Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 24 March 2018

Next-to-last Saturday in March.
Tomorrow is celebrated in most Western churches as Palm Sunday, the celebration of Jesus' first Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  I was not around for that.  He'll be doing it again. perhaps soon at that, and perhaps I'll be around to see that.  He gave a promise, and His promises are good.

Today is not-so-little great-nephew's 11th birthday party.  So, we are required to attend.  A big to-do, big turnout expected.  I guess that my background shows:  growing up, we NEVER had such things.  A small cake after dinner, a few (very few) modest (VERY modest) gifts, stuff like a new shirt or pair of socks or something.  These people rent a space at a bounce house or bowling alley or something during winter season, or an outdoor equivalent in warm weather and make A Big Deal over it.  Guess I will never understand.  At least they don't drink (much) during these.



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Deuteronomy 11

1  Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

2  And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

3  And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

4  And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day;

5  And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

6  And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel

7  But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.

8  Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

9  And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10  For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

11  But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

12  A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13  And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14  That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15  And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

17  And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.

18  Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19  And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

20  And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

21  That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

22  For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

23  Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

24  Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26  Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27  A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

28  And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

29  And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

30  Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

31  For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

32  And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

Deuteronomy 12

1  These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

2  Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

3  And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

4  Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.

5  But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

6  And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

7  And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

8  Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9  For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you.

10  But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

11  Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:

12  And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

13  Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

14  But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

15  Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

16  Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

17  Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

18  But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

19  Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth

20  When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

21  If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

22  Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

23  Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

24  Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

25  Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

26  Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose:

27  And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

28  Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.

29  When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31  Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 23 March 2018

Next to last Friday in March.  Fourth day in  Spring, at that.  So we wake to a temperature of around 20°. with considerable variation within that 25 mile radius.  So, we were advised by a friend in central West Virginia that there are areas near her that are expecting  6" - 12" of snow just today!  Some of those roads in West Virginia are scary enough in summer!  With half a foot or more of NEW snow, well, I'm glad we don't have to do that.  The ones in Sevier County, Anderson County, Knox County, and Blount County, Tennessee were "interesting" enough.

Two songs in mind last evening, all night, and this morning.

Beulah Land.    You could play this at my funeral, might be appropriate.

And also, I Shall Not Be Moved.  Some good memories go with this one as well.

Can I get an AMEN! ?

Got some stuff to do the next few days.
Last night, we had a command to drop in at a get-together, a birthday gathering for Wife's brother-in-law.  So we went, nice time.  Glad to get home.
Tomorrow, Wife's nephew's son is having an 11th birthday party.  So we have to go.
And, to prepare for that, we're going we went over to their place right after noon so that Wife and all can decorate cakes and cupcakes and all that stuff, while Yours Truly tries to keep the kids from burning the house down.  Such fun! 
And just home.

And just got word from some friends of some 40 years' standing, that their sister, who'd been moved to hospice less than two weeks ago, passed over 3 days ago.  She'd been living in western Tennessee, a good ways from here, so there'd been no mention in any of the local papers.  Makes for a tough day for the family, and I've been pretty close to that family since around 1974, so I know what's going on.

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Today's Old Testament reading is chapters 9 and 10 of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 9

1  Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,

2  A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!

3  Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee.

4  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.

5  Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6  Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

7  Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord.

8  Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you to have destroyed you.

9  When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:

10  And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

11  And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

12  And the Lord said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

13  Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

14  Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

15  So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

16  And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.

17  And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.

18  And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

19  For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you. But the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also.

20  And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

21  And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

22  And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth–hattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath.

23  Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadesh–barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.

24  Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

25  Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord had said he would destroy you.

26  I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

27  Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:

28  Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.

29  Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

Deuteronomy 10

1  At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.

2  And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

3  And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.

4  And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me

5  And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.

6  And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Moserah: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.

7  From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of waters.

8  At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

9  Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.

10  And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee.

11  And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.

12  And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13  To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

14  Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15  Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

16  Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

17  For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

18  He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

19  Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

20  Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

21  He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

22  Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

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Today, Psalm 60

Psalm 60

 

To the chief Musician upon Shushan–eduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram–naharaim and with Aram–zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.

 

1  O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.

2  Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.

3  Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

4  Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

5  That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.

6  God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

7  Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;

8  Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.

9  Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

10  Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?

11  Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man

12  Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

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And our New Testament reading is chapter 15 in the Gospel of Luke.
This is a much loved passage, it includes the account frequently called the "Prodigal Son".  This has been a sermon and lesson topic for centuries.  I can't compete with that.  I can only say that it is much like my own life, and the lives of many others of us.

