1 Samuel

 I really enjoy reading 1 Samuel. I think it has a little bit of everything in it. Over the last year or so I feel like I have written or talked about Saul and David many times, so when I read it this time my focus wasn't really on them. I know that is kind of hard to do, especially when you read the second half of the book. But, I found myself really focusing on Samuel this time around. I found myself trying to see things from his perspective. I also thought that the daily reading plan really helped me when I was reading, but I will get to that part later.  A lot of times when we are reading a story from either 1 or 2 Samuel, we really can't remember who Samuel was. So that is where I want to start. Let's take a look at 1 Samuel chapter 1. 

Chapter 1

Elkanah and His Family

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. ² Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.

Is it just me or does every other story in the Old Testament start out with a woman who can't have children? I know that's an exaggeration, but I know that we have heard that before. What I love about those stories is they always seem to have a faithful woman who loves God. Hannah was very upset about not having any children and so she took her pain to God, this is what it says in 1 Samuel 1:9-18

Hannah’s Prayer for a Son

⁹ Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. ¹⁰ Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. ¹¹ And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” ¹² As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. ¹³ Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. ¹⁴ “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” ¹⁵ “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. ¹⁶ Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” ¹⁷ “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” ¹⁸ “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. 

When I read this, I try to imagine what Hannah looked like as she prayed. The priest Eli thought she was drunk, so it had to be at least a little out of the ordinary. The other thing I think about is how passionate she had to have been. To be honest it makes me feel like a failure at prayer. I don't think I have ever prayed so hard that I looked like I had been drinking. But I think I have had issues come up that I prayed about that needed a passionate prayer. It goes to back to all of the times I have mentioned faith the size of a mustard seed. If I had more faith, I would be able to pray passionately because I would know that God would hear me and answer my prayer. I know you might be thinking that God might say no to those prayers, but I keep thinking that if I could pray like that and have more faith, my wants would align with what God wants. I also wish I could see her face when it says that she is no longer sad. I think she had some pep in her step and a smile that people could see but couldn't figure out. So, let's see what happens next in 1 Samuel 1:19-20.

¹⁹ The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, ²⁰ and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.” 

Hannah then kept her promise in verses 24-27

24 When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD. 27 I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” And they worshiped the LORD there.

Chapter two of 1 Samuel is mostly Hannah's prayer of praise to God and then in chapter 3, God speaks to Samuel. I want to focus on the end of chapter 3, starting in verse 19.

19 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle. 4:1 And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel. 

So now it has been established that Samuel is a leader for the people of Israel. That brings us to chapter four, the Israelites are once again fighting against the Philistines. Something strange happens, the Israelite's lose. They come up with a master plan on how to go back and win again. They are going to bring out the Ark of the Covenant. When the crowd saw what was happening, they cheered, and the Philistines got scared. Everything was going according to plan. Let's look at how the Philistines reacted in 1 Samuel 4:6-9.

6 “What’s going on?” the Philistines asked. “What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?” When they were told it was because the Ark of the LORD had arrived, 7 they panicked. “The gods have come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! 8 Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 9 Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!”

Everyone knew what was going to happen, this was the beginning of the Israelites winning the war and the Philistines going away scared, never to return.

Except, that's not what happened.

Let's look at the next few verses.

10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed. 

I don't understand, how could this happen? They did everything they were supposed to do.

I'm going to jump over chapters 5 and 6, but I highly recommend reading them. It's an amazing story of how God made sure that the Philistines returned the Ark.  But I want to focus on why the Israelites lost the battle. To figure that out we need to jump to chapter 7.

1 Samuel 7:3-17

Samuel Leads Israel to Victory

³ Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord. ⁵ Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)

It all gets clear now. They wanted God to save them, but they were worshiping other gods the whole time. Samuel had to set them straight. They had to get rid of everything not pleasing to God, they had to fast, and they also had to confess their sins. What a lesson that is! We want God to fight our battles for us every day, but we want to worship other things, and go on sinning all we want. Then when it doesn't go our way, we ask God what happened. I wish this was a moment when I was talking to everyone but me, but sadly, I am guilty of this way too often. I stay up all day watching baseball, run out of time, I quickly read a few sentences in my bible and say a two-minute prayer and then I can't figure out why God seems distant lately. I try to convince him that I did everything I am supposed to do, but it doesn't work. 

