc. I was wondering how Arron and the other priest could deal with it. But it is clear that some of it was to be for the Levites for their duty as the Tabernacle watchers, cleaners, taker downers and putter uppers (LOL) etc. Hey with Gods help anything is possible. Even such a huge responsibility as caretaker of the Tabernacle.

A Nation Under Law

OK, holy moly is all I have to say. Lots of sacrifices. Anyway.... God gave Moses rules for the different offering. Notice most of the offerings are optional, but the sin and guilt offering are mandatory.Just think back then it was admit your guilt, offer a sacrifice and then immediately forgiven and be right with God once again. Hey does that sound somewhat familiar? Yea, just like today, except for the sacrifice. That one was already done for us.

Notice also that there are two types of sins. There is the unintentional sin. This one was forgiven once the person admitted his sin and sacrificed. But for the willful disobedience sin, it had to go to the priest for him to ask forgiveness for you from God. No matter what though each person was to still ask for the forgiveness.

You know it still holds true for today. You know if I intentional steal something, to make it right with you I must give it back and then ask for forgiveness. If I never asked for forgiveness how do you think you would feel, even if I did give it back? You would probably still hold somewhat of a grudge towards me and NEVER trust me again. And by the way, I am not talking about the cheesy "I'm Sorry" line. I mean really asking someone to "Please Forgive me for what I did". I teach my children to say I am sorry when they bump a person, step on a toe etc. But they know that when they do something that was done with an evil intention they are to ask the other person to please forgive me for.....! I want then to understand the difference between intentional and un-intentional sin! That's all God really wants from us. God invites us to draw near for cleansing and for worship.

Ordination of the Priests

Well the one thing I have to say is THANK GOD we have Jesus Christ offered as a sin offering. After reading all they had to go through to wipe away all their sins and get peace, wow! I wonder how their camp must have smelled?! Eeewww! I watched a show this evening and on it there was a group, I think it was in africa somwhere, cutting the throat of a goat. It was very graphic, but it went well with the reading for today. Hmmm, I wonder how that happened. I got to see how it all really looked and worked and how it was not as messy as I would have thought it might be. OK, well enough of that!

I really do not have much eye opening thoughts on today's readings. The two things that posed questions that right now I have no real answers for are...

1. What is the significance of 7. I know throughout the Bible, as I remember some of the books I have read in the past, the number 7 is a constant thing. Here is is mentioned several times.

2. What is the significance of the right ear lob, right finger and right toe? I am sure it had to do with something that was very important in rituals for the people of the time. But I am curious as to what?!?

My one and only insightful thing I picked up on here today was the fact that Aaron was allowed to become a priest still after his huge blunder with the golden calf and then he lied about being responsible for it. Boy oh Boy how forgiving is God. Just goes to show you that you do not have to be perfect to do Gods work. And that sometimes our faults and mishaps can help us to relate better to the people we are trying to save.

The Finishing Touches and the Inspection of the Tabernacle

Moses describes the crafting of the high priest's garments, the epod, the breastplate and other garments. Once again he repeats the instruction recorded a few verses earlier. I think that this part of Exodus (39-:42-43) repeats not only as a way of making sure that the work gets done right but also as a reminder that we need to understand God's instructions clearly and then carry them out exactly! Lastly, inspect what we have done and make any changes if there is an error.

Once everything was built and put up as the Lord had said, it states "The Glory of the Lord..." I think this might be associated with His self revelation. You know the Lord is so awesome and His holiness, as He makes His presences known in the world, is so small compared by the images of fire and cloud mentioned here. However these images I think are important so we can get just a glimpse at the splendor and beauty of Him. Lets not forget that we do not need signs or acts or clouds or any of those things to know His beauty. Just open your curtains and look outside. Better yet, go look in the mirror. There you go. Now that is the beauty of God. He made you!

Anyway, basically this short reading is all about checking the work we do for God. Making sure it is not just our head that is into the work, but our heart and also making sure that we do the work to completion as well as doing it right. Just think about how when you husband or wife says they are going to do something and never finished it. How frustrated are you that you have to go and finish or maybe they finish , but they never clean up afterwards. Uuuggh! How mad do you get? Now think of this on a spiritual basis. How upset do you think God gets every time we start to act like Christians and then let the world take us away so we never finish? Yea, pretty upset! Lets finish what we were put here to do!

Construction of the Tabernacle

Earlier we saw the, what I guess you could call, Blue Prints God gave Moses for the tabernacle and all its furnishings. Here he repeats almost word for word the instructions God has given him. Moses then proceeded to ask for donations as well as craftsmen to help in construction of the Tabernacle and all the other elements that are to be built. You know sometimes we do not have very much money and when the basket comes around on Sunday morning it goes by us and we feel the guilt when our hand does not put something in. But remember that God only asks us to give what we can give. Not any more or any less. So if it's $.25 then that is what it is. You see when we give we get joy.

Those that were chosen to serve God had to have had the Holy Spirit in them. Don't you think? It even says "The Spirit of God". He is called the eternal, the Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of God. He is omnipresent the creator and the one who brings us new Life. The spirit filled Oholiab and Bezalel which gave them the power and strength to build that tabernacle.

Today the Holy Spirit is working just as hard in us. It gives us the ability to understand what we read in the Bible. To understand Jesus Christ and what He taught us. It is the source of our JOY!. It helps us in our prayers. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit in our prayers you KNOW IT! The Holy Spirit is what gives us the fruit of the spirit when we respond to it.

Look, when God asks us to do something He not only gives us the directions on how to do it, but the ability. It is so important to know what God wants and more then that we need to go and do it. What is God asking of you right now? Will you go? He will give you the ability to complete it through the Holy Spirit.