Joshua 12 - 15 (26th Mar)

Joshua 12

This chapter covers a list of kings that were defeated by the Israelites. 2 kings from east of Jordan and 31 kings from west side of Jordan were all defeated by Israelites.

Joshua 13

Though the Israelites conquered many land but yet there were still land not conquered (v1). Then further in this chapter, it talks about the land on the east side of Jordan to be divided with the tribe of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. The Levites were not given any inheritance because the Lord is their inheritance (v14, 33)

Joshua 14

This chapter is the continuation of the division of the land. But this chapter is the division on the west of Jordan. Also from v6 onwards, it talks about Caleb. Caleb was 85 years old and he is still strong as before (v10, 11). Caleb asked Joshua for the hill country and Joshua blessed and gave the hill country as Caleb’s inheritance.

Joshua 15

This chapter talks about all the land that was given to the tribe of Judah. This is a big piece of land.

Joshua 14:9 - 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.'

God always wanted us to claim back the land for His glory. So wherever you go, wherever you set your foot on, pray and ask God to claim back the land for you so that His name be glorified. Go pray and claim your school or your workplace for the Lord and follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

Joshua 9 - 11 (25th Mar) - Ivy

Joshua 9

In this chapter we see how Gibeonites deceived the leaders of the tribes and obtained a treaty of submission to Israel. Mostly motivated by fear, the Gibeonites trick Joshua into allowing them live by making a treaty.

Note Verse 9:14 ‘They did not inquire of the Lord’
The Israelites did not inquire of the Lord with regards to the Gibeonites.

Reflections: How many times did we inquire of God before we enter a new job? Taking a new course of studies? Entering a new relationship? Or even do anything? Its really a good ‘practice’ to learn how to inquire of the Lord with decisions in life and we’ll never miss out on God’s timing and blessings!

And since the oath has been taken, the Israelites are ‘obligated’ and therefore can’t harm them.

Joshua 10

In chapter 10 we see that the Israelites are obligated to help the Gibeonites when they are in trouble. Mah fan…

Verse 7 "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."
I thought this was really comforting to know, that God has already defeated our enemies, we don’t have to be afraid.

In verse 26, we saw that Joshua killed and hung the 5 Amorite kings on the trees and left them over night. Looking back at Dt21.22, the Lord instructed that they were not allowed to do so.

Joshua 11

We see that although there a some ‘minor disobedience’ the Lord was still merciful and continues to fight for Israel. There are a lot of fighting but God’s assurance upon Joshua can be see in 11:6 ‘The Lord said to Joshua, Do not be afraid of them’.

Verse 13 says: ‘Yet they did not burn any of the cities…’ The Lord did instruct them to destroy and burn. But the Israelites did not do so. There is a later consequence to this ‘act of mercy or negligence’.

Nevertheless, God is faithful. He has been the one who is fighting for them.
See verse 23 says: So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.

I find it really comforting to know that God is fighting for us in our live situations. Even though we maybe stumbling along the way, His love and faithfulness never fails. However, we’ll later find out that, the disobedience does have its consequences in the long run. I want to summarise these passage with:

Let us inquire of the Lord for minor and major decisions. Be assured of our God who protects and fights for us. Be assured. Senior Pastor has already given the call for ‘volunteers to enter the army’. How would you respond knowing that God will fight and is fighting for you?

Joshua 5 - 8 (24th Mar) - Sylvia

From these few chapters, we can really learn many things..

Faith and Obedience

In continuation from Chapter 4, God had dried up the Jordan River just as what he had done to the Red Sea, for the Israelites to cross over.

Joshua 5: 1 “Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.”

The Israelites were obedient and had faith, trusting in the Lord to lead them through no matter what. When the enemies of Israel saw God’s mighty power displayed, they become fearful to the point of having no spirit in them – they had lost their confidence in the battles against the Israelites.

Application: This is a reminder of how God will always be there to lead us through our spiritual battles. Romans 8:31 “ If God is for us, who can be against us?”

An Act of Consecration

Joshua 5:2 “At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time."”

The Lord commanded for the Israelites to be circumcised again. Why was this so?
Remember back in Numbers 20, because of the people’s lack of faith and disobedience, they were left to wander in the desert and not allowed to enter into the Promised Land.
Well, in their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, a new generation had been raised up to enter the land flowing with milk and honey (led by Joshua) – and they had yet to be circumcised.

Circumcision is actually an powerful act of consecration to the Lord where we are telling Him “Yes Lord, I am yours.” It is whereby we are renouncing the flesh, dying to self to living to God.

Dear family, shall we then die to self and give ourselves to God?

Power of Prayer Walking

Before we enter into any battles or any unknown places, its important for us to seek the Lord in prayer, to dedicate everything to Him. So we need to prayer walk and take hold of the place for God. Another thing to notes is that Jericho was a most important Canaanite fortress city in the Jordan valley which obstructed the Israelites’ path to victory. (They were to defeat the Canaanites as you would find out in the later chapters)

Joshua 6: 3-5 "You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead."

The Israelites were able to take the city of Jericho because they listened to God’s voice and walked with Him – Faith and Obedience!

Are there any strongholds in our lives that we need to deal with before there is victory?

Note: Jericho had been cursed after its destruction. God’s Word is POWER – Don’t play play..

Joshua 6:26 “Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates."”

True enough as we see in 1 Kings 16:34 when it was rebuilt by Hiel of Bethel in the time of King Ahab.

“In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of The Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”

Joshua 7 – 8

In Joshua 7, because of just ONE person’s sin, the whole community suffers the Lord’s wrath.

“But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.”

But in Joshua 8, praise the Lord for His grace and mercy. He is JUST indeed. After meting out the due punishment, He RESTORES!

Joshua 8: 1-2 “Now the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."”

This time, the people obeyed and did it God’s way.
Result: They defeated Ai just as they had conquered Jericho.

Application: When our walk with God is right, blessings will simply come our way.

Dear brothers and sisters, please do not let the community suffer because of one person’s sin. Get right with God.

Agape. =)

Joshua 1 - 4 (23rd Mar) - Li Juan

(1) I urge all of us livingstones to continue reading the bible daily,
in Joshua 1:8 “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Let the word be the most essential thing in your life! (More important than oxygen!)


(2) God performed many many miracles. One of it is recorded here when Israel crossed Jordan on dry ground! Why did He show us the miracle?
Joshua 4:24 “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
Did God show you any miracles before? Take some time to reflect and think. I’m sure there are, always remember them!


(3) “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”

This phrase appeared umpteen number of times in these few chapters, and it really caught my attention when I read it. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you when you read it?

Personally, Joshua 1:9 is my key verse for the year. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

It always motivates me to strive on and overcome all fear and anxiety because our God is always with us. This year is definitely not going to be an easy year since it is a year of VICTORY. Spiritual warfare is ever present and is getting more and more intense, simply because Mr S wants us to just give up before victory comes. However, we claim it in faith NOW that there WILL be victory!

My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive on and never give up! Always Victorious!

Deuteronomy 32 - 34 (22nd Mar)

Deuteronomy 32

A song written by Moses. In this song it talks about God.

