Day 111
Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12, Luke 20:27-21:4, Psalm 49:1-20
A bit of a big day today! The end of a book, but more importantly, the end of an era, the death of Moses.
We see Moses blessing the whole nation. It would be like someone standing up and saying a few words about the Yorkshireman, the Cumbrian, the Lancastrian and the Londoner. These are words of blessing on every tribe and they will not be forgotten. When Moses dies we hear it said of him that no prophet will rise up that will be greater than him. He was the greatest and so when he spoke words of blessing over a tribe, these are words that the tribe will repeat for the rest of their lives, to this very day. We have seen many words of doom during the reading of Deuteronomy but it ends on a highish note - words of blessing before the telling of the death of Moses. Words that are about the tribe and words that are about the tribes relationship with the Lord. I wonder what would be said for half the people of our nations today.
After the blessing Moses climbs the Mount Nebo. He must have had very heavy feet as he climbed that mountain for he knew what was to happen. There was however one small consolation, he was to see the land that the people were to inherit. At first reading this seemed rather cruel, he can't actually make it into the promised land, but God shows him anyway. If however you have led these people for forty years, you are going to want to know what the future holds for them and so God gives him a sneak peak.
The fact that Moses had to die because he rebelled against the Lord seems harsh, it seems rather Old Testament! But then I read the bit about Moses burial. "He buried him". There are only two people in this passage. Moses and God and Moses is dead. So God buried Moses, he didn't just smite him and walk away, he took Moses and carefully laid him to rest, in a place where he would get eternal rest for no-one knew where it was. You can imagine God shedding a tear as this devoted (except one mishap) subject dies. And so Moses is dead and Joshua takes over and tomorrow we begin the book that bears his name and we move on to the next leg of the journey.
We must remember what the people of Israel sometimes forgot. The leader may have changed but the God of the people remains the same and all things continue in His name.
A bit of a big day today! The end of a book, but more importantly, the end of an era, the death of Moses.
We see Moses blessing the whole nation. It would be like someone standing up and saying a few words about the Yorkshireman, the Cumbrian, the Lancastrian and the Londoner. These are words of blessing on every tribe and they will not be forgotten. When Moses dies we hear it said of him that no prophet will rise up that will be greater than him. He was the greatest and so when he spoke words of blessing over a tribe, these are words that the tribe will repeat for the rest of their lives, to this very day. We have seen many words of doom during the reading of Deuteronomy but it ends on a highish note - words of blessing before the telling of the death of Moses. Words that are about the tribe and words that are about the tribes relationship with the Lord. I wonder what would be said for half the people of our nations today.
After the blessing Moses climbs the Mount Nebo. He must have had very heavy feet as he climbed that mountain for he knew what was to happen. There was however one small consolation, he was to see the land that the people were to inherit. At first reading this seemed rather cruel, he can't actually make it into the promised land, but God shows him anyway. If however you have led these people for forty years, you are going to want to know what the future holds for them and so God gives him a sneak peak.
The fact that Moses had to die because he rebelled against the Lord seems harsh, it seems rather Old Testament! But then I read the bit about Moses burial. "He buried him". There are only two people in this passage. Moses and God and Moses is dead. So God buried Moses, he didn't just smite him and walk away, he took Moses and carefully laid him to rest, in a place where he would get eternal rest for no-one knew where it was. You can imagine God shedding a tear as this devoted (except one mishap) subject dies. And so Moses is dead and Joshua takes over and tomorrow we begin the book that bears his name and we move on to the next leg of the journey.
We must remember what the people of Israel sometimes forgot. The leader may have changed but the God of the people remains the same and all things continue in His name.
hey phil, dan here again :)
ReplyDeletei should of asked this a while ago when we were on the topic, but the parable of the mustard seed Mat13 v31, the seed represents the kindom of god and how it grows within us but the kindom of god.... is this like our salvation or love for christ that grows?
I have also been a tad ambitious with my bible and read a few letters in the new testament and in 1corinthians 11 vs18 it says that there must be "divisions" within the church so that we can see gods approval. this puzzles me kind of, as isn't the church suppose to be friendly and socialise with sinners yet were are suppose to have the divisions?
i have a lot to say dont i? haha. finally in 2 timothy 3 vs 12 "now in fact all who want to live godly lives in christ jesus will be persecuted." if we aren't being bullied enough because of jesus, are we not living his name out enough?
tomorows readings are good about the end of time are good as is josh. but a while ago with the church in the barn, they had a group of israeli, palestinian kids over from israel who are messianic jews. but the guy who took them over was a farmer from carlisle who i got into deep conversation with about the end of time with graham emmerson while sledging at midnight on top of the golf course. he told lots of stories about jerusalem and israel and backed up with prophesies from the bible. towards the end he said he believes that the second coming will be in our life time. if this is so, shouldn't we be getting into the mix (in a nice way, not to cause more havoc) and using the prophesies to save more people?.....
sorry for all the questions but you may have like the last story :) proves the holy spirit can teach anywhere at any time :D. have a good bible study and il hopefully see you christmas eve :)
dan x
oh yeah....your thinking bout not coming to soul survivor this year???? dude, what are you thinking? you were fantastic and look where you have helped got me!!!!....... !
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of ways of looking at the Kingdom of God in this passage. There is the tack that you have taken, the Kingdom in us and I would plump for that being the love of Christ and even the Holy Spirit, letting it change us (look especially at the next part of the passage - the yeast and dough.
ReplyDeleteThe second way to look at it, is to go down the line of the Kingdom in the world. When we spread the love of Christ, when we live out the Gospel, living as if we are in the Kingdom, then we spread the Kingdom ever wider. Like the seed, it will grow into something massive and like the yeast, it will change the whole dough.
Moving on to Corinthians, the passage in particular is one that is addressed to the church in Corinth because they were getting it very wrong. The divisions in v18 are a bad thing, Paul says that he "has no praise for them" becasue of this. When you move on to v19, differences to show who has God's favour, note that it is a different word. It's as if these differences are so we can tell who is walking with God, just like we might note that some Christians are only really talking about it and not actually walking with Christ. It is these differences that show us who is with God.
Going on to Timothy, we know "that all scripture is God breathed" and can be applied to us today but we also need to remember that the letters are written to certain people in a certain context. Like Corinthians above was written to a church in a certain place to address specific problems. The early Christians were going through persecuition left, right and centre and so this letter was giving them a boost, letting them know it is not in vain, it is not punishment from God, it is what happens in that time and place to Christians. When we are persecuted today we can take comfort from these words but we thankfully live in different times so it is not a requirement to be persecuted.
As for the end of time, "it will come like a thief in the night". No one knows when or how. I noticed that you refered to yesterdays readings and I think they should be your base mark. People will come proclaiming the end times and we need to be on our gaurd. I don't know the chap you are talking about so can't comment on him but would always go to yesterdays readings and be aware. Always pray, always refer it back to God, and always always check whether these things are God speaking.
Taking it to the next level, whenver it comes we should always be ready for it to come today. Right now and so we should always live our lives as if it is to come. Not sure what you mean by getting in the mix, but social action is part of what we are called to by the Gospel if that is what you mean.
As for soul survivor, no decision made. Watch this space.