Promises and Inheritance (Numbers 34) – March 11

We end the book of Numbers with instructions on the boundaries and dividing the Land, the cities of refuge, and the laws of inheritance. I took a minute to look up the borders of the Promised Land and current day Israel, and they are very close to the same.  And yet, there has been fighting about who owns the land throughout time.  The world does not recognize the promise of God.  They prefer to put their trust in the wisdom of man.  This is a common theme in our world today.  God’s promises are kept at a distance, and we prefer to give credit to science, or doctors, or some other human endeavor, rather than give credit to God.  This world would rather believe mankind than God.  Thus we have arguments over creation, marriage, original sin, gender identity and so many other things that all originate with God.  Yet, the truth remains that His promises are true forever and ever.  Man may think they can override God, but it will never happen.  They may think they have come up with a logical reason for us to be here in this universe, but it will always fall short of the promises of God.

The Levites were spread out among the other 11 tribes.  This was foretold by Jacob in the blessing he gave to them in Genesis 49, almost 500 years earlier.  Each tribe would assign cities and their suburbs where the Levites would dwell and pasture their livestock.  Six of these cities would be cities of refuge.  A person who accidentally kills someone can flee to these cities and find a haven from the judgment of the dead person’s family.  I see it as similar to a prison town.  They were safe as long as they stayed in the city until the high priest died.  However, if someone killed someone with intent to do so, that ;person would die immediately.  There had to be two witnesses to put any man to death.  Jesus is our city of refuge!  We can hide safely in His arms, and not worry about the one who wants to kill our spirit, the enemy of our souls, Satan.  Jesus tells us that if we are angry with our brother, we are subject to judgment, just as a murderer would have been.  He desires for us to settle our disputes and not carry anger in any form.  He says we must forgive everyone, no matter what they have done to us, just as He forgave on the cross.

The laws of inheritance are so important.  The people of Israel had to know their own land, and had to keep the land within their family.  It may sound weird to us that each tribe was to marry within the tribe, but we have to remember that there were a minimum of 30,000 men over 20 in each tribe.  It; snot like this is a small family unit.  So yes, while this meant you might have to marry your eighth cousin, the distinction of this relationship was not the same as it is today.  What was important was keeping the inheritance with whom it belonged.  And we must do the same.  We have no right to try and steal someone else’s inheritance from the Lord.  My good friend Randy pointed out that our inheritance is things like joy, peace, faith, and hope.  We should never do anything to ruin these things in someone else’s life.  In fact, we have an obligation from God to restore these things if they become tarnished or misplaced.  Let us always ensure we are doing all we can to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord keep the promise and inheritance of God alive in their life.

Balaam’s Story (Numbers 22-24) – March 6

The story of Balaam is just one more in a long line of amazing stories in the book of Numbers.  I had thought that Numbers was about numbers, so I have not spent a lot of time on this book.  But it is rich in stories, and constantly shows us who God really is.  As we read Balaam’s story we see several things that we must take note of in our lives today.

Balaam was a faithful servant of the Lord.  He never did speak evil of Israel, though he was promised much by Balak to do so.  Every time he spoke, all 4 statements were ones of blessing on Israel and trouble for Israel’s’ enemies.  This is not what Balak wanted to hear him say, but the faithfulness of Balaam to do what God had said must be noted.  Balaam did have an open communication with God, and that is something we should all seek to have.  We may look at Balaam and say he was disobedient, but it seems to me that if he was, that is a testament that God can even use someone who is disobedient to deliver His message. I don’t know about you, but I would love to hear God speak to me.  I would also love it if someone came along and wanted to pay me for speaking what the Lord says to me.  Let’s be honest.  If we were asked to minister to a certain group of people, and were promised a good wage, would we not be very tempted to do just that?  I admit that I would be!

Balaam was also a little blind.  He could not see what his donkey could see very clearly.  The angel stood against Balaam, to keep him from going to Balak, yet Balaam did not see him standing right there, blocking the way.  The question might be asked why God got angry with Balaam after He had told Balaam to go.  This is a puzzling thing.  I believe what we see here is that God gave in to Balaam’s pleading even though He did not want Balaam to do it.  Our free will allows us to go where we want to go, and God will even allow it, but there could be consequences.  Balaam wanted to use his gift to gain reward, and that is not something God desires for His gifts.  It’s not that we should not be paid if we are in the ministry.  It is very clear that is what the tithe was for. Balaam knew God would not curse Israel, yet he allowed himself to be carried away with dreams of riches.  He knew full well that, what he was being hired for, he could not do. Yet he went anyway.

