I love the stories of David. And I like how we are getting to read David's Psalms right after we have read about the event he is writing about.

AS I read 2 Samuel 21:9b so all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest, I couldn't help but wonder why the barley harvest was mentioned. Then I realized Rizpah said with the bodies until the end of the barley harvest. So, I looked it up. Apparently this was a very rainy season, so I guess they could not get the bodies down from the mountain.

But, in reading in the concordance I found another something worth mentioning. The Gibeoites that Saul was guilty of murdering were the people that deceived Joshua into making a covenant with them. Joshua 9:3-27 (They brought him presents and said they were from a distant land.) That covenant was made 400 years before and under false pretense, but God still honored the covenant.

I'm just curious, how does one standing in a cave relieving himself not notice someone cutting off a piece of his hem?

I guess Abigail didn't need much time to mourn Nabal. She sure married David quickly.

Okay, I am backing up a day, but did anyone notice on the 14th that Saul had to ask who David was? Why didn't he know, after all he had been playing the harp for him and Saul had already asked Jesse to let David remain in his service.

Another thing I noticed was that when David and Jonathan's said their good-byes they were both in tears, yet when David left his wife nothing was mentioned about their good-byes. Was he sad? His wife must have been after all she loved him very much.

I hate it when I have recently heard something that stuck in my mind and later run across the scripture that backs it up, but can't remember where I heard it... A few weeks ago I heard a preacher or someone make the statement that God wants our obedience more than our sacrifice. I thought this was an interesting statement and meant to do a little research myself, but never got around to it. And now here it is Samuel 15:22. I get how in the Old Testament they could be disobedient and still make their sacrifices, but today how do we have sacrifice without obedience? I guess it is a heart matter.

As I was reading 1 Samuel 17:12-27 I was wondering if David's brothers were jealous of him like Joseph's brothers were. Well, I didn't have to read much farther to figure out that they were. Verse 28 Eliab accuses David of pride and deceit. And with David's reply in verse 29 "What have I done NOW?" you know that this was not the first time that one of his brothers and said something to him.

This is what was running through my brain while reading today:

Blah blah blah bblah bblah bblah hey Ram is a biblical name. Blah blah blah bblah bblah bblah Oh there is the scripture that made one author lots and lots of money.

Blah blah blah bblah bblah bblah Blah blah blah bblah bblah bblah Oh I love the story of Hannah.

OH my GOODness what man in his right mind looks at a women grieving because she has no children and says "Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me-isn't that better than having ten sons?" Ah yeah, right!

Oh my goodness... so much good stuff has been happening I could hardly stand for the blog to sit idle so I kidnapped it and today's comments are from Lisa. Hopefully, Teresa will start feeling better soon and get back in the blogging mood.

As tempted as I am to go back ALL the way to Mar 25 I'll spare you my blogging blah blah blah and begin with April 4th. There is an awful lot of killing and rape and circumcision and sacrificing going on but I think the story of Jepthah's Vow takes us to a whole new level of bizarre. Can't you just imagine Jephthah bebopping into the house, all proud of his latest conquest, skipping and singing as he walks up the sidewalk - then out walks his most prized possession and as he reaches out to hug her REMEMBERS his vow. OH NO. Then he tears his cloths and of all things says "Oh, my daughter YOU have completely destroyed me!" Come on now - whose idea was this any way? I did do enough research to figure out that he probably didn't actually sacrifice her, just dedicated her to God so she had to remain an unmarried virgin.

I love the story of Samson - it gives me hope to know that God can use such immature, spoiled and arrogant people. Samson was dedicated to God from birth, blessed by God and the Spirit stirred in him. Yet it appears that every thing he did was against God until he asked to be used one more time. And then he is listed as a man of great Faith in Hebrews. Maybe next year I'll go back and study in depth some of these intriguing stories. But for now my deepest thought on this story is did you notice how in Ju 16:25 the half drunk people brought Samson out so he could "amuse them"? That made me laugh out loud.

And lastly, Ruth....feels like someone stuck Julia Roberts and Pretty Woman right in the middle of Mel Gibson's Braveheart. But it is a nice change from all the war and violence we've been experiencing.

But seriously, I loved the way today ended with Boaz being Ruth's redeemer - when she didn't do anything to deserve it and he had no obligation to redeem her. And the elders blessing to Ruth connecting her to Leah & Rachel, making her famous in "Bethlehem" and giving her descendants like those of Perez, the Son of Tamar and Judah. Which of course is who Jesus, our redeemer, descended from!

We lost a very dear friend this week and I almost missed it because I was behind on my reading!

Moses died and God himself buried him. Is that not crazy? Beth Moore says that some believe that the reason God had to bury Moses and hide his body was so that the Isrealites wouldn't take his body and make it an idol. Another interesting piece of information is that in Jude 1:9 Michael the Archangel and Satan acutal argue over Moses body.

Here is something that hit me (although it is pretty obvious) when I was reading about Rahab. She was told to leave the scarlet rope hanging from her window and she and all her family inside would be spared. The rope was scarlet just like the blood that the Isrealites put on the doorpost during the first passover.

