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Week 12: Preparing to Enter the Land and Holy Week

March 17th, 2009

Reading this week

Numbers 24-33
Mark 11:27-14:72

We are now in week 12 of our Bible reading program. If you have been reading most days since Jan. 1, you are beginning to form the habit of daily Bible reading by this point. If you have been inconsistent, don’t give up! Just jump back in and continue reading. If you are way behind, you could either pick up where you left off or jump ahead to read the same passages as the rest of us each week. Don’t worry if you don’t end up reading the entire Bible this year. If it takes you two years to read it through for the first time, that is still much better than not reading it at all!

This week’s reading In Numbers is mostly about the final preparation for entering the Canaan. Forty years have passed, and a new generation is poised to enter the promised land. Try to imagine the excitement that they must be feeling. They take a new census and review the sacrifices required for special days throughout the year. God chooses Joshua to succeed Moses. Instructions are given for apportioning the land among the 12 tribes, with Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh claiming land on the East side of the Jordan. (Manasseh is considered a “half tribe” because Jacob adopted the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. Therefore Joseph’s descendants are divided into two parts, and each receives an inheritance on the land. )

In Mark we learn about Holy Week, the week leading up to Christ’s death on the cross. This is very similar to the account in Matthew, including Jesus’ teaching, the plotting of the Pharisees, the Last Supper, and Christ’s arrest in Gethsemane. Notice how Jesus never seems to be in a hurry, and never is surprised. He knows exactly what He is doing, and what will happen at the end of the week.

How is God speaking to you through His work this week? What questions do you have? Join the discussion by sharing your thoughts in the comment section.

Written by Pastor Ken in CFC Bible Blog

2 Responses to “Week 12: Preparing to Enter the Land and Holy Week”

Ken

March 20th, 2009 at 11:26 am

This is not a question about the current passage, but rather a question that pertains to the first 5 books of the Bible (a.k.a the Torah). What evidence do we have that disproves the documentary hypothesis?

Pastor Ken

March 20th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

For those of you who are wondering, the “documentary hypothesis” is a theory that the first five books of the Bible were edited and re-edited numerous times from various sources. They claim to be able to find traces of the these sources, labeled J, E, D and P.

This is a big topic, so I can only scratch the surface. First of all, we should ask what evidence there is to support the theory. Given that the Bible and church history claim that those books were written by Moses, it seems to me that the burden of proof should lay on the proponents of this theory. If you study various versions of this theory, the list of passages assigned to each source are very different from one scholar to another. That is a good indication of how subjective their whole approach is.

Secondly, you should examine the assumptions behind the theory. It assumes a gradual development of the theology of Israel, causing a gradual development of the Torah (and lots of re-editing). Usually it is assumed that the earliest religion was polytheistic, and that gradually Israel developed monotheism. But this “evolutionary” view of religion is based on the naturalistic assumption that the Bible is simply a man-made book. The Bible claims to be the very words of God.

If you want to study this further, I suggest that you study the second volume of Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict. He covers this theory in great depth. (Some editions of the book now include volumes 1 and 2 in a single book.)

Week 12: Preparing to Enter the Land and Holy Week

Reading this week

2 Responses to “Week 12: Preparing to Enter the Land and Holy Week”

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