Balaam’s eyes were finally opened after three mishaps with his donkey, and after his donkey spoke to him. I would hope that my eyes would be open after my trusted animal speaks to me! He had ridden this donkey for a long time, and yet thought the donkey was being obstinate.  Why wouldn’t he know something was wrong when his donkey, his automobile if you like, just kept going the wrong way, all on its own?  We might think “What’s wrong with you Balaam?  Can’t you see what’s right in front of your nose?”  It’s easy for us to criticize Balaam because we know the whole story.  At the moment, I would probably do the same thing to my donkey if I was Balaam.  But when my eyes are finally opened, I am sure I would have the same reaction. I sit here and wonder what my eyes are blind to right now.  What has God allowed me to do that is taking me the wrong direction?  Is there an angel standing opposed to me right now because I am trying to do things my way instead of His? This is a question I need to regularly ask myself, because I tend to wander.  As the great song “Come Thou Fount” says. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.”

Lord, I want to be like Balaam and always deliver only what you tell me to.  But I do not want to be like him in his desire to gain from selling the gift you’ve given me.  You have given me many talents, and I am so thankful for that.  Help me not to wander off the path, as I have so many times before.  Help me to open my eyes and see where you have placed closed doors, that I would not open them, and also see open doors, that I would not close them.  I desire to do thy will, Oh Lord.

It’s No Coincidence

What miraculous signs has God given you in your life?  You may say none, but I would endeavor to guess that they are there if you really look for them.  Perhaps you have never seen them as miracles, but mere coincidence.  I can say with certainty that there are no coincidences in life.  God orders the steps of the righteous, and brings things about even in the unrighteous man’s life in order to draw Him closer to a decision for Christ.

When I was around 11, we lived on Goodale Street in West Boylston, Mass.  There were two very large maple trees in our yard, and they were perfect to climb.  One day, I climbed to the very  top – high enough to stick my hand out of the top of the tree and wave to my friend on the ground.  It was not a smart thing to do, but it gave me bragging rights, which are all important to an 11 year old.  I should have dropped through that tree as the tender, small branches bent under my feet.  But I did not.  That’s a miracle. In my early twenties, I was an alcoholic, and was a crazy driver.  We would drive down unfinished Interstate highways at 110 mph passing beers back and forth from car to car.  I should not have survived that.  My  friend and I were driving my Triumph Spitfire down a back road, very drunk and way too fast for the curves that lurked ahead, and hit a patch of sand while going around a corner.  We flipped the car several times and landed on the tires.  It’s a miracle we did not get a scratch on us. On my way back home from  my first trip to Iowa, after getting saved in my friend’s mobile home, I drove a good part of the way with a wobble in the car.  I typically drove between 70 and 80 back then, never getting caught for speeding – a miracle.  But when I arrived home, my mechanic said I had a broken tie rod.  It’s a miracle the wheel did not fall off during the journey.  Meeting my wife was a miracle, and too long of a story to write here.  Moving to Iowa and leaving a cushy job in Mass was a miracle.  Surviving cancer, driving back to visit home with a detached retina safely, having a chemo induced dead shoulder come back to life so quickly, my daughter going from high school dropout to a double masters in accounting and another daughter becoming drug free.  All miracles.

These miracles have made me realize that God is always with me.  I can not understand how the nation of Israel could forget about the miracles of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, manna, water and quails from nowhere, and a pillar of fire and a cloud leading the way.  How could they not think that God would help them in this new land?  They had seen so much!  I guess maybe they thought all these things were just coincidence, that God had not really delivered them.  That is the only explanation I can think of that would make them want to go back to the slavery of Egypt.  And it made God angry.  He wanted to destroy them all because they had forgotten Him.  

But Moses – ah, the humility of the man.  He prayed to God and turned His anger.  He explained to God that if He destroyed the people in the wilderness, it would tarnish His name.  God does not want His name tarnished.  It is a sacred name.  It is holy and true, long-suffering and gracious.  God will glorify His name at any chance He can, and we should do the same.  Our country was founded by people who were seeking, among other things, religious freedom.  But we have forgotten all the miracles that have kept this country strong through the decades.  They are too countless to list here, so I ask you to consider them.  Then, let us bow before God and admit we have sinned.  Let us come before His throne with all humility and plead the case for our great nation, that we would return to God.  We have already killed off a generation through abortion.  It’s time to turn the tide, and return to the God who is the only one that can save this nation from destruction.  Donald Trump can’t do it.  Joe Biden can’t do it.  No politician can do it.  No laws can be put in place to accomplish it.  Only a deep, spirit-filled revival in the hearts of men, women and children can bring this about.  It is no coincidence you have been out on this earth at this time.  You are here to rescue this nation.  It’s time for the church to put aside denominations ,and dissension and bickering about doctrine or what version of the word is best. It’s time to humble ourselves, and pray, seek the Lord and turn from our wicked ways!  A miracle is in the works!