So now that Samuel has gotten them straightened out, what happens? Let's continue in chapter 7.

⁷ When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. ⁸ “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. ⁹ So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. ¹¹ The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way. ¹² Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!” ¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines. ¹⁴ The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days. ¹⁵ Samuel continued as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life. ¹⁶ Each year he traveled around, setting up his court first at Bethel, then at Gilgal, and then at Mizpah. He judged the people of Israel at each of these places. ¹⁷ Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too. And Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.

 Ok, so now we are ready to live happily ever after! Everyone has learned their lesson and we are good now. So, let's see what happens in chapter 8.

Chapter 8

Israel Requests a King

As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. ³ But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice. ⁴ Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” ⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. ⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. ⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. ⁹ Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

What? The person who led you his whole life is telling you that you shouldn't do something, but they still want to go do it. I feel like we can learn at least 3-4 lessons here. First of all, if your kids are still in your care, make sure that you discipline them. The role of the parent is never over. Two, make sure you have someone who can take care of the next generation. It's sad but I think we have all seen it way too many times. Someone in a family passes away and the family falls apart. Third, put as many Godly people in your life as possible, and when they give advice, listen! I know that there are always exceptions, but if all of the Godly people in your life are saying the same thing, I don't know that you should go against it. 

Now, maybe after he warns them about what a king will do they will change their minds. Let's see what happens as we continue in chapter 8.

Samuel Warns against a Kingdom

¹⁰ So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. ¹² Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. ¹³ The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. ¹⁴ He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. ¹⁷ He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.” ¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. ²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” 

Can you imagine being told all of those things and still deciding to it? In verse 17 it specifically says, you will be his slaves. Their ancestors spent 400 years as slaves and ended up having to cry out to God for help. Now here you are being told by a very reliable source that you will be a slave again and they still do it. Let's see what God says in verses 21 and 22.

 ²¹ So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, ²² and the Lord replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home. 

Every time I read this; I feel like a child who has disappointed his parents. I read it and I feel like God is lowering his head and walking away disappointed in me. At first, it seems as if God is caught off guard by all of this. I don't know why I feel that way, if you think about it, that doesn't even make any sense. Then I remember something that gives me hope. For those of you that are following in the daily reading plan, go back to March 17th. Let's see what Deuteronomy 17:14-20 says.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Guidelines for a King

¹⁴ “You are about to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there, you may think, ‘We should select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.’ ¹⁵ If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner. ¹⁶ “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ ¹⁷ The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. ¹⁸ “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. ²⁰ This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.

Even if you only read verse 14, I feel safe! God had a plan all along. God knew what was going to happen, just because we can't remember what happened a few books ago doesn't mean he doesn't always have a plan. Over the last few years, we keep acting like everything that has come up is some crazy thing that no one could have planned for. I'm not just talking about covid, I'm talking about everything that has happened in our lives. We have all suffered loss or pain. Most of us have had some sort of financial setback. God had a plan. We need to make sure that we are always communicating with God and understanding that he always is prepared. 

Ruth

 When I start reading the book of Ruth, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to take from it. Chapter one makes you think it's a story of tragedy. A woman named Naomi, her husband and two sons had to move because of a famine in the area. After moving, her husband dies. Her two sons get married, but after about ten years, both her sons also pass away. So Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-laws. 

Naomi decides to return home and tells her daughters in law that they should go back to their mother's home, she shows appreciation for everything that they did for her. But she knows that if they go back home, they have a chance to get remarried and have a good life. One daughter in law decides to go back home, but Ruth makes a bold declaration, this is what she said in Ruth 1:16.

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. 

So now I am wondering if this is a story about loyalty. 

When Naomi finally arrives home in Bethlehem, everyone is excited to see Naomi. Her response to everyone was sad. This is how she responds to everyone in Ruth 1:20-21.

Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” 

Naomi means pleasant, but Mara means bitter.

As chapter two begins, Ruth has to go to the fields and pick up leftover grain, so they have food to eat. She finds a field and starts to glean behind the harvesters. Most of us these days have no idea what that means. This is what it says in the book of Leviticus 23:22

22 “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God.” 

The field belonged to a man named Boaz, he was a relative of Elimelek, Naomi's husband. When Boaz finds out that Ruth is related to Naomi, he tells her not to go to any other fields and he will make sure that she is safe. When she asks why he is being so nice to her, this is his response in Ruth 2:11-12.

