Why did Solomon build such an amazing Temple? Why are we given such details about the actual Temple building and all of the fixtures within the Temple? Does God look at the physical building when people gather to worship him or does He look upon the motives of the people who are gathering to worship Him? What do you think God cares about? The question of how we worship God is nothing new because we are always trying to obtain a direct, tangible, and concrete definition of what faith in God truly looks like. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” Hebrews 11:1,2 In Hebrews we are told that the men of old gained approval by faith and a long list of noteworthy people of renown are listed. So why did Solomon build this temple for the Lord? What does worship look like? What is expressed in worship? Continue Reading…
True worship of God expressed in love: 1 Kings 7 and 8
The Deliverer still lives, find hope for tomorrow: Judges Summary
The book of Judges is filled with a cycle of the failures of the Israelites and God’s deliverance for the people. The people were straying from obeying and keeping God’s commands given through Moses. Life became easy for the Israelites within the promised land and they forgot that God had brought them out of Egypt and given them the promised land. There are glimpses of strong leadership at the beginning of Judges with Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, and Gideon but as time passes the judges that are raised by God to deliver Israel are also marked by their faults such as Jephthah and Samson. Continue Reading…
Death of Moses on Mount Nebo in Deuteronomy 33 and 34
What final words would you speak if you knew you were about to die? When you think about someone who is about to die what do you picture in your mind? Do think of an old frail person with illness who is too weak to speak and just slips into death? This was not Moses at the end. In Deuteronomy chapters 33 and 34 the end of Moses’ leadership in Israel arrives. Mouses was going to die and be gathered to his people but “although [he] was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye [were] not dim, nor his vigor abated.” (Deuteronomy 34:7) Moses was still fully alive and able to speak to the people of Israel at the time of His death. Continue Reading…
Remembering God, the antithesis of pride in Deuteronomy 7 and 8
Do you find your desires are affected by your surroundings, property, or the people you surround yourself with? Straying from our faith and dependance upon God is nothing new because thousands of years ago the people of Israel were fighting against the fleshly desires which sought to pull them away from God. What is the solution to this problem of having our devotion to God pulled away? Deuteronomy chapters 7 and 8 continue with God exhorting the people of Israel through Moses in his final speech to the people before the leadership transitioned to Joseph and the entry into the promised land began. Continue Reading…
Obedience an expression of love in Deuteronomy 1 and 2
The book of Deuteronomy retells the stories found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. The book is the last of the Pentateuch authored by Moses. In chapter 1 Moses reviews the journey of the Israelites from Horeb. Why repeat all of the stories again? How does this profit the people? I think it was absolutely necessary for the people to remember God’s faithfulness and their consistent failure. If the people of Israel were not reminded of where God had brought them from would they have been more inclined to stray from Him? The story of the peoples lack of faith and rebellion before the 40 years in the wilderness must have been a vivid reminder to obey God. The importance of obeying God in all areas of life has been repeated to me many times today. Continue Reading…
Keys to effective and powerful leadership glimpsed: Numbers 27 and 28
How would you view the end of your life? When I die what will my thoughts be like? Moses’ life is coming to an end in Numbers 27 and God tells him to walk up a mountain to see the promised land and then he would be gathered to his people. Why do both Moses and Aaron climb a mountain to die? I suppose for Moses it was to gain a view of the promised land before his death. When I learn that death is close at hand how will I act? I yet to face the reality of my own death and I feel like my whole life is still before me with an unlimited number of things to accomplish. Moses had a full life of learning to depend upon God as the people of Israel were brought out of captivity in Egypt. Moses’ main concern was for the well-being of the people when he asks God to “appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” Continue Reading…
Stand firm in your faith against opposition: Numbers 23 and 24
In Numbers 22 the story of Balaam started where Balak, king of Moab, was desiring to see Balaam curse Israel. In Numbers 23 and 24 we hear what, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered” has to say from God. Continue Reading…
Hope in a High Priest of a new order: Numbers 19 and 20
In Numbers 19 gives greater detail about how a person who is unclean becomes clean. I am amazed at how much death, sacrifice, and blood are apart of cleansing. Eleazar, a priest and Aaron’s son, was to watch the killing and burned of an unblemished red heifer outside the camp. Cedar wood was added to the burning heifer and the ash was collected in a clean spot outside. This ash was mixed with water and an unclean person would wash themselves with the water to become clean. It sounds a little savage to wash yourself with water containing ash from a burnt heifer. It makes sense to me because in Hebrews 9:22 states, “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and with out the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Continue Reading…
