3010.) Psalm 46

Psalm 46 (ESV)

God Is Our Fortress

¹God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.

Luther’s ramshackle cart wobbled its way to Worms, Germany, in April of 1521. He had been summoned to appear before the Emperor and Catholic prelates to give an account of this new “heresy” he was teaching called “justification by faith alone.” The learned Johann Eck laid out all of Luther’s writings and then asked Luther if he was prepared to recant.

Luther retired to his room that night to think over his answer. His Bible fell open to Psalm 46. Luther returned the next morning to stand before his detractors. In response to their call to recant, Luther responded:

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”

The Reformation was off and running.  

Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s favorite Psalm. During the dark and dangerous periods of the Reformation, Luther would turn to his trusted friend Philip Melanchthon and exclaim: “Let’s sing the 46th Psalm, and let the devil do his worst!”  It inspired his great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”  

No Psalm in all the Psalter expresses the tremendous truth that God’s presence and power are with us in all circumstances more than Psalm 46.  We need to know God offers us two kinds of help: a stronghold into which we can flee and a source of strength by which we can face the uncertain future.  

–David L. Allen

²Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
³though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah

from This Day with the Master
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

One of the characteristics of human personhood is that we never find our fulfillment in ourselves. We must look beyond ourselves if we would ever really know fulfillment. As human beings we need purpose and meaning in our lives. We need something of which we can boast, something that gives us some confidence, self-esteem, and inner joy. But the effect of sin on us is such that we naturally look in the wrong places to find this fulfillment. We look for something when we should be looking for Someone. Our true fulfillment, the only ultimate fulfillment, is in God himself.

As we look for fulfillment, we also seek security. We seek it in creatures, institutions, possessions. Again, our sin blinds us and deceives us. All things other than Christ are only temporary refuges. David learned this and said, “God is our refuge.” He is the haven to whom we should all flee. Peter was sensing this when he said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Are you looking for a refuge today? A place not only of security but also of fulfillment? Run to Jesus. He is the One you seek.

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.

Cairo has the Nile. Paris has the Seine. Washington has the Potomac. My hometown of Independence, Iowa has the Wapsipinicon (pictured here). But Jerusalem’s river is beyond compare.

Revelation 22:1-2 (NIV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

⁵ God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

2 Corinthians 1:21 (NIV)

It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.

⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”

Tenacity!

from My Utmost for His Highest,
by Oswald Chambers

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Tenacity is more than endurance, it is endurance combined with the absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to transpire. Tenacity is more than hanging on, which may be but the weakness of being too afraid to fall off. Tenacity is the supreme effort of a man refusing to believe that his hero is going to be conquered. The greatest fear a man has is not that he will be damned, but that Jesus Christ will be worsted, that the things He stood for—love and justice and forgiveness and kindness among men—will not win out in the end; the things He stands for will look like will-o’-the-wisps. Then comes the call to spiritual tenacity, not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately on the certainty that God is not going to be worsted.

If our hopes are being disappointed just now, it means that they are being purified. There is nothing noble the human mind has ever hoped for or dreamed of that will not be fulfilled. One of the greatest strains in life is the strain of waiting for God. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience” (Rev. 3:10).

Remain spiritually tenacious.

¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

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Music:

Will God be worsted? Absolutely not! As Martin Luther wrote, “God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever.”

One of the truly great hymns of the faith — “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” — written in 1529 by Martin Luther — performed  HERE  by GLAD.

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English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Psalm 46:1-2 with water view.   https://mylordmyfriend.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/refuge.jpg

God is our refuge with castle.   https://www.heartlight.org/gallery/5513.html

Cry out to Jesus.     http://media.photobucket.com/image/jesus,%20refuge/pinkyfan17p/Various%20Myspace%20Stuff/cry_to_jesus.jpg

the Wapsipinicon River, Independence, Iowa.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wapsipinicon_River_Bridge.jpg

Stand firm.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/46-stand-firm-gif.gif?w=450

Psalm 46:10 with a candle.    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ee/9a/c0/ee9ac014c6314613ecf69ecd9dee91a9.jpg

rock climbing.     https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/46-rock-climbing2.jpg?w=450

3009.) Psalm 40

Psalm 40 (NIV)

There are a number of psalms which speak of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called Messianic psalms since they speak of the Messiah. The question may be asked: “How can we recognize a Messianic psalm?” The answer would be:  where there is a reference to the Messiah in a psalm, and it is applied to Christ and expounded in the New Testament.

–The Messianic Psalms, by T. Ernest Wilson

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;

“Think ye, brethren, might it not read — ‘I waited impatiently for the Lord,’ in the case of most of us?”

–Charles Haddon Spurgeon

he turned to me and heard my cry.

² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

³ He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

from The Message of the Psalms,
by Walter Brueggemann

The beginning of the psalm is a familiar phrase:  “I waited patiently.” This is a weak rendering. The text has an infinitive absolute which might better be translated, “I hope intensely for Yahweh.” Indeed all other hopes were exhausted. Verses 1-10 tell that this passionate hope was fulfilled and not disappointed. The hope was against all the evidence in the conviction that Yahweh could work a genuine newness. The hope was not disappointed.

The rescue that was hoped for was granted:  he inclined, he heard, he drew me up, he set my feet, he put a new song in my mouth. And the psalmist is eager to assert that this is not a private matter. The personal rescue is a matter of public interest and benefit, for Yahweh’s trustworthiness in this instance leads others to trust.

