A Consuming Fire

Numbers 11

Have you ever had the same food over and over again. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but I know if I have them every day and only that, I would grow tired of them and even despise the sandwich so much so that I would not even want to pass one by without throwing up. Israel as a nation had been eating the manna that fell from heaven, which was first mentioned in Exodus 16, for some time and now they wanted something else. It is not bad that Israel wanted meat but the way they did was very wrong. They complained about God and said how they had it better in Egypt. NO WAY! They said that. What a low blow, they brought up how they had it better in Egypt where they were oppressed as slaves. They were the ones that cried to be saved from this bondage and now they are complaining in their freedom. The meat that the Israelites desired was not lamb or beef but what they were used to in Egypt, fish. In verse 5 they specify what else they miss, they miss fruits and vegetables that they had. How sad that they were dwelling on the past and not looking forward to the future, the land that was flowing with milk and honey. 

God a Consuming Fire

In the first section of this chapter we see God releasing his anger by burning the outsides of camp. He is called a consuming fire in Deuteronomy 4:24.  This consuming fire was nothing short of God showing himself. Moses talked with God and God who is so gracious gave in and supplied meat for the people. God allowed quail from different directions of the camp to come up and Israel now had some meat. The sad thing is there were some in the camp that were really greedy and took a whole donkey’s load (called a homer) home. They certainly did not need that much meat and could not consume it but they just wanted it. Because of this greed, God allowed a plague to kill them. This was a marker in the history of Israel because they needed to realize who provides for them, and also their greed will kill them. 

For Us:

Have you ever caught yourself complaining about your Christian life. I overheard one person saying, “Man, I would have more friends if I wasn’t a Christian.” I have heard some others say, “Back in the day I did this or that,” in a way of reflecting on their sin and promoting it as a good thing. We need to realize that Jesus paid the price that we owed and that we could never pay back. What I have in Christ is way better than my life before. Sure, there are struggles with being a Christian. And yeah, there are times of frustration but we need to never forget the cross, because without that we are without hope and there is no freedom. Israel was free but desired the bondage that they had before but we need to realize that freedom is not free and there is always a price. The price for our freedom was Christ.

The Vow of the Nazirite

Numbers 6

Have you ever made some vow before which stated that you would never eat, string cheese again or burnt toast. I know I have tried to make a vow that I would not drink soda for 1 month. That was pretty hard for me to do and I failed after the 3rd day or something. We are going to read a certain part of scripture in which an Israelite was able to make a vow to separate themselves and live differently than what was required of everyone else.

The Vow of the Nazirite

The word “Nazirite” means to be separate or consecrated. This vow someone would make to be separate and set apart for the purpose of God. This vow could be made for a certain amount of time or could be life long. The most well known, life long Nazirites would be we probably think of is Samson and Samuel. Both took on this vow which they had given to them by birth the only difference is how the two of them differed in keeping it. When reading the story of Samson we know that he was mighty and strong but he also defiled all the rules that he was supposed to keep (Read Judges 13,14,15,16).

The vow consisted of a couple different rules. Rule 1, they could not have wine  or a strong drink. They could not even eat grapes, the seed of grapes, or even the skin of grapes. Rule 2, No razor shall touch his head. The Lord is upon his head and he must not cut his hair. Rule 3, he shall not touch a dead body. He must stay away and if a person dies right by them they must be clean and do the rituals that one must do to be clean. After all the rules and however long the vow was made the person must come to the tent and make themselves clean and offer their hair up as an offering and make a few other offerings to the Lord.

God’s Blessing

In verses 22-27 we see Moses gathering all of Israel together because God wanted to share something with them. He said, “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord’s face shine upon you. The word for bless is “barak” God is the only one that can truly “baraka” or do the blessing. He is the Living One. No one could truly bless like the Lord blesses. His blessing is that his face is shining upon you. He lifts up our countenance and he gives us peace. Imagine Israel hearing this and realizing that God is a blessing. He is not the downer, or the authoritarian god that does not live for the blessing of his children. God desires to barak us and we need to be willing to receive it. We must walk in his ways to receive the barak. We must not stray on our path that has been set before us through Jesus Christ. I know I want the barak. I would love to have the blessing. 

