July 25~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Oops of the Day

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God was mean to tell the Jews to take over someone else’s land.

Deuteronomy 12:29-31;  Genesis 15:13-16;   Deuteronomy 12:29-31;  II Kings 17:16-18, 29-30;  II Kings 21:3-11

Fact Of the Day

No!  The Amorites were the great great grandchildren of righteous Noah.  Abraham was promised their land, but not until the sins of the Amorites peaked about 500 years after the promise.  God is the God of Second Chances and he gave the Amorites chance after chance to repent; but they were having too much fun with their gods and goddesses.  The Amorites were practicing human sacrifice to the fire god Moloch.  They also practiced legalized male and female prostitution to the pornographic goddess Astarte.  But God warned the Jews.  “If you begin worshiping these same gods, I am going to send another nation to take this land from you.  Despite the warning, eventually the Jews became just as sinful as the Amorites and worshipped their terrible, terrible gods. So armies from northern Iraq (Assyria) took the northern part of Canaan/Palestine from them and armies from southern Iraq (Babylon) took the southern part of Canaan/Palestine from them.

 

July 24~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Oops of the Day

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Eye for Eye” in the Bible gives everyone permission to do to our enemy what he did to us

Leviticus 24:11,20,23; Exodus 21:23-24; Deuteronomy 19:18-21

Fact Of the Day

No!  Only judges could decide whether to use this law.  In Leviticus 24:11,20 ,23, it says God told Moses, who was the only judge at that time, to make the decision.  In Exodus 21:23-24, it says it must be the decision of a judge.   And in Deuteronomy  19:18-21 it says it must be the decision of a judge.  In other words, it is not a decision to be made by just anyone; it must be the decision of a judge

*Of course, Jesus changed all that in Matthew 5:30 and said, “If your enemy slaps you, offer your other cheek to him.”  In other words, no more retaliation; instead, forgiveness and loving your enemies (Matthew 5:44).

 

July 23~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Oops of the Day

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The Law of Moses had only the famous Ten Commandments

The entire book of Leviticus, 3rd book of the Bible

Fact Of the Day

No!  Try wading through the book of Leviticus written for the tribe of Levi from which came their priests who made sure the Law of Moses was kept.  Leviticus has 27 long chapters of intricate instructions.  It included three kinds of laws:  Moral, Ceremonial, Judicial (civil).  There are people today to want to dip back into the Law of Moses to do things they would love to have an excuse to do.  Incense in worship is part of the Law of Moses.  Candles in worship is part of the Law of Moses.  A separate priesthood is part of the Law of Moses.  Etc.  But, the Bible also says that if you keep part of the Law of Moses, you are obligated to keep all of it.  And that includes stoning for adultery, stoning for working on Saturday, and stabbing animals to death for sacrifices to God. Wow!  

 

July 22~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Surprise of the Day

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The Egyptians Enslaved the Jews

But before that,  Jewish Joseph enslaved the Egyptians

Exodus 1:6-11 and Genesis 46:34

Fact Of the Day

When the Egyptians enslaved the Jews, it was PAYBACK TIME.  When Jewish Joseph controlled Egypt’s food during a 7-year famine. the Egyptians ran out of money.  So they gave all their land to Joseph who passed it on to Pharaoh.  But the famine kept going.  The Egyptians did not have anything left of value, so sold themselves into slavery to Joseph who passed them on to Pharaoh.  So a couple of hundred year later after Joseph died, the Egyptians “turned the tables” on the Jews and enslaved the Jews.

 

July 21~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Surprises of the Day

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Abraham’s age when…

Isaac’s age when…

Jacob’s age when…

Genesis 25:26 & 21:5  –  Genesis 35:28 & 47:7

Facts Of the Day

Abraham’s grandsons, Jacob & Esau, were 15 years old when Abraham died.  (Abraham was 100 when Isaaac was born.  Isaac was 60 when Jacob & Esau were born.  Abraham died at age 175.)

Jacob took his family to live in Egypt ten years after his father, Isaac, died.  (Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born.  Isaac died at age 180 when Jacob was 120.  Jacob was 130 when he took his family to live in Egypt.)

 

 

July 20~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Oops of the Day

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Noah and his family were in the ark 40 days and 40 nights.

