Love For God From The Heart - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 10:13,

"So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then..."

As Moses prepared the Israelites for crossing the Jordan to drive out the Canaanites and take possession of the land, he exhorts them to follow the Lord's commands. The Lord's commands Moses gives in this context is that they are to "love the Lord your God" and to serve him with "all your heart and with all your soul". Moses follows this with the assured outcome of God blessing their land, making them prosperous and successful, "then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied."

Here in the books of the law God gave Moses, the concern centers on the heart and soul. "to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul..." The Lord looks at the inward man: does he serve the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul? Mere outward obedience will not do. The Lord looks at the condition of the heart.

Unfortunately, as time went on, the hearts of his people denied him what he desired. In Isaiah 29:13 we read, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."

How about us today? Where are our hearts when we spend time with others worshipping the Lord? Where are our hearts when we are at home or work or play? Do we love the Lord with all our hearts and souls? Jesus told one of the "experts" in the law that the greatest commandment given Moses in the law was, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37.

Where am I in that regard today?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Circumcision of the Heart! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 10:16,

"Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer."

As Moses recounted the rebelliousness of the previous generation of Israelites the Lord had consigned to wander and die in the wilderness for forty years, he warned and exhorted this new generation to love the Lord, to fear the Lord, and to serve the Lord from their hearts and souls. "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" Verses 12-13.

He tells the Israelites the Lord had set his affection on the patriarchs and loved them. Since this generation was now the current descendants of their ancestors, he tells them to not follow in the path of the previous generation, a generation of rebellious and stiff-necked people, but, rather, to circumcise their hearts.

Circumcision is the removal of the male foreskin, a mark of being a member of the Lord's people. The Gentiles of the day were not among the Lord's camp and were considered outsiders to God's people, "unclean" people. Moses tells the Israelites to not follow in the footsteps of the previous generation, but to circumcise their hearts - a metaphor for removing that sinful rebelliousness that marked their parents.

Paul uses Moses' metaphor in Romans 2:29 where he talks about the uselessness of only circumcision and the law to commend oneself to God as a Jew. There he speaks of the fulfillment of a Jew to be everything God looked for through an inward circumcision of the heart (by the Spirit) as well, and not merely just the outward physical circumcision the law required.

There are those who represent the "do-gooders' amongst believers today. Focused entirely on ensuring we all "behave" ourselves with a list of "dos and don'ts" our love and passion for the Lord himself becomes obscured. A circumcision of the heart is indicated here as well.

So, whether people are stiff-necked and rebellious, or, on the other hand, cold-hearted law-keepers and do-gooders, Moses' (and Paul's) exhortation bears repeating: "fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good": a circumcision of the heart!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

A Profound Darkness, A Great Light! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 9:12,

"Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt."

These words were spoken by the Lord to Moses while he was up on Mt. Sinai receiving the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments the Lord inscribed upon them. While Moses was up on Mt. Sinai for that forty days with the Lord, the Israelites had made a golden calf to worship.

The question arises in my mind, did they realize what it was exactly that they were doing? Did they realize what they were dealing with? I don't mean did they realize they were making a gold calf to worship, but the wrongness of it? The wrath they were generating in the heart of the Lord as they acted so foolishly? The jeopardy they placed themselves in with the Lord?

It is my perspective that we read of all the flaws of Israel in the Scriptures to help us understand our own sinful hearts, our own shortcomings. They, although God's chosen people, were dominated by a sinful nature that darkened their minds and their hearts, just like all mankind. They existed in a darkness that prevented them from seeing and perceiving things clearly in the moral and spiritual universe.

I'm certainly not looking for any excuse for Israel, just as I don't for those who are led astray by their sinful natures today, but to gain an understanding of the profound darkness sinful and fallen mankind exists in.

Although many today claim to aspire to all things just and right, and scowl at the rest of us for not seeing what they do (I'm thinking of the crowd that have taken upon themselves to lecture the rest of us about our "white fragility", bigotry, racism, homophobia, xenophobia and so on with all their virtue signaling, etc.), I marvel at the inscrutable and profound darkness they thrash about in.

