Reading the Bible Through

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...

 Today's reading:  Genesis 47 - 50 & Exodus 1 I am definitely noticing that these Sunday readings are long ones! Here we move from Genesis to Exodus.  As Jacob blesses each of his sons near the end of his life I find this an odd custom. It must have been a custom as Isaac also blessed Jacob & Esau.  Also, it says that Jacob is telling his sons what will happen to them in the days to come. How did he know? Is it accurate? Also, what is the meaning of blessing here? Rueben's, because he slept with his father's concubine, doesn't sound like a blessing to me.  As I look at the time frame for the mourning of the death of Jacob, I am so saddened by the American response to death. Often, if a workplace gives bereavement it's only 3 days. There is a general feeling of we must get back to work and forge on. Grief doesn't work like that. Sometimes it's okay to be busy, but it's also okay to mourn and cry as well. There is no specific time that grief should...