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MARCH 8
sell whatever you have and give to the poor, among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
and you will have treasure in heaven; and 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With
come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” men it is impossible, but not with God; for
22 But he was sad at this word, and went with God all things are possible.”
away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His have left all and followed You.”
disciples, “How hard it is for those who have 29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I
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riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the say to you, there is no one who has left house
disciples were astonished at His words. But or brothers or sisters or father or mother or
Jesus answered again and said to them, “Chil- wife or children or lands, for My sake and the
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dren, how hard it is for those who trust in rich- gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold
es to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier now in this time—houses and brothers and
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for a camel to go through the eye of a needle sisters and mothers and children and lands,
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of with persecutions—and in the age to come,
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God.” eternal life. But many who are first will be
26 And they were greatly astonished, saying last, and the last first.”
DAY 7: Is salvation harder for those who have riches?
Watching the rich young ruler walk away sorrowful in Mark 7:23, Jesus said,“How hard it is for
those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”“Hard”in this context means impossible (see v.
25).“Riches”tend to breed self-sufficiency and a false sense of security,leading those who have them
to imagine they do not need divine resources (see Luke 16:13;contra.Luke 19:2;see 1 Tim.6:9,17,18).
Jesus adds that it is “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”(v. 25).The Persians
expressed impossibility by saying it would be easier to put an elephant through the eye of a nee-
dle. This was a Jewish colloquial adaptation of that expression denoting impossibility (the largest
animal in Palestine was a camel).Many improbable interpretations have arisen that attempt to soft-
en this phrase, but Jesus’use of this illustration was to explicitly say that salvation by human effort
is impossible—it is wholly by God’s grace.
The Jews believed that with alms a man purchased salvation (as recorded in the Talmud), so
the more wealth one had, the more alms he could give, the more sacrifices and offerings he could
offer, thus purchasing redemption.The disciples’ question,“Who then can be saved?”(v. 26), makes
it clear that they understood what Jesus meant—that not even the rich could buy salvation. Jesus’
emphatic teaching that even the rich could not be saved by their own efforts left the bewildered
disciples wondering what chance the poor stood.“With men it is impossible, but not with God,”
Jesus added (v. 27). It is impossible for anyone to be saved by his own efforts, since salvation is
entirely a gracious, sovereign work of God.

3 So Moses sent them from the Wilderness
MARCH 8 of Paran according to the command of the
LORD, all of them men who were heads of the
children of Israel. Now these were their
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Numbers 13:1–14:45
names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon,
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13 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Ju-
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which I am giving to the children of Israel; dah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the
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from each tribe of their fathers you shall send tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from
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a man, every one a leader among them.” the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;
from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of
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Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel
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the son of Sodi; from the tribe of Joseph, that
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13:1 the LORD spoke to Moses. According to is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son
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Deuteronomy 1:22,23, the people had first of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the
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requested the spies be sent out after Moses son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher,
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challenged them to take the land. Here, the Sethur the son of Michael; from the tribe of
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Lord affirmed the peoples’ desire and com- Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; from the
manded Moses to send them. tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
These are the names of the men whom
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