The verbs of thanksgiving are of interest. No doubt they refer to a personal experience, but the words have imaginative power because they also touch and allude to the primal memories of Egypt and the exodus. That God inclines and hears, brings up, and sets feet in new places is the experience of all of Israel (see Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-15). The new song is enacted there in the Songs of Moses (Exodus 15:1-18) and Miriam (Exodus 15:21). When one uses this psalm, one stands in solidarity with, participates in, and relives the whole saving memory of Israel.

⁴ Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.

⁵ Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.

John 21:25 (NLT)

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

And these next verses clearly point us to Jesus!

⁶ Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.

What did God desire instead of sacrifice? Obedience. This was true for David’s predecessor Saul. King Saul offered sacrifices just fine; what he didn’t do was obey God (1 Samuel 15:22-23). Ultimately this was fulfilled by the Son of David. Jesus came and was perfectly obedient, and His obedience is counted unto us.

⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.

⁸ I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

John 4:34 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Hebrews 10:1-10   (NLT)

The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,

“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.
    But you have given me a body to offer.
You were not pleased with burnt offerings
    or other offerings for sin.
Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
    as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”

First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

your law is within my heart:  “I do not only understand it, but receive it with heartiest love, delighting both to meditate of it, and to yield obedience to it.”

–John Wesley

⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.

It was true of Jesus in His earthly ministry. “This is what Jesus can say. He was the Prince of open-air preachers the Great Itinerant, the President of the College of all preachers of the gospel.” (Spurgeon)

It is also true of Jesus in eternity come. Of Jesus it is true, in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You (Hebrews 2:12 as a fulfillment of Psalm 22:22). It’s a remarkable thing to think of Jesus leading the assembly of God’s people in praise to God the Father.

–David Guzik

¹⁰ I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.

¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.

¹² For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.

¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.

my all-purpose prayer

¹⁴ May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.

¹⁵ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be appalled at their own shame.

¹⁶ But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
“The LORD be exalted!”

¹⁷ Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.

“With such a Father and such a Friend, poverty becometh rich, and weakness itself is strong.”

–Thomas Hartwell Horne

You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.

_________________________

Music:

HERE   is a beautiful harmonization of an ancient (5th century Greek) hymn — “Lord Jesus, Think on Me.”

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

verse 16 and mountains.    http://wonders.wallpaperdave.com/ps40-16v.jpg

rescued.    https://guyanachronicle.com/2016/01/16/rescued

books on shelves.   https://www.argosybooks.com/browse-books.php

I take joy.   https://faithhopegrowth.com/great-scriptures-memorize/image1-1-8/

Help!    http://strictlygospel.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/help.jpg

3008.) Numbers 36

Numbers 36   (CEV)

The Laws about Married Women and Land

¹One day the family leaders from the Gilead clan of the Manasseh tribe went to Moses and the other family leaders of Israel ²and said, “Sir, the LORD has said that he will show  what land each tribe will receive as their own. And the LORD has commanded you to give the daughters of our relative Zelophehad  the land that he would have received.

This passage is a reference back to Numbers 27:1-11, where the five daughters of Zelophehad were concerned that their father’s inheritance would vanish, because there were no sons in their family. God, through Moses, declared that if a father has no sons, the inheritance can then go to the daughters.

“Five Sisters” by Paula DiLeo

³But if they marry men from other tribes of Israel, the land they receive will become part of that tribe’s inheritance and will no longer belong to us. ⁴Even when land is returned to its original owner in the Year of Celebration and Jubilee, we will not get back Zelophehad’s land–it will belong to the tribe into which his daughters married.”

If the land was given to the daughters, then when the daughters married, the land went to their husband’s tribe — and eventually, the original tribe’s lands would become depleted.

⁵So Moses told the people that the LORD had said:

These men from the Manasseh tribe are right. ⁶I will allow Zelophehad’s daughters to marry anyone, as long as those men belong to one of the clans of the Manasseh tribe.

⁷Tribal land must not be given to another tribe–it will remain the property of the tribe that received it. ^8-9In the future, any daughter who inherits land must marry someone from her own tribe. Israel’s tribal land is never to be passed from one tribe to another.

The solution is fairly simple. If a daughter in a family receives an inheritance of land, she must marry within the tribe. Since the tribes were large enough, this really was no burden. If a daughter married outside the tribe, she had to forfeit the inheritance, because not only did she have inheritance rights, but the tribe did also.

^10-11Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah the daughters of Zelophehad obeyed the LORD and married their uncles’ sons ¹²and remained part of the Manasseh tribe. So their land stayed in their father’s clan.

The “Five Sisters of Kintail” in Scotland, covered with snow

¹³These are the laws that the LORD gave to Moses and the Israelites while they were camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.

The Book of Numbers began “in the desert of Sinai” (Numbers 1:1). It now finishes as close to the Promised Land as you can get without actually being there!

As the Children of Israel stood across from the city of Jericho, we should consider what it took to take them from Egypt to this place across the Jericho.

i. From their encampment at Mount Sinai, God gave Israel the opportunity to grow from being a slave people to being a Promised Land people. He taught them how to be ordered, organized, cleansed, separated, blessed, how to give, to be reminded of God’s deliverance, given God’s presence, and received the tools to advance to the Promised Land.

ii. Then, as the nation actually set out from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land, they found themselves struggling with the flesh — they murmured, complained, and rebelled; most of all, they failed to enter into what God had set before them by faith — and a generation of unbelief was condemned to perish in the wilderness.

iii. God led the nation for some 38 years in the wilderness, with much motion but no progress — enduring more rebellion and murmuring, but essentially waiting until the generation of unbelief had died and a generation willing to trust God for big things had come to maturity.

iv. So they set out towards the Promised Land again, and faced the same challenges of the flesh — but dealt with them better this time, until they made their way to the threshold of the Promised Land.