God protects us. V10 – shielded & guarded us as the apple of His eye.
God leads us. V12 – led.
God lifts us up. V13 – made us ride on the heights of the land.
God provides. V13 – fed us with the fruit of the field.
God strengthened us. V14 – nourished

Deuteronomy 33 & 34

Moses blessed the tribes before he died. Moses died at 120 years old and he died strong (34:7). Joshua took over the leadership and was filled with the Spirit of wisdom because Moses laid his hands on him (34:9)

Pray and ask the Lord to fill you with Spirit of wisdom.

Deuteronomy 30 - 31 (21st Mar)

Deuteronomy 30

Obey the Lord and He will prosper you. This is the theme of this chapter,

V2 & 3 - obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes

V5 & 6 - He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

V8 & 9 - You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb

V9 & 10 - The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

V16 - For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

So let us love the Lord with all our heart and obey all His command and you will be blessed.

Deuteronomy 31

Moses summoned Joshua and told him to be strong and courageous and do not be afraid. The promise is that the Lord will go before Joshua and be with him. God will not leave Joshua nor forsake Joshua (v8). This is also a promise to us that God loves us and will not forsake us.

When I read v20 – 21, it saddens me. God brought the Israelites to a place flowing with milk and honey and when they eat of the land, they turned to other gods. Many times, we failed to give thanks to the Lord for all the blessings and successes He gave us. We took it into our own hands and forgotten that it was God who blessed us. God will test us in this area. I remember what SP said that if you want to test a man’s heart, give him success. How we manage success will determine our walk with the Lord.

Remember, God give and God will take. Nothing belongs to us and everything belongs to God.

Deuteronomy 28 - 29 (20th Mar) - Karen

Deuteronomy 28-29

In chapter 28, it is just so wonderful reading about God’s blessings for us when we obey Him and when we follow all of His commands. Yet, we also see the flip-side that when we disobey God and fail to follow His commands, curses will ensue when we disobey.

The next chapter talks about Moses calling upon the Israelites and urging the people to honor the contract they had previously made with God. He is calling for their commitment to God – Knowing God’s Word is not enough, we need to obey His commands.

40 Years ago, God and Israel had made a covenant at Mount Sinai: God promised to bless the Israelites by making them the nation through whom the rest of the world could know God. In return, the Israelites promised to love and obey God in order to receive physical and spiritual blessings.

In chapter 29, Moses reviewed this covenant because while God was still keeping his part of the bargain, the Israelites were already neglecting their part. Moses restated the covenant to warn the people that if they did not keep their part of the agreement they would experience severe discipline.

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Just as the people in Israel did not notice God’s care for them along their journey, we sometimes do not notice all of the ways that God takes care of us. All our daily needs have been supplied and we have been well fed and well clothed. Sometimes, we even mistakenly take the credit ourselves for being good providers instead of recognizing God’s hand in the process.

Take a moment to ask ourselves: What is the best way to prosper in life?

For the Israelites, their first step was to keep their part of the covenant: They are to love God with all their heart, soul and strength. Likewise, we too, are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), then true success in life will follow as a blessing from the hand of God.

Disobedience comes from an act of the will, and not a lack of knowledge. Through God’s word we know enough about Him to be saved by faith and to serve Him. We must not use the limitation of our knowledge as an excuse to reject His claim on our life.

Dear family, let’s reflect on our choices we have been given each day, and choose wisely how we live each precious day of our lives. =)

Deuteronomy 24 - 27 (19th Mar) - Vivien

Deuteronomy 24 - 25
It continues with the other miscellaneous laws that the Israelites need to follow. And you will notice the laws go into such details like divorce, marriage, loan, crime, diseases and disputes. There are a few main people that the Bible used the laws to protect: the poor and needy, the family (and offspring) and the innocents.

There are at least 3 characters that we should possess from these 2 chapters:
1) Generous
2) Honest
3) Merciful

There is a verse which I thought it is very sweet of God to put it under the law:
Deut 24:5: If a man is recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

God is concerned with healthy family life! God told us to multiply and be fruitful (Gen 1:28)! Moving forwards to this era, both men and women are in the workforce. I think Deut 24:5 does not just apply to men, but also women. We must not be filled with work the entire time and forget about building family. By not following the law, we can see the consequences that are happening now. Delay marriages, small families, low replacement ratio, aging population and etc. Strike a balance between work and family.

Deuteronomy 26
When you bought an exotic snack, who would you want to share it with? Or if after spending hours of effort and finally you have composed a song that you are happy with, who do you want to share it first?

Most probably that first person that you share will be one who you love or/and respect most. It is the same thing here. God does not need people to give him tithes and offering or the firstfruits, it is the meaning behind the offering. The very fact that if we love God with all our heart, mind and strength, we will definitely not forget Him when we have something good. It will be a natural act, because we love Him. However, as we could not physically see God, we tend to forget about His Presence and share with someone else the “firstfruit”. Do you tend to be forgetful?

Pray: “O Lord, thank you for all that you have blessed us with. We are sorry that sometimes we forgot to share our 'firstfruit' with You. Holy Spirit, forgive us. Help us to be mindful of Your Presence and to give thanks and offer up our 'firstfruit' to You. May Your Name be praised forever and ever. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen. "

From verse 16 to 19, it is God’s promises when we obey the laws.

Deuteronomy 27
God had called His people to build an altar on Mount Ebal where the laws are to be written. He is very careful with the instructions. He specifically commanded that they do not use iron tools on that altar, as will not violate the law that was passed down that no handmade idol is to be made to worship God.
The 12 tribes were assigned roles to play. 6 tribes to bless the people, 6 tribes to pronounce curses. And the curses were pronounce in the rest of this chapter.

Deuteronomy 21 - 23 (17th Mar) - Ivy

Deuteronomy 21

How detailed God is in giving instructions and law to His people!!

Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
In this we see that God gives specific instructions in how to deal with an unsolved murder case. A heifer is to be sacrificed to the Lord as atonement of sins of the people. Definition of Heifer - A young cow, especially one that has not yet given birth to a calf.

Marrying a Captive Woman
God indeed has mercy with woman. He gives the captive woman free will to chose wherever she wants if her husband is displeased with her.

The Right of the Firstborn
I find this really amazing. It is like there is a special favour upon the 1st born in a man’s family. The man is not to disown the son even if it comes from the wife that he does not love. God protects the first born from favouritism!

A Rebellious Son
Wow….can you imagine being stoned due to rebellion?

Various Laws
Verse 22 say: If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree. Capital offense! Corruption? Theft? Stealing? Very serious case!


Deuteronomy 22

I want to bring your attention to this 2 verses:
4 If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.
5 A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.

God’s instructions even from old testament days, we are to help our brothers and sisters, which also means our neighbours! Notice this, God detest people who cross dress! Probably cross dressing for a wrong purpose.
Ladies, is your dressing manly or unfeminine? Man, are you dressing in a manly manner? I hope no one wears skirts at home!