I thought that Joshua 5:8 was funny. AFter Joshua had circumcised all the men "they rested in the camp until they were healed". I wonder how long that was?

Okay, this is just too weird, Deuteronomy 21:18-21. If you knew your son (and notice it didn't say anything about a rebellious daughter ??) would be stoned why would you take him to the elders.

In verses 22:13-30 I wonder why a bride's parents would be in possession of the honeymoon sheets? Was it customary for the bride to give the sheets to them for safe keeping?

This whole section seems to be a lot of random mismatched rules. And just over all bizarre.

Auntie, did you notice how similar Deuteronomy 10:12 is to Micah 6:8? I thought that was kind of cool. Seems I notice several things these last couple of days that reminded me of other scriptures.

Well, I am caught up on my reading, but there doesn't seem to be anything for me to blog about.

So, I am going to back up and comment on a few things. Lisa, I figured out why God was mad at Moses and Aaron in Numbers 20: 1 -13. In verse 8 God told Moses to "speak to the rock over there and it will pour out water". But, instead Moses struck the rock with his staff, a disobedience that kept him and Aaron from entering the Promise Land.

And going back even farther to Numbers 11 when all the people were whining about not having any meat to eat. This is a little strange to me because they had rams, goats, sheep, and cattle that they used for their offerings. And didn't the priest eat some of these offerings? So, were the people not allowed to eat of any of the animals?

I seem to be the one falling behind. I'm trying to play catch up, but it doesn't seem to be working. In the meantime, does anyone have any good insight or observations?

I have had the same thought, Auntie. Sometimes He even sounds like a mean God to me.

I know we've said this before but, I am still amazed at how over all our sinful human nature never seems to change. One day the Israelites are all about God and the very next day they start complaining and wishing they never left Egypt. Oh, how we do the same thing.

I didn't remember that after the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron that they decided to get up early the next morning and go into the promised land. They realized that they had sinned, but they didn't ask for forgiveness. Wonder if the outcome would have been different had they first made sacrifices to God, then gone to the Promise Land?

I just love Numbers 6:24-26. I think it is a Mercy Me song and I know that a lot of times it is said at the end of church services. But, I still love it. I never realized that it was a "special" blessing that God Himself had told Aaron to use.

I keep wondering just how busy were the priests. Seems to me with all the offerings and sacrifices they must have been working 24/7. Unless the people didn't sin that much back then.

I find it interesting that even though Nadab and Abihu were burned up they were still picked up and carried away by their garments. Why weren't their garments burned up?

Well, I kept wondering why yeast and honey were not allowed in the grain offerings. I thought it was something I should know, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was that I was suppose to know. So, I looked it up.

In case you all need a refresher. Yeast represents bitterness and evil. Honey represents corruption. The sacrifice represents the worshiper. A sacrifice would not be pleasing to the Lord if it was full of bitterness, evil and corruption.

This was an ah ha moment because I realized that when we spend time in prayer before we take the Lord's Supper, and any other time that we are offering up ourselves to Him, we are doing the exact thing that God told the Israelites to do some 3000 plus years ago. Getting rid of the bitterness, evil and corruption.

I also like the phrase "a pleasing aroma to the Lord." I guess because I want to be a pleasing aroma to Him, I don't want to stink!

Usually when something is repeated 12 times I have to figure that it must be really important. But, I can't figure out why Moses had to repeat the 12 offerings from the leaders over and over. I can think of several ways to make this section not so wordy. Am I missing something of great importance here?

Our church is starting it's first every building campaign. We are having a commitment day on Feb 28 and every family and individual will be asked to make a cash gift. We are asking God for at least $45,000. Then we will be asked to make a three year giving commitment to pay off our existing loan and have in the bank an additional $220,000 to build a new multi-purpose building. For a total of $500,000. Would it not be awesome if in Feb 2013 we heard...

"Men and women, don't prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough! Our contributions are more than enough."

Here I am!!! And I will confess I am a day behind in the reading. But, I am catching up today.

And since you called me up from the depths of AOL I can't help but wonder what great biblical theology you each have on your minds today. Please jump right in and share your thoughts, questions or observations for today while I go finish building the tabernacle and clothing Aaron and the other priest.

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged lately. I don't really have an excuse. Just always seem to be running late this week.

Anyway, I got to back up and make a couple of comments about what we read this week.

Starting with February 2, Exodus 4:24-26 - What is this about? God was going to kill Moses? After He given Moses his instruction to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. What is up with that? My NIV study bible says that apparently God was mad because Moses had not circumcised his son. What would have happened if Zipporah hadn't been so quick with the knife and circumcised the son?

And I can't help but wonder - Why didn't the magicians try to get rid of the frogs instead of making more frogs?

And did you notice that on several occasions Pharaoh asked Moses to take the plague away "tomorrow". Why not 'today, right now, please".

January 5 - Exodus 14:13-14 Rule to live by - Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today...Just stay calm. But like the Israelites, so many times we stay calm and trust God for three days and then we start our complaining again.

