Day 90

Deuteronomy 20 is about the Israelites going into war.  I kind of like the fact that the priest comes out before the army and addresses them before they go into battle.

Deuteronomy 21 has several various items taken care of.  Moses is still telling them about the laws they are to follow.

Deuteronomy 22 contains some laws about helping out your fellow man and then goes into laws regarding violations of a marriage.  There is a whole lot of stoning happening as punishment for crimes.  It appears that there is to be no evil in the promised land.

Luke 6 begins with the pharisees trying to catch Jesus in an act that could prove that He is not doing things that are holy.  We then go on to see the appointing of the twelve apostles.  The next portion kind of reminds me of the beatitudes just written a little different.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 23, 24, 25 and Luke 6:27 - 49

Day 89

Deuteronomy 17 continues on in the same tradition as the previous chapters in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 18 begins with what the Levites were to receive, then goes into what they should not do in the eyes of the Lord.  It ends with information on a prophet that the Lord is going to send them.

Deuteronomy 19 is about the cities that are to be set aside as a place of safety for those needing refugee.  It also talks about the rules of a witness.

Luke 5 ends with Jesus healing a paralytic man.  We also read about Levi being called to work with Jesus.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 20, 21, 22 and Luke 6:1 - 26

Day 88

Deuteronomy 14 tells them once again what foods they can and can not eat.

Deuteronomy 15 tells of how to take care of debts again.

Deuteronomy 16 is about the feast that they are to celebrate.

Luke 5 starts out with Jesus gathering his disciples and cleaning a man with Leprosy. 

It is really getting boring with our reading in Deuteronomy.  I hope everyone else is still doing OK with the reading.  I know I am getting a little discouraged, hopefully things will pick up a little bit.  I still have yet to figure out why things are duplicated so much.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 17, 18, 19 and Luke 5:17 - 39

Day 87

Yep, Deuteronomy 11 is much like the others so far.

OK, Deuteronomy 12 is more about offering when they get to the promised land.

Deuteronomy 13 is about not worshiping other gods in the promised land.

Our reading in Luke deals with Jesus healing sick and driving out demons.  We have read this multiple times in previous books so I am not sure there is much more that I could say about it.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 14, 15, 16 and Luke 5:1 - 16

Day 86

Deuteronomy 8 is Moses giving the Israelites more instructions before they go into the promised land.  This time he is reminding them to not forget the Lord.  One verse that really stands out in this section for me is.  You may say to yourself, "My power and strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."  But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. (Deut. 8:17, 18)

Deuteronomy 9 just goes on about how rebellious the Israelites were.

Deuteronomy 10 continues on just like the first 9 chapters have.  I will admit I am already bored with Deuteronomy.

The first portion of Luke 4 shows us the forty day and nights that Jesus was in the desert and being tempted by Satan.  Jesus' ability to fight off Satan with scripture is just such an amazing feature.  I wish I was stronger in my scripture to be able to pull verses out of my head at the appropriate time.  The last portion of our reading is Jesus being rejected in his home town.  I think this is a slap in the face for Jesus but He knows that it is going to happen by the quotes that He gives them.  I can see how this must have been hard for the people of this town to believe in.  I mean they knew him as Joseph's son, the son of a carpenter not as the Son of God.

I know I am still behind in post, it is still a little crazy here in the holiday season.  Hopefully as this next week begins I will be able to get a few more post online.  I would like to thank everyone for being patient and continuing to read.  I hope everyone is learning scripture and becoming closer to God in this process.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 11, 12, 13 and Luke 4:31 - 44

Day 85

Deuteronomy 5 gives us a recap of the ten commandments.  Deuteronomy may get a little old in my eyes if it just keeps going over the stuff that we have already read about.  I am worried that we are going to start reading about all the procedures for the offerings again.

Deuteronomy 6 gives us the greatest commandment again.  Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.  It really is the greatest commandment and I can never read it enough.

Deuteronomy 7 is a recap of what they are to do to the lands they are preparing to take over.

Luke 3 gives us a lot of information in a very short chapter.  We start out by learning of John the Baptist beginning his teaching in the desert and quickly read right into his imprisonment.  We then read a very quick section of the baptism of Jesus and then a bit of genealogy of the line from Jesus all the way back to Adam.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 8, 9, 10 and Luke 4:1 - 30

Day 84

Christmas day and I hope everything was an amazing day for each of you and your families.

Deuteronomy 3 is still a recap of what has happened to the Israelites so far.

Deuteronomy 4  to me feels like Moses is wrapping it up.  He knows his time is almost up and he is trying to make sure that the Israelites keep everything they have learned from God.  To me it sounds like he is trying to make sure that they do not slip up again and lose everything that they have gained while he was with them.  It also feels like he may be stalling a little bit so that he does not have to die and he still might get a chance to go into the promise land.

The first part of our reading in Luke is Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple on the eighth day.  When they arrive at the temple a man by the name of Simeon who was a righteous man came up to them and took their son.  Now, I am not sure how exactly this happened.  I do not know if he was such a righteous man that nobody doubted his actions or if he politely asked to see Jesus?  I would hope that he was a polite and kind man with the words that he spoke.  I could only imagine what Mary and Joseph must have felt like to hear these words being said about their son.  The smiles that must have been on their faces.  Now, the final portion of Luke 2 jumps forward in Jesus' life and He is now twelve years old.  His family has traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.  When the feast is over and they begin to make their way home Jesus stays behind and goes to the temple.  I begin to wonder what everyone was thinking when this first started.  Why does Jesus not tell his parents that He is going to the temple?  Why do Mary and Joseph travel for a full day before they realize that their son is not with them?  Are they traveling in such a large group that they could not notice their son was not with them?  So, after a full days travel out and a full days travel back, Jesus has now been away from them for two days.  Do you think he was scared at all?  Where did he sleep?  So many questions I do not know if I could put them all down.  Mary and Joseph then proceed to look for Jesus and find him in the temple.  Oh, what it must have been like for them.  A complete mix of feelings and emotions.  Were they happy or mad?  Do you punish the Son of God.  I mean really I think I would be afraid to punish Him.  I think this is also the first quotes we see from Jesus and His Earthly parents really do not understand what He is saying.  He is so young and He already knows what His life has in store for him.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 5, 6, 7 and Luke 3

Day 83

I am doing a little back dating, and catching everything up.  This post would have been on Christmas eve.

Deuteronomy 1 and 2 seems to be like a complete overview of what has happened to the Israelites since they left Egypt.

OK, when I found out what we were going to be reading on Christmas eve I began to freak out just a little.  I mean I could not have planned it this way.  Who would have thought that we would be reading about the birth of Christ on Christmas eve.  It really made me think that God had more hands on me during my motorcycle accident then I originally imagined.  Anyway, Luke 2 gives us the Birth of Jesus.  We begin with the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to the town of Bethlehem.  They are making this journey because a census is taking place and Bethlehem is the town Joseph is from.  When they arrive in Bethlehem they are unable to find a place to rest.  I do not believe I could begin to imagine what that must have felt like for this young pregnant lady.  They are given some shelter in a stable, which from what I have been able to learn was actually probably closer to a cave.  After Jesus was born an angel appeared to shepherds tending to their flocks of sheep in a nearby field.  This angel gives these shepherds some great news and then a host of angels appears and praises the Lord.  Now, if I was one of those shepherds I would have probably been scared out of pants when that angel appeared, but man the news that it brings, how amazing.  The last little portion we read for today really made me flash back to Leviticus because of the offering that was given for Jesus on the eighth day.  Wow, what an amazing read for Christmas eve.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 3, 4 and Luke 2:25 - 52

Day 82

Numbers 34 tells us what the boundaries of the promised land are.  I found this to help me a little.  Map

Numbers 35 gives us a short section on how the Levites were to be given land.  We also learn of cities of refugee.  These sound intriguing to me.  I wonder how the people that fled to these cities were protected till they could be judged?  What was to stop a person from seeking revenge in one of these cities?  Now punishment for killing someone was serious.  Death, there was no escaping it if you killed someone intentionally.  I found one other thing interesting in this chapter.  They used witnesses to verify the death and there had to be more then one witness to give testimony.

Numbers 36 sort of freaks me out.  To me it sounds like incest is suppose to happen for these young ladies that inherited land.  I just do not understand how that is right.

The last portion of Luke 1 gives us the birth of John the baptist.  How amazing it must have been for the father Zachariah to write the name John on a piece of paper when they asked and his voice immediately be given back to him.  I have to wonder what that felt like?  Did he feel the Holy Spirit come on him and know that he could speak again or was he trying to talk when he wrote the name?

One more book completed.  Numbers is officially over.  It was another one of those books that I am kind of glad to see done.  I sort of felt like I could not read another chapter about this offering or that offering. 

Tomorrow's reading is:
Deuteronomy 1, 2 and Luke 2:1 - 24

Day 81

Numbers 31 has the Israelites headed into battle.  Moses has 1,000 from each tribe prepared for battle on the Midianites.  After the battle is over not a single Israelite is lost.  God gives Moses instructions for how to split the spoils after the battle.  I guess with the number of livestock that they acquire it seems like they would have a large selection for an offering.

