Tag Archives: obedience

Unholy Fire

46 – Unholy Fire

Leviticus 10:1-7 Numbers 9:1–11:3

God gave exact instructions to the people of Israel for how they were to worship him. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was chosen to be the high priest, and his sons were to serve with him. When Aaron would eventually die, they would replace him as high priest. 

The congregation gathered at the Tabernacle for the ordination of these men. Moses anointed them with oil and made sacrifices to the Lord. He told Aaron and his sons that their ordination would last for seven days, and they were not to leave the Tabernacle until it was over. 

Aaron’s oldest two sons were Nadab and Abihu. During this time of ordination, they decided on their own to burn incense before the Lord. But they put coals from a common fire into their censers. 

As soon as they came into the presence of the Lord, fire blazed out and killed both men. 

Everyone was shocked, but nothing could be said. Moses had some men take the bodies out of the camp. He told Aaron and his other sons that they had to continue with the ordination since they had already been anointed with oil before the Lord. 

This meant that they couldn’t properly mourn their loss. So the rest of Israel mourned the death of the two men, while their father and brothers continued at the Tabernacle. 

On the second anniversary of leaving Egypt, the people of Israel celebrated Passover. They were still at Mount Sinai. 

A cloud hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and it looked like fire at night. God had told them that as long as the cloud hovered there, they were to stay where they were. But if the cloud lifted, they knew it was time to continue their travels. 

One month later, after celebrating Passover, it was time for them to move toward the land of Canaan. As the people watched, the cloud lifted and they set out from the mountain of God. They traveled toward the place where they were to enter the land of Canaan. 

Within a short time, the people started complaining openly about their hardships. This made the Lord angry and he sent a fire among them, especially around the edges of the camp. Many people died. So the others ran to Moses for help. He prayed for them and the fire stopped. They named that place “Burning.” 

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The Golden Calf

44 – The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-35

Moses stayed with God for forty days and forty nights. The people grew restless, and finally they went to Aaron and said, “We don’t know what’s happened to Moses. Make us a god we can see, one that will be with us.” 
So they gave Aaron their gold earrings, and he melted them down. He then formed the gold into the shape of a calf. The people were happy with this and said, “This is the god who brought us out of Egypt!” They sacrificed to it and had a feast. Afterwards they celebrated with a wild party.

On the mountain, God said to Moses, “Go down to your people, the ones you brought out of Egypt. They’ve corrupted themselves and turned away from what I told them to do. They’ve made an idol and bowed down to it with sacrifices. Step aside and don’t stop Me. I’ll destroy them and make your descendants into a great nation.” 

Moses pleaded with God, “Don’t be so angry with your people, the ones you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. If you destroy them now, the Egyptians will laugh and say you brought them here to kill them. Remember your promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You said their descendants would inherit the land, and become as numerous as the stars in the sky.” So the Lord listened to Moses and didn’t destroy the people. 

Moses then went down the mountain with the two stone tablets God had given him. He got angry when he saw the calf and the dancing. He threw the two tablets down and shattered them on the ground. He burned the golden calf in the fire, ground it to powder, put it in water, and made the Israelites drink it. 

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Why did you make this golden calf? Look at the people! See how it has caused them to go into deep sin.” 

Aaron said, “Please don’t be angry with me. You know how wicked these people are. They said, ‘Make us a god.’ I told them to give me their gold. I threw it into the fire and … out came this calf!” 

Moses then stood at the gate of the camp. He saw how the people were still out of control. He shouted, “Those who are on the Lord’s side, come and stand with me!” The sons of Levi separated themselves from the rest of the people and stood with Moses. The Lord then commanded them to strap on their swords and fight against those who refused to stand with Moses. Three thousand men died that day. 

Afterwards, Moses called the people together and said, “You have committed a great sin. I’ll go before the Lord, and maybe I can make an atonement for you.” With that, he went back up the mountain.

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What Is It?

41 – What Is It?

Exodus 14:29 – 16:36

The people of Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. Then God killed the Egyptian army when they tried to cross. From there, Moses led the people into the wilderness, toward Mount Sinai. They traveled for three days without finding water. They finally came to a pool, but it was undrinkable. The people complained and said, “What are we going to drink?” 
The Lord said to Moses, “Cut down that small tree and throw it into the water.” Moses threw the tree into the water, and instantly the water was drinkable. 

