Numbers returns to being Numbers again as the Lord commands another census of the children of Israel and my engineering and analytical mind takes over again too!

The first census was done in the Sinai desert on the second day after leaving Egypt. This one was done in Midian in the northwest part of the Arabian Peninsula nearly 40 years later.

The census was done by tribe, the twelve tribes of Israel.

Here is my analysis—the population now totaled 601,730 people, a decline of 1,820 people of 0.3% from the 603,550 counted in the Sinai desert.

Which tribe grew and which tribe declined, you may ask?

Glad you did, because, of course I can be an analytical guy!

Manasses grew the most, by 25,500 folks from 32,200 to 57,700, a whopping positive 63.7%.

Simeon declined the most, by 37,100 folks from 59,300 to 22,200, a whopping negative 62.6%.

The other ten tribes were less dramatical, growing the most was, by 11,900 people, was Aser; declining the most was, by 8,000 people, was Nephtali. On a percentage basis it was Benjamin growing by 28.8% while Ephraim declining by 19.8%.

Want to get lost in the numbers? Let’s do! Not!

 

 

The Levites or the priest family numbered 23,000 in Median but were not counted in the Sinai. Levites who are one month old and upward were counted yet with the tribes it was 20 years and older.

Even in biblical times the data was incomplete and not always ‘apples-to-apples!’

Why the counting? To know ‘all that are able to go forth to war.’

Today there are 7.5 billion people living on the earth with 62 million being born and 26 million dying each year for a net growth of 36 million people every year.

That’s a positive growth rate of 0.5% versus in Moses’ forty years in the Exodus of a negative 0.3%.

What could have caused the difference in population growth/decline rates?

God wiping out the children of Israel when they disobeyed and sinned against Him!

Not to worry as that is the Old Testament, the Old Covenant versus today’s New Testament, New Covenant plus the presence of The Holy Spirit! Right?

I don’t know.

Getting away from the analytical to the spiritual message of Numbers…

For the second census, among them was not one of them that were numbered before by Moses and Aaron in the desert of Sinai. For the Lord had foretold that they should die in the wilderness. And none remained of them, but Caleb, the son of Jephone, and Josue the son of Nun.

And Moses too, at least for a short while longer.

Maybe my father had it right, after his spiritual conversion to Christ, he would say “everything is temporary.” And indeed our time upon the earth certainly is temporary, as temporary as it was for the additional, approximately 100 billion people who have lived on this earth prior to today’s current population!

We think of gender or sexual discrimination today in terms of our experiences. God dealt with it directly way back when to some initial extent.

Our father died in the desert, and was not in the sedition, that was raised against the Lord under Core, but he died in his own sin and he had no male children. Why is his name taken away out of his family, because he had no son? Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our father.

And Moses referred their cause to the judgment of the Lord. Smart man!

And the Lord said to him: The daughters of Salphaad demand a just thing: Give them a possession among their father’s kindred, and let them succeed him in his inheritance.

When a man dieth without a son, his inheritance shall pass to his daughter, if no daughter, his brethren shall succeed him, of no brethren, go veto his father’s brethren, if no uncles by his father, the inheritance shall be given to them that are next akin. And this shall be to the children of Israel sacred by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded Moses.

Of course this was only a start and we still, 20 centuries plus later have a long way to go.

But it was the end for Moses…

The Lord also said to Moses: Go up into this mountain Abarim, and view from thence the land which I will give to the children of Israel. And when thou shalt have seen it, thou also shalt go to thy people, as thy brother Aaron is gone, because you offended me in the desert of Sin in the contradiction of the multitude: neither would you sanctify me before them at the waters. These are the waters of contradiction in Cades of the desert of Sin.

I still think Aaron and Moses got a bum rap from God and were the fall guy for the children of Israel.

 

What did they do wrong? Hit the rock with the road and water came out?

Waters of contradiction? The contradiction was God’s servants did the best they humanly could and were unfairly judged and punished by God. At least that is my opinion but then again I am not God, God is God and even though I don’t understand, I follow Him, not my sinful, ego-based nature. At least when I can. I am perfect except when I am not!

Flashback to Numbers C20:10-13:

And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring forth water out of this rock? And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank, and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them. This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

“Lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without a shepherd,” Moses protested of his death sentence.

But God had a succession plan.

“Take Josue, the son of Nun, a man whom is the Spirit, and put thy hand upon him. If any thing be to be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord for him,” said God to Moses.

The obedient servant Moses was obedient and of service to the Lord until the end.

And laying hands on Josue’s head, Moses repeated all things that the Lord had commanded.

Another census with consensus; Moses served the Lord to the end of his days!

Day 55: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Another Census With Consensus; Moses Served the Lord to the End of his Days!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Numbers Chapters 26-30

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called, because it begins with a census of the Hebrew nations.

It describes their departure from Mount Sinai, their journey to Moab, and gives various rules for distribution of the Promised Land.

Numbers Chapter 26: The Lord commands another census; Number of the family of Ruben, Simeon, Gad, Juda, Issacharr, Zabulon, Manasses, Ephraim, Benjamin, Dan, Aser, Nephtali; Manner of dividing the land; Number of Levites; Only Celeb and Josue remain.

After the blood of the guilty was shed, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest: Number the whole sum of the children of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their houses and kindreds, all that are able to go forth to war.

Being in the plains of Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho

Ruben the firstborn of Israel (Jacob)

The princes of the people, that rose against Moses and Aaron in the sedition of Core, when they rebelled against the Lord… that when Core perished, his sons did not perish.

The sons of Juda, Her and Onan, who both died in the land of Chanaan.

The sons of Joseph by their kindred, Manasses and Ephraim.

These are the sons of Joseph by their families. The sons of Benjamin in their kindreds:

This is the sum of the children of Israel, that were reckoned up, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.

Children of Israel     601, 730

Ruben           43,730

Simeon         22,200

Gad              40,500

Juda             76,500

Issachar        64,300

Zabulon        60,500

Manasses     52,700

Ephraim        32,500

Benjamin       45,600

Dan              64,400

Aser              53,400

Nephtali        45,400

To these shall the land be divided for their possessions according to the number of names.  To every one, as they have now been reckoned up, shall a possession be delivered.

This also is the number of the sons of Levi by their families:

Now Caath begot Amram, who had to wife Jochabed the daughter of Levi, who was born to him in Egypt. She bore to her husband Amram sons, Aaron and Moses, and Mary their sister.

Of whom Nadab and Abiu died, when they offered the strange fire before the Lord

Levites          23,000          males from one month old and upward: for they were not reckoned up among the children of Israel, neither was a possession given to them with the rest.

That were enrolled by Moses and Eleazar the priest, in the plains of Moab upon the Jordan, over against Jericho. Among them was not one of them that were numbered before by Moses and Aaron in the desert of Sinai. For the Lord had foretold that they should die in the wilderness. And none remained of them, but Caleb, the son of Jephone, and Josue the son of Nun.

And Moses!!!

Numbers Chapter 27: Daughters seek father’s inheritance; Law of inheritance; God predicts Moses’ death; Josue appointed to succeed Moses.

Our father died in the desert, and was not in the sedition, that was raised against the Lord under Core, but he died in his own sin and he had no male children. Why is his name taken away out of his family, because he had no son? Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our father.

And Moses referred their cause to the judgment of the Lord.

And the Lord said to him: The daughters of Salphaad demand a just thing: Give them a possession among their father’s kindred, and let them succeed him in his inheritance.

When a man dieth without a son, his inheritance shall pass to his daughter, if no daughter, his brethren shall succeed him, of no brethren, go veto his father’s brethren, if no uncles by his father, the inheritance shall be given to them that are next akin. And this shall be to the children of Israel sacred by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded Moses.

The Lord also said to Moses: Go up into this mountain Abarim, and view from thence the land which I will give to the children of Israel. And when thou shalt have seen it, thou also shalt go to thy people, as thy brother Aaron is gone, because you offended me in the desert of Sin in the contradiction of the multitude: neither would you sanctify me before them at the waters. These are the waters of contradiction in Cades of the desert of Sin.

Flashback to Numbers C20:10-13:

And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring forth water out of this rock? And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank, and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them. This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

Lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without a shepherd.

Take Josue, the son of Nun, a man whom is the Spirit, and put thy hand upon him.

If any thing be to be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord for him

Shall go out and go in at his word

And laying hands on Josue’s head, Moses repeated all things that the Lord had commanded.

Numbers Chapter 28: Offerings commanded; Daily offering; Sabbath offering; Offering of the first day of the month; The Passover; Pentecost or feast of weeks.

