The reading for Thursday, February 9, 2023 , is Numbers 13 - 15

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 seems harsh. However, when I think about cutting off my hand if it causes me to sin, it puts it in a different perspective for me: keeping the whole body/people of Israel as God commands. 


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