Dev 8:

LORD is God! 

Deuteronomy 4:39

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

http://flickr.com/photos/rachelpennington/307307624/

The Lord is my God. He is the only One and true God, He is the living God. I have my father but He is my Heavenly Father and Spiritual Father. No one can I compare Him to someone else here on earth. No one can do what are the things He has done to me. He loves me so much, He shows that He really cares for me, He didn’t forsake nor leave me. He is there always right at my side.

I will do everything for His glory alone, I will obey and follow Him. I put my trust in Him alone, no one can hinder me in doing my best to my Heavenly Father. What ever my circumstances in life, whether its hard or not, I will make sure that I will always do the task that God has given me.

DQ8:

DQ8: What is a city of refuge? What is its function? Why did the LORD had the Israelites set it up?

The city of refuge is the place wherein the people can go to save their lives so that the people seeking for them may find them. It is the place wherein God told to the people of Israelite and to Moses that if someone killed a person unintentionally, they can go to this place and stay there until they make sure that they are safe.

In our life today, our city of refuge is only to God himself, We can run to Him, we can ask help to Him. He is the only one we can take our refuge, not only physically but also spiritually. He is there always right beside us ready to help us in times of our needs and troubles. We don’t need to run and go to other places to save ourselves, the only thing we do is to run to God alone. Surely He will help us, and we need to trust Him in everything. He can do all things. God is our refuge.

Dev7

Do what you ought to do! 

Dev7:Num.15:1-36:13

Numbers 30:2

When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.

 http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=967358914&size=s

If a person promise to do something, they must do what ever they promised. If you can not do your obligations well, it is better to not say promise if you will just forget it or you will not going to do it,

If I will going to make a covenant to someone, I will do what I say. As long as I can, ii will do what ever it is. Especially when the promise is between God and me, I will do my best to fulfill it. All promises must be done in a right time and in a right person. I must do all my obligations as I promised it to someone else, I must not break whatever the vow that I made.

DQ7:

DQ7: Who hardenened Pharoah’s heart during the standoff between him and the LORD?

The one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart is God himself. He did it because God has some purpose with it and He has a special plan for this event. As I know, God did it to show to both the Israelites and the Egyptians that He is the God, the true and living God. God want to show that He is the God of the Israelite, His own people, He want to show His great and amazing love for them all. Not only to the Israelites people but also to the Egyptian people. God did this so that all the people may believe on Him alone and not to their other dead gods.

I think one reason why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart is that He wants to test Moses and Aaron in their obedience to Him, on whether until when they will follow and obey God in spite of the hardships and difficult circumstances that they are going to face during their journey with God. And maybe also God want to train them to be a good leader and to set a good example to the next leader that God will appoint when they will gone.

Dev.6

Leviticus 26:1-5

Worship God alone!

Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God.

Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD.

If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,

I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit.

Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.(NIV)

 http://www.btv.gov.bw/images/worship.jpg

Worship the Lord our God with all our everything. We must not make any graven image to worship. God alone is only one, no one should be woship aside from Him.

In my situation before, we always go to the catholic church and  I saw some man made monument there inside and outside. People touched the graven image and believed that they will be healed if just they can touch it. They believed on their superticious belief, even the image of Mary the mother of Jesus.

But when i grown up, I realized that no one can saved you alone, but only through Jesus Christ. It is clearly stated in the Bible that we should not make any graven image to worship. Only God alone deserve our worship, He is the One worthy of our worship.

God blesses those people who are following His commands and will. I as a Christian must obey Him alone. I must not be tempted to follow any traditional or pagan way of the people sorround me. I must focus on God alone. No one can hinder me in worshiping God, I trust Him that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I will do all things for God alone.

God is the source of life, we should not forget it as some are in a habit of doing. They didn’t even recognize that their lives came from God, that their breath cam from God. Some people still believe on their pagan idols.

That we as a Christian must do something, to reveal to them the Truth and nothing  but the Truth.

DQ6:

DQ6: Where exactly is the Red Sea that the Israelites crossed on their flight from Egypt?

Red Sea is a direct translation of the Greek Erythra Thalassa (Ερυθρά Θάλασσα), Latin Mare Rubrum, Arabic Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar (البحر الأحمر), and Tigrinya Qeyḥ bāḥrī.