Offer ye my oblation and my bread, and burnt sacrifice of most sweet odor, in their due seasons.

Every day for the perpetual holocaust

One you shall offer in the morning, and the other in the evening

And for a libation you shall offer of wine

And the libations which are regularly are poured out every Sabbath for the perpetual holocaust

This shall be the holocaust for every month, as they succeed one another in the course of the year

For sin, to make atonement for you

And the first day (of The Passover) shall be venerable and holy: you shall not do any servile work therein.

The seventh day also shall be most solemn and holy unto you: you shall do no servile work therein.

Numbers Chapter 29: First day of the seventh month; Tenth day of the seventh month; First day of the feast of tabernacles; Second day of the feast of tabernacles; Third day of the feast of tabernacles; Fourth day of the feast of tabernacles; Fifth day of the feast of tabernacles; Sixth day of the feast of tabernacles; Seventh day of the feast of tabernacles; Eighth day of the feast of tabernacles.

It is a day of the sounding and of trumpets

Which is offered for the expiation of the people

Expiation—the means by which atonement or reparation is made.

And you shall afflict your souls

Afflict—to distress with mental or bodily pain; trouble greatly or grievously: to be afflicted with arthritis; Obsolete: to overthrow; defeat; to humble.

But shall celebrate a solemnity to the Lord seven days

Solemnity—the state or character of being solemn; earnestness; gravity; impressiveness: the solemnity of a state funeral; a solemn observance, ceremonial proceeding, or special formality: the solemnities of Easter; Law. a formality that renders an act or document valid.

You shall offer according to the rite

You shall celebrate in the right manner

You shall celebrate according to the rite

These things shall you offer to the Lord in your solemnities: besides your vows and voluntary oblations for holocaust, for sacrifice, for libation, and for victims of peace offerings.

Numbers Chapter 30: Vow of a man; Vow of a maid; Vow of a wife; Vows of widows and divorced women; Vow of a married woman.

And he said to the princes of the tribes of the children of Israel

If any man make a vow to the Lord, or bind himself by an oath: he shall not make his word void but shall fulfil all that he promised.

If a woman vow any thing, and bind herself by an oath, being in her father’s house, and but yet a girl in age: if her father knew the vow that she hath promised, and the oath wherewith she hath bound her soul, and held his peace, she shall be bound by the vow. Whatsoever she promised and swore, she shall fulfill in deed,].

But if her father, immediately as soon as he heard it, gain-said it, bother her vows and her oaths shall be void, neither shall she be bound to what she promised, because her father hath gain-said it.

Gain-said—gainsay—to deny, dispute, or contradict; to speak or act against; oppose.

If she have a husband, and shall vow any thing, and the word once getting out of her mouth shall bind her soul by an oath, the day her husband shall hear it, and not gainsay it, she shall be bound to the vow, and shall give whatsoever she promised. But if, as soon as he heareth, he gainsay it, and make her promises and the words wherewith she had bound her soul of no effect: the Lord forgive her.

The widow, and she that is divorced, shall fulfill whatsoever they vow.

Vow of a married woman versus vow of a wife?

And hold his peace

Because her husband gainsaid it, and the Lord will be merciful to her

If she vow and bind herself by oath, to afflict her soul by fasting, or abstinence from other things, it shall depend on the will of her husband, whether she shall do it, or not do it.

to afflict her soul by fasting, or abstinence from other things

But if he gainsay it after that he knew it, he shall hear her iniquity

These are the laws which the Lord appointed to Moses…

In the course of trying to understand the actions of others and the behavior of myself, I learned the ABC’s while working in Corporate America. Namely the ABC’s of Antecedent—Behavior—and Consequence!

John the Baptist was the antecedent to Christ for our sake.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the word of God came to John, the son of Zachary, in the desert.

Preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all mankind shall see the salvation of God’”

“Brood of vipers! Who has shown you how to flee from the wrath to come?

And do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, that is not bringing forth fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

I also learned in Corporate America that is best when communicating either one-on-one or to an audience when making presentations to speak in multiples of three—make three points and then tell a story to illustrate those points and the relative good fortune that they will bring if properly applied.

God does the same thing in this part of the Gospel of Luke as John’s words made people question what they were doing so they came and asked John.

Crowds: “What are we to do?”

John the Baptists: “Let him who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise.”

Publicans: “Master, what are we to do?”

John the Baptist: “Exact no more than what has been appointed you.”

Soldiers: “And we—what are we to do?

John the Baptist: “Plunder no one, accuse no one falsely, and be content with your pay.”

Soldiers, any of the rank-and-file whether management rank-and-file or not—firemen, police, first line supervisors, accountants—content with their pay?

John the Baptist foretells Jesus’ ministry that begins around when he turns thirty years old.

“I indeed baptize you with water. But one mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with The Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

So with many different exhortations he kept on preaching the gospel to the people.

But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him concerning Herodias, his brother’s wife, and concerning all the evil things that Herod had done, crowned all this by shutting John up in prison.

We all know what happens to John almost as well as what happens to Judas later on in the Gospel.

But before John the Baptist goes to prison he does what his name implies to Jesus.

Afterwards, Jesus also having been baptized and being in prayer, that heaven was opened, and The Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.”

As documented in the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy of Jesus—excerpted here as, the son of Joseph, the son of Levi, the son of Joseph, the son of Jesus, the son of Judas, the son of David, the son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Noe, the son of Adam, who was of God—in total 75 generations from Adam in the Garden of Eden to the First Coming of Jesus, Our Savior.

Now Jesus, full of The Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit about the desert for forty days, being tempted the while by the devil.

The Devil must have learned a thing or two in the business world although he tempts Jesus with all possible types of temptations, only three are recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

Devil, first time: “If thou art the Son of God, command that this stone become a loaf of bread.”

Jesus answered him: “It is written, ‘Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word of God.’”

Devil, second time: “Therefore if thou wilt worship before me, the whole (world) shall be thine.”

Jesus answered and said to him: “It is written, ‘The Lord thy God shalt thou worship, and him only shalt thou serve.’”

Devil, third time: “If thou art the Son of God, throw thyself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge concerning thee, to preserve thee; and upon their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered and said to him: “It is said, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’”

And when the devil had tried every temptation, he departed from him for a while.

Counter the Devil, counter temptation in our life, whether in our thoughts to think or the words to speak with the Word of God—the Scriptures.

Easy to think, easier to say but a lot of work because in order to do so one has to know and absorb the Scriptures into one’s subconscious mind as well as conscious mind.

And the third point of this section of the Bible—following John the Baptist’s wisdom in cleansing one’s life and emerging with new behaviors and Jesus temptation killer advice—is when Jesus declares his ministry at nearly age thirty.

Three threes, a trifecta!

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of him went out through the whole country.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and according to custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me; to bring good news to the poor he has sent me, to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind; to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense.”

“Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

“Amen I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.”

And all in the synagogue, as they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put him forth out of the town.

And he went down to Capharnaum, a town in Galilee. And there he was teaching on the Sabbath. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

And this was foretelling his fate when arrested by the Pharisees in the Garden of Gethsemane and processed by Pontius Pilate when it came down to the verdict of the people, human beings like me and you.

We have Antecedents in our lives and what is to be the Consequences of our Behaviors?

Is knowing the ABC’s of faith—as simple as consequences follow behavior?

Day 56: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Knowing the ABC’s of Faith—as Simple as Consequences follow Behavior?

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 3-4.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 3:  John the Baptist; John denounces the Pharisees and Sadducees; John’s advice to publicans and soldiers; John proclaims the Savior’s arrival; Elrod puts John in prison; The baptism of Jesus; Genealogy on Jesus.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar

The word of God came to John, the son of Zachary, in the desert

Preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all mankind shall see the salvation of God’”

“Brood of vipers! Who has shown you how to flee from the wrath to come?

And do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, that is not bringing forth fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Crowds: “What are we to do?”

John the Baptists: “Let him who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise.”

Publicans: “Master, what are we to do?”

John the Baptist: “Exact no more than what has been appointed you.”

Soldiers: “And we—what are we to do?

John the Baptist: “Plunder no one, accuse no one falsely, and be content with your pay.”

“I indeed baptize you with water. But one mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with The Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

So with many different exhortations he kept on preaching the gospel to the people.

But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him concerning Herodias, his brother’s wife, and concerning all the evil things that Herod had done, crowned all this by shutting John up in prison.

Jesus also having been baptized and being in prayer, that heaven was opened, and The Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.”