11 “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.” 

As chapter two is ending, Naomi says something we have to pay attention to, this is what she says in Ruth 2:19-20

19 “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the LORD bless the one who helped you!” 

So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.” 

20 “May the LORD bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.” 

This is going to come back up again soon, but the fact that she mentions that he is one of the family redeemers is huge.

Chapter 3 is interesting, and I feel like it leaves a few things out about some of the customs of the day. But, from the beginning of the chapter I think we can fill in the blanks and figure out what everyone is talking about. This is how Ruth Chapter 3 begins.

Ruth at the Threshing Floor

One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.

In those days when you said to a female, I am going to find you a permanent home, it meant only one thing. Trying to look into everything else that has to do with customs of that time would take away from what I really want to get out the book at this time. But we know that Ruth is loyal and will listen to Naomi, so she does everything that she tells her to do. After she follows everything that Naomi said to do, here is the response from Boaz in Ruth 3:10-13

10 “The LORD bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. 12 But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the LORD lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.” 

So of course, in the end Boaz gets to marry Ruth and everyone lives happily ever after. Tragedy and loyalty win out and when Boaz and Ruth have a child, Naomi feels complete, and everyone is happy for everyone. I feel like if the story ended there it would still be a really good biblical story. But it's not over yet. We have still have a few key verses to go over at the end. We don't need to go over all of them but let's look at just verse 17.

 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

If you are reading this blog, you probably know who David is. This is King David! This is David and Goliath! This is the David that they said the Messiah would come from his lineage. So why do we not focus on this book more? This book has everything! In four short chapters we learn about adversity, we learn about working hard, we learn about loyalty and learn about just doing the right thing. I think we need to mention Boaz more often when we talk about what it is like to be a man. When we talk to our kids or our grandkids about what we want them to be when they grow up, maybe we need to mention a man named Boaz.

DEUTERONOMY

 Deuteronomy is the 5th book of the bible and it's also the last one written by Moses. Before we look into Deuteronomy, I wanted to look at a brief description of the book. 

DEUTERONOMY

A number of years have passed since the law was given at Mt. Sinai to the parents of these Israelites. But that generation has since died in the desert except Caleb and Joshua and this new generation needs to learn how to develop a proper relationship with God. Moral regulations are expanded on, and the 10 commandments are repeated.

I wanted to give a brief description because I think it's important to know a few things before we get started. The biggest thing we need to realize is who Moses is talking to. God said shortly after the Israelites left Egypt that because of the lack of their faith and disobedience, everyone who was over the age of 20 would not enter the promised land. So now we are at the point where all of those people have passed away and Moses needs to explain everything that he explained to their parents. In some ways that means that everything that has happened in the last few books, Moses is going to repeat. So instead of repeating a bunch of things, I want to show people how important the book of Deuteronomy is to the New Testament.

In the New Testament, Jesus quotes from the book of Deuteronomy more than any other book of the bible. I completely understand when someone says that it's hard to read the Old Testament. Some people are big history people, so when they read about wars, they get excited. I am not a big history person, that means that when I am reading the Old Testament I get distracted every time I read anything about war, anything about descendants, anything about measurements and anything that is trying to describe something because I just can't see those things in my head. The good news is that we still have so many other books that I can enjoy that I still find enjoyment in a lot of the Old Testament, but it also means that I struggle with a large portion of it. The hardest part for me when I quickly skim over some parts of the Old Testament is that Jesus talks about the Old Testament a lot. My other struggle is that the bible talks a lot about false prophets and the easiest way to know that someone is a false prophet is to know the scripture so you can tell when they something that isn't right.  But, let's focus on Jesus and some of the times he talks about the Old Testament. Let's look at Mark 10:1-3.

Discussion about Divorce and Marriage

Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them. 

2 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?” 

3 Jesus answered them with a question: “What did Moses say in the law about divorce?” 

When someone comes to ask Jesus a question, his response is to ask them what Moses said about the subject. If I skimmed over the Old Testament, I have no idea what Moses said. So let's go look at Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 24:1-2

“Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. 2 When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man.

So now that we understand what Moses said, How did Jesus use this information to show people what to do?

Mark 10:5-9

5 But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. 6 But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. 7 ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, 8 and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, 9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.” 

