Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 17 March 2018

Happy Saturday to all.
Another day closer to half-decent weather, which will be the case for too short a time.  Oh, well.  24° here right now, but supposed to hit 44 later.  Then 24° tonight.  Up & down.  But 11 hours 59 minutes of "day", far better than, I think, the 9 hours 10 minutes that we had back in December.  Going in the right direction at least, and picking up another 2 minutes 46 seconds by tomorrow.
I watch temperatures as only someone who loathes NE Ohio winters does.  Probably is mildly amusing to those who don't mind it.  Friend of my sister-in-law has a son off to college who has "drunk the Kool-Ade" on the whole "glow-bull warming" fraud.  As someone who spent 30 years or so trying to do some data-based analyses, often with measurement systems less than reliable, I remain unconvinced.  There is a weather forecasting/info site called "wunderground.com", which allows you to specify a location, and shows current and predicted future conditions for the day and the next 10 days.  They have quite a network of weather reporting stations.  Just in my area, there are about 20 such stations within about a 25-mile radius.  Right now, in that zone, I see a range from a low of 17.6° to a high of 27.3°.  In a 25-mile radius!  With that much variation in a limited area, who knows the "real" temperature of the earth?  No one, and it's a ridiculous concept.  We know that we don't have glaciers a mile thick on top of us, as some tell us was once the case right here.   We also know very well that snow and sub-zero temperatures are also not unknown in this area, having experienced both this winter.  But the "warmists" would draw attention to that 27.3° reading and use it, and it alone, to "prove" the case for "warming".  By the way, that 27.3 reading was taken near our church, in an neighborhood near "Hells Corners".  No comment.
-- end of rant --

One of the issues I've been dwelling on is prayer.  How often do we hear or see or seek promises of prayer for others, often quite automatically and vaguely?  How often are those words carried through?  I am guilty on this, perhaps I am not alone in that.  Another thing to change, and now.  I believe fully that the fervent prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  Just saying you'll pray for someone isn't.
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It is good to remember what the Lord has done for us and how He has brought us to where we are.

Numbers 33

1  These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

2  And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

3  And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

4  For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among them: upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

5  And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

6  And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

7  And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pi–hahiroth, which is before Baal–zephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

8  And they departed from before Pi–hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

9  And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

10  And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.

11  And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

12  And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

13  And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

14  And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

15  And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.

16  And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth–hattaavah.Kibroth–hattaavah

17  And they departed from Kibroth–hattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.

18  And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.

19  And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon–perez.

20  And they departed from Rimmon–perez, and pitched in Libnah.

21  And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah.

22  And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.

23  And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.

24  And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.

25  And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.

26  And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.

27  And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.

28  And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.

29  And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.

30  And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.

31  And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene–jaakan.

32  And they removed from Bene–jaakan, and encamped at Hor–haggiggad.

33  And they went from Hor–haggiggad, and pitched in Jotbathah.

34  And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.

35  And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion–geber.

36  And they removed from Ezion–geber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

37  And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

38  And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.

39  And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

40  And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

41  And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.

42  And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.

43  And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.

44  And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Iye–abarim, in the border of Moab.Iye–abarim

45  And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon–gad.

46  And they removed from Dibon–gad, and encamped in Almon–diblathaim.

47  And they removed from Almon–diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

48  And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

49  And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth–jeshimoth even unto Abel–shittim in the plains of Moab.Abel–shittim

50  And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

51  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

52  Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

53  And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

54  And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

55  But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

56  Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

Numbers 34

1  And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2  Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:)

3  Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward:

4  And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadesh–barnea, and shall go on to Hazar–addar, and pass on to Azmon:

5  And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.

6  And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.

7  And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:

8  From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:

9  And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar–enan: this shall be your north border.

10  And ye shall point out your east border from Hazar–enan to Shepham:

11  And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:side of the sea: Heb. shoulder of the sea

12  And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.

13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:

14  For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance:

15  The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.

16  And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

17  These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

18  And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.

19  And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

20  And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.

21  Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

22  And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.

23  The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

24  And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

25  And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

26  And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

27  And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

28  And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.

29  These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.