May 31, 2010 (Numbers 18-24)

The complaining of the people finally got to Moses. I guess after that many years of dealing with them it was bound to happen. Once again they complained that they had no water, and put all the blame on Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron did what was right at the beginning - it says they immediately went to the entrance of the Tabernacle and fell face down on the ground, and God met with them and told them to command the rock to pour out water. So they went to God and He gave them an answer. But when they went to carry out His command, this is what they did:

^20:9 So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. ¹⁰ Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.

It looks as if his anger got the best of him. He didn't to what God told him to do (command the rock to pour out water), and instead took the glory for himself (must WE). Below, we see that one 'simple' failure cost him a trip into the promised land. Maybe it's because as a leader he had much more responsibility, and so his failure was much more costly. Or maybe we take sin too lightly. The punishment seems rather harsh considering all he had been through.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!” ¹³ This place was known as the waters of Meribah (which means “arguing”) because there the people of Israel argued with the Lord, and there he demonstrated his holiness among them.

And now, here the people go again:

⁴ Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, ⁵ and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”

God provided them manna and had 'rained it down on them' every morning. They always had food to eat. Yes, maybe it was the same every day, but it was food none the less. And how do they respond? By saying they 'hate' God's provision. Maybe we don't say it quite as vocally, but what about us? Are we satisfied with our 'lot in life' or do we complain about God's provision for us?

So in response to their complaints, God sent poisonous snakes among them, and many were bitten and died. And when they were in trouble, what did the people do? Go to the very ones they had complained against.

⁷ Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

And once again, God is gracious. He gave Moses a plan, and that was basically the same plan that exists for us today. They looked to the snake on a pole in faith, we look to Christ on the cross in faith:

⁸ Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” ⁹ So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!

May 30, 2010 (Numbers 14-17)

In Numbers 13, God sent out twelve men to go into the promised land to explore it and bring back a report to the people. Of the twelve, ten came back and focused on all the bad - the 'giants' in the land, the fortified cities, etc. etc. But two came back and focused on the good - the bounty and beauty of the land. Them mentioned the bad, but in the same breath, focused on the promises of God to give them the land. And what happened? Here we go again....

^14:1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. ² Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. ³ “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴ Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

Then Moses, Joshua and Caleb (the two that came back with the 'good report') addressed the people:

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. ⁶ Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. ⁷ They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! ⁸ And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. ⁹ Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”

So, after hearing that, the people repented and believed, right?

¹⁰ But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? ¹² I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”

Now here's where I don't get Moses' response. At this point, I would have been tempted to say, "Yep, I agree. They'll never change." But instead Moses convinced God to spare them. And He did spare them, but He also said they would never enter into the promised land. So maybe God doesn't kill us when we complain. But who knows what blessing we may never experience because of our complaints.

In chapter 15 God instructed Moses to make tassels for the hem of their garments, and that the tassels were to remind them of the Lord's commands and that they should obey them rather than "follow their own desires and go their own ways, as they are prone to do". Maybe that's where the WWJD bracelet idea came from.

May 29, 2010 (Numbers 7-13)

What happened to Numbers 1-6? Well, that was the reading on the 28th and there wasn't a whole lot to say about it. So I'll start with the 29th!

Numbers is just that. Those first chapters were all about the number of people that God delivered from Egypt and their clans and offspring. It doesn't get 'juicy' until chapter 11. And here's how all the 'fun' starts:

¹ Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped.

A couple of interesting points here. When we complain, God hears every word. And no complaint, no matter how valid, is honoring to Him. When we complain we are basically stating that God somehow must not care about us or take care of us because of what we are going through. As I review these past few days, I realize I have done my share of complaining, and God, please forgive me. Help me to honor You with my words. The next point is that God hates complaints. His anger "blazed" against them and He sent a fire to rage against them. It was only because of Moses' prayer that His fierce anger relented. Next we see how the 'foreign rabble' that was traveling with them caused them to get their eyes off of the faithful provision of God:

⁴ Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. ⁵ “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. ⁶ But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”

And so, what happened. Did God empathize with their complaints? Did He 'see their point'? And how about Moses? You know, he reacted much like I react when I'm 'surrounded by complaints':

¹⁰ Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. ¹¹ And Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? ¹² Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? ¹³ Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴ I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! ¹⁵ If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”

Sounds like Moses was having a little pity party...woe is me.

