Hello everyone.
I have started a new study of the book of Exodus, I will share some thoughts with you from that study. You are probably pretty familiar with Moses' story. Pharaoh, out of fear, wanted all male Israelite children killed at birth. Moses' parents, Amram and Jochebed, hid their newborn baby for three months. However, hiding babies is not easy, as they do not always cooperate. They reached a point where they simply could not hide him any longer. So they made a plan. They a basket out papyrus, tar and pitch, placed the baby in it and set it among the reeds in the Nile River. (Ex. 2:3) We are all so familiar with this story that we don't really stop to think about how odd this plan really is. They were going to save their baby's life by placing him in a basket and putting it in the river. Then what? Fortunately, the daughter of the Pharaoh came by and saw the basket and retrieved it. When she saw that it was a baby she had compassion on it and adopted it.
Now, if that was their plan all along, that Pharaoh's would come along, see the basket, open it, have compassion of their child and adopt it, I would have to commend them on their incredible foresight and wisdom. There is a lot that could go wrong with such a plan. What if Pharaoh's daughter doesn't come along? What if she doesn't see the basket floating among the reeds? The plan works around her having compassion for the baby. What if she doesn't? According to the law her father had established, she was supposed to have this baby killed. She recognized immediately that this was a Hebrew baby. (Ex. 2:6) So I would think that her father would recognize it immediately also. Neither of them obeyed this law in Moses' case. In spite of all that could go wrong, the plan worked. In fact, it worked better than one could reasonably expect, as in the end Jochebed got paid to nurse her own son, something she would gladly do for free.
Again, if this was how Amram and Jochebed thought this would work out, one has to be amazed at their wisdom. No, clearly this was a plan that originated with God. So did God tell them to do this. Were they guided by the Holy Spirit to do this? Did God just take a plan with a lot of holes in it and just make it work out? Who knows? What we do know is that it worked. Without a doubt, God had worked this plan, but I think that the plan was about more than saving just one baby. This baby would grow up the lead the nation out of bondage and having this child grow up in the Pharaoh's household was part of the master plan. One never knows how God will work. If Pharaoh had not desired to kill all of the baby boys, there would have been no need to place Moses in the basket on the Nile. Moses would have grown up to be just another of Egypt's many slaves, and may not have received the training he needed to lead God's people.
God has a way of taking the bad things and working it out for the ultimate good of his people. It is a good lesson for us. Even in the midst of great difficulties, God is always at work. We can believe scriptures like Jer. 29:11 and Rom. 8:28, no matter how dire the situation. There is a plan and even when, at first glance it doesn't make any sense, it will be a good one.
Tom
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Saturday, February 10, 2018
God Rides
Hello everyone
I am nearly finished with my study of the book of Deuteronomy. As I neared the end I found something that I found very encouraging. I will share with you. The end of Deuteronomy is Moses' farewell to the people of Israel. He blesses each tribe and then at the end of Deuteronomy 33 concludes by talking about God. I want to focus on just one part of Moses' depiction of God, in 33:26. It says:
"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides across the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty."
To understand this, we have have understand the term "Jeshurun." I was unfamiliar with it. Turns out, it is only mentioned four times in the Bible, three of which are at the end of Deuteronomy. (Deut. 32:15, 33:5, 33:26 and Isaiah 44:2) After checking several sources, the consensus seemed to be that Jeshurun is a poetic term for Israel, and it means "the upright ones." Based on that idea, one could conclude then that Our God is willing to ride across the heavens to come to the aid of His upright people who are in need. This is very encouraging to me, as I see that God doesn't just sit still in heaven to supply His help, but comes all the way across the sky to be with me when I need Him. His concern for the upright leads Him to want to be there with them.
This passage also made me curious, wondering "What does God ride as He comes across the heavens?" The context indicates that He may be riding some kind of majestic cloud. Other scriptures, however, show that God has other means of transportation. There are other verses that indicate that God rides on clouds (like Isa. 19:1) Ps. 18:10 says that God flies on a cherub. My favorite, however, comes from Habakkuk 3:8 which says Gods travels on "chariots of salvation." (NASV) Whatever God shows up in, it is bound to be glorious.
