Day 49: Numbers 11-13

(Numbers 13:28-33) Is there a positive example in Scripture of a democratic
vote? Sometimes people point to Acts 15:23: 'Then pleased it the apostles
and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company
to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and
Silas, chief men among the brethren: ' (Acts 15:22
https://my.bible.com/bible/1/ACT.15.22) What I notice is that the decision
happened before this (v. 19) and the people agreed, in order: Apostles,
elders and the whole church. It's troubling to me that the word Laodicea
can be translated, the assembly's judgment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

120102 - Genesis 03-04 - you shall not add or diminish....

S: "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Genesis 3:3, KJV. O: Adding to what God has said is not harmless (Deut. 4:2). In this case, Eve's confidence in something she misunderstood about God's commandment may have been the foothold that Satan needed to cinch the garden temptation. He may have DEMONSTRATED that death did not come from touching the fruit by touching it, destroying Eve's confidence in God's truthfulness. Eating the fruit began the process of death. (Gen. 2:17 may be translated, "in the day that thou eatest thereof, 'dying thou shalt die.'") Eve then touches, eats, and passes sin on to her husband. Their eyes are opened, (3:7), and they're suddenly aware that they're naked. What was the knowledge of good and evil that came to them? It certainly wasn't simply the information that they were unclothed. What were ...
Read more

2023—Week21: Ezra01-Nehemiah11; John19-Acts04

Ezra-Nehemiah 11 : In the Jewish Canon, Ezra and Nehemiah are one book, and, although the division in ours makes sense, it’s clear that they cover the same basic period. They form one answer to the question at the end of 2 Chronicles’ hanging question, “Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 36:23, ISV) Yet despite their trust, the people are greatly weakened until the ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah (and Haggai and Zechariah, Ezra 5:1) encourage them. Ezra’s trust is clearly represented in 8:22, where he is ashamed to request a protective guard for the fortune in treasures he carries, instead trusting in the hand of God for protection. Ezra’s prayer in Ezra 9, Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11, and the people’s covenant prayer in 9:5-37 are the outcome. Faith precedes confession, because we don’t fully understand how badly we fall short until it’s revealed to us. Even then, we ne...
Read more

Fathers' Day

This weekend, we spent time with Cindy's Dad, Dick Eckburg, with his wife Judy, in North Carolina. The four of us joined Cindy's brother's family, (John, April, Tessa and Tyler), as well as Cindy's Mom, Donna, for a visit to Lincolnton. We fished, (caught nothing!) grilled, played outdoor games and visited Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, NC. It was beautiful and relaxing, despite the thunderstorms. We waded a mountain river below a waterfall. Well, Emily and I did, anyway, with John, Tessa and Tyler. Aside from the hours of driving, it was therapeutic rest for us to spend a couple of days unwound from our calling and meeting schedule. It was appropriate for we three fathers to enjoy just being fathers for a change. That's been a somewhat ironic part of what I've been doing for the past six months, actually. I was a bit spoiled by one of our greatest blessings in Southern California--living eight minutes from work made it easy for me to come home every day ...
Read more