God said, “If you obey me and follow my commandments, you won’t be sick like the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you. 

From there, the Israelites went and camped at a place that had twelve springs. They stayed there a little over a month, and then left and headed toward Mount Sinai. 

As they traveled, they started complaining, “We should’ve died in Egypt. Yes, we were slaves, but at least we had plenty of food to eat. Every night we had a pot of meat and all the bread we wanted. Here we have nothing.” 

The Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to rain bread from heaven for the people. But I’ll use this to see if they’ll follow my instructions.” 

Moses said to the people, “You’re not complaining against me and Aaron. You’re complaining against the Lord. Still, He’s heard you. Tonight you’ll have meat, and in the morning you’ll have bread.” 

That evening, a flock of quail came and landed in the camp. This provided meat for the people to eat. In the morning, they saw that the ground was covered with heavy dew. When it evaporated, there was something on the ground that looked like frost. The people went and looked at it. They said, “What is it?” They tasted it and it was like a light wafer, sweetened with honey. 

Moses said, “God will provide this bread from heaven six days out of every week. For the first five days, you’re to gather only enough for one day. On the sixth day, you may gather enough for two days. In this way, you’ll have food to eat on the Sabbath. It won’t appear on the Sabbath. 

Some of the people disobeyed God’s instructions and gathered more than one day’s worth. The next morning it stunk and was full of maggots. This didn’t happen when they gathered more on the sixth day. It was still good to eat on the Sabbath. Some of the people went out to gather bread on the Sabbath, but found that there was none. 

The people called the bread manna, which means, “What is it?” God provided manna for them for the entire forty years they were in the wilderness.

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Straw for Bricks

37 – Straw for Bricks

Exodus 5:1 – 7:13

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says. ‘Let my people go into the wilderness for three days so they can worship me.’” 
The Pharaoh was shocked and said, “Who does the God of the Hebrews think he is—telling me what to do? I don’t know him, and I’m certainly not going to let my slaves go into the wilderness.” 

He then focused on Moses and Aaron. “All of your talk about worship is keeping my slaves from doing their work. Stop all this talk and get back to work!” 

He then called for his slave drivers. “My slaves are lazy! They have so much time on their hands that they’re talking about going out into the wilderness and worshipping God. 

“Well, I’ll fix that. From now on, stop giving them straw for the bricks. Let them go get it themselves. Still, they’re to make just as many bricks as before. That’ll teach them not to stand around and listen to these fools!” 

The slave drivers went and told the Israelite foremen what the Pharaoh said. “We’re not going to give you any more straw. You have to get it yourselves. Still you’re to produce just as many bricks as before.” 

So the people immediately went throughout Egypt gathering straw. Because of this, they weren’t able to fulfill their allotted quota for making bricks. Therefore the slave drivers beat the foremen. They said, “You aren’t doing your job. You aren’t making enough bricks.” 

The foremen went to Pharaoh. “Why are you treating your slaves this way? If we don’t have the straw, we can’t make the same amount of bricks as before.” 

Pharaoh yelled at them. “You’re lazy—Lazy, I say! You’ve got time to stand around and say, ‘we want to go worship the Lord.’ So now it’s time to work. Go get your own straw, and I want the same amount of bricks as before.” 

Moses was waiting for the foremen when they left Pharaoh. They said to him, “You have made us stink before Pharaoh. You put a sword in his hand, and he’s going to kill us with it.” 

Moses went to the Lord and said, “Why did you send me here? You haven’t delivered the people. You’ve only caused them more trouble.” 

The Lord said, “Oh Moses. You’re about to see what I’m going to do with Pharaoh. When I’m done, he’ll beg you to take these people away. 

“Go tell the people that I am the Lord. I have heard their groaning, and I’m about to take them back to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 

Moses went to the people and gave them this message, but they wouldn’t listen to him. They were defeated and discouraged. 

Then the Lord told Moses to go and talk to Pharaoh again. “Tell him to let my people leave this land.” 

Moses said, “I’m not any good at this. If the people of Israel won’t listen to me, why would Pharaoh?” 

The Lord said, “Moses, I have made you like a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your prophet. Go and I’ll give you the words to say.” 

So Moses and his brother Aaron stood before Pharaoh and asked him to allow the people of Israel to go into the desert and worship. Pharaoh asked for a sign, so Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it became a snake. The court magicians and sorcerers threw their sticks on the ground and they also turned into snakes. Suddenly Aaron’s snake ate the rest of the snakes! Still, Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to them.