The writer of Hebrews provides a warning about the deceitfulness of sin and our proclivity to turn from the ways of God due to our fallen natures, "See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:12-13.

Sin's deceitfulness is a darkness within the heart of man that is a profound darkness. It causes people to stumble over things they are entirely blind to. The apostle John tells us, "But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them." 1 John 2:11. I am reminded of Proverbs 4:19, "But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble."

In what I find to be one of the most moving passages I find in my Bible, Isaiah 9:2 , "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." What is that light? "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7. Jesus Christ!

As Paul exclaimed in Romans 7:24-25a, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

How wonderful is that?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Regard For What Lays Ahead - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 9:13-14,

"I [the Lord] have seen this people [the Israelites], and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you [Moses] into a nation stronger and more numerous than they."

Here is a frightful and terrifying reality the Israelites had brought on themselves. The Lord indicts them as being stiff-necked and stubborn, verses 6,13, 27, having aroused his anger, verses 7, 8, 19, 22, being corrupt, verse 12, turning from his commands, verse 12, pursuing idol worship, verse 16, done what was evil in his sight, verse 18, rebelling against him, verses 23, 24, and distrusting and being disobedient to him, verse 23.

Because of these things the Lord told Moses to leave him alone to destroy the people of Israel. He determined to "blot out their name from under heaven." As the writer of Hebrews observes, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31. In Hebrews 12:29 (as he quotes Deuteronomy 4:22) he says why, "God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:29.

I cannot think of a more horrible, fearful, dreadful and appalling place to find oneself in! God so angry he is ready to lay to waste the people of Israel! You will have to read the telling of it to find out what happens.

This account reminds me of something that has been on my mind lately. As I watch the news and listen to the things people say and do, it is apparent they live their lives without any regard toward what lays ahead of them in not so many years. "The fool says in his heart 'There is no God.'" Psalm 14:1. Consequently they live their lives in a way that places them in that horrible, fearful, dreadful and appalling place of hurtling toward the horrific wrath of God's judgment.

The utter disregard of one's own well being for the future is just stunning to me, particularly considering the stakes involved!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Well Nourished? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 8:3,

"He [God] humbled you, [the Israelites] causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

This is where the famous quote of Jesus to Satan comes from. Moses encouraged the Israelites, prior to their entering into the promised land, in observing how the Lord had been working with them as a nation. They were to have learned that man needs not just bread, but the word of God-- all of it.

How do we recognize within ourselves whether we believe what Moses said here and Jesus quoted to the devil? Very simple: look at how much time you invested in God's word last week. Do you feel confident that you are getting a full diet of God's word?

Paul told Timothy the importance of consuming the word of God, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Hopefully we will all find ourselves well-nourished in the word of God.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God's Treasured Possession- Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 7:6,

"You [Israel] are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."

Imagine God holding a people as his "treasured possession"! When God treasures something, that is something indeed!

As all mankind is, the Israelites were sinners estranged from God and would treat this love God had for them, as well as their standing as his "treasured possession" contemptuously.

Why did God love these people? Why did God hold them as his treasured possession? Why did God embrace them as his chosen people? It is all about the faith Abraham had placed in God.

"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6. Abraham, the progenitor of the Israelites, held God in the kind of faith God desired to reward with a standing of righteousness, bringing redemption from sin and entrance into his kingdom, his family, for all eternity: heavenly bound. In Romans chapter four, Paul makes a focus of this in his explanation of salvation by faith.

Due to Abraham's faith, God promised to make a people of him with a special purpose in mind, the purpose of mankind's redemption. It would be through this chosen people of God that he would communicate to the world, through prophetic pronouncements and in the Scriptures of God's intention of redeeming mankind.

Additionally, in that God is a seriously just God, the sins of mankind would have to be paid for in order to effect redemption. This he determined to do through offering his Son, Jesus Christ, as payment for those sins. The chosen people of Israel, due to their standing with God because of Abraham's faith, would be the vehicle through which the Son of God would be brought into the world, to be made human in every way (see Hebrews 2:14-18). The offering Jesus Christ made of his body on that cross paid the price for the sins of mankind.

