The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up [Numbers 21]

Thursday, July 29, 2010

 ⁷So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." ⁹And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

John 3:13-15 "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

The grumbling continued.  This time the "LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died."  The only thing that saved them after they repented was to look up at the fiery serpent made out of bronze that God provided. 

In the book of John when Jesus is explaining the way of salvation to Nicodemus, He explained that the Son of Man would also be lifted up.  In order to have eternal life we must believe in Jesus, looking to Him only to be the One who saves us. Jesus' next words were, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:16-17)

Jesus, we praise You that You were willing to be lifted up on the cross to offer us eternal life.  Life with You that will last forever.  Only You can save us from our bitterness and grumbling.  Cause us to lift our eyes and fix them on You, Jesus.  You are our life. God, we praise You for giving Your only, deeply loved Son out of Your deep love for us.

Intentions Laid Bare [Numbers 20]

 Wednesday, July 28, 2010

²There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. ³The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! ⁴"Why then have you brought the LORD'S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? ⁵"Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink." ⁶Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them; ⁷and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸"Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink."

⁹So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, "Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" ¹¹Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. ¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

I feel like I know how Moses and Aaron felt as they "came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces." They were at their wit's end.  They were being railed on by the people who had made poor choices.  They were being falsely accused of being the reason for the people's misery.  Can you sense their frustration as they recognized that the people had learned nothing from their past grumblings and disciplines?  Even as God gave an answer, I am sure that Moses wasn't really listening.  "We've been through this drill before. And I am sick and tired of it," would have been my thoughts clouding the specific words that God spoke.  "Take the rod...and speak to the rock before their eyes."

God thank You that You do not let us stay in our frustration and unbelief.  We praise You that You are committed to probe with Your word and reveal the thoughts and intentions that we ourselves have not even dared to confront.  We praise You that when we are "open and laid bare" before you that we can then receive the truth -

"since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

I am thankful.  I do desire to have someone who asks me hard questions, who isn't going to let me stay with the status quo. Thank You that You love me so much You don't let me stay in my frustration that is hurting others.

God's Holiness Requires Purity [Numbers 19]

Tuesday, July 27, 2001

⁵'Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.  ⁶'The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer. ⁷'The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening. ⁸'The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. ⁹'Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

We praise You, Holy Father, that Your Son provided the purification of sins that we needed to be clean enough to approach a holy God.  Cause us to draw near in full assurance of faith today because our hearts are sprinkled clean and we have been washed with the blood of Christ.  Thank You for the Old Testament ritual that pointed to what You were going to accomplish in Your Son's death and resurrection.

I Am Your Portion [Numbers 18]

Monday, July 26, 2010

 ⁶"Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. ⁷"But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death."

 ¹⁹"All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you." ²⁰Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel. ²¹"To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.

In this discourse God has with Aaron He tells him that He is giving him the work of priesthood as a gift.  He has chosen just the Levite tribe to minister in this way.  He then reminded Aaron that He is taking care of their and their families' needs for food and shelter through the gifts and offerings of the people. God had planned very carefully to make sure the priests, who were taking care of the people's spiritual needs, were well taken care of. God promised to be their portion and their inheritance.  

There is a large focus on planning for retirement and having an inheritance to leave to our children in America today.   As I read this chapter I saw a contrast again between what the world values and what God values. 

Lord, we praise You that You are the One who provides for Your people.  Thank You that You give us the work of ministry as a wonderful gift.  We praise You that You are our portion and our inheritance.  You promise to provide all we need.

God Is Able [Num 17]

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Numbers 17

Romans 4:17

 ¹⁷(as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

Aaron's rod (as well as Abraham's faith), foreshadowed what God had planned for the salvation of His people, Jesus... His life, His death and His resurrection. The new life and fruit in our lives because of Jesus are like Aaron's rod that bore fruit. God is able to do above and beyond all that we can imagine! Amazing God!

