Numbers 36

The account of the inheritance of Zelophehad is now recorded for our consideration for the third time in the book of Numbers. This time a concern is brought by men who were in the same tribe as Zelophehad. Would some of the tribal inheritance of Manasseh end up belonging to other tribes as the daughters of Zelophehad married men from other tribes?

Just as with the original request of the daughters of Zelophehad, this concern was taken very seriously by Moses, who gave instruction from the Lord on this matter. A women who held a portion of a tribal inheritance had to marry within her father's tribe, lest the connection between the territory and the people of the various tribes be completely obscured as women with property intermarried in Israel.

Why does any of this matter? Redemptive history has forward motion. It has a beginning point and it is moving toward a glorious end. The land of Israel and even the land allotted to each tribe was an important element in the plan of God.

Israel was more than a symbol. It was a land given by God to the sons of Jacob with tribal territories that would soon be established. Zeal for that inheritance was not out of place, whether in the area east of the Jordan or in Canaan itself.

In the normal course of human affairs among men, people die. That is a big part of what is taking place on earth since Adam disobeyed God. Things fall apart here. Women lose the protection of husbands and fathers through death, desertion, or even abuse. Family bonds fall apart, and there is much disorder and sadness.

The Lord was not content to allow the words, “Things Fall Apart” to be the final motto over this sad world. He had other plans, and He has never abandoned His eternal intentions.

Israel and the tribal allotments were a stage in the forward movement of His purposes. The Law that He established through Moses would do what could be done to keep the land and the people together forever.

But Law could never bring about the eternal purpose of God. We don't keep law. And the curse of death and myriad forms of decay have their own law.

We needed a new creation. We needed life, life beyond the death of people we are counting on, life beyond the loss of family land. We needed a new creation.

That new creation would begin with a second Adam, born to a poor woman from the tribe of Judah, but conceived by the Holy Spirit. The salvation that has come to us through Him would bring about not just a restored Israel, but a renewed earth. He has accomplished what the Law could not do. We who embrace the news of His death and resurrection know this now by faith. Soon all the earth will know it by sight.

Numbers 35

The Lord had spoken regarding the tribes that would have an inheritance east of the Jordan. He had also given instructions about the inheritance for those tribes that would settle in Canaan, and had provided men who would help with the distribution of this gift from God. But one tribe was not mentioned, the tribe of Levi.

The Lord was the inheritance of the tribe of Levi, for they would have a share in the various tithes and offerings of the rest of the people of Israel according to His Law. Yet they would need places to live and pasturelands for their cattle.

After settling the broad outlines of the inheritance for all the other tribes, God spoke to Moses about the cities for the Levites. He also provided places of mercy in the land for people to flee for refuge.

The cities and pasturelands for the Levites were to come out of the inheritance of the other tribes. The Lord specified the number of cities and the dimensions of the pasturelands. He also gave the principle to the people that more cities for Levites would come from the larger tribes, and fewer cities would come from the smaller tribes.

The cities of refuge, three to the east of the Jordan and three in Canaan, would also be among the cities given to the Levites. The Lord specified here the procedures for mercy and justice for these cities, making a distinction between involuntary manslaughter and murder.

Even in the case of involuntary killing, the close relative of the deceased might be moved to seek some punishment as a result of an unfortunate death, and he would become an avenger of blood against an Israelite. The congregations of the cities of refuge would have to sort out these facts.

These cities were not to become a safe haven for those who had committed vicious murders according to prior evil intentions. Murderers were to face the death penalty. But those who were guilty of manslaughter would be protected by the Levites who judged in such cases.

The only place of safety for the manslayer was within a city of refuge. If he left that city he might be killed by the avenger of blood. He needed to stay in that city until the passage of some time, until the death of the high priest.

Judgments of this kind were to be based on an open hearing of the facts, and no one was to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. There was no provision for release for a guilty murderer. That person had to be put to death, or the land would become polluted in God's eyes. This was the Lord's system of justice concerning the cities of refuge under the care of the Levites.

The Levites were to be dedicated servants of the Lord, attending to the matters of the tabernacle and the Law. They did not have the same kind of life or inheritance that others in Israel would have. The Lord provided for His servants then, and the King of the church, Jesus Christ, commands us to provide for His church today.

Christ and His church have become a city of refuge, not only for those guilty of manslaughter, but for all who are weary and weighed down with burdens that they cannot bear. Even the wretched murderer may find eternal peace in Christ, though the judges of the realms of this world should rightly bring an accounting against those who take the lives of others.