Jesus took this opportunity to show people how important marriage is. He used this information to show them that we have a new covenant coming that is all about loving others. Now I want to look at Matthew 18:15-17. I want to look at this set of verses because I think it's crazy that the way the church is ran today in 2023, is based on something from the book of Deuteronomy.

Matthew 18:15-17

Correcting Another Believer

15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.

Deuteronomy 19:15

15 “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

Finally, I want to look at one other situation. A group of religious leaders called the Sadducees came to Jesus to trick him. They did not like Jesus, and they were afraid of Jesus. So, they had a brilliant idea, If they could catch Jesus making a mistake, everyone would realize that he was a fake and they would stop listening to him. Let's look at Luke 20:27-32.

Discussion about Resurrection

27 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. 28 They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. 29 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. 30 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died. 31 Then the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them, who died without children. 32 Finally, the woman also died. 

Here is what they are talking about, again from the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 25:5-6

5 “If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. 6 The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel. 

So how does Jesus respond when he knows that he is being tricked. Let's continue with the book of Luke and see what Jesus says in verses 33-40.

33 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her!” 34 Jesus replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth. 35 But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. 36 And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection. 

37 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.” 

39 “Well said, Teacher!” remarked some of the teachers of religious law who were standing there. 40 And then no one dared to ask him any more questions. 

What I love about this is that it teaches us that there are people in this world that are going to use scripture against us. Satan knows scripture. People who do not like religion know scripture. People who want us to fail know scripture. If we do not know scripture, we have no way of going up against these people. Another great example of Jesus using the book of Deuteronomy is when Jesus is tempted, that story is in Matthew chapter 4.

I want to finish with a few things. I want to say that if you continue to read the Old Testament, it will start to make more sense, it will be easier to read. You will recognize more names; you will know more stories and the Old Testament can be exciting. Please be patient and keep reading. The last thing I want to do is put Deuteronomy chapter 34 at the end of this post. It's the chapter that describes Moses passing away. Moses had way too big of an impact on the bible and Jesus to not tell the ending of his story.

Chapter 34

The Death of Moses

Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; 2 all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho—the city of palms—as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.” 5 So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, just as the LORD had said. 6 The LORD buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever. 8 The people of Israel mourned for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the customary period of mourning was over. 9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him, doing just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. 11 The LORD sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. 12 With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel. 

Numbers part 2

 In the last post I talked about the going through the book of numbers, I could see four points that needed to be made. I started in part one by going over the first census and then I followed that with why the old generation would not inherit the promised land. That leaves the second census and the new generation inheriting the promised land. Let's look at Numbers chapter 26 to read about the second census.

Chapter 26

The Second Registration of Israel’s Troops

After the plague had ended, the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, 2 “From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their families. List all the men twenty years old or older who are able to go to war.” 

3 So there on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest issued these instructions to the leaders of Israel: 4 “List all the men of Israel twenty years old and older, just as the LORD commanded Moses.” 

This is the record of all the descendants of Israel who came out of Egypt. 

And now the results:

Results of the Registration

51 In summary, the registered troops of all Israel numbered 601,730. 

52 Then the LORD said to Moses, 53 “Divide the land among the tribes, and distribute the grants of land in proportion to the tribes’ populations, as indicated by the number of names on the list. 54 Give the larger tribes more land and the smaller tribes less land, each group receiving a grant in proportion to the size of its population. 55 But you must assign the land by lot, and give land to each ancestral tribe according to the number of names on the list. 56 Each grant of land must be assigned by lot among the larger and smaller tribal groups.” 

Now that we have a total number of people, we can start to figure out where to put everyone. Now we just need to figure out who is going to lead them. Let's look at Numbers 27:12-23

Joshua Chosen to Lead Israel

12 One day the LORD said to Moses, “Climb one of the mountains east of the river, and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. 13 After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron, 14 for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 

15 Then Moses said to the LORD, 16 “O LORD, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. 17 Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” 

18 The LORD replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. 19 Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. 20 Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him. 21 When direction from the LORD is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will use the Urim—one of the sacred lots cast before the LORD—to determine his will. This is how Joshua and the rest of the community of Israel will determine everything they should do.” 

22 So Moses did as the LORD commanded. He presented Joshua to Eleazar the priest and the whole community. 23 Moses laid his hands on him and commissioned him to lead the people, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses. 

