Seduction of the Moabite Women – Numbers 25 – 26

Well in our continuing saga, the king couldn’t get Balaam to curse the Israelites, so there was another plan: send in the women to seduce the Israelites and have them curse themselves.

If you know anything about the strong will and self-control of the people of Israel to this point, you can probably guess that they fell for it hook, line & sinker. And, God’s anger blazed against them.

Many had to die because of it, about 24,000. And the passionate zeal of Phinehas, who executed one Isrealite man and a Midianite woman because of their blatant disobedience in the face of God, is what God identified as turning away His anger.

It got me thinking about my own passionate zeal. What do I do to remain clean before God? We no longer have rituals and sacrifice, but we do have confession and repentance. What about the sin I see in others? I’m not recommending we pick up a spear and skewer those we see caught in obvious sin, but is God telling us to confront with the sword of Truth (the Bible)?

Particularly in the area of sexual sin – I know many people who struggle. It’s obvious in some cases – and no one says anything. Yet this is one of the most dangerous battlegrounds for Christian man. Matthew Henry said of lust, “None are more fatally bewitched than those that are bewitched by their own lusts.” This story alone tells of a few men gone bad that ended up costing the nation of Israel 24,000 lives.

Today’s reading is a reminder how important it is to strive to obey God’s commands, and to have those in my life who I can encourage (and they me) to keep my eyes on God every day. Our passion for Christ will demonstrate our love for others and how they’re doing. In turn, they can prompt us on to good deeds as well.

peace,
e

Lessons from a talking donkey – Numbers 22-25

If you’ve never read the story of Balaam and his donkey, you need to check it out. It’s a fascinating story of consequences of disobedience, done like a Disney animated feature film (complete with a talking donkey). You’ll find it in the Old Testament in the book of Numbers, chapters 22-25.

I guess what hits me when I read this story is how Balaam, out of his greed, disobeys God, but in the end God is able to accomplish what He wanted, but to an even greater degree.

What I mean is, God did not give Balaam permission to go with King Balak’s men. Balaam, however, entertained the thought of all that reward and each time asked the king’s delegation to stay overnight while he “consults God about it” one more time (notice verse 19).

15 Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time. 16 They went to Balaam and gave him this message: “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming. 17 I will pay you well and do anything you ask of me. Just come and curse these people for me!” 18 But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak were to give me a palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the LORD my God. 19 But stay here one more night to see if the LORD has anything else to say to me.”

Balaam knew God did not want him to go because God told him very clearly he was not to. When the king sent even more dignitaries (read: more reward), it was just too much. So, God tells Balaam he can go:

22:20 That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But be sure to do only what I tell you to do.”

How do I come to the conclusion that God didn’t want him to go? Look at the very next verse:

22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

If you’re familiar with this story, you probably know the rest. After the little Disney mini-episode with the talking donkey, Balaam goes with the king’s delegation with the disclaimer that he is powerless to say anything other than what God tells him to.

The king expects Balaam to curse the nation of Israel so he’d have a better chance of defeating them. Instead, God tells Balaam to bless them – right in front of the king – not once, but three times! What’s more, Balaam prophesies the destruction of the Moabites and the Kenites.

If Balaam had initially obeyed God and stayed home, the glory for God may not have been so obvious. Out of Balaam’s disobedience, the king was humiliated to his face, and God’s message was personal. And, we wouldn’t have had the wonderful story of the talking donkey (sorry, you’ll just have to read it for yourself!).

Am I condoning the fact that this animal abuser disobeyed God in the first place? Mercy, no. I’m simply pointing out that God’s will WILL be done…even if we choose to disobey. The cül thing is that even when we screw up, He can still turn things around and bring glory to Himself.

I wonder what reward Balaam would have received if he would have been obedient the first time and simply sent the men away.

Hmmm…

“Hey I got an idea! I could stay with you! We could stay up late, swap manly stories, and in the morning, I’m making waffles!” – donkey

peace,
e

Purity in the Camp – Numbers 4 – 5

Having never actually read all the way through Numbers before, it makes sense that I would never have noticed this before. In all my years as a follower of Christ, I’ve not heard too many sermons from the book of Numbers, either.

I came upon a fascinating passage in the reading today about protecting marital faithfulness. There are specific instructions that the Lord gave to Moses concerning how to deal with a wife who is unfaithful to her husband – or even if the husband simply suspects that his wife has been unfaithful:

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13 by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure–or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure– 15 then he is to take his wife to the priest.

The rest of the chapter goes on to describe how the priest would make the waters of jealousy, a sort of “truth serum” made from holy water and dust from the Tabernacle floor. The drink brings a curse of bitter suffering and infertility upon those who are guilty. Those who are not guilty are left unharmed.

Keep in mind that adultry was (is?) considered as exceedingly sinful, particularly in those days. Matthew Henrey’s commentary says:

It is committing a trespass against the husband, robbing him of his honour, alienating his right, introducing a spurious breed into his family to share with his children in his estate, and violating her covenant with him. It is being defiled; for nothing pollutes the mind and conscience more than this sin does.