Numbers 32 left me a little confused.  I do not see how some of the Israelites would not want to enter into the promise land.  I mean really, do you think that this side of the river is so much better then what the Lord has in store for you on the other side of the river?

Numbers 33 is a chronicle of all of the Israelites travels.

As we continue reading in Luke 1 we find Mary traveling to see Elizabeth.  Upon Mary speaking to Elizabeth, Elizabeth's baby jumps in the womb.  What a miraculous sign.  It must have been something to feel that even your child in womb knows that there is something special about this women.  As for Mary's song, what an amazing song.  I do not think I could do it any more justice.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 34, 35, 36 and Luke 1:57 - 80

Day 80

Numbers 28 and 29 I am going to combine in this posting as they are both about offerings again.  One thing I noticed is that we have a daily offering mentioned.  Now, I am not sure if this something that is done as a community in whole or if each individual family is suppose to do this.  Either way I can see how the priest stay busy and would be glad to have the Lord's blessing as it seems that they would go through livestock pretty quick.

Numbers 30 tells us about keeping a vow.  We learn that vows are to be kept and what can nullify them.

Our reading in Luke give us another foretelling of a child to be born.  This child though is the one.  Gabriel meets with Mary and tells her that she is to have a son.  She wonders how this would even be possible since she is a virgin.  Gabriel basically says do not worry about it, God has everything under control.  She shows great faith here unlike Zechariah.  She answers the way I think we should all answer things.  "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered.  "May it be to me as you have said."  (Luke 1:38)  Could you imagine what our life would be like if we answered like that?  I am the Lord's servant, such simple words with such a deep commitment.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 31, 32, 33 and Luke 1:39 - 56

Day 79

Well, Numbers 26 was another census basically.  What did I really gather from this chapter, not much.  The one thing I think that stands out with me the most is that there are a whole lot of names that I can not pronounce.

Numbers 27 finally shows some positive light on woman.  Zelophehad's daughters confront Moses about not receiving any land since their father had no sons.  I think this was a very positive thing that happened for them as the Lord came back and gave them land.  To finish off chapter 27 we find out that Moses is soon going to die.  The Lord gives him instructions to transfer his leadership over to Joshua.  Joshua was one of the twelve spies that went into the land and reported what they saw.  Joshua and Caleb were the only two that did lie as to what they saw.

Luke 1 starts out rather interesting to me.  It mentions a person by the name of Theophilus.  From what I can find out nobody really knows who Theophilus really was.  There has been many speculations but nothing definitive.  As for the next portion of our reading we meet John the Baptist father.  Zechariah was an older man and a priest.  His lot was called to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  From what I have been told recently in a church service.  This was some honor and not one that all the priest got to partake in.  If your lot was called you entered into the temple if not you did not.  The only way you got to go in was if your lot was drawn and you were only allowed to do it once in your lifetime, that is if you got the chance.  But for the important part of this section.  While Zechariah was in the temple the angel Gabriel spook to him and told him that he was to have a son.  Zechariah was not only scared by the sight of the angel but shocked from the news he gave him.  Zechariah could not believe the words he was told and as a punishment Gabriel turned him into a mute.  Zechariah was told because he did not have faith that he would not be able to speak until his son was born.  This son was supposed to be named John and that he would be great in the sight of the Lord.  Now, could you imagine what kind of blessing and a curse this could be all at the same instance.  To go into the temple and meet an angel and not have faith in what he said could have ended very badly.  At this time it was a common practice to tie a rope to the priest that went into the temple so that they could be pulled back out if they were struck down.  And then to have the ultimate blessing, to find out that you are going to be a parent.  I really do not know what could be better for anyone in life then to find out that they are going to be a parent, especially one that is to be great in the sight of the Lord.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 28, 29, 30 and Luke 1:21 - 38

Day 78

In Numbers 23 we see Balaam speaking to the Lord for Balak.  Balak is not pleased with what he is hearing from Balaam.  Balak is wanting Balaam to curse the Israelites and Balaam can not do that.   Balak tries once again in a different location to get Balaam to curse the Israelites.  The Lord speaks through Balaam once again and tells Balak that he can neither curse nor bless the Israelites as they are protected by the hand of God.

Numbers 24 is much the same as the previous chapter.

Numbers 25 has the Israelites once again not following the commandments the Lord gave them.  This time 24,00 Israelites die because of their worshiping of other gods.  I just do not understand how they can see all of these people in their community die and still not follow what the Lord has told them to do.

Mark 16, one of the greatest chapters in Mark.  Why?  Well, lets see we first come to find out that the stone has been rolled away and Jesus is no longer in the tomb.  What!  I know right, giant stone rolled away somebody is playing an evil trick.  No, no trick here Jesus did exactly what He said He was going to do.  He rose on the third day.  He visited His disciples one more time before ascending to Heaven  to sit at the right hand of God.  In that last visit with his disciples he told them "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."  (Mark 16:15, 16)  What better instructions could He have given them, I do not think there could have been anything better to say.

One more book completed.  Oh, and guess what?  We get to start the book of Luke just in time for the Christmas season.  I am rather excited for that.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 26, 27 and Luke 1:1 - 20

Day 77

Numbers 20, really Israelites, do you still not have enough faith in the Lord.  I mean every time you grumble in the eyes of the Lord about what He is doing, you get what you want and also have something bad happen to you.  Moses and Aaron create water from a rock which must have been an amazing site.  Could you imagine smacking a rock and having a spring of water shooting out of it.  We also lose Aaron in this chapter.  Aaron is brought to his family because he did not have enough faith.  That is at least the way that I read it.

Numbers 21 talks of many travels that the Israelites made.  Once again they complained to the Lord and many of them died.  If I was them I think I would keep my mouth shut and do nothing but praise the Lord.

Numbers 22 tells a story of a king wanting to stop the Israelites.  He goes to a man that is in the eyes of the Lord and ask him to put a curse on the Israelites.  The Lord comes to this man and tells him that he is to do nothing of the sort.  They ask for him to travel with him, which he refuses.  They can not give up though and they go back to persuade him once again.  This time he travels with them but is instructed to do nothing but what the Lord commands him to do.

The remaining portion of Mark 15 actually ends with the death of Jesus.  I do not see much difference in this reading compared to the other version we read earlier.  The only thing I see is that we do not see a guard placed at the tomb.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 23, 24, 25 and Mark 16

Day 76

Numbers 17 has me all confused.  Is God kicking out the Levites or is He kicking everyone out except the Levites?

Numbers 18 once again talks of the many duties that the Levites are to do at the tent of meeting.  I still wonder why the Levites are responsible for all of this instead of the duties being shared.  It does talk in this chapter of how the Levites will basically be paid.

Numbers 19 talks more about cleansing a unclean person or an unclean tent.

Mark 15 tells us the story of Jesus appearing before Pilate.  Pilate could not find anything wrong with this man and asked who he should release.  The crowd ask for Barrabas who was not a very nice man at all.  Then the crowd began to chant crucify Him.  That must have been one crazy crowd that day.  I think I would have been sick to have participated in that crowd.  And what it must have been like to be that man they pulled off the street to carry Jesus' cross.  I can not begin to imagine what type of burden and blessing this must have been all at the same time.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 20, 21, 22 and Mark 15:26 - 47

Day 75

Well, Numbers 15 deals with more offerings.  It is really starting to seem like there is an offering for everything, even offerings for offerings.  It is getting really confusing in my mind.

Really Israelites,  Numbers 16 tells of the Israelites once again doubting Moses and God.  I am totally shocked that God has not put them all to death by now.  We get a little closer in this chapter as there are several that do not make it through it.  I just can not see how they can see miracle after miracle and still not believe.

The end of Mark 14 tells the story over again of Jesus being questioned and the Peter disowning Jesus.  I do not see much difference in this telling compared to the one we have already read.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 17, 18, 19 and Mark 15:1 - 25

Day 74

Numbers 12 in my opinion shows a small form of jealousy.  Miriam and Aaron have some concern for Moses because of his wife.  The Lord comes down and speaks to them about Moses.  Miriam comes away from this meeting with Leprosy. 

Numbers 13 has Moses sending 12 people into the land of Canaan to explore it.  Reading this chapter made me think of the song I used to sing at children's church.  "Ten were bad and two were good."  Twelve spies are sent in to recover data about this land that they have been promised.  When they return ten of them lie to the crowd and say there is no way they can win if they go in.  Only two of them stand up and say that they will be able to overtake it because they have the hand of God with them.

Numbers 14 tells of Gods punishment on those that doubted him yet again.  I just can not believe the Israelites, they have seen miracles performed before them how many times now.  Over and over God delivers them from one thing or the other.  Only a few are told that they will be able to enter into the promised land.

