Upcoming Event; Daily Bible Reading: July 21st- 27th
Date Added: 7/21/2008 4:42:29 PM Upcoming Event: FREE seminar about the 'Shack' book- Why The Controversy?
You are invited to A FREE seminar about a book by William P. Young called the 'Shack' - Why The Controversy?
When: Thursday July 31, 2008: 7:00PM with Q&A from 8:00-9:00PM
Matt Slick, who hosts the KSPD radio show 'Faith and Reason', will present information addressing the controversial issues regarding the 'Shack' book featuring provocative audio clips of his radio interview with the 'Shack' author William P. Young. Dr. Harper of Intermountain Christian News will also share his experience talking with the author.
This is a FREE event!
Location: Hosted by Calvary Baptist Church, 911 S. Cole Rd., Boise, Idaho.
Matt Slick's radio show 'Faith and Reason' is heard Monday-Friday 6-7PM (Mountain Standard Time) on KSPD radio 790AM. View his web site at: http://www.carm.org/radio/radio.htm
For more information, contact Dr. Harper in Boise at (208) 703-8688 or via web at: http://www.imcnews.org or via e-mail at: drharper@afo.net
Daily Bible Reading: July 21st -27th
Date: July 21
Reading: Numbers 7:60-89
The twelve days of dedication for the altar come to a completion at the end of chapter 7. Day after day, each prince of the tribes of Israel, brought his offering for the dedication service. Each brought silver and golden utensils and bowls. Each brought a meat offering, incense, a bull, ram and lamb for a burnt offering. Each brought a goat for a sin offering. And, each brought two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs for a peace offering. What a tremendous amount of items and number of animals that were brought. The total amount is given for us in verses 84 – 88. The amount is almost overwhelming.
God is not interested in those kinds of sacrifices and offerings from us today. He wants the sacrifices of praise and the offering of a pure and willing heart. Seek God and ask Him for the kind of heart He desires you to have. Give God the praise He deserves.
Date: July 22
Reading: Numbers 8:1-26
All having been dedicated over the past 12 days, it was now time to institute the Levitical priests for service in the sanctuary of the tabernacle. In this chapter, the instruction for that cleansing service was given, and the service was done. The Levites, a people set aside within Israel by God, were now ready to carry out their duties within the tabernacle.
All must be clean and holy to come before God. That is why the special cleansing and sacrifices had to be done for the Levites so that they could participate in any such activities for the people. We know, however, that there is nothing we can do by our selves to actually make us clean enough before God. We are all affected and made unclean by sin. Only through Jesus Christ can we be found acceptable before God.
The cleansing of these Levites was for a time of service. The cleansing we can receive in Jesus Christ is for all eternity.
Date: July 23
Reading: Numbers 9:1-23
On the first day of the first month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, the tabernacle was finished and all set up. In the 7th chapter of this book, we read how they had a 12 day dedication period for the tabernacle and especially for the altar. Now the 14th day of the first month is approaching and that is the anniversary of the night that all the first born of Egypt were killed and when Pharaoh told the Israelites to leave his land. This is the anniversary of the Great Exodus, when God brought Israel out of Egypt.
You probably remember that Israel had a special feast that night in Egypt. They were told to kill a lamb and spread its blood on their doorposts and on the overhead part of the door. That blood protected their household from being struck by God and the killing of their firstborn children and animals. That was the Passover event and the meal they ate that night was the Passover meal. Now, a year later, they are being reminded to eat this Passover meal as the Lord instructed them to do.
The Passover Meal is not a command that we, as Christians, are instructed to follow. But, there are other commands that God has given to us to follow that remind us of the perfect Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ. In particular, we have the Lord’s Supper that we are to partake in on a regular basis. You read about the last Passover supper that Jesus had with His disciples before His death when you read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Lord’s Supper of the New Testament Church is rooted in the Passover and based on this last meal Jesus had with His disciples.
The Passover Meal of the Old Testament reminded the Israelites of their great deliverance from bondage in Egypt. The Lord’s Supper of the New Testament reminds us of our great deliverance, through Jesus Christ, from the bondage of sin.
Date: July 24
Reading: Numbers 10:1-36
With such a large crowd of people there needed to be a communication device to alert the people to many different things. They needed to be brought together as an assembly at times and they needed to be alerted to war at times. Thus, God instructed Moses to make two silver trumpets that would be blown and give the different signals for the people.