This going to be a fairly short post, but I wanted to lay some groundwork for the book of Deuteronomy. We looked at the second census and we are starting to see the people prepare for entering into the promised land. The rest of the book focuses on offerings, boundaries and leaders. Leviticus and Numbers are not the most exciting books, but they are setting everything up to enter the promised land. When we talk about God's chosen people, We knew that we somehow had to go from Egypt to the promised land and we also knew that somehow along the way, things had to happen to separate these people from being just like everyone else. 

Numbers part 1

 I really like the outline for numbers that is in my personal bible. It focuses on six different points, but I think I want to keep it to four points. In my bible it says that Numbers was written between 1450 BC and 1400BC. The author is Moses, and the book gets its name from the two censuses that are in the book.  Four of the points in the outline that I want to focus on are:

1. The first census of the Israelites is taken.

2. The old generation fails to inherit the promised land.

3. The second census of the Israelites is taken.

4. The new generation prepares to inherit the promised.

Let's start at the beginning and see why the first census is taken. Here is Numbers chapter 1.

Registration of Israel’s Troops

A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai. On the first day of the second month of that year he said, 2 “From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops, 4 and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe. 

16 These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.” 

17 So Moses and Aaron called together these chosen leaders, 18 and they assembled the whole community of Israel on that very day. All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one, 19 just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai. 

I'm skipping the names and numbers here for the sake of time and space. Now let's at least look at the total.

44 These were the men registered by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, all listed according to their ancestral descent. 45 They were registered by families—all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. 46 The total number was 603,550. 

47 But this total did not include the Levites. 48 For the LORD had said to Moses, 49 “Do not include the tribe of Levi in the registration; do not count them with the rest of the Israelites. 50 Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. 51 Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death. 52 Each tribe of Israel will camp in a designated area with its own family banner. 53 But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Covenant to protect the community of Israel from the LORD’s anger. The Levites are responsible to stand guard around the Tabernacle.” 

54 So the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

So now the first census has been taken and the total is 603,550. That number does not include the Levites. If I was saying it in my own words, I would say something like "This number is all of the people who were able to go to war, so it doesn't count the Levites because they are the priests and so they would not go to war". This would cover the first of the four points.

Point number two is a little bit more interesting because what happens for the next 10 chapters or so is a whole lot of complaining and rebelling. We get a first-hand look at how bad the complaining is and how God reacts. This is Numbers 11:1-15.

Chapter 11

The People Complain to Moses

Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the LORD heard everything they said. Then the LORD’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the LORD, the fire stopped. 3 After that, the area was known as Taberah (which means “the place of burning”), because fire from the LORD had burned among them there. 

4 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. 5 “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. 6 But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” 

7 The manna looked like small coriander seeds, and it was pale yellow like gum resin. 8 The people would go out and gather it from the ground. They made flour by grinding it with hand mills or pounding it in mortars. Then they boiled it in a pot and made it into flat cakes. These cakes tasted like pastries baked with olive oil. 9 The manna came down on the camp with the dew during the night. 

10 Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the LORD became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. 11 And Moses said to the LORD, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? 12 Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? 13 Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! 15 If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!” 

I want to point out a few things that I found interesting. First, I can't imagine how hard all of this was for Moses. The conversations he must have had with God on a regular basis just to get through all of this. In verse 13, when Moses says, " Where am I supposed to get meat for all of these people", I think that he says it that way because he knows that God is going to provide for them. The tone I hear in his voice sounds like he is saying "I know you are going to want to get meat for all of these people and I just don't see how that can be possible". He is mentally and physically drained, but he knows that God is going to provide for his people.

Let' see how God reacts to the people wanting some meat!

Moses Chooses Seventy Leaders

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. 17 I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone. 

18 “And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the LORD heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. 20 You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the LORD, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ” 

21 But Moses responded to the LORD, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ 22 Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?” 

23 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” 

24 So Moses went out and reported the LORD’s words to the people. He gathered the seventy elders and stationed them around the Tabernacle. 25 And the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Then he gave the seventy elders the same Spirit that was upon Moses. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this never happened again. 

26 Two men, Eldad and Medad, had stayed behind in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but they had not gone out to the Tabernacle. Yet the Spirit rested upon them as well, so they prophesied there in the camp. 27 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 

28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant since his youth, protested, “Moses, my master, make them stop!” 