Don’t Complain

There is so much we can read in this study that we could spend days, even months discussing things one at a time.  The people complain, Moses appeals to God, God answers by sending quail and by taking the Spirit of Moses and putting it upon 70 other leaders to help with the burden.  Miriam and Aaron complain, and Miriam becomes leprous after God singles out Moses.  The quail come after Moses asks how this will happen.  Many die from eating the quail. Then the spies are sent out to the promised land.  WOW!  What a miraculous time Israel is in here!  Where do I begin, or center the discussion this morning.

The word complaining caught me immediately.  How many of us complain about different things?  We complain about the government God has put over us, just as Miriam complained about Moses.  We complain about the economy, and the price of putting food on the table, just as the people complained about the manna.  We complain about the difficulties we have going through life and trying to get ahead , justa s the spies complained about the difficulty of going into the promised land.  There is a common thread to all of these stories we read today, and that is “Don’t complain!”

Paul writes “Do all things without complaining or disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in this world (Phil 2:14-15).  Is that not our call to duty?

And how much have we compromised the light within us by our complaining?  I know I have been guilty of this!  We have a group of people that  come to the coffee table at True Value and sputter all kinds of gossip and opinions while they drink that fifty cent coffee.  There is also a lot of complaining about things.  I try to stay out of that,  but I sometimes hear myself voicing complaints right along with them.  What happens to my light then?  It becomes like a three way bulb and turns to the dimmest setting.

I not only need to let my light shine,  but it needs to shine brightly!  One way it does that is through guarding my tongue when the temptation to complain or dispute things comes around.  James 3 tells us that if we can tame our tongue, we will bring our whole body into a tame place.  Could my tongue actually be what sends me back to visit that bad website when I should not?  Could it be the words of my mouth that actually cause me to walk back into my sinful ways, dousing the light that I am supposed to be shining?  Paul and James seem to indicate that our words are the key to purity.  Jesus even told us that what comes out of a man,  that is what defiles him (Mark 7(20-23).

May we all just stop complaining.  When you hear a complaint come up, start to pray instead.  Think on those things you should think on (Phil 4:8).  Speak grace into peoples’ lives (Eph 4:29).  In every situation, be content (Phil 4:11).  We need to shine  our lights even more brightly when people around us are complaining, because that is where darkness hides – in the midst of our complaining!

Where He leads, I will follow – March 1

The trumpet call is a majestic thing, in my opinion.  It can be heard for miles, and it would have to be in a gathering of over 2 million people, as it did for the Israelites.  The sound for advancing and for stopping, for the elders to gather or all the people to gather.  These trumpets were made out of pure silver.  Silver tends to give the trumpet more range, and is especially suited for the higher range of notes.  God knows what He is doing. He could have told them to make them out of brass, or gold, but He knew what material works best for sound production, and silver is the best.  The BIble specifies that the sons of Aaron, the priests, were to blow these two trumpets, so they had to learn how.  And they had to know what sound to blow when!  Does this sound familiar?

In our modern day army, there are 21 different bugle calls, according to Wikipedia.  It is amazing when you think about all the different ways our government has integrated Biblical law into our country’s laws.  They are inseparable, and yet they try to separate government and religion. It cannot be done.  Our country was founded on Christian principles, no matter what they may say.  It is undeniable.  Some will say it is a moral base we are founded on, but then what do they do when morality slips away into immorality.  The base is destroyed, and that is what is happening in our country.  We have lost our country.  We need a trumpet blast to go forth and call the people back to God!

I would have loved to have been there when that cloud lifted for the first time.  I can just see the levites scampering to get the poles into the ark so they would carry it where the child would lead.  Then all the people, in order of course, got started.  Three tribes, led by Judah (no coincidence there) went first,  and then all boards, sockets, drapes and gates of the tabernacle would go.  Then three more tribes followed by the furniture of the tabernacle and the holy place.  Finally the last six tribes set out.  The arc led the way, as the pillar of smoke, and the fire by night, led the way.  They went only as far as the cloud led them.  They did not turn if the cloud did not turn.  They did not stop short of where the cloud journeyed, nor did they go ahead of the cloud.  They followed it.

I want this to be my legacy.  “He followed the cloud and the fire.” might be engraved on my tombstone (although I will probably just have a pollackard at most).  Is there any greater testimony I can have than that?  He may lead me into great victories, or I may have to walk through the wilderness for a while.  But if I am following the cloud, I  am right there where God wants me to be.  If I am allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me, I cannot turn wrong.  It is in this place that the blessing given to Aaron will be over my life.

The Lord bless you and keep you’

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

May we all seek this blessing for our lives as we follow the Lord