Devotions from December 2023

Passage Read: Genesis 41-44 Meditation Verses: 42:21-22 It is no small thing to hate a brother so much you'd consider killing him, even though in the end you only sold him into slavery. Who knows what would become of the brother you sell into slavery?…

Passage Read: Genesis 45-48 Meditation Verse: 48:11 No one ever tells Jacob how Joseph really got to Egypt. Joseph and his brothers know, and his brothers probably live in fear that Joseph will tell on them, but he never does. It hangs over Joseph's brothers…

Passage Read: Genesis 49 - Exodus 2 Meditation Verse: Exodus 2:14 God made Moses a prince and judge over the Israelites, but they didn't recognize it. It's interesting that it's not until Moses is gone from Egypt and the king dies that the Israelites cry…

Passage Read: Exodus 3-6 Meditation Verses: 5:21-23 The Israelites have been groaning under their bondage, but it evidently wasn't so terrible. Moses speaks once with Pharaoh about letting God's people go and worship him, and Pharaoh makes their jobs harder. Now things get really hard…

Passage Read: Exodus 7-10 Meditation Verses: 9:15-17 God could have wiped Egypt off the face of the earth at the very beginning. He could have simply called His people out from there, and the army of Egypt would have been powerless to stop them. But…

Passage Read: Exodus 11-14 Meditation Verses: 14:26-27 God commands Moses to stretch out his staff over the sea to part the waters, then again to close the waters on the Egyptians. God didn't need Moses or his staff to do this, but He insisted on…

Passage Read: Exodus 15-18 Meditation Verse: 16:8 It is not good to grumble against leaders or to blame them for our bad circumstances. God hears everything we say, and knows who we're really angry with. God was leading Moses and had led the people out…

Passage Read: Exodus 19-22 Meditation Verse: 19:5 This is what God says of believers today, that we are being made into a kingdom of priests and a holy people! Israel was to be the same by walking in obedience to His commands, by being a…

Passage Read: Exodus 23-26 Meditation Verses: 23:2-3 This is incredibly relevant for today! The Lord commands against following a mob or testifying in a dispute in such a way as to support the mob rather than to support justice. Tied to that is the command…

Passage Read: Exodus 27-30 Meditation Verse: 30:12 Is this why David got in trouble when he numbered the people? Did he forget or not know that the people were to ransom themselves from the Lord? Normally every firstborn son is to be redeemed because they…

Passage Read: Exodus 31-34 Meditation Verses: 32:1-6 All these people saw the miraculous signs that God did through Moses. They saw the fire and smoke on the mountain where Moses was. Yet in spite of that, they turned away from the Lord so easily! A…

Passage Read: Exodus 35-38 Meditation Verses: 36:5-7 There is a zeal among the people that is commendable, but there is also restraint among those doing the work. Having an accurate understanding of how much material is needed for the work and knowing when you have…

Passage Read: Exodus 39 - Leviticus 2 Meditation Verse: Exodus 39:43 The people finished the work and brought it to Moses. Moses examined the work and saw that they had done everything exactly as the Lord had commanded, so he blessed them. They hadn't taken…

Passage Read: Leviticus 3-6 Meditation Verse: 5:17 Someone who sins unintentionally shall still bear his punishment. How does one who sins unintentionally find out about his sin? Either someone else notices and tells him, or the Lord brings punishment and the man looks for the…

Passage Read: Leviticus 7-10 Meditation Verses: 7:12-18 Not every offering was a direct reminder of sin, not every offering had to do with seeking forgiveness. The peace offering could be for thanksgiving or in response to a vow or just freely given in delight over…

Passage Read: Leviticus 11-14 Meditation Verse: 14:57 The Israelites needed to know when they were clean and when they were unclean for the sake of their neighbors and for the sake of God's sanctuary. No one was allowed in the sanctuary when they were unclean;…

Passage Read: Leviticus 15-18 Meditation Verse: 16:16 Our sin and our uncleanness disgust God and defile His sanctuary. Even if all the unclean people are kept away from the sanctuary, still once a year it would need to be cleansed and atoned for by blood…

Passage Read: Leviticus 19-22 Meditation Verses: 19:16-18 This section of commands speaks of loving a neighbor. We are not allowed to hate a neighbor or plan any evil against him. No vengeance, no slander, no grudge, no character assassination. If he has done wrong or…

Passage Read: Leviticus 23-26 Meditation Verses: 26:40-45 The Lord promises ever increasing punishment on the people if they refuse to obey Him and turn away from His statutes. He promised to send punishment, and if that doesn't turn them back in humility to Him and…

Passage Read: Leviticus 27 - Numbers 3 Meditation Verses: Leviticus 27:14-15 To consecrate something to the Lord is to lose ownership of it to the Lord. You could still use it, but it technically belonged to the Lord, even to the point where in the…

Passage Read: Numbers 4-7 Meditation Verse: 6:11 Being in the presence of someone who dies suddenly is counted as a sin to the one who makes the vow of the Nazarite, even though it is completely out of his control who dies and when. If…

Passage Read: Numbers 8-11 Meditation Verses: 11:21-24 Even Moses didn't fully understand the Lord yet. He had doubts about God's ability to provide so much meat for so many people, and said so to God. So God replied, "You will see whether My Word will…

Passage Read: Numbers 12-15 Meditation Verse: 12:2 It is amazing to me how easily we dismiss the Lord and exalt ourselves. There are those who truly know the Lord, because He can be known, yet those who don't know Him well are still willing to…

Passage Read: Numbers 16-19 Meditation Verses: 16:3-5 This is such an easy trap to fall into, even and especially today. Today we value equality, we demand equality. We allow for no distinction between people, especially when it comes to the things of God. But we…

Passage Read: Numbers 20-23 Meditation Verses: 22:32-35 Balaam received permission from the Lord to go to Balak, and he knew he could only say or do what the Lord commanded him. But the Lord knew the temptation would be so great that Balaam could easily…

Passage Read: Numbers 24-27 Meditation Verses: 24:1-4 Balaam, the man whose eyes are opened, who sees the Lord and hears from him, upon whom the Spirit of God rested, this man advised the Moabites and Midianites how to turn the Lord against Israel so as…

Passage Read: Numbers 28-31 Meditation Verses: 28:9-11 There were daily sacrifices, weekly sacrifices, monthly sacrifices and periodic annual sacrifices, all needing to be offered at their proscribed times. It was not a simple thing for the Lord to dwell on earth among men. Indeed, the…