29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them all!” 30 Then Moses returned to the camp with the elders of Israel. 

First of all, God gave Moses some help. Second of all, if I was Moses I would be completely scared when God said that they would have so much meat that they would gag on it and get sick of it. I also love the response God gives when Moses questions how God will provide. In verse 23 God replies, "Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true". I wonder how many times God says that to us from heaven. No matter how powerful we believe God to be, we can't comprehend it. Now let's see how God provides some meat.

The LORD Sends Quail

31 Now the LORD sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp. For miles in every direction there were quail flying about three feet above the ground. 32 So the people went out and caught quail all that day and throughout the night and all the next day, too. No one gathered less than fifty bushels! They spread the quail all around the camp to dry. 33 But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the LORD blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means “graves of gluttony”) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the Israelites traveled to Hazeroth, where they stayed for some time. 

The graves of gluttony, I'm worried that is my name some days. I worry God will recommend that for a new tattoo for me. He tattoos my name in the palm of his hand so he can't forget me, maybe I need to tattoo that on my palm so I can finally learn a lesson.

Let's move to chapter 12 so we can see how Aaron and Miriam complain about Moses.

Chapter 12

The Complaints of Miriam and Aaron

While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. 2 They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the LORD heard them. 3 (Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.) 

4 So immediately the LORD called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “Go out to the Tabernacle, all three of you!” So the three of them went to the Tabernacle. 5 Then the LORD descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward. 6 And the LORD said to them, “Now listen to what I say: 

    “If there were prophets among you, 

      I, the LORD, would reveal myself in visions. 

      I would speak to them in dreams. 

    7 But not with my servant Moses. 

      Of all my house, he is the one I trust. 

    8 I speak to him face to face, 

      clearly, and not in riddles! 

      He sees the LORD as he is. 

    So why were you not afraid 

      to criticize my servant Moses?” 

9 The LORD was very angry with them, and he departed. 10 As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her, 11 he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth.” 

13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!” 

14 But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.” 

15 So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again. 16 Then they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran. 

Verse 8 is crazy to me! God actually asks them why they aren't afraid to criticize Moses. Can you imagine being called out like that? 

I want to wrap up point two here soon, so I want to move on to the 10 people who scout the land of Canaan. Here is chapter 13.

Chapter 13

Twelve Scouts Explore Canaan

The LORD now said to Moses, 2 “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.” 3 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.

17 Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? 20 Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.) 

Here are the results:

The Scouting Report

25 After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned 26 to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. 27 This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. 28 But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” 

30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” 

31 But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” 

Here is how the people reacted in chapter 14 to the majority believing that they could not take the land.

Chapter 14

The People Rebel

Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

Now let's finish up point two by seeing how God reacts to them wanting a new leader and wanting to go back to Egypt.

The LORD Punishes the Israelites

26 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 

And this is how the old generation failed to inherit the promised land. Completely not having any faith in God!

Leviticus

 The good news is that we are on to something new. I love the book of Exodus, but to try and write about it was actually more difficult that I thought it would be. To try and figure out what to include and what to skip over was a challenge I just wasn't expecting. So now we move on to the next book in the bible, Leviticus. When I go to read a new book, I like to look in the bible at the description they give. When I look at the book of Leviticus description, the first words I see are "A Continuation of the book of Exodus" That makes me a little nervous. Next, I focus on these words, " Leviticus sets down regulations to preserve the spiritual, moral, and physical purity of the people. Instructions are provided on how to live holy lives through sacrifice and worship". So, if I am reading that correctly, the book of Leviticus is a book about regulations and instructions. I would love to tell you that the description given is just an overview and that the book really isn't completely about that, but I can't. So, what I want to do is list some of the topics that are discussed in the book.

