Themes....recap...

Themes....recap....

There are several authors, groups who have summarized the books of the Bible into a few words or chosen what they felt the theme verse is for each book.

The following are a few...they don’t all match as you can see from the various ones for the book of Deuteronomy...

My suspicion, for me personally,  is that what my theme would be is what God is dealing with me or teaching me dictates my theme ...

Case in point...I always loved the book of Ruth...it was romantic, redemptive...but, when I became a widow, the whole book turned into care for the widow, still redemptive, but deeper ...same book, same story, at a different level...

Or the book of Psalms has met my personal needs in so many places, depression, joy, praise, caring, cleansing, compassion, teaching, character of God and so much more...

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 

In Deuteronomy, there are times when I need the encouragement to be strong and courageous....there are times when I need to be reminded to love the Lord with all my might....times when I need to be reminded to ask my elders and to teach or hand down to the generations...and on and on... 

I am so glad there is so much more learning to do...words to read, words to write... and  lessons to learn....God’s Word needs more than a brisk, quick read...it needs basking, diving into, listening with our hearts, learn from, consuming, defining, holding tightly, soaking into, enfolding, touching, live by, crying over, rejoicing with, mediating on, fear, remembering, searching, doing, disciplined with....and so much more....thank YOU...

Genesis 1:1

The Beginning

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

Leviticus 20:26

You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.

Numbers 23:19 

God is not human, that he should lie,

    not a human being, that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act?

    Does he promise and not fulfill?

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6:5 

Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.

Deuteronomy 32:7

Deuteronomy=Moses gives Israel instructions (in some ways, a recap of the laws in Exodus–Numbers) for how to love and obey God in the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy=obedience 

https://www.thenivbible.com/blog/66-inspirational-verses-from-every-book-of-the-bible/#:~:text=Inspiration%20from%20the%20Pentateuch.%201%201.%20Genesis%201%3A1.,4.%20Numbers%2023%3A19.%205%205.%20Deuteronomy%2031%3A6.%20

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/an-amazing-summary-of-the-bible-in-66-verses.html

https://overviewbible.com/books-of-the-bible/

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:103,105

Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

Deuteronomy 4:6

But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 4:29

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9  

Reviews, blessings, curses, and changing of the guard...

Reviews, blessings,  curses, and changing of the “guard”...

The last word in the book of Numbers is “Jericho”...

These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Numbers 36:13 

And the first words of Deuteronomy....

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 

See, I have set the land before you. 

Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 

May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 

Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 

And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Deuteronomy 1:1,8,10-11,13,18

It seems there is a change, a review of the Israelites...they have moved from slavery to the edge of the promised land...Moses as their leader, mentor, stops to review their times, their God-given laws, their relationships, their covenants, their past, and their future...

He is handing over the Torch...

Like Paul in 2 Timothy, Moses wants them to carry on...

Moses so wanted to entered the promised land, but his leadership has come to an end...

“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

Deuteronomy 3:23-29

Paul, in prison, may have known his end is coming as well...

Both, Moses and Paul encourage their followers, review...mentoring ....

Moses reviews the laws given, the journey taken...sees the land promised..the covenants agreed upon...

Paul uses the word “entrust” several times as he exhorts Timothy ...

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 

Moses speaks of the Law, while Paul speaks of promise of the life that is in Jesus Christ...who is the fulfillment of that  Law...

Two men at their end, wanting the best for their followers, those who come after...both seeking the Promise...

As an elder, now myself...I so want those whom  I have “led”, either family or those entrusted to me over the years to seek that promised “land” as well...to follow God...

“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,  who will be able to teach others also. 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

2 Timothy 2:2,15,22,24,3:14-17,4:22 

Thank YOU for the review of Moses and Paul...the new beginnings...the promises kept...the mentors before and after...the encouragements to move, to follow, to move forward...

Their reflections and admonishments...

 

Numbers...

 Numbers....

The book of Numbers starts right off with -

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 

From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 

And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. 

And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 

These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

Numbers 1:1-16

I loved that He again named everyone personally...still named by clan of Jacob’s sons...

Moses and Aaron complied , numbering can by clan, exactly as commanded...

Starting with Reuben, the first born on down the line...

Until all were counted...except the Levites, who were to take care of the tabernacle and all of its furnishings...

These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house. So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— all those listed were 603,550.

Numbers 1:44-46

(Quite an army)

After that was the arrangement of the camp...

But these numbers come up again further into the book...

Moses, at the LORD’s command, sends spies into the promised land, leading men from each tribe ...naming  them by name again...including Caleb and Joshua... they are to look over the land, assessing the people, the land, the cities... which they did, bringing back fruits of the land, grapes, pomegranates, figs as well as their reports...being gone for 40 days...

The report was good on the land...but ten were afraid of the people ...Caleb stood and said...

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 13:30-33

And the people rebelled of going into the land....and wanted to choose another leader and return to Egypt!

Joshua and Caleb plead to go into the land, Moses pleads for the people...

Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

Numbers 14:19 

So a God pronounced judgement...

...your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— the men who brought up a bad report of the land— died by plague before the Lord. Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Numbers 14:29-38....

So those who were numbered, also died before the promise was fulfilled...

In my minute mind, did they step into the promised land as soon as the last one died?

What was it like for Joshua and Caleb to wander for 40 years knowing that they were right ? Did they ever resent being kept out because of others...

But, they were being trained more and more as leaders just as Moses was in his sojourn before leading the nation out of Egypt ...knowing that the promised land was waiting...

