Numbers
- Moses was to do a census of men 20 years and up that were able to go to war.
- Levites not counted because they were to serve at the Tabernacle
- Lord would tell Moses where to camp and when to set out.
- Each family had a task/job to do.
All that were unclean had to be sent away from camp. The Lord dwelt in their mist therefore there couldn't be anyone unclean. If they had sinned they needed to confess, repent and make it right (restitution). Same applies to us today. We can read through a lot of the Old Testament and think it doesn't apply. But it certainly does. No we don't live under the law but under Grace. God still can't be in the mist of sin, that is why He sent His One and only Son, Jesus, to die for me and for you. So that we can have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. The Old Testament points us directly towards Jesus. We need Him so desperately!!!
Numbers 5:12 Unfaithfulness
If a women was thought to be unfaithful she had to drink of the bitter water. If she was guilty then her belly would swell and her thigh would rot away. If she was innocent she would be fine. It was also written that the law also said that both women as well as men were to be stoned to death if they were unfaithful. The bible tells us that we MUST be faithful in our marriage. It is a picture of Jesus and the church. We are His bridegroom. If the man felt jealousy then he would have his wife drink of the bitter water. Just like the husband suspected unfaithfulness and was jealous, God too is a jealous God. He wants us to be faithful to Him; you shall have no other gods before Me.
When the woman was unfaithful and she drank of the water her guilt would be terrible. There were serious side effects. No matter what the sin is there are always effects from it So often our sin doesn't just effect us but also many around us.
Numbers 6:24-26 Lord bless you and keep you, Lord make His face to shine upon you & be gracious to you, Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.
Numbers 7 -9
The Tabernacle is set up. Offerings brought. Levities cleansed and presented to the Lord.
All the people were to observe the Passover. If they did not then they would be cut off from their people.
Numbers 10-11
Trumpets and why they were to be blown.
The Isrealities were to set out. Moses told his father in law to go with them. But he wanted to go back with his family. Moses told him he would be blessed if he stayed with them. When the Ark was being carried out Moses said, "Rise up O Lord and let Your enemies be scattered and let those who hate You flee before You!" Our great and awesome God will rise up against our enemies. We need to go with Him always. He is our protection and our peace.
Numbers 11
A mixed multitude complained. When I looked up what the "mixed" multitude was it meant that the families were those who had intermarried. Meaning that they had married with the Egyptians. The were unequally yoked.
The people were sick of eating the manna that was provided.
Waa Waa Waa
The people complained and cried. Moses was overwhelmed to the point where he would rather die than to continue to deal with these complainers. But Moses wasn't dealing with them all on his own. God was. Moses took on the burden for himself. God wants us to give those burdens to Him. God told Moses what to do. Appoint the elders for help. Then Lord gave them meat. Not just some meat but so much meat that it would be coming out their noses. Icky...
God gives us what we need. Sometimes what we think we want... isn't always what is best for us. God knows and we can trust Him to give us what we need, when we need it.
Numbers 14 - The people complain again. They wanted to appoint another leader and go back to Egypt instead of listening to Moses. Moses was a very humble man. How many times also did we read that Moses interceded to God for the people. God wanted to destroy them and Moses fell on his face before the Lord. Moses was representing Jesus. Our sin equals death. But Jesus interceded for us so that we wouldn't die. We are born again and death has no sting because we have everlasting life with Him.
God had them spy out the land of Canaan. It was a very awesome land. They came back to Moses and told him. But many were afraid. Joshua and Caleb knew God would be on their side. But the others didn't trust Him. The men again turned on Moses and tried to do it their way.
The result was wandering and death. .
God told them to put tassels of blue on their garments to remind them to not follow after their own hearts and eyes and to remember to do what God had called them to do. We should be reminded also to do it Gods way not our own. Remember He is our Heavenly Father and He will be with us and show us the right way to go.
Thank you all (whoever you may be) who read this blog. I pray it is encouraging. If at anytime there is something that is confusing or you may think is in error please let me know. I pray for wisdom and hope to write only the truth here. But we are all "works in progress" and I may make mistakes. Please contact me and let me know. I will fix it if so. Also if I don't know you are reading with us please contact me and let me know, as I go down my list every week and pray for you all. I don't want to leave anyone out. Or maybe someone that just looked online and is reading this blog.
