Reading the Bible Through

Joshua 6 - 8   Today, I just realized that when Israel marched around Jericho for 7 days, one of those days had to be the Sabbath.  Also, I find this devoting everything to the Lord by destroying it, appalling when it includes the people, too. How can this be just?  I also find myself thinking how the fall of Jericho is often a Sunday School lesson for children, but it's not necessarily revisited as one gets older to learn the grittier details of the story. 

Joshua 3 - 5   Previously, the Red Sea had parted for the Israelites to cross. Here the Jordan river parts for the Israelites to cross. I wonder if that caused the people in the land to fear them. As I read on, it says that it did scare them.  This morning, I was wondering about the phrase "a land flowing with milk and honey." A land can flow with honey because of bees, but what does it mean for a land to flow with milk? That it is a good land for livestock? Near the end of today's text, Joshua asks a man (or was it an angel) if the man is for the Israelites or for their enemies. I love the man's reply of "Neither...." Today's culture is so quick to polarize, which requires black and white thinking, that we could learn a lesson here. Things are not necessarily one way or the other. 

  Deuteronomy 32 - Joshua 2 When Moses blesses the tribes, Simeon isn't mentioned. That seems odd to me.  They mourned for Moses' 30 days. Here we seem to focus on getting back to work as quickly as possible. I think it's unfortunate.  I find it interesting that Joshua sends 2 spies in secret to spy out the land. 40 years earlier, Moses sent 12 spies for the purpose, but that led to Israel wandering in the dessert 40 years. I wonder if Joshua hand picked these 2 men, so as not to have a repeat.  I like Rehab's cleverness in hiding the spies. I also like that the spies returned Rahab's kindness and had her mark her house with a scarlet thread. Come to thing of it, why were the spies able to just hand Rahab a random, but apparently long, piece of scarlet string? 

Deuteronomy 29 - 31   I didn't realize there were 2 covenants. One made in Moab and one at Horeb. I find this confusing. What are the differences between them, if any?  For most today's readying I am struck by the repeated instruction to love to Lord with all our hearts, minds, etc. I am also struck by the lack of the repetition of: Love thy neighbor as thyself. When I google where this is found in the Old Testament, I get one reference in Leviticus.  In today's reading, the Lord knows that the Israelites will turn away from him. I am curious to see what the song Moses is going to teach them will say. 

Deuteronomy 26 - 28   As I listen to this passage this morning, I am struck by the blessings that come from obeying the Lord's commands. I also find myself thinking: what about when bad things happen to good people?  Calling curses and blessings also reminds me of the power of the tongue, the power of speech. What we say, or, perhaps, don't say has a powerful effect. 

Deuteronomy 23 - 25   Why was all this emasculation going on? So weird from today's cultural world.  23:7 says not to despise an Egyptian because the Israelites had resided as foreigners in Egypt. Yet, the Egyptians had made them slaves and order their sons be killed. To my human way of thinking, despising the Egyptians would be a given.  Here we see the protection of an slave seeking refuge from their master.  I love the leaving of various foods for the fatherless, the foreigner and the widow. Sounds like a social program with responsibilities The duty of the brother-in-law. Yuck! in my opinion. Very different culturally.  If somebody was attacking my man, I might think it worth it to have my hand cut off in order to stop the fight. Probably my modern day cultural thinking. 

Deuteronomy 20 - 22   Now as we talk about going to war, here it says to make an offer of peace to the cities that are at some distance not those in Canaan who must be destroyed. I was confused about that. I also notice here that if someone is executed, the body must not be left on the pole overnight. It must be buried. This was carried out when Jesus was crucified.  Having to prove virginity really bothers me. As I understand it, this depended on blood on the marital bedding. How did the parents get this if the man declared his wife to not be a virgin. Also, the hymen can tear for so many other reasons prior to intercourse. 

Deuteronomy 17 - 19   Here we see that Israel will want a king. I think this is the first time we see that.  When it talks about false prophets here, I am reminded that we will see quite a few off them telling kings what the kings want to hear.  When I listen today to the part about witnesses at the end of the reading, I am reminded that Jesus was testified against by false witnesses. I am also realizing that these laws about who must die/capital punishment are part of what lead to death on the cross to fulfill what is done over and over by animal sacrifice. 

Deuteronomy 14 - 16   I don't have much to say about this. What it says to me is to worship the Lord God and no other gods. 

Deuteronomy 9 - 13   I heard recently that Deuteronomy expounds on each of the ten commandments, in order, after they are stated. So far, this seems to be the case. We have generally been looking at the one and only God. Today, we are reminded of the golden calf idol and the possibility of worshipping as the people they are about to conquer do.  In the age of diversity that I find myself living in, being put to death for suggesting to see how others worship seems quite harsh. However, it also likely cuts down on people suggesting looking at how others worship. 