We praise You, God, that You are able to bring life out of dead things. Cause us to not only embody that life, but to grow leaves, blossoms and bear much fruit through the grace or power that You make available to us through the Spirit of Your Son, Jesus. 

But You, Beloved... [Num 16]

Friday, July 23, 2010

Jude

 ¹¹Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

According to Jude (the half brother of Jesus) in the New Testament, there will always be men like Korah and his friends in the midst of the congregation. In the next few verses, Jude gave a description of these people with a warning that God will also judge these like he did Korah and others.

 ¹²These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;

 ¹³wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

 ¹⁴It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,

 ¹⁵to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

 ¹⁶These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

It is no wonder that God hates grumbling and pride as seen in the story of Korah as it led to strife, division among the people and out and out rebellion followed by destruction of the grumblers. Jude ended his short letter concerning these evil people among them with a description as to how we can live by God's grace in contrast to them.

¹⁷But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 ¹⁸that they were saying to you, "In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts."

 ¹⁹These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.

 ²⁰But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

 ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

 ²²And have mercy on some, who are doubting;

 ²³save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

 ²⁴Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

 ²⁵to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

I am so grateful for the humble and loving example of Moses and Aaron through the whole awful story of Korah and the others who rebelled against them. They kept their cool and interceded before God for the people who rose up against them. Many more would have died if they hadn't fallen down before God on their behalf.

God, we praise You that You are always the same and that You have provided wisdom as to how we can live in this evil generation with rebellious people even in our congregations. We praise You that you are just and will judge evil. Cause us to keep from stumbling and to be blameless before You with great joy! Cause us to keep ourselves in Your love so we can love those who need to be rescued while hating the evil they do. We can't, but you can.

Remember! [Num 15]

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Numbers 15

We thank You, God, that You have reminded us over and over in Your Word to remember You, who You are and what You have done. We praise You that we have access to You every day through Jesus. Cause us to grow in spending time with You each morning remembering You and growing in intimacy with You. Thank you that You love to answer this prayer!

Still Not Listening [Num 14]

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Numbers 14

We praise You, God, that You love us and have forgiven all we do through our perfect intercessor and Savior, Jesus. We thank You that You are directing us each day as we go humbly before you asking for You to guide us and give us the strength to do Your will. Cause us to grow in our ability to recognize and obey Your voice.

Fear Or Faith [Num 13]

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Numbers 13

 ²"Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers' tribes, every one a leader among them."

 ³So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

²⁵When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,

 ²⁶they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

 ²⁷Thus they told him, and said, "We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

 ²⁸"Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

 ²⁹"Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan."

 ³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it."

 ³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us."

 ³²So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

 ³³"There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

Only 2 of the 12 men who spied out the land could see the promises of God being fulfilled and trusted God deal with the people who occupied the land. Unfortunately, as we will see in the next chapter, the people of Israel listened to the ones who focused on their fears and not on God's faithfulness to guard and guide them.

Whenever we are faced with fearful situations, we have a choice as believers to either focus on the the situation or to focus on God. Fear is like a smokescreen that keeps us from seeing God's promised land and from moving toward it by grace through faith in Him.

The smokescreen looks so real and scary to our flesh that has a strong tendency to run away instead of stand in the promises of God. But the scary stuff is nothing to God who can carry us safely through the smoky places by His amazing grace.

God, we praise you that you are a safe refuge in the midst of fearful situations as we journey on our path to Your promised land. Keep us focused on You and Your grace in the fearful places where it is impossible to see where we are headed and the truth of Your care. Cause us to exchange our fear for faith so that we can stay on Your path enjoying Your peace in spite of what is going on around us.

God's Anger Vs. Pride [Num 12]

Monday, July 19, 2010

Numbers 12

God, we praise You for Moses' example and showing so clearly that You honor humility. Thank you that Jesus through His Spirit gives us access to His humility. Cause us to recognize and exchange our fleshly pride for humility and experience a greater intimacy with You.