Marriage Violations
Reading this reminds me of some old Chinese movies. If a man and woman commits adultery, they are to be put to death. Let us honour the Lord with our sexuality! God is gracious but don’t take it for granted. If you have not kept your body pure for the Lord, repent and approach your leaders! Allowing the sin contaminates the entire body of Christ!! Be pure!

I am so swarmed by the various laws that God has given to the people of Israel. However, I just felt that, hey, God really love His people. Like a loving parent who loves and wants to protect.
Sometimes our leaders may get a bit ‘naggy’, but hey, isn’t that love? We love that’s why we remind and rebuke. Our reminders are out of love and protection not trying to run or control your live. Just like how the Lord gave specific instructions to His people. His only purpose is that His people are kept pure and blameless before God. Thank God for your leader today. He or she really love you.

Love you with the love of Jesus.

Deuteronomy 17 - 20 (17th Mar) - Ezra

Deuteronomy 17

This passage shows us that, God has appointed leaders over every nation, and not just nation, over our lives to.

Who are these leaders?
They are the governments. Church pastors and leaders, etc…

Why do we have these leaders over our lives?
They are all God’s appointed leaders.
- For the governments: so that the law will be in place.
o 11 Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.
- For church, pastors advices, sometimes with guidelines so that we won’t go astray and fall into a dark pit.
o 15 be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses.
o 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again."

Deuteronomy 18

This chapter shows us the submission we have to give towards our spiritual leaders and not to imitate the world out there.

Spiritual leaders that God has placed over us; we must submit to them and support them in ministry.

Recently, the young arrows survivor camp just ended and before that, during that weekend was the Encounter Weekend headed by our tribe. Some of the family was at the encounter helping Pastor and also preaching, and some of us were at / going in and out of the survivor camp supporting these ministry.

Many of pastor’s 12 have and always took time off from their work, rest, personal time, etc… to be present for tribe activities.

In the same way as written:
3 This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the jowls and the inner parts.
4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,
5 for the LORD your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the LORD's name always.

And as versus nine puts;
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
That’s where you can learn to really appreciate your spiritual father or mother when you are heading the wrong direction, in the direction of the worldly view, they will be the ones to direct you back to God’s view.

Deuteronomy 19

These instructions and laws are put across in this chapter to show us that God is a God who watches over us and wants the best of our every character.
He places these laws so that men can live in righteousness and without hatred for one another. This chapter also tells us that God is a merciful God, He understands situation and He will make a way for us.

4 This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life—one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought.

Not to escape, but to learn from our mistakes so that we will grow more in Him as He molds us, our character and attitude.

9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the LORD your God and to walk always in his ways—then you are to set aside three more cities.

Deuteronomy 20

We are at war, spiritual war.

You know, when you are a solider, you learn how to be tactical so that the enemy will not spot you. You are thought to engage an enemy when his attacking you. You also learn and train to take over territories and secure it so that enemies will not take over it.

Sounds fun huh?

Well, it’s exactly the same with our own lives. What you read in this chapter is not just about going to fight a war and killing the enemy.

13 When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.

When you have overcome your past or whatever that distracts you, put an end to every accusation from the evil one that tries to remind you of the badness you use to be.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.

18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.

If you have overcome the distractions in your life, you must make sure that, that area of you life does not breathe again. Which means, your past, the kind of person you use to be, these all must not breathe again in your life.

You may not be able to overcome this alone, but your spiritual parent / leader is around for you to be accountable to.

Deuteronomy 14 - 16 (16th Mar) - Ezra

Deuteronomy 14

Clean and unclean food. I thank God that now all food that goes into our mouth is clean, because we say grace. Anyway, I would like to extract out something about this passage. As most of us know, we feed upon the word of God; that is clean food. Feeding ourselves with unwholesomeness from the material world; that is unclean food.
3 Do not eat any detestable thing.

Tithes. Do we give them regularly? How many of us really give regularly?
Some questions are; give tenth of our earnings; is it only our wagers? What about if we get ang bao during CNY?
Answer: It is still an earning…

22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.

You know, in New Zealand, 1 cow can cost you a house. A firstborn of the herds / flocks can cost about the price of 2 houses and a Mercedes-Benz.
During those times, sacrificing the firstborn of the herds / flocks is really a big thing. Imagine burning your most expensive purchased product that you’ve saved up money for. E.g. Alvin’s Mazda 3 1.6 or James’s Hyundai Sonata.

So in the same way, we should not just limit our tithes to just 10%, but we should be willing to give above that 10%.
God will bless you with greater things when you give with a grateful heart.

Deuteronomy 15

Here it shows us that, wherever we are; may it be school, work or army, how much we get per month for allowances or wagers we are all not poor.
4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,
5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
6 For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
If you read carefully in the passage above; in the present, the land that God has given us is our ministry, not just in church, but our schools, offices and army camp. We are all pastors in wherever God has placed us in; schools, offices or army camp.

As we read on, it also shows us that those of us that holds a certain position in school, work or SAF; supervisor, manager, teacher, prefect, student counselor, officer or sergeant; we have to remember that we are ministers for the Lord and so, we also have to be Christ like at school, work or in army camp. In this way, God will bless us and enlarge our territories.
18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.
The passage above shows us that, as people with higher positions in school, work or army, the Lord will bless greatly when we chose to do things His ways. Not just for people with a supervisory or leader position, but also the workers. As an employee, student or solider, we also must be a blessing to our bosses or superior above us and pray that the Lord will bless them too.
Deuteronomy 16

Sacrifice and Rejoice unto the Lord. As we go on in our daily lives, studying, working, training, resting and ministering; we sometimes miss the point of why must we sacrifice the things we love most that draws us or distract us from drawing nearer and deeper I the Lord. Some can be hobbies, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, family, sleeping, playing, computer games, etc… these are the yeast in some of our lives which distract us.
We sacrifice these things so that we avail ourselves to let God work in us and grow in us.
2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste….

Many of us sometimes enjoy the blessings the Lord has blessed us with, and forget to thank the Lord and left up praises and rejoicing up to Him. For some, grumble to much and pondering upon all the unpleasant situation in life until giving thanks to God for those situations is so difficult to articulate.
10 Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you.

11 And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name….

13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

14 Be joyful at your Feast….

As the passages has projected it for us to see. In those days, this is how much the really give glory to God and honor Him.

Deuteronomy 11 - 13 (15th Mar) - Ezra

Deuteronomy 11

In this chapter, it’s very clear cut on what God has instructed Moses. The command of the Lord is to OBEY His words.
As it is written: 8 Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 9 and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The lands that we are going to over take are the hearts of the people out there; winning the hearts of pre-believers; showing them God’s love in our lives.

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-
14 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 oil.
15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Deuteronomy 12

God is our Father.

In this chapter, it’s really wonderful as you read it. It’s like a father telling and teaching his kids about the ways of life, the values and principles of life.

Likewise, God is teaching us about serving Him. We do not have to follow the ways of the world, but follow God’s ways. As we follow His ways, He will bless us and enlarge our territory.

31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Deuteronomy 13

Our God is a jealous God, but merciful God.
4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.