But there is a permanent place of refuge for the vilest offender who truly believes. In that place we have a High Priest who never dies, but who always lives to make intercession for us. Our King and Priest has made perfect peace for us with God, and we are counted as beloved members of the divine household through Him.

Numbers 34

The people of Israel were ready to go into the land. They would really do it this time. Forty years in the wilderness was enough. Joshua and Caleb had been right about the promised land all along.

But what exactly was the promised land? The Lord Himself defined its borders. Can anyone but the Lord Himself change this decree?

Numbers 34 specified a land that included all of modern Lebanon, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Israel,. The land extended from the mountains of Lebanon in the north to the wilderness in the south, and form the great sea in the west to the Jordan River in the east.

More details were given by God because the land that He gave to His people was a real land. The specifics of an actual border were described. By the Word of God the limits of the conquest were also defined.

This was the inheritance of the nine and a half tribes. The remaining two and a half tribes had already received their inheritance east of the Jordan. This was their insistent request which the Lord had already approved. It is here reiterated.

The Lord commanded the leading men of the tribes to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan. Eleazar the priest and Joshua had a hand in the selection of the chiefs charged with this task.

The only name to note in this list is that of Caleb. This great man, together with Joshua, would go in to the promised land. The other earlier leaders were now gone.

This land was the gift of the Lord to His people of old, but God is the owner of every land. In Psalm 24:1-2 we read, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”

Not only that, but the psalm directs us above to the heavenly mountain of the Lord. Who would take us there? The Lion of the tribe of Judah would come, and give Himself as the Lamb of God. The message of His power and His love would be a weapon in a very different conquest. The land won by the love of the cross would be far more extensive than the land of Israel.

We do not boast in our own strength or in the advantages of the tribes of old. We boast in Jesus Christ, and in His cross and resurrection.

If we ever sense the nearness of the end of a great journey, we can remind ourselves that Christ has opened up for us a great land, even the mountain of the Lord on high. He is the King of Glory!

Psalm 56

They trample on me. My enemies trample on me all day long.

A person who tramples on another human being asserts his authority over that person. He is determined to do him harm. It is the exact opposite of lifting up another that he might be honored. To trample on someone begins with dragging him down to the ground.

Why would someone do that to another continuously? To oppress a person all day long is to assert complete dominance that can never admit any release. It is nothing like willing service, where one person gladly lowers himself in order that someone else might be lifted up. To trample over someone is to do violence to his will. This is the way mortal enemies and ruthless prisoners are treated.

Only a stronger friend can help, someone with power and love who can overthrow the oppressor. The suffering worshiper looks to God when he is afraid. He praises God. He trusts in God.

The thought of God, His character, His ability, His plan, takes away the debilitating fear of this adversary, When a victim trusts in God, he can say with confidence, “What can flesh do to me?”

Flesh can trample on me (even my own sinful flesh), but he cannot do that forever. A powerful Friend will help me. God will come.

The wicked can use their money and influence against my just cause. They can stir up others against me to do me harm. They can devise plots and look for me to fall into their traps. But they do not have the power of eternity in their hands. God's judgment will come.

The God who will come knows me. He knows my every sorrow, and He cares about my grief. He is on my side. The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate proof of this. If God were not for me, why would He have allowed His Son to face the horrors that even this psalm describes? He faced the plots of evil men. They lurked for Him. They thought that they had utterly destroyed Him. They thought that they had trampled all over Him. But He faced the cross willingly for me, to atone for my sin, and His empty tomb testifies to His victory.

The Lord has spoken about this in His Word. This Word is trustworthy and sure. In His Word I know about His actions and His intentions. I praise Him, and I praise His Word! It enters my ear and strengthens my soul. Even now I am revived.

The Lord Jesus was heard when He cried out to His Father. He made precious promises in His great distress, promises that touch upon my life as one who has joyfully surrendered to Him. He will bring the praise of a willing people to God forever. I will thank Him and offer up my life to Him eternally. I will walk before God in the light of life. No oppressor can take that away from me.

Psalm 55

Trouble can be known about from afar, but it can also be so close that it is ready to drop right on your head. Think of the trouble that Jesus faced from one of his closest friends, Judas, the treasurer for the disciples, and the betrayer of the Lord. At the end of His ministry, the trouble that Jesus faced was very close to Him.