–David Guzik

The end of the book of Numbers.

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Let’s review!

From The Bible Project — HERE  is a fun, animated 5-minute review of the book of Numbers.  Enjoy!

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Upon finishing Numbers, let us consider these thoughts from the Apostle Paul–

1 Corinthians 10:1-12 (NIV)

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

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Music:

“Forever God Is Faithful” seems a fitting song with which to close out our study of Numbers.  HERE  it is performed by Michael W. Smith.

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Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

verse 7.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/1631-numbers-36/

DiLeo.  https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/1631-numbers-36/

Five Sisters, Scotland.   http://lifeattheendoftheroad.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/030309-029-large.jpg

Example verse.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/elegantwaexamplecopy.png

3007.) Numbers 35

Numbers 35   (CEV)

The Towns for the Levites

¹While the people of Israel were still camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the LORD told Moses ²to say to them:

When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe. ³That way, the Levites will have towns to live in and pastures for their animals. ^4-5The pasture around each of these towns must be in the shape of a square, with the town itself in the center. The pasture is to measure three thousand feet on each side, with fifteen hundred feet of land outside each of the town walls. This will be the Levites’ pastureland.

The tribe of Levi had no “state” or “province” within Israel. Their inheritance was to be the Lord alone: Then the Lord said to Aaron: You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel (Numbers 18:20). Yet, the Levites had to live somewhere. God commanded that each tribe give cities to the Levites, so that the Levites would be sprinkled throughout the whole nation. The Levites were to be given more than just the cities; around each city, they were to be given common-land — land suitable for the grazing of their animals and for small-scale farming.

–David Guzik (and all following remarks in purple)

⁶Six of the towns you give them will be Safe Towns where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. But you will also give the Levites forty-two other towns, ⁷so they will have a total of forty-eight towns with their surrounding pastures.

⁸Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel’s own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.

This reflects God’s desire to evenly distribute the Levites, who were to be the most spiritually focused Israelites — the full-time ministers, so to speak — evenly throughout Israel, so their influence could be distributed throughout the whole nation. This shows the wisdom of God in not making a Levitical state that others would have to go to. God intended that these ministers go out among the people, to influence them for the Lord.

In the same way, God does not intend that there be a Christian country or state where all the Christians live together in spiritual bliss, and simply say to the world, “come and join us if you want.” Instead, God wants Christians to be sprinkled throughout the whole world, influencing people for Jesus Christ.

The Safe Towns

⁹The LORD then told Moses ¹⁰to tell the people of Israel:

After you have crossed the Jordan River and are settled in Canaan, ¹¹choose Safe Towns, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. ¹²If the victim’s relatives think it was murder, they might try to take revenge.  Anyone accused of murder can run to one of these Safe Towns for protection and not be killed before a trial is held. ¹³There are to be six of these Safe Towns, ¹⁴three on each side of the Jordan River. ¹⁵They will be places of protection for anyone who lives in Israel and accidentally kills someone.

Joshua 20:7-8 records the actual choice of the cities. They fulfilled the plan of being evenly distributed; no one was very far from a city of refuge. Deuteronomy 19:3 also tells us that proper roads were to be built and maintained to these cities of refuge. A city of refuge was no good if the slayer could not get there quickly.

Laws about Murder and Accidental Killing

The LORD said:

Significantly, the Bible makes the clear distinction between killing and murder. All murder is killing; but not all killing is murder. Society needs laws to establish the principles that decide a death to be either an unfortunate killing or true murder.

^16-18Suppose you hit someone with a piece of iron or a large stone or a dangerous wooden tool. If that person dies, then you are a murderer and must be put to death ¹⁹by one of the victim’s relatives. He will take revenge for his relative’s death as soon as he finds you.

^20-21Or suppose you get angry and kill someone by pushing or hitting or by throwing something. You are a murderer and must be put to death by one of the victim’s relatives.

Matthew 5:22 (NIV)

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

^22-24But if you are not angry and accidentally kill someone in any of these ways, the townspeople must hold a trial and decide if you are guilty. ²⁵If they decide that you are innocent, you will be protected from the victim’s relative and sent to stay in one of the Safe Towns until the high priest dies. ²⁶But if you ever leave the Safe Town ²⁷and are killed by the victim’s relative, he cannot be punished for killing you. ²⁸You must stay inside the town until the high priest dies; only then can you go back home.

²⁹The community of Israel must always obey these laws.

³⁰Death is the penalty for murder.

Genesis 9:6 (ESV)

“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.”

But no one accused of murder can be put to death unless there are at least two witnesses to the crime.  ³¹You cannot give someone money to escape the death penalty; you must pay with your own life!

³²And if you have been proven innocent of murder and are living in a Safe Town, you cannot pay to go back home; you must stay there until the high priest dies.

^33-34I, the LORD, live among you people of Israel, so your land must be kept pure. But when a murder takes place, blood pollutes the land, and it becomes unclean. If that happens, the murderer must be put to death, so the land will be clean again. Keep murder out of Israel!