Mark 14 tells the story of Jesus being arrested.  We have read this story before, with one difference that I noticed.  I am not sure what verses 51 and 52 are all about.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 15, 16 and Mark 14:54 - 72

Day 73

Numbers 9 begins with some questions the Israelites had about the passover.  It appears that some of them wanted to celebrate in worship to the Lord but were unclean.  The Lord gives them permission to become clean and celebrate the following month.  It also tells us what told them to pack up and move or to stay in camp.

Numbers 10 tells us about two silver trumpets that are to be used as a sort of communication.  While reading this I kept thinking of the bugle used in the cavalry many years ago.  They both were used for the same form of purpose, to relay commands to a large crowd of people.

Numbers 11 starts out with the Israelites complaining again.  I am not sure how this is to be taken but it sounds like the Lord sent down fire and consumed some of the people.  I may not be interpreting that correctly though.  Well, this entire chapter is once again about the Israelites complaining.  Can they not find something better to do with their time.  I mean come on Israelites, you have the Lord providing for you around every corner and yet you still complain to Him.  I think this shows us that we should accept what God gives us because He does take care of us and is easily angered when we refuse what he does for us.

Mark 14 tells of the woman who anoints Jesus.  It then begins to tell us the story of the Lord's Supper.  We have read this story before and I am not really seeing any differences in the story other then at the very beginning.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 12, 13, 14 and Mark 14:27 - 53

Day 72

Numbers 7 repeats over and over and over.  I sort of felt like it was a broken record.  We read the same paragraph 12 different times.  One for each of the 12 families, a different family each day.

Numbers 8 is all about how to make the Levites clean for their duties with the tent of meeting.  It also lays out a few guidelines about how long they are allowed to work.  I kind of like their retirement age.  Fifty seems like a good age to retire at, to bad most of us now work well past that age.

The rest of Mark 13 has to deal with the timing of the apocalypse.  Jesus tells us that only the Father knows the date of the final day.  We are to be ready for it at any moment.  In this manner we should live our life at the ready.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 9, 10, 11 and Mark 14:1 - 26

Day 71

Numbers 5 starts out and reminds me a lot of Leviticus.  Once again more with diseases and making atonement.  The remaining portion of this chapter deals with an unfaithful wife.  This portion really throws me.  He curses the women for cheating on her husband but not once is there any form of punishment for the male.  Nor does it talk about if a male cheats on his wife.  I mean does that not happen in this time period, only females cheat?

Numbers 6 is all about the rules regarding the Nazirites.  Some very interesting practices to being a Nazirite.  I am not sure that I fully understand what being a Nazirite means.  I see how to become one and how it can be taken away but I never really read what they received.   Did they have a special purpose, sort of like a monk or was it just a title?  I kind of like the prayer at the ending of this chapter.  "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine up you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)  For some reason I just see that as such a blessing.

Mark 13 gives a very gloomy forecast.  Jesus tells us about the end of ages.  It portrays a very tough time for those that believe in Christ.  Many will come against us and make us suffer.  We are told that we are to remain strong in the Lord and His words will be spoken through us.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 7, 8 and Mark 13:21 - 37

Day 70

Numbers 3 tells us about the clans of the Levites.  It tells what each family was responsible for in the tent of meeting.

In my opinion Numbers 4 is basically a little more in depth version of chapter 3.

The ending of Mark 12 begins with the greatest commandment.  "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  (Mark 12:29,30)  "The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)  The very last portion of this chapter is one I like.  In my mind it shows that Jesus does not care how much offering you give but it is in how you give.  In this story some are putting in an offering to basically show off then the poor women puts in very little but it was all she had.  It shows her putting God first and when we put God first He will take care of us.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 5, 6 and Mark 13:1 - 20

Day 69

Welcome to Numbers chapter 1.  We start out with what reads like a gearing up of war.  They hold a census to count everyone and gather those 20 years old or older to serve in the military.  I am not sure if the  total size of their military was 603,550 or that was the number of people all together.

Numbers 2 basically tells us how they camped around the tent of meeting.

Mark 12 starts out by going straight into a parable.  I believe this parable is sort of a telling of Jesus life.  I see Jesus in this parable creating the vineyard (Earth) and leaving us to take care of it.  Sadly, we do not do a perfect job and try to take it over with out Jesus in the picture.  The next little chunk is once again the pharisees trying to trap Jesus.  This time they are trying to do it in regards to money.  I am not fond of this little bit of reading just because it says we should pay our taxes.  Oh, how I would love to get rid of those.  The last bit of reading we have in Mark 12 for today tells how we will not be married in Heaven.  I can really understand this since in other verses it says we worship all day.  Really would you want to do anything else once you get to Heaven other then worship.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 3, 4 and Mark 12:28 - 44

Day 68

Leviticus 26 begins by telling the Israelites that as long as they follow the Lord's commandments they will be rewarded.  In my opinion this still applies in today's life.  If we do what the Lord ask us to do is He not going to take care of us?  We then learn about what will happen if they do not follow the Lord's commandments.  I for one would strive to follow everything to the letter rather then face the punishment that was laid out before them.  The Lord describes some pretty horrendous stuff as their punishment.  He does show them that there can be light at the end of the tunnel though as long as the confess their sins and the sins of their fathers.

Okay, as for the last chapter in Leviticus I am really not sure what is going on here.  Pretty much all I can see from this chapter is that there is more value placed on a male over a woman.  They were definitely not equals in this time period.

Our remaining reading of Mark 11 explains why he cursed the fig tree.  He was showing us that as long as we have faith in the Lord what we ask for in prayer will happen for us.  What an amazing concept.  All we have to do is have faith and ask.  Could it really get any simpler then that.  Now, do not misunderstand that and think that it may happen that instance.  God really does answer prayer but He does not do it according to our time frame.  He has a master plan for each and every one of us and knows exactly what we need and when we need it.

Well folks, congratulations, one more book of the Bible complete.  That is a total of five books now and we are just barely 2 months into this.  Honestly though I am a little glad to be done with the book of Leviticus.  I found it rather dry most of the time reading about how to perform all of the offerings.  I can only hope Numbers is a better read. 

Tomorrow's reading is:
Numbers 1, 2 and Mark 12:1 - 27

Day 67

In Leviticus 25 we begin to read a little bit about instructions for when they reach the promise land.  We learn that when they reach the promised land they are to plant and sow just as they normally would but only for six years.  On the seventh year they are to let the land rest and are allowed to eat what it produces naturally.  The next portion is on how to sell land and what is to happen to it and how you may get it back.  It also talks about slaves.  Now do not take this the wrong way as I am not in favor of slavery but I can begin to understand the south's point of view and where they could see slavery as a biblical concept.

Mark 11 begins with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  To be honest I do not really understand this little bit of reading besides the fact that it shows the people worshiping Jesus.  Now, this next section about the tree just confuses me.  I am not sure what we are to learn from it.  Is it about showing his power over all things?

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 26, 27 and Mark 11:19 - 33

Day 66

Well, Leviticus 23 deals with a lot more offerings.  These offerings all deal with special feast that were to be held by the Israelites.  As many feast and offerings the Israelites are to perform I am beginning to wonder how any regular work ever gets done.  It sort of makes me feel like it is a many heaven on earth situation.  They worship the Lord all day long, sounds like a great party to me.

Leviticus 24 is one of those rough chapters.  Death once again is the punishment for any person that kills another man or blasphemies the Lord's name.  This must have been a very harsh time.  Everything is taken to the extreme and in a lot of instances I am seeing there is no chance to make retributions.

In are reading of Mark 10 we read Jesus telling His disciples once again about his death and resurrection.  I do not think the disciples are really understanding what He is trying to tell them.  We then find out that James and John put in a special request to sit at Jesus right and left hand at the table in Heaven.  I truly have to wonder if they had any clue what they were asking here or if it was just a bit of greed showing through.  Next we read of Bartimaeus being given sight.  His sight is given to him because he had faith in Jesus.  Jesus can do some amazing things as long as we have faith in Him.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 25 and Mark 11:1 - 18

Day 65

Leviticus 21 is another one of those chapters that just reach out and smack you.  It is pretty blunt I do not know how to elaborate on it any further then what was already written.

Leviticus 22 is another one of those chapters on offerings.  To be honest I am getting a little tired of reading Leviticus.  I have had enough on how to slaughter and animal and sprinkle, chop, and burn it in the correct way.

Mark 10 starts our pretty hard.  Jesus is talking to the pharisees and the question Him about divorce.  Jesus says that if divorce is allowed it is a form of adultery.  Jesus once again then accept the little children.  I love the relationship Jesus shows for all the little children.  We then read the story about the rich man trying to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus tells him that he needs to give all that he has to the poor and follow him and he will be allowed into heaven.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 23, 24 and Mark 10:32 - 52

Day 64

Leviticus 19 is God giving Moses a lot of instructions to give the Israelites.  Some of them are very familiar as they are part of the ten commandments.  One of the verses stands out to me a lot because it is so often used in debates as whether Christians should get tattoos or not.  Considering I would kind of like a tattoo this is not one of my favorite verses.  There are many other laws that we should take note from this chapter that are still very relevant in today's society.

