The fishermen that followed.

One day long ago there was a team of fishermen who worked on a boat. Their job was to catch fish on the Sea of Galilee.

On a clear day they went out with their boat to catch some fish to sell. This was their job, to catch fish on the sea, bring it back and to sell it in the market place. One of the fishermen was John. John was an ordinary man, a man with a successful fishing career.

To be a fisherman was not the most glamorous job in the city, neither was it a job with high salaries. But the fishermen did their best in catching fish.

One time the fishermen returned from a successful fishing trip. Their baskets were full of fish and it seemed that they were very good at what they were doing. But as they returned to shore something happened….

There was a man standing on the shore, He looked at John and said to Him: “Follow me!”. Something happened to John that day. He immediately knew that he should follow this man! John knew that it was a calling from God. He immediately listened to the man commanding him and followed the man called Jesus to be one of His twelve disciples.

Till next time!

Water out of a rock

In our previous post we talked about how the Israelites escaped from the mighty Egyptian army by going through the Red Sea. Now the people of the Lord are in another big desert. How are they going to get out of this desert? How are they going to survive? Where are they going?

After the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, they found themselves in the Shur desert. This desert is a dry place. No human could survive on foot in this desert for a long time. So they traveled for three days before they could replenish their water supply.

Eventually the Israelites saw water! Like a pond! They were very excited to see the water and being able to drink water. But the water was bitter. The Hebrew word for bitter is “marah”. So they called the place Marah- where the water is bitter.

So the people started to complain to Moses saying that it would have been better to live and work as a slave in Egypt than to rot dry in the middle of a desert. So Moses prayed to the Lord and He gave them a way out,- a solution.

The Lord of Israel led Moses to a specific tree. Moses was to take a branch of the tree and to throw it into the bitter water supply. Moses did as the Lord commanded. After Moses had thrown the branch into the water, the water became drinkable.

There at Marah the Lord spent time with Moses and His people. The Lord cured their disease’s and instructed them in His commands.

What can we learn from the events at Marah?

·         Trust in the Lord, He knows your needs and will provide for you and your family.

·         It pays off to pray to the Lord and to tell Him what you need. The Israelites needed water, they prayed and the Lord provided.

·         The Lord can make a place like Marah-to be bitter- a place where His followers can survive.

Till next time!!

Worship God after a miracle

In the previous post we read how God created a path through the Red sea. The Israelites followed Gods command and he gave them a dry road through the Red sea.

As they approached the other side of the Red sea they rejoiced. They said thanks to the Lord and worshiped Him with songs. In particular was the sister of Moses, Miriam, who worshiped her God with a tambourine. A tambourine is a simple instrument but it was probably a good instrument for its time.

Wouldn’t you do the same if you just witnessed a large and powerful miracle that God performed? They just moved through a sea as if it was dry land! It must have been scary having two walls of water standing next to you with nothing holding them up!

What can we learn from the story of Miriam that worshiped God after they went through the Red sea?

·         We should worship God for his glory and for what He has done for us!

·         We can worship God with the simplest instrument and it would still count as worship.

    Till next time

Gods plan with the Red sea

In the Bible book of Exodus we read the story of Moses where he led his people out of Egypt. God commanded him to do so. You will remember that God assisted Moses as he led the Israelites out of slavery.

I am the LORD your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.  (Exodus 20:2 CEV)

So the Pharaoh, the mighty ruler of Egypt, released the Israelites and gave them their freedom back, but that decision was short lived. A few days after he had released them he sent his mighty Egyptian army to enslave the Israelites or possibly kill them.

The Israelites were defenseless. God ordered them to set up camp next to the Red sea. At first glance this might look strange as God ordered his people into a dead end. It would be easy for the Egyptian army to capture the Israelites. But God had a plan!

The Israelites camping next to the Red sea heard the Pharaohs army approaching. They asked their Lord for help. God then sent a cloud to form where the Egyptians were, they got confused and did not know where to go. This gave the Israelites time to pack up their campsite.

The Lord told Moses to stretch-out his arm to the side of the Red sea. He did as the Lord asked. As he did this an opening formed in the sea, creating a path with walls of water on each side. The Israelites went through the Red sea without injury.

Later the Egyptian army saw what God did. The commander of that army ordered his troops to follow the Israelites through the opening in the sea. They did as he asked. As the Israelites came out the other side the Egyptian army was halfway. At this stage God closed the path through the water and the water walls gave way. As this happened the Egyptian army drowned.