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Music:

HERE  is “Let There Be Peace on Earth”  sung by the Harlem Boys’ Choir. How our communities, our nation, our world all need this message! Today, “Let it begin with me.”

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Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

“Dove of Peace.”  Stained glass by Chantel Pare.   http://chantalstainedglass.50megs.com/images/3peacedove_btn.jpg

city of refuge.   http://www.bibleexplained.com/moses/Numb/c%20f%20refuge-sm.jpg

angry face.  http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/big_make-face-angry.jpg

3006.) Numbers 34

Numbers 34   (CEV)

Israel’s Borders

Israel was going to have to take control of the Promised Land by conquest; they would have to drive out the Canaanites to take possession. Yet, they should never consider that the land was given to them because they earned it. It was given to them by God as an inheritance. Inheritances are freely given, not earned.

–David Guzik

¹The LORD told Moses ²to tell the people of Israel that their land in Canaan would have the following borders:

³The southern border will be the Zin Desert and the northwest part of Edom. This border will begin at the south end of the Dead Sea. ⁴It will go west from there, but will turn southward to include Scorpion Pass, the village of Zin, and the town of Kadesh-Barnea. From there, the border will continue to Hazar-Addar and on to Azmon. ⁵It will run along the Egyptian Gorge and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶The western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.

⁷The northern border will begin at the Mediterranean, then continue eastward to Mount Hor.  ⁸After that, it will run to Lebo-Hamath and across to Zedad, which is the northern edge of your land. ⁹From Zedad, the border will continue east to Ziphron and end at Hazar-Enan.

¹⁰The eastern border will begin at Hazar-Enan in the north, then run south to Shepham, ¹¹and on down to Riblah on the east side of Ain. From there, it will go south to the eastern hills of Lake Galilee,  ¹²then follow the Jordan River down to the north end of the Dead Sea. The land within those four borders will belong to you.

The listing of the four boundaries is not only for information, but also to display again the dimensions of God’s great gift to his people.

–-notes from The NIV Study Bible

¹³Then Moses told the people, ” You will receive the land inside these borders. It will be yours, but the LORD has commanded you to divide it among the nine and a half tribes. ¹⁴The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh have already been given their land ¹⁵across from Jericho, east of the Jordan River.”

The Leaders Who Will Divide the Land

¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, ¹⁷” Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun will divide the land for the Israelites. ¹⁸One leader from each tribe will help them, ^19-28and here is the list of their names:

Ten men to help divide the land. Ten men to be present for public prayers.  “Ten Men” by SuSan “Esther.”

Caleb son of Jephunneh from Judah,

Shemuel son of Ammihud from Simeon,

Elidad son of Chislon from Benjamin,

Bukki son of Jogli from Dan,

Hanniel son of Ephod from Manasseh,

Kemuel son of Shiphtan from Ephraim,

Elizaphan son of Parnach from Zebulun,

Paltiel son of Azzan from Issachar,

Ahihud son of Shelomi from Asher,

and Pedahel son of Ammihud from Naphtali.”

²⁹These are the men the LORD commanded to help Eleazar and Joshua divide the land for the Israelites.

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Music:

An encouraging word  — as we see how graciously God led the people of Israel day by day from place to place, and as we review our own experiences and look forward to continued walking with the Lord.  HERE  The Oslo Gospel Choir sings “Never Gonna Lose My Way.”  Because the Lord is faithful, “my feet on solid ground, I trust in You!”

NEVER GONNA LOSE MY WAY

Words by Jan Groth; Music by Tore W. Aas

I was doing fine so long,
thinking I was too strong,
and nothing in this world could shake me.
Everything was black or white,
either wrong or right,
condemning was so very easy.

But I’ve learned my lesson,
yes, I see my misery,
and it’s my confession,
I’m pulling through,
it’s all because the grace I see.

I am never gonna lose my way,
step by step You lead me day by day,
and I’m glad to know that You will always see me through,
my feet on solid ground, I trust in You!

When I used to feel so good,
doing what I should,
convinced that I knew all the answers.
Yes, I simply couldn’t see
it was all a mystery,
how people could be weak and faulty.

But I’m getting wiser,
through defeats and fights,
and it’s so much nicer,
to realize Your love is the cause.

I am never gonna lose my way,
step by step You lead me day by day,
and I’m confident that You will always see me through,
my feet on solid ground, I trust in You!

__________________________

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

tribes map.   http://www.bibletrack.org/notes/image/Tribes.jpg

compass.   http://stufffromroom311.pbworks.com/f/CompassRose.jpg

This land.   https://www.wnyc.org/story/american-icons-this-land-is-your-land/

Esther, “Ten Men.”  http://www.jewishartandsoul.com/TenMen.jpg

3005.) Numbers 33

One idea for the route. Too bad, too sad — Moses didn’t leave a map, so today’s scholars try to guess . . .

Numbers 33   (CEV)

Israel’s Journey from Egypt to Moab

(Looking back)

¹As Israel traveled from Egypt under the command of Moses and Aaron, ²Moses kept a list of the places they camped, just as the LORD had instructed. Here is the record of their journey:

Good-bye to Egypt!

^3-4Israel left the Egyptian city of Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month.  This was the day after the LORD had punished Egypt’s gods by killing the first-born sons in every Egyptian family. So while the Egyptians were burying the bodies, they watched the Israelites proudly  leave their country.

The plagues the Lord brought upon Egypt were not randomly chosen; they were specifically intended to humble the people and rebuke their belief in the false Egyptian deities. With God’s power behind them, the Israelites left Egypt boldly, more like conquerors than slaves.