The Lord cried out to His Father, His God, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet He resigned His heart to His Father's will, the covenant that would be secured by His own death. If there had been some way to fly away from the cross without violating His Father's will, that way would have been found. There was no other way.

There will be consequences for evil oppressors who destroy the innocent. If it were not for the perfect faithfulness of Jesus, an atoning sacrifice could never have been found that would take away our guilt. Even at His death there were words of forgiveness for us. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That was a very gracious assessment. Did they really not know what they were doing? That must be, since He said it. What if we think we know what we are doing and we still do it? Maybe we don't really know what we are doing. The Lord has accomplished the redemption of all who draw near to Him in faith. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Yet there will be trouble for proud enemies who reject His kind compassion. But have mercy on me, O Lord. How will I stand? I walked away from you for so many years. I thought I knew what I was doing. And my love and obedience since my return to your worship have been far from what you require. O the love of the cross that saves me! I cling to it. May that love save many people even today. For the days are evil, and many seem to be caught up in confusion that masquerades as clarity and superiority.

When you have found the love of Christ, and you draw near to Him in worship, nothing hurts like the betrayal of a close friend, a brother, a wife, a child, someone who you used to be with in the close bonds of true religious affections. Can such people fall away and be lost forever? Can the retributive justice that they deserve be the last word for them? Why then does Jesus cry out to His Father for their forgiveness among His final words? Won't the love of the cross find them, though they were overtaken by the dark deception of this present hour?

The Lord heard the cries of His Son. The resurrection is proof of something. What does it say? It says that a new era has come beyond the day of the Law. It says that there is a hope of new life, and that if we pursue Jesus, we will find that new life with Him, for He is alive.

The evil of Judas was base. But what have I done? What have others done who I plead for even now? There is a man where it can be said of him, “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” How can I distinguish between a Peter and a Judas?

The Lord knows. He knows what I do not know. “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” I seem to be all over the place. Yet in His tender mercies, I will not be moved. I will be kept by His love. The final words of the psalm are simple and true. They cut through things that bother my soul, things that are probably not for me to say. They are the song of a resting heart: “I will trust in you.” So be it. I will trust in you.

Psalm 54

I need to be rescued. Not just once, but many, many times.

I need a God who can see me in my latest need, today. I need a God who can hear a song that is my cry for help. I need a God with a heart that would care about me, despite my confusing life. I need someone who has the power to reach me and to rescue me.

The Lord is this God. His Name represents the sum total of who He is, a being that is beyond our understanding. When God became Man, the Name that He chose for Himself had the Hebrew word for salvation in it. That is how committed the God of the Jews is to saving His people. I need Him.

I have enemies, seen and unseen. In large part, those enemies have come because of my devotion to the God of my salvation. They set themselves against me in their hearts because I will not follow the spiritual way that is in the air of this age\. These enemies seen and unseen bring reviling accusations against me and against others who are my brothers and sisters around the world. They have come to believe that people like me who proclaim the Name of the Lord as the only saving God are a great danger to goodness and order.

The God of salvation has defined goodness and order. People don't agree with Him and with those who have aligned themselves with Him. I am among those who have aligned themselves with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I need to be vindicated. My enemies insist on one way and I insist on another. We cannot both be right. Vindicate me, O Lord!

I need God to hear my prayer when I speak and when I sing. I need Him to give ear to the words of my mouth. If I am left all alone without the One strong and loving God, I will have no hope.

What was the cross like for Jesus? Could He actually have been abandoned by the Father in order to be a Propitiation for me? That is what Isaiah 53 seems to say. This is part of what I cannot understand. This is the cross, the love of the cross, and the justice of the cross. This is also my salvation.

Strangers have risen against me. Some of them I can see because they are human beings. But could it be that fallen angels are also against me? Have they been at work seeking to destroy my life, my family, the Lord's church? Have they been seeking to lead me into error and immorality, and away from the God of my salvation?

I need to resist the devil and any who would be in league with Him. Save me, O my God! Teach me to resist an enemy I cannot see. Be in my soul with such power that I can feel even the rebel sigh and run to Your Word. Keep me around those who know Your presence, and who walk with You.

So many are ruthless. They do not set the God of Jacob before themselves. They want His Word and His people gone from the face of the earth. They seek my life. They sought the life of Jesus, and thought that they had Him. Yet in His death, they were publicly exposed, and in His resurrection, He was vindicated.

