John 15:5-8; After defining His relatioship to the Father and developing the metaphor of grape vines for His followers in v.1-4, Jesus continues by restating the vital necessity of remaining in Him. Christ promises to remain in those who remain in Him, so they can bear “much fruit”. However branches that apart from Christ are […]
Colossians 1:15-23
John 15:1-4; During his “Upper Room Discourse” of John 13-16, Jesus instruceted His inner circle of disciples on many key truths to shape their upcoming future in active ministry. Christ transitions to an agricultural metaphor in John 15, self-identifying as “the true vine”, while His Father was “The gardener”. Followers of Jesus are the “branch” […]
Numbers 36:1-13 The book of Numbers concludes by revisiting a prior issue that was brought to Moses and the leaders of israel. A man from the tribe of Manasseh had five daughters, but no sons to inherit his precious land gift from the LORD. Zelophehad’s daughers brought the issue before Moses and Yahweh-God ruled in […]
Numbers 35:22-34; Yahweh-God continued with instruction for Israel through Moses concerning accidental death in the community. Those who unintentionally took the life of another person were to flee immediately to a city of refuge, where they would be summonsed to stant trial for the unfortunate situation. If found guilty of murder on the testimony of […]
Numbers 35:6-21; Six of the forty eight cites the Israelites were commanded by Yahweh-God to dedicate to the Levites would also serve as cities of refuge. Anyone who accidentally caused the death of another person in Israel would flee to the closest city of refuge to plead their case before the assembly. Otherwise, the closest […]
Numbers 34:1-15; 35:1-5: Yahweh-God instructed Moses to outline the boundaries of Canaan, which the twelve tribes of Israel would claim as their promised inheritance. With the Mediterraneaab Sea as the well defined western boundary and the Jordan to the east, the southern and northern boundaries were provided in detail by landmarks. Unlike pagan conquering nations, […]
Numbers 32:39-43; 33:50-56; Our previous message entailed the tribes of Reuben and Gad approaching Moses and the leadership of Israel for permission to settle in the Transjordan area of Gilead. After promising to fulfill their calling as warriors, their request was granted, along with half of Manasseh who took the land and cities to the […]
Numbers 32:1-19; With Israel still camped on the east side of the Jordan river across from Jericho, the next step was for them to cross the river and begin conquest of Canaan. However the tribal leaders of Gad and Reuben approached Moses with a significant request. Being herdsmen, they noticed the fertile ground of Gilead […]
Numbers 31:19-24; Following the defeat of the Midianite clans who seduced Israel to physical and spiritual adultery at Peor, Moses instructed Israel’s military leaders to remain “outside the camp“. This was in conformity to the purification requirements of Numbers 19, where those who came in contact with a dead body were ceremonially unclean for seven […]