And Jesus himself, when he began his work, was about thirty years of age…

Genealogy of Jesus—excerpted; the son of Joseph, the son of Levi, the son of Joseph, the son of Jesus, the son of Judas, the son of David, the son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Noe, the son of Adam, who was of God—in total 75 generations!

Luke Chapter 4:  The fast of forty days; The first temptation; The third temptation; Jesus in Galilee; Reading in the synagogue at Nazareth; The reaction of the people; Jesus speaks to the people; The people attack Jesus; He retires to Capharnaum; The cure of a demoniac; Peter’s mother-in-law; Other miracles; Jesus leaves Capharnaum.

Now Jesus, full of The Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit about the desert for forty days, being tempted the while by the devil.

Devil, first time: “If thou art the Son of God, command that this stone become a loaf of bread.”

Jesus answered him: “It is written, ‘Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word of God.’”

Devil, second time: “Therefore if thou wilt worship before me, the whole (world) shall be thine.”

Jesus answered and said to him: “It is written, ‘The Lord thy God shalt thou worship, and him only shalt thou serve.’”

Devil, third time: “If thou art the Son of God, throw thyself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge concerning thee, to preserve thee; and upon their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered and said to him: “It is said, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’”

And when the devil had tried every temptation, he departed from him for a while.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of him went out through the whole country.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and according to custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me; to bring good news to the poor he has sent me, to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind; to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense.”

“Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

“Amen I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.”

And all in the synagogue, as they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put him forth out of the town.

And he went down to Capharnaum, a town in Galilee. And there he was teaching on the Sabbath. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

Possessed by an unclean devil

Let us alone! What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Hast thou come to destroy us? I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God.”

“Hold the peace, and go out of him.”

“What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a great fever.

And stand over her he rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she rose at once and began to wait on them.

All who had persons sick with various diseases brought them to him. And he laid his hands upon each of them and cured them. And the devils also came forth from many, crying out and saying, “Thou art the Son of God.” And he rebuked them, and did not permit them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.

Now when it was day he went out and departed into a desert place.

“To the other towns also I must proclaim the kingdom of God, for this is why I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

 

With a subtitle of ‘Remedial Bible Studies, Refuge Cities, & the Start of Modern Civilization?

I knew that the four Gospels of the New Testament occasionally repeated stories and parables but never realized that there was repetition and stories repeated in the Old Testament.

In Chapter 33 of Luke the journeys of the Israelites are summarized in more detail than ever from when they left Ramesses in Egypt to the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, over against Jericho.

And then the conquest of The Promised Land is told in a short verse!

The Lord said to Moses: Command the children of Israel, and say to them: when you shall have passed over the Jordan, entering into the land of Chanaan, destroy all the inhabitants of that land—cleansing the land, and dwelling in it.

With a warning to kill every single person or they will, as I will, come back to haunt you.

But is you will not kill the inhabitants of the land: they that remain shall be unto you as nails in your eyes, and spears in your sides, and they shall be your adversaries in the land of your habitation. And whatsoever I had thought to do to them, I will do to you.

The brutality of the Bible in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant and that is just the point to be made whether applicable to today or not is not my judgment to make but only God’s.

God created the world and created us human beings to live in the world and enjoy life in relationship to Him, our God.

From the get-go with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden our human nature went astray. God started over with the flood and Noah, a small light of the faithful. Now His strategy is to start with one people, the Israelites, His chosen people and demonstrate the life he had intended for all before we were corrupted by sin. And to do this, the only way I guess is by brutality, by war and killing and plundering but who am I to judge the curse of the world (sin) or the course of the world to achieving God’s vision despite our sinful nature at times.

Remember this is the Old Testament and we live in the New Testament with a loving New Covenant with God. In fact, as inspired by Trinity Sunday, perhaps there is a Third Covenant based on a completely spiritual and loving relationship with God. A sort of a Splendid Spiritual Self in relationship with an accepting, loving and compassionate God. Once developed, then the rest of our lives and the transition to Heaven is of no concern as it is led and powered by God in His time and His way.

Have you ever thought about what your last sin will be?

Where is your Promised Land in this life?

Refuge cities followed God making accommodation with the children of Israel for Levite Cities as they were the priests and owned no land.

Sanctuary cities today for illegal immigrants and Refuge cities for suspected sinners back in biblical times? No judgment, no comparison but I was surprised to read about the concept in Chapter 35.

Where suspected sinners can take refuge and have a trial? Was this the start of a modern civilized society if in fact we are of modern times and civilized today?

Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who have shed blood against their will (the children of Israel). And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the multitude, and his cause be judged.

The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be condemned upon the evidence of one man.

But this way was still likely the exception as the ‘eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth was still on the books of the Law of Moses, who by the way was still alive and doing God’s work even though God predicted his death back in Chapter 27.

The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.

And the Book of Numbers ends with God’s Will being done and his blessing received by the children of Israel living in The Promise land: “thus shall your possession be cleansed, myself abiding with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.”

The children of Israel have arrived in The Promised Land in Chanaan!

Day 57: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Children of Israel Arrive at The Promised Land in Chanaan!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Numbers Chapters 31-36

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called, because it begins with a census of the Hebrew nations.

It describes their departure from Mount Sinai, their journey to Moab, and gives various rules for distribution of the Promised Land.

Numbers Chapter 31: The Madianites destroyed; Only the virgins spared; Purification by fire and water; Division of the body; Total of the booty; Offering of boot to the Lord.

Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so thou shalt be gathered to thy people.

Arm of you men to fight, who may take revenge of the Lord on the Madianites. Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be sent to war.

And Moses sent them with Phinees the son of Elazar the priest, and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound. And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome them, they slew all the men.

Balaam, the soothsayer that helped Balac also, the son of Boer, they killed with the sword.

They plundered.

Moses being angry: Why have you saved the woman? Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel, by the counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin of Phogor, for which also people was punished?

The women who had carnally known men.

He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the seventh day.

Golf, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, and all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with the water of expiation…

And thou shall divide the spoil equally, between them that fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.

And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not known men

We, thy servants, have reckoned up the number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting. Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of us could find in the booty… that thou mayest pray to the Lord for us.

Numbers Chapter 32: Rubenites and Gadites ask for land; Moses refuses their request; Rubenites and Gadites promise help; Moses grants their request; Land given to Gad, Ruben, and Manasses; Cities of the Gadites; Cities of the Rubenites; Cities taken by the Manassites.

And their substance in beasts was infinite

When they saw the lands of Jazer and Galaad fit for feeding cattle

That thou give it to us thy servants in possession, and make us not pass over the Jordan

For if you will not follow him, he will leave the people in the wilderness, and you shall be the cause of the destruction of all.

We ourselves will go armed and ready for battle before the children of Israel, until we bring them in unto their places (the land of Chanaan).

We will not return into our houses until the children of Israel possess their inheritance.

But if you do not what you say, no man can doubt but you sin against God: and know ye, that your sin shall overtake you.

Moses therefore gave to the children of Gad and of Ruben, and to half the tribe of Manasses the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sehon king of the Amorrhites and the kingdom of Og king of Basan, and their land and the cities thereof about.

Numbers Chapter 33: Journeys of the Israelites; Journey from Ramesses to Sinai; Journey from the desert of Sinai to the desert of Cades; The death of Aaron; Journey from Mount Hor to the Jordan; Command to destroy the Chanaanities.

Retells the journeys of the Israelites

They passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness

And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord and there he died when he was a hundred and twenty-three years old.

The Lord said to Moses: Command the children of Israel, and say to them: when you shall have passed over the Jordan, entering into the land of Chanaan, destroy all the inhabitants of that land.. cleansing the land, and dwelling in it.

But is you will not kill the inhabitants of the land: they that remain shall be unto you as nails in your eyes, and spears in your sides, and they shall be your adversaries in the land of your habitation. And whatsoever I had thought to do to them, I will do to you.

Numbers Chapter 34:  Boundaries of Chanaan; Territory of Ruben, Gad, and Manasses; The men who shall divide the land.

When you are entered into the land of Chanaan, , and it shall be fallen into your possession by lot, it shall be bounded by these limits: The south side shall begin from the wilderness of Sin…and shall have the most salt sea for its furthest limits eastward… to the torrent of Egypt and shall end in the shore of the great sea… reaching the most high mountain… and shall reach as far as the Jordan, and at last shall be closed in by the most salt sea.

