Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Hope you had the chance to tell someone how much you care, or what they mean to you. I guess I'll just take this chance to say that I am so encouraged by this Bible Study. Do you realize that we've been at this for six months now? We have dug deeply into the Word, and are approaching the end of the 5th book. I know that my investment of time and energy has come back to me 10-fold this year. Don't you feel God's blessings on your life through this? I sure do, and I couldn't have made it this far without my friends and readers. Thank you so much.
Chapter 21
Verse 3 stood out to me: Someone must pay for every sin. God was preparing the Israelites from the first day to understand that they needed a Savior.
Did verses 18-21 stand out to anyone? What do you think of this Old Testament parenting practice? Wow.
Chapter 22
God is requiring Israel to act as a community. Verses 1-4: They were responsible for each other's personal property.
Verses 5-12 I wonder if there were practical reasons behind these laws, or if they were merely to set God's people apart.
Verse 17 Can you imagine how embarrassing this would have been? Even if she was pure and blameless, she would be shamed for the rest of her life.
There are many stoning offenses mentioned in this chapter, and they are all very serous. Did you notice verse 22? In case of adultery, the man and the woman should be stoned. Farther down in mentions cases where only the man would be punished, but no where in this law is a case for the woman to be stoned alone. The Jews had twisted this by the time Jesus arrived, and were willing to stone only the adulterous woman.
Chapter 23
The order of these laws and verses seem random to me, but I'm sure that there is an order there that I just haven't noticed. Did you read verses 12-13? My family and church friends take a trip to an island each year for primitive camping. Years ago I remember someone hung a plaque with this verse on it around camp. I was pretty young, and remember thinking, "The Bible talks about that!?!"
Verse 14 gives the reason for all of these strict rules. But Jesus' sacrifice covers all of our impurities.
I was personally convicted by verse 23. When I have an idea and I'm really excited about something, I tend to get carried away talking about it. I talk about it so much, that sometimes I miss the fact that my plan isn't going to work out. Or maybe I've promised someone I'd do something that I really don't have time for. It feels bad and embarrassing to go back and admit that you got swept up in the moment of excitement. We'd all be better off if we were more careful with our words.
Next time: Deuteronomy 24-26
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