I wrote a lot about Jesus and how we need Him in our lives. Not just so we can be happy. But without Him our sin = death. This I KNOW this the truth. If you aren't sure that if you will be with Jesus after you leave this life here on earth please contact me so we can talk about it. It would be the most important thing you do in your life. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savoir.
You can contact me for any of the above reasons at readingforjesus@gmail.com
Thanks and Happy Reading - Jeannie
Leviticus
Dear sisters I do hope your reading is going well and you are being blessed. Leviticus can be hard to go through because of all the laws and things that aren't in our culture today. So if you are struggling, hang in there, because I am praying for you.
Lev. 4 - 7
Sin is Sin and all of it had to be atoned for. Whether it was intentional or unintentional. Blood was needed to pay for the sin. Just as Jesus had to die on the cross to cleanse us of our sins. All sins, the ones we did on purpose or not on purpose, even the ones we didn't even know we did. Sin - Has to be Paid For.
Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide: I said, "I will confess my transgression to the Lord"; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Without the forgiveness of sin there is no connection to our Heavenly Father.
When we sin, or realize our sin we don't have to bring an animal to the priest. However we do need to bring "something" to God - Ourselves. Humbly confess and ask for forgiveness. God always makes a way. Even the people in the Levitical time that were poor were told to bring 2 turtledoves or pigeons or a 10th of a ephah of fine flour. There was no excuse to live in guilt. Still applies today. No need to live in guilt. Jesus paid the price. Go to Him humbly and ask for the forgiveness that He is so very willing to give.
Lev. 8
Aarons sons were to go to Moses and he put on their right ear, thumb and big toe the blood. We are to hear the voice of God, service with our hands for God and with our feet walk in Gods ways. Lord help me to give you my entire body for your service.
Lev. 11:44
For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am holy.
Lev. 13
Ok so this is my funny side. I had to make note of this. Verse 40 - If a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald; he is clean. (as long as there was no rash) So all those men or even women with thinning hair it is ok. Natural process of growing older. :)
Lev. 17
The Israelites were not to act like the heathens around them. They were called to a higher standard. This wasn't easy, just like it isn't always easy for us to live differently then the world does. But it is Do-Able, if we are willing and if we have the Lord to help us. Without His help it will seem impossible. But with Him all things are possible.
God also tells them in Ch. 18 Don't live like you used to in Egypt and don't live like the Canaanites around you either. Live how God tells you to. They were on there own to live differently, unlike any others around them. We are called to live differently too.
Lev. 20
Consecrate yourselves and be holy as God is holy. Death was the penalty for sins. Many sins are committed today and laughed at. Like it is no big deal.
I had a friend tell me a story when he was in school and he was kicking a trash can. The teacher told him to stop but he continued. The teacher then warned him, if he didn't that she would pick him up and place him in the trash - head first. Well he kept kicking and head first he went into the trash. He never did it again. When we realize the severity of our sin and know the consequences it holds we should change our behavior. We will never stop sinning but we can work on it when we know we mess up.
Lev. 25-27
There shall be no other gods before you. God wants all of us and he told them that if they would follow him and His commands it would be a good thing. He would dwell with them, He would bless them. But if they went against Him or ignored Him then His face would be against them and would be sudden terror, consumption, fever and wasting away and wouldn't be satisfied. (Lev. 26:16)
He still wants us and our attention to be on Him. And yes we will be blessed if we do keep our eyes on Him. That doesn't mean that nothing will go wrong or bad things wont happen to us. But it does mean that when those things come up we can still have peace and joy because we know we aren't ever handling things on our own. He is always with us. Will never leave us or forsake us.
Happy Reading
-Jeannie :)
Exodus 25
The instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. It gets a bit overwhelming to me to read all the details of what the Israelites needed to do to construct the Tabernacle. I think it is because I can't even read directions well and certainly can't read a set of blueprints.
But something I did take note of was that God told them to do this So He could live among them.
Exodus 31
The skilled workman.
All of the skills we have are given to us by the Lord. We must not boast over them because God put it in us to be able to do the things we do. We can certainly glorify God with them.
Exodus 32
The golden calf
Do we every grow weary in waiting for the Lord? The people did and they went to Aaron and asked for a god. So Aaron fashioned one out of the gold earnings/jewelry. They worshiped it, sacrificed and danced around it. God is NEVER late. He is ALWAYS on time. Continue to wait on Him even when you think He isn't listening. Because HE is definitely listening and we may need to learn to wait on Him. He has perfect timing.