The name of the sea does not indicate the color of the water since it is not red. It may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-colored cyanobacteria Trichodesmium erythraeum near the water surface. Some suggest that it refers to the mineral-rich red mountains nearby which are called Harei Edom (הרי אדום). Edom, meaning “ruddy complexion”, is also an alternative Hebrew name for the red-faced biblical character Esau (brother of Jacob), and the nation descended from him, the Edomites, which in turn provides yet another possible origin for Red Sea.

The association of the Red Sea with the Biblical account of the Exodus, in particular in the Passage of the Red Sea, goes back to the Septuagint translation of the book of Exodus from Hebrew into Koine, in which Hebrew Yam suph (ים סוף), meaning Reed Sea, is translated as Erythra Thalassa (Red Sea). Yam Suph is also the name for the Red Sea in modern Hebrew.

The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden. In the north are the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba) and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal). The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion. Occupying a part of the Great Rift Valley, the Red Sea has a surface area of about 174,000 square miles (450,000 km²): being roughly 1,200 miles (1,900 km) long and, at its widest point, over 190 miles (300 km) wide. It has a maximum depth of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) in the central median trench and an average depth of 1,640 feet (500 m), but there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species and 200 soft and hard corals and is the world’s most northern tropical sea.

The Red Sea is one of the most saline water bodies in the world, due to the effects of the water circulation pattern, resulting from evaporation and wind stress. Salinity ranges between 3.6 and 3.8 %.

The Passage of the Red Sea is more than just a station of the Exodus. Egyptians recorded their trade across the Red Sea in all the goods needed by the mortuary rituals used in the Temple of Karnak at Thebes as far back as the Tale of the shipwrecked sailor. The Red Sea lies between arid land, desert and semi-desert. The main reasons for the better development of reef systems along the Red Sea is because of its greater depths and an efficient water circulation pattern, The Red Sea water mass exchanges its water with the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean via the Gulf of Aden. These physical factors reduce the effect of high salinity caused by evaporation and cold water in the north and relatively hot water in the south.

The Bible, in the book of Exodus, famously tells the story of how Moses leads the Israelites across its headwaters, (presumably the Reed Sea which has since disappeared because of the Suez Canal water diversion) to freedom, by using the powers of God to part the waters. 

devotional 5

The Lord who provides 

Exodus 16:6-10 (New International Version)

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.” Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’ “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

http://www.raleigh-northcarolina.biz/search/God.html

In spite of all the complains of the Israelite people during that time, God still provide all their needs. God still helped them and prepare and lead the way going to the promise land. God still showed to them His unfailing Love and Greatness. His power and might, He showed to them that He is only the true and one God. 

Sometimes, I also complaining to God that why is this things happening to me. Actually it is a little bit hard to live in this kind of life. But i thank God for all the blessing He has given to me. In spite of my complains with Him, He still help me and provides all my needs. God is really my provider, in spite of the hardships of my life, He is always there ready to help me. He is there ready to help me to fight and go on and live with this wonderful life He has gave me. I may not know what will happen next to me, I may not know what will be my next mission or my next mission field, but I belive God will always lead my way. He already prepare the way for me, and the things I need to do is to follow and obey His will. To put my trust in Him and to continue serving Him in spite of the different difficulties in life.

DQ5

DQ5: Who is the new king of Exodus 1;8 who came to power in Egypt and who doesn’t know Joseph?

According to Walter C. Kaiser Jr., some argue that the new king who did not know about Joseph was Amosis, the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and that three hyndred years had passed before the Israelites began to be oppressed by the 18th or 19th Dynasties.

According to Manetho, an Egyptian priest, during the reign of Dudi-Mose (also known as Tutimoios). It was during his reign that an unknown people came unexpextedly from the east and invaded their country and seized it by force without any difficulty, capturing the leaders, burning the towns, razing the temples, and treating the inhabitants with terrible cruelty, cutting men throats and leading the women and children into captivity.

Some says that the new king who doesn’t know Joseph was the Hyksos, an Asiatic people whm the Egyptians knew, they are the rulers of foreign lands. The Hyksos swept into Egypt at a time of Egyptian political instability. Since these invaders had the distinctive advantage of suchadvanced weapons as the war chariot and laminated or composite bow, they overthrew the native Egyptian dynasties. And from that time until the revolt of Amosis, founder of 18th dynasty in 1570 BC, th eHyksos exercise absolute control in northern Egypt, establishing their capital in the Nile delta at Avaris, and later over mich of Egypt.