It is pretty cool to consider how God might ride, but for me, the really amazing part of this passage is that God is emotionally invested in us to travel to where we are to meet our need. That's a pretty encouraging thought.
Tom
I am nearly finished with my study of the book of Deuteronomy. As I neared the end I found something that I found very encouraging. I will share with you. The end of Deuteronomy is Moses' farewell to the people of Israel. He blesses each tribe and then at the end of Deuteronomy 33 concludes by talking about God. I want to focus on just one part of Moses' depiction of God, in 33:26. It says:
"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides across the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty."
To understand this, we have have understand the term "Jeshurun." I was unfamiliar with it. Turns out, it is only mentioned four times in the Bible, three of which are at the end of Deuteronomy. (Deut. 32:15, 33:5, 33:26 and Isaiah 44:2) After checking several sources, the consensus seemed to be that Jeshurun is a poetic term for Israel, and it means "the upright ones." Based on that idea, one could conclude then that Our God is willing to ride across the heavens to come to the aid of His upright people who are in need. This is very encouraging to me, as I see that God doesn't just sit still in heaven to supply His help, but comes all the way across the sky to be with me when I need Him. His concern for the upright leads Him to want to be there with them.
This passage also made me curious, wondering "What does God ride as He comes across the heavens?" The context indicates that He may be riding some kind of majestic cloud. Other scriptures, however, show that God has other means of transportation. There are other verses that indicate that God rides on clouds (like Isa. 19:1) Ps. 18:10 says that God flies on a cherub. My favorite, however, comes from Habakkuk 3:8 which says Gods travels on "chariots of salvation." (NASV) Whatever God shows up in, it is bound to be glorious.
It is pretty cool to consider how God might ride, but for me, the really amazing part of this passage is that God is emotionally invested in us to travel to where we are to meet our need. That's a pretty encouraging thought.
Tom
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Hold On
Hello everyone.
I want to backtrack a little bit to something I saw in Deuteronomy 11. What I want to talk about today comes from Deut. 11:22 and 23: It says, "If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him and to hold fast to Him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you."
God tells the Israelites that following Him involves three things, 1.) Loving Him, 2.) Obedience to Him and 3.) Holding fast to Him. God says that if they will do these things that He will give them great victory over nations that are both larger and stronger than they are. This must have been a comfort to them, knowing that God would protect them and give them victory in situations that were larger and stronger than they were. The good for us is that the same principle still applies. If we will follow God - loving Him, obeying Him and holding fast to Him, He will will give us victory in situations that are both larger and stronger than we are. Certainly we all face situations that are bigger than we are.
I think that we all understand the idea of love and obedience are things that we understand, but the phrase "hold fast" is not something that we say a lot. So what does it mean? It basically means "cling." God wants to hold fast, or cling to Him, particularly in situations that are larger and stronger than we are, since they are not larger and stronger than Him. It reminds me of Ps. 63:70-8: Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of our wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
David wrote this in the Desert of Judah as people were chasing him in an effort to kill him, and he could say this. Having someone try to kill you trumps any situation I have ever been in. He looked to God for his help and because God helped him, David felt secure enough to sing in the shadow of God's wings. (Who knew God had wings?) He would cling(hold fast) to God and he recognized that God was holding him up with His right hand. So then question becomes, "Where do we look for our help and comfort in our times of need?" If we are holding fast to anything other than God, we are fighting a losing battle. Too often I have looked to other things, particularly food, to deal with stressful situations that were larger than me. It never helps long term. Eventually I end up in a position where I must depend on God. Then I have victory. I would be better off, if I just went there first. May we all have those victories n those situations that are larger and stronger than we are, knowing that God's powerful right hand will uphold us. Then we can have the kind of security to sing in the shadow of His wings.
Tom
I want to backtrack a little bit to something I saw in Deuteronomy 11. What I want to talk about today comes from Deut. 11:22 and 23: It says, "If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him and to hold fast to Him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you."