Leviticus 20 is a dangerous chapter for any of us who do not follow the Lords commands.  So often we read in this chapter that for sins we commit we will be put to death.  I am thankful that I live in a time period after Jesus gave his life for my sins.  I know I am not perfect by any means and maybe that punishment would have been a good motivator for me to live a holier life.  Maybe as Christians today we should think that we could be put to death for not living the life he commanded us to.  I am thankful though that we are given a chance to ask and receive forgiveness.

Mark 9 finishes out by Jesus telling the disciples that He is going to die and rise again.  This confuses the disciples and I can see why partially.  It makes me wonder if they have not seen enough miracles to know that if He can raise other people from the dead could he not raise himself.  We then read how we are to welcome in the little children because it is like welcoming Him.  This little section also makes it know to us that we are to be servants.  We then learn that the disciples had stopped a man from doing miracles cause he was not one of the disciples.  Jesus tells them that they should never hinder a person who is doing His work.  To finish up the chapter we are told that we should do nothing to cause a child to sin.  If we do the punishment will be severe.  

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 21, 22 and Mark 10:1 - 31

Day 63

Leviticus 17 teaches us that the Israelites were not to eat anything that had blood left in it.  Of the clean animals they were permitted to eat all of the blood was to be drained from it and basically buried.  We also kind of get a glimpse to the fact that sometimes the Israelites offered sacrifices to other gods.  These gods are referenced here as images of goats.  God wanted to make sure that they understood that all offerings were to be directed to Him and they were required to do them at the tent of meeting.  The image of the god as a goat appears in some other religions and the one I can see the most reference to would be of Greek Mythology.  The Greek god Pan often appeared as part goat and was the god of shepherds and flocks.  I can see why some of the Israelites might have taken to offering things to this particular god, because of what he was supposedly a god of.

Leviticus 18 is a dandy.  We learn a lot about unlawful sexual relations.  This chapter goes into great detail about who and what we are not permitted to have relations with.  I would prefer not to get into a huge commentary on gay relationships but this chapter does contains a verse that confirms that God did not create people to be gay.

Mark 9 begins with three very lucky disciples.  They accompany Jesus up on a high mountain and are blessed with being able to see.  They not only see Jesus before them but also Moses and Elijah.  What a truly amazing site this must have been.  They not only got to see those three but they even heard the voice of God.  We then head back to town were the remaining disciples have been trying to exorcise a demon from a young boy.  They were unable to vanquish this demon and Jesus does it for them.  He tells them that this particular type of demon can only be dealt with by prayer.  I find it interesting that we kind of see a glimpse here that suggest that demons can be cast out by different means.  If there are some that can only be cast out by prayer what are the other methods of casting out a demon?


Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 19, 20 and Mark 9:30 - 50

Day 62

Well, Leviticus 15 is another one of those unclean chapters.  This chapter has to do mainly with men and women being unclean from body fluids.

Chapter 16 of Leviticus explains how the Israelites were to make atonement for their sins.  All I have to say is "I am glad I was not a priest back then."  I would have to have one amazingly thick book with the instructions in it just so I could perform all the tasks correctly.  I would hate to know what happened if you missed a step or did it incorrectly.

Mark 8 ends with yet another story of Jesus spitting on a person to heal him.  This time he is healing a blind man.  Jesus then talks about his death and explains what we must do to follow him into heaven.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 17, 18 and Mark 9:1 - 29

Day 61

 Leviticus 14 tells how the Israelites were to become clean again after an infectious skin disease.  It really seems to be some major process for all sacrifices in this time period.  In my personal opinion I am glad I did not live in this time frame.  Wow, the process for cleansing a house is not much different.  It sounds like there is a lot of work involved in all things cleansing.

Mark 8 begins with the second time Jesus feeds a large crowd.  I find it interesting that each time we read these stories we are only told how many men were present.  It really makes me wonder how many people total were feed during these stories.  We then read about the pharisees testing Jesus again.  I am apparently with the disciples in this last little bit of reading for the today.  I do not know what he is talking about with the yeast in this story.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 15, 16 and Mark 8:22 - 38

Day 60

Leviticus 13, what a chapter.  In my opinion we see the first doctors are priest.  Even though their treatments are not much of a treatment.  I wonder what is to happen to those people that never become clean again.  We also read about mildew on their clothes and the steps taken to determine if it is clean.  Both of these sound a lot alike.

The rest of Mark 7 starts by showing us what makes us clean or unclean.  We then read about a young daughter who is possessed and Jesus cures her.  The next little section is interesting to me.  The process who took to make the deaf and mute man whole again is a little gross.  I am not sure why Jesus needed to spit for this miracle to work.

Way to go folks, we have made it two whole months.  I hope every one is feeling good about what they have been reading.  I also hope that you are taking it to heart and that your life is beginning to change because of what you have read.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 14 and Mark 8:1 - 21

Day 59

 Leviticus 11 tells us the foods that the Israelites were permitted to eat.  Seems to be a large list of clean and unclean animals.  Several creatures that I have never heard of and had to do a few Google searches to find out what they were.  This chapter goes on and to me almost sounds like the only way to live was to be a vegetarian.  To me it almost reads as if every form of meat is detestable.

In Leviticus 12 it does not seem like being a woman is very nice either.  Even after giving birth a woman is unclean and has to make a sacrifice to become clean again.  It really seems like there is a sacrifice for everything in the Old Testament.  I do not believe I could have lived in this time period.  If you did not own animals this must have begun to cost a decent amount of money.  I am not sure how you would have went about getting some of these animals if you did not have livestock.  Nor could I imagine what it would have been like trying to catch two birds to use instead of livestock.

OK, as for the beginning of Mark 7 I am at a loss.  I am not really sure what point he is trying to get across here other then the fact that pharisees are hypocrites.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 13 and Mark 7:14 - 37

Day 58

Well, after reading Leviticus 8 I am not sure I would want to be a priest.  The whole process of things they must do just seems a little gross to me.

Leviticus 9 shows the priest beginning their life as priest.  

Leviticus 10 tells of disappointment from the beginning.  Right from the get go we see Aaron's sons put to death by the Lord.  The Lord quickly shows his authority and that he will not allow wrong to be done. 

The rest of Mark 6 tells the story of the feeding of the 5,000 again.  There are a few variances from this telling to the first one that we read.  We also read about Jesus walking on the water again.  This instance was slightly different from the first version we read as well.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 11, 12 and Mark 7:1 - 13

Day 57

Leviticus chapters 6 and 7 continue with more information about the different offerings and what the priest are suppose to do.

Mark 6 begins with Jesus teaching in his hometown.  The people there show him no honor.  I think it would have been a great honor to say that the king of the people came from my neighborhood.  After that we see Jesus giving instructions to the disciples to go out and teach and heal.  He has given them all authority to drive out demons.  What that must have felt like, I could only imagine.  We then finish our daily reading with the story of the beheading of John the Baptist.  I still find this story to be very discomforting.  I think that is one oath I could have welched on.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 8, 9, 10 and Mark 6:30 - 56

Day 56

Leviticus 3 goes into great detail on how to prepare the animals for sacrifice for the fellowship offering.

Leviticus 4 goes into great detail oh how to offer a sacrifice for a sin.

Leviticus 5 continues with information on the sin offering and then goes into detail about the guilt offering.

The last part of Mark 5 tells the story of a young girl who is very ill.  Her father pleads with Jesus for Him to go and heal her and He agrees.  While on the way to her house another sick woman touches Jesus cloak and is healed by her faith.  When arriving at the young girl's house they find out that she has already passed on.  Jesus tells them that she is only sleeping and the girl immediately gets up and is healthy.  What a truly amazing site this must have been to witness.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 6, 7 and Mark 6:1 - 29

Day 55

Today's reading threw me for a loop.  Never did I expect to just jump into a random Psalm and then to only read one of them.  None the less we are here.  So, Psalm 90, what can we say about this song.  I personally noted a few verses that I can remember from various songs sung at church.  However, I could not read this as a song.  I saw it more as a prayer.  Which when reading the fine print of my Bible I see that it was.  The fine print says "A prayer of Moses the man of God."

Leviticus 1 is instructions on how the Israelites are to prepare their burnt offerings. 

Chapter 2 of Leviticus is how to deal with an offering of Grain.

Mark 5 begins with the story of a man possessed by a legion of demons.  These demons plead with Jesus and it appears that He has compassion for them.  He allows them to leave this man and travel to a nearby heard of pigs.  Now, I am not sure if the promise was not to hurt the man or to not hurt the demons.  Whichever it is the demons leave this man and enter  into a herd of pigs.  The pigs immediately run down the hill and drown themselves in the lake.  I could only imagine what this Shepherd must have felt like when he had to tell his master that his herd is gone what type of angry he must have been.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Leviticus 3, 4, 5 and Mark 5:21 - 43

Day 54

In Exodus 39 the Israelites continue to build the items the Lord had instructed them to.  They build all of the priestly garments, which are the final items to be built.  Once everything is completed they bring it before Moses to be inspected.  Moses approves of everything and then blesses the Israelites.