–David Guzik

⁵After the Israelites left Rameses, they camped at Succoth, ⁶and from there, they moved their camp to Etham on the edge of the desert.

⁷Then they turned back toward Pi-Hahiroth, east of Baal-Zephon, and camped near Migdol.

⁸They left Pi-Hahiroth,  crossed the Red Sea,  then walked three days into the Etham Desert and camped at Marah.

⁹Next, they camped at Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees.

¹⁰They left Elim and camped near the Red Sea,  ¹¹then turned east and camped along the western edge of the Sinai Desert.

an oasis at Elim, complete with palm trees

^12-14From there they went to Dophkah, Alush, and Rephidim, where they had no water.  ¹⁵They left Rephidim and finally reached the Sinai Desert.

This portion of the journey took them more than a year; most of the time was not spent traveling, but in receiving the law at Mount Sinai.

^16-36As Israel traveled from the Sinai Desert to Kadesh in the Zin Desert, they camped at Kibroth-Hattaavah, Hazeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-Perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-Jaakan, Hor-Haggidgad, Jotbathah, Abronah, Ezion-Geber, and finally Kadesh.

This portion of the journey took them some 38 years — not because the distance was so long, but because God led them in wanderings because the generation of unbelief had to die in the wilderness. Only then could a generation of faith could be raised up to take possession of the Promised Land.

³⁷When they left Kadesh, they came to Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.

³⁸That’s where the LORD commanded Aaron the priest to go to the top of the mountain. Aaron died there on the first day of the fifth month,  forty years after the Israelites left Egypt. ³⁹He was one hundred twenty-three years old at the time. ⁴⁰It was then that the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Southern Desert of Canaan, heard that Israel was headed that way.

The green plains of Moab, now part of Jordan.

^41-47The Israelites left Mount Hor and headed toward Moab. Along the way, they camped at Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iye-Abarim in the territory of Moab, Dibon-Gad, Almon-Diblathaim, at a place near Mount Nebo in the Abarim Mountains, ⁴⁸and finally in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. ⁴⁹Their camp stretched from Beth-Jeshimoth to Acacia.

The LORD’s Command To Conquer Canaan

(Looking forward)

⁵⁰While Israel was camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the LORD told Moses ⁵¹to give the people of Israel this message:

When you cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan, ⁵²you must force out the people living there. Destroy their idols and tear down their altars. ⁵³Then settle in the land–I have given it to you as your own.

⁵⁴I will show you  how to divide the land among the tribes, according to the number of clans in each one, so that the larger tribes will have more land than the smaller ones. ⁵⁵If you don’t force out all the people there, they will be like pointed sticks in your eyes and thorns in your back. They will always be trouble for you, ⁵⁶and I will treat you as cruelly as I planned on treating them.

If Israel failed to drive the Canaanites out of the land, they could still occupy the Promised Land — but the corrupt practices and heart of the Canaanites would find a place among Israel, and Israel itself would eventually be driven out of the land.

This became true of Israel’s history. They did not fully drive out the Canaanites, and though they possessed the land, the corruption of the Canaanites continued among Israel until eventually God allowed Israel to be driven out of the land in exile.

–David Guzik

__________________________

Music:

Just as the people of Israel could look back and see God’s continuing care for them, so we as individuals can do the same. I look back over the years of my life and praise God for his loving kindness to me.  HERE  is “God Will Take Care of You” sung by the choir from Fountainview Academy, a Seventh Day Adventist high school based in southern British Columbia, Canada. Be encouraged!

__________________________

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

wilderness journey map.  http://www.avakesh.com/images/2007/06/21/wilderness_journey_3.gif

pyramid.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/1628-numbers-33/

palm trees at Elim.  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3e/21/80/3e2180b8180fac7087a4d60c30e7bc18.jpg

Sinai desert.  http://www.photomediashop.com/wallpapers/images/wallpapers-800/97-sinai_212-WP.jpg

Moab.  http://www.ronaldecker.com/moab.jpg

3004.) Numbers 32

Numbers 32   (CEV)

Land East of the Jordan River Is Settled
(A Conversation)

Israel had conquered the Moabites and the Midianites, and the ideal grazing lands on the east side of the Jordan River were laid out before them. The tribal leaders of Reuben and Gad were content with these lands, and asked to be given them as their tribal inheritance.

Moses feared that the attitude of the tribes of Reuben and Gad would keep the other tribes from going into the Promised Land. Their attitude said, “We’ve fought enough and suffered enough already. Let’s just settle down where we’re at.” Moses wanted them to know that there was a battle to fight and that they were all in it together. Just because these tribes were content with where they were at did not relieve them of the responsibility to keep the battle going.

The tribal leaders of Reuben and Gad offer to send their troops to help conquer the land west of the Jordan River. None of the tribes would envy Reuben or Gad, resting in ease, while the rest of them are battling for their lands. The men of Reuben and Gad would fight right beside them.

–David Guzik

¹The tribes of Reuben and Gad owned a lot of cattle and sheep, and they saw that the regions of Jazer and Gilead had good pastureland.

²So they went to Moses, Eleazar, and the other leaders of Israel and said, ^3-4” The LORD has helped us capture the land around the towns of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. That’s good pastureland, and since we own cattle and sheep, ⁵would you let us stay here east of the Jordan River and have this land as our own?”

