The Small Branch

 Numbers 1-15 (These are my notes from my reading.) (1-4) God continues to set up an orderly nation.  The warriors are numbered and the camp set up in an orderly fashion so that the tabernacle and, therefore, God, is at the center of Israel and is guarded well.  The Levites are also numbered and assigned specific duties.  They are dedicated to God and represent the firstborn of the nation, given to God because of the Passover and because the first of everything should be given to God. (5-10) Laws are reiterated and new laws given.  Tests and punishments are set out so that the people can judge guilt or innocence.  Women are protected by these tests for adultery so that their husbands cannot just make accusations and be rid of them.  Every tribe gives an offering to the Lord for the tabernacle and the priests to use.  There are rules for the lamps and trumpets made for signaling the camp. (11-12) The Israelites, like most humans, are huge complainers.  Moses struggles to lead the people

 There are a lot of things I wish I could tell my younger self.  I probably wouldn't have listened.  I mean, you are at your smartest from 15 years old  to 30 years old, right?  That's probably what I would start with (although the rest are in no particular order): 1. Listen to people.  You can always learn something  from  everyone.  You don't know nearly as much as you think you do. 2. It is almost impossible to get back to your "ideal" weight or to "get back in shape" so maintain and stay in shape.  This is especially true with flexibility. 😊 3. It is much easier to teach your kids the right way the first time rather than to go back and correct things you let them get away with because it was cute when they were tiny.  Set the standard from the beginning and do the work to teach them from the beginning.  It may seem hard, but it is harder if you put it off. 4. From the moment you are saved you should be studying Scripture, spending a lot of prayerful

 This morning I was listening to Owen Strachan speak on Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God from February's G3 conference.  I've also been reading the Old Testament (as you can see from other posts).  The two combined to get me thinking about idol worship.  If you are a student of history and of the Bible, you know that idol worship centuries ago involved sacrifices (from which everyone got their meat), temple prostitutes, human sacrifices, etc.  We always talk about how horrible idol worship was then, how pagan.  But are we really any better today?  Today, we are just as pagan, just as sin sick, just as much into idol worship as people have always been.  With the media today, we don't even look at it as a bad thing, but something to boast about endlessly.  We even worship using the same methods that the ancients did.  We have food everywhere and with everything.  We eat and drink to excess all in the name of entertainment.  Our culture doesn't even need temple prosti

 Leviticus 15-27  (These are my notes from my reading.) (15)Like the laws concerning leprosy, the laws concerning a discharge have a parallel for us today - hidden sin (see Search the Scriptures , edited by Alan Stibbs).  Discharge (hidden sin) must also be dealt with for the well being of God's children.  This chapter makes it sound like menstruation and sex are both "unclean" things.  Puzzlement . . . I know that the chapter is dealing with ceremonial uncleanness rather than something being "dirty", so that may be the answer.  These things made one ceremonially unclean and unable to come to the tabernacle.  Perhaps their very "humanness" was the issue?? (16)The Day of Atonement - once a year, the priest was to make atonement for himself, the place and articles of worship, and the people.  This had to be done every  year with blood sacrifices - until Jesus.  Jesus is the only One to make perfect, permanent atonement for us. (17)All meat was a sacrific

 Leviticus 1-14 (These are my notes from my reading.) Burnt, grain, peace, sin, guilt offerings - these offerings teach us about the importance of pure, undefiled worship and offerings to the Lord.  They also teach about the necessity of blood to make atonement for sin.  These point us to Jesus, who was the ultimate sacrifice and the perfect and final atonement for our sin.  The priests were told very specifically how to do each sacrifice.  Some of it was food for them, other parts were only for the Lord.  They had to obey God's way.  He wants to be worshipped His  way, not ours.   The priests and the tabernacle are prepared for service - everything must be clean, pure, and holy.  Sacrifices must be made for sin to bring atonement for Aaron and his sons, followed by sacrifices to make atonement for the people.  Only then can God "tabernacle" with them and His presence fills the holy of holies.  Worship must be done properly.  There are stiff consequences for not obeying G

 Exodus 26-40  The tabernacle has very specific instructions and very specific pieces of furniture that God wants built very specific ways.  This is God's dwelling place, where He will meet with His people.  All must be holy and perfect because He is holy and perfect.  If not, His presence will destroy whatever is not perfect.  All of these things are to point us to Christ - our need for Him, His intercession and atonement for us, etc.  God provided all that was needed so that the people could build the tabernacle just as God provided Christ so that we could be with Him eternally.    While Moses is getting the instructions for the tabernacle, the Israelites are very impatient and show the weakness of their faith.  This is a constant battle for them.  Without strong, godly leadership, they flounder.  Isn't this true today?  We need strong, godly leaders - ones like Moses - who hold the people accountable and also intercede for them.  Moses intercedes for the people, but also tel

