SCC Discussion Blog

I have been enjoying reading the Daily Bible in chronological order …  once I got caught up.  I am LOVING the way “The Special Feast” flows.  For the first time I am really enjoying reading parts of the Bible that used to bore me.  I have to admit I fought this.  I was one of the people that misunderstood what this was about and thought the Pastors would be preaching/teaching simultaneously along with this Bible.  After thinking about it I realized that would be an impossible task.  If they are indeed led by the Spirit to teach us, and I believe they are, then how could they be restricted in that way?  

So Thank You for suggesting we read this Bible, you guys ROCK!  And I’m glad we’re not required to eat the bitter herbs anymore, doesn’t sound tasty at all. Learning that they represent the “horrors of bondage” though … very cool.  If we’re not learning we’re not living, but that’s just my humble opinion.

I found it interesting that Moses kept telling the Israelites that it was their fault that God would not allow him to enter the promised land. I always thought it was when Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it, as God had told him to, that caused God to tell him he would not enter the land. Any comments on this?

Perhaps Balaam should have asked his donkey for advice before he made his plan to ruin Israel. Funny how he was unwilling to curse them a few chapters ago (even though it would have made him rich), now he hatches a plan to intermarry them with the rest of Moabites to destroy them!

Numbers 31:16 is a great example of what I call a “hidden verse.” One that is very easy to miss because it is given after or in the middle of where the major action takes place. BUT without the information revealed in it, we only get part of the story. You may be reading through chapter 31 and all sorts of questions may be running through your head about the killing that just took place. The explanation as to “why” the event took place is not readily available until you read Numbers 31:16…

Its sort of like “now you know the REST of the story…”

I know it seems extreme to us, but I think the judgment of the Moabites in Numbers 24:1-5 gives an insight as to how God views our “idolatry.” We tend to think, “I wouldn’t bow down or make an idol to worship,” but we often commit this same kind of immorality when we “marry” the culture around us. Our Western culture worships a kind of affluence and materialism that often takes the place God that deserves.

We can spend an inordinate amount of time, energy and resources chasing after these cultural idols… we often don’t think twice about it. God does.

This is my first blog ever, and I thought it would be a good thing to share with my brothers and sisters. As I’ve been reading through the Old Testament, I have become more aware of God’s amazing grace. In the old days, God’s people had to do extremely specified rituals to cleanse themselves to even enter into the presence of God. Now, God sees us holy and clean because He died for us. He came from heaven to earth to cleanse us so that He could dwell within us all the time to have relationship with us. All because of His amazing mercy and grace. In light of this, dear brothers and sisters, we should do joyfully what Paul urges in Romans 12:1-2… offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto Him. Living in the same type of faith that Joshua and Caleb had as they stood up to the other Israelites to be firm in the Lord and trust Him to lead the people into the promised land… even at the risk of being stoned to death. Living in faith even when it is the most unpopular, costly thing to do. All because of God’s amazing grace.

I have never understood why the Lord had Moses make the bronze snake…to me it seemed like an idol….I know the people just looked at it- they did not worship it, but still. Anybody have any thoughts?

It is amazing that we need microphones in this day and age to address even a smallish group of people. I wonder how Moses was able to address all the Israelites – even just the 70 – maybe their ears were better attuned than ours are. Even Jesus spoke to thousands at a time. It’s just a curiosity item for me – one that won’t be answered in this life, I guess.

What would it look like for a say a Church to tell its members, “stop bringing your offerings, we have more than enough!” Reading the other day, Exodus 36:4-7, got me thinking… I can’t ever remember hearing of a Church saying we have more than we can appropriate in a way that honors God. It would be a nice goal though…

Someone asked me about the layout of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. I thought this might me of interest…

I did a search on Google and I found an entry that called it a peace offering. I don’t understand the point of it.