After having camped for many months and building all the tabernacle, it is finally time to move on in their journey toward the land of Canaan. Thus, Moses had the trumpets blown and the signal given to assemble and prepare to leave. What we read about in several of the previous chapters begins to take place as the different groups responsible for breaking down and carrying the tabernacle begin to work. This again would be an exciting time for Israel as the finally get to move on in their journey.
Our spiritual lives can be like this as well. We can feel like we are settled in and doing the same type of thing over and over again. Maybe this is all that God has planned for us. Then, the time comes when God tells us to move on to another project or place. We need to be ready to hear God’s voice as He directs us in our Spiritual “journey” in Him. His primary way of communicating with us will always be through the reading of His Word.
Date: July 25
Reading: Numbers 11:1-35
The children of Israel are on the move after such a long delay. Yet, what happens? They complain. God was very angry that the people would complain and He brought fire to the edges of their camp and killed some of the people in that area. This, of course, got the people’s attention and they cried out to Moses to call upon God to stop. Moses did pray to God and He put out the fire.
What the people complained about in verse 1, I am not sure. But they are complaining again in verse4 because they have to eat the manna and do not have any meat to eat. You probably remember reading about how God began bringing the manna to the Israelites after they complained about not having food. That story was told in Exodus 16.
Now, that manna has been feeding them day after day for months. It has been a tremendous miracle, and the people now begin complaining about it. They do not want just the wafers of manna, they want meat to eat. God promises them meat, alright. He makes so much quail fly into the camp that it is piled up 2 cubits (about 3 feet) high inside the camp and outside the camp. God told Moses that He was going to make them eat so much quail over the next month that it would “come out of their nostrils, and be loathsome” to them (see vs. 20).
Even in God’s wrath He has a sense of humor. It’s as if God is saying, “You want to have some meat? I’ll give you meat. Here, have some quail. Have some more, and some more, and some more. Oh, you’re full? Good, have some more.” The point God is making with the people is that they need to be content with what He provides. He knows what is best for us and His provision is always sufficient. Pray to God for a content heart toward all His provisions in your life.
Date: July 26
Reading: Numbers 12:1-16
Man is filled with pride and it rises up at different times and in different ways. In this chapter, the pride of Aaron and Miriam comes to the surface and leads them to say things against Moses. Verse one tells us that Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses because he married an Ethiopian woman. That is, he married a woman outside of the children of Israel. However, that statement was rooted in something much deeper. That was only the surface complaint to try and discredit Moses. The real complaint was that Aaron and Miriam wanted more recognition for what they have done for the Lord and for the children of Israel.
Verse 2 tells us what was really burning in their hearts and minds. Here we read them saying, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath He not spoken also by us?”
Aaron and Miriam are saying, “pay more attention to us.”
You might remember that Aaron and Miriam are the older brother and sister of Moses. It was Miriam who watched the little baby Moses as he floated in the basket. It was Miriam who bravely approached the Egyptian princess after Moses was discovered and offered to find a nurse maid for the baby. Aaron was the older brother who God called to be the spokesperson for Moses when Moses resisted God’s initial call upon him to lead the children of Israel.
Yes, Aaron and Miriam have been important people in all this process. Yet, God has chosen Moses above them to remain the identified leader of Israel as a nation. That choice has come to bother Aaron and Miriam to the point that they begin to speak out against Moses. God is not about to let division in Israel’s leadership take place. So He calls all three to the door of the tabernacle and sets the record straight. God tells them that it is true that He has spoken through others, but with Moses He speaks “mouth to mouth.” That is, He meets with Moses in a much more personal way – a way that they will never know on earth.
God detests pride and the undercutting of authority by others. Pray to God to keep your heart humble and to have a spirit of meekness and learning as Moses did.
Date: July 27
Reading: Numbers 13:1-33
Israel has journeyed directly to the outskirts of the land of Canaan which the Lord has promised to give them. They know that it will involve battles so they send in spies to search out the land. Moses chooses 12 men, one from each tribe to be on the spy campaign to Canaan. Two of these men we will want to take special note of. They are Caleb of the tribe of Judah and Oshea of the tribe of Ephraim. Verse 16 tells us that Moses changes Oshea’s name to Jehoshua. We will come to know this man as Joshua, a great leader of Israel.
Even though God has promised this land to the Israelites, He still requires them to go through all the natural processes to obtain it. They are going to have to spy out the land, battle the inhabitants and trust in God for the victory. God has promised us victory over our enemies in this world. These include those that hate us because we are Christians. It includes temptations from this world and our own sinful nature. Just like these Israelites, we will have to engage the evil in this world and overcome it in faith in God. Pray to God for the faith to overcome the evil of this world.
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