For the first time, the nation Israel became more than passive participants in the events orchestrated by God and Moses. They would provide the materials and the labor to make a way for God to dwell in their midst.

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The month preceding the fall feasts is an excellent time to reflect over the past year and think about what you want to accomplish in the next. In this, 2 Peter has a helpful progressive list of character traits that lead to Godliness.

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In the Parable of the Weeds, Y'shua warns that false believers will enter the church and will persecute the faithful. He says that those 'weeds' will not be plucked up until the final harvest and that His people are called to endure in the face of that persecution - even to the point of death.

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Philip's ministry in Samaria and his conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch. The conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus.

Jacob and Rebecca conspired to steal the blessing meant for Esau. In doing this, they delayed for a generation the division of the blessing. That division occurs when Jacob blesses his own sons.

The development of liturgy has a mixed relationship to human liberty. On the one hand it empowers a religious bureaucracy which can become coercive. On the other, it provides schedule and ritual to keep people mindful of God.

The Mishkan (Tabernacle) is relational. It was built so that God could safely dwell in the camp of Israel.

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In Parsha Shoftim Moses describes the duties of and limitations on judges, officers and kings. In this he makes it clear that, except for a king who is chosen by God, they are to be appointed by Israel. He also makes it clear that their first priority is to act according to the Torah and that they must not regard themselves as somehow 'better' than their brothers. Reading this passage along side of the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution, it is very clear where the founding fathers got the design for the Federal Government.

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The Parable of the Sower is the first of the Kingdom Parables. It correlates with Paul's letter to the Ephesians and the Revelation letter to the church at Ephesus. The parable describes the human heart's ability to accept the Word of God and be fruitful. The causes of an infertile heart are Satan, society and self. Each works differently, but the result is the same - a lack of fruit.

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When Stephen is falsely accused of blasphemy he defends himself before the council in Jerusalem. The record of his testimony provides compelling evidence of the accuracy of the Book of Acts.