God tells the Israelites that following Him involves three things, 1.) Loving Him, 2.) Obedience to Him and 3.) Holding fast to Him. God says that if they will do these things that He will give them great victory over nations that are both larger and stronger than they are. This must have been a comfort to them, knowing that God would protect them and give them victory in situations that were larger and stronger than they were. The good for us is that the same principle still applies. If we will follow God - loving Him, obeying Him and holding fast to Him, He will will give us victory in situations that are both larger and stronger than we are. Certainly we all face situations that are bigger than we are.
I think that we all understand the idea of love and obedience are things that we understand, but the phrase "hold fast" is not something that we say a lot. So what does it mean? It basically means "cling." God wants to hold fast, or cling to Him, particularly in situations that are larger and stronger than we are, since they are not larger and stronger than Him. It reminds me of Ps. 63:70-8: Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of our wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
David wrote this in the Desert of Judah as people were chasing him in an effort to kill him, and he could say this. Having someone try to kill you trumps any situation I have ever been in. He looked to God for his help and because God helped him, David felt secure enough to sing in the shadow of God's wings. (Who knew God had wings?) He would cling(hold fast) to God and he recognized that God was holding him up with His right hand. So then question becomes, "Where do we look for our help and comfort in our times of need?" If we are holding fast to anything other than God, we are fighting a losing battle. Too often I have looked to other things, particularly food, to deal with stressful situations that were larger than me. It never helps long term. Eventually I end up in a position where I must depend on God. Then I have victory. I would be better off, if I just went there first. May we all have those victories n those situations that are larger and stronger than we are, knowing that God's powerful right hand will uphold us. Then we can have the kind of security to sing in the shadow of His wings.
Tom
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Qualifications for a King
Hello everyone.
Today, I am going to share something I've seen in Deuteronomy recently about leadership. In Deut. 17:14-20, God reveals that He knows that some day Israel would ask for a king so that they can be like the nations around them. It gives some instructions for the new king. It says, in verses 18-20:
"When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel."
Now prior to the passage above, god does gives some other instructions about not accumulating too much stuff or taking too many wives. That such things would lead them astray. Israel's history, of course, proved God correct in all of that. But I want to focus on the part of these instructions written above. It says that the new king must go to the priests and get a copy of the law, then set down and copy it word for word on his own scroll. He was to carry his copy of the law around with him and read it every day. So a good king was going to have God's word on his heart and read it every day. So then, what was this daily Bible study going to do for the king?
It would help him know God better and respect Him more (learn to revere the Lord his God.) It would help remain obedient (follow carefully all the words of this law.) It would keep him humble (not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites.) It would keep him faithful (not turn from the law to the right or to the left.) There is a lot there and it is all good. So a good king was going to stay in God's word.
This is good, but my guess is that no monarch's will actually read this post. But I think this good instructions for any kind of spiritual leadership, because these attributes all thing that we should want. Any leader, (or any disciple for that matter,) should desire a deeper relationship with God, to be more obedient to Him, to be humble in our dealings with our fellow disciples and to stay faithful. So how do we do that? Do we need to literally write our own copy the Bible down and then carry it with us everywhere we go? I don't know, but we do need to do whatever it takes to keep God's word on our hearts and then study every day. This will bring only positive things to us.
Tom
Today, I am going to share something I've seen in Deuteronomy recently about leadership. In Deut. 17:14-20, God reveals that He knows that some day Israel would ask for a king so that they can be like the nations around them. It gives some instructions for the new king. It says, in verses 18-20:
"When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel."
Now prior to the passage above, god does gives some other instructions about not accumulating too much stuff or taking too many wives. That such things would lead them astray. Israel's history, of course, proved God correct in all of that. But I want to focus on the part of these instructions written above. It says that the new king must go to the priests and get a copy of the law, then set down and copy it word for word on his own scroll. He was to carry his copy of the law around with him and read it every day. So a good king was going to have God's word on his heart and read it every day. So then, what was this daily Bible study going to do for the king?
It would help him know God better and respect Him more (learn to revere the Lord his God.) It would help remain obedient (follow carefully all the words of this law.) It would keep him humble (not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites.) It would keep him faithful (not turn from the law to the right or to the left.) There is a lot there and it is all good. So a good king was going to stay in God's word.