Ruben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasses have received their portion beyond the Jordan over against Jericho at the east side,

And the Lord said to Moses: These are the names of the men, that shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of Nun and one prince of every tribe—Caleb of Juda, Samuel of Simeon, Elidad of Benjamin, Bocci of Dan, Hanniel of Manasses, Camuel of Ephraim, Elisaphan of Zabulon, Phaltiel of Issachar, Ahiud of Aser, and Phedael of Nephtali. These are they whom the Lord hath commanded to divide the land of Chanaan to the children of Israel.

Numbers Chapter 35:  Cities of the Levites; Cities of refuge; Unintentional killing; Punishment for murder; Safety in the city of refuge; The law of evidence of murder.

Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of their possessions, cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about.

And among the cities, which you shall give to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood may flee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two cities, that is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.

And of these cities which shall be given out of their possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.

Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who have shed blood against their will. And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the multitude, and his cause be judged.

The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.

The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be condemned upon the evidence of one man.

And thus shall your possession be cleansed, myself abiding with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.

Numbers Chapter 36:  A threat to the inheritance of the tribes; Intermarriage between tribes forbidden.

The Lord hath commanded that thou shouldst give to the daughters of Salphaad our brother the possession due to their father. Now if men of another tribe take them to wives, their possession will follow them, and being transferred to another tribe, will be a diminishing of our inheritance.

Let them marry to whom they will, only so that it be to men of their own tribe, lest the possession of the children of Israel be mingled from tribe to tribe.

But remain so as they were separated by the Lord. And the daughters of Salphaad did as was commanded.

These are the commandments and judgments, which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to the children to Israel.

Why do I argue in my heart?

Jesus said to the Scribes & Pharisees: “Why are you arguing in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Thy Sins are forgiven thee,’ or to say, ’Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.”

Why do I argue in my heart when I know the path is clear in front of me as to which way to go in life?

Positive thinking! Are we grateful for the wonderful things in our lives?

When times were easy, we didn’t think about it because we were young and young in mind and in heart.

Why do I argue with an old heart when my spirit and mind can be renewed each day, cab be renewed each moment with Christ if need be?

Faith can be so simple and powerful.

A paralytic lowered through the tiles, with his pallet, into the midst before Jesus.

And seeing his faith, Jesus said, “Man thy sins are forgiven thee.”

And the Scribes and Pharisees questioned what Jesus said: “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God only?

Jesus said to the Scribes & Pharisees: “Why are you arguing in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Thy Sins are forgiven thee,’ or to say, ’Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.”

Jesus to the paralytic: “I say to thee, arise, take up thy pallet and go to thy house.”

And immediately he arose before them, took up what he had been lying on, and went away to his house, glorifying God.

Has Jesus spoken to you through your heart?

And astonishment seized upon them all, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen wonderful things today.”

Yes we have if we see with our hearts.

Jesus said to Levi a publican: “Follow Me.”

The Pharisees & Scribes questioned the Disciples: “Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”

Jesus response was: “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but they who are sick. I have not come to call the just, but sinners, to repentance.”

Ah, so you think you are the just and not in need of repentance?

How powerful is our self, our pride and our silly ego—how easy is it to deny, justify, or rationalize our sins. We like to omit our sins of omission, don’t we?

We are young in heart, aren’t we?

We are okay as we are, aren’t we?

Jesus was honest with us about how difficult it will be to breakthrough our self-imposed barriers to change, growth and His Love:  “No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment; else not only does he tear the new one, but the patch from the new garment does not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wine-skins’ else the new wine will burst the skins, and will be spilled itself, and the skins ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh skins, and both are saved. And no man after drinking old wine immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better!’”

The old is better, the status quo is better, I am better now because at least I know the playing field for the rest of my life. Not!

How long will we have the opportunity to pursue a new life?

Is it time to fast from our sins for a moment, a day, a week so that we can accept Jesus and through Him change our hearts and our lives?

“Can you make the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come—and when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

Has the bridegroom, your youth, your sense of wonderment left your life?

The old isn’t better, it’s just familiar, and your new personal relationship with Jesus will set you free!

Day 58: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Old is Better but the New will Set You Free!

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 5.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 5:  Preaching from Simon’s boat; The great catch of fishes; The first disciples called; Jesus cures a leper; Pharisees hear Jesus; Jesus forgives the sins of a paralytic; He cures the paralytic; The call of Levi; The question of fasting; The Old Law and the New Testament.
“Put out into the deep, and lower your nets for a catch.”

“Master, the whole night through we have toiled and have taken nothing; but at thy word, I will lower the net.”

And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

Simon Peter: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (Peter).

And Jesus said to Simon (Peter), “Do not be afraid; henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all and followed him.

A man full of leprosy: “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

Jesus: “I will, be thou made clean. Go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift for thy purification, as Moses commanded, for a witness to them.”

But he himself was in retirement in the desert, and in prayer.

And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Paralytic lowered through the tiles, with his pallet, into the midst before Jesus.

And seeing his faith, he said, “Man thy sins are forgiven thee.”

Scribes and Pharisees: “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God only?

Jesus to Scribes & Pharisees: “Why are you arguing in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Thy Sins are forgiven thee,’ or to say, ’Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.”

Jesus to the paralytic: “I say to thee, arise, take up thy pallet and go to thy house.”

And immediately he arose before them, took up what he had been lying on, and went away to his house, glorifying God.

And astonishment seized upon them all, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen wonderful things today.”

Jesus to Levi a publican: “Follow Me.”

Pharisees & Scribes to Disciples: “Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”

Jesus: “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but they who are sick. I have not come to call the just, but sinners, to repentance.”

“Can you make the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come—and when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

“No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment; else not only does he tear the new one, but the patch from the new garment does not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wine-skins’ else the new wine will burst the skins, and will be spilt (spilled?) itself, and the skins ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh skins, and both are saved. And no man after drinking old wine immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better!’”

The Book of Deuteronomy is off and running in the Old Testament. This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab just before the Israelites enter The Promised Land.

Moses was a saint in the Old Testament in my opinion. A murderer of an Egyptian early on in life though converted and convicted that obedience to God was where one would find fulfillment in life.

His prayer life was exceptional. If my devotion and my prayer life was as good maybe I could have conversations with God or at least a more intimate relationship. I am perfect except when I am not and that is a good deal of the time.

Moses, it seemed to me, through his prayer life, brought the New Testament God, a.k.a. God, His Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit into the Old Testament.

Despite being, again, in my opinion, unfairly treated at the end by God, his prayers and God’s response brought a loving, compassionate and accepting God into The Old Testament.

And when thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, yet so, if thou seek him with all they heart, and all the affliction of thy soul. After all the things aforesaid shall find thee, in the latter time thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hear his voice. Because the Lord thy God is a merciful God: he will not leave thee, nor altogether destroy thee, nor forget the covenant, by which he swore to thy fathers.

That thou mightiest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other.

Because the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Okay, Deuteronomy is still in the Old Testament!

Moses knew he needed help organizing and sharing God’s Word and Commandments with the half-a-million-plus Israelites: I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of you and your differences.

So God answered his prayers: That I may appoint them your rulers. Who night teach you things,

Hear them, and judge that which is just, whether he be one of your country, or a stranger. There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man’s person, because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.

I now understand why Moses never got to The Promise Land… he was simply the leader and the followers messed up not believing and trusting fully in the Lord.

 

See the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord our God hath spoken to thy fathers: fear not, nor be any way discouraged.

The land is good which the Lord our God will give us.

The messengers have terrified our hearts, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than we: the cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of Enacims there. The Enacims were giants in their day.

Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them.  The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will fight for you, as he did in Egypt in the sight of all.

And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God.

And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was angry and swore, and said: Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the good land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers, except Caleb… for he shall see it… because he hath followed the Lord.

Moses: since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said: Neither shalt thou go in thither. But Josue… thy minister, he shall go in for thee: exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel.

But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.

Go not up, and fight not, for I am not with you: lest you fall before your enemies. I spoke, and you hearkened not: but resisting the commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountains. And the Ammorrhite… made slaughter of you.., and when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard you not, neither would he yield to your voice. So you abode in Cadesbarne a long time.

God was with Israel in their exile, a self-inflicted exile, via pride and not trusting in the Lord.

The Lord thy God dwelling with thee, knoweth thy journey, how thou hast passed through this great wilderness, for forty years, and thou hast wanted nothing.

Tough call for Moses…

Unto the sea of the desert, which is the most salt sea

Thy eyes have seen what the Lord your God hath done to these two kings: so will he do to all the kingdoms to which thou shalt pass. Fear them not for the Lord your God will fight for you.