Luke 15 

1  Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

2  And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

3  And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

4  What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

8  Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

9  And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

10  Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

11  And he said, A certain man had two sons:

12   And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

13   And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

14  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

15  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

21   And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

22   But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

23  And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

24  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

25  Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

26   And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

28  And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.

29  And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

30  But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

31  And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

32  It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 22 March 2018

Happy Thursday to all.  Today is the third day of Spring.  Definitely not sunshine, butterflies, flowers, flip-flops and shorts.  The nearly half a foot of snow that fell here on Tuesday night (first day of Spring, remember?) and yesterday morning is still here.  The weathercasters' crystal ball says we might get all the way up to 37° today.  Yippee, I guess.  And 36° tomorrow.  Huzzah, and all that stuff.


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Deuteronomy, the final book of the Pentateuch, is in some ways the "swan song" of Moses.  They are about in eyeshot of the Promised Land, the land that the Lord had promised Moses, and the promises to Abraham and Isaac and Israel.  But he, Moses, will not enter in.  Disobedience has consequences.  Even for Moses.
Part of this book is a retelling of the Law, a reinforcing emphasis perhaps.  As we've been reminded, it is often more useful to reinforce what we have already -- supposedly -- learned, rather than to take on new learning.  Probably most teachers and parents would understand this, and we ourselves were no better, and probably still are no better.
But it's also here that Moses reminds the people of where they came from and what the Lord has been doing for them all along.   Both are important.  Remember that it has been some 40 years wandering in the desert.  Before that, several HUNDRED years in the captivity in Egypt.  And, before that, the issues with the sons of Jacob and their less than wonderful treatment of Joseph.  A long history, and just perhaps, perhaps, it hadn't all been fully or accurately passed on to the next generations: they had other things to worry about.  I have known, and still do, people who aren't really sure who their own father was, and I'm not talking only about orphans.  The various genealogy services, the DNA testing operations, are around and making money for a reason.  We still have those same issues.  They also had to deal with plural marriages, which complicates things somewhat.  Moses was telling them, some perhaps hearing it for the first time, or at least first from an authoritative source, their own history without being "massaged" to put the speaker in a good light.  I have (or had, they're pretty much gone now) MUCH older aunts and uncles (but mostly aunts) who were somewhat the family historians and who kept track of the family tree stuff, who were occupying the positions of honor at the annual family reunions.  (a practice that seems to have largely fallen out of favor).  They meant well, surely.  But over time it became evident that their memories and records were not always precisely accurate.  Added to that, my own family, much like the Israelites, tended to re-use given names, so it's not always obvious which "John" or "Steven" or "Elizabeth" is being referenced.  And the Israelites didn't have ready access to inexpensive pens and paper, most of this was kept in verbal memorized records.  Even now, I often want a written diagram to understand who goes where.  With the history, of the Israelites and in my own family history over the last 200 - 350 years, spanning centuries but also oceans and continents and nations now vanished, it gets difficult at best.
It's good to know where you came from.  It's even better to know how the Lord made it all happen, and possible.  It's not accidental. 

By the way, at the risk of getting into (more) trouble, notice something in all of this:
The Lord discriminates.  There.  I said it.
Yes, He distinguishes between the holy and the profane, between the good and the evil, between the Israelites that He chose, and the heathens that He commissions to destroy.

Deuteronomy 7

1  When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2  And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

5  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

6  For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7  The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8  But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9  Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

10  And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

11  Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers

13  And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

14  Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

15  And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

16  And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

17  If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

18  Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

19  The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

20  Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

21  Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

22  And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

23  But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.

24  And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.

25  The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.

26  Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

Deuteronomy 8

1  All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.

2  And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

4  Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

5  Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

6  Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7  For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

8  A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey

9  A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

10  When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

11  Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

12  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

13  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

14  Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

15  Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

16  Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

17  And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

18  But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

19  And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

20  As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

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Psalm 59

To the chief Musician, Al–taschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.

1  Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.

2  Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.

3  For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.

4  They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.

5  Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.

6  They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

7  Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?

8  But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

9  Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.

10  The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies

11  Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

12  For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.

13  Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

14  And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

15  Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.for meat:

16  But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

17  Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

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Luke 14

1  And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

2  And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

3  And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

4  And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

5  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

6  And they could not answer him again to these things.

7  And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

8  When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

9  And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

10  But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

11  For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

12  Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

15  And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

16  Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24  For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

25  And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

29   Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

32  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

34   Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

35  It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.