But God, the Lord, is my helper. Jesus lives, and so shall I. The Judge is my Redeemer. He will return evil to those who seek to destroy His beloved children. He is a Father to all who call upon His Name through the Name of His Son.

Jesus is the upholder of my life. Even to write these words in the darkness of this early morning is more for my own survival than it is for anyone else. I feel Him in the hearing of His Word. I know He loves me and all who call upon Him in truth. I know He will come again. Soon and very soon...

The defeat of my enemies will be a good thing. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. I am called to love all kinds of people, even my enemies. This is the way that has been set before me as a way of life by the Lord of my salvation. God will help me on this way today. But one day He will put an end to all this enmity. One day the world will be covered with His peace.

With that sure hope, I offer Him today a sacrifice of praise. I give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. You have delivered me from every trouble, and because of the certainty of Your promises, my eye has already looked in triumph on my enemies.

2 Timothy 3:3 - slanderous

“The Last Days and Truthing in Love”

(2 Timothy 3:3, November 27, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, ...

slanderous

The word that is translated “slanderous” here is the one from which we get our English word “diabolical.” The devil, Jesus told us, is a liar from the beginning. He is willing to tell blatant lies and half-truths in order to destroy others. He is full of slander, and is an accuser of the brethren who are beloved by God.

In the last days, people will be slanderous.

Slander comes from human beings. It is a violation of relationship. The closer the relationship, the greater the wound.

Someone who is a slanderer is a false accuser; unjustly criticizing others in order to hurt or malign them. A slanderer condemns in order to sever a relationship.

Not every criticism is slander. Look for two signs of the fullness of slander. Is the report infected with untruth? Is the intent of the party speaking evil or malicious? The second question is ultimately a matter of the heart. God knows what is fully slanderous, since He knows the heart of the speaker.

Speaking the truth in love

We are called to speak the truth seasonably and in love. If we love someone, there are times when we will be silent rather than speak a word of criticism. Love speaks the truth at a time when it may best be heard. God, be our help!

Living the truth in love

How loving are the words of criticism that we do speak? By their fruits you will know them. If we claim to speak the truth in love, we should be willing to live out that love with sacrificial actions.

Christ knows our sin. So does the devil. The devil is a malicious accuser. Christ is our propitiatory sacrifice. This is love: Christ laid down His life for His friends.

In the last days, people will be devilish. They will be slanderous. We are called as followers of Christ, to live out the truth in love, even to love our enemies. We need to keep our mouths from all slander. We need to back up good words with the sincerity of sacrifice.

Numbers 33

Numbers is a book about a journey through the wilderness, a journey that was almost over. In this chapter God recounted that journey stage by stage.

It all began with the triumph of the Passover executed by God in the sight of Israel's enemies. God poured out His judgments against oppressive people and their false divinities. Like the first day of faith in the life of one who has been redeemed by Christ, the old was now past, and the new had come.

This was only the beginning of a journey for the people of Israel. They were not immediately transported to the promised land. They had to face hunger and thirst, and they found the Lord's provision through trial. Now they had memories of their sin and of the Lord's testing and His goodness toward them, memories associated with places like Elim and Rephidim.

Some did not make it through the entire journey. Aaron the priest died on Mount Hor. Of course there were so many who died...

They encountered other peoples in their journeys. Other nations heard about them and were afraid. Now they were camped out at the plains of Moab as the day drew near to receive the promise that the Lord had spoken to their fathers.

At this time the Lord spoke to Moses about the future. The conquest was ahead of the people. They were to drive out all the inhabitants of the promised land. They were to execute God's judgment against them and their idols. They were to settle in that new land. They were to possess the good gift of the Lord. Life was not over. It was finally beginning.

This was not a time to shrink back. If they did not drive out the people from the land this would mean much trouble for many generations. Not only that, they would face trouble from God, for they would become like the people that God was judging, and they would face the anger of the Lord against them, and would themselves be driven from the land.

We have a promised land that is now across the Jordan of the end of our earthly days. Like the plains of Moab, our final years are for us the last stop before we come to a much better land. Those who draw near that river may savor memories of earlier travels. They consider the day of their deliverance from sin that came to them through the death of Jesus, the Son of God. They remember times of testing and trial. They have not always obeyed. They have faced the loving discipline of the Lord, and they have grown in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Now they would like to finish well. They, together with all of the church, are told to set their minds on things that are above where Christ is.