Those who have embraced Jesus Christ in the faith Abraham had now become God's treasured possession! In speaking of Christians, Peter says, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10.

How wonderful is that?!

And, now you know!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Assurance! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 7:9,

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

Moses encouraged the Israelites of the love of the Lord they would experience if they followed his commands, "If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers." Verses 12-13.

The importance of knowing this helps us understand the Lord's faithfulness. He will do exactly as he says. In verse 9 we read where he will be faithful in his love for the people of Israel if they fulfill their end of the covenant between them.

I am reminded of the faithfulness of the Lord when it comes to our salvation. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, "He [God] will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

The wonderful thing about our salvation is that the performance aspect of the New Covenant has already been fulfilled. Jesus Christ provided that on the cross when he gave his life to secure the payment for our sins. Now, all God asks us is to put our faith and trust in him. In the 1 Corinthians passage we learn that the same Lord of faithfulness Moses spoke of will keep us "firm to the end", so that our salvation is assured -- it is based on Jesus' performance and not ours.

Paul makes a wonderful observation about God in Romans 11:29, "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." Because God is faithful, we are assured of our eternal destiny following this life!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

Don't Forget the Bringer of Blessings! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 6:10-12,

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

Here is a concern Moses warned Israel against. As the Israelites might enjoy all of the myriad of blessings awaiting them in the promised land, in the midst of their satisfaction of them, they just might forget the One who provided them!

The amazement of it is that it is the very Lord they might forget in their contentment and satisfaction his blessings bring! The people of our nation come to mind here... 

I am reminded of a plea made in Proverbs 30:8-9, "... give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'" 

Here is where those loftier responses of gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness for the blessings the Lord provides are so important. A grateful heart that never forgets who brings those many blessings is certainly fitting and appropriate.

Paul's admonition provides the remedy, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

All we need do is list all the Lord has done for us and follow Paul's direction! 

What might be on your list?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

On The Fear of the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 5:29,

"Oh, that their [the Israelites] hearts would be inclined to fear me [the Lord] and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!"

Moses recounts for this new generation of Israelites what the Lord had said to him about the previous generation. It was when the Lord spoke to the nation out of his glory and majesty from the darkness, "while the mountain was ablaze with fire." Verse 23.

Were we to ask why the Lord wanted his people to be scared of him, we might betray a bit of misunderstanding. Sometimes people take the phrase "fear the Lord" to mean the Lord wanted his people, and us today, to be scared of him, or even terrified of him.

We are told in Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Here is the same exhortation to fear the Lord. The thought here is reverence and respect. An attitude that promotes veneration and worship. I have to think just a bit of acknowledgment of what God is capable of in his anger is appropriate here as well. We are told, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" Hebrews 12:28-29.

I think the prophet Isaiah, at his commissioning, strikes the appropriate outlook, "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'" Isaiah 6:5.

How is the fear of the Lord expressed in your life? That is a question I ask of myself today.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Total and Full Devotion - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 4:23-24,

"Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

It appears to me the thrust of Moses' words here can be summed up in the thought that the Lord required total and full devotion from his people, a devotion marked by fervor and an acknowledgement that he is the only God: their God.

"You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other." Verse 35. "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other." Verse 39.

His reminder to the Israelites that "God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" speaks of an ardency he required of his people. He is not merely asking for the Israelites allegiance or fidelity, but full devotion at the risk of inciting his overwhelming jealous fury.

The writer of Hebrews quotes this verse in Hebrews 12:28-29, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" Here we are reminded the Lord requires our devotion to him. Going to church out of a sense of duty or to get our "spiritual lift" on Sunday mornings is not going to do it for those who belong to the Lord. An ardency is required, a devotion to him, a fervency for him.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

On Distorting God's Word - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 4:2,

"Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you."

As Moses prepared to recount the laws the Lord gave Israel, he warned them not to add to those words or take away from those words. The Lord is very particular about anyone adding and taking away from his revelation to us all.