This is good, but my guess is that no monarch's will actually read this post. But I think this good instructions for any kind of spiritual leadership, because these attributes all thing that we should want. Any leader, (or any disciple for that matter,) should desire a deeper relationship with God, to be more obedient to Him, to be humble in our dealings with our fellow disciples and to stay faithful. So how do we do that? Do we need to literally write our own copy the Bible down and then carry it with us everywhere we go? I don't know, but we do need to do whatever it takes to keep God's word on our hearts and then study every day. This will bring only positive things to us.
Tom
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Who God is and what He wants
Hey everyone.
I've continued my study of Deuteronomy and wanted share a little bit from it. In Deut. 10:12-22, God spells out who He is and what He wants from his people, and I wanted to share those things with you, today.
In Deut 10:12-13, it says, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" It breaks down like this; What does God ask of His people:
Tom
I've continued my study of Deuteronomy and wanted share a little bit from it. In Deut. 10:12-22, God spells out who He is and what He wants from his people, and I wanted to share those things with you, today.
In Deut 10:12-13, it says, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" It breaks down like this; What does God ask of His people:
- Fear God.
- Walk in obedience to God.
- Love God.
- Serve God with all your heart.
- Serve God with all your soul.
- Observe God's commands.
- God owns the heavens.
- He owns the Earth and everything in it.
- He is God of gods.
- He is Lord of lords.
- He is the Great God
- He is Mighty.
- He is Awesome.
- He shows no partiality.
- He accepts no bribes.
- He defends the cause of the fatherless.
- He defends the cause of the widows.
- He loves and cares for the foreigner.
Tom
Saturday, October 7, 2017
The Wilderness Test
Hello everyone.
I will continue sharing from my own study of Deuteronomy by sharing something I learned from Deut. 8. In Deut. 8:2, it says: " Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or nor you would keep his commands."
This forty years of wandering was given to the Israelites back in Numbers 14, when the faithless nation refused to obey the command to take the Promised Land. Now in Deuteronomy, Moses is speaking and he is telling the nation that the last forty years of wandering in the wilderness had been more that just punishment. It served two God-driven purposes. First, it was to humble them. Then it was to test their hearts to see if they would be obedient. So God allowed this punishment to be an incredibly time-consuming test. (Forty years is a very long time.)
So what can learn from this? First, like the Israelites, we all have difficult and challenging things going on in our lives. It is possible that God has put them there to humble and test you. It's possible. When you think about the Israelites, you would think that God would not need to humble them. I mean they started out as slaves. But their humble circumstances did not mean that they were humble. God still needed to work on their hearts. It may the same with us. For example, I am currently going through a series for physical ailments that at times has been quite debilitating. It is really challenging. Is God at work in my life to humble me and to test me? Quite possibly, He is. After all, I am probably not nearly as humble as I would like to think that I am. (For the record, you probably aren't either.) And if that is the case I need the test for the sake of my own humility.
The thing that I want to focus here is the test. God used something that started out as a punishment (forty years in the wilderness) to be a test to see what was in their hearts and to see if the would obey Him. The challenges that I am going through will reveal my heart. Just as your challenges will ultimately reveal yours. Will I pass the test? Will you? I may not know what your wilderness test is, but I know that mine has been hard. Yours probably is too. But we all want to make sure that we pass it. The way pass is to commit ourselves to being obedient to God no matter what, because when that test is over, you may face another one. Rom. 5:3-5 tells us that our suffering produces perseverance, character and hope, and that hope is evidence of the love God has poured into our hearts.
So take your wilderness test and pass it, but know it may be long. The Israelite wilderness test took forty years. Yours may take a while too. I have on many occasions told that that I have passed this test already and would not like to keep taking it, (not very humble of me) but I see now that it is for Him to decide. I'm sure my own wilderness will continue to reveal what is in my heart. As for the Israelites, when their test was over, and they had shown that their hearts were committed to the Lord, they entered the Promised Land. Like them, great blessing awaits us as well. So no matter how long it may be, Pass.
