Porters

1 Chronicles 9
21 And Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Working for the glory of God....in a humble way....

Mountain of Nebo

Deuteronomy 34
1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

The Hebrews, purified, with Moses, who led them so faithfully, on Mount Nebo, looking out over their inheritance. So much promise. Yet, also, looming misery and despair. And what follows in the Old Testament is the story of the Jews. It is also the story - the unfolding - of the true nature of man and his inability to live without the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

The Wood Offering

Nehemiah 13
31 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

In Ezra, the temple is built. In Nehemiah, the wall is built. Finally, at the end of Nehemiah, the daily operation of the temple is put in good order. The wood offering, to provide wood for the daily burnt offering, is a good symbol for God's will for the church.

God's will. It is a daily, not a weekly and not a casual, operation....

[I had to spend some time studying the background of this passage to understand it].

Let the words of my mouth

1Psalms 19
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

When I was young, this was the Bible passage read each Sunday before the Bible reading. It is one of those Bible passages that are etched in my heart....

John the Baptist - the Humble Life

Luke 3
12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;

Simple. Here starts the Gospel theme of living simply and humbly. Wait a second. Where does this theme start?

An Ox

Isaiah 1
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

A humble man is not too proud to think of himself, not as an eagle, not as a lion, but as an ox......

On the other hand, the things we shout about, abortion, creeping socialism, for examples, are not insignifant issues that can easily ignored....

Ezra And Nehemiah

Nehemiah 8
1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.

I read Ezra last month, and now I'm up to Nehamiah 8. And I've been confused over the sequence of events in these books. So, this morning I reread these books in The Reese Chronological Bible. Whoa, what a great experience. The Restoration makes so much sense, especially the involvement of the Prophets in the historical events.

It's going to be a good day....

The Book Of Esther

Esther 2
17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

I just do not understand the Book of Esther.  Maybe it contains a message for Jews only and not for Christians.

Forgive Us Our Debts

Deuteronomy 15
1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release
2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD's release.
3 Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;

Matthew 6
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors

Being a Christian requires caring, supportive dealings with other Christians. Dealing with non-Christians - we can be a little less caring, and maybe a little less supportive. Jesus is watching out for you, so, you watch out for your fellow Christian....

Huh?

The Will Of God

Deuteronomy 30
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

God's will, it really is so simple, and it's right there, in front of us. Yes, but we have so much time on our hands, and so many excuses....

War With The Lamb

Isaiah 2
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

This is a verse about kings, nobles, princes, governors of provinces and their war with the Lamb....

More From Isaiah 2
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

Something I've noticed about trying to understand the Bible: much of the content needed to understand the simple, plain meaning of many passages exist only outside the Bible. Such information usually includes Hebrew history, interpretation, culture and customs. For this passage, I read it a number of time and knew, this is one of those passages I would never figure out without some help.

For help, I usually refer to John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. And, with that comes information from theTargum, Jarchi (Rashi), Kimchi, Maimonides and Aben Ezra. Google John Gill, for the story of how he came to possess such a great repository of Hebrew knowledge.

Politics

Micah 6
8 He hath shewed thee O man, what is good: and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly,and to love mercy,and to walk humbly with thy God?

I've been thinking about one of my favorite Bible themes.

In this day and age, it seems to me that you cannot exress any thoughts about politics and still be humble. It just seems to me that political discourse is over-heated, with a notable lack of humble expression.

Question. Does politics matter? To a Christian?

The LORD Is A Man Of War

Exodus 14
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.
1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

The Lord is my salvation. Love the Lord. Fear the Lord. Glorify the Lord. Your deepest feelings and understanding of God, to me, are the same in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It applies to the God of the Jews, the God of the Christians and to Jesus Christ.

God is not your buddy, he's not your pal, he's not your co-pilot...

KJV and Inerrancy and Harmony

Hebrews 1
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

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

Thought On The Bible From A. C. Gaebelein, 1907:
The harmony which exists throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is one of the strongest arguments for the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. The unity which we find here is supernatural; it is divine. The inspired writers of the Bible cover a period of almost two thousand years, living in so many different ages and under different circumstances, yet all agree perfectly, and there is no clash of opinions. Such unity is a miracle. No human genius could produce it. There is nothing like it in all the literary products of men, and there will be nothing like it in the future. God spake at sundry times and in divers manners (Heb. 1: 1), and therefore all in this precious Book being God-breathed (2 Tim. 3 :16), must be a perfect, infallible whole. What an awful sin to criticise the Bible, to deny its inspiration, to put the Word of God which He has exalted above all His Name upon the same level with profane literature. Yet this is the common drift of our times.

I guess we should let Gaebelein have the final word on the Bible. 

Mystery Of Godliness Is Jesus

1 Timothy 3
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

The mystery of godliness is Jesus. And, this outlines his existance....

The Church

1 John 3
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Love for the brethren goes along with love of God. And, love of God is life. It is the turning away from sin and eternal death. This is not necessarily about salvation. This passage is about the church.

And how many churches can meet this standard....

That Is One, Useless Christian

Philemon 1
10 I beseech thee for my son Ones'imus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:
11 which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:

Quote of the day: 'Boy......That is one, useless Christian.'

The Poor

Deuteronomy 24
19 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
20 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

Be kind to the poor. Remember. You were a bondman once - or, at least, your great grandfather was.....

Matthew 6....forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.....

Out of the Iron Furnace

Deuteronomy 4
20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace....

What a great, profound description of life without God.

Prayer
Dear Jesus, take me out of the iron furnace....and, please Jesus, keep me out of the iron furnace....