We read in Proverbs 30:5-6, "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."

The Lord has given us his word and he is not pleased when anyone attempts to add to it. The Qur'an and the book of Mormon both come to mind here. Both claim to be the very words of God and all who truck with them will pay a hefty price.

At the end of the revelation given John we read, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll." Revelation 22:18-19.

Anyone who adulterates the word of God, our Bibles, will fall under condemnation. One reason for this is that the words of God are meant to reveal to us who he is and what he is like. He is not happy with those who would distort his pristine revelation of himself. Another reason not to trifle with the word of God is that he intends it to accomplish important things in our lives. Paul told Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 1 Timothy 3:16-17.

God intends his unadulterated word to work in our lives for our spiritual development, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." Romans 15:4. Distorting, adding to, or subtracting from his words compromises God's purposes in our lives.

In writing about Paul's letters, Peter points out that those who distort God's word given through Paul will pay a heavy penalty, "He [Paul] writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."

An important exhortation to us all: don't mess with God's word!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Just Who Were These Giants? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 3:11,

"Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites."

King Og of Bashan was defeated by the Israelites at the end of their sojourn in the wilderness. In this verse Moses mentions that Og was the last of the Rephaites. Who were these Rephaites and why did Og have a bed that was fourteen feet long and six feet wide? Some think what is translated as a bed in this verse might have been Og's sarcophagus, but in any event it indicates he was a man of unusual proportions.

An online article, https://www.gotquestions.org/Rephaim.html provides some interesting thoughts about the Rephaites (or, the Rephaim). It explains two distinct meanings of the word, "first, in poetic literature it refers to departed spirits whose dwelling place was Sheol. It is a figurative description of the dead, similar to our concept of a ghost. The second meaning of Rephaim is 'a mighty people with tall stature who lived in Canaan.'" It is this second meaning we are looking at in Deuteronomy 3:11.

The article mentions that Egyptians wrote about giants who lived in the land of Canaan at the time. The folklore of other nations also make reference to these giants. The Scriptures mention the Rephaites in ten places in Genesis, Deuteronomy, Joshua and 1 Chronicles.

The Rephaites were called "mighty men" and generally described as being 7 to 10 feet tall. When Israel sent spies into the promised land just following the exodus, they came back with the report of giants in the land (Numbers 13:32-33, where they are called the "Nephilim"), "All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Three theories of the origin of these giants are:
Fallen angels (the sons of God) had sexual relations with women which produced these giants (from Genesis 6:1-4).
A second theory is that the fallen angels, knowing all about human genetics, indwelt certain men and women who had the right traits to produce a race of giants.
The third theory is that the Rephaites were simply the result of normal genetic variability among people.

I favor the third theory in that I subscribe to Occam's razor (the simplest explanation is usually the right one)

Might David's opponent, Goliath, be one of these?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

Yes, There Exists a Limit With God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 3:2b,

"Do to him [Og, king of Bashan] what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."

Here Moses recounts when God told him to annihilate Bashan, just as he had the Amorites. The Lord used Israel at this time (and it was a limited time in Israel's history), to destroy the nations of the promised land because those nations had deteriorated to such a level of wickedness the Lord determined to eradicate them from the face of the earth in a divine genoicide.

We read in Deuteronomy 9:5, "It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

This act of Lord was nothing new. Recall the flood of Noah's day was for precisely the same thing. Then, it was not just several nations but all people, save Noah and his family. We read in Genesis 6:5-7, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.'" And wipe them out he did!

There is a level of depravity the Lord is unwilling to allow to fester. All mankind exists in some form or state of sinful condition since man's fall in the garden, but there is a measure at which the Lord will not allow it to continue. Don't ever let anyone tell you that any culture or society is as equally appropriate as any other. That is simply a lie.

Where do we, as Americans, stand in this measure of things? I think it bears sober consideration. The slaughter of millions of babies while still in their mother's wombs does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. The rejection of God as our creator as expressed in the "gender identity" flight from reality, as well as the insistence we all play along, does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. The depravity and debauchery expressed in homosexuality and sexual immorality does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. The outright rejection of God in our schools and the public square, the banning of God's word, and the purging of all things God by our society does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. And to think that these things embraced becomes the "moral high ground", that very much does not bode well for us.