Thank YOU...for numbers, lessons in obedience, rebellion...consequences to actions...

WAit....

 Wait...

One of the hardest things I find to do is ...wait...

We live in a hurried world...we want things instantly ...results from tests, grocery lines, Stop lights, Amazon delivery, flu shots, whatever....we wait...impatiently, tapping our toes...rolling our eyes at others...anxiously “twiddling our thumbs”...all the while, wait, wait, wait..

Some people came to Moses in Numbers with a question and his answer was the following...

And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”

Numbers 9:8 

How convicting...how often do I wait for God’s answer...do I forge ahead doing my own thing without His direction....saying to myself “of course this is what He would say or do”...not waiting for that peace that accompanies the “real direction”...ohhh..

These men’s question was concerning celebrating Passover...and they did get their answer on exactly how to do it...

Further, in the same portion of scripture, God gave them directions on stopping and going at His Leading...

I am not trying to be trite, but, it was like a holy command of “Simon says”...only this was “God says “... they moved when God said , stayed when He said...waiting ...again...and they did this for 40 years!  Oh, were complaints to be sure...as well as discipline....

But, back to Moses...I desire to have that attitude of waiting for what God has in store...waiting for His perfect will, answer...

Thank YOU for patience with me in such times that I want to move ahead of You...calm my spirit to seek Your right answer...

 Numbers 9

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:5 

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

Psalm 33:20 

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Psalm 37:7  

But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

Psalm 38:15

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Psalm 62:5

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:26 

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8:25 

 

 

Guarded...

 Guarded...

 In the book of Numbers, God give instructions about the movement of the people on their journey through the desert...they are pretty specific. The Levites are the guard the tabernacle on all sides, carrying certain items as they go, given their own duties as well. Moses and his brother Aaron led the procession to guard the priests...with a rearguard as well...

There are many references to “guard” throughout the Word, but my all time favorite is when John records Jesus prayer from his disciples and all who come because of their word....that means He prayed for me...he was not only setting a guard for those with him but down through the ages, those who believed...that just brings chills and tears  of thankfulness...

David prayed, Nehemiah prayed for guards to be set for protection, for their hearts, their ways and Jesus went away but sent The Holy Spirit to help and guard those who believe...thank YOU....

9 I am praying for them. 

I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 

10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 

12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 

25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 

26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:9-12,20,24-26 

“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.

Exodus 23:20 

But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.”

Numbers 1:53 

They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. 

They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 

And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.” 

The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords—all the service connected with these. 

To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. And their guard duty involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service connected with these. 

To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; also the pillars around the court, with their bases and pegs and cords. 

Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death.

Numbers 3....

“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones....

1 Samuel 2:9a

And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

Nehemiah 4:9

Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

Psalm 25:20-21

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.

Psalm 119:9-11,17

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

Psalm 141:3 

Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.

Proverbs 13:6 

The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.

Proverbs 16:17 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 

And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Isaiah 58:7-8,11 

33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

Mark 13:33 

By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

2 Timothy 1:14

Another saint has gone home...

 Another saint has gone home...

I awoke this morning to thoughts of another saint going home...my prayers for another woman jointing the ranks of widowhood ....daughters missing their father, grandchildren missing their grandfather...

There is sadness, loss in their camp...as well as others who have had the privilege of knowing him...we rejoice in his home going...knowing that he is at peace, having finished his earthly journey well...

I am sure he was welcomed with, “well done, good and faithful servant”...

But there is an emptiness, a hole  left behind...that only God’s peace can fill...there will be tears, memories, as well as laughter at fun times...a quietness of the empty room, a chair at the table...

Ambushes coming  from no quick phone calls, someone coming through the door, no quiet conversations, an embrace, the secret smile or nod on encouragement...the sound of their vehicle coming up the drive, the small invaluable things we miss...

But, picturing their entrance into the next realm...I imagined lines of people, well wishers, shaking hands, clapping him on the back, laughter and awe...a place he had only read about coming into view...God is the Light...a robe of pure white...singing like none other, overwhelming sense of peace and wonder...all with no end...rooms prepared...a banquet laid...promises kept...God in his splendor...

Then I opened my computer, this article popped up...

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/10-beautiful-descriptions-of-heaven-from-the-bible.html?utm_source=Daily%20Bible%20Living&utm_campaign=Daily%20Bible%20Living%20-%20BibleStudyTools.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=4279543&bcid=da862c45ddf0953aba8004a42993b38a&recip=543616088%20

2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:2-4,6-7

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11 

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord. They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn.

Psalm 89:15-17 

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.

Psalm 116:15 

Thank YOU....

 

Centered...

 Centered.....

At The beginning of the book of Numbers, God calls for a census of the nation of Israel, males, 20 years and up...

Then the arrangement is given for the various clans on their placement around the tabernacle as well as their placement when they are moving...

The tabernacle is always the center...God is the center...

Then the various duties are given to the Levites...each has a duty to carry out...what they guard and what they carry...they are not counted as ones able to go to war as the other clans...their focus is on the tabernacle and its safety and care...

I couldn’t help but remember, that when Ezra went back to Jerusalem, they centered on rebuilding the temple, them Nehemiah came the rebuild the walls...

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel— he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

Ezra 1:2-4

It was the center, the place everyone looked to...

Our center is to be God as well...guarding that Life within us...

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

It is the Lord your God you shall fear. 

Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9,13

Warriors as well...guarding our lives, minds, hearts, souls, thoughts...centered on Him...

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Ephesians 6:10-18

Thank YOU...for being our center...