Deuteronomy 6 - 8   6:5 Here is the greatest commandment according to Jesus:    Love  the  Lord  your God with all your heart  and with all your soul and with all your strength Today I find that I am struck by 6: 25  And if we are careful to obey all this law  before the  Lord  our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness. It proved impossible to obey this law. Righteousness could not be achieved. This is yet another way of explaining the need for Jesus to come.  Verse 8: 17  You may say to yourself,  “My power and the strength of my hands  have produced this wealth for me.”  I am convicted of my own pride. 

Deuteronomy 3 - 5   In many ways, this seems to be a summary of the previous books. Still, there is some new information added. I note that the Israelites stated that they could not continue to hear God speaking from the mountain, so Moses acted as intermediary. Before, God told them not to come near to the mountain he was speaking from. The fact that the Israelites did hear some of God speaking on the mountain makes the golden calf harder to understand in some ways. 

Numbers 36 - Deuteronomy 2   Zelophehad’s daughters had to marry  their cousins on their father’s side to keep the land in that tribe. Having to marry cousins feels creepy to me. When I do genealogy, I may look at marriage licenses from Ohio. The licenses say the two parties are no closer than 1st cousins. However, 1st was crossed out and changed to 2nd. I do wonder how close of cousins  Zelophehad’s daughters  married. I also think that they must not have had any close male relatives as it seems they had to speak up for themselves about their father's inheritance in Canaan.  In Deuteronomy 2:29, it says the Edomites let the Israelites pass through their land. The last time we read about the Edomites the denied Israel passage and Israel went around. I think some of the story is missing here. 

Numbers 33 - 35   I used to think the avenger of blood was a single, shadowy character. Now, it's my understanding that the avenger of blood is the role of a family member to avenge the blood of a murdered relative. 

Numbers 30 - 32   Admittedly, the power given to a husband or father to nullify the vows of a wife or daughter doesn't sit well with me. I do like the fact that divorced women or widows stood for themselves. Our cultures are very different.  Killing all the women and boys seems horrific to me. Also, saying that these women had followed Balaam's advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful in the Peor Incident, seems to have left some things out. As I recall, Balaam only blessed Israel according to the text. What is the rest of this story? 

Numbers 27 - 29   I really like what happens with  Zelophehad's daughters, to me it shows a movement toward equality for women. 

Numbers 22 - 26   "Moabites  said to the elders of Midian" I thought Moses' father-in-law was a priest of Midian. Would he have been among them? Or maybe Moses' father-in-law was still hanging out with the Israelites.  The Moabites take the divination fee to Balaam hoping that a curse will help them to defeat the Israelites. It strikes me how seriously these cultures must have taken the power of a curse.  Why does God tell Balaam to go with the Moabites (the second time) but then God is angry that Balaam goes? The talking donkey reminds me to the talking animals in C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.  This donkey makes a lot of sense. If something around us is suddenly acting very differently to us, it would be good to look into the reason.  So, in Balaam's third message, it says that he did not resort to divination as he had at the other times. But the 1st 2 times, it says that Balaam spoke to the Lord. Balaam told Balak that Balaam could only speak what the Lord h...

Numbers 19 - 21   I find it interesting that the Israelites accuse Moses of bringing them to this terrible place. Moses had taken them directly to the land of Canaan, following with milk and honey, but the Israelites sinned and then had to be nomads in the dessert 40 years. To me, it seems that the Israelites got themselves into this mess by not trusting the Lord. I'm sounding judgy this morning.  Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it. The scripture says that this shows that Moses and Aaron  did not trust in the Lord enough to honor him as holy  in the sight of the Israelites, so Moses and Aaron will not bring this community into the land of Canaan. What symbolism am I missing that striking the rock, rather than speaking to it, keeps Moses and Aaron from entering the land of Canaan. Later, it says it is because both Moses and Aaron rebelled against the Lord's command.  I wonder why Edom doesn't let the Israelites pass through?  Now we hear of ano...

Numbers 16 - 18   So the ground splits open and swallows the rebellious Korah and his follows. The rest of the Israelites are afraid they will be swallowed up as well. Then, the next day, it says, the Israelites grumble that Moses and Aaron killed the Lord's people. What gives? What didn't the Israelites understand from the group swallowing up Korah and his followers?  Then the  Lord uses Aaron's staff to designate the Levites which convinces the Israelites seeming. Why this and not the ground swallowing people up? I wonder, what is the significance of "covenant of salt?"