⁶Moses answered:

You mean you’d stay here while the rest of the Israelites go into battle? ⁷If you did that, it would discourage the others from crossing over into the land the LORD promised them. ⁸This is exactly what happened when I sent your ancestors from Kadesh-Barnea to explore the land. ⁹They went as far as Eshcol Valley, then returned and told the people that we should not enter it. ¹⁰The LORD became very angry. ¹¹And he said that no one who was twenty years or older when they left Egypt would enter the land he had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not one of those people believed in the LORD’s power, ¹²except Caleb and Joshua.  They remained faithful to the LORD, ¹³but he was so angry with the others that he forced them to wander around in the desert forty years. By that time everyone who had sinned against him had died. ¹⁴Now you people of Reuben and Gad are doing the same thing and making the LORD even angrier. ¹⁵If you reject the LORD, he will once again abandon his people and leave them here in the desert. And you will be to blame!

¹⁶The men from Reuben and Gad replied:

Let us build places to keep our sheep and goats, and towns for our wives and children, ¹⁷where they can stay and be safe. Then we’ll prepare to fight and lead the other tribes into battle. ¹⁸We will stay with them until they have settled in their own tribal lands. ¹⁹The land on this side of the Jordan River will be ours, so we won’t expect to receive any on the other side.

²⁰Moses said:

You promised that you would be ready to fight for the LORD. ²¹You also agreed to cross the Jordan and stay with the rest of the Israelites, until the LORD forces our enemies out of the land. If you do these things, ²²then after the LORD helps Israel capture the land, you can return to your own land. You will no longer have to stay with the others. ²³But if you don’t keep your promise, you will sin against the LORD and be punished.

Numbers 32:23 (King James Version)

Be sure your sin will find you out.

This was one of my mother’s favorite verses as she raised her children, and I confess that my own personal experience bears testimony to the truth of this Scripture!

²⁴Go ahead and build towns for your wives and children, and places for your sheep and goats. Just be sure to do what you have promised.

²⁵The men from Reuben and Gad answered:

Sir, we will do just what you have said. ²⁶Our wives and children and sheep and cattle will stay here in the towns in Gilead. ²⁷But those of us who are prepared for battle will cross the Jordan and fight for the LORD.

²⁸Then Moses said to Eleazar, Joshua, and the family leaders, ²⁹” Make sure that the tribes of Gad and Reuben prepare for battle and cross the Jordan River with you. If they do, then after the land is in your control, give them the region of Gilead as their tribal land. ³⁰But if they break their promise, they will receive land on the other side of the Jordan, like the rest of the tribes.”

³¹The tribes of Gad and Reuben replied, ” We are your servants and will do whatever the LORD has commanded. ³²We will cross the Jordan River, ready to fight for the LORD in Canaan. But the land we will inherit as our own will be on this side of the river.”

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Home on the Range”  sung first by Roy Rogers and then by Gene Autry. Now when last did you hear this song?!

_________________________

³³So Moses gave the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh   (see map above) the territory and towns that King Sihon the Amorite had ruled, as well as the territory and towns that King Og of Bashan had ruled.  ³⁴The tribe of Gad rebuilt the towns of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵Atroth-Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran. They built walls around them and also built places to keep their sheep and goats.

³⁷The tribe of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸Sibmah, as well as the towns that used to be known as Nebo and Baal-Meon. They renamed all those places.

³⁹The clan of Machir from the tribe of East Manasseh went to the region of Gilead, captured its towns, and forced out the Amorites. ⁴⁰So Moses gave the Machirites the region of Gilead, and they settled there.

⁴¹Jair from the Manasseh tribe captured villages and renamed them ” Villages of Jair.”  ⁴²Nobah captured the town of Kenath with its villages and renamed it Nobah.

And another tribe — actually, half the tribe of Manasseh — were likewise content to settle on the lands east of the Jordan River. So, in total, two and one-half tribes never took possession of land west of the Jordan River.

_________________________

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images:

map of tribal lands.    http://www.jesuswalk.com/gideon/images/12tribes_map250x389.gif

cowboys.  http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/forts/images/cowboys.jpg

Charlton Heston as Moses.  http://www.chrisjonesblog.com/images/2015/01/charlton-heston-as-moses-in-the-ten-commandments.jpg

3003.) Numbers 31

This map shows generally the traditional route for the Israelites in the wilderness. See Midian on the east side of the Gulf of Aqaba.

Numbers 31   (CEV)

Israel’s War against Midian

¹The LORD said to Moses, ²” Before you die, make sure that the Midianites are punished for what they did to Israel.”  ³Then Moses told the people, ” The LORD wants to punish the Midianites. So have our men prepare for battle. ⁴Each tribe will send a thousand men to fight.”

We are generally uncomfortable with the idea of vengeance because it doesn’t seem consistent with God’s love. Yet, in the right context, vengeance is something good that God is interested in. The Scriptures repeatedly speak of the vengeance of God as a positive thing. Evil comes when we take vengeance into our own hands.

–David Guzik

⁵Twelve thousand men were picked from the tribes of Israel, and after they were prepared for battle, ⁶Moses sent them off to war. Phinehas the son of Eleazar went with them and took along some things from the sacred tent  and the trumpets for sounding the battle signal. ⁷The Israelites fought against the Midianites, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. They killed all the men, ⁸including Balaam son of Beor

Remember Balaam (and his talking ass)?   He finally gets his due.

and the five Midianite kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. ⁹The Israelites captured every woman and child, then led away the Midianites’ cattle and sheep, and took everything else that belonged to them. ¹⁰They also burned down the Midianite towns and villages.