As we look deeper into every versus, you will realize that there is an Egypt in most of our lives that God has brought us out.

Well, a very short testimony:
My Egypt was when I was in ITE all the way to my motorbike accident. Wasn’t living the way a Christian should be, wasn’t talking the way I should be, wasn’t portraying a Christ like attitude. Because of this childishness, I got myself into trouble outside, but thank God, no records. I was a slave to my bad attitude, harsh mouth, bad temperedness and pride. God had to break my life to bring me out from Egypt.
5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

This chapter also speaks about the family. As brothers and sisters, we should be supporting one another in the word of God, growing deep in Him together and not encouraging one another in evil thoughts or actions.
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known,
7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him.

Deuteronomy 8-10 (14th Mar) - James

Chapter 8

It is explained to the Israelites that God chose to chasten them as a father chastens his son. Although they’ll in the wilderness for forty years, the lord provided for them and watched over them. Are you going through the wilderness in your life? Remember God, as he allowed you to go through this wilderness so that you’ll be tested and be humbled. Once this period of your life is over, prepare for His victory which He will bring to you. Even then, do not forget the Lord by not keeping his commandments.

Chapter 9

Are there challenges that lie before you, seemingly too big or unattainable? Are conquering these challenges the victory that you crave for in your life? Remember to commit them to God because He fights for you. However, do not be complacent that the victory belongs to you because you deserve them or because you’re righteous. God calls the Israelites a stiff-necked people and it’s because the Israelites were stubborn and refuses to bend to God’s will.

Chapter 10

This chapter talks about the 2nd set of tablets and what God requires of us in regards to the law. You’ll realize that He asks "…fear the lord your god, to walk in all his ways and to love Him, to serve the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good." It urges us to circumcise the foreskins of our heart (calls for a commitment to be obedient to the will of God) and be stiff-necked no longer.

Deuteronomy 5-7 (13th Mar) - Karen

The Ten Commandments

Most of us would be familiar with these 10 sacred laws that Moses commanded to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt at Mount Sinai. If you do not know what they are, do take time to read, learn and follow them as these Commandments are God’s standards for right living. To obey them is to obey God.

We know that Obedience is better than sacrifice, because God looks at the heart and your desire to please Him moves the heart of God.

If we read closely, Moses did provide a suggestion of how we can live by these simple principles, in order that we might have a growing relationship with God

To Hear – Absorb and accept information about God
To Learn – Understand its meaning and implications
To Follow – Put into action what we have leant and understood.

And now, here’s a Godly Challenge that I want to present to you:

Out of the 10, would you pull out one of the commandments that God is hardest for you in terms of obeying? Would you then covenant before God that you will obey Him in that commandment, and share this with a fellow sister/brother for accountability?


“Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength….”

The central theme of the book of Deuteronomy is summarized in Chapter 6, verses 4 – 9. Here we are reminded to love God, think constantly about his commandments, teach his commandments to our children, and live each day by the guidelines in His word. The church provides a loving environment where we can learn eternal truths effectively. Thank God for livingstones – this is our family where we learn and grow together as a family in our relationship with God.

Deuteronomy 3 - 4 (12th Mar) - Li Juan

Deuteronomy 3

The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him (Og King) over to you with his whole army and land…”

As compared to in Deut 2 when God said to Moses “Do not provoke them (descendents of Esau) to war for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on…”

Just a comparison between these 2 statements made, God is showing that if His hands is upon you, there will be victory. There are areas in our lives we have yet to claim the victory, but they are all in God’s plan already! So, what are you waiting for?

Seeing what the Lord has done to Og King and Sihon King (in Deut 2), Moses commanded Joshua “The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. Do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”

When God plans it, you know that you’re safe in His hands. There’s no room for fear to set in if you trusts God enough to fight for you! And He will!

Deuteronomy 4

What does obedience mean?
“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord that I give you.”

Another verse which strucks me is “What other nations is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?”
Wow do you see it? God is near us whenever we pray to him!

Our God is a jealous God. He never allows His people to worship anything kind of idols. This incurs in Him a great wrath against the people who worships idols, and they will no longer live but will certainly be destroyed.

However, our merciful God also gives us a second chance (but do not take it for granted!). The condition is “but if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Life without God is certainly bitter and unbearable after you’ve tasted His goodness and enjoyed the intimacy with Him.

God proved Himself true through the many great and awesome deeds. Acknowledge and take it to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the Earth below. There is no other.

Deuteronomy 1-2 (11th Mar) - Vivien

A short summary of Deuteronomy, extracted from The Student Bible (NIV):
This book contains 3 of Moses’ speeches:

1) Chapter 1 – 3: a recapped of God’s dealings with Israel.

2) Chapter 4 – 26: the longest speech, which talks about moral and civil code that the Israelites have agreed to keep. Along with the laws, reminders, object lessons, personal outburst were included by him.

3) Chapter 27 – 33: the final summing up and farewell speech.

So for today as we read Chapter 1 and 2, we might find certain incidents familiar… a déjà vu? Haha… no lah… Moses is speaking to the new generation that were allowed into the Promised Land. So it is like a grandfather telling story to his grandchildren. I think one reason he did that was because those events that took place occurred when they were still too young to understand or remember. Knowing that he would not be entering the Promised Land and time on earth was up soon; he decided to take the trouble to tell a very long story hoping that the new generation would not fall into the same mistakes made by their fathers. It must have been tiring for Moses to tell this story that can be emotionally wrecking, especially knowing the fact that he would die without entering the Promised Land.

To all the young ones, listening is an important skill to adopt. Don’t be turned off immediately if somebody shares with you his or her old grandfather story. There are usually precious lessons to learn from.

Numbers 35 - 36 (10th Mar) - Stephanie

Numbers 35

Towns for the Levites

The Lord’s command for the Israelites is to provide 48 towns for the Levites to dwell in. If you recall in Num 18:20, the Levites had no “state” or “province” within Israel and their inheritance was to be God alone. Yet God provided and commanded for Israel to give to the Levites in the proportion of the inheritance that each tribe possessed (Num 35:8), not only towns for the Levites to dwell in but pasturelands for their cattle, flocks and other livestocks as well.

Cities of Refuge

We all know that “Thou shall not murder” is the sixth of the Ten Commandments. Here, we look further on acts which amount to murder (v16-21), acts which do not amount to murder but manslaughter (v22-24), laws in ascertaining murder (v30-32) and the penalty for murder (v33-34).

Of the 48 towns, 6 were to be cities of refuge (3 on each side of Jordan and Canaan – evenly distributed with proper roads built to provide easy access for all, see Joshua 20:7-8 and Deuteronomy 19:3), designated as places where someone who had accidentally killed another could escape to from the vengeance of outraged relatives or friends of the victim. There, they could safely await trial to officially determine their guilt or innocence. These cities were not places to escape justice, but rather places that saw justice to be done.

In the same way, the cities of refuge reminded me that God Himself is our refuge. I believe that there were surely times where we have been wrongly accused or misunderstood by others and as a result find ourselves in threatening situations. The good news is this - God looks after those being wrongly accused or misunderstood, those who inadvertently got into trouble and thus became most vulnerable to the anger of others.