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone.

But God heard and decided to help him out. So Moses' complaining was handled by God helping him, and the other people's complaining was handled by God killing them. What's the difference? I'm speculating here, but perhaps God was gracious to Moses because the best he knew how he was leading the people and doing what God told him to do. The people, on the other hand, did nothing but complain about their leadership and long for better days. And for them, God gave them what they wanted, but in another version it says "He gave them what they wanted, but sent leanness to their soul". I would much rather have a 'full soul' and not the external things.

¹⁸ “And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lordheard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. ¹⁹ And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. ²⁰ You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

And then from the verses below, it looks as if the discouragement from the people got to Moses. It seems as if even he lost faith:

²¹ But Moses responded to the Lord, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ ²² Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?”

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!”

And so God provided flocks and flocks of quail that flew a few feet off the ground. The Israelites were able to catch them. It says no one caught less than 50 bushels. That's a lot of meat! So even though God provided for them, but this next verse we see that He was still really 'ticked off' at them:

³³ But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. ³⁴ So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means “graves of gluttony”) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt.

This whole chapter is a good lesson for us, if we will heed it.

May 25-27, 2010 (Leviticus)

Yes, Leviticus - in it's entirety. Hate is too strong of a word, but let's say I kind of 'despise' Leviticus. There's not a whole lot highlighted in Leviticus. It's all about the offerings, and the sacrifices, and the clean and the unclean. For instance:

^1:14 “If you present a bird as a burnt offering to the Lord, choose either a turtledove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest will take the bird to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. But first he must drain its blood against the side of the altar.

The book is filled with that kind of stuff. But having said that, there is 'good stuff' in this book. My first bit of highlighted stuff appears in chapter 10:

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. ² So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when he said,

‘I will display my holiness
through those who come near me.
I will display my glory
before all the people.’”

And Aaron was silent.

God didn't mess around in the Old Testament. They 'burned a different kind of fire than He had commanded' - so He killed them. Pretty harsh. It shows us what He really thinks of sin and how important Jesus is to us. Jesus took that punishment for us. That's why 'we are not consumed' by God. Jesus has suffered for us, allowing us to go free. That is why He deserves our love and devotion.

My next highlighting occurs in Chapter 17:

¹¹ for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.

All the sacrifices noted in Leviticus were to point us to Christ. It is Christ's blood, given in exchange for our lives, that makes purification possible. Note that it says 'possible'. It's not automatic. It requires a choice from us - to believe, understand and accept the free gift. Purification is possible if we will believe and receive it.

Then chapter 18 again talks about being separate from the people of the surrounding lands:

¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. ³ So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. ⁴ You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. ⁵ If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

Chapter 23 talked about all the "Festivals" they were to have. And in all of them, they were to stop what they did and gather for a sacred assembly. They were to present offerings to God on these special days. They were to humble themselves and remember God. To reflect on His provision and care for them. I thought about our "festivals" - Labor Day - where we are to 'rest from our labor' and celebrate. But for the most part we celebrate with family and friends and probably don't give much thought to God at all. I know we aren't Jewish and don't celebrate all the special holidays as they do, but I'm thinking as Christians we should focus more on recognizing God in our 'celebrations'. Look at Christmas - that's a celebration because of the birth of Christ, but think about how it has changed - People don't even want to call it Christmas anymore - but look at it more as a 'winter holiday'. God forgive us for turning from You as a nation.

May 24, 2010 (Exodus 36-40)

These chapters are all about the building of the tabernacle, the altar, the ark of the covenant, etc. Quite boring to be honest. I'm sure there is hidden meaning in all the specifications. Perhaps one of the messages that we are supposed to take from it is that God is intricately involved in all the details of our lives. Perhaps another message is that when God speaks and gives us specific instructions, He wants us to obey and blessings come from obedience.