¹¹Israel’s soldiers gathered together everything they had taken from the Midianites, including the captives and the animals. ^12-13Then they returned to their own camp in the hills of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, where Moses, Eleazar, and the other Israelite leaders met the troops outside camp.

¹⁴Moses became angry with the army commanders ¹⁵and said, ” I can’t believe you let the women live! ¹⁶They are the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and invited our people to worship the god Baal Peor. That’s why the LORD punished us by killing so many of our people. ¹⁷You must put to death every boy and all the women who have ever had sex. ¹⁸But do not kill the young women who have never had sex. You may keep them for yourselves.”

¹⁹Then Moses said to the soldiers, ” If you killed anyone or touched a dead body, you are unclean and have to stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days, you must go through a ceremony to make yourselves and your captives clean. ²⁰Then wash your clothes and anything made from animal skin, goat’s hair, or wood.”

^21-23Eleazar then explained, ” If you need to purify something that won’t burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, you must first place it in a hot fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-14 (NLT)

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.

Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.  But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.  If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.

After you take it out, sprinkle it with the water that purifies. Everything else should only be sprinkled with the water. Do all of this, just as the LORD commanded Moses. ²⁴Wash your clothes on the seventh day, and after that, you will be clean and may return to the camp.”

God uses the same means to purify believers today — the fire of trials and the water of washing.

When God uses the fire of purification, we can say with Job:  When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold (Job 23:10). The fire purifies precious metal by causing the impurities (the dross) to rise to the top, where the refiner can skim them away. The refiner can tell when the gold is pure, because he can then see his reflection in the pool of gold.

When God wants to wash us clean, He not only uses the waters of baptism, but also the ministry of the Word as described in Ephesians 5:26: That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.

–David Guzik

Everything Taken from the Midianites Is Divided

²⁵The LORD told Moses:

^26-27Make a list of everything taken from the Midianites, including the captives and the animals. Then divide them between the soldiers and the rest of the people. Eleazar the priest and the family leaders will help you.

^28-29From the half that belongs to the soldiers, set aside for the LORD one out of every five hundred people or animals and give these to Eleazar.

³⁰From the half that belongs to the people, set aside one out of every fifty and give these to the Levites in charge of the sacred tent.

³¹Moses and Eleazar followed the LORD’s instructions ^32-35and listed everything that had been taken from the Midianites. The list included 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 young women who had never had sex.

^36-47Each half included 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 young women. From the half that belonged to the soldiers, Moses counted out 675 sheep and goats, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys, and 32 women and gave them to Eleazar to be dedicated to the LORD. Then from the half that belonged to the people, Moses set aside one out of every fifty animals and women, as the LORD had said, and gave them to the Levites.

⁴⁸The army commanders went to Moses ⁴⁹and said, ” Sir, we have counted our troops, and not one soldier is missing. ⁵⁰So we want to give the LORD all the gold jewelry we took from the Midianites. It’s our gift to him for watching over us and our troops.”

Grateful for every soldier who comes home safely.

⁵¹Moses and Eleazar accepted the jewelry from the commanders, ⁵²and its total weight was over four hundred pounds. ⁵³This did not include the things that the soldiers had kept for themselves. ⁵⁴So Moses and Eleazar placed the gold in the LORD’s sacred tent to remind Israel of what had happened.

God wanted the Israelites to have the hearts of givers.

_________________________

Music:

God wants our offerings, yes, but more than that, he wants us — our hearts, souls, mind, and strength.  HERE  is Vineyard Music singing “Take My Life.”

_________________________

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

map showing Midian.    http://www.ldolphin.org/exodusmap.jpg

fire.    https://christiscoming777.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/outer-darkness-hellfire.jpg

soldier coming home.   http://dugglass.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/soldier-coming-home.jpg

3002.) Numbers 30

“A Scout is trustworthy.”

Numbers 30   (CEV)

Making Promises to the LORD

¹The LORD told Moses to say to Israel’s tribal leaders:

²When one of you men makes a promise to the LORD,  you must keep your word.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5  (ESV)

When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

Reflections on promises:

Let God’s promises shine on your problems.
~Corrie Ten Boom

We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot.
~Abraham Lincoln

Eggs and oaths are easily broken.
~Danish Proverb

A promise is a cloud; fulfillment is rain.
~Arabian Proverb

No pillow so soft as God’s promise.
~Author Unknown

³Suppose a young woman who is still living with her parents makes a promise to the LORD. ⁴If her father hears about it and says nothing, she must keep her promise. ⁵But if he hears about it and objects, then she no longer has to keep her promise. The LORD will forgive her, because her father did not agree with the promise.

^6-7Suppose a woman makes a promise to the LORD and then gets married. If her husband later hears about the promise but says nothing, she must do what she said, whether she meant it or not. ⁸But if her husband hears about the promise and objects, she no longer has to keep it, and the LORD will forgive her.

⁹Widows and divorced women must keep every promise they make to the LORD.

¹⁰Suppose a married woman makes a promise to the LORD. ¹¹If her husband hears about the promise and says nothing, she must do what she said. ¹²But if he hears about the promise and does object, she no longer has to keep it. The LORD will forgive her, because her husband would not allow her to keep the promise. ¹³Her husband has the final say about any promises she makes to the LORD. ¹⁴If her husband hears about a promise and says nothing about it for a whole day, she must do what she said–since he did not object, the promise must be kept. ¹⁵But if he waits until the next day to stop her from keeping her promise, he is the one who must be punished.