While not glossing over the wrong done, God makes sure that things do not go from bad to worse through unjust punishments. The society we live in today may not have literal cities, to which we can flee to, yet we must always remember that we can always flee to God who truly cares for us because through Him, all of us can find refuge no matter how threatening our circumstances may be.

Numbers 36

Having thought through the implications of women inheriting tribal land and then marrying into another tribe, the relatives of Zelophehad (Num 27:1-11) realized that his daughters' land would eventually go to the tribes of their husbands. The Lord’s command then is for Zelophehad’s daughters to marry within their own tribe. In this way, no inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.

Hence, Zelophehad’s daughters all married within the clans of the descendents of Manasseh son of Joseph and their inheritance continued to remain in their father’s clan and tribe.

Numbers 33 - 34 (9th Mar) - Madeline

Numbers 33 & 34

My first impression when I read chapter 33:50-56. What a harsh command... to drive out the Canaanites.... which ended off we a 'threat' in vs 56.
Began to read my study bible.

Why were the Isralites told to destory the people living in Canaan?

1) God was stamping out the wickedness of an extremely sinful nation. The Canaanites brought on their own punishment. Idol worship expressed their deepest evil desires, which led to the worship of Satan and rejection of God.

2) God wanted to remove all trace of pagan beliefs & pratices from the land. He did not want his people to mix or compromise with idolatry.

Application:
- Be harsh, really harsh, to the sins in our lives.
Don't be hesitant to DRIVE SINS OUT of your life.

- Pray for our family, friends & nation to accept the Lord and STOP THEIR IDOL WORSHIP... which is extremely hurtful to God. :(

Chapter 34...

What can I say... God gives super super detailed & clear instructions to His people!

Numbers 31 - 32 (8th Mar)

Today's summary at Ps Fei's blog.

God bless

Numbers 28 - 30 (7th Mar)

Today's summary at Ps Fei's blog.

God bless

Numbers 26 - 27 (6th Mar) - Weiling

Numbers 26, 27

Coming Full Circle – The Second Census
In chapter 26, it feels as if everything had gone full circle. It seems so familiar. Once again, the Lord asked Moses to take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families as what He had done in chapter 1. In fact, the name of the book (Numbers) was derived from the two numberings or countings of the Israelites during their 38 years of wandering in the wilderness. Surely it must be significant!

So why did God ask Moses to count them?

Like what pastor said on Feb 23, those involved in the military had to be counted to know their strength. The census took place as God was going to lead them into the Promised Land, Canaan. But after the first census, the Israelites did not enter into Canaan. They murmured and complained, “Why bring us out to suffer? We were better off in Egypt.” They rebelled and refused to go into Canaan because of the reports they heard and wanted to stone Moses and Aaron (Num 14: 10). They were stubborn, disobedient and ungrateful. As a result, it was 38 years of wandering in the wilderness, of long detours. In fact, they lived out their lives in the desert and did not live to enter into the Promised Land. Only their children would enjoy the fulfillment of the promise that had originally been theirs. “For the LORD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”

Even Moses and Aaron did not enter into the Promised Land because they disobeyed God and did not trust Him enough honour Him as holy (They struck the rock twice for water instead of speaking to it.)

But here it was again – a second chance. God still wanted to bless them and still wanted to give them what He promised. Also, it meant that the wanderings in the wilderness have come to an end. God also chose Joshua, “in whom is the Spirit” to succeed Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land. (God led Moses to appoint Joshua in front of the congregation so that they would know he is the one chosen by God.) And with the appointment of new leader, it signified a new beginning, a new season. A season of conquest, of taking and possessing what God had promised – their inheritance.

Inheritance

The inheritance was distributed based on the number of names. "Take a census of the men twenty years old or more…”, “… who are able to serve in the army of Israel.” (Num 26: 2, 4) And so, it seems that the inheritance was only given to men above twenty who are able to fight. This means that it is probable that there are battles and wars coming up. Why else do you need people who are able to serve in the “army of Israel”? It seems fair enough that you give a share of inheritance to those who fight, those who are warriors.

But what about the ladies?

Is God “heavy-male-light-female”? :p It may appear a little unfair at first but notice that in Num 26: 2, the census was to be taken of the community by “families”. The names of the men counted represented their families. The inheritance was for the family. To substantiate this point, let’s look at Zelophehad’s daughters (Num 27: 1- 11). They were unable to claim any inheritance because they did not have any brothers and their father had passed away. There was no man to represent their family. But this is not what God wants. He does not want these ladies or their family to miss out on the inheritance. Not only did tell God Moses to give Zelophedad’s daughters their share of the inheritance, He told Moses to list it as a legal requirement (Num 27: 11).

How about the Levites?

In Num 26:62, it was specifically written, “…they were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.” The Levites are the ones who do the work at the Tent of Meeting and bear the responsibility for offenses against it. It is a lasting ordinance passed on from generation to generation. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. (Num 18: 23) They are really set apart for God in every sense. But God bless them and provide for them in giving them all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting. (Num 18: 21) Also, God said to them “I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.” (Num 18: 20) Isn’t that awesome? They don’t receive any inheritance like the rest of the Israelites, but God Himself is their inheritance. It’s really like the lines to a Christian hymn “He is my Everything, He is my all”. Often, we know it in our head and say it with our mouth but to truly know it in every sense and in our heart that: God alone is enough. That is awesome.

Nubers 23 - 25 (5th Mar)

Numbers 23

Balak ask Balaam to curse the Israelites. God met with Balaam and gave him word (v4, 5, 16). Instead of cursing, blessing came forth from the mouth of Balaam because he spoke what the Lord spoke to him for Israel and for Balak. God is always a God who promises. The promises He had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still stand, v10 – “Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?” v21 – “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.”

Numbers 24

Balak still don’t want to give up of Balaam. He still wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites and will handsomely reward Balaam if he will to do so. But again for the next 4 times, Balaam blessed Israelites according to what the Lord spoke to him. Total 6 times. Read v 5-7 about God’s hand over Israel.
v17 – A star will come out of Jacob
v 19 – A ruler will come out of Jacob

Numbers 25

The Moabite women seduced the Israelites into bowing down to other gods. God’s anger was with the Israelites who worshipped other gods, Baal of Poer, and He sent a plague killing 24,000. The plague was stopped because the priest was zealous for the honor of his God. (v10-13)

Numbers 21 - 22 (4th Mar) - Vivien

Numbers 21
There are a few accounts just in this one chapter:

1) As the Israelites continued their journey to the Promise land, they were faced with enemies. Arad – where the Canaanite king was in control – attacked and captured some of the Israelites when they were moving along Atharim. However when the people prayed together, God gave them victory.
Similarly, as we journey through life to reach our destiny, there will be challenges ahead of us. It is not about how many attacks we have, but how we react to them. And prayers are powerful! I believe it pleased God a lot when He sees His people unite and fight for a common goal. And He is more than willing to give victories.

