The Missing Link_Post One

The Missing Link has begun! (A month long course by YWAM Ozarks, Arkansas, using the Inductive Study Method reading through and studying the Old Testament.) So it's time to dive into the Old Testament, buckaroos!

21^{st of April}
It began last night with a foreboding sign being posted on the classroom door, warning that any Non-Levite or un-chosen who entered would be put to death! The shades on the windows were closed to keep out preying eyes as the room setup was underway.This morning we waited outside at the appointed time wondering what lie behind those closed doors. Finally they were opened and we were allowed to enter. The sound of Middle Eastern music met our ears and our teachers strolled about in Middle Eastern garb. Tents were erected around a pile of wood ready to be set aflame, evidence of a group on the move. Maybe that would be us soon! - on an imaginative, learning and growing journey.
We sat and were given name-tags with an Israelite tribal name on it specifying our reading group. I was apart of Ephraim!

Class commenced and floods of the wonderful wisdom of the Word of God entered our minds.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16

Ever think about it and realize that when that was written all they had was the Old Testament? The New Testament was still being made. I am starting to think the Old Testament wasn't something Old and outdated, but the foundation for the fulfillment of a great plan.

I paraphrase Charles Spurgeon – “For every ten men willing to die for the Truth of the Bible I find only one willing to read it.”Ouch! Yeah, reading it wasn't always my strong point either. But we get to read it now. Oh boy, do we get to read it now! And together in groups as well! The more senses we can engage, seeing and hearing, the more we will likely retain.

“Pass the bread and herbs please!” Yum!

Observe what it says, Interpret what it means, then after that, Apply it to you. That's the Inductive Study Method.

Remember it was written to an audience with a different culture and perspective than you. Try to look at it through their eyes.

I had a feeling we were about to embark on an exciting adventure of which God proves again and again that He is the Hero.

22^ndIn the Beginning!God created the heavens and the earth... Gen 1:1
A lot of times we want to know how it all happened, but the original people who way back then, sat around their fires when there was no internet, no TV, no books. They wanted to hear a story, one telling why the universe was there, why they were there. They wanted to understand, in the mist of a world with many crazy stories, why things were the way they were and what bigger story was taking place.

If we go to the Word of God trying to answer Our questions, we can come away with some dangerous ideas and beliefs. We could use the Bible to argue just about any point we wanted if we cut it up right. But instead of reading into the Word of God what we want to hear, let us let the Word of God read us and show us His reality and where we stand in it.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country...” Gen 12:1God created the world. Man fell away from God. The flood destroys most of mankind. We are preserved through a righteous Noah. People are spread over the face of the earth from Babel.

God calls a man into a redemption plan, to be blessed, and to bless the world.God saves the world through a man named Joseph. God has a plan of redeeming us.

23^rdExodus! - ...I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Ex 9:16God wars against the gods of Egypt and rescues His people Israel, sweeping them out into the wilderness to teach them to live as a kingdom of priest and a holy nation.

Reading is going great!.......but wow those measurements and instructions about building the Tabernacle can be hard to read and understand at times... However...
It's God wanting to dwell among men again! That's how He does it! God has us build him house. A house that had a few resemblances to the Garden of Eden, and more so to the Heavenly City to come

We gathered barrels (to mark the size of the outer courtyard), poles (size of tabernacle), an old sink (basin for washing), a muffler?! (altar of incense), a box (ark), a truck (altar), stuffed cows (sacrifices), and other stuff that laid around the work shed, took our tape measures and laid out the tabernacle. Wow,that's pretty big!

Our makeshift tabernacle layout. There is so much hands on stuff  we get to do! It's so exciting!

Careful don't go into a place you aren't allowed or you might get struck down! God is a holy God, who wants to dwell with unholy men in order to make them holy.

24thLeviticus!Had a great morning, learning about Jesus in Leviticus. You could say that the Leviticus is the Gospel in the Old Testament. Of course the Gospel is the whole Word of God, but Leviticus is packed with deep and wonderful truths and symbolism.

Jesus forgave sins! To the Jew who had to go through a ceremony of taking a lamp to the priest at the Tabernacle, meant that Jesus was saying He was Priest, Lamb and Tabernacle all in one in His person-hood.

So what is holiness? It's being set apart, but way more than that. If you think about it, what was the most unholy thing?It was something that was dead.So what would be the most holy thing? Being fully ALIVE! Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the fullest! In other words, He came that we may be holy.It's easy to picture holiness as something lofty and out of reach to us. We use the phrase, 'don't be a holy roller' to refer to people we view as religious stuck-ups. But Holiness is not being set apart 'from' the world, but set apart 'for' the world.Abraham, and also we ourselves, as followers of Jesus, are called to be blessed to be a blessing to the nations.In order to do that, we need to be made fully ALIVE!

25th
Numbers! - The Making of a Nation. Moses intercedes again and again for Israel when they rebel. God is very merciful, yet sin is not tolerated.The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation. Num. 14:18

40 years Israel wandered around in the wilderness because they didn't trust God to give them the promised land.

(Ok, reading team, time to move to the next reading location. Over there by the shed.)

We set up our booths that evening for the Feast of Booths that we would have around the campfire.

Oh, I longed to have something more than manna (bread in a Walmart bag) that we were eating during the reading part of the day.

The probably didn't have tarps back then. Oh well.

God is a God of celebration! If He wasn't, He wouldn't have instituted so many feasts for the people to keep!

28th
Deuteronomy! - God renews his covenant with the next generation of Israelites before they enter the Promise Land.
We stood outside in two groups with the wind blowing in our hair. Each group had a loud speaker and from across the yard, we proclaimed to each other, the blessings and curses that God had for Israel; blessings if they obeyed and curses if they didn't.
Moses makes one last speech.
In reading through Deuteronomy we see a lot of references to the sojourner, the widow and orphan. God really has a heart for them!

And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.
I got shivers when I read this verse. I said to myself, "Oh I wish I could be like that."
I could be. I can know God face to face. I can have His heart for the widow and orphan and foreigner.
I can be zealous for righteousness and holiness and one who has a deep intimate relationship with God.
Take me into the Promise Land with you, God!!!