Day 74: Understanding the Consequences

Matthew 24:1-31; Numbers 25-27; Songs 6:4-8:4

The end of times will be a terrifying event.  It will be a time when the worst things that could happen do, when death is more common than life, and persecution and hate are rampant.  People of each generation have been saying the end of days are upon us, and whether they are or not, I pray for the generation that suffers during those days.  I pray that the believers would be faithful, to The Lord and to one another.

God  has no patience with people who worship idols.  There is not room for compromise when it comes to who we serve.  The Lord determined that death was the only punishment for those who worshipped another god—wipe out those who thought it was ok and eliminate such a threat to the heart of Israel.  We should feel the same about false gods.  Anything that we worship or focus on or serve is a god and that is absolutely wrong according to the Lord.  I pray that we would put to death, in no uncertain or compromising terms, anything that gets in the way of our worship of God:  stuff, money, technology, approval, pride, etc.

The women who approached Moses in Numbers were brave and bold to ask for land in a man’s world.  And, instead of saying “No, you are women,” God cared for them.

Even though Moses’ disobedience and lack of faith happened years beforehand, the consequences were still present.  Just because time passes doesn’t mean that things don’t hurt or aren’t affected anymore.  I can’ expect God to just ignore my past mistakes.  He created the world to be connected and my mistakes as well as successes follow me, just like everyone else.  Even though it would have been nice for Moses to enter the promised land, he understood that his mistake had cost his.  He didn’t argue with God at that point, which means he had learned his lesson.  The point was not the success of Moses, but the glory of God.  And so instead, Moses shows concern for his people.  God has him place his hands on Joshua to show that he is being anointed and to charge him with leading Israel.  So, placing of hands on a person is scriptural which is cool.

In Songs, these two people are so caught up in one another.  They want only each other, not numerous others.  Even normal tasks seem amazing because they are so in love with each other. We need to pursue our God with the same fervor as this. We also need to pursue our spouses with this same passion. God deserves all our energy. And second to that is our spouse.