And the Lord was angry with me on your account and heard me not, but said to me: It is enough: speak no more to me of this matter… go up to the top of Phasga and cast they eyes… and behold it, for thou shalt not pass this Jordan (into The Promise Land).

You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command to you.

But you that adhere to the Lord your God, are all alive until this present day.

So shall you do them in the land which you shall possess, and you shall observe, and fulfill them in practice. For this is your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing all these precepts, they may say” Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation.

Keep thyself therefore and thy soul carefully. Forget not the words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and thy grandsons…

That they may hear my words, and may learn to fear me all the time that they live on earth, and may teach their children.

And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all. And he showed you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, and the ten words that he wrote in two tables of stone.

Keep therefore your souls carefully.

Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all nations, that are under heaven.

Behold I die in this land, I shall not pass over the Jordan: you shall pass, and possess the goodly land.

Despite not getting to enter The Promise Land, I am inspired by and want to be like Moses. Should be a Saint Moses. His testimony, prayerful life, and a New Testament perspective before there was a resurrection helps me pass through the darker, Old Testament trials of my life.

The New Testament perspective is found in the Old Testament, yet Moses saw but did not enter The Promise Land as far as we know. But we don’t know everything despite what we think about ourselves, others and the world.

 

Day 59: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The New in the Old, Yet Moses Sees but Does Not Enter The Promise Land.

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 1-4

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 1: Setting of Moses’ speech; Jesus ordered to leave Mount Sinai; Appointment of judges; Journey to Cadesbarne; Spies sent into Chanaan; Israelites afraid of their enemies; Moses urges then to trust God; God punishes then for their lack of faith; The Lord does not help them.

Moses spoke to the children of Israel all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them.

Behold, said he, I have delivered it to you: go in and possess it, concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their seed after them.

Moses; I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of you and your differences.

That I may appoint them your rulers.

Who night teach you things,

Hear them, and judge that which is just, whether he be one of your country, or a stranger. There shall be no difference of persons, You shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man’s person, because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.

We passed through the terrible and vast wilderness.

See the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord our God hath spoken to thy fathers: fear not, nor be any way discouraged.

The land is good which the Lord our God will give us.

The messengers have terrified our hearts, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than we: the cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of Enacims there.

Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them.  The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will fight for you, as he did in Egypt in the sight of all.

And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God.

And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was angry and swore, and said: Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the good land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers, except Caleb… for he shall see it… because he hath followed the Lord.

Since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said: Neither shalt thou go in thither. But Josue… thy minister, he shall go in for thee: exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel.

But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.

Go not up, and fight not, for I am not with you: lest you fall before your enemies. I spoke, and you hearkened not: but resisting the commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountains. And the Ammorrhite… made slaughter of you.., and when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard you not, neither would he yield to your voice. So you abode in Cadesbarne a long time.

Deuteronomy Chapter 2: Journey from Cadesbarne to Moab; Israel ordered not to fight the Moabites; The duration of the journey from Cadesbarne; Israel ordered not to fight the Ammonites; Command to cross the Arnon; Israel defeats Sehon.

And we compassed mount Seir a long time.

The Lord thy God dwelling with thee, knoweth thy journey, how thou hast passed through this great wilderness, for forty years, and thou hast wanted nothing.

Was thirty-eight years: until all the generation of the men that were fit for war was consumed out of the camp, as the Lord had sworn. For his hand was against then, that they should perish from the midst of camp.

And begin thou to possess his land and make war against him. This day will I begin to send the dread and fear of thee upon the nations that dwell under the whole heaven: that when they hear thy name they may fear and tremble, and be in pain like women in travail.

And Sehon the king of Hesebon would not let us pass: because the Lord thy God had hardened his spirit, and fixed his heart, that he might be delivered into thy hands, as now thou seest.

And the Lord our God delivered him to us: and we slew him with his sons and all his people… We left nothing of them, except the cattle… and the spoils of the cities… the Lord our God delivered all unto us.

Deuteronomy Chapter 3: Defeat of Og; Defeat of the Amorrhites; Land given to Ruben, Gad, and Manasses; Ruben, Gad, and Manasses help the others; Moses encourages Josue; Moses is not permitted to cross the Jordan.

Fear him not: because he is delivered into thy hand, with all his people and his land…

And we utterly destroyed them

And we utterly destroyed them

Destroying every city, men and women and children. But the cattle and the spoils of the cities we took for our prey.

I gave the cities thereof to Ruben and Gad… to the half tribe of Manasses.

Unto the sea of the desert, which is the most salt sea

Thy eyes have seen what the Lord your God hath done to these two kings: so will he do to all the kingdoms to which thou shalt pass. Fear them not for the Lord your God will fight for you.

And the Lord was angry with me on your account and heard me not, but said to me: It is enough: speak no more to me of this matter… go up to the top of Phasga and cast they eyes… and behold it, for thou shalt not pass this Jordan (into The Promise Land).

Deuteronomy Chapter 4: Moses urges obedience to the Law; Warning against Idolatry; Punishment for idolatry; Power of God shown to Israel; Three cities of refuge; Land east of the Jordan given to Israel.

You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command to you.

But you that adhere to the Lord your God, are all alive until this present day.

So shall you do them in the land which you shall possess, and you shall observe, and fulfill them in practice. For this is your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing all these precepts, they may say” Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation.

Keep thyself therefore and thy soul carefully. Forget not the words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and thy grandsons…

That they may hear my words, and may learn to fear me all the time that they live on earth, and may teach their children.

And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all. And he showed you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, and the ten words that he wrote in two tables of stone.

Keep therefore your souls carefully.

Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all nations, that are under heaven.

Behold I die in this land, I shall not pass over the Jordan: you shall pass, and possess the goodly land.

Because the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God

And when thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, yet so, if thou seek him with all they heart, and all the affliction of thy soul. After all the things aforesaid shall find thee, in the latter time thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hear his voice. Because the Lord thy God is a merciful God: he will not leave thee, nor altogether destroy thee, nor forget the covenant, by which he swore to thy fathers.

That thou mightiest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other.

Who were beyond the Jordan towards the rising sun.

Imagine being inspired by Jesus and awaiting his return to see if you are one of the Twelve chosen. I never realized that there was a selection process to being a disciple. I thought Jesus just went along and selected the later-to-be-apostles by saying ‘Come, follow Me.’

That he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Jesus pulled an all-nighter. I wonder if he prayed for wisdom to make the right choices in selecting His Disciples.

And when day broke, he summoned his disciples; and from these he chose twelve (whom he also named apostles): Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon called the Zealot; Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

I always liked that my parents named me Andrew which is a name of one of the Twelve Disciples. My name was the persistence of two generations as my father was named Andrew after the first born, a junior with the exact same name of his father, died as an infant. My Dad was the second Andrew of his family. My Dad waited until his third son and last of six children was born and made me a junior too, which I also am fond of being.

So then the Twelve make the cut, are selected as Disciples and immediately get the full treatment of what it is going to be like to be a Disciple with Jesus Christ as the leader.

And coming down with them…with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people… and the crowd were trying to touch him, for power went forth from him and healed them.

First, the Blessing Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

 

Blessed shall you be when men hate you, and when they shut you out, and reproach you, and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Then the Woes:

Woe to you rich! For you are now having your comfort.

Woe to you who are filled! For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you!

Then what I call the Merits:

What merit do you have—if you love those who love you?

What merit do you have—if you do good to those who do good to you?

What merit do you have—if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive in return?

And along the way so many Spiritual Truths that even I could not write them down fast enough in my journal as Jesus spoke them!

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

And to him that strikes thee on the one cheek, offer the other also.

From him who takes the cloak, do not withhold the tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of thee, and from him who takes away thy goods, ask no return.

And even as you wish men to do to you, so also do you to them.

For your reward shall be great, and you shall be children of the Most High, for he is kind towards the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you shall not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.

Give, and it shall be given to you.

For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you.

Then in due measure Jesus talks ‘the blind leading the blind’ and only if a disciple is perfect can he be anything like Jesus and warns of being a hypocrite.

Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is above his teacher; but when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher.

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thy own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eye.

And then challenges the Disciples and the multitude of people by asking of them: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not practice the things that I say?”

Right off the bat, as I am reading through these I begin to deny, rationalize and justify my lack of perfection in living up to the standards of the Beatitudes, Opposite to the Woes, and these Spiritual Principles.

Why can’t I, at times, weep and laugh now and later too? Isn’t the energy of the Universe and God’s Love unlimited? I mean this is the New Testament, isn’t it?

