Tag Archives: Bible Study

First week is complete! I’ve read all of Genesis and Exodus.

This morning, I found my thoughts drifting during the reading. Parts of it were really interesting (golden calf) but most of it was a list of lists about the tabernacle. I know the details are important and the sanctuary is a great study. But it’s hard to just read it all, especially 11 chapters of it.

I love how Exodus concludes.

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all of their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys
Exodus 40:34-38.

God was physically with the children of Israel throughout their journey to Canaan. Even after the Israelites rejected God’s leading them into Canaan, He didn’t abandon them. The text says that God was there throughout all their journeys.

Even when I am not perfect, when I speak crossly to my husband or don’t study my Bible as I should, God is still with me. He loves me. And for that, my natural response is to love Him in return.

I’ve already read more than half of Exodus, today completing chapters 16 through 28. One more day in Exodus and then I’m into the challenging material – laws, numbers, and genealogies.

Several observations about today’s reading…

Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink
Exodus 24:9-11.

I would have loved to see this in person. Can you imagine? Seeing God. Seeing the pavement under His feet. Being at peace enough with God to eat and drink there. Amazing.

The only trace of sadness in the above text is that Nadab and Abihu were present at this event and they still disobeyed God. They later committed a sin so grievous that they were killed on the spot. Seeing God once is no guarantee that you will continue to live a righteous life. I believe that’s where daily prayer, daily study, and daily communion with God are necessary.

My second thought is one I’ve heard preached on a number of times. Israel was blessed by God. They were cared for by God. First they were taken out of Egypt. Then they were protected from the Egyptians as they crossed the sea. They found bitter water and God made it sweet. They were lacking food and God provided quail and manna. They ran out of water and God provided it from a rock. They were attacked by the Amalekites and God made them victorious. And yet. The big YET. They forgot it all. They continued to complain. They wanted to return to Egypt. They wanted to die.

How often am I like this? God provides for me every day, even though it’s not always as visible a provision as the Israelites were given. And yet I continue to worry, to fret about the future. I complain when things go wrong. I need to cultivate a spirit of gratefulness and trust. God always provides for His children. I am His child. He will provide for me.

Hopefully I can remember this lesson tomorrow when I’m faced with a petty frustration.

Today I read through the entire story of the plagues and the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. I am very familiar with this story as I used it as the basis for my novel in November. However, when I read the story for Nano, I read it one plague at a time and picked it apart. I was very focused on if I could tell how long the plague lasted, where Moses and Aaron were when they confronted Pharaoh, who that plague affected, what Pharaoh’s response was, etc. Today, I read it like a storybook. Very different experience.

I still have questions about God “hardening Pharaoh’s heart.” I’ve heard a couple explanations, but none that rang true. Most explanations say that God allowed Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened, but that He didn’t actually cause it. The text specifically says in a number of places that “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”

Oh, how I wish I understood Hebrew so that I could read the original text. I know I miss so much because I don’t understand the culture and because the language was so different than English. The best example I can think of regarding language differences is Job 1:9.

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

The word “fear” in English typically means to be afraid, a very negative connotation. In Hebrew, the word actually means “to revere,” “to worship,” or “to be in awe of.”

When I read the above verse, I know that Job worships God, reveres Him, and is in awe of Him. That meaning is very different from Satan asking the Lord if Job is afraid of Him.

I can’t believe I read all of Genesis in four days. I think the only other time I’ve read it that quickly was participating in the Pathfinder Bible Bowl and doing some last minute cramming.

I made an observation this morning to my hubby. If you read the story of Joseph saving Egypt from famine, you’ll notice that Joseph stored up food during the years of plenty. Then, the Egyptians paid Pharaoh for the food during the famine years. I’m curious about how that food was grown. Did Pharaoh own the land and the crops initially? Did Pharaoh pay the Egyptians for food that the people had grown? Or was the food donated to Joseph’s storehouses? If the people grew the food themselves, they were paying Pharaoh to buy back their own food. Just a thought, a question about the lifestyle during that time period.

As I was reading Genesis 45, I wondered if Jacob’s sons confessed that they had sold Joseph into slavery. I don’t think the text makes that clear.

And they went up out of Egypt,
and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive,
and he is governor over all the land of Egypt…
And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them…
Genesis 45:25-27

It is possible that Jacob determined what happened as the brothers were repeating Joseph’s words. Joseph was very clear that his brothers had sold him into slavery, though God intended their evil for good.

That brings up another question I have. I’ve been taught that God does not cause anything negative, that He only allows bad things to happen. Anything evil that happens is caused by Satan. Joseph told his brothers:

So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God:
and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh,
and lord of all his house,
and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt
Genesis 45:8.

Joseph is very clear in this text and a couple previous verses that he believes God sent him to Egypt. This doesn’t fit in with what I’ve been taught. My childhood teaching would be that God knew that the famine was going to happen. God knew that Joseph’s brothers were cruel and were going to sell him into slavery. Therefore, God allowed it to happen that He might use Joseph to save Egypt and all of Jacob’s family (and others, I am sure). But that is not exactly what the text says. Am I reading the text properly, that God purposefully sent Joseph to Egypt (as opposed to using Joseph because he’s already there)? If that’s the case, God needed the brothers to sin so that Joseph ended up in Egypt. Or maybe I’m just confused over semantics…

This morning I read Genesis 29 through 40. I can’t believe how many mistakes people make and yet God still loves us.

Abraham – made mistakes and God talked to him face to face.
Isaac – don’t know much about his life but God led him, especially in the choosing of a wife.
Jacob – a liar, a deceiver. God still talked to him face to face and through dreams.

The story of Joseph is amazing. Joseph didn’t do anything wrong, at least nothing included in the Bible. And yet he was oppressed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused by an adulterous woman, thrown into jail. But God is with him every step of the way. Joseph remained positive and faithful through all of his life experiences. I have much to learn from his example.

This morning I read Genesis 17 through 28. Today’s reading felt so short compared to yesterday’s 16 chapters.

One passage spoke to me:

Abraham had sent his servant to Nahor to find Isaac a wife. When the servant arrived, he prayed to God that he would be able to pick out the right woman to be Isaac’s wife.

And it came to pass, before he had done speaking,
that, behold, Rebekah came out…
Genesis 24:15.

Not only did God answer the servant’s prayer, it was answered before he was finished praying. I know this idea is repeated several times in Scripture but this is the first example Scripture covers. Before I finish praying, God has already heard my prayer.

I can’t believe it’s 2010 already. That doesn’t seem possible. 2009 flew.

I started the Bible in 90 Days schedule, covering Genesis 1 through 16 this morning. It took me about 40 minutes to read. It would have been faster but I kept telling my hubby things I was reading about and questions that I will have to study later. I also struggle with reading the Bible so quickly as it feels “wrong” to not take my time.

One verse in particular stood out:

And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord;
and He counted it to him for righteousness
Genesis 15:6.

Abraham believed. He trusted God’s promises. He didn’t have to act a certain way or live his life perfectly. He believed and God counted it to him for righteousness. This is encouraging to me as I struggle every day with various sins of the heart. But I also believe in God and that He will guide me. If Abraham was counted as righteous even though he took multiple wives, tried to bring about God’s will through his own means, and lied, there is hope for me.