Let’s turn to NUMBERS 17-18.
Yesterday we heard another dramatic chapter in Israel's history: The rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. They must have been included in those who refused to go to the Promised Land, but then they had the gall to find fault with Moses that he didn't lead them to that land. It is also incredible that God would prove Moses' authority so dramatically (resulting in the death of the three conspirators and their families), yet the people would the next day without fear accuse Moses of killing the Lord's people (further resulting in a plague).
Translation notes:
18:1 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences [of any guilt connected with your serving//of service] in the priesthood.
15 “Every first-born [male] child or animal that the Israelites present to me belongs to you. But you must accept payment to buy back every first-born [son//child], and must also accept payment for every first-born animal that is ritually unclean.
16 [First born sons//Children] shall be bought back at the age of one month for the fixed price of five pieces of silver, according to the official standard.
We turn for the first time to PSALM 37.
This is an acrostic poem,and a great Psalm for giving us the right perspective in our fallen world.
We turn for the second time to LUKE 23.
In the first half of this chapter, Jesus was tried by Pilato (the phonetic pronunciation I use in the podcasts) and Herod, before finally Pilato caved into pressure and sentenced Jesus to death. Let’s repeat a few verses, starting at verse 36.
Translation notes:
47 The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, “Certainly he was [an innocent//a good] man!”
[The Greek can mean either ‘innocent’ or ‘righteous’, but I prefer not to simply say ‘good’, although it is an acceptable translation.]
I read the hymn “How deep the Father’s love for us” for our prayer today. This was composed by Stuart Townend, and here is the link to his story about writing it:
http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/song/how-deep-the-fathers-love-for-us/
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