I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    God detests those who wallow in perversity, whether it be sexual or otherwise, no matter how much they claim to love Him. On the other hand, God loves those who serve Him with integrity.

    I want to make this psalm my own. This psalm gives great advice for seeing our way through this life. I will praise God as long as I live. I desire Him with all of my being. Let me not become distracted by the pleasures this life brings. When I lie awake at night, I will bend my thoughts to God. I will meditate on His will through the night. I will cling to God because it is only by His strong arm that I can make it through this life.

    There are no shortcuts to serving God. We do not spread the Gospel by feeding the poor. We do not advance God’s will in this world by compromising/working with those who oppose the Gospel. We do not perform wondrous acts in order to bring attention to ourselves. I am not sure where I am going with this because one can take this lesson too far. Feeding the poor is something we should do in service to God. We should be willing to work with any who will work towards advancing God’s will (“Anyone who is not against us is for us.”). God has given us the power to perform wonders in order to spread His Word. However, this passage reminds us that all of these can be temptations. We can become caught up with feeding the physical hunger of the poor and forget to feed their spiritual hunger. We can get caught up in our attempts to make the world a better place and start to worship the powers of this world. We can allow the attention that comes to us when we perform God’s wonders to go to our heads and forget to turn that attention away from ourselves towards God. Let us never forget that our first mission in this life is to introduce those around us to Jesus.

    When we last saw Balaam he was blessing the people of Israel even though his employer desired him to curse them. He refused to say anything other than what God commanded him to say. Yet now, when God sends the Israelites to extract vengeance against the Midianites for leading the Israelite men into worshiping false gods and other sins, we find Balaam still among the Midianites. We discover that it was Balaam who had advised the Midianites to have their women seduce Israelite men into worshiping the Midianite idols. How did Balaam go from being a man who would only say what God commanded him to say to a man who advised Israel’s enemies in ways to defeat them? This passage does not tell us, but we have hints from the earlier passage. He was tempted by the wealth offered him. When he could not gain that wealth by cursing the Israelites outright, he came up with a plan to get it by other means.

    I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    The rewards which the wicked gain seem great, but they have no lasting value. However, righteous behavior results in righteous, lasting rewards. Righteousness provides life, wickedness leads to death and destruction.

    I will wait quietly before God because that is where my hope lies. Oh, how difficult that is to do when troubles seem to be all around. I want to place all of my trust in God, but that is hard when I do not see the way out. Yet, I do find refuge in Him. I pour my heart out to Him. I have been in similar situations and God has been faithful to guide me through. I have faith that He will do so once more. I cannot comprehend how those who do not share my faith and knowledge of God face similar difficult times. When God sees me through to the other side, I will not allow wealth to become the center of my life.

    I came across an interesting thing for those reading this who may be Star Wars fans. As some may know, Hebrew does not have a sound that is equivalent of the English “J” sound, the sound that gets transliterated as “J” in English Bibles is actually closer to the “Y” sound. I could go into the explanation of how that happened, but I don’t remember it in full and that is not important for what I am writing. What I noticed is that Luke lists one of Jesus’ ancestors as being Joda. That’s right, Yoda is an ancestor of Jesus.
    There are those for whom the study of Jesus’ ancestry brings spiritual insight. Generally I am not one of them, although it is worth mentioning that Jesus is the descendant of Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, three women whose stories play significant roles in the Old Testament.

    There is a lot of rich symbolism in the feasts and assemblies described in today’s passage. Unfortunately, I know that I do not have a full appreciation for this symbolism. Passover occurs at the beginning of Spring with the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost, or Shavuot) being held seven weeks later. The other three Feasts/Assemblies are held in the fall and follow the fall harvest. I think that we miss something by not practicing something like these feasts and assemblies, but I am not sure how we could implement them in our congregations in our modern societies.

    I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    The key to gaining long-term respect and reward is kindness and graciousness. Those who are cruel and ruthless will gain only wealth and in the long-run their cruelty will cause their downfall.

    This psalm resonates with me now. I am calling out to God for help. I am confident that He will lead me through this time of trouble to His strong fortress. I will sing His praises each day, even now as trouble surrounds me.

    According to Luke, John the Baptist called the crowds who came to hear him preach a brood of vipers and asked them who warned them to seek an escape from God’s coming wrath. Different groups asked John what they should do. John gave them answers that applied to their specific places (tax collectors, soldiers, general populace). His answer to all of them can be easily summed up, “Do what you can to help those in need.” A fiction author whom I like, Lois McMaster Bujold, put words into the mouth of one of her characters which I think applies to what John was telling these people. I am going to paraphrase what she wrote here. When the character was told that his effort would not make any difference in the long run, that the bad guys would just pick up the pieces and go back to doing what they had been doing, he replied that it made a difference for those few he helped. People make the excuse that they can’t help everybody in need, so they don’t help anyone. John’s message here is to help those you can. We may not be able to change the world for everyone, but we can change the world for someone.

