March 9th readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Numbers 11:24-13:33 ~ Mark 14:22-52
Psalm 52:1-9 ~ Proverbs 11:1-3

Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 11 we read about God's Spirit resting upon 70 leaders.  I found verse 29 awesome when Moses responded to Joshua's protesting of Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp - ""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!"" This is great humility on Moses part!  He was not threatened by others using gifts of the Spirit in public.  "I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets."  These words of Moses remind me of a more modern day quote I read somewhere that went something like - "We are all called to be saints."  I like that...  Do you believe that you are called to be a saint?

In Numbers chapter 13 we read about twelve scouts exploring the Promised Land, and Moses sending them out in verse 17 & 18 - "Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go northward through the Negev into the hill country.  See what the land is like and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many."

New Testament - This week we will be reading about the Passion of Christ in the Gospel of Mark. Today In Mark chapter 14 verses 35 & 36 we read this about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – “Going a little farther, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” What a powerful prayer here from Jesus! Jesus knows what is coming. He knows what the road to Calvary will bring. He knows that God has the power to take this suffering away from him – BUT, here’s the amazingly important piece of this prayer, which I think each of us would do well in praying in our prayers – “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” This is such a powerful prayer from Jesus to God. We get a glimpse here of a prayer from the Messiah to the Father – and again, I think we would do well to pray this in our prayers as well. This of course is very similar to the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus taught in Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, when we pray – “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done.” Not our will, but Thy Will be done. In your prayer life, do you model Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and in the Lord’s Prayer? Do you pray that not your will – but God’s perfect will – be done? Commentary from bible.org on Mark chapter 14's is at this link. 

In today's readings in Mark we also read about Jesus' betrayal and arrest.  This image below from Ambrogio Bondone Giotto from around 1300 A.D. called "The Kiss of Judas" captures the unfortunate scene -

Psalms - Verse 9 in Psalm 52 stood out to me today - ""I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will wait for your mercies in the presence of your people."  Are you looking forward to praising God forever?  Are you willing to wait for God?  If things don't seem to be moving as quickly as you would like them to in your spiritual life, will you still wait for God?  And will you do so in the presence of God's people?  Do you believe that being part of a church community can help you during a time of waiting for the Lord?  And do you believe that you can help others in your church to wait as well?  Then, together you can look forward to praising God forever for what he has done and will do. 

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 2 is so true and is something I personally need to be reminded of constantly - "Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."  Let us pray for humility... 

Comments from You - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Grace,
Mike

Comments

[Jessica]

So, Moses was married to Zipporah and the Cushite woman? In reading about Moses, often I find myself wondering about Zipporah. She comes to visit Moses with her father, but nothing more has really been mentioned of her so far. I'm wondering about Moses' roles as a husband and father. Does anyone have any info about this, or know any interesting texts to read on this subject?

[John]

Jessica,

The Rabbis tend to identify Zipporah as the dark-skinned Cushite women (despite the fact that the word means Ethiopian),....

http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5755/behaalotekha.shtml

http://www.emanuelnyc.org/bulletin/archive/68.html

[Ramona]

Numbers 11:24-13:33

Thoughts from Today’s reading:

1) Be careful what you ask for you may just get it:
Considering the people didn’t ask God they complained, murmured and griped, about there lack of meat and the manna, “The what is it?” food, our own approach to God or our leaders who we go to when things don’t go our way should be closely examined. What we crave may just kill us. Cory, “Bald Man” noticed yesterday that the people never when to God with their complaints, they went to Moses. When we complain to others about what is not happening in our lives, we are in truth, dumping our “trash” talk on them and charging God with a misdemeanor or possibly even a felony.

2) When we complain about one thing, we will complain about something else. Miriam and Aaron, older siblings to Moses, used a pretense, Moses’ wife being a Cushite/Ethiopian to get their digs-in. The real issue was not Ziporiah’s ethnicity but Moses’ relationship with God,

"Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he spoken through us, too?"

In reality, no the Lord hadn’t really spoken to them because the people didn’t want to hear from God for themselves.
a. Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear and fell back and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die. (Exodus 20:18-19 AMP

3) We have an obligation to check/rebuke the sin of others when we are in a community.
And the Lord said to Moses,

If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and after that let her be brought in again. So Miriam was shut up without the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought in again. (Numbers 12:14-15 AMP)

The missteps of others, as well as the things we do wrong, in other words, our sins, will delay our journey along the path that God has called us to walk.

