Steady Growth
Genesis 3:1-13 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'” And the woman said to the serpent, “we may eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” . . . . So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. . . .God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Numbers 14:6-12 And Joshua the son of Num and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. And the LORD said to the Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation grater and mightier than they.
Numbers 32:13 So the LORD’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD were destroyed.
Deuteronomy 8:2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
1 Samuel 9:15 – 27 — 10:1 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel . . . Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies . . .
1 Samuel 13:9-13 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. An d Saul went out to greet him. . . . So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever
2 Kings 17:10-13 They set up sacred stones and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah on every high hill and under every large tree. At all the illegal places of worship, they sacrificed in the same way as the nations that the LORD had removed from the land ahead of them. They did evil things and made the LORD furious. They served idols, although the LORD had said , “Never do this.” The LORD had warned Israel and Judah through every kind of prophet and seer, “Turn from your evil ways, and obey my commands and decrees as I commanded your ancestors in all my teachings, the commands I sent to you through my servants the prophets.
Not everyone who accepts God’s invitation to be one of His chosen, knows how to further develop and grow with Him. God is the creator of all. God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit all worked together to finesse the design of the world. We relate it to the earth as we know it–but there’s more–the many galaxies which with technology are now being “found” or “discovered.” It is rather sad, that one reaches out the hand to accept the invitation, and then really has no idea of how to grow with it.
Sometimes, reading the Bible can be so confusing to one who is new. They may wonder why there are so many genealogies listed, why all these rules about sacrifices in a movable tent shrine, why is all this history stuff important, this doesn’t have anything I can see to do with Jesus. In my opinion, it takes bible studies, a bible teaching church, spending time with other believers, and reading with the true idea that God spoke to Abraham that he would be the Father of many nations. Once you know that, I believe it is easier to get through the initial part of the Old Testament. For me, it became blurry and confusing again after Noah and his ark finally landed, and we jump to the genealogies post Noah. Sometimes, even now, some of the names and cultures from the OT still can confuse my take on the many different cultures in the Middle East. But when I delve further into the history and the present, it is clearer, but I am not a social studies student, a history student and certainly not a Middle Eastern expert.
But the Bible is God’s words given to specific people to record so we CAN have a better understanding of the history, and God’s plan to offer His grace and mercy so any who repent and choose whole-heartedly to follow Him, will receive the undeserved forgiveness. The OT is full of stories about how often the Israelites–God’s chosen people–for no reason other than God’s and yet, chosen or not, they disobeyed time and time again. The Israelites did not do anything special to receive God’s special favor, but He chose them, and encouraged them, giving them rules, commandments, and rescued them when they were enslaved, such as rescuing them from the Egyptians to start their original journey to the chosen land God had selected for them.
Because they did not fully trust God’s deliverance for them, fearful of these people settled in and then trying to destroy them. Yet, ten out of twelve though they would all be soundly defeated–not trusting God in FAITH–so God gave them an extra forty years in the Wilderness, and ensured that those who were over 20 years of age would not settle in the lands He had chosen. The two who had insisted the Israelites could defeat the peoples settled in those lands, so they were allowed to be a part of defeating the peoples and taking over the lands God had arranged for the Israelites. Caleb and Joshua were heroes during this time, and were rewarded by being able to settle in the land.
As the lands were settled, the Israelites started asking for a King so they could be more like those peoples who were settled in nearby areas. God chose Samuel, a prophet, to choose Saul to be the first King. King Saul was much like Eve and Adam–each blamed another for committing a sin. Eve accused the Serpent of teasing her and enticing her, while Adam blamed Eve for tempting him, and now for the first time the couple felt shame–and were sent from the Garden. And Saul was quick to blame Samuel when he said, “You were late; the people were getting antsy.” And later, after being instructed to totally annihilate a people and their livestock, he had confiscated the livestock, and then proudly declared “this was for the LORD.” The King also developed mental issues, often described as “being given a bad spirit by the Lord. Once the King learned that God had rebuked him from the Kingship and the crown would be passed to David, the youngest son of Jesse, and a shepherd for his father’s sheep, and he had gained confidence fighting bears and other animals in the field.
God ordered the Israelites to avoid the barbaric sacrificial customs of the surrounding areas. Yet, they disobeyed and did atrocious acts, not allowing their consciences to guard them into remembering God’s commands, and instead sucking up the sexual acts, the violent acts, the enticement of perverted and heinous sins God had warned them to avoid. And, even with the OT giving us examples of disobedience and foul living and the consequences of their behavior.
And after centuries of disobeying, listening to the prophets remind them of living correctly, yet still disobeying, and suffering the consequences of being overtaken by other countries–the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians. And finally, after centuries of waiting for the Promised Messiah, He was born.
And when He was 30 years old, He stepped out as a Rabbi and gathered men, mostly hard-working, some who tried to cheat the taxes and held their own prejudices toward others. But He brought new light, showed and taught love, patience, and heartfelt truth toward others.
Because we have the rest of the Bible, the New Testament, after God’s silence for 400 years and then the arrival of the Messiah, we have the Son’s words, His life, His Healings, His Miracles–healing the blind from birth, healing a man filled with several demons, raised a couple of person’s from death–all Messianic Miracles.
With the Bible and being in a Bible teaching church, sharing and studying with other believers, we get to grow more and closer to God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We need others who want to grow in the way of teaching of the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful that I have found a way to learn more about the Bible, the Trinity, and what my purpose is in serving God and the Kingdom. We all have a purpose — and the main one we have to do in the Kingdom is share the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God through the Messiah, Jesus who willingly came and sacrificed His life for our salvation.
God, thank You for choosing me, guiding me and helping me to grow and to share what I know and ‘mybellaviews.’
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