The Walker's Diary for: Monday Jun 24, 2019
Acts 7:17-42
2 Chronicles 24:18-21
Psalm 67
Acts 7:17-42
"As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. [18] Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. [19] He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
[20] "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. [21] When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. [22] Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
[23] "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. [24] He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. [25] Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. [26] The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?'
[27] "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? [28] Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' [29] When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
[30] "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. [31] When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: [32] 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
[33] "Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. [34] I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.'
[35] "This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. [36] He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert.
[37] "This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' [38] He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
[39] "But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. [40] They told Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt--we don't know what has happened to him!' [41] That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. [42] But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
" 'Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
2 Chron. 24:18-21
They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God's anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. [19] Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
[20] Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the Lord's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.' "
[21] But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord's temple.
Psalm 67:1-7
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us,
Selah
[2] that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
[3] May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
[4] May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
Selah
[5] May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
[6] Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
[7] God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