Not only am I full at times but rarely do I feel the pang of real hunger.

I don’t think I am like the annoying and righteous Christians that purposely go around judging people to make themselves feel superior. Or am I?

do like to love and do good things to my friends and literally protect my boundaries when enemies attack me. I do pray for my so-called enemies, as I don’t feel resentment or hatred towards anyone for any substantial period of time, but I don’t necessary love them like I do myself, God or my good neighbors, family and friends.

I do think I forgive and give and live by the Golden Rule of ‘do unto others what you would like them to do to you.’

I remember this being made very clear to me in a succinct and subtle way by my mother. Her only dating advice to me was to treat girls, at the time, women now, as you would like other guys to treat your sisters. I think I have lived up to that for the most part knowing I may have broken a few hearts and my heart was definitely broken a few times.

And my thoughts come full circle back to denying, rationalizing and justifying my thoughts, words, and behavior in relationship to Jesus’ high and perfect standards.

I would say that I feel Jesus is in my heart, that The Holy Spirit permeates my being and I have an intimate and ongoing relationship with God.

I am sensitive, not at all perfectly, to other people’s situation, feelings, and emotions. I am increasingly sensitive to the perceptions and assumptions of our secular world. Verse Two of the Serenity Prayer frees me in the words of “taking, as You (Jesus) did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.”” Acceptance is a powerful tool in living each day one at a time.

I am a sinner and the only person I can change, with God’s blessing and power, is myself.

Here’s a big difference I have with the secular world that I cannot accept:

Evil cannot be inspired. I get upset when I hear a news report of a terrorist or some other evil person being “inspired” to do bad things. Inspired comes from God breathing in the breath of life into each one of us. God is inspiration and evil cannot and does not come from God. Only good people doing good things to help others can be inspired.

Jesus words about the good man and evil man confirm this in my opinion.

“For every tree is known by its fruit… The good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil man from the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

The good treasure of his heart versus from the evil treasure—evil can’t be in any heart, or any soul. Evil can’t reside where good resides just like darkness can’t be present where there is light. Evil is not ever inspiring, it comes from Satan.

And all the above was only Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Luke!

Here is the short and sweet version of Chapter 7 with the long and bitter version is below in the notes, bitter because when the truth is applied to my thoughts, words, and actions; what I see is too bitter to swallow at first, but over time Jesus sweetens it and me to myself and the world.

Jesus to the centurion: “Amen I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

Jesus to the dead man: “Young man, I say to thee, arise.” And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak.

Jesus to the crowds and us: “I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Jesus to the men of that generation (and this generation); “(You) are like children sitting in the market place… And wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Jesus to Simon the Pharisee: “Dost thou see this woman? …Her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

Let us love much and be careful that we don’t create our own wisdom amongst our peer group. Wisdom comes first from the Truth and Truth comes from the Word of God.

Is it time to choose yourself to become a Disciple of Christ? Why not be at your Beatitudes Best?

 

Peace, joy, and freedom is the Ultimate Love in life…

Day 60: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Choose Yourself to Become a Disciple of Christ; Be Your Beatitudes Best!

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 6-7.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 6:  The disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath; A man with a withered hand; The choice of the Twelve; The beatitudes and woes; Love of enemies; Rush judgment and forgiveness; Self-examination; False prophets; Conclusion of the Sermon.

Pharisees: Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

Jesus” “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus: “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil? To save a life or destroy it?”

The choice of the Twelve.

That he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when day broke, he summoned his disciples; and from these he chose twelve (whom he also named apostles): Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon called the Zealot; Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

And coming down with them…with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people… and the crowd were trying to touch him, for power went forth from him and healed them.

The Beatitudes and Woes

Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Blessed shall you be when men hate you, and when they shut you out, and reproach you, and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Woe to you rich! For you are now having your comfort.

Woe to you who are filled! For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you!

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

And to him that strikes thee on the one cheek, offer the other also.

From him who takes the cloak, do not withhold the tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of thee, and from him who takes away thy goods, ask no return.

And even as you wish men to do to you, so also do you to them.

What merit do you have—if you love those who love you?

What merit do you have—if you do good to those who do good to you?

What merit do you have—if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive in return?

For your reward shall be great, and you shall be children of the Most High, for he is kind towards the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you shall not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.

Give, and it shall be given to you.

For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you.

Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is above his teacher; but when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher.

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thy own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eye.

“For every tree is known by its fruit… The good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil man from the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not practice the things that I say?

Because it was founded on rock…

He built his house upon the ground without a foundation… and great was the wreck of that house.

Luke Chapter 7:  The centurion asks Jesus to cure a servant; The centurion’s faith; His servant is cured; Raising a widow’s son; The Baptist sends two disciples to Jesus; They question Jesus; Christ’s witness concerning John; The stubborn children; A sinful woman anoints Jesus’ feet; The Pharisee is shocked; Jesus’ words to the Pharisee.

Elders of the Jews to Jesus about the centurion: “He is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him, for he loves our nation and himself has built us our synagogue.”

Centurion: “Lord do not trouble thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; this is why I did not think myself worthy to come to thee. But say the word, and my servant will be healed, For I too am a man subject to authority, and have soldiers subject to me; and I say to one ’Go’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus: “Amen I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

A dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow…

And the Lord seeing her, had great compassion on her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” And he went up and touched the stretcher; and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to thee, arise.” And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. But fear seized upon all, and they began to glorify God, saying, “a great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people.”

Two Disciples of John to Jesus: “John the Baptist has sent us to thee, saying, ‘Art thou he who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

Jesus answered them: “Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not scandalized in me.”

Jesus to the crowds: “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear fine clothes and live in luxury are in the houses of kings. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall make ready thy way before thee.’ I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

“To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? And what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place, calling to one another and saying, ‘We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have sung dirges, and you have not wept.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and you say, ‘He has a devil.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold a man who is a glutton, and a wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners? And wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Now one of the Pharisees asked him to dine with him; so he went into the house of the Pharisee and reclined at table. And behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner… began to bathe his feet with her tears, and wiped then with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with alabaster ointment.

Pharisee said to himself: “This man, were he a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

Jesus to the Pharisee: “Simon, I have something to say to thee. A certain money-lender had two debtors; the one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. As they had no means of repaying, he forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more?

Simon the Pharisee answered: “he, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.”

Jesus: “Thou hast judged rightly.”

And turning to the woman, Jesus said to Simon: “Dost thou see this woman? I came into thy house; thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she bathed my feet with tears and has wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss my feet. Thou didst not anoint my head with oil; but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to thee, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

Jesus to the woman: “Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith has saved thee; go in peace.”

Others at the table: “Who is this man, who even forgives sins?”

In the Book of Deuteronomy it is almost as the writer is reviewing the first four books of the Old Testament—Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Leviticus and reforming them into a simpler, more descriptive and organized narrative.

Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments… learn them, and fulfill them in work. He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are now present and living.

Who are you working for today?

Did God simply want a day off thinking that if we had a day off, He could take a day off?

I am not God. God is God and I may not understand His ways or His thinking.

The Ten Commandments were pretty simple and straight forward… or where they?

1. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Observe the day of the Sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God.
4. Honor thy father and mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not covet.
10. 10 ???

 

 

 

No. 9 is split into two commandments—Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s wife—and—Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house—but Scripture also specifies us not covet thy neighbor’s manservant, Thou shalt not covet his maidservant, not his ox, nor his ass nor anything that is his.

Why only neighbor’s wife and house? Isn’t he wife coveting covered in No. 6—Thou shalt not commit adultery? Isn’t ‘anything that is his’ sort of an infinite statement? Could have easily been the Infinite Commandments or at least The Twelve Commandments to match the Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Twelve Disciples.

The children of Israel to Moses: approach thou rather; and hear all things that the Lord our God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and will do them.

Thou shalt not lie could have easily have been Commandment No. 12.

But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be long in the land of your possession.

Longevity, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, has its place.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping, and rising.

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shall swear by his name.

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou tempest him in place of temptation. And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord.

God was destroying other human gods and idols by selecting Israel and destroying others via them. While true and real, this people-to-people warfare can be transitioned to the one-personal-personal level and be utilized to exorcise our human character defects and shortcomings.

The macro people-nations-world scale:

When the Lord thy God… shall have destroyed many nations before thee… seven nations much more numerous than thou art, and stronger than thou, and the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou shall utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no league with them, nor show mercy to them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them… for she will turn away thy son from following Me.

Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all peoples that are upon the earth… the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers: and hath brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage. And thou shalt know that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments, unto a thousand generations…

He will love thee and multiply thee.

The micro perspective—you, me and that other gal or guy too:

And hath brought you out of a stronghand and redeemed you from the house of bondage—could easily be speaking to recovery from addiction, hurts, habits, hang-ups or any type of dysfunction today.

 

Forget about curing the world, go cure yourself first!

The Promised Land is promised!

That the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or no… He has afflicted thee with want… to show that not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God… that thou mayest consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth up his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up. That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him… at the last He had mercy on thee, lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the strength of my own hand achieved all these things for me.

We are present and presumed living—what if your Personal Covenant with God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit?

Day 61: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Present & Living—Our Personal Covenant with God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit.

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 5-10

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 5: Covenant at Horeb; The first three commandments; the last seven commandments; The fear of the Israelites; Reward for obeying God;

Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments… learn them, and fulfill them in work.

He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are now present and living.

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

1. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Observe the day of the Sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God.
4. Honor thy father and mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not covet.

10 ???

Approach thou rather; and hear all things that the Lord our God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and will do them.

But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be long in the land of your possession.

Deuteronomy Chapter 6: Exhortation to love God; Warning not to forget God; Reward for pleasing the Lord; Children shall be taught to love God.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping, and rising.

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shall swear by his name.

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou tempest him in place of temptation. And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord.

Deuteronomy Chapter 7: Fellowship with pagans forbidden; God’s love for the Israelites; Rewards for obedience.

When the Lord thy God… shall have destroyed many nations before thee… seven nations much more numerous than thou art, and stronger than thou, and the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou shall utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no league with them, nor show mercy to them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them… for she will turn away thy son from following Me.

Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all peoples that are upon the earth… the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers: and hath brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage. And thou shalt know that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments, unto a thousand generations…

He will love thee and multiply thee.

No one shall be barren among you of either sex, neither of men nor cattle…

Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve their gods, lest they be thy ruin.

Thou will not be able to destroy them altogether: lest perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon them.

Neither shalt thou bring any thing of the idol into thy house, lest thou become an anathema, like it.

Anathema—a person or thing detested or loathed; a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction; a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication; any imprecation of divine punishment; a curse; execration.

Deuteronomy Chapter 8: God’s mercy recalled; Prophecy of life in the Promised Land.

That the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or no… He has afflicted thee with want… to show that not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God… that thou mayest consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth up his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up. That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him… at the last He had mercy on thee, lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the strength of my own hand achieved all these things for me.

Deuteronomy Chapter 9: Moses warns the Israelites against pride; The molten calf; Other revolts against the Lord; Moses’ prayer.

Whereas these nations are destroyed for their wickedness.

I see that this people is stiffnecked.

The graves of lust you provoked the Lord

But were always rebellious from the day that I begun to know you.

Deuteronomy Chapter 10: God’s mercy in restoring the tablets; Eleazar succeeds Aaron; The tribe of Levi to minister before God; Moses’ forty days in the mount; Requirements of God; God’s great mercy.

And put the tables (of the covenant) in the ark

At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before Him in the ministry, and to bless in his name until this present day.

Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren: because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord they God promised him.

Behold heaven is the Lord’s thy God, and the heaven of the heaven, the earth and all things that are therein.

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.

He doth… loveth the stranger, and giveth him food and rainment. And therefore love strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt, and behold now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven.

How often we hear these days that one’s perspective, one’s positive thinking makes all the difference in the world? And it does though many times it is a manipulation of the mind to promote a product or service and a sale is made.

Some of my earliest inspiration and motivation came from reading “The Power of Positive Thinking: by Norman Vincent Peale. It helped but wasn’t enough for every challenge in my life.

Jesus spoke in parables and after one parable—the Parable of the Sower—He gave the Explanation Key to the Twelve Apostles and to us thought The Word of God.

“He who has ears to hear, let them hear!”

“To you (the Twelve Disciples) it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”

How can we do not well on the examination of our life when we had the answers given to us? Jesus’ divine interpretation of the Parable of the Sower is embedded here in parenthesis.

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… some seed fell by the  wayside (they who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away The Word (of God) from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved) and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… other seed fell upon the rock (they who have heard, received The Word of Joy, and these have no root, but believe for a while, and in the time of temptation fall away), and as soon as it sprung up it withered away, because it had no moisture.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell among thorns (they who have heard, and as they go their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen), and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell upon good ground (they who, with a right and good heart, having heard The Word, hold it fast, and bear fruit in patience}, and sprang up and yielded fruit a hundredfold.”

Unlike ‘Make a Deal,’ the TV game show, there are four choices, not three.

What do they all have in common for us, the seeds?

Their hearts, no heart, choked hearts and a right and good heart.

Is Jesus in your heart today? To love you, to lead you, to maintain your vibrant spirit so that all of life’s trials and tribulations and successes are endured in a Christian way!

The devil has come and taken away the Word of God from my heart at times in my life. There were times I did not believe or have Jesus in my heart.

Other times I believed for a while but in the time of temptation fell away. I saw the bait, but not the hook of sin. I was focused on the present and not the rest of my life.

And yes, the care and riches and pleasures of life have distracted me and even today continue to do so.

But now, at least for this moment, my heart is right and good with God, myself and others. I listen closely to The Word of God wherever and whenever it is spoken and it is always being spoken everywhere and in many different ways. I hold it fast, I remain tightly secured to The Word of God and have faith, trust and promise that it will continue to bear good fruit for the rest of my life.

I know I need to give patience her time, not my time or expectations or demands.

Borrowing ahead from James in the New Testament (James 1:2-4):

‘Esteem it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith begets patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.’

In this moment I am ‘perfect and entire, lacking nothing.’ I give patience her time to do God’s Will in my life and supply me with the power to do so, if and when God’s Will deems it so. I have jumped off the hamster wheel of always seeking more yet not taking the time to enjoy what I have and to be grateful for what God has blessed me with already in my life.

Which door do you choose?

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest; nor anything concealed that will not be known and come to light. Take heed, therefore, how you hear; for to him who has shall be given; and from him who does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away.”

Make sure Jesus is in your heart and listen for The Word of God…

See beyond what seems to be…

Day 62: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Hear The Word of God and See Beyond What Seems To Be…

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 8.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 8:  The ministering women; Parable of the sower; Jesus explanation; Purpose of this teaching; Jesus and His brethren; The storm on the lake; A man possessed by a devil; The devil’s name; The devil enter the swine; Jesus asked to leave Gerasa; Jairus asks Jesus to cure his daughter; The woman with a hemorrhage cured; She acknowledges her cure; Jairus’ daughter dies; Jesus raises the daughter to life.

And with Him were the Twelve, and certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, who is called the Magdalene, from whom seven devils had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who used to provide for them out of their means.

“He who has ears to hear, let them hear!”

“To you (the Twelve Disciples) it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… some seed fell by the  wayside (they who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away The Word (of God) from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved) and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… other seed fell upon the rock (they who have heard, received The Word of Joy, and these have no root, but believe for a while, and in the time of temptation fall away), and as soon as it sprung up it withered away, because it had no moisture.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell among thorns (they who have heard, and as they go their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen), and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell upon good ground (they who, with a right and good heart, having heard The Word, hold it fast, and bear fruit in patience}, and sprang up and yielded fruit a hundredfold.”

Thy mother and thy brethren are standing outside, wishing to see thee. But he (Jesus) answered and said to them. “My mother and my brethren are they who hear The Word of God, and act upon it.”

“Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.”

“Where is your faith?”

But they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?”

And the devils came out from the man (named Legion) and entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and were drowned.

And all the people of Gerasene district besought him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear.

Jesus to Legion: “Return to thy house, and tell all that God has done for thee.”

“Who touched me? Someone touched me, for I perceived that power had gone forth from me. Daughter, thy faith has saved thee; go in peace.”

“Do not weep; she is asleep, not dead. Girl arise!” And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately.

Deuteronomy repeats, explains, and expands the narrative of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Lan and the Law of Moses given on Mount Sinai. Lots of it, the majority is repeated from the early books of the Old Testament but new material and new perspectives are to be found.

It seems to me that the whole journey of the Israelites, the law or commandments, and the ensuing trials and tribulations can be viewed as a metaphor for our personal struggles in life.

With some insights into wisdom such as ‘Know this day the things that your children know not’ and ‘would persuade thee secretly, saying… consent not to him, hear his not, but though shall presently put him to death.’