To be honest, I found this rather creepy. But then again, the whole bloody sacrifice mess is creepy. But, the Lord is showing Mo that there needs to be purity in the camp for them to survive. All the reading today is about how Moses needs to remove anything unclean from the camp – no matter how severe the method may seem.

So I got to thinking about this purity. What unclean things are in my camp? What needs to be removed from my home that is unclean? What things in my life do not honor God, but cause me to take my eyes off Him?

Adultry is a secret sin – done in secret. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Job 24:15.  And the adulteress takes her opportunity when the good man is not at home, Prov. 7:19. If we knew we had to stand before those we loved and drink the waters of jealousy, how would that change our behavior?

What other secret sins exist in our lives? Do we think that we can hide them from God? No.

The good news is that once we confess our sins to Him and repent, He is faithful to forgive us of our sins and forgets all about them – casting them as far as the east is from the west.

Take a moment and take a spiritual inventory of your camp. Ask God to reveal those unclean things that need to be removed from your camp. Deal with them and He will bless your journey through the wilderness.

peace,
e

The Very First Census – Numbers 1 – 3

If you’re just joining us, a few friends and I are reading through the One Year Chronological Bible (NLT) and today we find ourselves in Numbers. It’s year two of Israel’s journey out of the captivity of the Egyptians.

One month after the Tabernacle was first completed, the Lord told Moses to take a census. This was the first step in preparing the Israelites to receive their inheritance, the Promised Land. The Lord actually had Mo count the people two times – this first time to organize them into marching units to better defend themselves. The second time, which we’ll see later on in Numbers (exciting, I know), was to prepare them to conquer the country east of the Jordan River.

Hang in through Numbers. It’s not easy reading, but it tells the tragic tale of a people’s unbelief – but also of God’s patience. It’s a good lesson for us all. God is patient, but that should not be taken lightly. God must punish sin because He is holy. We’ll see how His love for His people saved them.

And that’s the good news.

Thank You, God, for your grace and mercy…

peace,
e

Offerings of Dedication – Numbers 7

This entire chapter describes how the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel brought gifts and offerings for use and maintenance of the Tabernacle. One leader of each tribe brought their offering each day for 12 days and presented it.

Notice that it was the leaders, the princes of Israel, the heads of the households of their fathers who brought the offerings. A demonstration of leadership? An example for the people? Simply a required ritual? 

Near the end of the chapter, the dedication offering is described:

84 So this was the dedication offering for the altar, brought by the leaders of Israel at the time it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver basins, and twelve gold incense containers. 85 In all, the silver objects weighed about 60 pounds, about 3 1/4 pounds for each platter and 1 3/4 pounds for each basin. 86 The weight of the donated gold came to about three pounds, about four ounces for each of the gold containers that were filled with incense. 87 Twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old male lambs were donated for the burnt offerings, along with their prescribed grain offerings. Twelve male goats were brought for the sin offerings. 88 Twenty-four young bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty one-year-old male lambs were donated for the peace offerings. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

This was the dedication offering, annointed and presented before God, just as He had prescribed it. What is God telling us to offer today? I’m grateful that we no longer have to sacrifice bulls and goats – Jesus’ cruel death on the cross was our ultimate sacrifice, doing away with that requirment. Still, is God calling on us to make a dedication offering? What would that look like? How can we hear His voice concerning this?

Look at the next verse:

89 Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover the place of atonement that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. The LORD spoke to him from there.

Can you imagine hearing the voice of God? We don’t have this today, so how does God speak to us? Through the reading of His word. Through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. To know what He’s asking (in the way of dedication offering or anything else) we need to be in the word and in prayer to Him – always.

peace,
e

“So at last Moses finished the work.” – Exodus 39:32 – 40, Numbers 9:15-23

It was a huge undertaking. The NLT version says “so at last” several times in this reading. All the effort that went into setting up the first Tabernacle was huge. Many people worked so long and hard to get things just the way God had prescribed to Moses: the inner curtain, the furniture, the utensils. There was ritual involved to prepare each item as well. Even Aaron, the priest, and his sons were washed and clothed with the holy garments and annointed.So at last, it was completed on the first day of the new year. What an accomplishment!

40:34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled it.” 35 Moses was no longer able to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the Lord.

The reward for a job well-done! Can you imagine how that would be to physically see the manifestation of God Almighty?!

36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle and moved, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud stayed, they would stay until it moved again.

What?? What happened to “so at last Moses finished the work”? You mean every time the cloud decided to move on, they would have to pack up all this work they so painstakingly performed to set up the Tabernacle? Then, go to where the cloud stopped and set it all up again?

Wow…

Now I don’t feel quite as bad about the situation at my church. You see, we meet in a High School auditorium and we have to load in and load out all the sound equipment, welcome station, children’s equipment, etc. each Sunday. Like the people of Israel, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it to see the presence of the Lord and experience His awesome glory.

I hope you’re taking this journey with us as we go through the Bible chronologically.

peace,
e