Today’s annual Torah portion is Chukat, “Decree,” in Numbers 19:1-22:1.
Today’s triennial Torah portion is Tetzaveh, “You shall instruct,” in Exodus 27:20-28:43.
Today’s Hebrew Testament chronological reading is in 1 Chronicles 28 and 29.
The Psalms/ Proverbs reading is in Proverbs 27.
No Greek Testament reading today.
TORAH.
The Annual Numbers 19:1-22:1 Chukat Outline is here.
Finding Messiah in Chukat is here.
Finding Messiah in Torah is here.
The Triennial Exodus 27:20-28:43 Tetzaveh Outline is here.
ESSENTIAL STUDIES.
Numbers 21, The change of generation
Additional studies: Numbers Index
As the praise at the well of Beer takes place toward the end of 40 years of wandering, this Break in Pattern is showing us a changeover of generation among the congregation. The elder unbelieving generation has died out, and the younger believing generation has taken its place.
This is a complete picture of the Gospel of grace. The complaints reveal the heart of the old man, the old nature, here foreshadowed by the old generation of unbelief (Heb 3:17-19). But then, when eyes are opened to that unbelief, and it is confessed as sin and repented of, the old man looks to Messiah Yeshua on the cross (the bronze serpent by Prophetic Type and foreshadow), and his nature is radically changed. He becomes the new man with a new nature, here foreshadowed by the new generation of belief. The praise serves to reveal the heart of the new man!
1 Chronicles 28 and 29, Chiastic structure
Additional studies: 1 and 2 Chronicles Index
The loyal heart, the undivided heart, is the heart which has been wholly circumcised to YHVH God, to love Him and serve Him only, and David understood that obedience to YHVH’s commandments was tied to the state of the heart. A loyal heart, a circumcised heart, will seek out YHVH’s commandments to obey them; a divided heart will find excuses to discard them. If I want to see myself, my household, my community, and my nation grow in obedience to YHVH God, then I need to pray for the state of the heart, not for the state of obedience!
Proverbs 26 and 27, The contentious woman
Additional studies: Proverbs Index
Contentious, according to Webster’s, means, “likely to cause contention, exhibiting an often perverse and wearisome tendency to quarrels and disputes; having an aggressive or fighting attitude.” And contention means, “the argument, or tension, that results from a contest, struggle, or rivalry.” Note that contention shares a root with contentment: “satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation.” I think contention and contentment are spiritual opposites — the contented wife is satisfied, while the contentious wife always has complaints.
THREE-YEAR BIBLE.
The three-year plan is here.
Today’s reading is in Ezra 5.
Suggested study: Ezra 5, Bible for Beginners.
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