 Exodus 11-25 (These are my notes from my reading.)  The Passover - only by the blood of the lamb is each household spared.  God gives specific instructions for salvation.  Anyone who does not follow these exactly will not be saved.  Now, we are saved eternally by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.  He is the only way to be saved.  Anyone who does not turn to Him (repent and believe) will not be saved.  It is important that we remember what Christ has done for us, just as the Israelites were instructed to remember.  We also dedicate ourselves to Him because we are saved, just as Israel dedicated the first born to God because they were saved by God's grace.  Crossing the sea - God arranges for the final destruction of Egypt.  The people are fearful.  Even after all they have seen God do, they doubt His ability to save them.  They grumble in fear, but He saves them anyway.  They praise the Lord and give Him glory, but as soon as things are hard again, they grumble against Him.  We

 Exodus 1-10  (These are my notes from my reading.)  It seems sometimes that God has forgotten us, but He never will and He always has a plan.  He had told Abraham (Genesis 15:13) that Israel's slavery would happen, that the people would be oppressed.  But even in affliction, God blesses His people.  It isn't about our circumstances, but about Him, His plan, His will, and His way.  He allowed the oppression while at the same time preparing the people for freedom, for standing on their own as a nation.  When they were ready, God brought forth a leader.  Leaders are chosen by God not because of their eloquence and strength, but because of God's strength and His ability.  Human leaders are best when they let God lead.  God understands our fears.  He may get frustrated (seemingly), but really He is infinitely patient with us.  He gives those He calls whatever is needed to lead, to accomplish whatever He asks.    God has a plan and keeps His covenant.  Things are getting harder

(These are my notes as I read through these chapters.) Genesis 31-45   Even when a father doesn't lead well (Jacob deceives Laban, allows family idol worship, ignores Dinah's rape and Reuben sleeping with his concubine, plays favorites and pits his sons against each other, etc.), God still chooses to use Jacob and some good comes of it all.  Lessons and humility are learned, even if in small doses (Jacob wrestles with God, Reuben tries to save Joseph, Judah and Tamar, Joseph learns humility through slavery).  All these things in their lives teach them who God is and how He works.  They work together to form a plan, the  plan, for the salvation of the world - in the short term by providing food in Egypt, in the long term by providing the Savior of the world. Sometimes, trials and tests are necessary, both for our faith to grow and for us to see that we can trust others who have wronged us.  Fear comes from, and is surrounded by, sin.  If sin were not present, fear would not be p

 We have been going through the Pentateuch in our study this summer, reading about 15 chapters a week, getting an overview of Israel in preparation for studying Joshua, Judges, and Ruth starting in September.  I've been so remiss in posting here, but feel like I should "catch you up" with our posts. Genesis 1-15 Creation, fall, the beginning of the plan of redemption.  All these are included in these chapters.  These chapters cover more than a thousand years, but they show God's sovereignty in it all.  Throughout history, God has chosen men to be His.  Men who will, even in their failings, point people to Him.  Adam, Noah, Abram.  These are all men who sinned.  Men who failed.  But God still used them.  God still redeemed Noah, even though he showed himself far from perfect.  God still credited righteousness to Abram because of his faith, even though he lied and had trouble trusting God.  Abram learned to go back to God, to always go back to Him.  We need to learn tha

 Israel began as God's chosen people.  They were given the great blessing of His Word and His care.  The Messiah was born among the people of Israel.  But were they a faithful community?  In Exodus, we are told about great worship experiences and also grumbling and idolatry.  In Judges, the cycle of sin, crying out to God, deliverance, then brief periods of obedience happens over and over for the nation.  God does something amazing and they worship and "get it together" to follow Him obediently.  But then, life happens and they get apathetic.  They don't teach their children to worship.  And they fall into sin.    What about us?  Are we a faithful community?  Or do we just have great worship experiences on Sundays and then live the rest of the week our own way?  It's easy to see Israel's problem, but it's a lot like their speck and our plank (Matthew 7:4-5).  Faithfulness is an always thing.  And it is easy to get complacent.  Daily life is so . . . daily.

My Bible study journey began so far back I can't really remember the very beginning, but here is a brief account of what I have learned and some ways to study that are helpful to me.  When I was beginning my Christian walk as a child, I learned to do "devotions" by reading a verse or two and then reading a few paragraphs someone had written to help me understand and apply these verses.  As an adult, I've found questions better than readings to help me focus on those few verses (up to a chapter or two).  I like to start my day this way and have been doing this for years now.  When I was 25, my wonderful friend introduced me to in-depth Bible study.  I started out with the deeper studies that others have written, reading scriptures and deep diving into the research others have done.  Now, more than twenty years later, I like to study for myself, not using "canned" studies, but scripture itself, dictionaries, commentaries, and maps to study scripture.  A lot of