2) The next account is rather peculiar. The Israelites grew impatient and grumble against God and Moses. And notice they were very fond of looking back to their past. Every time they grumble, they would dig out the past and compare it with current situation. Don’t you feel irritated when time and again they took their past to complain about their current situation? Can you imagine? Somebody that you had done wrong to and you thought the air was cleared after a sincere apology. Years later an argument happened and that person started to dig out the past, and accuse you for the things done in the past. What has passed is indeed past. Whether good or bad. Looking back gives a sense of wanting to escape instead of facing the challenges. And of course, this give Satan a chance to attack us, which hinders us from God blessing.

The peculiar part is why did God ask Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole as a sign of Israel’s faith since earlier God forbade them to make a likeness “of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath” (Ex 20:4) But the image here was not intended as an idol for worship. It is a form of just testing their belief in God’s words. One example I can think of is, remember when you are young (yah… most of us are still rather young. Just think back with me when you were in your lower primary school days), when your friends told you that when you see a shooting star, quickly make a wish and it will come true (or actually some of us still believe in this myth right… =P) so we actually believed the words of our friends. So when the Israelites, who got bitten by the snake, look at the pole, they got healed not because there is power in the image, but because they believed in what God told them, which resulted in faith in God. However the sad part is that the image was misunderstood by later generation as an object of worship (2Kings18:4)

3) God was with them despite their unfaithfulness, and gave their enemies over to them. God really loved them.

Numbers 22

In this chapter, we meet with the Moabites, and when they heard the Israelites were coming, the king of Moab was terrified, as they were numerous. So he resorted to getting Balaam to curse Israel. However God spoke to him, and told him not to curse His people, he obeyed. However the king was persistent and God allow Balaam to go with them.

Now here is an appearance of the talking donkey! Can you imagine a talking animal? Yup, that’s the power of God. Here actually the donkey saved Balaam’s life. God is in control. Heard of people got saved from sharks by dolphins? Dogs saving lives? Mother gorilla putting a toddler to safety when he fell into the gorilla cage? God is in control.

If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31b =)

Numbers 18-20 (3rd Mar)

Today's summary at Ps Fei's blog.

God bless

Numbers 16 - 17 (2nd Mar) - Xiao Woon

Numbers 16
Rebellion against Moses and Aaron

Korah, with Dathan and Abiram, and 250 leaders of the congregation rebelled against Moses and Aaron. They asked Moses and Aaron why they exalted themselves above the congregation that is holy. Moses then fell on his face and told Korah and his company to take censers, put fire and incense in them before the Lord the next day, and that the Lord will show who is His and who is holy. Moses then rebuked them. He also sent to call Dathan and Abiram, yet they rebelled and argued with him. Moses was very angry and told God not to respect their offering.

Moses was very angry but he did not sin in his anger. He just prayed to God and told them to prepare for the next day. Each time we’re angry about something or at someone, let’s turn our anger to God instead and pray about it so that we will not sin.

The next day, the Lord appeared to the congregation and told Moses to tell the congregation to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. God split the ground and the earth swallowed them up (how creative can God be right? it’s like in the cartoons..amazing..). Through this, it is proven that the Lord has send Moses as they did not die naturally. The Lord then told Moses to tell Eleazar to pick up the censers out of the blaze and hammer out as a covering on the altar to remind the children of Israel.

We can see that Moses’ relationship with the Lord is really very close as he can speak so confidently to the congregation that if those men died naturally, the Lord has not sent him. He was very sure that the Lord has sent him. Let us also be close to God that we may hear Him speak so clearly that we can live our lives confidently knowing what He has for us and being certain that He has sent us out to do His work =)

Obey our leaders too. Don’t rebel against them or argue with them. Make their work easier. It’s also beneficial to us when we obey because we are obeying God when we obey our leaders.

Heb 13:17 – “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Murmuring of the people

The children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron and God sent a plague to consume them. Aaron made atonement for the people and the plague stopped at the point he stood in (imagine those from the point after Aaron who didn’t die say ‘heng ah never die’).

This is madness. Even after what God had done to Korah and his company, the people still dared to talk bad about Moses and Aaron. They quite deserve the plague right? But nice Moses still wanted to make atonement for them. Don’t take God’s grace and mercy for granted.

Suddenly it dawned upon me that when we do what is right before the Lord, there’s bound to be people out there who will talk bad and gossip about us. But who cares! We live for God and as long as we are righteous before God, He will deal with those people in His time. So no worries!

Numbers 17
The Budding of Aaron’s rod

God told Moses to get a rod from each of the leaders, and for the rod of Levi to have Aaron’s name on it, then to place them in the Tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony. The rod of the man whom God choose will blossom so that the people will not murmur against Moses and Aaron. Aaron’s rod sprouted and put forth buds, with blossoms and ripe almonds.

God’s so smart. Indeed His ways are higher than our ways. He has His ways of doing things that we can never expect. He did this so as to shut the people up, to let them see that He has chosen Aaron. Glory to God. =)

Numbers 16 - 17 (2nd Mar) - Xiao Woon

Numbers 16
Rebellion against Moses and Aaron

Korah, with Dathan and Abiram, and 250 leaders of the congregation rebelled against Moses and Aaron. They asked Moses and Aaron why they exalted themselves above the congregation that is holy. Moses then fell on his face and told Korah and his company to take censers, put fire and incense in them before the Lord the next day, and that the Lord will show who is His and who is holy. Moses then rebuked them. He also sent to call Dathan and Abiram, yet they rebelled and argued with him. Moses was very angry and told God not to respect their offering.

Moses was very angry but he did not sin in his anger. He just prayed to God and told them to prepare for the next day. Each time we’re angry about something or at someone, let’s turn our anger to God instead and pray about it so that we will not sin.

The next day, the Lord appeared to the congregation and told Moses to tell the congregation to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. God split the ground and the earth swallowed them up (how creative can God be right? it’s like in the cartoons..amazing..). Through this, it is proven that the Lord has send Moses as they did not die naturally. The Lord then told Moses to tell Eleazar to pick up the censers out of the blaze and hammer out as a covering on the altar to remind the children of Israel.

We can see that Moses’ relationship with the Lord is really very close as he can speak so confidently to the congregation that if those men died naturally, the Lord has not sent him. He was very sure that the Lord has sent him. Let us also be close to God that we may hear Him speak so clearly that we can live our lives confidently knowing what He has for us and being certain that He has sent us out to do His work =)

Obey our leaders too. Don’t rebel against them or argue with them. Make their work easier. It’s also beneficial to us when we obey because we are obeying God when we obey our leaders.

Heb 13:17 – “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Murmuring of the people

The children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron and God sent a plague to consume them. Aaron made atonement for the people and the plague stopped at the point he stood in (imagine those from the point after Aaron who didn’t die say ‘heng ah never die’).

This is madness. Even after what God had done to Korah and his company, the people still dared to talk bad about Moses and Aaron. They quite deserve the plague right? But nice Moses still wanted to make atonement for them. Don’t take God’s grace and mercy for granted.

Suddenly it dawned upon me that when we do what is right before the Lord, there’s bound to be people out there who will talk bad and gossip about us. But who cares! We live for God and as long as we are righteous before God, He will deal with those people in His time. So no worries!