In one way their moment of finishing well is very much like the Israelites of old as they camped near the Jordan awaiting the Word of the Lord. They should know that though their journey through this wilderness is almost over, the glorious life is very near to them. They can look back, but they should especially look forward, since there is so much more ahead of them than what lays behind them.

In another way, they are in a very different situation than the Israelites. They will not enter a picture of heaven, but heaven itself, They do not have the danger of disobedience ahead of them leading to the horrible risk of the Lord thrusting them out of the land. Their position in heaven is completely secure by the work of Jesus Christ. They will soon be perfected in holiness. They will live in the glory of Christ forever.

One day they will come back with Christ at His return, when heaven comes to earth. They will have no doubt and no sin forever. The Lord will be their all in all, and their lives will be full for all eternity. They have the assurance of a true hope.

Numbers 32

The tribes of Reuben and Gad brought a surprising request to Moses. They wanted to settle to the east of the Jordan River in the area that God had recently given to Israel, an area that was not in the promised land itself.

Moses was alarmed. Was this the story of Israel's reluctance to enter the land all over again? Great trouble had come to God's people on account of that rebellion. Were Reuben and Gad going to bring more trouble upon Israel?

No, these tribes were committed to fight alongside their brothers in the conquest. They were not rejecting the Lord's mission. Only their families would remain on the east side of the Jordan.

Moses consented to this new plan. The people of Reuben and Gad, and also the people of Manasseh with them would settle in the eastern land known as Gilead. It was a good land for livestock, and they had much livestock. Their families would remain there. But the fighting men among them would go forth into battle across the Jordan river. They would be a part of the conquest together with all those who were numbered among the armies of Israel.

Moses would not have agreed to this unless He believed that it was in accord with the Lord's will. God had moved the hearts of the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh to put forward their intentions that might have seemed out of accord with His commands. Yet this new plan became agreeable to the mediator of the covenant, Moses.

God had used Moses to win most of this land that would now be the possession of these tribes. Moses would not be able to go into the promised land, but he had walked in this land of Gilead, and now the promised land seemed to grow larger through the impulse and proposal of some of the Lord's people.

God knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. The men of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were not attempting to abandon their duty to be part of the fighting force of the Lord's conquest of Canaan. They were not abandoning the purposes of the Lord, but were being used by Him to further reveal His purposes.

Jesus has won for the people of God a land far beyond the borders of Israel. In the centuries following His decisive victory through the cross and the empty tomb, the church has moved forward with the gospel of Christ's love and justice to the ends of the earth.

As the message of reconciliation has come to new people groups, there have been countless times when the church was led to make decisions that might first have seemed to be outside of what was known to be the will of God up to that point. But God is with us, and He knows the heart. Is our new desire an expression of true faith or is it just ungodly fear? Are we pursuing the ways of the pride of man or the glory of the Lord? God surely knows. Meanwhile He has not left us without His wisdom. We have the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord working through His church. On countless occasions the Lord has provided His good direction through something that might seem very unexpected. Then the people of God testify, “It seemed good to us and to the Holy Spirit,” and the Lord blesses His church with His providential “Amen.”

Numbers 31

God instructed Moses to avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. He used a surprisingly small number of fighting men, one thousand from each tribe, and killed all the males from among the Midianites, including Balaam, but they let the women and children live.

Moses was angry with the commanders, and ordered them to kill any of the women who had been with a man and all of the little boys. They were permitted to keep the young girls. Moses gave them instructions concerning rituals of cleansing, and the people obeyed his word.

The captive young women, the animals, and all the plunder taken from the Midianites was very substantial. Moses gave commandments concerning the distribution of the people and the goods so that those who did not go out to war from the tribes, and the Levites still received something from this divinely-ordered vengeance.

Through it all, not one life was lost among the Israelites.

How can God, who is love, have ordered and blessed this action? The Lord is not only love, He is also justice. One day Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. He will take vengeance upon His adversaries who have persecuted and murdered His people.

God does not ask for our approval of His plans for final judgment any more than He asked for our approval of the cross. The wrath of God against sin is real, and we should run for cover when we see it coming. The only refuge provided for us is in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 3:3 - unappeasable

“The Last Days and the Spirit of Reconciliation”
(2 Timothy 3:3, November 20, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 heartless, unappeasable, ...

unappeasable
How can we have peace with God? Only through the blood of His Son.