Moses sets up the tabernacle in Exodus 40 as he is commanded by the Lord.  Everything is put in its place as the Lord had instructed and Aaron and his sons were anointed as priest.  One thing that confused me was towards the end of this chapter were we are told Moses is not allowed to enter the tent of meeting.  I am not sure why he was not allowed.  I do not know if I missed a verse or something somewhere where it is mentioned why he is not allowed to be in the presence of God.

The end of Mark 4 continues with more parables.  These parables contain meanings of the growth of heaven and its people.  I found it interesting that we hear that even after Jesus tells these parables to the masses that he breaks them down for his disciples when they are alone.  The very last portion of this chapter we see the disciples scared and going to Jesus for help.  It amazes me sometimes with all the miracles that they see and yet they still doubt that He will take care of them in times of danger.

Well, congratulations one more book completed.  We have 4 down and 62 remaining.  Does it feel overwhelming at all or has it became such a habit that you do not even think about it anymore?

Tomorrow's reading is:
Psalms 90, Leviticus 1, 2, and Mark 5:1 - 20

Day 53

Chapter 36 of Exodus begins with Moses bringing the workers together to begin building the items that the Lord had instructed.  The Israelites have been bringing the items needed every morning as offerings to the Lord in order to build those items.  It gets to a point where they have brought so much that they have an abundance of material needed to build everything.  That goes to show the power of the Lord and what he can do with a group of people.  The rest of chapter 36 is the building of the tabernacle.

Exodus 37 is the building of the Ark, table, lampstand, and altar of incense.

Exodus 38 continues with the items being built that the Lord commanded.  The altar of burnt offering, basin for washing, and the courtyard.  We also then read an account of all the material used.  I found this little bit rather interesting.  I would not have figured them for keeping track of this type of information.

Mark 4 tells of the parable of the sower.  I think this is an amazing story.  There is such a meaning in this parable and Jesus spells it out for us in plain text.  One area I found interesting was "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.  But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, " 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"  (Mark 4:11, 12)  I think this little portion is very confusing and interesting at the same time.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 39, 40 and Mark 4:21 - 41

Day 52

Exodus 34 has a few interesting tidbits in it.  The Lord tells Moses that He will give him a second chance basically with the stone tablets.  Moses is to carve our two more tablets and bring them up Mount Sinai the following morning.  We then read a few of those rules over again.  Reading them this time around made me wonder, exactly how big were those stone tablets?  I would like to point out one verse that really stood out to me from this chapter.  The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.  Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6, 7)  I really think those verses give an amazing description of our God.

Exodus 35 repeats a lot of what God told Moses.  This time it is Moses telling the Israelites.  The Israelites seem to be moved by what he says and begin to bring offerings to the Lord.

The rest of Mark 3 tells the story of Jesus being possessed by Beelzebub, at least that is what the teachers of the law claimed.  Jesus makes sure to put them in their place with some well spoken words.  It ends by describing who our family is.  Our family is not made up of blood like we consider it but is made up by those who do God's will.  I think that shows a interesting point in the life of Jesus and one that we should consider a little more as we continue our studies in the Bible.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 36, 37, 38 and Mark 4:1 - 20

Day 51

Exodus 31 is a very quick read.  We learn about two craftsman that the Lord has blessed.  We also learn about consequences of working on the sabbath.  At the end of this chapter Moses is given the tablets that are to be put in the ark of covenant.

In Exodus 32 Moses comes down off the mountain to find that the Israelites have begun to worship a golden calf.  Moses becomes angry and throws the tablets that God had given him to the ground where they break.  The golden calf is melted down and then I am a little confused but it read like a huge number of the Israelites were slain.  Moses then goes back up the mountain to try and make an atonement for their sins.

Exodus 33 left me rather confused.  I am not sure what to say about it.

Mark chapter 3 continues with instructions about the sabbath.  Jesus also heals more people and a crowd begins to gather.  Jesus then goes up into the mountain and calls his apostles to him.  The twelve that he appointed were Simon (named Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 34, 35 and Mark 3:20 - 35

Day 50

Exodus 29 talks completely about how to consecrate the tent of meeting, altar and the priest.

Exodus 30 is  a chapter on how to prepare things for a period of atonement.

Mark 2 starts out by telling a story of a paralytic man.  His friends knew where Jesus was at and knew that they would not be able to get through the crowd.  So, they took him to the roof where Jesus was and dug through the roof.  I imagine this took a good bit of work, once through they lowered him to Jesus.  Jesus healed him and forgave his sins.  We then read about the calling of Levi and also have a verse I think it would be wise for all of us to remember.  Jesus said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)   The last little bit of this chapter seems familiar again as if we have read it before.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 31, 32, 33 and Mark 3:1- 19

Day 49

Exodus 27 and 28 continue with some more instructions, a little boring in my opinion.

The rest of Mark 1 continues with several stories we have read already in Matthew.

I apologize for this being such a short post but I am just unsure as to how to talk about these three chapters. The two chapters of Exodus very dry to me and I feel like I have already said all that I could say about the Mark verses when I talked about it in Matthew. Hopefully Mark starts to pick up with some new stuff or I may get a little bored with it.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 29, 30 and Mark 2

Day 48

I apologize, I am a little behind.  I have barely had time to get on a computer the last few days and I am going to try and make up for it tonight.  So, just in case you are following along and I miss a day please do not hesitate to keep reading.  If you need a copy of the schedule, please use the link below.

1 Year Reading Plan

Exodus 25.  Well, I guess I am a little confused.  I am assuming that Moses is still on the mountain, but I do not know for sure.  Anyway, the Lord is still giving instructions to Moses on how the Israelites are to live.  Chapter 25 begins with the types of offerings that are to be brought to the tabernacle.  One of those items had my mind saying "what is that?"  I had no idea what a sea cow was so I had to Google it and this is what I found.  The next little portion we read is on the ark.  The ark reads to be an amazing item and one that would be sought after by people still today.  Some more information on the ark can be found here.  We then learn of a special table that is to be built and I am unaware of its exact purpose.  We then read of a special lampstand that was built out of pure gold.  If I am not mistaken we may know it better as a menorah today.

Exodus 26 is a very descriptive chapter on how to build the tabernacle.  What this might have looked like is pictured below.

Image from A boomer in the Pew blog.

Mark 1 begins with John the Baptist.  We learn a little about John and what he did preaching the good news about Jesus.  We then read of the baptism of Jesus and the temptations he faced after that.  We then see Jesus entering Galilee and calling four of his disciples to him.  I am going to hold off on the next 2 verses till tomorrow's reading.  I feel this book is restating a lot of information that we have already read.  I am sure that it will go further then the previous time or we quickly switch to stuff that we have not read about.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 27, 28 and Mark 1:23 - 45

Day 47

Chapter 23 of Exodus contains more laws to follow.  The first part is laws of justice and mercy.  It contains a lot of rules about how to treat your fellow man and enemy.  It basically tells us that we should be compassionate to everyone around us no matter how much we dislike them.  The next portion really intrigued me.  It talks about the sabbath day and how we are only to work six days a week and to rest on the seventh.  The part I found interesting was the first little bit about working the land for six years and on the seventh year letting the land lie unplowed and unused.  I will admit I am not a farmer by any means but just wonder how this might effect crop growth in those first six years.  We then learn about three festivals that they are to have to worship the Lord.  The Lord gives a few instructions for these festivals.  The last portion of chapter 23 talks about the angel the Lord is going to send before the Israelites.  The Lord basically tells them that he is going to protect them as long as they do not worship other gods or practice their ways.  To me this sounds pretty simple and a no brainer of a situation, but I have a feeling that it will be difficult for them since they seem to be very stubborn.

Exodus 24 tells of the covenant the Lord makes with the Israelites.  After the Lord finishes speaking to the Israelites they make an alter and offer up sacrifices.  The Israelites agreed to all that the Lord had to say.  Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu along with seventy elders then went up the mountain as God had commanded.  Moses continued up to the top of the mountain as God had instructed.  For six days a cloud covered the mountain, finally the Lord spoke to Moses and told him to enter the cloud.  Moses was in the cloud for forty days and forty nights.  I can not fathom what the Israelites must have thought about this time period.  To hear that your leader has entered into a cloud and then the waiting.  You would have to believe that they started to believe that something had happened to him and he was not coming back.

