The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible

Verse 17 says God caused the nations around Israel to fear David; apparently God can create emotions, not just in His kids but even in His enemies.

God calls for three different censuses.

He protects female virgins by threatening several years’ wages from the men who take advantage of them. This isn’t referring to rape; Deuteronomy 22:25 says the penalty for rape is death. This law refers to seduction that leads to consensual sex.

Psalm 10 implies God is distant and hiding Himself, because the wicked are prospering while oppressing the poor and mocking God.

Prolonged trials will always lead to despair and sin if we fail to trust God.

Mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don’t deserve.

Abraham is called to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, not to sacrifice him;

We also learn that King Og was a Rephaite—a giant, perhaps of demonic origin—and Israel defeated him. He had a bed that was thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide, and it was made of iron because apparently, that was the only thing strong enough to hold him.

Hail is the first plague where human lives are threatened.