Today’s Bible reading* is a collection of songs from the book of Psalms asking for God’s protection and rescue. The book of Psalms itself is a collection of songs, mostly by David. The word Psalm means to pluck, so David wrote these songs to be accompanied by a harp or lyre. The psalms vary in…
Remember Caleb? Other than Joshua, Caleb is the only person left who fled from Egypt. He and Joshua spied out the land and told the people that with God’s blessings, they could be victorious. In today’s Bible reading*, rather than ask for an easy life at eighty-five years old, Caleb asks for the Hill Country…
In today’s Bible reading,* God tells Moses to execute His vengeance against the Midianites. One thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel went out and did just that, killing every male, including the kings. And they took the women and children captive. Moses was furious when he learned that the women were still…
I saw something in today’s Bible reading* that I’ve never seen before in all of the times I’ve read these chapters. God tells Moses to bring out the Hebrews “according to their military divisions”[1] in Exodus 6:26, 7:4, 12:17, 41, 51. I’ve never seen that terminology before. Why? Well, it comes down to Bible translations….
In today’s Bible reading*, we see another blessing pronounced on a younger son, skipping the older one. A few days ago, I wrote about the importance of passing along a blessing to one’s children. Today, Jacob/Israel pronounces a blessing to Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph recognized that his father’s hands were on the wrong…
In today’s Bible reading, we read the story of when Rebekah falls in love with Isaac. The culture of the Twenty-first Century Western World is very different than that of Isaac’s day. Abraham sends his servant to the land of his relatives to find a wife for his “firstborn son” Isaac. Abraham was concerned that…
