Numbers 23-36 & Mark 8-9

Wow, I haven't posted since last Wednesday - sorry about that. I did pretty much the same thing last week. It is a discipline for me to blog everyday, I will try to be more faithful.

If you are reading along with me, congratulations again, we just finished another OT book! We have already made it through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers! If you have made it this far that is indeed an accomplishment - good job.

Towards the end of Numbers, we get a glimpse of who all makes up the nation of Israel at this point and we see a changing of the guard, with Moses preparing Joshua to take the lead. We also get to see God preparing the people for their new home. It's interesting how He provides common-sense guidelines for them and instructs them on how to divide things up evenly. We will get a pretty detailed summary of the last few books as we read through Deuteronomy. Remain faithful, things will get more exciting as we head into Joshua...

In the chapters 8-9 of Mark, we have seen Jesus feed four thousand, give sight to a blind man, accept Peter's confession of Him as the Messiah, predict His own death, be transfigured on the mountain, heal a demon-possessed boy, predict His own death again, teach the disciples that whoever is a servant to others is the greatest in His kingdom, and warn people not yield to temptation. That's a lot to cover in just a couple of chapters!!! But I think most important in these passages is Jesus' identity. Some try to claim that Jesus was simply a brilliant thinker or a great man, maybe even a prophet. But in these chapters, by Peter's confession, Jesus' transfiguration, and by His own predictions of His death, Jesus reveals Himself as either the one, true Messiah, or a madman! His miracles and healings only prove the fact that He is from God.