Week Seven Reading Assignment:
Numbers 22 - Deuteronomy 8
"Unto a Christian ... there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable, than the knowledge of holy scriptures, forasmuch as in it is contained God's true word, setting forth His glory, and also man's duty. And there is no truth nor doctrine necessary for our justification and everlasting salvation, but that is, or may be drawn out of that fountain and well of truth. Therefore as many as be desirous to enter into the right and perfect way unto God, must apply their minds to know holy scripture; without the which, they can neither sufficiently know God and His will, neither their office and duty."
(The Edwardian Homilies, 1547)
(The Edwardian Homilies, 1547)
This Week's Video:
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This Week's Video:
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Making Progress
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This week we will finish reading the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible. When we do, the chart above illustrates where we will stand in our reading of the Old Testament and in our reading of the entire Bible. Keep up the good work!
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Good Book Review: Parting WordsThe name of the book doesn’t mean anything to most of us, and it may mean the wrong thing to the rest of us.
“Deuteronomy” comes from two Greek words — “deuteros” and “nomos” — which combine to form a title that means “second law.” That title comes from the observation that much of what was recorded in the law sections of Exodus and Leviticus is repeated here in Deuteronomy. In fact, however, the book is a great deal more than just repetition. This book is personal, and it comes from the heart. Moses had led the people of Israel for a generation and over untold miles. They had been through so very much together, and now the time had come for him to say goodbye. Moses is older than everyone in his audience, which gives the book a kind of parental quality. He is about to die, which gives his farewell a sense of both urgency and finality. And the people are about to enter the land of God’s promise, which makes the moment a pivotal one. And before they part, Moses wants to remind them of a few things. What God has done, what God has said, what they have seen, and what they have been taught — all of these things bear urgent repeating. For Moses knows that if they remember these things, they will be, do, and have all that God intends. But if they forget what they have seen, heard, and known, then they and their children are doomed. |
Character Profile: The Friend of GodLong before Moses was aware of it, God had a special plan for his life.
He was miraculously saved as a baby from the Pharaoh’s cruel baby-killing edict. He was raised in the palaces of Egypt, but was eventually exiled to the deserts of Midian. He became a husband, a father, and a shepherd. And then, with his unwitting apprentice-ship complete, he was ready — though not willing — to be called into God’s service. From their first recorded conversation, Moses and God had a special relation-ship. Moses was both reverent and candid with God. And the Lord, in turn, was both patient and persistent with Moses. During the years that followed, a truly lovely and exemplary relationship blossomed. Moses takes to God all of his burdens and complaints. And God is equally ready to express His frustrations to Moses. They negotiate with one another. And, like close friends, they listen to one another and even change each other’s minds. Moses seems to be the one man among all the Israelites on whom God can depend. And Moses, likewise, discovers that God is the only one to whom he can turn, as well. While others shrink from God’s presence, Moses pursues it. Indeed, he comes to reflect it! Moses sought God’s face, and in the end he is identified as the man with whom God spoke “face-to-face, just as a man speaks with a friend” (Exodus 33:11 TEV). And when his life of faithful service comes to an end, it is that dear, personal Friend of Moses who personally buries him. |
Learning the Story
(from Creation Regained by Albert Wolters and Michael Goheen)
To miss the grand narrative of Scripture is a serious matter; it is not simply a matter of misinterpreting parts of Scripture. It is a matter of being oblivious to which story is shaping our lives.
Some story will shape our lives.
When the Bible is broken up into little bits and chunks -- theological, devotional, spiritual, moral, or worldview bits and chunks -- then these bits can be nicely fitted into the reigning story of our own culture with all its idols!
One can be theologically orthodox, devotionally pious, morally upright, or maybe even have one's worldview categories straight, and yet be shaped by the idolatrous Western story. The Bible loses its forceful and formative power by being absorbed into a more encompassing secular story.
Some story will shape our lives.
When the Bible is broken up into little bits and chunks -- theological, devotional, spiritual, moral, or worldview bits and chunks -- then these bits can be nicely fitted into the reigning story of our own culture with all its idols!
One can be theologically orthodox, devotionally pious, morally upright, or maybe even have one's worldview categories straight, and yet be shaped by the idolatrous Western story. The Bible loses its forceful and formative power by being absorbed into a more encompassing secular story.