Wonder why in Exodus 2:1 it it sounds like a man and a woman just got married then had a son. When they obviously already had a daughter old enough to take care of the baby boy. (just kid of strange to me.)

I love Exodus 3:14 "God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."

"Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind" Now that is cool. I loved the way God reminded Job that he was nothing and God is God. And praise God He still is.

Hey, did anyone know that "snow" was in the bible? HaHa

Elihu may be the one accusing Job of being arrogant, but he is the one that sounds arrogant to me. He sure is convinced that he knows what he is talking about.

Job's words are ended. Job knew when it was time to shut up. Something I need to remember to do at times.

When does someone cross the line of just stating the facts or the truth about what God has done to being boastful and prideful? Because it sure sounds like Job is boasting to me. I guess Job's friends felt the same way. I struggle with this because I don't always talk about the things God has done in my life because of the very fear of sounding like I am bragging.

Hmmm, can you be the finest man on earth, blameless - a man of complete integrity and still be prideful? Perhaps I have been looking at this all wrong. The scriptures never say "he did not sin". I know he hasn't cursed God, but has Job sinned?

9:33 jumped out at me today, If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. Isn't that what Jesus is? Our mediator between our junk, our cares, our fears and God.

10:8 - 12 also caught my attention. It made me think of Psalm 139. Just another way that the bible and all it's verses are so weaved together.

I am not a big fan of Job. I don't like all the suffering and I have just an over all confusion about the whole book. Lisa, your comment about Satan patrolling the earth and watching everything that's going on may be the reason this book disturbs me so. I don't like the thought of Satan being so close. But, he is and we can't every forget that.

Job's friends might have done the right thing the first seven days, but now they've opened their mouths!

It's interesting that we have gone from Genesis to Job.

I thought is was funny that the first verse starts out like a kids cute little story; There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. Did anything new or interesting jump out at anyone? We'd love to hear from someone new!

I think you may be right about your "face of God" analogy. Here's what I thought of; After Jacob realized his life had been spared in both cases he must have experienced a sense of great peace. He had experienced the Prince of Peace.

I think I need a spreadsheet to figure out all these descendants. I don't understand why they need to repeat these list so many times. It just confuses me and I keep wondering if it is worth repeating what is it that I am missing. At least this time I paid close enough attention to realize that some of the leaders were women!

Hmmm... I always thought Joseph was Jacob's youngest son. I learned today that Benjamin was.

I am getting a late start this morning. Hope to catch up at lunch. I just thought I'd start a blog so no one had to wait on me. Anyone see anything interesting or different in today's scriptures?

This morning a couple of things jumped out at me. First, Genesis 11:32 I couldn't remember who Terah was. I thought he must be important because his death seemed to be singled out. So, I looked him up, he was Abram's father. I did figure out that it stood out more because we are reading the chronological bible.

The second thing made me laugh at loud. After Abraham sent his servant out to find a wife for Issac the servant prayed a very specific prayer so he would know without a doubt that God had sent the woman. And before he finished praying God had done exactly as he asked. But, did you catch it, the servant still wondered whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission. (Genesis 24: 21) Some things never change, do they? How many answered prayers have I missed because I didn't believe God would answer so quickly and so precise.

I think I have found it! The one argument that will stand up in any court or against any person that wants to argue that God is not God and that the bible is not His inspired word.

Genesis 17: 9 -14 -- this is definitely not a man-made covenant! Therefore it must be from God! Because we all know that there is not a man on this earth past, present, or future that would have ever thought about writing a covenant that included cutting off the flesh of his foreskin.

On a more serious note. I keep noticing that all of the main characters that we have read about so far are talking to God as if He is standing in front of them, like they are actually seeing Him. I hope that I notice, just because I am curious, when there is a shift in how God is talking to the people or how they are seeing Him. I find it sad that I don’t always have that same intimate relationship with Him, that I forget that He is really right here.

January 5

Okay, it's your turn to start. Did anything jump out at you today? Something you've never seen before, or maybe you just saw it differently this time?

Hey, did you every notice that Pharaoh took Sarai as his wife? Genesis 12: 14 - 17 I am sure I have noticed it before, but didn't think much about it. God punished Pharaoh's household, but did he punish Abram for lying?

I did notice 3:16 yesterday. And I agree that one little verse does explain a lot about our marriages today. In today's reading I was reminded that even from the beginning bad things happen to good people. I also know that God didn't have to ask Cain where his brother was, He already knew. But, I have to wonder if Cain had told the truth would his punishment have been less severe.

All I have is questions tonight.

1: 27 ...in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Why didn't the author (Moses) just mention that God made man. Was it still the sixth day when He created woman. Could it possibly still be the sixth day when God created Eve even though Adam had given names to all the animals?

2: 8 ...in the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Two trees?

Oh 3: 22 answers that. ...Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life and eat it? Then they will live forever. Yes there were two trees.

Why didn't Adam and Eve eat from the tree of life?

I would love to hear your thoughts or any questions you might have.

Teresa

Happy New Year!!!! Has anybody started reading yet? Going to visit family today, I'll check back this evening.

Teresa