¹⁶These are the laws that the LORD gave Moses about husbands and wives, and about young daughters who still live at home.

This is an outworking of the principle of headship. When God declares someone to be in a position of rightful authority and others are expected to submit to that authority, the head also is accountable before God for the result.

–David Guzik

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Music:

HERE  country music star Alan Jackson sings “Standing on the Promises of God.”

________________________

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

Scout promise.   http://images.clipartpanda.com/scout-clip-art-scout-clipart-3.gif

pinky promise.    http://blog.onebyonedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/promise.jpg

3001.) Numbers 29

Blowing the shofar — the sound of the trumpets!

Numbers 29   (CEV)

The LORD said:

The Sacrifices at the Festival of Trumpets

¹On the first day of the seventh month,  you must rest from your work and come together to celebrate at the sound of the trumpets. ²Bring to the altar one bull, one full-grown ram, and seven rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. And then offer these as sacrifices to please me.  ³Six pounds of your finest flour mixed with olive oil must be offered with the bull as a grain sacrifice. Four pounds of flour mixed with oil must be offered with the ram, ⁴and two pounds of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the young rams. ⁵You must also offer a goat  as a sacrifice for sin. ⁶These sacrifices will be made in addition to the regular daily sacrifices  and the sacrifices for the first day of the month.  The smoke from these sacrifices will please me.

The LORD said:

The Sacrifices on the Great Day of Forgiveness

The Day of Atonement

This day is so important that a whole chapter of Leviticus is devoted to it — remember chapter 16? And Hebrews chapter 9 clearly explains how this day points to Jesus Christ and the work he did on the cross.

⁷The tenth day of the seventh month  is the Great Day of Forgiveness.  On that day you must rest from all work and come together for worship. Show sorrow for your sins by going without food, ⁸and bring to the altar one young bull, one full-grown ram, and seven rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. Then offer these as sacrifices to please me.  ⁹Six pounds of your finest flour mixed with olive oil must be offered with the bull as a grain sacrifice. Four pounds of flour mixed with oil must be offered with the ram, ¹⁰and two pounds of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the young rams. ¹¹A goat  must also be sacrificed for the sins of the people. You will offer these sacrifices in addition to the sacrifice to ask forgiveness and the regular daily sacrifices.

The LORD said:

The Sacrifices during the Festival of Shelters

A booth to live in during the Feast of Tabernacles.

¹²Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month  and continuing for seven days, everyone must celebrate the Festival of Shelters in honor of me. ¹³On the first day, you must rest from your work and come together for worship. Bring to the altar thirteen bulls, two full-grown rams, and fourteen rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. Then offer these as sacrifices to please me.  ¹⁴Six pounds of your finest flour mixed with olive oil must be offered with each bull as a grain sacrifice. Four pounds of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the rams, ¹⁵and two pounds of flour mixed with oil must be offered with each of the young rams. ¹⁶You must also offer a goat  as a sacrifice for sin. These are to be offered in addition to the regular daily sacrifices.  ^17-34For the next six days of the festival, you will sacrifice one less bull than the day before, so that on the seventh day, seven bulls will be sacrificed. The other sacrifices and offerings must remain the same for each of these days.

³⁵On the eighth day, you must once again rest from your work and come together for worship. ³⁶Bring to the altar one bull, one full-grown ram, and seven rams a year old that have nothing wrong with them. Then offer these as sacrifices to please me. ³⁷You must also offer the proper grain sacrifices and drink offerings of wine with each animal. ³⁸And offer a goat  as the sacrifice to ask forgiveness for the people. These sacrifices are made in addition to the regular daily sacrifices.  ³⁹You must offer all these sacrifices to me at the appointed times of worship, together with any offerings that are voluntarily given or given because of a promise.

⁴⁰Moses told the people of Israel everything the LORD had told him about the sacrifices.

For Israel to obey what God commanded in Numbers 28 and 29, it meant that every year, the priests sacrificed 1,086 lambs, 113 bulls, 32 rams, more than a ton of flour, and some 1,000 bottles of oil and wine behalf of the nation. The most prominent animal of sacrifice was the lamb. This is a obvious prophetic reference to Jesus, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

All this sacrifice did not include the sacrifices made by individuals or households. The priests and Levites were clearly busy with the job of sacrifice, and it was fulfilled at considerable expense.

In the days of Jesus, there is record of 255,600 Passover lambs being sacrificed at one Passover just by individuals and households.

Significantly, none of it was enough! Not one of these hundreds of thousands of sacrifices over the centuries could ever take away a person’s sin; that had to wait until a perfect sacrifice was offered — the sacrifice of Jesus.

–David Guzik

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Music:

HERE  is “How deep the Father’s love for us,” written by Stuart Townend and sung by Fernando Ortega. Do we as believers sometimes treat Christ’s sacrifice as a trifling? Or do we gaze at the cross with deep humility and thanksgiving? Take the moments of this song to pause and consider all that God has done for us in Christ.

_________________________

Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Images courtesy of:

blowing a shofar.   https://instituteofthebiblicalgeography.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/shofar-rosh-hashanah-copy.jpg

crucifix.  http://barakachibiriti.blogspot.com/2011/03/misalaba-yaruhusiwa-kutumika-mashuleni.html

booth.   http://www.wikieducator.org/images/7/77/Sukkot-eitan.gif