The Heart of Faith

In the travel industry, recce tours are standard. Tour operators do not want surprises and shocks, and so they send a team ahead to check the places of interest and work out the logistics before they offer it as a package to their clients.  This way, they can plan the time effectively and avoid unexpected pitfalls.  But in the case of the Israelites journey to the Promised Land, they did not need one.  The Lord knew that they had not passed that way before, and so the Lord Himself went before them, leading the way.  The Lord had already told them that it was a land flowing with milk and honey.  There was nothing for the people to find out about their destination before getting there. The Lord had it al...

The Power of the Tongue

When I was a child, every Christian home had a wall hanging which said: 'Christ is the Head of this House. The Unseen Guest at every meal. The Silent Listener to every conversation.' After some years, it disappeared from homes, I know not for what reason, but I believe it has a point.  It means that our everyday activities like eating and talking matter to Christ! People are often not thankful for the food on the table or the hands that made them, just like the Israelites, and are too quick to say nasty things.  If we realize that Christ is there with us, I am sure we will be on the best behavior for no one misbehaves in front of a guest!

Disturbed by the bad report brought by th...

Ungrateful Hearts!

The book of Numbers depicts the failure of the people of God.  No wonder this book is called the book of murmurings. As the book of Numbers opens, we see the beautiful plan of God in action.  God had brought the people of God out of the land of Egypt and had transformed them into a nation!  God gave them laws and provided for sinful men to meet God by establishing the system of sacrifices.  More than anything, God Himself dwelt among them to guide them into the promised land.  The Lord was ready to drive out those nations so that Israel can inherit the land of their destiny!  After the Garden of Eden, I believe this is indeed a sorrowful moment in the history of Israel.  It is just...

Reflecting on Leviticus

Coming to the end of Leviticus, I sat reflecting on what God was trying to teach me through this book.  There are lessons on sacrifice, worship, the priesthood, ceremonial cleanness, the Day of Atonement, feasts and holy days, and the Year of Jubilee.  But the main focus of this book is holiness.  "For I am the Lord your God. You shall, therefore, consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy" (Lev 11:44).  The other practical laws for everyday life, the sacrifices, and other instructions have this one principle as their foundation- holiness. God is holy, and He wants us to be holy, sanctified, and set apart.  Commentators say that the word "holy" is found 95 times in Leviticus. Holy thin...

The perpetual fire

In the book of Leviticus, I came across one instruction regarding the Altar that caught my attention.  Leviticus 6:13 says, "A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out …."  The Lord instructs the priests to keep the fire burning five times in this paragraph.   That means even when they were wandering in the wilderness, they had to keep the fire burning.  It means even when the Levites were carrying the Altar, the fire had to be tended constantly and kept burning.  If it was such a necessary instruction, then I thought I must try to understand what  God meant by it.  My NKJV Study Bible gives three reasons for this. Firstly, the original fir...

Faith and Action!

When we think of the book of Genesis, what comes to our mind is the fall.  But the book of Exodus is a book of deliverance! We read about two rescue events, one is the Passover, and the other is crossing the Red Sea.  Both the events are part of the story of the redemption of the Israelites from bondage, but they are a little different from each other.  During the Passover deliverance, the people of Israel were passive onlookers.  The Israelites painted their doorposts, ate the meal, but they were waiting for God to move.  But the crossing of the Red Sea took their faith one step further.  Here the people of Israel had to participate actively.  It required obedience and a deliberate...

Boxed-in!

The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is one of the most remarkable incidences recorded in the Bible.  It portrays the power of God, the plan of God, and the path ordained by God for His chosen people.  God has a plan and purpose for each of us, and God is constantly leading us in that direction.  Sometimes our life is filled with trials and tears; sometimes, with problems and pain;  sometimes, with sadness and sickness.  We want to ask God why He has allowed it in our life. We have many unanswered questions in our hearts.   The Bible teaches an important lesson, vital for our life on earth.  The God of the Bible is all-powerful, all-knowing, and is present everywhere! &...

El Bethel

After the peaceful encounter with Esau, Jacob seems to have forgotten God's command.  While Jacob was in Laban's house, God said, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family…" (Gen 31:3).  Succoth and Shechem were not part of God's plan.  Esau offered to lead Jacob back to their father's place, but Jacob refused and turned to Succoth. He had been living in tents until now, but in Succoth, Jacob built himself a house!  What motivated Jacob to move out of Succoth, we do not know, but when he finally moved into Canaan, he bought a plot of land and pitched his tent in front of Shechem, a Canaanite city.  Isaac, Jacob's father, lived in Kirjath Arba, that is Hebron (Gen 35:27)....

In the Shelter of the Most High!

The Coronavirus has forced us to walk on our terrace, where we have a garden.  We thank God for it because it is quite pleasant to walk among our trees on the terrace and the trees from our neighbor's garden!  We have a Moringa tree on our terrace.  It is a high-yielding tree.  As you may know, the Moringa trunk is of a fragile type. It cannot stand strong winds.  But our tree on our terrace has survived many cyclones over the years. Not even a single branch has been broken in all these years!  There is a secret behind it!  A huge Neem tree is leaning into our front yard from our neighbor's house, and it has spread its branches all around.  The Moringa tree is standing in...

Mahanaim

Mahanaim is said to be near Jabbok, beyond the Jordan River. In Hebrew, it means two camps. Jacob had just left the house of Laban, his father-in-law, where he had lived for twenty years.  Jacob was going back to his father's place in obedience to God, who said, "Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee" (Gen 31:3). He was traveling with his wives, children, servants, and all his wealth turned into cattle.  His road leads him close to the country of Esau. Jacob was no soldier, and he was naturally terrified to meet his brother. I am sure Jacob's heart was troubled as he plodded along with his defenseless company of women and children trailing behind him.  The ange...