Genesis 7:6, 11, 24 and Genesis 8:13

Fact Of the Day

No. It rained 40 days and 40 nights.  But the springs under the ocean kept coming up and the water kept going up for 5 months.  Then they had to wait for the water to go back down.  Noah entered the ark when he was 600 years old, and stepped off the ark when he was 601 years old.  Noah and his family were in the ark a full year.

 

July 19~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Surprise of the Day

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When Abraham prepared to kill his son as a burned sacrifice to God, he believed God would bring his son back to life immediately afterward. 

Genesis 22; Hebrews 11:17-19

Fact Of the Day

What faith!  He really believed he could kill his son and the son would come back to life!  Abraham told his servants to wait for them while they finished  going up to Mount Moriah, adding, “WE will return”.  In the Hebrews it says the same thing: Abraham knew, if he killed his son, God would bring him back to life.  He KNEW it!

 

July 18~ Things in the Bible not really in the Bible…and a few surprises

Oops of the Day

Button-Divider Line

Abraham was being mean when he made his slave mistress and their 15-year-old slave son, Ishmael, go out into the desert to die.

Genesis 21:1-21; Genesis 25:12-18; Genesis 2:8-9

Fact Of the Day

It was just the opposite.  Hagar was a slave. Therefore, her son, Ishmael, was a slave. When Abraham sent them away, he was giving them their freedom. They would no longer be slaves. Both Hagar and son, Ishmael, prayed to the one true God, so God blessed Ishmael.   Eventually, Ishmael  had 12 sons who became twelve tribes and they settled from today’s Arabia to Havilah (what we today call the Middle East) “where there was much gold”. Archaeologists have found gold artifacts dating back to 4000 BC in ancient Mesopotamia in today’s southern Iraq. The Pishon River originated in the Garden of Eden.

 

I do too, Lord. I do too.

0-HeartsAfire-Child'sCartoonCover-MediumI praise you, Jehovah, Creator of everything I observe and more.  You are too large to see all of you. You are too small to perceive your intricacies, too much to fathom, too wise to comprehend. You are my monarch, my sovereign, my emperor, my king.  You reign over my heart, my mind, my spirit, my soul.  And one day I will see you face to face. What will it be like? Actually seeing he who made the universe with over two trillion galaxies, each filled with one hundred thousand million stars.  And you know them all by name.   Better, you know me by name. How I worship you.

Thank you for the rain we had to nourish my thirsty garden. How do you make such fantastic things out of tiny seeds? Beets with one seed, carrots with another seed, radishes with another, corn, wheat, beans, tomatoes ~ all from tiny seeds.  I put them under ground, they die, then they come back to life in delightful assorted sizes, shapes, colors, and tastes. Oh, how you must enjoy creating and giving life. Such pleasure you must receive from watching my little garden grow. I do too, Lord. I do too.

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A little extra seeking and knocking

Strip of InspirationalAh, how can I praise you enough, Jehovah God? You are so good to me. You poured out your heart to the world in your Bible. How lucky I am to have a copy of it and live where anyone can have as many copies as they like. Lord God, I adore you. You are so high, I delight to follow you and try to reach up as high as you do. You’re never quite so far that I cannot sometimes touch you. To know you is to love you. You are my God and will be forever. 

Thank you, God, for freedom to study your Book of all books.  I have a copy of your very own words. How amazing. Every word is so fascinating. You pour out your heart and withhold nothing of your plans, emotions, and doings. And thank you for the exhilarating gift of mind that allows humans to know of your existence and to understand who you are. Thank you for making me so much in your image that I have your same emotions, instinctively long for wisdom, and delight in creating. Thank you for all that I am.


The scripture for today, July 7 (7/7), is Matthew 7:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

How beautiful. The Creator of the universe pays attention to each and every one of us. How does he do it? How does he even sort us all out when thousands of us are praying to him at the same time?

But sometimes you may think he is not listening to your prayers. It takes time to answer some of them. If I am praying to meet my future husband or wife, God may have to move him or her from the other side of the country, get a new job for him or her and arrange for the two of you to “accidentally” bump into each other. This is just one example.

At other times you may ask for something like winning a ball game. When Jesus said whatever we seek will be given to you, he had already explained that you must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). So, within that context, God will give you your heart’s desire.

Maybe today, you can do a little bit of extra seeking and extra knocking.


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