I just got back to my hotel room from a day that I’ll not soon forget. I walked in the dry bed of the brook of Elah where David killed Goliath (I Samuel 17) and I walked in the very wet tunnel that Hezekiah constructed underneath the city of Jerusalem (2 Kings 20:20). I cannot wait to write about the blockbuster lessons that just naturally come to mind when viewing some of the amazing sights we’re seeing. I’m forever changed already. I can’t wait to get to heaven, because seeing what you’ve loved reading about is a powerful faith phenomena!
I know, however, that first I should complete the study for May. On the podcast (…Did I mention this transmitted from the shore of the Sea of Galilee?), I promised this list of verses from the epistles which use the word “doctrine” and, in context, show that doctrinal matters have already been settled or decided. Here’s my list, though yours may vary a bit.
Romans 6:17
Romans 16:17
I Cor. 14:6
I Cor. 14:26
Eph. 4:14
1 Tim. 1:3
1 Tim. 1:10
1 Tim. 4:6
1 Tim. 4:13
1 Tim. 4:16
1 Tim. 5:17
1 Tim. 6:1
1 Tim. 6:3
2 Tim. 3:10
2 Tim. 3:16
2 Tim. 4:2
2 Tim. 4:3
Tit. 1:9
Tit. 2:1
Tit. 2:7
2 Jn 1:9
2 Jn. 1:10
The point, of course, is that, since all doctrinal matters have been settled by the Holy Spirit, the ONLY authority of elders is in areas of judgment. Therefore, it is only natural that all of us will not agree with the judgment of our elders on every matter. That’s the nature of opinions. Authority for action in realms of judgment, biblically then, belongs to the elders. May we strive to hold up the hands of godly elders who are unafraid to lead God’s people in righteous choices. May we raise our sons to be qualified to do take on this daunting and honorable vocation in the body.
Also, we will be choosing winners of the prize package from Month 9 at the close of this month’s study, so don’t forget to enter your paragraph. Directions are in the study.
Diggers are some of the best people in the world! The Word makes good-hearted women great!
For Month 4, question 13, Let’s rephrase the part of the question about the heart of Moses. Let’s notice that God asked Moses to write this song in chapter 31, verses 19-21 and that this song, written by Moses, was to be a testimony against Israel when they would later encounter evils and troubles because of faithlessness and rebellion. Moses was called on to write this even as Moses knew his life was ending in a way that was utterly disappointing, personally, for himself. This song was among the last of the words of God given to the people of Israel through Moses. We know, also from chapter 34, verse 7 that Moses was not weak and sickly when he died. He COULD have lived on to see the promised land, had he not failed to sanctify God at the waters of Meribah (32:51) when the children of Israel clearly had provoked Moses by their rebellion (Numbers 20:10). Now look at Deuteronomy 32: 1-19. Notice that Moses, in these first 19 verses, is talking through inspiration ABOUT God and his disappointment with a rebellious people. (God doesn’t start speaking, in the song, until verse 20.) With all of this in mind, look at chapter 31:24-30 and describe what was in the heart of Moses as he got ready to die. As we describe his heart, let’s be painfully aware that rebellion, on the part of the people was the burden Moses was carrying to his grave. It was the factor that had tempted him to sin at Meribah. It was behind the sin that kept him from entering Canaan. Let’s also be thankfully aware that he was going to a place where all frustration and provocation by a rebellious people was gloriously absent. When we meet Moses next on the mount of transfiguration in Matthew 17, he was talking to the One who is victorious over all enemies who would rebel (Acts 2: 32-36). Finally, notice the words of another song– the joint song of Moses and this victorious Lamb in Revelation 15:3,4. Putting all of these passages together, in your own words, describe how you believe Moses was feeling as he penned the song in Deuteronomy 32. This is a thought question and all of our answers will be different, but we surely get a flavor of his frustration from the words of the song that are contained in verses 16-19 of Deuteronomy 32. 
As I finish posting this list of characterizations of Christ, it occurs to me that each one of these could be the “stuff” of an entire podcast. What an unbelievably rich treatise on Christ and the new covenant is this book of Hebrews!
Once, in an attempt to justify making sinful choices, someone said to me, “God is not a robot.”
Glenn and I were rummaging through items at a yard sale in New England recently when I ran across this Purgatorian Society certificate dated 1932. Someone actually bought this from the Catholic church during the hard days of the great depression with the full belief that membership in this society would benefit him personally as well as be of help to those “poor departed” souls in purgatory. Membership grants this certificate’s owner the right to participate in “the priceless and countless benefits of Eight High Masses offered daily in Redemptorist Churches, for the spiritual and temporal welfare of its members.” As benefactors of the Redemptorist Order, all members of the Purgatorian Society are privileged to share in the prayers and all other good works performed by the Order throughout the World.” This particular certificate was “Given at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help” in Roxbury, Massachusetts, under the “direction of the Redemptorist Fathers”, on July 15th, 1932. It was duly signed by the “Reverend Father Rector” and contained these words at the bottom: “May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”