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I've been plugging along with my Bible reading and will be the first to admit that I'm a little behind on my Bible reading ~ not much, but just enough to bug me. :) I've spent quite a bit of time this last week helping out a friend and reading when I have a spare moment, but free time has been at a minimum.I will say that I've been enjoying the reading though and sometimes little questions or thoughts pop into my head while reading. Just to jot them down for myself, here are a few:
- How in the world did Moses keep track of all of those rules and instructions God was giving him? Of course I'm looking at this from the point of a mom who can't even remember something simple from one moment to the next. He was given very specific things to relay to the Israelites and I can't even begin to fathom the magnitude of remembering it all. :)
- Somehow I completely missed that over 70 of Israel's leader went up to the mountain and saw God {Exodus 24: 9-10}. They even shared a meal in His presence!
- During Passover they weren't supposed to use yeast for seven days and were not to even have yeast in their homes or within the borders of their land {Exodus 13:7}. My question is...where in the world did they keep it then? :)
- The irony of the importance that God places on names {he renamed Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob} ~ and then there is the whole naming the children battle between Rachel and Leah, where they essentially use their children's names to 'one-up' each other.
If you are interested in learning more about the Bible reading challenge, you can read more about it at Mom’s Toolbox. You can also download your own printable reading bookmark if you want to join along in the challenge.
Sounds like you are doing really well... and you have some good questions!
ReplyDeleteAdd a few pages a day until you catch up-- you can do it! And then you won't be bugged anymore. :)
Please consider linking up to the weekly check in post on MomsToolbox.com... I bet others would love to see how you are doing, as well.
Those are great questions...where Did they keep the yeast. I just learned yesterday in Small Group about the renaming of Abraham and Sarah and I LOVED it. I just thought today how I think the OT is so much more interesting than it used to be to me. So many details and point to Christ. ENJOY!
ReplyDeleteYour doing great! I cannot believe I'm behind 2 days!! I've got about 3 hours of reading to do today. I will not get that behind again! Great questions!
ReplyDeleteI'm ahead in my reading, but I'm doing it in a year... My question as I was reading along was this: In Genesis 11, the geneology is listed and lists one (the firstborn?) son for all - except for Terah.
ReplyDelete(26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.)
My question, then, is this. Was Abram a triplet? I'm not being funny. It just really struck me as I was reading one day.
I am right on track.. I got a little behind but was able to get caught back up. I haven't finished today's reading yet but I have done about half of it. Loved what you pulled away from it.. I have a lot of questions/things I had forgotten or never read.
ReplyDelete1. Loved the story about how Moses' arms got tired and Aaron and someone else held them up for him
2. why were woman worth half as much? (during the census)
3. why was the wife punished for cheating with bitter water but not the man (or its atleast not stated there)?
4. Would a zit be considered something the priest had to look at to determine if it was an infections diseases?
5. How come Aaron became the priest and not Moses'?
Hey Jolanthe
ReplyDeleteI know this comment might be scandelous as I was raised to believe the Bible to be inerrant and literal, but might one consider that it's not? For instance, the Bible talks about God commanding babies heads to be smashed against rocks, to kill our disrespectful children, taking women and children as "spoils" of war (rape them), how to treat our slaves (just don't beat so hard they die). The list goes on and on of tyrannical and disgusting behavior in the name of God. Sounds more like man using "god said" to give authority to his dispicable deeds and notions than the commandement or direct words of an all-loving God. I know we say, "God's ways are higher than our ways" and things like, "He has a purpose that we can't know." But really? When I read things like this in the Bible in the "name of god" I can't help but think of the parallels of what goes on even in this century and all the things man goes around doing in "god's name" because God said so. Did you know in Uganda right now, Christian missionaries are calling for the execution of children deemed to be witches? It's a horrible atrocity going on in "God's name."
The yeast question is a good one. Considering that yeast is in the air around us and each regions yeast is different which is why San Francisco makes such good sour dough.
ReplyDeleteTraditionally, a bread maker would mix up a little flour, water and honey and leave it sitting out for the yeast to "find". In a few days, the starter would contain yeast and would be ready for bread making. Most of the time because yeast is tasty, they were allowed to use it, so they would keep a little starter/leavening to leaven the whole loaf. Galatians 5:9
Yeast in the Bible represented sin which is why during Passover they were not allowed to have it around. They even went so far as to sweeping every corner of the house to make sure there was not even a crumb of bread made with yeast. Everything done for Passover is done with the highest of cleanliness in mind.
Yeast is a very good description of how sin takes over in a person's life. You take 3 pure things, honey, water and flour, and put in a small amount of yeast/sin. Soon, the yeast will take over and leaven the whole loaf. This is why in parts of the Bible God warned the children of Israel to destroy entire cities people, and things, even the children. He knew that introducing a little sin into the camp would cause great harm. The children of Israel got into enough trouble without outside influences.
What people forget about this is that God always offers forgiveness first be it now or in the past. While maybe the Bible doesn't talk about each of these places and how God offered forgiveness and peace first, I know the God I serve loves and forgives first. Take Rahab as an example. God protected her and everyone in her household from what happened to her city.
God loves us and wants what is best for us. People do use God's name to do horrible things, but God's love never changes!
Valerie -- Abram was not a triplet (or even the oldest). Teran died in Haran. Acts 7:4 has Abram leaving Haran after his father died. Gen 11:32 has Terah dying at 205 years old. Yet in Gen 12:4, Abram was only 75 when he left Haran. So the son Terah had at 70 years old was one of the other two -- Haran or Nahor. He had Abram at, at earliest, 135.
ReplyDeleteInstead, since they will be focusing on Abram and his nephew Lot, and the trip to Haran, the genealogy decided to tell us about three of the children of Terah, not just the one that the line was going to pass through.
honhol: Once you go down the road of saying the Bible is not true in every word, you have to wonder which parts are right and which are wrong. Perhaps the parts about Jesus and our salvation are just as false as the parts we do not wish to believe?
It is very easy to feel that "A loving God wouldn't" But the fact of the matter is that a just God HAS to do things. It is only by his grace that we have the chance of salvation we do. After just one teensy tinsy (in our eyes) sin, all we deserve is death. That's why Jesus had to come and why He had to die.