I totally started this yesterday, but then stuff happened, and I unstarted it, and....yeah.
Numbers 36
- Basically, one family had only women to inherit the land, so it got tricky because the land usually goes with the man, so if they married someone from a different tribe, the land allotments would get screwed up. So Moses declares that women who inherit land have to marry within their tribe so the land allotment stays with the tribe it was given to.
- The point being, as far as I can see, that God's promises to you are not negotiable. Don't give your inheritance to someone else.
Luke 5:29-39
[29-32] - The irony holds forever. Telling people who have screwed up that they can't go to God like they are is the same as telling sick people they can't go to a doctor. Come on....people...
[33-35] - While plenty of people will use this as an excuse to continue to lack discipline of any kind, there's something to be said about not feeling like you always have to be in a season of fasting or laborious wailing prayers. There are seasons for everything. Know where you are right now and what God wants you to do, and ignore the Pharisees who don't like that you're not on their schedule and don't get their newsletter.
[36-38] - The new covenant has been the plan all along. With a new body and a renewed soul, we can start living the way the Kingdom was originally intended. Forcing people to live according to the new modes of living when they have not yet been renewed is forcing new wine into old wineskins. People can't handle it. When they've been renewed, then they can be filled with the new stuff, and it will take some time to get used to.
Luke 6:1-11
- The Pharisees loved their rulebook so much that they would rather see people starve and languish in disease than break that rule. When traditions become so important that it becomes irrelevant whether or not they are fulfilling the reason they were started in the first place, it's time to shake things up.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Progress has been slowing on my daily Bible reading, so I need to journal again. This'll help. Right? Right.
Numbers 33:40-56
[50-56] - At Breadbreakers we're starting Judges, and it's ironic to now read the part where God tells them to completely wipe out everyone from the land and every trace that they were ever there, because, as Judges starts off telling us, they didn't do a great job of that. It's uncomfortable to wipe out every trace of your past sinful life; all of the imagery, the places, and everything that went with it. But...it comes back to bite you. Even if it's three books later.
- I always thought it was interesting that they divided the land by lot. When you get it in your head that God controls chance, then coin-flipping decisions are even more successful in dispute-settling than they are now. Not sure how accurate that is for decisions nowadays, but that's always interested me.
Numbers 34
- This one laid out the borders of the land and Moses delegated people to handle the dividing of the land. Not terribly exciting.
Numbers 35
[1-8] - The Levites get all kinds of neat, big cities. They also get the ones where people who accidentally kill someone can run and not get killed as well.
[16-21] - Kill on purpose though, and it won't help you. And the person who's avenging gets to carry out the death sentence. That's intense.
[17-28] - If it was an accident, you can come to the city of refuge. If you leave the city of refuge, the guy can take vengeance on you and get away scot-free. Interesting.
[29-34] - No bail for murderers either. They die. You need two witnesses though. They have to die because murder stains the land, and the only payment for it is the blood of the murderer. Reading the Old Testament makes me very thankful for Jesus.
Luke 5:12-28
[12-15] - I like the leper's way of saying it. "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." He's not really asking; he didn't even exactly say he wanted to be made clean. The way he said that feels half like an assertion of faith, and half like a challenge. Either way, Jesus heals him and the guy talks about it even though Jesus told him not to. It's funny that, when Jesus tells people to keep quiet, they go make a stir about Him. Then when He tells people to go spread the word, they clam up. Ironic.
[16] "so He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." I guess Jesus was annoyed by the irregularity in people telling others about Him when He wants them to.
[17-26] Jesus told them that their sins were forgiven when he saw that they had enough faith to drop the guy through the roof to get a chance at Jesus. We put way too much effort on exact wordings and rituals for salvation. Jesus saw the faith, and proclaimed the guy forgiven. It's that simple.
Psalm 65:1-13
Verse 4 is my favorite here. "Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to apprach You, that he may dwell in Your courts."
David was probably talking about the priests, who could go into God's presence. He wasn't anticipating the new covenant, where that statement would apply to all of us. Aw yeah.
Numbers 33:40-56
[50-56] - At Breadbreakers we're starting Judges, and it's ironic to now read the part where God tells them to completely wipe out everyone from the land and every trace that they were ever there, because, as Judges starts off telling us, they didn't do a great job of that. It's uncomfortable to wipe out every trace of your past sinful life; all of the imagery, the places, and everything that went with it. But...it comes back to bite you. Even if it's three books later.
- I always thought it was interesting that they divided the land by lot. When you get it in your head that God controls chance, then coin-flipping decisions are even more successful in dispute-settling than they are now. Not sure how accurate that is for decisions nowadays, but that's always interested me.
Numbers 34
- This one laid out the borders of the land and Moses delegated people to handle the dividing of the land. Not terribly exciting.
Numbers 35
[1-8] - The Levites get all kinds of neat, big cities. They also get the ones where people who accidentally kill someone can run and not get killed as well.
[16-21] - Kill on purpose though, and it won't help you. And the person who's avenging gets to carry out the death sentence. That's intense.
[17-28] - If it was an accident, you can come to the city of refuge. If you leave the city of refuge, the guy can take vengeance on you and get away scot-free. Interesting.
[29-34] - No bail for murderers either. They die. You need two witnesses though. They have to die because murder stains the land, and the only payment for it is the blood of the murderer. Reading the Old Testament makes me very thankful for Jesus.
Luke 5:12-28
[12-15] - I like the leper's way of saying it. "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." He's not really asking; he didn't even exactly say he wanted to be made clean. The way he said that feels half like an assertion of faith, and half like a challenge. Either way, Jesus heals him and the guy talks about it even though Jesus told him not to. It's funny that, when Jesus tells people to keep quiet, they go make a stir about Him. Then when He tells people to go spread the word, they clam up. Ironic.
[16] "so He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." I guess Jesus was annoyed by the irregularity in people telling others about Him when He wants them to.
[17-26] Jesus told them that their sins were forgiven when he saw that they had enough faith to drop the guy through the roof to get a chance at Jesus. We put way too much effort on exact wordings and rituals for salvation. Jesus saw the faith, and proclaimed the guy forgiven. It's that simple.
Psalm 65:1-13
Verse 4 is my favorite here. "Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to apprach You, that he may dwell in Your courts."
David was probably talking about the priests, who could go into God's presence. He wasn't anticipating the new covenant, where that statement would apply to all of us. Aw yeah.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)