^39:32 And so at last the Tabernacle was finished. The Israelites had done everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴² So the people of Israel followed all of the Lord’s instructions to Moses. ⁴³ Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the Lord had commanded him, he blessed them.

The last couple paragraphs of Exodus tell about how God inhabited the tabernacle, and how He directed them as to when it was time to move on. Today, we don't have quite the same 'visible' manifestions of His presence. He chooses to reveal Himself to us through His spirit which indwells us.

^40:34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.

³⁶ Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. ³⁷ But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. ³⁸ The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.

May 23, 2010 (Exodus 32-35)

Once again, how did I get so far behind...I'll do the 'cliff notes' to catch up. As I'm reviewing these chapters, I would have sworn that I did this blog, but I guess not.

What happens when God doesn't act as quickly as we want? We have a tendancy to do what the Israelites did when Moses didn't come back down from the mountain. They turn to "other gods". Here's the account from Exodus 32:

¹ When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

² So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

³ All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

Before we get all critical of the Israelites, how about looking at our lives? How many times have we seen God's faithfulness to us, and yet, when He doesn't answer prayers in our timeline do we turn to 'other gods'. If you notice verse 4 above, you see that Aaron spent some time 'crafting and molding' the gold into the shape of a calf. But when Moses came down from the mountain and confronted him about his sin, here was his response:

²² “Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are. ²³ They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ ²⁴ So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”

Really, he threw the gold into the fire and out popped that calf! Sounds to me as if he wasn't owning up to his sin. I'm surprised God didn't zap him on the spot to be quite honest. I guess it shows what a patient loving God we have. I know in my dealings with others who have done wrong, if they own up to it - confess it - are truly sorry, I have a much easier time acting merciful. Shows how far I have to go in my attempts to be Christ/God like.

People are watching us. We may not know it, but they are. And those who don't have a relationship with Christ are probably watching us the closest, to see how we respond in certain situations. We can see that from the verse below:

²⁵ Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.

And finally, another of my favorite passages:

^33:14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t let us move a step from this place. ¹⁶ If you don't go with us, how will anyone ever know tht oour people and I ahve found favor with you? How else will they know we are special and distinct from all other people on the earth?"

¹⁷ The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”

Another version of verse 17 says:

And the Lord replied to Moses, "I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and you are my friend."

The desire of my heart is to know that God knows me by name, and that He would call me His friend. That motivates me. That makes me seek after Him, as I remember that and reflect upon it. But I have to continually remind myself of these things, otherwise they get crowded out by 'the things of this world'.

May 22, 2010 (Exodus 25-31)

The first of these chapters is all about the building of the Tabernacle, the priest's clothing, etc., etc. I'm sure there is a lot of symbolism in these chapters, but to me, they are pretty boring. I didn't 'see' anything until the end of chapter 29 when this command of God caught my eye. He was talking to Moses and was telling what to offer on the altar:

^29:38 “These are the sacrifices you are to offer regularly on the altar. Each day, offer two lambs that are a year old, ³⁹ one in the morning and the other in the evening. ...... It will be a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord. ⁴² This is to be a daily burnt offering....

Somewhere else I read that our prayers are 'incense' to God - which made me think those are the sacrifices God desires today - not lambs on the altar, but our prayers to Him.

Then I was reminded that all our gifts and abilities come from God:

^31:2 “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. ⁴ He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. ⁵ He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!

⁶ “And I have personally appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make.

And then finally, and it seems I keep reading this, God wants us to rest. We are to work six days and rest the seventh. I really tried to get everything on 'my plate' caught up yesterday so that today could be a day of total rest for me. Didn't quite make it, but will strive to make that happen in the future.

^31:13 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. ¹⁴ You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. ¹⁵ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. ¹⁶ The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. ¹⁷ It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’”