Post by Woody Williams on Dec 4, 2006 7:32:20 GMT -5
Text for the Day -- Numbers 17:1-5, 8
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The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites, and get
twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the
leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his
staff, and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall
be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. Place them in the
tent of meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. And the
staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop
to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make
against you.
When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the
staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds,
produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.
Devotional
----------
The basic cause of judgment is rebellion. It happened in the Garden
of Eden and was an ongoing problem for Israel and even to today. It
is at the root of what is defined as evil in the Bible. God's
judgment and mercy is the work of reconciliation, making peace
between rebellious ones and God. Original sin, the mark of our
woundedness from rebellion, is what God seeks to reveal in us and
heal us. Judgment reveals. Mercy and forgiveness heals.
Prayer
-------------
Judge and forgive me, O Lord, that I may be whole. Amen
----------
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites, and get
twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the
leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his
staff, and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall
be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. Place them in the
tent of meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. And the
staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop
to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make
against you.
When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the
staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds,
produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.
Devotional
----------
The basic cause of judgment is rebellion. It happened in the Garden
of Eden and was an ongoing problem for Israel and even to today. It
is at the root of what is defined as evil in the Bible. God's
judgment and mercy is the work of reconciliation, making peace
between rebellious ones and God. Original sin, the mark of our
woundedness from rebellion, is what God seeks to reveal in us and
heal us. Judgment reveals. Mercy and forgiveness heals.
Prayer
-------------
Judge and forgive me, O Lord, that I may be whole. Amen