Genesis To Revelations

Farewell, Verite. Thanks for starting this thread. May God bless you.

I also wish you happy health, and I thank you for the courtesy of signing off. Reading the entire Bible is a rather difficult project, and we probably proceeded at a too fast pace. This is one reason why I have KISSed the OT on my website with a lesson entitled "Key OT Teachings". In it I say the following regarding EX-DT:

<<After Moses led the Exodus, he received the Ten Commandments from God, which for our purposes we will consider as one key teaching.

EX 20:1-17. God requires moral perfection (cf. DT 5:6-21). Of course each of the Ten Commandments is important, and Jesus affirmed many of them in the “Sermon on the Mount (MT 5:21-48). The key point is that all commandments teach us to cooperate with the Lawgiver, whose moral will was not ended or rescinded by the death of Messiah.

There are additional moral precepts, such as those found in EX 21, 22 & LV 18-20, but most of the other Mosaic commands are either part of the sacrificial system or instructions for treating various health problems. Jesus taught that God’s standard is perfection (cf. LV 19:1), and he clarified that the Sabbath was made for the sake of humankind (MT 12:7f.), perhaps so they would have a day to rest and worship God. However, Paul indicated (in CL 2:16f., cf. 1CR 10:23&31) that we should serve God every day or continually, and both he and Jesus explained how the perfect “rest” is attained (Paul in 2THS 5:16-22 & PHP 3:7-9, cf. HB 4:9, and Jesus in MT 11:28).

The next key teaching I find is not until after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. It occurs in the sermon Moses preached just before he died and Joshua led the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan.

DT 30:19. We have moral free will, which makes us accountable for our attitudes and actions, our belief and behavior, with ultimate logical or appropriate consequences, which are termed heaven or hell (cf. Lesson 1). It is this teaching that explains why this life has so much pain and hatred: Most of it results from human sinfulness/ungodliness. If humanity spent as much energy trying to solve problems as it has engaged in KOTH, earthly life would be almost heavenly.

Most of the material in the next few books, Joshua to Ezra is historical rather than doctrinal, but I do find a few important items.>>

I would be willing to carry on with our reading in this fashion unless someone wants to proceed with the "one chapter at a time" approach.

CarriePie?

Deuteronomy 20 - Rules for warfare

v. 1 - Don't be afraid when going to battle when thou seest horses, chariots, and many people - for God is with thee.
v. 2 - 4 - Priest shall reinforce the message of 1 - don't be afraid.
v. 5 - Officers shall spare the people - those who have new houses but haven't dedicated them - go back to their houses.
v. 6 - Those who have planted vineyards but haven't eaten from them - go back to their vineyards.
v. 7 - Those who are engaged to wives but have not "taken" them - go back to their wives.
v. 8 - Those who fear or are faint of heart - go back to their houses so as not to spread the fear to the brethren.
v. 9 - Captains are selected from those who are left.
v. 10 - Offer of peace is to be extended first, when approaching a city to invade.
v. 11 - If the peace offer is accepted, the people found therein shall pay tribute to God's people, and serve them.
v. 12 - If there is no peace, the city shall be besieged.
v. 13 - All males are to be killed with the sword.
v. 14 - Women and (female) children and cattle and spoil shall be claimed.
v. 15 - These rules are for the cities which are very far off.
v. 16 - Of the cities which God gives for an inheritance to His people, nothing that breathes shall be spared!
v. 17 - 18 The Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites are to be utterly destroyed, so they don't do to God's people as these evil people do unto their gods; so God's people should sin against Him.
v. 19 - 20 Don't destroy the trees for fruit (meat) when making a siege, even if it is for a long time - only the trees not used for fruit can be used to build bulwarks (weapons) against the city.

@CommodoreTeach

Commodore, may I continue?

Deuteronomy 21

vs. 1 "An unsolved murder was important for Israel to deal with because of a principle stated in Numbers 35:33-34."

vs.2-4 The matter of jurisdiction had to be settled, measurements had to be made, and atonement had to be done (with the sacrifice of the heifer).

vs.5-9 When the people follow the Lord's instructions for atonement, He takes away their guilt. A blood sacrifice had to be done for the removal of guilt, this points toward Christ's work on the cross for all of us.

vs.10-14 Captives wives. The horror of it! These are my words and my viewpoint, but I think this is another one of those areas of the Bible where on the surface it looks kinda bad, but when you have a good look at it you'll see it's actually God protecting women. In this case, even captive women. Things in the past are not as they are today. Cultures of the past did things differently. People today often look at things from a modern lens.
Her head being shaved was a symbol that she separated herself from her religion. It is said that the change of clothes suggests a change of status. God allows her to mourn. I think that is touching. During that time, more than just mourning probably takes place. She's adjusting to a new outlook. A new life. During this time, maybe the man observed her. Was she someone he wanted to marry? If he decided he wanted to marry her, they married. If he decided he did not want to marry her, then she must be allowed to go free.

vs.15-17 If the firstborn son was offspring of the unloved wife, God commanded that the inheritance rights still be respected.

vs.18-21 The rebellious son won't stop acting like a real bleep no matter what the parents do, so he must be put to death. "It is important to note that the parents could not, by themselves, carry out this penalty. They had to bring the son on trial before impartial judges. His sin was against the entire community and sowed the seeds for cultural ruin in Israel."

vs.22-23 If a person had the disgrace of being put to death by being hung in a tree, the dishonor of his death was not to be too over done. "It is worthy of remark that in the infliction of punishment prescribed by the Mosaic law, we ever find that Mercy walks hand in hand with Judgment.” ~Clark

At the last 2 verses we think upon Paul's writings in Galatians...
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14)

Please do, CarriePie!

I agree. My understanding from this was that the women effectively received the same rights as wives - they could be captured, but were not to be treated as without any rights, which as you say, is even very different to quite recent history where women are raped and murdered by the victors (think German women and Communists (maybe Allies also) at the end of World War II for the most recent instance I'm aware of).

I had missed when I read before that the parents couldn't carry this out by themselves.

Amen!