Numbers 17
The Budding of Aaron’s rod

God told Moses to get a rod from each of the leaders, and for the rod of Levi to have Aaron’s name on it, then to place them in the Tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony. The rod of the man whom God choose will blossom so that the people will not murmur against Moses and Aaron. Aaron’s rod sprouted and put forth buds, with blossoms and ripe almonds.

God’s so smart. Indeed His ways are higher than our ways. He has His ways of doing things that we can never expect. He did this so as to shut the people up, to let them see that He has chosen Aaron. Glory to God. =)

Numbers 14 - 15, Psalms 90 (1st Mar) - Kelvin

Numbers 14

Over here, we see a similar situation happening back in the book of Exodus; the Israelites are grumbling again! I cannot believe this myself but God reminded me that many of us are actually like them sometimes if we look into the 'mirror'.

In verse 33 of chapter 13, those who went to explore the land realised the people were bigger size than themselves and they were so afraid and without fighting, they already think they are bound to lose. A similar comparison would be sometimes, we think that we are not as good as the ' ang mohs' because they are much better in terms of physique and strength.

Of course, my focus here is not about all these but on the fact that the Israelites do trust the Lord. They do not trust Him as who He demostrated Himself to them as - a God full of miracles. They even thought of stoning Caleb and Joshua who were full of faith in the Lord. As a result,the Israelites lost the Greater Blessing of the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us not trust the Lord partially because it is still disobedience and preferring to do things according to what we see and not according to what we cannot see - which is the work of the Lord.

Numbers 15

Here, the Lord prepares the Israelites on the offerings which they are commanded to do after they enter the land which He is giving to them.

Psalms 90

The way which Moses pray to God is just so beautiful. It shows depth and understanding of the Lord's character. It reveals the Glory of God and His Justice to me. Out of righteouness, He displays kindness to Moses and his people. Surely, from the way Moses pray to God, he knows Him as a loving God who is willing to bless us. The Lord is good, so let us walk with Him with a prayerful life.

Numbers 11 - 13 (28th Feb) - Xiao Woon

Numbers 11
The People Complain

The children of Israel complained about the food that God provided for them. They had intense craving for meat and they wept. They compared with the food they had back in Egypt and kept complaining. God’s anger was greatly aroused. Moses was also displeased when he heard them weeping. Moses then blamed God, saying that God gave him the burden of the people which is too heavy for him to bear.

God provided them with manna, yet they complained. Sometimes we are just so irritating. When God provides us with something, we are not contented and do not thank God for providing but instead ask for more. Let us not de2 cun4 jin4 chi3 with God…
Do we blame God too? At times when we face trials and tribulations, do we not look to God for help and thank God for the circumstances in which we can learn from, but instead blame Him for whatever that we are facing?

It is so easy to complain and blame God for something bad that happened in our lives for it is in our sinful nature to do so. However, always remember that everything happens for a reason. God will not let us suffer so that He can be happy in our sufferings (He is not sadistic)…but He allowed/placed circumstances in our lives so that we may learn from them, and to help mould our characters.

Let’s not complain/blame, but give thanks to God for EVERYTHING. It is not easy to give thanks in our problems, but let us try our best to do so=)

The Seventy Elders

The Lord told Moses to gather seventy elders to the tabernacle of meeting so that He may speak to them. The Lord told Moses that He will take of the Spirit upon Moses and will put upon the elders, that they may bear the burden of the people with him. He also told Moses to tell the people to sanctify themselves and they will eat meat for a whole month, until it comes out of their nostrils (imagine meat coming out of your nose!) and becomes loathsome to them. Sense the Lord’s anger in His tone of speaking about this.
Moses doubted God’s ability to provide the meat for so many people and God just told him to see if His word is true.

The Lord sends Quail

The Lord brought quail through a wind and the people gathered the quail, but before they could chew it, the Lord struck them with a great plague. (Imagine u die at the moment u were able to bite the food that u craved for. Sian right.)

The Lord is good to Moses despite him blaming Him. He lightened his load by spreading the burden to the elders. Let us not take God’s goodness for granted. Never doubt God’s ability! He is not called Lord Almighty for nothing! He is the God of miracles!

Numbers 12
Dissension of Aaron and Miriam

Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses. The anger of the Lord was aroused and Miriam became leprous when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle. Moses cried out for God to heal her. God shut her out of the camp for seven days then she was brought in again.

Let us not speak against anyone so that we may be right before God. Don’t wait till God teaches us a lesson then we realize that we’ve sinned. Always keep check of the words we speak out and our actions so that we may be right before God.

Numbers 13
Spies sent into Canaan

God told Moses to send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which He is giving to the children of Israel. So Moses sent men who were heads of the children of Israel. They returned from spying out the land after forty days and brought back word to them and showed them the fruit of the land. They told Moses that the land indeed flows with milk and honey, that the people there are strong, the cities are fortified and very large. Caleb said they should go up and take possession of the land, for they can certainly do it. But the men who gone up with him said that those people were stronger than the Israelites. They then spread a bad report of the land to the Israelites, saying that it is a land that devours its inhabitants.

Verse 33: “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.”

Rev Melyvn Mak once mentioned this verse and the learning point was that what u perceived yourself to be will be what others perceive of you. So if you see yourself as someone small and easily defeated, then you will appear small in the way you portray yourself and people will then see you as small and easily defeated.
Do not look down on yourself. You are a son/daughter of God! Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of God that we can do what we cannot on our own =)

Praise the Lord! =)

Numbers 8 - 10 (27th Feb)

This is just a summary of the next 3 chapters.

Numbers 8

Levites were to present themselves to the Lord. They were told to purify themselves so that they can do the work of God (v7-11). We need to stay pure and holy too so that we can do the work of God.

Numbers 9 & 10

The Israelites celebrated the Passover and also the glory of God was seen. The cloud covers over the tabernacle. It was later the Israelites leaves and the whole tabernacle will be dismantled and moved. They moved from Sinai to Paran. They moved out tribe by tribe. The first 3 tribes Judah, Issachar and Zebulun will move out first followed by the Levites (Gershonites & Merarites) will move with the tabernacle. Then the next 3 tribes, Reuben, Simeon and Gad will follow behind then followed by the other Levites (Kohathites) will carry the rest of the holy things in the tabernacle along. Before Kohathites arrived, the tabernacle must already set up by Gershoites and Merarites, so that all the holy things can be placed inside the tabernacle (v21). The rest of the tribes followed behind.

Numbers 7 (26th Feb) - Josh

Last few days we started into the book of numbers.
Numbers is a record of the Israelite's journey before conquest (end numbers - start joshua). The journey is typically divided into 2 segments.
1. Sinai wilderness.
2. Plains of Moab

Numbers is commonly known among christians to be the book where Israel's 11day journey became a 40yr punishment wandering in the sinai desert. The chief reason: A rebellious people without faith. We know what God did. - But do we? As we look deeper into number, going through the events before judgement occurs (numbers 14:20-23), we can see this:

The ongoing discipline and love of God.

