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Hmm, according to the Christian Character Index I have joy like a fountain, but need to work on my forgiveness and compassion. My love and peace are "OK" also, but the forgiveness and compassion part is bugging me just a bit. I mean, aren't those supposed to come from God in abundance? Or is it more a case of God working in our lives?
Of course, I already know the answer to that question, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! If you haven't noticed, I had a marginal score on the patience category. This quiz I took can give ideas on aspects of one's character and how God is working in their life, but only God can make the final determination on your "score." Also, there are 65 questions to answer. Toward the beginning and just before the end, I thought more about my answer, and in the middle, I used the "sometimes" as my default, occasionally moving a space or two in one direction or the other. I'd have a clearer picture if I did the test answering five questions at a time, and then entering them all at once.
Where am I going with this? A quiz taken online may be able to tell you a little something about yourself, but the only sure litmus test is the holy judgment of God. What does that judgment say about my worth as a person? I'm useless. I'm greedy. I'm arrogant. I love myself too much. I don't lean on God enough. That's all very harsh, sure, but y'know what? God's judgment of me has already been handled by His own Son, who took my shortcomings upon Himself and left them in the tomb that He left in victory. My weakness is proof of His strength.
The work being done in my heart is a journey. My heart is cleansed of dross one layer at a time. And though I need to work on my patience, The Lord will take away that shortcoming in His time, not mine.
If you imagine yourself in Moses' shoes, the Israelites must have broken his heart. He had endured a hectic time convincing an unwilling Pharaoh to let the Israelites to go. The unfaithful Israelites turned to wickedness as soon as things were uncertain. The trip was lengthened by 40 years because the people didn't want to set their faith in God. Now they were complaining about the lack of water again! Most leaders would just throw their hands up and leave them, but Moses prayed for a solution. Once again, he was to strike water from a rock to quiet these ungrateful Israelites. The way he did so showed some of the frustration that must have been brewing in him for quite some time.
Why do I suggest frustration? He hit the rock twice instead of once. Faith served him well to this point, but frustration wasn't in God's plan. For this, Moses would never enter the Promised Land that he was leading the Israelites to. He must have been heartbroken, and ultimately, he can blame nobody but himself.
It's not often you hear about a believer in God outside the main characters in a story, especially in the Old Testament, but Balaam was in the right place at the right time... at least in the beginning of the story. That conversation between him and his donkey was pretty funny, I must say. If a donkey looked up at me and spoke, I'd be pretty startled! I guess Balaam was too angry to be shocked at something so trivial. After this exchange, he rejoined Balak as God intended him to do. Four times he spoke the will of God, for Israel to be a great nation. Once he spoke of the fates of the kings who were with him. Then he got up and left. I'm surprised the kings didn't attack him then and there!
I have heard Balaam referred to as a prophet even though he was not among the Lord's people and salvation hadn't been offered to the gentiles. I dispute that thought with the words of Peter later in the Bible. Balaam realized that his sorcery was not powerful when compared to the might of the Lord, and only then did he bless the chosen people of the Lord. More possible information about Balaam has been unearthed in 1967 in an archeological dig near his activities in the book of Numbers. This information suggests that he was responsible for the stumbling blocks the Israelis faced shortly after this event took place.
Today's reading is found in Numbers 25:1 to 26:65.
The Israelites began to worship false gods and God's wrath was stirring against them. Aaron's son was able to quell His wrath by killing an Israelite and the woman he was sinning with, but the death among the Israelites was still great. A second census was taken and the number of Israelite men age 20 and above had dropped by about two thousand. Take into account the fact that boys were growing into men all along and you'll see that more than that number had died for their actions.
By this time Moses was getting old, and even though he would never set foot in the Promised Land, God told him that he would see it from afar before his passing. There's an example of grace from the Old Testament, which many unlearned people say isn't there. God is holy, and when you're speaking on His behalf, you are expected to act holy as well. Even though Moses had stumbled, God allowed him to see into the land that was their destination.
Moses asked God to appoint a leader to succeed him and Joshua was chosen. The rest of this passage is God telling Moses how the Israelites are to prepare their burnt offerings on a regular schedule. It seems that God is preparing for the passing of Moses more than Moses! If God is setting the affairs in order, though, I wouldn't be one to hinder him!
For a final act, God had Moses send an army to attack the Midianites in vengeance. They killed every man that stood up to them, as they were told, but they decided to keep some plunder and bring back some of the women. If you recall the reading from two days ago, it was the seduction of women that caused so much trouble before. Because of this, any women who had been with a man before was executed. The rest were considered spoils of war.
And what spoils! 12,000 men herded approximately 800,000 animals back to camp. I had a hard enough time controlling three sheep at the county fair as a boy! (inside joke)
Now why would these tribes want to be content with the lands they were in? Granted, they were good for livestock, but they were promised a land flowing with milk and honey! They had to be reminded of their duties to the Israelite nation and accept these terms before their request could be accepted. At least an agreement was reached before another forty years was added to the wanderings!
Read carefully the final verses of this day's reading! God commanded through Moses to drive out all of the inhabitants of Canaan (the promised land) and destroy all idols. If they would fail to do this, they would regret it for generations to come. Instructions don't get much more specific, do they?
Final preparations for the land were then made. Boundaries were set even before the land was won, for with God before them, the Israelites couldn't lose. Just like today, the victory was already won! Laws were also made concerning murder, both intentional and unintentional. A court system was made then so the people could distinguish between the two.
Can you imagine the excitement of these people? They had wandered the desert for more than 40 years and seen an entire generation pass on, and finally their wandering was nearly over. Our family drove four hours to get to my grandmother's house five months ago, and my son was going stir-crazy the entire time!
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Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!