Ceremonially Clean and Unclean Animals

Serious Skin Diseases

Treatment of Contaminated Clothing

Cleansing from Skin Diseases

Bodily Discharges

Prohibitions against Eating Blood

Forbidden Sexual Practices

An Example of Just Punishment

Redemption of Property

Redemption of the Poor and Enslaved

So, after reading those topics you really want to ask yourself the question, why? Why did God give us a book with all of those things in it? I'm sure that someone out there finds reading that kind of stuff amazing, but most of the people I have ever talked to really don't find the book exciting. So, I want to give two opinions on this book. First, God knew what was going on in the world at that time. If God did not come up with rules and regulations for his people to follow, they would end up just like everyone else. This is something that I feel like I am guilty of. I don't think I would call myself a follower, but I do find myself compromising when I didn't even realize it. With movies and music, I especially struggle. If you turn on the radio today, it's filled with music that 25 years ago would have been banned. What was an R-rated movie when I was younger seems to be PG-13 now. One of my struggles over the last month has been that if I take myself away from this blog for any amount of time, it's hard to get going again. Doesn't that mean that when we take ourselves away from Godly things or religious things it's hard to get back to it. For those of you following the reading plan, have you ever missed two days in a row? It's a guilt trip just to get going again. God had to come up with a whole new set of rules because he knew how hard the struggle was. The second reason he gives us this book about regulations and instructions is to tell us about the reward for following them. In chapter 26 the headline says this " Blessings for Obedience".  So, what is the reward for following what God wants? Let's look at Leviticus 26:3-13.

3 “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. 5 Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land. 

6 “I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. 7 In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword. 

9 “I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. 10 You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! 11 I will live among you, and I will not despise you. 12 I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high. 

When I read that I actually get sad. Is that what we could have if we obeyed? God is saying that we will have more food than we need, we will have peace from all of our enemies, and he will live among us. All we have to do is obey! I feel like I need to start each day reading those verses. Everything we could ever need and all we have to do is obey!

Exodus part 4

 When we ended the last post, we were discussing how the Israelites were in awe of God after he helped Moses part the Red Sea. Before we move on to the book of Leviticus, I want to spend some time looking at some of the ways that the Israelites struggled with faith or just following God. Chapter 14 of Exodus was the parting of the Red Sea, chapter 15 starts with the Israelites singing a song of deliverance. But, by the end of chapter 15 we already have an issue, let's look at verses 22-27

Bitter Water at Marah

22 Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. 23 When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). 

24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25 So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. 

It was there at Marah that the LORD set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.” 

27 After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water. 

Am I reading that correctly? Did it really just take 3 days before they started to lack faith? The Lord uses this as a learning opportunity, in verse 26 he says to carefully listen and do what is right in his sight, then he will not make you suffer any diseases that the Egyptians had. Then even though they didn't have faith, he led them to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. The Lord showed great parenting skills here, the kids were misbehaving, he used it as an opportunity for a lesson and then when he believed that they had listened, he rewarded them. Now, everyone who has even done any babysitting knows that you do something like this hoping that the behavior has been fixed. But, let's look at the start of chapter 16.

Manna and Quail from Heaven

Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2 There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. 

3 “If only the LORD had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” 

One month after being in awe they moan that it would have been better to die in Egypt. This is why I love the book of Exodus. I want to argue and complain about how crazy the Israelites are, but I know that this is a reflection of my life. I wonder how many times I have been in awe of something that the Lord did for me only so that less than a month later I would complain that it would be better if my life was over. Maybe I don't go to that extreme, but I am sure that instead I said something about wishing that I could be in completely different circumstances. Why do we not trust God? So, after God fixed the food situation, let's move on to chapter 17.

Water from the Rock

At the LORD’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded. 

I can't imagine what this was like for Moses. No matter what he did, or what God did, the people complained. Moses shows some frustration after their complaining this time.

“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the LORD?” 

3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” 

4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!” 

I'm glad that Moses went to the Lord with their complaining. Maybe that is something we should do more. When the world around us is complaining, instead of going to someone else and complaining about the complainers, take to the Lord. Here is how the Lord responds.

5 The LORD said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on. 

7 Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD here with us or not?” 

When I read this, I have a few thoughts. First of all, The Lord provided for them AGAIN! Second, I wish that I knew enough about other languages to give fancy names to certain places. When I go to the store, instead of calling it the store, maybe I could call it " The Place of Impulsive Purchases". Then every time I went there, I would have to think about the times that I wasted money on impulsive purchases. All throughout the Old Testament are stories of people complaining about the situation they are in. I think it's so important to read those stories and realize that we are the same way. When we focus so much time complaining about the situation we are in, we can't focus on the lesson we need to take from the situation. Next time we find ourselves in a situation we aren't happy about, we need to stop and pray and ask God what we can learn.