Accordingly, the new king who did not know about Joseph must have been a Hyksos ruler who arose between 1730 and 1710 BC. This meant that the oppression of Usrael lasted for some three hundred years, a figure much closer to four hundred years predicted in Genesis 15:13.

devotional 4

God knows best: God will make a way!

Exodus 4:10-12

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/connectedbylight/412985815/

God chose Moses to be the deliverer of the people of Israel. In spite of the weaknesses of Moses, God still used him for a great thing. Moses has a less confidence to talk to the people, especially for the king of Egypt. But even though, God still help him, he used his brother Aaron to be his speaker. Moses followed God commands. Even though they faced so many struggles in leading those people of Israel, he didn’t give up. Because of that obedience that Moses had, they succeed in their mission journey.

 

When God called me to serve Him and to proclaim the good news to the other people, I also told that I can not do this, I don’t know how to speak with, what should I tell them. I confess to God that I am still a young Christian, I don’t know how to make it. What should I tell to the people if they will ask me or question me? I really don’t know.

In spite of my weaknesses, God will give me strength. If I will tell to God that I can not do this, it is the time that He will give more strength, He just want me to lean n Him alone and not on my own understanding. Even though sometimes I feel I can not do, God always there ready to help me. He is always making a way for me. He leads my path to the place that He want me to go. I should not run away from God, because He knows the best for me.

 

I may not know what will happen next to my journey with Him, but one thing He promised me that He will never leave me, He will never let me go in the wrong way. He already prepared the best thing for me, and the only thing I do is to follow and obey Him always.

 

God is working in a miraculous and in a different way, even though I’m young, He want to use me for His glory. This thing I proved that, whoever you are, what ever you have, or even how old and young you are, God wants to use you. To proclaim the good news to all the people, and to deliver or lead all the people who are still living in the darkness into the marvelous light of God.

DQ4:

DQ4: Who are the ‘Apiru/Habiru and why are they significant?

Habiru (Ha biru) or Apiru (‘ piru) ibrw (Egyptian ibr = horsemen w = plural) was the name given by various Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, and Ugaritic sources (dated, roughly, from before 2000 BC to around 1200 BC) to a group of people living as MAR TU or nomadic invaders in areas of the Fertile Crescent from Northeastern Mesopotamia and Iran to the borders of Egypt in Canaan. Depending on the source and epoch, these Habiru are variously described as nomadic or semi-nomadic, rebellious, outlaws, raiders, mercenaries, agricultural workers, horse mounted messengers and bowmen, servants, slaves, migrant laborers, etc. The photographs from the 1904 Brested Expedition to Egypt, especially those of the battle of Kadesh incribed at Abu Simbal provide one of the first recorded mentions of the ha ibr u in the context of an army that messengers rushed to fetch to the battle in a period when the Mitanni fit this description well.

The English forms of the root (ibr) as Habiru or Apiru refer to Egyptian and Akkadian cuneiform cognates. While Egyptian is Afroasiatic it is related to the semitic languages, being along with Akkadian a precursor to them. In the Egyptian script the English transliteration is `prw, minimizing semitic ha as the declarative article in the prefix and substituting U for W as the Egyptian plural suffix which comes out in English as Apiru. The substitution of p for b is also common in transliterating semitic languages to IEAs more texts were uncovered throughout the Near East, it became clear that the Habiru were found throughout most of the Fertile Crescent–the arc of civilization “extending from the Tigris-Euphrates river basins over to the Mediterranean littoral and down through the Nile Valley during the Second Millennium.” Carol Redmount who wrote ‘Bitter Lives Israel in and out of Egypt’ in The Oxford History of the Biblical World concluded that the term “Habiru” had no common ethnic affiliations, that they spoke no common language, and that they normally led a marginal and sometimes lawless existence on the fringes of settled society. She defines the various Apiru/Habiru as “a loosely defined, inferior social class composed of shifting and shifty population elements without secure ties to settled communities” who are referred to “as outlaws, mercenaries, and slaves” in ancient texts.