Okay, so on my 90 day journey of reading through the Bible, I have reached day 11. I haven't missed a day, and you do realize this means I am 12% of the way there. I know, it's only 12%. But dude, that's a pretty decent dent for 11 days! So I'm just getting towards the end of Numbers. Not gonna lie....the last part of Exodus, ALL of Leviticus, and the first half of Numbers...= brutal. I'm glad we have all the details, but...bru.tal. In fact, Leviticus convinced me, on Sunday, that it was definitely nap time. Definitely. So Sunday got a 2 part plan for reading...half before nap, involuntary nap, half after nap.
But. Numbers ain't all bad. There's some funny stuff in there (not supposed to be funny I'm sure, but I'm a dork, so some of it's funny to me.)
* not funny, but totally eye-roll worthy EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. they do this-- the Israelites. They gripe about EVERY flippin' thing. they want more food. God gives them manna from heaven, miraculously. They get so tired of it they want some meat. God gives them quail- literally tons of it (no one gathered less than about 17 tons of it! seriously! ri.dic.u.lousssss)- tells them they will eat it till it comes out their nostrils. Only they've griped so much up to that point, He decides to just wipe a bunch of them out with a plague. Do the rest of them learn? Nope. The entire book of Numbers is filled with the same complaint, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt???" (um...you were slaves in Egypt. You were totally mistreated. I think you're forgetting how bad it was there.)
*After much griping by the Israelites, Moses asks God (forgive me, I am paraphrasing somewhat) "How am I supposed to deal with these people? Seriously, I'd rather you just kill me." Thankfully, the Lord gives him some other people to help with the difficult ones (which was like...all of them).
And there's some really good stuff in there. Here's what I gleaned the most from today. The Lord tells Moses that the reason He brought them out of Egypt was to be their God (Numbers 15:41). THE.REASON=TO.BE.THEIR.GOD. Countless times the Israelites ask/say things like, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!" (Numbers 20:5). He allowed Moses to bring you out of Egypt so that He (the Lord) would be your God. That's why. He rescued you from something terrible, and yes, you are living in something not so great either, but just because junk is happening all around you doesn't mean He's forsaken you. Get your heads in the game people (Israelites...oh, and me, too. You? I'll let you decide that for yourself). It isn't just about you (Israelites/me...you?) and your wants. Stuff happens. Did God MAKE the Israelites slaves? Did He MAKE them have no water, no figs, no...pomegranates (the horror!)??? Did He MAKE Ridge have MLT? Did He MAKE my father in law die way too soon and leave us with a hole in our lives??? Did He MAKE my dear sweet friend lose her twin babies before she ever got to hold them? Did He MAKE several friends of another dear friend suffer and fight cancer SIMULTANEOUSLY (as in, all be stricken with it at about the same time?? and two of them are CHILDREN??) No. none of that stuff is fun. none of it is fair. and the Lord can stop it, or He can allow it. Of course He is capable of creating it, because He is the Lord. But did He create that stuff in those people? Well, I just don't know that I believe that. I'm not the end all be all here, but I just don't buy that. But what I do buy is the fact that THROUGH IT ALL, He will take those people affected by those situations and use those situations that are terribly unkind to BE OUR GOD. He is our God. So, whatever you are going through-- WHY?? WHY has God brought you to that, through that??? He wants to be your Lord. He wants to carry you past it and better you from it and love you through the hurt. I know, because he's done it for me. And I am so thankful for that. Even if I did have to read a bunch of laws and ceremonial stuff and genealogies to get to the heart of the message.
- alisha
- wife. mom. adjunct professor. we homeschool. i'm a little bit OCD. i love math. bright colors and geometric designs make me drool. we live with a medical rarity, and Jesus saved his life. through that, Jesus is changing us. The american dream and status quo is overrated...and sometimes just plain wrong. our lives, our family, our careers, our faith are all now filtered through a new lens-- thank you Jesus. welcome to our crazy. feel free to take some of it with you, we have plenty to go around.
2 comments:
Great post! I'm also reading the Bible from cover to cover right now (not in three months - that's totally impressive), and I agree that through all the laws and stories, it has given me a greater understanding that God is God. He's there through all the mess. I'm in Deuteronomy right now, and a lot of the Old Testament has been confusing and even frustrating for me, but through it all, I'm getting a greater understanding of the fact that He's not the little God I'd fit into a neat package. He's a big, powerful, awesome God, who can do anything. Sorry for the long comment, but after growing up in church my entire life, I feel like reading the Bible in this way (as opposed to skipping around) has given me a whole new appreciation for the Word. The end :)
Love the long comment! I love any comments! Thanks so much for stopping by...I mean, you being a real-live author and all, that's just fancy! :) Totally echo everything you said, too. Thanks, Julie!
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