When God removes an entire nation from the face of the earth, who gets impacted? Think about it!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

The Purpose of Nationhood - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 2:5b,

"I [the Lord] have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own."

The Lord told Moses he had given the hill country of Seir to the descendants of Esau.

Other verses in this chapter where the Lord spoke of giving (and not giving) land to various nations include:
"Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession." Verse 9.
"When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot." Verse 19.
"The Lord destroyed them [the Rephaites] from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place." Verse 21b.
"The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day." Verse 22.
"Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I [the Lord] have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle." Verse 24.
"See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land." Verse 31.
"From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them." Verse 36.

My point here is to highlight something most of the church does not seem to be aware of. When it comes to countries, their geography (borders), and the times they occupy that geography, is determined by the Lord for a very specific purpose.

We read of this in Acts 17:26 in Paul's famous speech in the meeting of the Areopagus in Athens. "From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands."

Paul tells us God's purpose in this, "God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:27.

God creates nations for himself and uses them for his redemptive purposes. It goes on today as he carries out his pursuit of us. God is busy building his kingdom of all who will place their faith and trust in him. He uses the reality of national identities to create an atmosphere where mankind will hopefully reach out to him through the tensions, frustrations, strivings, unrest and hostilities nationhoods engender. (Ever hear of foxhole conversions?)

John Lennon could not have gotten things more backwards in his song, "Imagine". 

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace... "

Countries and religion are all wrapped up in the purposes of God to draw us to himself, to carry out his plan of redemption of all who will reach out to him. Just how many people reach out to God when everything is peaceful versus when everything is falling apart?

There exists one singular goal for our life here on earth: it is to find God and embrace him. Everything else serves to support that one singular goal. God goes more than half way to help us do just that. Creating nationhoods is just one of many things he has done in his pursuit of us.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Enablement! Empowerment! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 1:42,

"Do not go up and fight, because I [the Lord] will not be with you [the Israelites]. You will be defeated by your enemies."

In this chapter Moses is recounting events that took place following Israel's exodus from Egypt and before the forty year sojourn in the wilderness. The Lord told Israel to go up into the promised land to take it from the Canaanites. Not trusting the Lord's power to bring a sure military victory for them, they refused to go. The Lord's response was to tell the Israelites their generation would never see the promised land, only their children would.

Israel's reaction to the Lord's rejection of that generation led to them to reconsider, "Then you replied, 'We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.' So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country." Verse 41.

At that point the Lord told the Israelites what we read in verse 42, above. He would not be with the Israelites if they were to go fight. Nonetheless, they went up and got slaughtered.

As I think about it, Israel was never able to overcome the Canaanites on their own. The Israelites' victory could only come with the Lord's help, which they initially didn't trust. Forty years later they did conquer the Canaanites with the Lord's help (as long as they followed the Lord).

What enablement! What empowerment! Israel could do amazing things with the Lord's help. Apart from the Lord's help, not so much.

It causes me to think of the Lord's enablement of us today. There are so many things we might not be able to become or accomplish apart from the Lord's help. With his help, things become possible! "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37. "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57.

Paul speaks of his prayer for believers, "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:14-21.

I hate to say it, but I'll bet there are many ways the Lord enables me to do things where I fail to acknowledge him. It needs to be a constant focus on my part to ensure I do. After all, does he deserve any less from me?

How has the Lord enabled you?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

What the Lord Requires - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 1:34-36,

"When the Lord heard what you [the Israelites] said, he was angry and solemnly swore: 'No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.'"

At this time Israel was preparing to enter into the promised land to take it from the Canaanites. In this chapter Moses recounted events that had taken place forty years earlier for this new generation. We read here the Lord was angry with the previous generation of Israelites due to what he heard them say.

In verse 27 we read, "You grumbled in your tents and said, 'The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.'" The generation of Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt doubted the Lord and questioned his motives as being evil toward them.

