Feast of Weeks - 2 Chronicles 7-9 Insight Into Scripture
Good Morning! Today we are reading 2 Chronicles 7- 9. In chapters 7 & 8 Solomon dedicated the Temple to the LORD, then the LORD appears to Solomon and expresses HIS covenant to Solomon and HIS people. Chapter 9 we read about the visit of Queen Sheba and the death of our king. I found it interesting that in Chronicles the writer did not go into the details of Solomon's sin.
Bringing the Bible AliveThis is a picture of the Western Wall. My prayer for these devotionals and you is that they will bring you closer in your relationship with GOD. One of our readers was commenting on the lack of Biblical teaching in today's world. As the world progresses, I believe that we need to hold onto our past. I hope that today's devotional will bless you.
Scripture Reading
20 The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. 21 The Lord said to Moses, "Go down, warn the people not to break through to the Lord to gaze, lest many of them perish. 22 The priests also, who come near the Lord, must stay pure, lest the Lord break out against them." 23 But Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us saying, 'Set bounds about the mountain and sanctify it.'" 24 So the Lord said to him, "Go down, and come back together with Aaron; but let not the priests or the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them." 25 And Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
Chapter 20
1 God spoke all these words, saying:
2 I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: 3 You shall have no other gods besides Me.
4 You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the Lord your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, 6 but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your God; for the Lord will not clear one who swears falsely by His name.
8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work - you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.
13 You shall not murder.You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
14 You shall not covet your neighbor's house: you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's. - Exodus 19:20-25, 20:1-14 JPS Tanakh
Thought for the Day
As our society progresses, we leave more and more of GOD out of us. In a way this does not come as a surprise to me, but it does sadden me. That is why I believe that we need to hold onto some of the old traditions, such as, when the Jews had a holiday to remember GOD.
Today is known as The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and historically it is known as Shavu'ot. All of these "Feasts" are in the Bible in the Old Testament. One might say that because they are in the Old Testament we need not pay attention to them. But, as I read them, GOD states that this is a lasting ordinances for generations to come. Are we not the generations to come?
Shavu'ot celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. No work is done on this day and the book of Ruth is read. Ruth was a non-Jewish woman whose love for God and Torah led her to convert to Judaism. Ruth was born and died on Shavu'ot.
The significance of The Feast of Weeks was an agricultural festival. This was a time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple as an expression of thanksgiving to YAHWEH.
So, what does this mean for us today? As I stated above, I feel that our lives have gotten so busy we do not have much time for GOD anymore. It is nice to take time.... a special day other than Sunday, to give thanks to GOD. I would suggest that we take today and reflect on how GOD has blessed our lives. If you feel lead, I might give back to GOD in either money, time, or a gift, just like our ancestors did when they brought a gift of "First Fruits.
For me, and this is very HARD, I am somewhat of a work-a-holic. I am going to take the day off and honor and reflect on YAHWEH as the feast states. Whatever kind of a day you have, may it be a Blessed one!
Closing Prayer
Dear Jesus
Father thank you for this day. Today Father as we observe the gifts that You have given, which we try to thank You for and bring glory to You everyday, but this just being one day for us to sacrifice for You. Father I just pray thanksgivings today and I realize that life is nothing without You.
Thank You and I love you,
Amen.
8 comments:
Letting you know that I am still working on the Barabbas study. I am having difficulty in getting what is in my head in type. I even had to call my pastor to see if I was making sense and wow I got a surprise he had not ever thought of this either and while he was driving we discussed much and he gave me the confidence that I was on to something. So I am still noting and praying....
momontherun, it is so neat to hear of your adoptions. My daughter has a co-worker that adopted a few years ago from China. We prayed for them several months as this process developed. They came back finally with a beautiful baby girl. Then a couple of years ago a close friend of mine adopted from China,they are evangelist. They now host luncheons for families who have or are in process of adopting these beautiful children.
So very sorry for the tragedy of the tornado affecting your family and the families of anyone. Well lift your family up in prayer. Keep us informed how they are doing and recovering from such a tragic time....
IN CHRIST
Ecc. 3
Donna
Bible Trivia:
What nationality, hated by the Jews, provided the "good guy" character in Jesus' parable of a man beaten by robbers?
