i've been spending a lot of time in the old testament lately.
and i've fallen in love with it.
i have set my rainbow in the clouds, and
it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. --genesis 9:13
is
anything too hard for the Lord? --genesis 18:14
...for God has been gracious to me and i have ALL I NEED. --genesis 33:11
you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. --genesis 50:19
God said to moses, "
i am who i am." --exodus 3:14a
"who gave man his mouth? who makes him deaf or mute? who gives him sight or makes him blind? is it not i, the Lord? now go; i will help you speak and will teach you what to say." --exodus 4:11-12
"this is what the Lord, the God of the hebrews, says: 'how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?..." --exodus 10:3b
the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. --exodus 14:14the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. --exodus 15:2
then the Lord said to moses..."they have been quick to turn away from what i commanded them and have made themselves an idol..." --exodus 32:8
and the Lord said, "i will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and i will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. i will have mercy on whom i will have mercy, and i will have compassion on whom i will have compassion. but, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." --exodus 33:19-20
"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..." --exodus 34:6-7a
fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offereing and the fat portions on the altar. and
when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown. --leviticus 9:24
'i am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and
be holy, because i am holy...' --leviticus 11:44a
'i will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. i am the Lord your God, who brought you out of egypt so that you would no longer be called slaves to the egyptians;
i broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.' --leviticus 26:13
but the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against moses, and said, "why have you brought us up out of egypt to die in the desert? there is no bread! there is no water! and we detest this miserable food!" then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many israelites died...so moses prayed for the people. the Lord said to moses, "make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can
look at it
and live..." then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. --numbers 21:4b-9
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. does he speak and then not act?
does he promise and not fulfill? i have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and i cannot change it." --numbers 23:19-20
do not add to what i command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that i give you. --deuteronomy 4:2
for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. --deuteronomy 4:24
acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. there is no other. --deuteronomy 4:39
go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. we will listen and obey. --deuteronomy 5:27
fear the Lord your God, serve him only. --deuteronomy 6:13
observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering him. --deuteronomy 8:6
and now, o israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to live him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that i am giving you today for your own good?...for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. he defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing...fear the Lord your God and serve him. hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. he is your praise;
he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. --deuteronomy 10:12-21
fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many... --deuteronomy 11:18-21a
and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in
everything you put your hand to. --deuteronomy 12:18b
do not pervert justice or show partiality. do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land thae Lord your God is giving you. --deuteronomy 16:19-20
you must be blameless before the Lord your God. --deuteronomy 18:13
the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. --deuteronomy 29:29
now choose life...for the Lord is your life... --deuteronomy 30:19b, 20b
and that's just the first few books!
i love that the old testament is full of history, people actually conversing with God, laws, the sin of the people, and deliverance...it's such a beautiful story of the God of creation and his people...it is a constant reminder of the loving, merciful, jealous God that i serve...