Everyone feels the effects of the fall. The natural man looks for some way to appease the gods. Tribal religions are full of various offerings and libations designed to turn away the wrath of angry deities.

The word translated “unappeasable” in 2 Timothy 3:3 comes from the practice of pouring out libations before a god who was an enemy to be appeased. But the word here is about relationships among people and is the negation of the practice of bringing a libation to someone to secure peace. In the “last days,” people will be unable to be placated by any kind of libation that could ever be imagined. They will be unappeasable, unwilling to pursue reconciliation.

The King of reconciliation
In light of the mercies of God to us in Christ, God calls us in 2 Corinthians 5 to receive the Lord's message of reconciliation, and to be ambassadors of God who bring a message of God's reconciliation to others. Christ is the King of the church. He is a King of reconciliation.

The Spirit of reconciliation
He has also granted to us a Spirit of reconciliation. His Spirit is a marker of the eternal peace that we have with Him, a peace that was won for us at the cost of the life of Jesus. It is His right as our King to call us forward in this mission.

The community of reconciliation
Jesus has called us to be a community of reconciliation in a world where so many people are unappeasable. As those who have heard the Lord's word of the most complete and generous reconciliation that can be imagined between God and His people, we should be delighted to speak forward the Word of the Lord's reconciliation to others.

We also should be people of reconciliation in our own relationships with other people.

We can only do so much. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Sometimes reconciliation may not be possible, at least not today. But we look for a better day. We are not content with enmity or even with a respectable distance between those who should be close.

We have full peace with God. Yet in the last days, many people will be unappeasable in their relationships with each other.

Numbers 30

A Hebrew vow was a conditional promise based on the Lord fulfilling for the worshiper some solemn request. “If You will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.” See 1 Samuel 1. If the Lord did not give a son to Hannah, there was no binding obligation on this woman to do anything. But if the Lord did give a son, then she needed to pay her vow.

A binding oath or pledge was like a vow, but without the “if” part. It was just a solemn promise, such as we take upon ourselves in our marital commitments.

Vows and oaths were significant legal and moral obligations. For a man, they were instantly binding. But the Lord had a merciful provision for women consistent with the institutions of protection and provision that He had established in marriage and the family. A father or husband could remove the binding nature of the oath or vow upon a woman when he heard about the commitment that his daughter or wife had made.

Once the husband or father heard about the commitment, if he said and did nothing, his wife's or daughter's obligation was in force. But if he refused to go along with the vow or oath, then the obligation was gone.

The situation of a woman who did not have this protection was different, as in the case of a divorced woman. Her vows or oaths would stand.

The church is the wife of a very faithful and wise husband. He has been very careful in all of His promises to only vow what He will surely pay. All of His pledges are trustworthy.

Our promises may fail. We may even make commitments that He will overturn for our own good and for His glory. But Jesus will keep His Word. He will never leave us. He will present us blameless before the Father, without spot or blemish, or and such thing. He will work all things together for our good and for God's glory.

He will never take back His Word. He assured us of His faithfulness through the shedding of His blood.

Numbers 29

At the end of Romans 13, Paul writes, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Do you know what the time is? People may over-drink to amuse themselves. People may over-amuse themselves with entertainment and sensuality in order to forget. But doesn't everyone know that unlimited partying only leads to sickness and death?

“Mr. Bailey,” asks a man at the bar tenderly to his friend George Bailey, “Why do you drink so much? Go home, Mr. Bailey.”

In Proverbs 31, a mother pleads with her son who should be a great man, “What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

But how does a person wake up? One way is to see that God is the Lord of time, and to know that a Day of Judgment is coming.

Jesus died in connection with the feast of Passover, the first of the feasts in the Jewish calendar.

Jesus rose from the dead in connection with the feast of firstfruits, the next feast.

The Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, the feast of Weeks, the great beginning of a harvest.

These events, the fulfillment of Passover, Firstfruits, and Pentecost in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the church, were the beginning of the final era of history. Now, Peter says, writing in the first century in 1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is at hand.” When Peter preached at Pentecost, he quoted from Joel 2:28-32, which begins with the future time marker “afterward.” But Peter says instead, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Joel's “afterward” is Peter's “last days.” See also Hebrews 1 and 2 Timothy 3.

The person who lives to entertain himself with sensuality or trivial pursuits needs to get a better sense of God's timing. The ordering of the biblical Jewish festivals give us one of the best ways to do that.