Luke 10:25-37
ANSWER: A Samaritan
33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
LITTLE HISTORY:
Samaritan
Samaritans are a nearly extinct Jewish community. They call themselves Bene-Yisrael ("Children of Israel"), or Shamerim ("Observant Ones"), they claim to be related to those Jews of ancient Samaria who were not deported from Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The first five books of the Old Testament is their sole religious observance. Jews who returned after the Babylonian Exile would not accept their help in building the Second Temple of Jerusalem. So, in the 4th century BC the Samaritans built their own temple in Nabulus, at the base of Mount Gerizim, in the present-day West Bank. The modern population (about 500 persons) is distributed between Nabulus and the city of Holon in Israel. All live in semi-isolation, marrying only within their own community. They pray in Hebrew but have adopted Arabic as their language.
Ok I am going to place some thoughts and hope they come together as they are in my head in type.
Jesus and Barabbas
1. Jesus is empowered by the true God the Father while Barabbas "son of the father" is a powerless name. The crowd has been incitied into asking for Jesus crucifixion and are so unaware that they were being used as pawns by the pharases
2. Barabbas a true criminal and has no good in him at all. Crowd is convinced to believe Jesus to be a fraud, a common criminal (the devil plays this part in our natural nature today)
3. A competition is set up by Pilate: Jesus is set in competition with the real criminal for the crowd's approval. Pilates way a declaring himself innocent
4. The crowd sides with a powerless person whose father was a leader of the people... and turns away from the one with all power and whose FATHER is the leader and creater of the leaders and ALL MANKIND.
THOUGHT: The world offers conterfeits for much of What God has for His children. It is just that a cheap copy or counterfeit.
In studying I found came across a Babylonian festival and understanding it brought more light.
This festival is called Zagmuku, which were the Jewish holiday Purim comes from. During Zagmuku, the king was replaced by a mock king called Zoganes, usually a condemned prisoner. He was allowed to wear the king's crown, given the king's scepter, and even free run of the royal harem. But at the end of the festival he was stripped of his royal robes and crown, scourged and put to death either by hanging or crucifixion. The gospels all record the scourging and mocking of Jesus. The graphic depiction of that event in Mt. 27:27-30 is particularly reminiscent of the end of the mock king in the Zagmuku festival. These recordings of what was done to our Savior Jesus by the soldiers is an exact re inactment of the pagen festival.
Barabbas being a zealot and robber and in prison shoud have been the one choosen to play the king and at end stripped and crucified, not our Jesus the Christ, true King of Kings
One last thought for NOW probably not the last....
Barabbas being the zealot that he was and the murderer of Romans and no telling who else, Barabbas chose to TAKE BLOOD which was life for those he took it from AND NOT Barabbas's to take....Jesus CHOSE to GIVE HIS which was HIS to GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE which becomes our eternal LIFE SOURCE..... can I say wow...
Ok I am still trying to put in type how I am seeing Barabbas being all sin and Jesus willfully taken on all Sin so we don't have to. Were (Jesus) Barabbas epidimizes all evil and that Jesus the complete opposite. How strong the force of evil is and that of Good is by our will...
IN CHRIST
Ecc.3
Donna
Hey Donna,
I am going to read this tom. We are trying to get down..... I will e-mail you about our day. Those "Rocks" you sent are working. :)
Oppssss.... we are trying to get done with our work.... not down.... :-P
ok, obviously I am not quite sure how this blogging works....I have been checking back to the original blog when I first started. lol....Granny, I was not clear on the Greensburg tornado affecting my brother.....they USE to live there....they did not live there when the tornado went through. Thank the Lord. I know he took them out of there because of this. Lots of people are adopting from China. It truly is a gift from the Lord. I have both girls home for the summer now and plan to spend time with them so I will try my best to keep up with the devotions and blogging. Jim and Kim, that thrills me to know you have adopted as well. Isn't it a blessing??!! I can't imagine feeling any differently if I had given birth to them. They are mine! :-)
Love and Blessings, Barbie
Hey MOM,
If you like you can set up in your account settings to have new messages e-mailed to your e-mail box. That is what I do so I can see all the new messages.
Yes, adopting is wonderful. It is neat to think how GOD changed Tyler's life by bringing him into ours. And yes, he is ours, the only funny thing is when people talk about the "pains" of childbirth. Kim and I smile.... we have not experienced that part of having a child.
Jim
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