My Bible Journey: Week of March 16, 2008

Numbers 24:1 - “The Lord was determined to bless Israel.”
24:9b - “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel, and cursed is everyone who curses you.”
24:25-25 - Balaam prophesies Israel’s future: a sceptre/star will rise among them, and they will crush all their enemies by the will of God.
25:1-9 - sometimes you have to take a spear to sin
25:16 - deceit is considered an assault
26:51 - “registered troops” now totals 601,730
26:52 - the numbering is how the land was parceled out
26:64 - “Not one person on this list had been among those listed in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai.”
27:1-8 - inheritance rights
27:15-16 - good ol’ Moses, still concerned about the people even after just being told by God he’s about to die. Now that’s an example of a great minister.
28-29 - the Lord has Moses reinforce the means and methods of sacrificial offerings
30:1-16 - when taking vows, men are to fulfill them, no exceptions. when taking vows, women can be restricted by their fathers or husbands from fulfilling the vow, in which case they are not held accountable for breaking the vow, it is nullified.
31:1-8 - revenge on Midian for their deceit (from chapter 25)
31:9-20 - my paraphrase: “you morons, you destroyed everything/everyone except for the very ones who led you to sin? How dumb can you be?”
31:25-50 - things that make you go “Huh?”
32 - in order to see their own desires fulfilled, Gad and Reuben were willing to take the lead in doing the work that needed to be done.
33:1-49 - didn’t get very far in 40 years did they? you don’t make progress outside of the Lord’s will.
35:10-15 - the beginnings of “innocent ’til proven guilty.”
35:19 - Another reason to be thankful we live under grace: “The victim’s nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the avenger must put the murderer to death.” I couldn’t do this.
35:33 - “murder pollutes the land”
Luke 2:11 - there’s no doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of Israel and mankind.
2:25 - in every generation, there is a Simeon
2:35 - in every generation, there is an Anna
2:49 - where else would we find Jesus?
3:4-6 - this is what the coming of Jesus has done, the complexity of coming to God through the LAW has been replaced by coming to the Father only through the Son.
3:15-18 - even then, the consuming fire was foretold
3:21-22 - I asked this before, but how do the modalists explain this away?
3:23-38 - it would be so cool to trace my lineage back to Adam!
4:13 - makes you wonder how many times Satan tried to tempt Jesus over the years.
4:28-29 - even from the beginning of His ministry they tried to silence Him and kill Him.
4:34 - one of the differences between demonkind and mankind is that demons won’t lie to themselves. They recognize who is really on the throne and lie to us to turn away from Him. They are incapable of lying to themselves, because they know the truth beyond doubt as to who their Creator is and from where they came.
4:38 - I wonder why we never hear anything about Peter’s wife?
4:42 - “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God”
5:10 - What we need to tell new disciples: “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”
5:26 - “We have seen amazing things today!”
Psalm 59:10 - “In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me.”
59:16-17 - “But as for me, I will sing about your power.
Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.
For you have been my refuge,
a place of safety when I am in distress.
O my Strength, to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.”
60:12 - “With God’s help we will do mighty things,”
62:6 - “He alone is my rock and my salvation,”
63 - O God, I thirst for You.
64:10 - those who do right will praise God
65:5 - “You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds,”
Proverbs 11:17 - “Your kindness will reward you,
but your cruelty will destroy you.”
11:22 - HAH! “A beautiful woman who lacks discretion
is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.”