Tom
I will continue sharing from my own study of Deuteronomy by sharing something I learned from Deut. 8. In Deut. 8:2, it says: " Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or nor you would keep his commands."
This forty years of wandering was given to the Israelites back in Numbers 14, when the faithless nation refused to obey the command to take the Promised Land. Now in Deuteronomy, Moses is speaking and he is telling the nation that the last forty years of wandering in the wilderness had been more that just punishment. It served two God-driven purposes. First, it was to humble them. Then it was to test their hearts to see if they would be obedient. So God allowed this punishment to be an incredibly time-consuming test. (Forty years is a very long time.)
So what can learn from this? First, like the Israelites, we all have difficult and challenging things going on in our lives. It is possible that God has put them there to humble and test you. It's possible. When you think about the Israelites, you would think that God would not need to humble them. I mean they started out as slaves. But their humble circumstances did not mean that they were humble. God still needed to work on their hearts. It may the same with us. For example, I am currently going through a series for physical ailments that at times has been quite debilitating. It is really challenging. Is God at work in my life to humble me and to test me? Quite possibly, He is. After all, I am probably not nearly as humble as I would like to think that I am. (For the record, you probably aren't either.) And if that is the case I need the test for the sake of my own humility.
The thing that I want to focus here is the test. God used something that started out as a punishment (forty years in the wilderness) to be a test to see what was in their hearts and to see if the would obey Him. The challenges that I am going through will reveal my heart. Just as your challenges will ultimately reveal yours. Will I pass the test? Will you? I may not know what your wilderness test is, but I know that mine has been hard. Yours probably is too. But we all want to make sure that we pass it. The way pass is to commit ourselves to being obedient to God no matter what, because when that test is over, you may face another one. Rom. 5:3-5 tells us that our suffering produces perseverance, character and hope, and that hope is evidence of the love God has poured into our hearts.
So take your wilderness test and pass it, but know it may be long. The Israelite wilderness test took forty years. Yours may take a while too. I have on many occasions told that that I have passed this test already and would not like to keep taking it, (not very humble of me) but I see now that it is for Him to decide. I'm sure my own wilderness will continue to reveal what is in my heart. As for the Israelites, when their test was over, and they had shown that their hearts were committed to the Lord, they entered the Promised Land. Like them, great blessing awaits us as well. So no matter how long it may be, Pass.
Tom
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Shema Yisrael
Hello everyone.
In my study of Deuteronomy, I have reached chapter 6. There we find a section of scripture that often comes up in our parenting classes, Deut. 6:4-9:
"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."
In my study of Deuteronomy, I have reached chapter 6. There we find a section of scripture that often comes up in our parenting classes, Deut. 6:4-9:
"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."
Referred to as The Shema, this passage has become an important affirmation of faith in Judaism. It is to be recited daily and on other numerous occasions. A particular emphasis is placed on the first line, "Shema Yisrael Adonai eloheinu Adonai ehad." "Hear O Israel: The Lord Our God, the Lord is one." This reaffirms their faith in a singular God.
Sometimes we look at verse 4 and 5 together, when we are discussing our love for God. In fact, Jesus quotes these particular verses in Mark 12:28-30 when asked what was the greatest command. Also, often, when talking about parenting, we start with verse 7, "Impress them on your children." What can we learn if we tie this greatest commandment and these instructions for raising our children together? Verse 6 ties the two thoughts together. "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts."
Moses tells the Israelites that the commandments he had given them were to be on their hearts. Of course, chief among those commandments is how we are to love God so completely. But then after his statement about having God's commands on their hearts, he commands them to impress these commands on their children. I realized that this is the natural order of things. I am not going to impress the commandments of God on my children if they are not on my own heart first. That is the key. I must have it on my heart first, then impress it upon my children. So then, this begs the question, "Is God's word on my heart?" If it isn't, I could talk a lot about the Bible, and do a lot of religious stuff, but I would not necessarily be impressing anything godly into the heart of my children. If it's truly in my heart, my life will be more than just going through "religious motions". Out of the overflow of my heart, my actions will be more likely to lead my children to Jesus. So, if God's words are truly on our hearts, the likelihood that our children will follow Jesus goes way up.
Tom
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