What the Lord desired from the Israelite was their faith, their trust. As they expressed their lack of faith and their distrust of the Lord, the Lord became angry with them and told them they would not be allowed to enter into the land he had promised them. It would be given to the next generation after the nation spent a forty year sojourn in the wilderness.

As we read of the Lord's dealings with Israel we learn what the Lord requires from his people is faith and trust. He always has. It was Abraham's faith in the Lord that led to the Lord making a great nation from his offspring, the people of Israel. As the Lord interacted with the nation, he looked for that faith Abraham had.

The Lord does so today. The gospel message is that the Lord wants us all to join his family to share eternity with him, but the only ones allowed are all those who put their faith and trust in him. The writer of Hebrews reminds us, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

Wise people do just that.

In Hebrews 4 we read that just as the Israelites who lacked faith were not allowed into the promised land, so, today, all those who lack faith will not be allowed into eternity with the Lord.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

Our Secure Inheritance - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Numbers 36:9,

"No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits."

An issue arose concerning the allotments for the various tribes and clans for when Israel entered into the promised land. This resulted from events described in Numbers 27:1-11, where a man, Zelophehad, had only daughters. The daughters had approached Moses for redress concerning the allotment of land. Here, the Lord determined that no portion of any inheritance would be lost among the various tribes and clans within Israel.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of Israel's entrance into the promised land as entering into the Lord's rest. He likens our entrance into God's family as that of Israel entering into Canaan, the Lord's rest. "Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest..." Hebrews 3:16-4:3.

Israel's entrance into the promised land is a type of the believer today who enters into God's family by faith, "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:8-11.

What strikes me this morning as I read about how the Lord would not allow any inheritance in the promised land to be lost to a tribe or clan, I am reminded that our inheritance, as believers, in the kingdom of God will never be taken from us. We will not lose any of it. We hold it as a prized possession that the Lord has given us, never to be taken way, never to be lost.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice..." 1 Peter 1:3-6.

How exciting and energizing is that?! That is something to rejoice in!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Our Mediator - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Numbers 36:13,

"These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho."

Here is the closing comment of the book of Numbers. In this verse the observation is made that what we read previously in the book included the commands and regulations the Lord gave Israel. I note the Lord did not give the commands and regulations to Israel directly, but through his chosen mouthpiece, his intermediary, Moses.

Moses was both a priest and a prophet. He is described in both these terms in Scripture. In his role as priest we see him presenting offerings to the Lord on behalf of the people. We also see him beseeching the Lord for the Israelites in prayer and otherwise.

As the Lord's prophet, the Lord spoke to his people through him. Again, as an intermediary he fulfilled that role. His role as prophet is on display in the verse above. The Lord had something he wanted communicated to his people, and rather than speaking to them directly, he used Moses as his prophet.

I see the use of a mediator between God and man as something the Lord established to maintain a distance from sinful and fallen mankind. His desire is to make a people for himself, but until the condition of mankind changes, he often pursues his agenda for mankind through mediators.

The preeminent, par excellent mediator between God and man is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that he has come and dwelt among mankind, Paul tells us, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people." 1 Timothy 2:5-6.

As our mediator, John tells us, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2. 

Here is someone to mediate for us with God the Father: our great mediator Jesus Christ!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

Don't Defile the Lord's Dwelling! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Numbers 35:34,

"Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites."

The Lord told the Israelites that because he dwelt among them he had an expectation they would not "defile the land". The context for this was that the Israelites were to keep bloodshed from the land as "Bloodshed pollutes the land", verse 33.

I am reminded that today, the Lord dwells among us believers. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 we read, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" We also read in Ephesians 2:19-22, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

And, likewise, just as the Lord had an expectation the Israelites observe some things due to his dwelling among them, so he has for us as well. As an example, here is a passage from 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

We will never hear these kinds of things from the culture and society we live in today. We can only know them by studying the Scriptures. 

The Lord dwells among us. Let us treat his dwelling with his satisfaction and comfort in mind.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.