How’s the Bible reading going? Anybody still doing the plan? As I have said several times already, I love this slower pace. It has helped me see nuggets of truth every day, instead of racing through the passage just to get finished. Here are some notes from this week:
Numbers 33 - Moses recorded their journey. The places they started from, stopped at and went to. These were real places, real people, and reading this history conjured up for me the physical difficulties of moving around from place to place. The stories of the journey hold relevant lessons for all of us - maybe we can take away from this that our own journeys need to be documented and shared. Perhaps not for an audience of millions like this one (but who knows, right? :) ) but for those in our life circle. What lessons might our family and friends glean from the places God has taken us through life?
33:3,4 stood out to me - the Israelites left Egypt BOLDLY. Not fearfully or secretly but rather BOLDLY. The Egyptians were occupied burying their firstborn from the plague of death that the Lord sent and the Israelites were able to march BOLDLY out from among them. Because of their faith (obedience), the angel of death had passed over them and they were spared the consequences that the Egyptians suffered.
33:55 - the warning of the impact the nations would have on God’s people…this truth is reiterated in Deuteronomy 9:4 where God tells them that the other nations are being destroyed not because Israel is righteous but because those nations are so wicked. God is extravagantly efficient - while He is fulfilling the promise to Abraham of the land for His people, He is also punishing the wickedness of the heathen nations.
Numbers 35 - God spends a lot of time on the cities of refuge. Very interesting. I wonder what would a country be like if His plans were carried out…instead of leaning on the ideas of man….
Deuteronomy - means “a copy” or “second law” - so this book is a repeating, a summarization of what God told His people through Moses. I get the sense that Moses knows his death is near and he feels compelled to repeat God’s instructions just to be sure they “get it”!
Deuteronomy 1:29, 30 surely convey precious truth! “Do not be shocked nor fear them. The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.” We can hang onto that!
Some other truth nuggets that we could chew on for hours - I’ll just reference them and would love to hear yours -
Chapter 2 - they lands they invaded had the chance to treat Israel right - they refused to let God’s people pass through so God punished them
3:24 - WOW! Yes and Amen!
5:5 - compare this to Matthew 5 - two different mountains…the giving of the Law vs the Spirit of the Law - the people were afraid of God at the first mountain but were able to sit with Him face to face on the second one <3
6:12 - Good word of warning - watch yourself! and v. 24 - observing these statutes - to fear God for our good always
7:22 - notice how God said He was going to clear out the nations “little by little” - often how He operates in our lives — He doesn’t always give us immediate and complete victory
8:2,3 - testing reveals what is in our hearts….God already knows- this is for us to see! v. 5 - the testing is for discipline and growth
8:10-14 - what a great warning! So relevant for today - has pride caused us to forget that our blessings have come from God?
9:3 - circles back to the unrighteousness of the nations God had the Israelites conquer and also to the warning against self-righteousness
Let me know any nuggets you found!