Numbers 13 - 15   I never realized that Moses gave Joshua his name.  Today, I noticed that the men who were saying that they could not take the land of Canaan, were the same men the Lord brought out of Egypt. They saw the plagues and the power of God, yet, they did not trust God to give them the land. In fact, they wanted to return to Egypt and, I assume, the slavery that awaited them there. We, as people, do often want to run back to what we are familiar with.  The fact that Moses reasons with the Lord is amazingly beautiful to me. I am also deeply gladden to hear of the abounding love of God here.  I pray, Lord, that I would follow you wholeheartedly. I fail so often.  I wonder, when Moses turned the Israelites back toward the Red Sea, if they thought he was taking them back to Egypt as they had said.  I find myself wondering what being "cut off" actually meant. Were they forced to stay away?  Putting a man to death for gathering wood on the Sabbath ...

  Numbers 10-12 I thought Moses' father-in-law left some time ago? Perhaps I am mistaken.  Fire from the Lord burned among them because they complained of their hardships in the hearing of the Lord. This sounds to harsh to me yet, it is this same Father that sent Jesus for us.  The Israelites rejected the Lord saying why did we ever leave Egypt. This makes me think of the ways we continue to do this today. We want to run back, or stay, in what is known to us even if it's miserable and unknown to us. New paths are scary and likely make us feel insecure. However, we must lean on the Lord and not whatever is the Egyptians in our lives.  The Lord sends quail, but sets a plague on those who eat it. This seems excessive to me. Perhaps the lesson is that we must trust the Lord instead of our own desires.  Moses married a Cushite wife. When did he do that? Frankly, how did he have time.  Aaron and Miriam oppose Moses sounds like sibling rivalry to me. I must say it...

Numbers 7 - 9   Although I find the listing of what each tribe brought to the tabernacle dry reading, I do note that each tribe brought exactly the same thing. It's fair. I am also curious about how they decided which tribe presented on which day. It's not by age and it doesn't say.  I am also struck by a celebration lasting 12 days. What celebration in our culture lasts 12 days? None that I can think of. The longest thing I can think of in our culture is the county fair which lasts for a week.  I continue to remind myself that all of these offerings speak to the holiness of God and a greater understanding, albeit it a nanoparticle, of the import of Jesus' death on the cross. 

  Numbers 4 - 6 What is the significance of being ceremonially unclean? It doesn't sound quite like a sin.  What's this whole test for an unfaithful wife? It reminds me of the Salem witch trials. If you drink dust off the floor (even of the tabernacle) and whatever they used for ink in those days, it just might make ya sick. And why doesn't the man have to be held to account for jealousy if his wife had done nothing wrong. This is just weird. It reminds me of the sticks that Jacob put in the animal throughs so that he became wealthy. That didn't make any sense either.  The part of the Nazarite is interesting to me. When we get to Samson, he will be dedicated as a Nazarite since birth. I do feel like we are missing some pieces of the puzzle here. What is the significance of being a Nazarite? 

Leviticus 26 - Numbers 3   In today's reading, I just noticed that one place it says not to count the Levites, but later, it says the Levites numbered 22,000 males. 

  Leviticus 23 - 25 In 23:39, the festival is to be celebrated for 7 days. In our culture, I cannot think of any recurring 7 day festival. It seems to me that we are focused on getting back to business rather than taking time off. Christmas Day actually starts the 12 days of the Christmas season, but, it has become the end day.  I have always found blasphemy difficult to define/understand. So I looked it up:  Blasphemy The Year of Jubilee seems to be a kind of economic system. I don't think the Year of Jubilee was ever celebrated/observed.  "help them  as you would a foreigner and stranger" This reminds me of the exact opposite behavior of Sodom and Gomorrah regarding Lot's visitors. They did not extend help and hospitality. 

Leviticus 20 - 22   I was wondering if there was any current religion of Molech. A quick google search reports debate about if Molech was a god or a specific form of sacrifice. I guess the answer to my question is no.  If a man marries his brother's wife, he has dishonored his brother. But in the time of Jacob, we read that his grandson's died because they did not fulfill the duty of to the brother-in-law to their brother's widow and produce children for him. I wonder if this practice was called something different than marriage? Still, in looking at that passage, a man couldn't marry a living brother's wife because then she would have 2 husbands. This culture had multiple wives, but not multiple husbands.  Sacrifices of the food of God. I find this an interesting idea. It had not crossed my mind.  No man, of Aaron's descendants, with a "defect" may present food offerings to the Lord. Definitely, different from today's stress on inclusion. Why coul...

Leviticus 17 - 19   Here it says not to have sexual relations with your sister, either your mother's daughter or your father's daughter. Yet, Abraham married Sarah who was his half sister. What changed?  "Do not take your wife’s sister  as a rival wife and have sexual relations" Yet, Jacob married both Leah and Rachel, 2 sisters within weeks of each other. Also, here we have the word "rival." I have heard them called "sister wives." Is there a difference? 

Leviticus 14 - 16   This passage continues with rituals, many of which are just plain gross by today's standards: killing animals and then doing things with the blood. I have been thinking about rituals and the meaning behind them. We need both. For me, much of the meaning behind the rituals are lost, but I do glimpse the holy sanctity of God.