Reminders for the Camp

Numbers 5

The Lord spoke to Moses concerning some things that were talked about in Leviticus. All of the issues revolved around Israel maintaining their heart as clean before holy God. It starts out with lepers and then moves to those who need to make restitution for their sin. We see adultery is mentioned in this section with a very interesting test.  

The Test of adultery

A women who was accused of adultery would be brought before the priest. The priest would make her drink this water that had dust from the ground of the tent and she would have to say she did or did not commit this sin. If she was lying then this drink would make her swell up and die and if she told the truth then she would not die and have children. As some commentators suggest different meanings about this the focus should not be on this drink of bitter water but on God as the judge. As it says in Hebrews, nothing in all the world is hidden from him. He sees everything, he is the judge. It is also interesting that the ability to make restitution is mentioned right before this part of sin. In Leviticus we learned that if a woman is caught in adultery then she should be killed, but I know that there is a chance of restoration still, forgiveness was taught. God is judge and knows everything we do still and even knows our future sins that will commit. Yet, he still loves us, he still followed the plan of sending his only Son, Jesus to die on the cross for us. Jesus’ life saved ours. He died so we might live. Today we need to remember, God sees what we do and knows our wrongs, we need to go before him and make things right. We are restored because of what Jesus did, and we know that if we ask for forgiveness, God is  faithful to forgive.   

Go Team!

Numbers 4 

Have you ever been on a team for some sport? Now, obviously there are some that are really good on the team and they may carry the team but the point of a team is that everyone is working together. That is a team. There is a statement that I heard that goes, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” This is very true. Teamwork is important to win, you need everyone. I know I have had a hard time working with other people on a team. Sometimes I was not patient with them or frustrated but I always needed to remind myself we are a team and we need to work together.

In this chapter we see that the Levites were a team when it came to the tabernacle. Each tribe of Israel was broken up into clans. Each tribe of Israel had several clans within it. This was so that it was easier to keep track of 2 million people. God told Moses and Aaron that certain clans from the tribe of Levi will need to help when it came to moving the tabernacle.

Clans work

We read a break down of the different clans and their jobs. Aaron and his sons were required to cover all the holy items within the tabernacle. They needed to cover the ark, the altar, the table, the lamp stands. This was so that people could carry it would not be consumed because they were carrying holy items. Aaron was told to take a census of each clan of the Levites between the ages of 30 to 50. A male Levite was to start his apprenticeship by the age of 25. Here he would help serve in the priestly duties that go on in the tabernacle. The carrying of the tabernacle was only done by those of the ages 30 to 50 because it was a very important task and a novice could not start carrying something so important. Both cases of service in the temple and moving it would end at age 50, that is when they would retire. 

The clan of Kohath had a very important job. They were to carry the holy objects when Israel would move to the next part in their wilderness journey. They are the only clan mentioned in this chapter that God wanted Moses and Aaron to not let be destroyed due to carrying the holy things (4:17-20). The Gershonites would be responsible in carrying the curtains and the screen and tent itself to the new locations. The sons of Merari were responsible for carrying the frame of the tabernacle.  These clans were responsible for this part. Aaron’s son Eleazar was responsible for carrying the oil and the incense and the anointing oil. Each clan was responsible for the carrying of some part of the tabernacle. Even though the frame was not as nice looking as the holy items, they were needed just as bad. Each one needed to take their service with dignity and seriousness.

We are a Team 

Just like the Levites were a team when it came to carrying the tabernacle we are a team as the body of Christ. In Ephesians 4 we read about how we as Christians make up one body. Just like our physical bodies have hands, fingers, toes, eyes, nose, etc. we make up one huge spiritual body. Some will serve as pastors, some will serve as teachers, or administrators; while others will serve as greeters, and encouragers. We all have gifts which we need to work together with each other. 1st Corinthians 12: 14 tells us that the body is not made up of one part but many. Read the next few verses after that and you see how important each member of Christ is to the whole. 

Next time you think about maybe complaining about your Christian service, think about how each job is important and without it we cannot function as the body of the church. Do you realize that you can be used by the Lord? Are you a dead member of the body, meaning do you not help out? There are many people that receive from the church but not as many that help out as a body. May we desire to not only work together but accomplish the greater goal of sharing Christ to this world!

What do you look like from the sky?