But we don’t worship idols like those of Biblical Times, right? No molten calf here, right? What about idols of the modern secular world?

I surely worshipped my career over God, family, and even my own personal health and well-being. ‘Golf is my passion,’ is the same as ‘Golf is my Idol’ at times. Fame and fortune on the good worldly side isolation and gluttony on the other side. Nothing bad, nothing terrible, all choices that I am entitled to make with my hard earned Free Will. So we rationalize to ourselves.

If then you obey my commandments… that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul…

Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them, and the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

Lay up these my words in your heart and minds… teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up.

For if you keep my commandments… the Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall them, which are greater and stronger than you. Every place that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours…

God will destroy all my personalized modern idols is I surrender to His Will.’

You God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.

 

And thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee…

God, please take away the evil in the midst of me and my life.

Help me to ‘remember that I also was a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God made me free…’ Let me let go of my addictions and hurts and hang-ups and habits that don’t serve You or me.

Don’t let ‘gifts blind my eyes or change my words,’ away from Your love, acceptance and compassion.

With a renewed spirit and mind, a clear and present conscience, ‘make me merry at festival time!

Day 63: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Psalm Deuteronomy: For This I Pray, Don’t Let it Happen to Me!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 11-16

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11: Demonstrations of the power of God; Description of The Promised Land; Blessings which follow obedience; Punishment for idolatry; Close adherence to God’s words required; A blessing and a curse.

Know this day the things that your children know not…

But it is a land of hills and valleys, expecting rain from heaven.

If then you obey my commandments… that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul…

Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them, and the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

Lay up these my words in your heart and minds… teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up.

For if you keep my commandments… the Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall them, which are greater and stronger than you. Every place that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours…

Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day. A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God, but revolt from the way which I now shoe you, and walk after strange gods which you knew not.

Deuteronomy Chapter 12: Places of idolatry to be destroyed; The place of sacrifice; Blood is forbidden for food; Tithes must be eaten in the holy place; Laws for eating flesh; Warning against idolatry.

Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshiped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree.

You shall not do so to the Lord your God, but you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it.

You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself.

That you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear.

Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul; and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh.

Deuteronomy Chapter 13: False prophets must be slain; Relatives and friends who urge idolatry; Idolatrous cities.

You God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.

And thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee…

Would persuade thee secretly, saying…

Consent not to him, hear his not, but though shall presently put him to death.

Deuteronomy Chapter 14: Disfiguring the body forbidden; Clean and unclean animals; Clean and unclean fowl; Nothing that dies of itself shall be eaten; Annual tithes; Charitable offerings.

You shall not cut yourself, nor make any baldness for the dead.

Eat not the things that are unclean.

Every beast that divideth the hoof in two parts, and cheweth the cud, you shall eat.

But whatsoever is dead of itself, eat not thereof Give it to the stranger… because thou art the holy people of the Lord thy God.

And the Levite… the stranger… the fatherless… and the widow shall come and shall eat and be filled.

Deuteronomy Chapter 15: Year of remission; Charity to the poor; Freedom of servants; Sanctification of firstlings.

In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission, which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom anything is owing from his friend or neighbor or brother, cannot demand it again, because it is the year of remission to the Lord.

Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy countryman and neighbor thou shalt not have power to demand it again. And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in possession.

Remission—pardon; forgiveness, as of sins or offenses.

If one of thy brethren… come to poverty: thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand, but shalt open it to the poor man.

Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that which he asketh… neither shalt thou do any thing craftily in relieving his necessities…

When thy brother, a Hebrew Man, or Hebrew woman, is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free…

Remember that thou also was a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee this.

Deuteronomy Chapter 16: The Passover; Pentecost; Feast of tabernacles; Three times a year all males appear before the Lord; Judges and magistrates; Groves and images forbidden.

Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat without leaven the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayest remember the day of thy coming out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.

And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time…

Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God… in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles,

Thou shalt appoint Judges and magistrates… that they may judge the people with just judgment… thou shalt not accept person not gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.

Even back when Jesus walked the earth it wasn’t easy to know exactly who he was. Even for his Twelve Disciples!

Jesus to his disciples: “Who do the crowds say I am? But who do you say that I am?

Simon Peter answered: “The Christ of God.”

Jesus: The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.”

There is a mystery to life, isn’t there? When to strive for perfection and when to accept less than perfect in oneself and others? When to control others and the situation versus when to trust and let other go and the situation wander aimlessly to its destined outcome? When to see things in contrasting opposites with no middle ground—good and evil, Christ and the Devil—versus not making a judgment or putting a label on ourselves, others and a situation. But the results of our perspectives and decisions can be gloriously joyful or painfully dreadful or may even bring death, whether spiritual or physical.

 

 

The Doctrine of the Cross: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For he who would save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but ruin or lose himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, till they have seen the kingdom of God.”

There is ambition and envy even within the spiritual confines of ourselves or our religious organizations.

Jesus against ambition: “Whoever receives this little child for my sake, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives him who sent me. For he who is the least among you, he is the greatest.”

John: Master, we saw a man casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow us.

Jesus replied against envy: “Do not forbid him; for who is not against you is for you.”

But it all comes down to service and to be of service to God and others we need to get outside of our Self, our Pride, and our selfish ego.

It’s not an all-or-nothing world!

Others, who are not followers of Christ can cast out devils in Christ’s name and Jesus did not have a problem with them, basically declaring we are all on the good side and let’s focus together on the bad side not differences amongst us.

Jesus was transfigured… and as he prayed, the appearance of his countenance was changed, and his raiment became a radiant white… And behold two men were talking with him. And these were Moses and Elias, who, appearing in glory, spoke of his death, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

I never knew what Jesus, Moses, and Elias spoke about when Jesus was transfigured.

God speaks again in the New Testament… and there came a voice out of the cloud saying. “This is my beloved Son, hear him.”

Jesus to his disciples: “Store up these words in your minds: the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of Men.”

Maybe we weren’t there to hear Jesus when he was alive walking the Earth…

Hopefully we hear his voice ring out from our hearts…

 

 

And we don’t have to be perfect. There were even Samaritans that did not take care of Jesus when needed.

A Samaritan town did not receive Jesus because his face was set for Jerusalem. James and John asked Jesus if they should bid fire come down from heaven and consume them. Jesus rebuked them saying: “You do not know of what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy man’s lives, but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Who are we to judge the spirit within another human being?

Let’s just get to know Jesus though the Scriptures and through our life experiences, and then let’s conquer life, as we know it, with Jesus in our hearts…

Day 64: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Know Jesus, then Conquer Life with Jesus in your Heart…

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 9.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 9:  The mission of the Apostles; Herod wonders; The Apostles return; Jesus feed five thousand; Peter’s confession; Christ’s prophecy; The doctrine of the cross; Jesus transfigured; A possessed boy; Jesus cures him; The second prediction of the Passion; Against ambition; against envy; The unfriendly Samaritans; Sacrifice to follow Christ.

Jesus gave the Apostles power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Jesus to the Apostles: “Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and do not leave the place. And whoever does not receive you—go forth from that town, and shake off even the dust from your feet for a witness against them.”

Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was being done by Jesus and was much perplexed… and he endeavored to see him. “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?”

And the Apostles on their return reported to him all that they had done… And Jesus welcomed them (crowds), and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and those in need of cure he healed.

Jesus feeds five thousand… “You yourselves give them some food… Make them recline in groups of fifties…

Jesus to his disciples: “Who do the crowds say I am? But who do you say that I am? The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.”

Simon Peter” “The Christ of God.”

The doctrine of the cross: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For he who would save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but ruin or lose himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, till they have seen the kingdom of God.”

Jesus transfigured… And as he prayed, the appearance of his countenance was changed, and his raiment became a radiant white… And behold two men were talking with him. And these were Moses and Elias, who, appearing in glory, spoke of his death, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

God, and there came a voice out of the cloud saying. “This is my beloved Son, hear him.”

Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and restored him to his father.

Jesus: “Store up these words in your minds: the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of Men.”

Jesus against ambition: “Whoever receives this little child for my sake, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives him who sent me. For he who is the least among you, he is the greatest.”

John: Master, we saw a man casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow us.

Jesus replied against envy: “Do not forbid him; for who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan town did not receive Jesus because his face was set for Jerusalem. James and John asked Jesus if they should bid fire come down from heaven and consume them. Jesus rebuked them saying: “You do not know of what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy man’s lives, but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Sacrifice to follow Jesus: “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head… Follow me… Let the dead bury their dead, but do thou go and proclaim the kingdom of God… No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”