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Category: Pentateuch Genesis-Deuteronomy

IN THE BEGINNING… Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy – Pentateuch [5 books] It’s the LAW of GOD!
Forgive us our trespasses. Jesus teaches many lessons from these books of the Bible and we have forgotten MANY of the issues and applications to our 21st century life. How can you SHARE from the beginning of the Bible with your SOCIAL ‘Friends’ and talk of Jesus as Lord? Please TITLE your post by the topic, not the verse. Include links to scriptures and helpful references. — Please post or tell us in a COMMENT how you talk of Jesus through this topic and these Old Testament scriptures.

  • What do I do with this? – Law

    What do I do with this? – Law

    “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. Deuteronomy 11:1

    Think of our everyday life as a brief journey to a place of which we have only dreamed. How do I get there? (I don’t even truly know where I am now?) I know God wants me in a different place today than where I failed so miserably in sin yesterday.

    Adam failed to follow just one law in Eden. Abraham obeyed God to become a sojourner to a promised land, a sort of new Eden from where the chosen people of God would be fruitful and multiply from a place of a new righteousness.

    Moses, raised as an Egyptian prince, lived a comfortable life and at a comfortable time in life (80 years old) God commands, ‘Go back to Egypt. You will lead My people to the land I promised to Abraham.’

    Again, suppose you are Moses in that ‘comfortable’ place in life; or suppose you are no prince at all and slave away in that terrible workplace so out of your control. You struggle to find a way to lead your loved ones through this drudgery – you have just what you need, but your daily life is far distant from a dream of promise.

    God says, ‘Get ready to follow my chosen leader to the place of impossible dream.’ (Of course with God, all things are possible for those who believe. Mark 9:23) Moses returns and says, ‘The Lord says, ‘Follow me. I will make a way for you.’”

    Will you do it?

    Miracles in the land which convince even unbelievers, then the sea parts and you escape. The LORD IS all-powerful. It is the LORD, “I AM,” who leads.

    Exodus 3:13-16 KJV

    And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

    And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

    And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

    Now that we have GOD on our side – we have followed the LORD through the sea, of reeds and have HIS POWER – we will do great things for God.

    Let’s take the short cut. We will lead GOD to our promised land.

    Isn’t that how we would do it? Yet would the place of promise not then be polluted with that same sin of ours (never mind the evil of our enemies we will defeat)? Wouldn’t the promised land then be no different than when Israel (Jacob) led us to Egypt only to have the generations of promise enslaved?

    The LORD has a plan for the faithful: 

    God’s LAW and COMMANDMENT of righteousness.

    I AM,  ‘el yĕshuw`ah Yahh Yĕhovah

    Seven generations (of 60-year lifetimes, 430 years) the Hebrew people had lived in Egypt with scant knowledge of God and NO LAW of God to guide them.

    The righteousness expected by GOD of man made in His Image is forever etched in stone to be spoken into our heart. TEN WORDS – Ten Commandments.

    How can man live in righteousness? How can man live in community? How can we live as family in marriage?

    How can I be God-like without knowing the high standard of the Judge of all men, the Ruler of all creation? What is the will of God?

    “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! Deuteronomy 5:29

    Instruction in Righteousness

    Deuteronomy 5: HCSB sinai GOD speaks

    1. Do not have other gods besides Me.
    2. Do not make an idol for yourself…
    3. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God…
    4. Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the LORD your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work… (not 5; not 7)
    5. Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you…
    6. Do not murder. (Includes babies created and conceived in the mother’s womb.)
    7. Do not commit adultery. (Includes women, though scripture points to the man.)
    8. Do not steal.
    9. Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor. (Against anyone. Do not lie: as a witness in your words or by the witness of your life.)
    10. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife or desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

    Ten Commands – Laws of the Land – God’s righteousness by which to judge.

    Are these not applicable in your household, your state, our nation?

    “If in this time of evil and place of slavery to sin, Supreme Justices of a land of promise add immorality to the covenant of Sinai, will we not perish in a wilderness of our disobedience?

    In our homes and our personal lives we fail to keep the Commandments, especially those which put the LORD GOD first and above all other things.

    You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength and all your soul. – Deuteronomy 6:5 (and other instructions in the books of Scripture)

    “Be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left. – Deuteronomy 5:32

    To be continued…

  • What do I do with this? – LORD

    What do I do with this? – LORD

    All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16 KJV

    Don’t we ever-so-briefly ask of our Bible verses and stories: “What do I do with this?” Of course we do. And if it is true of Jesus’ parables and illustrations of teaching God’s doctrine, reproof of His Disciples and correction of Pharisees, we certainly ask ourselves about righteousness – instruction on HOW to apply the LAW and the Ten Commandments. (Of course Christ Jesus also shed great light on the Law for us with perfect instruction recorded in the Gospels.)

    Once again let’s put the giving of the Law into the context of when and how God gave the Law to Moses.

    King TutFor a brief moment imagine in the 20th century that some brilliant archaeologist exploring the pyramids of ancient Egypt had made the discovery of a lifetime: instead of finding the royal sarcophagus of King Tut from just three centuries before King David of Israel, he unearthed an even older tomb of a Pharaoh God-King of the ancient Egypt which dominated their world like a later Rome. hieroglyphsAnd the hieroglyphs read: Pharaoh Moses!