Passover, Firstfruits, and Pentecost have already come. One day the trumpet will sound.

In Numbers 28 and 29, the Israelites were told of the sacrifices to be offered in connection with each festival. Christ has offered the perfect sacrifice that has secured our life in the age of resurrection. We need to wake up to God's timing. Paul says in Romans 13:11, “Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

One day the trumpet will sound.

What should we do now? Ephesians 4:13 says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

We don't need to slay animals. We need to do what Hebrews 13:15-16 tells us: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” We need to do what the Lord instructs through Paul in Romans 12: “By the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Once the trumpet sounds, the Day of Atonement will be swiftly here. Only the perfection of the Lord's sacrifice will carry us through that day. By faith in Christ, we have been justified. By the gift of the Holy Spirit we have the fruits that flow from His righteousness.

What remains after that? We will tabernacle with the Lord forever. He lived below for a few years. We will dwell with Him in the new heavens and the new earth forever. It is fitting that in the time of Old Testament preparation that this final festival would be so full of sacrifice and celebration. This was one of God's pictures of eternal joy and fullness.

We need to wake up to God's timing. One day, the prophet says in Joel 2:31, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”

Come soon, Lord Jesus. We are awake to Your voice. We will praise You. We will follow You.

Numbers 28

God commanded Israel to bring Him daily offerings, one in the morning, and one at twilight. With the appointed grain and drink offering this was to be a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Every Sabbath there was an extra offering. And every month, at the beginning of the month, another offering was required.

The rhythm of ceremonial life was established by God. The life of His nation was filled with these markers of their relationship to Him. He was their God. They were His people.

Beyond these daily, weekly, and monthly occasions, the Lord commanded that His people celebrate the festivals that He had established. In this chapter we read again of Passover in the first month. Then on the appointed day, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost.

More will be noted in the next chapter, but in the New Testament ceremonial life, all of these temporary rules have found their fulfillment. Christ, our Passover has come. He was sacrificed as our Substitute. We have been purchased by His blood. This happened in close connection with an actual Old Testament Passover festival. The accounts of the Lord's Supper prove this.

After fifty days, the harvest of the nations began through the Spirit-filled preaching of the gospel. This all began on the day of Pentecost that year. Now the harvest is coming in throughout the world.

We no longer live in a time of shadowy preparation. We do not bring sheep, grain, and strong drink the same way. One sacrifice without blemish has been freely given. His offering has been received, and a whole way of ceremonial life has been fulfilled.

The church, filled the Pentecost Spirit, gathers together on the day of Resurrection, when the Lamb became the first fruits of the Resurrection Age. We partake in the meal that He appointed for us at His table. We enjoy His body and blood through His spiritual presence with His people. And we look for even these markers of truth to yield soon to the end of all things in the return of the King.

2 Timothy 3:3 - heartless

“The Last Days and the Heart of Jesus Christ”

(2 Timothy 3:2, November 13, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, ...

heartless

In the period that the Scriptures call “the last days” as we wait for the culmination of God's eternal purpose in the new heavens and the new earth, many people will be devoid of even natural affections. They will be heartless.

This will be true, at times, even among those who believe in Jesus Christ. It will be as if they are unplugged from some very important source of blessing that grants all people normal affections for their own families. They will seem to have no new water from heaven in their souls.

Sometimes they might be aware of this. Other times this awareness might escape them. In that second case, natural family affections expressed by others might seem to them to be extravagant, extreme, and even a bit unseemly.

The last days are called the last days because something is coming to an end. The period of existence that began with the creation of this present world will come to a close. Even the creation itself is groaning today. It is tired. We are all waiting for the revealing of something so entirely renewed that it can fit into God's promise, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Death has come into this world. The world is tired.

A new heart

Thankfully, Christ has granted to us even now a generous taste of the age to come. His full heart for His family is not content that you remain unfeeling. He is the source of right and full affections.

Even this gift comes from His blood.

It is very unusual that one death could bring so much life into a world that had become so darkened by a plague of death. It is odd that death would be defeated by one death. But this is what has happened. Death has been put to death through the death of the Son of God.

Yes, there are many heartless people in the church, people devoid of natural affections for their families, and for the Lord's family. You do not have to be like them. Jesus invites you to ask Him for heavenly life from Him today and every day, that your joy may be fill.