We have come to my favorite chapter of Matthew.  Chapter 28, the greatest part of the crucifixion.  We begin by seeing Mary Magdalene and the other Mary going to see the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest.  An angel comes upon the tomb like a violent earthquake.  He is so bright that the guards are basically scared to death.  The angel then appears to both of the Marys and tells them that Jesus has risen.  Yep, that is right, He has risen.  The best part of the whole book of Matthew right there.  He has risen, nope just can't say it enough.  The joy we have of knowing that we have a God that has defeated death.  The next portion tells how the guards were bribed to make it sound like the disciples came in the night and stole Jesus body.  This confabulated story is mentioned a few times in other chapters of the Bible.  Jesus then meets with the disciples in Galilee and gives them advice that not only they are to follow but we are to follow as well.  Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:18 - 20)

Well, guess what?  That brings us to the end of our third book of the Bible.  Those still reading congratulations.  Tomorrow we will begin reading the book of Mark.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 25, 26 and Mark 1:1 - 22

Day 46

The first part of Exodus 21 is about how you are to treat your servants.  Laws seem to be very specific in the old testament.  The bible seems to leave nothing out.  We learn how we are to serve the Lord, how to take care of our family and even how to take care of our slaves.  I found it interesting that there were different rules for male and female servants.  The last portion of this chapter is about injury.  Seems like death would have happened a lot.

Chapter 22 of Exodus begins with the protection of property.  So many rules about property about land, animals, and other things.  The last portion of this chapter gives some more specific instructions.  I still can not believe how much death was a punishment for.  If death is not the punishment it seems that things are to be paid for several times over.

Matthew 27 continues with the death of Jesus.  As soon as Jesus dies the temple curtain was torn.  The ground shook from an earthquake and tombs were opened.  Several tombs of known holy people  were opened and there occupants walked out.  We finish off this chapter with a disciple by the name of Joseph who took the body of Jesus and prepared him for burial.  A stone was rolled over the tomb.  This was not good enough for the pharisees, they went to Pilate to demand more.  They told him that Jesus planned to rise 3 days later and wanted more security so that the disciples could not steal the body.  Pilate allows them to do this and the tomb is sealed and a guard is posted to make sure.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 23, 24 and Matthew 28

Day 45

In Exodus 19 the Israelites travel to Mount Sinai.  While there Moses continues to talk to God and is given some more instructions.  The Israelites are not to touch the mountain or God will punish them.  During this time the Lord will come upon the mountain so that all my hear his voice.  After the whole group hears the voice of God, He calls Moses to come up to the top of the mountain but nobody else is to touch the mountain.  The Lord tells Moses once again that nobody is to touch the mountain and he is to go down and make sure they know this and then come back with Aaron.

Exodus 20 gives us the ten commandments.  Which are:
1.  you shall have no other gods before me
2.  you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
3.  you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God
4.  remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy
5.  Honor your father and your mother
6.  you shall not murder
7.  you shall not commit adultery
8.  you shall not steal
9.  you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor
10.  you shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife, servants, animals, or anything that belongs to him
We also learn that when they are to build an alter it is to be of stone.  And it must be stone that has been untouched by any tools.  The alter should be natural with no gold or silver.

The last portion of Matthew 27 begins with the soldiers mocking Jesus.  He is put in a scarlet robe and given a staff and a crown of thorns.  He is then put back in his own clothes and sent to Golgotha.  When He is placed on the cross He is insulted over and over.  The soldiers, the crowd, the priest, and even the two robbers that are being crucified beside him insult him.  During a portion of this time it becomes dark and Jesus calls out to his father.  Then shortly after he cries out one more time and with that he gives up his spirit.  Now, I do not want to go into to great depth on this portion as I feel we should all find an understanding of it in our own heart and mind.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 21, 22 and Matthew 27:51 - 66

Day 44

Exodus 16 continues the journey of the Israelites know as the exodus.  The Israelites are beginning to grumble once again and saying that it would be better for them to have stayed in Egypt.  They are having a hard time finding food and felt that it would have been better to stay in Egypt where they had plenty of food.  Now God hears their complaints and tells Moses and Aaron that they will be taken care of.  He gives Moses and Aaron instructions once again to hand out to the masses.  Once again the instructions are very specific.  The Lord tells Moses that He will provide bread of a morning and meat at night and there will be enough for everyone.  Some of the instructions that they were given was that they are to collect no more then they can eat for that day.  If they try and save any for the next day it will become rotten.  On the sixth day is the only day that the rules change.  On the sixth day they are to collect twice as much as they usually do because the seventh day is a day of rest.  No one is to work on the seventh day in observance of the Sabbath.  Now some of the people did not listen to what Moses and Aaron have said and save some for the following day and wake up to spoiled and smelly food.  I am still finding it hard to believe that after all they have seen that they can still doubt Moses and Aaron.  One other fact I found very interesting was that the desert was named sin.  I am not sure if there is any type of significant meaning behind that in this story or not.

Exodus 17 continues once again with the Israelites testing God.  This time they are thirsty and quarrel once again with Moses.  Moses ask why they continue to test the Lord, but once again Moses goes to the Lord.  The Lord once again provides for them by having Moses strike a rock with his staff.  Water springs up from the rock in abundance.  To end chapter 17 we see that the Israelites are confronted with a battle against the Amalekites.  The Amalekites were from Amalek who was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12).  Joshua is sent into battle with a following of the Israelite men while Moses, Aaron and Hur go up to the top of the hill.  Now while Moses holds his hands up the Israelites win but if he puts his hands down the table turns and the Amalekites win.  Moses, Aaron, and Hur come up with a solution to allow Moses to keep his hands up so that the Israelites win the battle. 

Chapter 18 of Exodus we see Moses receiving advise from his father-in-law.  Jethro hears of all the things that Moses is doing and comes to see Moses.  As he observes all that Moses is doing he gives him advice as ways to make improvements.  Moses puts into practice what Jethro has said and it appears that it works.

Matthew 27 begins in kind of a somber manner.  We immediately learn that Jesus has been condemned and will be put to death.  When Judas hears this he is convicted and feels remorse for what he has done.  The priest however do not care and basically tell him that he must deal with his own concerns.  Judas can not handle what he has done and goes out and hangs himself.  Jesus is then handed over to Pilate who basically ask him the same things the priest had asked him.  Now the governor was throwing a feast and it was his custom to release a prisoner during the event.  He asked the crowd who he should release and they all replied to release Barabbas.  Barabbas was a notorious prisoner.  Pilate is then confronted by his wife and she gives him warning that he should not be involved in this man's death.  Pilate ask what he should do with this man called Jesus and the crowd tells him that he should be crucified.  Pilate then washes his hands of Jesus and says that his death will not be on his head.  I think this was a brave move for Pilate and would love to learn how God treated it.  Pilate shows some restraint and does not want to do any damage to Jesus who he finds to be innocent.  The crowd on the other hand do not share his mind set and are the ones that are responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 19, 20 and Matthew 27:27 - 50

Day 43

Exodus 14 continues with some very specific instructions given to the Israelites.  The Lord tells them where they are to set up their camp for the night.  While they are resting the pharaoh and his army catch begin to catch up to them.  The Israelites see pharaoh's army approaching and begin to cry out to Moses.  They begin to say that it would have been better to serve pharaoh then to die in the desert.  Moses is instructed by God to have the people prepare to flee and then he stretches out his hands and the Red Sea begins to part.  The Lord provides a way of escape for the Israelites by allowing them to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground.  Once the Israelites are safe on the other side and pharaoh and his men have entered into the Red Sea, the Lord gives more instructions to Moses.  This time Moses stretches out his arms and the Red Sea closes in on itself killing all of the pharaoh's men.  To me this is when the Israelites really began to listen to Moses.  We get a hint of that in verse 31 "And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant."

Chapter 15 of Exodus is rather confusing to me.  It is basically a song about Moses and Miriam.  Miriam if you do not remember is Moses's sister.  This whole song to me is rather confusing in the simple fact that it does not rhyme or carry any form of structure that I associate with song lyrics.  I tried reading it in several various ways trying to make it flow like a song, no such luck for me.

As we continue in Matthew chapter 26 we visit the garden of Gathsemane.  Jesus has traveled to this place to pray.  Jesus takes three of his disciples further then the rest and ask if they will watch with Him. As he prays they fall asleep.  Not only did they fall asleep once, but they fell asleep three times.  I think this little section shows us a good description of Jesus's human side.  We see that his physical self is nervous about what is about to happen and he in sorts kind of pleads to God.  He knows that there is no changing though and says in verse 42 "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."  As He is speaking to his disciples Judas and a large crowd approach.  Judas kisses Jesus as a sign for the crowd and the crowd then takes Jesus as a captive.  All of the other disciples flee after Jesus says a few words about fulfilling scripture.  Jesus is put before the Sanhedrin and put on trial.  His trial was not fair by any means but He shows a form of humility throughout the whole ordeal.  When they finally accuse Jesus they begin to slap and beat Jesus with their fist.  Let me just say that I am glad that I was not one of them and I can only hope that they found forgiveness later on and repented of their way.  To finish off chapter 26 we read of the three times Peter denies Jesus.  Immediately after that third denial the rooster crows and Peter remembers what Jesus had told him.  Peter goes out and by that I can only imagine that he went outside the city and he wept bitterly.  If I were in his place I don not know if just weeping bitterly would suffice.  I think I would be wailing like a lost sinner that was just recently sent to hell.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 16, 17, 18 and Matthew 27:1 - 26

Day 42

WOW, where to begin.  Exodus 12 has so much in it, I am unsure how to put any words to it.  The Israelites are given some tremendous instructions in this chapter.  The Lord gives Moses and Aaron a list of what is to be done for the passover.  The passover is a period of time that they are to celebrate and follow specific commands so that the firstborn in their household shall be overlooked by the Lords hand.  We then read that the pharaoh finally breaks down and lets the Israelites go.  As the Israelites go they basically plunder the Egyptians as the Egyptians give them gold and silver from their houses so that they will leave.