    Even though the fantastic scenario above is pure fiction; in fact, Moses was born into a royal household, raised as a prince of Egypt and could have realistically become the new Pharaoh of Egypt upon the death of the Pharaoh familiar to us in the book of Exodus.

    Had Moses (at age forty) not chosen to identify himself with his Hebrew blood of the line of Egypt’s great savior Joseph, who ruled under an earlier Pharaoh, Moses could just as well have ruled the Egyptian Empire from which he was forced to flee.

    Once comfortable in the household of a King, Moses flees to Midian; he marries, works and has a family. Things are going pretty good again for a middle class Moses in Midian. [Exodus 2]

    Moses names their first son, Gershom, which means, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” Moses has lived a good life for eighty years.

    If we think of our everyday life as a brief journey to a place of which we have only dreamed, then Moses had left the palace of dreams and settled for an ordinary life in a new place. (Even Abraham’s journey did not end in Eden.) Eighty years, a wife and kids, a job, a home… a good life for Moses – and then God finally shows up and says something like, “Go back to Egypt. You, Moses, are headed on an unexpected journey.” (Just like Abraham.)

    Moses burning bush “I AM the LORD your God. I have something in mind here for you and your descendants.” (Sound familiar?) [Exodus 3]

    I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

    3:6  וַיֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב וַיַּסְתֵּר מֹשֶׁה פָּנָיו כִּי יָרֵא מֵהַבִּיט אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃

    ‘elohiym ‘ab ‘elohiym  ‘Abraham ‘elohiym Yitschaq ‘elohiym Ya`aqob

    Before the fire of the LORD in the bush, where ‘elohiym instructs Moses that he is on holy ground, GOD comes to an eighty year old shepherd with instructions.

    How many times has the LORD asked you to do something after you were in the comfortable place?

    Or again, how many times have your own misguided plans brought you to your knees before the LORD asking, ‘Where did I go wrong? What do I do now… Lord? Where do I go with this? Show me the way… please… Lord?’

    And ALL is silent… No answer (even for eighty years). And again we cry out to the LORD.

    And the Lord is faithful in His answer. Yet we do not like it. It is not the ‘comfort’ we expected. In fact, it makes us even more uncomfortable and will require even more faith than we believe possible – faith to ‘believe God’ and have it counted as righteousness.

    +

    Exodus 3: 13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

    14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

    +

    What next? (Isn’t that always the question from the comfortable place or the house of desperation?) What next, Lord?

    How can the LORD instruct you in His Law of Righteousness unless you are obedient to allow the LORD to lead you to next place of the LORD’s choosing?

    To be continued…

  • Reflections: Israel – a people

    Reflections: Israel – a people

    Genesis 32: “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

    28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

    When you hear ‘Israel,’ think ‘Jacob.’

    When you read Jacob after Genesis 32, remember GOD has renamed him Israel. When you read of the sons of Jacob, recall appropriately that we refer to the generations of the man Israel, born to one of his wives. (We won’t get into all that here.)

    Jacob’s Children 

    [partial list]

    • Genesis 29:32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben

    Genesis 29:35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

    • Genesis 30:5  And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
    • Genesis 30:10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
    • Genesis 30:17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
    • Genesis 30:21 Afterward she [Leah] bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
    • 22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

    God made a covenant with Abram and renamed him Abraham. God saved Isaac, son of Abraham from the human sacrifice of blood on the altar of faith. God provided the substitute offering to be slain on the mountain of God. The LORD chose Abraham from among all tribes. The LORD chose Isaac, son of Sarah, over Ishmael, son of Hagar. And the LORD chose Jacob over his twin brother Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah. The LORD renamed Jacob, Israel.

    The LORD chose Joseph, son of Israel and Rachel, to save God’s chosen people along with saving the people of Egypt (of Hagar) and many other peoples. The LORD chose Joseph over Reuben or even Judah, oldest sons of Israel; sons of Israel’s first bride, yet sons of Leah, bride given to Jacob by deceit of Laban, father of Leah and Rachel. Along with their servants, it was the LORD’s will to make Israel father of many nations in a place contested until the end of days.

    Whether Judah, Benjamin or sons of Joseph, remember Israel is a people more than a place: chosen sons and daughters of the LORD.

    We have already explored the rebellion of the Hebrew people even as Moses led them by the Hand of the Almighty from the slavery of Egypt. We have already witnessed their covenant to obey God’s Law: the Ten Commandments.

    We have heard a later warning of Elijah to divided nations of Israel and Judah of the consequence of disobedience to the LORD their God.

    What happened to God’s chosen Kings? What happened to God’s chosen Nation? Why did Israel become divided? Why did their Kings suffer defeat?

    Why did they not follow the Law and obey God? (For that matter: are we, sons and daughters of adoption, saints of Christ’s church, so much better in these last days?)

    What happens when the LORD chooses His family and we become prodigal sons?

    To be continued…