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Zipporah

36 – Zipporah

Exodus 4:19-30 18:2

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was lifeless, empty, and dark. Then the Spirit of God moved across the vast emptiness. He said, “Let there be light.” Suddenly light shone around the entire sphere of the earth! God looked at the light, and saw that it was good. Moses said to Jethro, his father-in-law, “I want to go back to Egypt to see if my family is still alive.” Jethro agreed and gave his blessings for the trip. 
The Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Egypt. Those who were trying to kill you are now dead.” 
So Moses made preparation for the journey. He then took his wife and sons and together they left Midian. He made sure he had God’s staff with him.

At the same time, God said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he left Egypt and headed towards Midian. 

As Moses traveled, the Lord gave him instructions of what he was to do once he was back in Egypt. God said, “Do all the wonders I’ve given you, but don’t be surprised. Pharaoh won’t listen to you! I have hardened his heart, so he won’t let the people go willingly. 

“Here is my message to him. ‘Israel is my firstborn son. You refuse to let my son go and worship me. Therefore, I’ll kill your firstborn son.’” 

In the evening, Moses and his family made camp for the night. Suddenly the Lord attacked Moses because his sons weren’t circumcised. Quickly Zipporah jumped up and grabbed a knife. She circumcised her sons and threw their foreskins at the feet of her husband. With that, the Lord let Moses go. 

Zipporah looked at all the blood and yelled at Moses, “You’re a bridegroom of blood to me!” 

The next day, Moses saw Aaron coming toward him. The two brothers greeted one another with joy. Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had said. He told him about the signs God had given him, and what he was to do. Together they went back and gathered the elders of Israel. 

Aaron stood before the people and told them what the Lord had said to Moses. He showed them the signs from God. 

The people were amazed with what they heard and saw. They believed Moses and Aaron, and bowed down and worshipped God. 

Moses realized it was best to send his family back to Midian. There they could be under the protection of Jethro, his father-in-law.

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She’s My Sister 2

20 – She’s My Sister 2

Genesis 26:1-11

A great famine hit the place where Isaac lived, so he realized he needed to move to another area. The Lord appeared to him and said, “Don’t go to Egypt. Stay in this land, even though you’re a foreigner here. I’ll bless you, and give you all the promises I gave to your father Abraham. Your descendants will be as hard to count as the stars. I’ll give them all of this land, and through them all the nations on earth will be blessed.” 

So Isaac didn’t go to Egypt, but instead settled in the land of Abimelech, king of the Philistines. When the men there saw that Rebekah was a beautiful woman, they asked Isaac about her. He immediately became concerned for his life, thinking they would kill him because of her. So he said, “She’s my sister.” 

When Isaac had been there for a while, the king looked out of his window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. The king sent for him and said, “This woman is your wife! Why did you tell everyone she was your sister?” 

Isaac explained how he was afraid he might be killed because of her. The king said, “You’ve put all of us at risk. One of our men could have easily had sex with her. Then we all would’ve suffered because of it.” 

So Abimelech sent out a warning to all his people. “If anyone harms Isaac or his wife, that person will die.”

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The God Who Sees Me

9 – The God Who Sees Me

Genesis 16:1-16

After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai became concerned that she hadn’t yet had a child like the Lord promised. She said to her husband, “I have a solution to this problem. Go to bed with my slave Hagar. When she delivers a child, it’ll be the same as if I had the child. 
Abram agreed and did as she said. But as soon as Hagar became pregnant, she started acting like she was better than Sarai. 
This made Sarai angry. She said to Abram. “You’re the one who has caused all my problems! You got my slave pregnant, and now she thinks she’s better than me. 

Abram said, “She’s your slave. Do whatever you want with her.” 

So Sarai started beating Hagar and humiliating her in any way she could. Finally, the slave ran away. She came to a spring of water and collapsed next to it. 

The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Hagar, where are you going?” 

“Oh Lord. I’m running away from Sarai, my mistress.” 

“No, no, you shouldn’t do that. God has heard your crying out in pain. Go back and submit to Sarai, even if she beats you. You’ll have a son, and you’re to call him Ishmael. He’ll be a fighting man, and be at odds with everyone. I’ll multiply your descendants so much that you wouldn’t be able to count them.” 