Chapter 13 is a rather short chapter.  Moses gives the Israelites some instructions about the consecration of the firstborn.  We also learn that the Lord did not send them through to the promise land by the easiest route.  He guides them by day with a giant pillar of dust, my mind pictures this giant tornado that does no damage.  At night they are guided by a pillar of fire.  We also see the oath to Joseph being held.  They take with them Joseph's bones so that he can be buried with his people.

Matthew 26 begins showing us the plot to kill Jesus.  Jesus and the disciples are in Bethany preparing to celebrate the passover.  A woman with a very expensive jar of perfume comes and anoints Jesus.  The disciples are thrown off by this and begin to give this lady some grief.  Jesus rebukes them for what they are doing and uses this chance to teach them a few more things.  We then learn about Judas agreeing to betray Jesus and he does this for thirty pieces of silver.  Jesus knows that a certain disciple is going to betray him and tells his disciples this during what we know as the Lord's supper.  Jesus tells them about his broken body and spilled blood which we refer to as communion.  We then end our reading by learning that Peter is going to deny Jesus three times before the night is over.  Peter tries to defend himself by saying "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." (Matt. 26:35).

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 14, 15 and Matthew 26:36 - 75

Day 41

Exodus 9 continues with more plagues.  The first plague in this chapter is another plague that only effects the Egyptians, it is a plague on livestock.  The next plague was one of boils.  Then came a plague of hail.  This was the worst storm that Egypt had ever seen.  Egyptians were started to believe in the Israelite God but the pharaoh still had a hardened heart.

Exodus 10 has yet more plagues.  The first plague is one of locusts.  The locusts destroy all that is left in Egypt.  You have to begin to wonder how the pharaoh can still not believe.  His heart is hardened for sure.  These chapters are beginning to make me wonder if these plagues are why Egypt is covered by so much sand.  The next plague is one of darkness.  I cannot imagine how dark it must have been for the Egyptians.  Three days with no light what so ever would tend to make a few people a little crazy.

Chapter 11 of Exodus tells us that the Lord is going to through the land of Egypt and every firstborn son will die.  He tells them that their will be no distinctions what so ever.  Pharaoh or slave every firstborn will die.

The last portion of Matthew 25 explains that the good will be separated from the evil.  The good shall receive a eternal home in Heaven while the evil are sent to the devil.  We learn that we should be humble to others, we are to serve others.  While serving these others we are actually serving God.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 12, 13 and Matthew 26:1 - 35

Day 40

In Exodus 7 we begin reading of all the miracles that Moses and Aaron are doing before the pharaoh.  The Lord talks to Moses again at the beginning of this chapter and gives him more advice as to what to say.  We then see the first meeting of Moses and the pharaoh.  Moses directs Aaron to throw down his staff and it becomes a snake.  The pharaoh's magicians are able to do this miracle as well, as to what form of magic they use to do this it is unknown.  I think it is an interesting note to remember that Aaron's snake/staff eats the other snakes.  I am puzzled as to why the Lord is using a snake as the first sign?  I mean I thought the snake was one of the lowest creatures.  The next miracle they do the pharaoh's magicians are capable of doing as well.  Moses has all the waters of Egypt turned to blood.  The stench that must have come from this is unimaginable.  Neither of these miracles were able to persuade the pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  My Bible has a very interesting little side note on this chapter that I would love to post. 

The Egyptian Priests and Their Snakes

     Exodus 7  The Bible frequently records particular events without explaining how they happened.  Exodus 7, for example, reveals that Egyptian magicians mimicked Moses' changing of his staff into a snake "by their secret arts" (v. 11).  This could mean that they employed supernatural power and actually changed staffs into snakes.  The Bible, however does not explicitly state whether or not supernatural agents, either divine (Nu 22:21ff.) or demonic (Dt 18:10 - 11; Job 2:7), were involved.

     The majority of scholars believe that the Egyptians used mere trickery on this occasion.  Throughout the ancient world pagan priests regularly deceived gullible people (e.g., a priest would hide in a large, hollowed-out idol and speak for the god).  so the Egyptians could have used sleight of hand (analogous to modern stage magicians performing tricks with animals).  Evidence also reveals that Egyptians regularly practiced a method of snake charming that allowed them to put snakes into a kind of catalepsy, whereby they would remain as stiff as a rod until awakened.  This trick is still practiced in Egypt today.

     It is helpful to recognize that the purpose of this Biblical text was not to debunk Egyptian magic but to t show that the power of Israel's God was greater than any power Egypt possessed.  When Moses snake swallowed the Egyptians" snakes, the event predicted disaster for the pharaoh.  A representative snake from Israel's God had defeated one of Egypt's national symbols--the serpent--an animal considered sacred in Lower Egypt where Moses' confrontation with the pharaoh was taking place.

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. China: Zondervan, 2005.

The plagues begin in Exodus 8.  The first plague is of frogs, the second plague was of gnats, the third plague was one of flies.  Now the first plague the magicians were able to produce as well.  The second however the magicians could not reproduce and they began to believe that it is from God.  The third plague really shows the power of God and only affects the Egyptians.  Through all of these plagues the pharaoh's heart remains hard.

Matthew 25 begins with a very important parable.  We need to learn from this parable that we are to be ready at all times to meet the Lord.  We do not know when He will be returning.  Since we do not know we are to live a pure life and be ready at all times.  The next parable is about using and increasing what the Lord has given you.  The Lord gives each and every person a talent and we should not hide it.  We should use it and increase what He has given us.  Just to make things interesting here is a little tidbit.  A talent in their time is a form of money, it is worth more then a thousand dollars.  So, just imagine this master gave out over 8,000 dollars to his servants to see what they will do for him.

Tomorrow's reading is:

Exodus 9, 10, 11 and Matthew 25:31 - 46

Day 39

Exodus 4 continues with God speaking to Moses.  Moses continues with his talk about sending someone else because he is not a good speaker.  God tells Moses what he is going to do and shows him some miracles that he will perform in front of the pharaoh.

Exodus 5 begins a series of talks with Moses and the pharaoh.  Pharaoh's heart is definitely hardened.  He not only does not let them go but he increases their workload.  Now not only are they working harder they are getting beaten for not meeting the demands put on them by pharaoh.  Moses then cries out to the Lord as to why He sent him there.  He is not delivering them from their current condition but is making it harder for them.

Exodus 6 is basically another genealogy chapter.

The remaining portion of our Matthew 24 reading continues with the coming of the Son of Man.  We learn that no one will know when it is to happen.  It will come at a time it is least expected.  We are to remain faithful to the final day.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 7, 8 and Matthew 25:1 - 30

Day 38

I apologize for not getting a post up yesterday.  To make up for it I am doing a double posting today.

Exodus 1, its a whole new book.  We begin by learning that Joseph and all his brothers have passed away.  A new pharaoh is in place in Egypt and is not as friendly to Joseph and his family.  He puts them into slavery.  While in slavery their family continues to grow.  The pharaoh does not like this and puts out orders to basically have all males killed when they are born.  Now the maidservants that were in charge of delivering the babies feared God and could not do this.  It must have been nerve wrecking for those women as what punishment might come from the pharaoh.  He does not punish them and I just have to imagine that God is watching over them.

In chapter 2 of Exodus we learn of the birth of Moses.  We learn that he was hidden for three months with his mother but she could not hide him any longer.  She placed her son in a basket and put him in the Nile where he was found by the princess.  She had him taken care of and adopted him as her own son.  Now when Moses was older he ended up killing an Egyptian.  I have never heard about this or the fact that he had ran away.  While he was in hiding he became married and had a son.

In Exodus 3 God speaks to Moses.  He speaks to him through a burning bush.  Could you imagine what it must have been like to see that?  I have seen many things burn in my lifetime but never seen something burn and not be destroyed at the same time.  You can tell Moses is scared when God is giving him instructions.  He even confronts this by saying who am I to do this.  God reveals that he will be with him and give him guidance on what to do to bring his people out of Egypt.

