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January 13 - Morning
"Then Jacob made a vow, saying,
'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house,
and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.' "
- Genesis 28:20-22 |
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| The Covenant of Abraham Becomes Personal to Jacob |
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The practice of standing up stones was used in ancient Israel:
- to make a memorial to an important event,
- as a witness to the signing of a treaty,
- to honor a god,
- to represent a spirit being.
There are 142 sites with standing stones still in the Negev and in Eastern Sinai. There are thirty-six standing stones left from the time of Jacob and the Old Testament. Jacob honored this event and this location since God had appeared and spoke to him near Bethel before he left the Land of Promise.
Notice the honoring of God with “a tenth,” or a tithe, was voluntary. The giving of “a tenth” to honor God was a principle also followed by Abraham (Genesis 14:17-24).
Jacob bargains, or offers God an agreement, based on four conditions. The Lord will be Jacob’s God if he can provide these things:
- Divine presence
- Divine protections
- Divine provision
- A safe return to the Promised Land
In return Jacob vowed to do these three things:
- the Lord would be his God
- this stone marker would become a location (altar, house, temple, etc.) to meet with the Lord
- Jacob would give the Lord a tenth of everything
At Bethel Jacob personally bought into the covenant that the Lord had offered to Abraham and Isaac. God now offered it to Jacob and, based on Jacob's response, this covenant had just become a personal matter to Jacob. |
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"The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief."
- T.S. Eliot |
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Sometime between
701-681 BC Isaiah wrote:
"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers."
- Isaiah 40:22
And, around 1400 BC Job is quoted as saying sometime around 2000 BC:
"He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing." - Job 26:7
It is interesting to note that it wasn't until the 1500's AD that common knowledge embraced the idea of a round earth. So, while the world of India was believed the earth was set on the backs of elephants and the Greeks were counting on the god Atlas to hold the earth steady on his shoulders, the scriptures recorded before these other legends and ignorance came about describe the earth as a sphere hanging on nothing in space. |
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| ‘Olam (Hb) - Everlasting (Eng) – ‘olam is the Hebrew word that means “long duration,” “antiquity,” “forever,” “everlasting,” “perpetual,” “old,” “ancient,” “continuous existence.” It is used 435 times in the Old Testament. Isaiah describes the government of the One who will come to sit on David’s throne and to rule over David’s kingdom in justice and righteousness “from then on and ‘olam.” (Isaiah 9:7) |
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The Ketef Hinnom Amlets are two very small silver scrolls that were found in a burial cave with Hebrew lettering dated around 690 BC. The text is the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:23-27. This is the earliest fragments of biblical text discovered so far. (Details here and here. Photos here and here) |
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Do I listen to advice? Do I listen to correction? Do I listen to a rebuke?
I will hear wisdom speak to me in advice, correction, and, even, in a rebuke.
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"A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke."
- Proverbs 13:1 |
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| Guidance and direction in the roles you have in life |
God’s will be done |
United States Air Force |
Lingering power of traditional African religions |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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