1. God prepared His people
In His love, from chapter 1-4, God started organizing the army and the altar worship as they move into a land of enemies. Both spiritual (idols) and physical. God's heart is to create a strong nation both outwardly and inwardly to truly be a nation set apart, different in might and spirit and stand against evil opposition.

2. God disciplined His people.
Chapter 5-6, God reaffirmed His desire for Israel to be zealous for Holiness. Not just plain acceptance but active participation. And ending off in chapter 6, God reciprocated his love and desire to be close to His people (v24-27). What amazes me, is the fact that God is so patient and relenting with them.

As I read chapter 7 with in mind the last 6 chapter, it dawns on me,

The ongoing discipline and love of God instills loyalty and operational readiness.

Chapter 7 marks a historical moment in Israel's History. The commanders of each army dedicated their division (a military term depicting a rank system of soldiers) to God. The names of each commander hand picked by God to organize the army is the same commanders dedicating their division.

To me, it reminded me of the day I commissioned as an officer. The first time I don my military uniform in officer's rank, saluted the rising Singapore flag as I sang Majulah Singapura. I recall the months of training and discipline to the day of commissioning. - My naval officer training prepared me to be loyal and operationally ready.

In the same way, we are all called to be loyal and ready for our King's command. To engage our enemy and our destiny. To stand up against what is wrong. And setting the captives free. It takes years of training and disciplining. May we not lose heart and turn away from His love and discipline but keep our mind to what He loves.

"My son/daughter, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." - Heb 12:6

Numbers 5 - 6 (25th Feb) - Ivy

Numbers 5

The Purity of the Camp

The Lord speaks to Moses about the purity of his camp.

Verse 2: Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind

I pondered: Is God unmerciful by sending the sick away? However I believe this person may have sinned against the Lord suffered the consequence of the disease and have to be sent away. Purity to the Lord could have been breached. This applies to both men and women.

Restitution for Wrongs

Notice it is a sin to malign others. It is UNFAITHFULNESS to God. Wow….

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife

If a man is unsure but suspects his wife of being unfaithful, he is to prepare a grain of guilt offering. Just in case he ‘malign’ her and cause him to be unfaithful to God. He is to bring the matter up to the priest who will perform a ‘ritual’ to prove of her innocence. If she is pure, she would have no problem ‘taking the curse’. But however if she is unfaithful, she would be barren.

Verse 21: ‘may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. “‘Then the woman is to say, " Amen. So be it."

The Lord reminds about committing adultery in the 10 commandments.

Exodus 20:14"You shall not commit adultery.

If any of you knows the issue of Paskistani woman. If only the community practiced this, many innocent women would not lose their life.

Numbers 6

Vow of separation – This involved separation ff consecration for a specific period of special devotion to God. This is not just a vow of discipline; it was an act of toal devotion to the Lord.

The Lord gave rules and precise guidelines as to the dos and don’ts.

The offerings of the Nazarite at the completion of the period of vow were extensive, expensive and expressive of the spirit of total commitment to the Lord during this time of special devotion.
Note:
The Priestly Blessing
22 The LORD said to Moses,
23 "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 ' "The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." '
27 "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

May the Lord bless and keep all in Livingstones, FCBC and the entire body of Christ.
May His face shine upon all of us and be gracious to us. May the Lord’s face turn upon us and give us peace. Bless our people. Thank You Lord, in Jesus name I pray,
Amen.

Numbers 3 - 4 (24th Feb)

Numbers 3

The 12 Tribes
1. Judah
2. Issachar
3. Zebulun
4. Reuben
5. Simeon
6. Gad
7. Ephraim
8. Manasseh
9. Benjamin
10. Dan
11. Asher
12. Naphtali

Notice that Ephraim and Manasseh were not Jacob sons. They were Jacob grandsons which is sons of Joseph. So 2 of Jacob sons, Levi and Joseph, were not one of the 12 tribes.

From the Levi came 3 sons that formed 3 clans. Gershon the Gershonite, Kohath the Kohathite, Merari the Merarite. God has set the Levites apart for the work in the tabernacle reporting to Aaron and his sons (v9).

Gershonite – take care of tabernacle and tent (v25).
Kohathite – take care of the sanctuary (v28, 31).
Merarite – take care of the frames of the tabernacle (v36).

Numbers 4

When the tabernacle needed to move:-

Gershonite – in charge of carrying the curtains (v25).
Kohathite – in charge of carrying the things in the sanctuary (v15).
Merarite – in charge of carrying the frames of the tabernacle (v31).

Total from the 3 clans, there were 8580 people who work and serve in carrying everything (v47).

Wow!!! 8580 logistics members. When they were called to serve, they served. Hey, serve the Lord for it is an act of worship to the Lord. Love the Lord and serve Him only.

Numbers 1 - 2 (23rd Feb)

Numbers 1

Written by Moses
The Israelites had camped near Mount Sinai for more than a year. They had received all the laws and regulations passed down to them recorded in the book of Leviticus. They had been transformed into a new nation and equipped for God’s purpose for them. Moses and Aaron were told to number all the men who were able to serve in the army. This book is named for this census, or numbering of the people.
Taking a census is long and tedious, but very crucial task. Those involved in the military had to be counted to know the military strength before entering the Promised Land.
**Whenever we are at a crossroad, important to take inventory of our resources, reflect, pray and move on with hope in the Lord.

Numbers 2

The nation of Israel was organized according to 12 tribes:

1) It was an effective way to manage and govern a large group of people,

2)Made dividing the Promised Land easier,

3) It was part of the culture and heritage,

4) made it easier to keep detailed genealogies

5) made travelling much more efficient.

As the people left Mount Sinai and traveled across the desert, they began to complain, grumble and disobey. Soon problems surfaced and Moses was not able to effectively manage the people. The books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers present a contrast between how much we can accomplish when we obey God and how little when we don’t

Leviticus 26 - 27 (22nd Feb)

Leviticus 26

It is coming to the end of Leviticus and God made great promises. If we follow His commands, He will send rain and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit (v3, 4). You will eat all you want and live in the safety of the land (v5). 5 of us will chase a hundred of enemies away and hundred of us will chase away 10,000. God will grant us favour(v8). You will have favor, you will be fruitful and increase in numbers (v9). Full of promises from the Lord if we follow His commands.
Those that disobey will be punished (v14 - 39). But those who confess their sins, Gd will not reject you (v40 - 45). So obey the Lord and follow His commands and you will be blessed.

Proverbs 8:32 - Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.
Luke 11:28 - He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Revelation 1:3 - Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Leviticus 27

The last chapter of Leviticus where everything can be set apart for the Lord. The word 'set apart' is also the same as 'holy'. It can be a person who is set apart for God when he or she comes to know the Lord and God set him or her apart to be holy. That's why we are called royal priesthood, holy nation and people belonging to God. but yet we still choose to sin. That's where we need to confess our sins before the Lord.

Your house can be set apart for the Lord. Pray and invite the Lord into your home. Where the Lord is, it is holy. Whatever you have, you may set aside 10% for the Lord. It is a tithe. A worship unto the Lord.