4) A group consensus doesn’t make it right. If almost everyone is agreeing to a line of action, if it is not what God has said, then it “ain’t” right. I have heard my pastor say this often, “I am aware that a crowd does not make a congregation.” Numbers does not mean “Truth.” Are we hanging with the crowd or are we part of a congregation? We can be like Aaron and Miriam trying to give the perception that we are hearing from God hiding the fact that we have chosen to fear His voice instead of listen to His voice.

To cover up our communication break, we pick on the one who has kept the line of communications opened. In leadership there is the one who is the Visionary, like Moses, and those who are called to fulfill or to help bring that vision to past. We may have some part of the vision but we may not have the BIG PICTURE.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Bald Man]

Mike,
You asked, "Do you believe that you are called to be a saint?"

Aren't we all saints?

Does anybody know who this naked, mystery guy was? He was mentioned at the very end of our readings today in Mark. I’ve never noticed him being mentioned before and was curious if he has any significance or just one of the millions that followed Jesus?

[Emberglow]

Thank you so much for today's blog. But thanks a zillion for the picture of sun, the snowy mountains, the lake and ice blocks. This is one of the prettiest pictures I have seen. I am stunned by the beauty God has created in this world. And yet most important thing that God has created is LOVE :-) I love God.

[John]

Mike,

1 cor 1:2
"To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:" NAS

"saints" - (Gk. hagios) holy or saint. Once again with "holy" we get the idea of one "set apart" or distinct"

King James version is "called to be saints"

Christians saved by the blood of Christ also referred to as "saints" - (Romans 8:27, 15:25-26; I Corinthians 16:1; Ephesians 1:15, 18; 6:18; Colossians 1:12,26; Jude 1:3; Revelation 8:3-4)

Also Chrisitans are priests called to bring a living sacrifice.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." NIV

[John]

Anonymous,

"Does anybody know who this naked, mystery guy was?"

Speculation was that it was Mark, the writer of this gospel, but it is just that - speculation.

[John]

Numbers 13
Moses told the people in Deut 1:21
"See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

But the people ALL came to Moses and wanted to check it out first. It wasn't God's idea to send out spies, He responded to what the people wanted.

Again, the Israelites had witnessed often the power and authority of God, yet they still did not trust his Word nor had faith in God that they would prevail upon the inhabitants of Canaan.

The report was positive on the land, but negative about the dangers of the inhabitants. Even with some exageration on the negatives.

How often when we lose faith and trust in God, do we envision our own situation in the negative and our difficulties and problems are magnified?

Caleb wanted to go ahead - he had faith. The others argued against it. How many times in groups do actions get paralyzed by people sitting around wanting to analyze the situation?

Perfect place to make the comment: 'O ye of little faith'.

[Vance Brown]

Numbers 11 (NKJV)
25
Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
[NOTE: TARGUM AND VULGATE READ "DID NOT CEASE". ]
26
But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.

~~~

32
And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
33
But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.
34
So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah,
[NOTE: LITERALLY “GRAVES OF CRAVING” ]
because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.

MY NOTE:
In this very frenzied, fast pace of life in America (and in many parts of the world), I pray that we would take time to listen and let the Spirit of God rise up within us and come upon us with His Anointing. Jesus paid for it. May we receive it and be eager for it like these men who shared anointing with Moses.

~~~
2 Corinthians 1 (NKJV)
20
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
21
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
22
who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
~~~

I find Numbers 11:25 and the corresponding note about prophesying very interesting: “…they never did so again.
[NOTE: TARGUM AND VULGATE READ "DID NOT CEASE". ]

Perhaps harmonizing the note with the verse can yield this interpretation: Perhaps in that particular incident where Joshua tried to stop the two men prophesying, the men stopped prophesying.

However, it may be that the anointing they received that day operated within and upon them in different situations as God willed.

I Corinthians 12 (NKJV)
6
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:…
11
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

~~~

ALSO, the waiting, receiving, and anointing of the Spirit would satisfy us and keep us from being ensnared and killed by our cravings. “Christ is our life” (Colossians 3)

Vance