What can we learn from the miracle at the Red sea?

·         God had a plan with His followers. God devised a plan that would cut the Egyptian army off and gave them what they deserved in the process.

·         Moses and the Israelites prayed to God and God gave them a way out

Till next time

King Solomon- the builder of the temple!

Solomon ordered thirty thousand people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, (1 Kings 5:13 CEV)

In the previous post we discussed how King David didn’t build the temple of the Lord. The next King of Israel was to take on the gigantic task of constructing the temple- the house of the Lord. The temple was not only going to be the house of the Lord but also the place where the Ark of the Covenant was to be stored.

It was the task of King Solomon to construct the temple of the Lord. King Solomon was quite a difficult boss to work for, as he drove his workers to their maximum. In the book of Kings we read that King Solomon ordered more building materials for the temple. Specifically he ordered more wood for the construction project.

The temple was also an important structure in the culture of ancient Israel. The Lord resided in the temple; the temple was in Jerusalem the capital of the kingdom of Israel. In other words the protector of Israel lived in His home in the capital city. Surely this must have been a reassuring measure once the temple was completed.

What can we learn, reading how King Solomon constructed the temple?

1.       God with us!

In ancient times God protected this people by living with them in the temple. Christians today believe that God lives inside of us and not in a building like a temple. In other words God is always with us and not in some building like in ancient times.

2.       Relationships?

We shouldn’t sacrifice relationships with other people to attain our own goals. King Solomon constructed the temple of the Lord, but that didn’t give him the right to be a bad king and drive his workers to their maximum. King Solomon was known as a kind of slave driver. In other words; God ordered him to construct the temple and not sacrifice relationships along the way.

3.       Sometimes God use us for big and important tasks.

In this post we discussed that King Solomon was going to build the temple of the Lord- a gigantic task. He obeyed his Lord and did just that. King Solomon’s early life is an excellent example of a person that obeyed the Lord, even when the task got a little big!

Till next time!

The construction of the Temple of the Lord.

Soon after David moved into his new palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest is kept in a tent."  (1 Chronicles 17:1 CEV)

 The story of Moses in the Bible is very well known story. The Lord spoke to Moses and told him that he must lead the Israelites slaves to freedom. When they were in the desert the Lord spoke to Moses again. He told Moses to construct a tent according to Gods specifications. Moses again did as the Lord asked him to. He constructed the tent which was later known as the Tabernacle.

Now the Tabernacle was a luxurious tent in which the Ark of the Covenant was stored in. Much, much later King David told the Lord that he (David) wanted to construct a more permanent home for the Lord and the Ark of the Covenant. After all David, a human, lived in a luxurious palace constructed with an expensive wood, whilst God lived in a luxurious tent! I think I can see why King David wanted to construct a big, more permanent temple for his God. After all, God did free his people from slavery in Egypt.

As we can read in our core verse, King David already constructed a luxurious palace for himself and his dynasty. David then asked the prophet Nathan to speak to the Lord on his behalf. David wanted to know what the Lord would say if David constructed the temple.

Sadly, God didn’t allow King David to construct the temple. Later in the Bible we read that King David had too much blood on his hands to build the temple of the Lord. In other words God said to David that he killed to many people during his reign as King. Pew, David must have been a violent ruler!   

But King David also did much good during his reign as King of Israel. Even though he wasn’t allowed to construct the temple, God used him to gather resources so that the temple could be constructed more easily by the next king. The next king of Israel, after David, was King Solomon, his son,s  the richest and wisest king found in the Bible.

What can we learn about king David from the story found in 1 Chronicles?

1.       God uses people to glorify Him.

Even though God didn’t use King David to construct the temple, he used King David to gather materials for the building of the temple in the future. Surely the temple of the Lord required only the best of building materials. The Lord appointed his loyal servant King David specifically to this difficult task.

2.       God uses people to help others.

God had a very clever plan concerning the gathering of construction materials for the temple! King David gathered the materials for the temple, making the actual building of the temple much easier for the actual builders. In other words the builders of the temple already had the necessary building materials!

3.       Follow the will of God.

God knows everything! He knows and sees the bigger picture. In our example God saw that King David should not construct the temple, but rather that King Solomon should build the temple. Gods’ way was much easier, since the builders of the temple already had the building materials. This sometime requires patience!

Till next time!!