Hagar was amazed and said, “I have seen the God who sees me. So she named the spring, “The Well of the Living God who Sees Me.” 

She then went back and submitted herself to Sarai. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to her son. He named the child Ishmael, which means “God Hears.”

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  1. We have been listening to stories of Abram for a while now. What are some of his strengths; what are some of his weaknesses?
  2. Watch the video The God Who Sees Me.
  3. Refer to Gen 16 and for each of the following – Abram, Sarai, and Hagar – explain each person’s problem, the cause of the problem, the solution, and the consequences of that solution.
PersonProblemCauseSolutionConsequence
Abram    
Sarai    
Hagar    
  • What is missing in each person’s attempt to solve problems?
  • How has this story brought you to a better understanding of God?
  • Retell The God Who See Me as a group.
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Storm at Sea

255 – Storm at Sea

Acts 27:1-44

Arrangements were made for Paul to travel to Rome on cargo ships. He was put in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius. He was kind to Paul and allowed his friends to visit him whenever they were in port.
 
Travel was slow because of storms. After many stops and changing boats several times, they eventually arrived at Fair Haven on the island of Crete. It was close to winter so they had to stop. 

Still, the captain wanted to sail a few miles up the coast to a better port. The weather had cleared and there was now a gentle breeze. 

Paul said to Julius, “Tell the captain to stay here! If he doesn’t, he’ll lose the ship and its cargo and some people may die.” The Roman officer thought about what Paul said but decided to allow the captain to move on to the other port. 

They left Fair Haven and started sailing along the coast. Suddenly a fierce wind pushed the ship out into deeper water. The crew struggled to fight the wind, but the storm grew more intense. Finally the captain stopped fighting the wind and allowed it to drive the ship along. 

After several days in the storm, the crew threw the cargo overboard. A couple of days later they threw the ship’s gear overboard. In time, everyone knew they were going to die. They hadn’t seen the sun or stars for days and they hadn’t eaten anything. 

Paul stood before the men. He said, “I told you not to leave the harbor. You didn’t listen, but now I have good news for you. An angel appeared to me last night with a message from God. He said, ‘Don’t be afraid! You’ll stand before Caesar. No one on this ship will die.’ What God says is true. 

We’ll all live, but the ship will be destroyed.” They were in the storm for a total of fourteen days. About midnight on the last day, the sailors realized they were approaching land. They quickly let down an anchor to keep from running into the rocks. 

Some of them started to let down the lifeboat so they could get off the ship. Paul shouted, “You will all die if these men leave the ship!” Immediately soldiers cut the lines and let the lifeboat fall into the water. Everyone prayed that morning would come soon. 

Paul talked to the crew just before daylight. He said, “You haven’t eaten for fourteen days. Eat something because you’ll need your strength to go to shore today.” He then picked up some bread, gave thanks to God, and started eating. Everyone on the ship ate some food. 

When it was light, they could see land through the storm. The captain spotted a bay with a beach. He decided to run the ship toward the beach as far as it would go. They pulled up the anchor and hoisted a sail. The fierce wind drove them toward the beach until the ship struck a sandbar. It jammed in the sand, and then started breaking up because of the waves. 

The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners so they wouldn’t escape. Julius stopped them because he wanted to save Paul’s life. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard and get to shore. Everyone else had to find planks from the ship and use them to float ashore. Soon everyone was in the water, and they all reached land safely. 

Continued in the next story

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Cornelius, First Gentile

232 – Cornelius

Acts 10:1-11:18

Cornelius was a military officer in the Roman army. He was a good man who worshiped God.

An angel appeared to him and said, “Cornelius, God has heard your prayers. Send men to Joppa, to the home of Simon the tanner who lives by the sea. There they’ll find a man called Peter and he’ll tell you what to do.” With that, the angel disappeared.

Immediately, Cornelius sent men to Joppa. They arrived the next day around noon. Before they got there, Peter went up to the open roof to pray. He was waiting for the noon meal. 

Suddenly he became extremely hungry and fell into a trance. He saw the heavens open and a large sheet come down. In it were all kinds of animals that Jews weren’t allowed to eat. A voice said, “Peter, get up. Kill one of these animals and eat it.”

“Lord, you know I’ve never eaten anything common or unclean.”