    When God told Moses that his day had come and the he would die soon, Moses’ response was to ask God to appoint his successor. Moses had led the people of Israel for 40 some years and as he faced death his concern was that they should have a good strong leader after he was gone. Joshua had been Moses’ assistant for most of the last 40 years, yet Moses was concerned that he was not the man for the job. Therefore Moses gave Eleazar, Aaron’s son, a greater role in leading the people of Israel beside Joshua than either he or Aaron had held while Moses was alive. Moses had groomed a leader to replace himself. Joshua did not follow his lead on this and the people of Israel suffered for it.

    I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    We find it tempting to make fun of our neighbors and talk about how stupid their actions are. However, we would do better to keep our mouth’s shut and just listen because they may know something we don’t (or they might just be lucky enough to be right this time). The next proverb goes right along with that, telling us that a gossip betrays those who have confided in them. If you want people to trust you, don’t tell them the latest gossip (or any gossip).

    When those who are in a position of authority no longer know the meaning of the word justice, violence spreads through the land. They are like deadly snakes spitting venom on everyone around. Such is the result of not teaching children to be truthful. However, it is only a matter of time until God will sweep them away. Injustice will be avenged and people will see that there is value in obeying God.

    Zechariah was unable to speak for over nine months (from time he served in the Temple before Elizabeth was pregnant until she gave birth). Yet, when he got his voice back the first thing he did was praise God. He did not praise God for just a little bit, but to such a point that all of his neighbors began to wonder exactly what type of person John would turn out to be.

    Yesterday we saw that rather than send the messengers from Balak on their way with what he knew to be God’s answer (“No”), Balaam had them stay the night and went to God once more. Today, God delayed Balaam’s trip to Balak so that He could make it clear to Balaam that he was not to curse the people of Israel. When Balaam got to Balak, Balak was angry that he had delayed in coming. Balaam replied that now he was there, but he would only be able to say what God told him to say. Balaam had Balak prepare sacrifices to God, then went and petitioned God for His message. When Balaam returned to Balak his message was essentially, “How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?” Let us remember that we are called to the same thing. We have been called to bless the people of this world, not curse them.
    Balak was not happy with the message which Balaam gave him, so he took him to another place where he asked Balaam to curse just part of the people of Israel. Once more Balaam had Balak prepare sacrifices and then went off to petition God for an answer. When he returned, in some ways his message for Balak was worse. The message which God gave Balaam for Balak was that He does not change His mind. Balaam told Balak, “God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.” Despite Balaam telling him that he could not curse the people of Israel, Balak took Balaam to yet another place. God’s message to Balak this third time is in tomorrow’s passage.

    I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    This passage reminds us that our very words can be destructive. Those who are wicked destroy others and tear down the community with their words. The godly check their facts before they allow the words of the wicked to effect their actions. By doing so, they strengthen the community. In addition, the godly act and speak so as the build up the community in other ways.

    A reminder for us when we are surrounded by trouble and enemies. Let us turn to God. He will send help and rescue us. Our enemies may seem clever, but, if we depend on God and faithfully follow His commands, they will fall into the traps they have set for us. I will have confidence in God and praise Him every day.

    When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was confused and disturbed. This should not surprise us, aren’t we often confused and disturbed when God sends us messages. There is probably something wrong with us if we aren’t. The amazing thing about Mary is that once the angel finished telling her what God had planned for her, her reaction was, “Let’s do this thing.” (well, not those exact words) I look at what the angel told Mary and think that it must have been a very scary thing for a young woman (by our standards, a girl) to hear in that culture. Nevertheless, Mary was no longer frightened. No, she declared, “I am the Lord’s servant.” Am I willing to surrender my fear of the consequences of following God’s plan in order to do God’s will? Will I respond to God’s messenger by declaring that I am the Lord’s servant?

    At the end of yesterday’s passage, the people of Israel requested permission to cross Edom. When they King of Edom refused, they turned aside and went a different way. In today’s passage, the king of the Canaanites attacked the Israelites and took some of them captive. The Israelites prayed to God and He gave them victory over the Canaanites. The account records how the Israelites completely conquered several nations in this passage. Yet, not once did they initiate the hostilities. They requested permission to cross the lands of the Amorites. But rather than either grant them permission, or deny them permission, the King of the Amorites attacked them.
    After seeing the inability of his neighbors to stand against the Israelites Balak, the Moabite king, tried a different approach. He sent for Balaam to have him curse the people of Israel for him. When the messengers arrived to speak to Balaam, Balaam told them that he would consult God to see if he could accompany them. When God told him overnight not to go with the messengers because the people they wished him to curse were blessed by God. Balaam told the messengers, “No” and sent them on their way. Balak sent them back with even more promises of reward for cursing the people of Israel. This time Balaam told them right away that he could not accompany them. He knew God’s will on the matter, yet he told them to stay the night to see if he could get a different answer this time. How often do we do this? God has told us His will for us, yet we desire something else.