The people took matters into their own hands. Lord then dealt with those who weren't for Him.
Exodus 34:6
The Lord is compassionate and gracious- slow to anger - abounding in loving kindness and truth - who keeps loving-kindness for thousands, forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. Doesn't let the guilty go unpunished.
The more I am in Gods word the more He amazes me. Shows me how Great and Awesome He is. We need to be reminded of this daily. I'm so glad to be reading with you all and being reminded how good He is.
Exodus 35
V.5 Take up a contribution to the Lord, whoever is of a willing heart.
All that we give to the Lord should be from a willing heart. You want your kids to listen and respect you but if they are only doing it because they are forced it isn't willing. If a child takes out the trash but stomps out the door while rolling their eyes because they don't want to do it that isn't a willing heart. It isn't always easy giving to the Lord but it is so worth it, every time!!!
Leviticus 2
The grain offering was to be of fine flour.
For the people to offer fine flour wasn't as easy as us going to Walmart and buying a bag of it. They had to grind it down. The grinding was alot of work and took time. It was a sacrifice to to give these offerings. Our offerings should be a sacrifice that costs us something. That may be a financial or time or other things. Even reading our bibles is a offering to the Lord. Praise Him in it and pray for your sisters that are reading with you.
As always please feel free to post comments or questions or words of encouragement. Thanks
Happy Reading,
Jeannie
Hebrews 11:25-26
Moses chose to endure ill treatment with the people of God rather then enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking for the reward.
How many of us will say I will take getting treated badly for Christs Sake? I try to but don't always. Think about how badly they were treated too. Making bricks out of mud and straw. Then Pharaoh refusing to provide them with the straw but expected them to continue making the same amount of bricks.
Exodus 3
God tells Moses that He is sending him to deliver His people from Egypt. Moses says, "Who I am I Lord that I should go to Pharaoh and tell him that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"
Wait Lord
-Are You sure you mean me?
-Well I don't speak well!
-Can You use someone else?
-Do You think people will listen to me???
God told Him V.12 Certainly I will be with you.
I Am who I AM has sent you
God gave me my mouth and will fill it with His words if I am willing. Ladies if we continue to fill our hearts and minds with His word it will make our mouths be filled with His word as well.
The Plagues
God showed a couple of us this week something about the plagues. We all questioned how did the livestock get completely killed three times.
Ex. 9:3 Severe pestilence on livestock in the field
all died
Ex. 9:18 Severe hail - Every man & beast in field will die. Those who listened in v. 20 brought their servants and livestock in and weren't killed. Others that left them out in the field were killed. all died - again
Ex 11 The last plague. Firstborn killed. V. 5 even firstborn of cattle
Ok so from what I have read is that all the livestock were killed "out in the fields" that didn't include those under shelter and those in barns. Pharaoh most likely had his livestock inside and they were protected from these plagues. The Israelites livestock was never harmed, so possibly Pharaohs men may have taken the Isrealites livestock to replenish theirs as well. This could explain the Why it seemed like the animals were killed and killed and killed again.
The Passover Lamb
Jesus
He is our Passover Lamb. Perfect, spotless. Protects us from the evil. When the blood was put on the lintel (which was the supporting structure above the door) and on the door posts (the sides). Blood on the top and the two sides.
The cross is evident when the blood was placed on the doorway. It was their protection. They were told to eat of the Passover Lamb and to not go outside their doors.
Pharaoh didn't like any of the plagues and asked Moses to pray for him. But then went back to hardening his heart. God had a plan and a purpose. We don't always understand why we, or others, have to go through difficult times but God's plan is perfect. Have faith and believe in our Heavenly Father to do what He says He will do. He loves us and wants what is best for us.
Once out of Egypt God went before them . A pillar of cloud by day and a fire by night. The Pillar NEVER LEFT THEM. He will Never Leave You!!! When the enemy came after them in Ex 14 the cloud of Lord went behind them to protect them.
Ex. 15:6
Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord shatters the enemy.
Ex 17
Israelites prevailed while Moses had his hands raised to the Lord. When he got tired and hands came down enemy prevailed But Aaron and Hur came along side and held him up.
When we keep our worship raised to the Lord we will prevail over the enemy. But sometime we get weary and tired. That's when we need our Christian brothers and sisters to hold up our hands and encourage us. No reason to let the enemy overpower us.
Happy Reading Love Jeannie