The voice said, “When God has made something clean, never call it common or unclean.” This happened a second time, and a third. Then the sheet went back into heaven.

Peter woke up but was confused about what this vision meant. At that moment, the men from Cornelius were at the gate. The Holy Spirit said, “I’ve sent these men to you. Don’t hesitate to go with them.”

Peter went down and greeted the men. They told him about Cornelius, and he agreed to go with them. In the morning he took several believers and they started on their trip.

They arrived the next day, and Cornelius ran to meet them. He fell down in front of Peter and started to worship him. Peter said, “Stand up! I’m just a man.” He went into Cornelius’s home and saw that he had invited others to be there so they could hear God’s message. Peter said to the group. “God revealed to me that he has opened the door and is now calling people from other nations to himself. Therefore, I’ll tell you the message that was given to Israel. It is that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.”

He then told them about Jesus and his miracles. He described how the Jewish leaders killed him, but God raised him from the dead. Peter said, “Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus will receive forgiveness of sins.”

As soon as he said those words, the Holy Spirit filled every person in the house. This shocked the Jewish believers when they saw that the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to Gentiles.

Peter turned to them and said, “Is there any reason why we shouldn’t baptize these people?” They all agreed, so the new believers were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

News of this quickly spread to believers throughout the nation. The leadership in Jerusalem asked Peter, “You stayed in the home of Gentiles and even ate meals with them?”

He explained exactly what happened. He told them about the vision on the housetop, the crowd at the house of Cornelius, and how the Holy Spirit filled the people. He concluded by saying, “God gave them the same gift he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. How could I fight against God?”

The believers in Jerusalem had no argument when they heard this. They said, “God has given forgiveness of sins and eternal life to the Gentiles.”

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Caesarea-2

Caesarea (aerial view from the south), from the Photo Companion to the Bible, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com

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Drone sweep from Caesarea Maritima theater to Herod’s palace and Hippodrome, from www.ibiblestock.org

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Apostles and Deacons

227 – Apostles & Deacons

Acts 5:17-6:7

The message of Jesus spread throughout Jerusalem, which made the Jewish leaders angry. They sent guards, who arrested the apostles and put them in prison.

That night, an angel came and let them out without the guards seeing it. The angel said, “Go to the temple in the morning and preach to the people.” At sunrise, the apostles went to the temple.

Later in the morning, the high priest gathered the governing council. He then sent the captain of the guards to bring the apostles out of prison. When the captain got there, the prison cell was empty. He rushed back and said, “The guards are at their post and the doors are locked, but the men are not inside!” 

At that moment, someone ran in and said, “The men you put in prison are now teaching in the temple!”

The captain of the guards took his men and went to the temple where they found the apostles teaching the people. He then realized he couldn’t use force against them because his men were afraid of the people. Still, the apostles went with him willingly.

The high priest said, “We told you not to teach in the name of Jesus. Yet you’ve filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. You’re even saying that we’re guilty of killing Jesus.”

Peter spoke up, “We must obey God rather than men. You killed Jesus by putting him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead. Now he sits at God’s right hand and gives repentance and forgiveness of sins.”

This made the religious leaders angry. They sent the apostles out of the room, and then discussed how they were going to kill them. A respected member of the council spoke up, “Be careful what you do with these men. My advice is to leave them alone. If they’re simply following human emotions, nothing will come of it. But if this movement is from God, you can’t stop it. In fact, you’ll be fighting against God.”

After some discussion, they agreed with this advice. Still, before letting the men go, they had the apostles beaten and said, “Never speak in the name of Jesus again.”

The apostles left the council rejoicing. They said, “God has allowed us to suffer for the name of Jesus!” They continued to preach Christ, and the number of believers grew even larger.

A problem developed at this time. The church made provision for the widows among them. Some of the widows were from Israel, and
some were from Jewish communities in other countries. The ones from Israel received better care than the others.

The apostles said, “We must focus on preaching the Word of God and prayer. Still, this need must be met.”

They told the congregation to select seven men who would oversee this responsibility. They said, “Whomever you choose must be highly respected and filled with the Holy Spirit. They must be known for their wisdom.” Everyone liked this idea, so they selected seven men who were qualified. The group included Stephen and Philip.

The apostles prayed for these men and gave them the responsibility for this need. This caused the number of believers to grow faster. Even a large group of Jewish priests put their faith in Christ.

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