Our Matthew reading is very ominous.  It almost feels as if I am reading from Revelations.  The disciples are asking Jesus how they will know when he returns.  Jesus describes it in details.  A key note that sticks out from these verses is one that we are not to be swayed by false prophets.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 4, 5 ,6 and Matthew 24:29 - 51

Day 37

Wow, Genesis 49 leaves me thinking that I am glad that I am not one of Jacob's sons.  It seems like the only one that got anything from their father's blessing is Joseph.  You have to wonder if it is because of what they did to Joseph when he was younger.  Maybe this is the way that God has chosen to give them what they deserve.  Then we read about Jacob's death and how he wants to be buried with his people.  I think it would be extremely scary to know as much as he appears to know.  He gives his final blessings at the perfect time and then crawls into bed and breaths no more.

Genesis 50 begins with the preparation of Jacob's body and then the burial.  His sons honor his oath and they take him to the cave of Machpelah to be buried with his people.  After the burial they return to Egypt.  The next portion of this chapter we see that Joseph's brothers are scared that he may get revenge on them now that their father is dead.  They appeal to Joseph and he forgives them all for what they did.  Joseph does not see what they did to him as an evil thing at all.  He sees it as God's work.  Joseph kind of reminds me of Job in this instance, since he is able to find faith in God in a good or bad situation.  We end this chapter with the death of Joseph.  We find out that Joseph lived a long and peaceful life with his brothers in Egypt.  He sees many generations pass before he dies. 

The last portion of Matthew 23 has Jesus describing the teachers of the law and pharisees.  Over and over he describes them as hypocrites.  He states that they are only putting on appearances and are unclean on the inside.  He really shows them no compassion at the moment.  He even goes as far as telling them some of the things that they will do in the future.  I think this would be one instance I would not want to be in the presence of Jesus.  He shows some anger here and to be in their sandals or even in that place would scare me to death.

Well, we have officially made it through two entire books of the Bible.  How does it feel?  Feels pretty good for me, it really is becoming a habit to read my Bible every day.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Exodus 1, 2, 3 and Matthew 24:1 - 28

Day 36

Genesis 46 list a genealogical reference of all of Jacob's family that went to live in Egypt.  Joseph gives orders to his family on what they are to tell pharaoh.  He does this so that they will be able to settle in the land as Egyptians despise shepherds.

Genesis 47 begins with Joseph's family coming before pharaoh.  Pharaoh offers them the land that Joseph has shown them and ask if they may take care of his herds as well.  The next portion of 47 continues to tell how Joseph acquired all of the land of Egypt for the pharaoh.  Joseph seems to show some amazing business skills while serving the pharaoh.  At the end of this chapter we see that Jacob is dying and he makes Joseph promise that he will return his body to be buried with his fathers.

Genesis 48 we find that Jacob is close to death and wish to speak with Joseph again.  Joseph brings his two sons with him and Jacob blesses them.  Jacob switches his hands while he blesses Joseph's sons.  I am not sure what exactly this means but it appears to be a bad thing.  Jacob explains that the younger brother will be greater then his older brother.  It seems that we are reading this a lot recently.

Matthew 23:1 - 22 begins a long section of Jesus speaking.  I do not know why buy lately I have been having a hard time interpreting what Jesus is saying.  Some of the things I can see from this reading is that we need to be humble, we should not be afraid to serve, and we should be held by our oaths.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Genesis 49, 50 and Matthew 23:23 - 39

Day 35

Genesis 43 tells a continuing story of the famine.  Once again Joseph is confronted by his brothers because they have ran out of food again.  This time his brothers bring Benjamin along with them much to their father's dislike.  They not only bring the silver they took the first time they double that amount to make sure that Joseph knows they are not trying to cheat him.  Once Joseph sees all of them he sends them to his house where a meal is to be prepared for them.  Joseph's brothers begin to get scared because they think Joseph is going to attack them.  When they find out that they are to eat with Joseph they begin to relax.

In Genesis 44 we have some tables being turned.  Joseph once again has the silver put back into their sacks but this time he adds a silver cup to Benjamin's sack.  He sends his servant after them to return what was taken from his master.  The brothers make an agreement that if anything is found they will be maid a servant.  When the cup is found in the youngest sack they all go back to Egypt to speak with Joseph.  They plead to allow one of them to stay in the place of Benjamin.  Joseph makes no such deal and says that they must leave their brother as his slave.

Genesis 45 has a complete turn around by Joseph.  Joseph can no longer control his emotions and tells his brothers who he is.  They do not believe him to begin with.  They finally believe him and begin to believe what he is saying.  He gives them instructions to return to their father and bring him and all that he has back to Egypt.  They return and tell their father all that they had learned.  Their father believes what he has been told when he sees all that Joseph had sent him.

The first portion of our Matthew 22 reading is giving us a glance into some of what is to come during the time of the resurrection.  The next section gives us the ultimate commandment.  We are to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mine." (Matt. 22:37)    With the last portion of Matthew 22 we see Jesus answer some teachers once again.  Jesus gives them an answer from scripture once again.  After this they determine that Jesus is real and that He is a very wise man, they decide that they should not question him any further.


Tomorrow's reading is:
Genesis 46, 47, 48 and Matthew 23:1 - 22

Day 34

Well, if you are keeping track or looking ahead you will notice we are about done with our second full book.  Honestly, I can not wait.  Genesis has been a very long book for me, it has way to much genealogy for my liking but it does contain several amazing stories.  As soon as we are done with Genesis we will begin reading Exodus, which hopefully has no genealogy at all.

In Genesis 41 the cupbearer finally remembers Joseph and the power of his interpretations.  Pharaoh has had two dreams and calls for all his magicians and wise men in Egypt to interpret the dreams.  None of these men are capable of doing this.  The pharaoh then hears of what Joseph has done and calls for him out of prison.  Joseph is cleaned up and brought before the pharaoh.  The pharaoh then tells Joseph his dreams.  Joseph then interprets the dreams for pharaoh.  One thing I have noticed about Joseph through these stories is how amazingly devoted he has stayed to God.  Even this gift of interpreting dreams he takes no credit for.  After interpreting the pharaoh's dreams Joseph gives him advice on how to prepare for the coming famine.  The pharaoh is pleased with what has come about and decides to put Joseph in charge of his palace.  The last portion of Genesis 41 shows Joseph in charge of all of Egypt.  The land experienced a seven year period of abundance just as Joseph had predicted.  During this time the pharaoh gave Joseph a wife who gave him two sons.  After the seven year abundance a famine began just as was predicted in pharaoh's dream.

Genesis 42 tells a story of a meeting between Joseph and his brothers.  Jacob learns that Egypt has grain and sends ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain for them to eat.  The brothers travel to Egypt and meet Joseph to buy grain.  They do not recognize Joseph as they bow down to him just as he had dreamed.  Joseph makes them believe that he thinks they are spies and puts them in prison.  He then gives them specific instructions to prove that they are not spies.  He holds one of them in prison and loads the rest of them with grain and sends them on their way back to Canaan.  The final part of their instructions is to bring their youngest brother back to him to prove that they are not spies.  They depart from him and travel back to Jacob where they open their grain sacks and find them full and that they still have their money.  They tell Jacob what has happened and he refuses to send his youngest son to Joseph.  This is where we end.  I can not wait for the next chapter to finish reading this story, for some reason this particular story is holding my interest.

The first portion of Matthew 22 tells us a parable which shows a very grim existence in my opinion.  In my mind it prepares Christians for the troubles they will have in trying to bring people to Christ.  It also shows us another instance of Jesus working with those who have sinned rather then those who have already found faith.  The next portion we see the pharisees once again trying to trap Jesus.  Jesus uses simple wording yet again to prove to them what they need to hear.  We learn another lesson here as well.  Jesus says "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." (Matt. 22:21)  This little quote tells us that we are to give to our government what is due them as we are to give to God.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Genesis 43, 44, 45 and Matthew 22:23 - 46

Day 33

Genesis 39 is anther chapter the I like.  Even though Joseph is sold into slavery he still finds faith in God.  God takes care of Joseph while he is Egypt.  Everything he does the Lord is in and he prospers.  Potiphar notices this and decides to put him in charge of all that he has.  Once this was done Potiphar began to prosper as well.  Potiphar's wife on the other hand begins to have other ideas for Joseph and wants to lie with him.  Joseph refuses all of her advances and runs out.  She fabricates a story that she tells Potiphar who then puts Joseph in jail.  While in jail Joseph is still in God's favor and is put in charge of the jail.

Genesis 40 brings two more people into the care of Joseph while he is in prison.  While they are there they each have a dream.  Joseph interprets these dreams.  We find out that the cupbearer will be lifted back up to his position.  The baker however will be put to death.  Now each of these interpretations came to be and Joseph is forgotten.

The rest of Matthew 21 tells a few more stories.  The first one that we read today I do not understand it.  The next story which is of two sons I think has a lot of meaning.  It shows us a sense of repentance.  It shows that we can be wrong and still correct our ways and enter the kingdom of Heaven.  The last part of this chapter I really have no clue what to think.  I am at a lose as to what is actually happening in this parable.

Tomorrow's reading is:
Genesis 41, 42 and Matthew 22:1 - 22