Happy February, Dear Friends. I hope and pray that the start of your year was full of life and excitement as we open the door to everything God has in store for 2019.

If you haven’t participated in INSCRIBE THE WORD, we’d like to welcome you to this Bible Study. We started Inscribe the Word in 2016, and since that time thousands of men, women, and children all over the world are getting closer to Jesus and learning more about His Word through these simple plans. We are so incredibly blessed.

WHAT IS IN STORE FOR 2019?

This year we began a new series here at A Symphony of Praise called “READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR.” This plan is a minimalistic, simple, and efficient way to read the Bible in a year. As I was praying about the direction for Inscribe the Word in 2019, I felt in my heart to go along with the reading plan as we WRITE THE BIBLE in a year. Now before you get nervous - no, we aren’t writing the entire Bible (although that is a dream of mine to accomplish!). We are taking gleanings out of the Scriptures and writing parts of the chapters.

The word glean means to collect bit by bit gradually. We are going to collect some of the key treasures out of the entire collection of sixty-six books of the Bible. It is going to be thrilling and exciting, and I cannot wait to start writing (and reading) the Word with you this year.

GLEANINGS FROM LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, and DEUTERONOMY.

If I polled our readers I would guess that very little of you have read through the last three books of the Pentateuch; Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. After all, these aren’t the books you turn to for comfort. They can be confusing with all of the laws, ceremonies, and rituals. How do they pertain to us today? We are going to discover that together this February.

In January, we started with the first two books of the Bible; Genesis and Exodus. Let me break down the last three books of the Pentateuch.

LEVITICUS

WHO: The first five books of the Bible are called The Pentateuch, and most scholars say Moses wrote them.

WHAT: The book of Leviticus was a guidebook of worship for the Israelites. It was given to Moses by God to serve as a handbook for the Hebrews, the priests, and the Levites.

WHY: After Israel’s dramatic Exodus in Egypt, God camped them at the base of Mount Sinai. The Israelites, you remember, were entrenched in Egyptian life and culture. While they believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they were never taught how to live except what was passed down through the generations. They needed laws and rules and ways to worship the one true God that separated them from the cultures of their day.

WHERE: For two years, the Israelites remained at the base of Mount Sinai. “It was a time of resting, teaching, building, and meeting with him face to face. Redemption in Exodus is the foundation for cleansing, worship, and service in Leviticus.” (Source)

HOW to Read and Inscribe the Book: The book of Leviticus must be read with spiritual eyes. It is a book of worship and includes all of the sacrifices, ceremonies, rituals, instructions, washings, observances, holy days, and warnings. Laws crowd this book, and at times you may be tempted to skim through and skip the Book of Leviticus. I encourage you not to do that.

Read this book and see Jesus; He is pictured throughout the book. Because of Jesus Christ, we no longer live under this law. Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection fulfilled the law. (Matthew 5:17-20) Does this mean that Leviticus is useless to us today? Absolutely not.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 that the Israelites, their lessons, their laws, and their sinful ways are all examples for us. They were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4).

"The overwhelming message of Leviticus is the holiness of God—“You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (19:2). But how can unholy people approach a holy God? The answer—first sin must be dealt with. Thus the opening chapters of Leviticus give detailed instructions for offering sacrifices, which were the active symbols of repentance and obedience. Whether bulls, grain, goats, or sheep, the sacrificial offerings had to be perfect, with no defects or bruises—pictures of the ultimate sacrifice to come, Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Jesus has come and opened the way to God by giving up his life as the final sacrifice in our place. True worship and oneness with God begin as we confess our sin and accept Christ as the only one who can redeem us from sin and help us approach God.” (Source)

TO HELP YOU: To help you along with this Inscribe the Word plan, I include a study guide to walk you through each verse that we are inscribing. I will add some background and spiritual truths to the chapters and verses. You can download this study guide with your Inscribe the Word plan.

NUMBERS

WHO: Moses wrote the book of Numbers.

WHAT: The book of Numbers records the Israelites journeys from the foot of Mount Sinai to the Promised Land, Canaan. Throughout this journey, they grumbled, whined, screamed, cried, complained, and acted like children. They focused on their present condition and consistently turned away from the God who delivered them. The book of Numbers is the tragic story of their unbelief. It is the story of a journey that should have taken less than a month, and turned into forty years.

WHERE: Numbers begins at the base of Mount Sinai. The people had received God’s law and His instructions; It was now time to move. In Numbers 1, a census is taken. The people had received God’s laws and were preparing to move from the base of Mount Sinai.

God was making His people ready to spiritually and physically take the land of their inheritance. Then the complaining started. First, it was the food, then Moses’ authority and leadership. The complaining continued, and the unbelief was great. This time in the wilderness became an endless series of grumbling, defiant behavior, complaints, and eventually death for the generation who left Egypt.

DEUTERONOMY

WHO: Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy except for the last section which was probably written by Joshua.

WHAT: The best summary of the Book of Deuteronomy can be found in the words of great Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee.

“The theme of Deuteronomy may surprise you. The great theme is Love and Obey. You may not have realized that the love of God was mentioned that far back in the Bible, but the word love occurs twenty–two times. The Lord Jesus was not attempting to give something that was brand new when He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy teaches that obedience is man’s response to God’s love. This is not the gospel, but the great principle of it is here. And let’s understand one thing: the Law is good. Although I emphasize and overemphasize the fact that God cannot save us by Law, that does not imply that the Law is not good. Of course, the Law is good. Do you know where the trouble lies? The trouble is with you and me. Therefore God must save us only by His grace.” - J. Vernon McGee

WHY: The adults of the generation who had left Egypt were now dead because of their disobedience and unbelief. The Book of Deuteronomy was given to the new generation that was unfamiliar with the experiences at Mount Sinai. The new generation had arrived on the east bank of the Jordan River, and it was one month before they would enter the Promised Land.

This new generation needed to have a Law interpreted to them and shared with them. After 38 years of wandering in the wilderness, new problems had arisen, the sins of their fathers were evident, and they needed a law to cover this specific period in the lives of this generation.

Thus ends the Pentateuch. I have to be honest, my friends, I got to the end of Deuteronomy and cried. I had never read through or studied out these three books and when I read them in succession, my heart was overcome. I know that these passages may be difficult to understand, and at a glance may seem irrelevant to Christians today. I would encourage you to pick up a study Bible to help you through some of these passages. They are a treasure to all willing to seek it out. I recommend the Life Application Study Bible. You can also look online at Bible Study Tools. Go to their commentaries section, and you will find a wealth of knowledge.

I hope and pray that as we Inscribe Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you see the beauty, grace, and mercy of Jesus. No longer are we bound to the law. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He fulfilled the law, and through His grace, we are saved.

I pray through this study, you are blessed!
With All My Heart,
E R I K A M I C H E L L E

Inscribe the Word - February Scripture Writing Plan