Numbers 2

Have you ever been camping? I know when I go camping there needs to be some lay out of where the tents go, where your table will go, where you canopy will go, and where the fire pit is. All these are essential to place while camping. If not then you may not have smoothest trip. The reason is so you can be somewhat organized while you camp.The first chapter of Numbers we saw how God organized the people into groups. This made it so the two million people could be managed. In this chapter we are going to see how God arranged the groups to live. This was like assigning two million people to their sleeping quarters.

Where to sleep

This chapter breaks down the twelve tribes of Israel, over two million people, where to sleep. God told Moses to have the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun to camp on the east. To the south were going to be the tribes, Rueban, Simeon, Gad. In the middle of all the group would be the tabernacle with the Levites living around the tent of meeting.  On the west side was the tribes Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. The north would be the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.

Aerial View

Have you ever seen an aerial view of something like Disneyland or something? It is pretty impressive to see something that you are used to from the ground and then from the sky. It looks different. If you could take an aerial view of the camp of Israel it would look like the form of a cross. How crazy is that their camp outlined a cross in which the tabernacle was at the center of it.Our lives should outline the cross. Now obviously we look like nothing from an aerial view but to those around us our lives should be a reflection of the cross. We should desire for those to see us, that they see Christ and most importantly which is our center (kind of) our hearts where he lives inside of us. May we desire our lives in how we live to be a cross to all. God Bless  

Get Organized

Numbers 1

We are now in our fourth book of the Bible called Numbers. The title of this book of the Bible comes from what chapters 1-4 share about the division of the people of Israel. People think that the book of Numbers deals with numbers; which it kind of does but only a little bit. It actually deals with things that happened to Israel while they were in the wilderness. I appreciate the Hebrew title of this book more. The Hebrew titled is where the phrase in verse 1 which is “In the wilderness.” The book of Numbers was written by Moses and shows the 39 years of wondering around in the wilderness. Moses wrote this book in the final year of his life.  The book can be broken down into two segments, the first one is Israel in the wilderness in their 2nd year, chapter 1 through 14. The second part would be Israel in its 40 year in the wilderness 20:1 to the end of the book. 

 In this book we get to see two generations of Israelites. The first generation which their story starts in Exodus 2 and continues through Leviticus to the 14 chapter of Numbers. The second generation is mentioned in the end of the book. 

In the Wilderness

When we read chapter one of Numbers we need to remember now the story is taking place within the first year of their Exodus into the wilderness. It is like the beginning for them. If you have ever gone camping you will know that it takes some organization in getting through the trip. Imagine now a camping trip that would last a lot longer than your normal weekend trip and for a couple of a million people instead of a family of four. That would be hard to organize. I could not imagine doing it. In this chapter we see that Moses was told by God to take a count of all the people but based by their tribes. This was a smart way to organize the people.The other reason for this organization was for military reasons.  If Israel would be attacked they would already be put into groups and ready to be put into place for battle. It was a great strategy that the Lord wanted Israel to be ready and not get caught off guard. 

Levites Exempt 

In the last part of chapter 1, the Levites we see are in a different category; they were not to be counted. The reason why was they were exempted from battle. They were not required to fight, but they had their own responsibilities as we read through the book of Leviticus.  The Levites could not be fighting because their main duty was carrying the tabernacle. They were to be surrounding the tabernacle and their lives were to serve God in the tabernacle. There is a particular reason why; they were to keep the wrath of God from consuming Israel. The Levites were the ones who were to maintain being clean before God so they could be the ones going before God with their sacrifices.

 Being Organized

I don’t know about you but I know organization does not come naturally to me. There are some people that are so organized they make me sick. But the truth is that they get more things done by being organized. Yeah, it is work in the beginning but it pays off when things get going and you need certain things to be where you want them to be. God is an orderly God. He knows exactly what he is doing even when we think everything in life is chaotic. He was organizing Israel not because it would look pretty but that this model was a way for them to function in such a large setting. May we desire not to be organized in our own lives but for the glory of the Lord. How is your room? How is your study habits? How is your Bible study going? The Bible tells us that Satan is a prowling lion ready to devour us. He will attack when we least expect it. Israel needed to be organized so they could be ready for any surprise battles and we need to be organized in our Christian life to be ready for Satan’s attacks.