Heartless people in the church might tell you that asking for joy like that is a little extreme. Love them, but do not fall into their heartlessness.

Numbers 27

God loves women just as surely as He loves men. He had a plan for the women of Israel whereby they would have a part in the inheritance that He was giving to His chosen people.

Women could not receive circumcision, the sign of initiation in the Old Covenant, yet through their men they were a part of the community of the circumcised. This was reflective of the complexity of the Lord's plan for both men and women. Men would be born of women, but women would find their protection, provision, and even their inheritance through their connection with men.

But what if a family line in Israel ended without any men? What would become of that family's share of the Lord's gift of the land?

This was the problem that the daughters of Zelophehad brought to Moses, and it was significant enough to the Lord that this issue found its way into five chapters in the Bible: Numbers 26, 27, and 36, Joshua 17, and 1 Chronicles 7. This was because the Lord cared deeply about the women of Israel, and even more, because He cared passionately about His provision of an inheritance for all His chosen ones.

The Lord spoke directly to this issue: “If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.” Beyond this specific case, God made provision for the continued passing on of the land from generation to generation despite the fact that the progress of the family line might not be what everyone expected. The tribal lands for Israel would be preserved along family lines.

More generally, the Lord cared about the future of Israel. Moses would not be with them forever. He would take His place in another “land.” Joshua, would lead the people. The continuity of the covenant community would be assured despite the fact that even the most important people in Israel would die.

Joshua would be set apart for his role by the laying on of hands in the sight of the whole congregation. Moses did as the Lord commanded.

In the New Covenant, both men and women can receive the covenant sign of baptism. More important than this is the difference between Moses and Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant. Moses would die. So would Jesus, but Jesus' death would be followed by His astounding resurrection. Moses no longer reigns over us. But Jesus ever lives as the one Mediator between God and man.

Our inheritance and the continuity of all our covenant blessings are perfectly secure. Jesus lives.

Numbers 26

The time had come for the fighting men of Israel to be numbered again. The first group was largely gone now. Only Caleb and Joshua were in both the first census and the second one.

Roughly 600,000 fighting men were included in the census at the beginning of the wilderness wandering. About 600,000 were listed at the end of those wanderings. So many died. So many were now alive; a new generation raised up to take the land according to the Lord's command.

Reuben... Some of the Reubenites died in Korah's rebellion.

Simeon... The number for this tribe was significantly lower. Simeon would be eventually folded into Judah, but for now they had a separate number.

Gad...

Judah... the tribe of David, the tribe of Jesus, was still the largest of the tribes.

Issachar, Zebulun…

Joseph's sons were two tribes now, as we knew they would be from Genesis. Manasseh was greatly increased from the first census, but Ephraim was roughly the same though less than earlier, and now less than Manasseh.

Benjamin... The tribe from which Saul would eventually come had grown significantly.

Dan, Asher, Naphtali...

These numbers would be used to distribute the new land. The lot would be cast by tribe as the Lord would choose, but the size of the territory would be determined in part by this second census.

The Levites, as before, would be set apart from the rest. They would not have the same land allotments given to the other tribes.

Most striking was that except for Caleb and Joshua, all the original fighting men were gone, and another group, their children and grandchildren, would take their place.

God had been true to His promise of discipline. The first group would not enter the land. But He was also true to His promise of blessing. He would keep His good Word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

O the depths of the righteousness of God, who demands an accounting from the unfaithful!

O the depths of the mercy of God, who provides what He demands for His chosen ones!

Who is this God of both righteousness and mercy? How can we know this God who brings one generation down in the desert, and raises up their offspring according to His good purpose?

We see Him best on the cross. There Jesus, the Righteous One, loves us with His very blood. He keeps all His Word at the cost of His own life.

2 Timothy 3:2 - the last word

“The Last Days and Holiness”

(2 Timothy 3:2, November 6, 2011)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ...

unholy

In these “last days” of the gospel era, which is that period of many years between the first coming and second coming of Jesus Christ, the good news of Jesus is being proclaimed everywhere. But not all the news of this era is good. The fact is that during this great time of gospel opportunity, many people will be unholy.

The unholiness described here is irreverence. The whole category of God, the godly, and godliness will be denied by many people. As so many Israelites in the wilderness resented the special position of Moses and Aaron, people in the last days will resent the fact of Jesus and the special love of Christ for the church.

The idea of a Creator who is different from the things He has created will not only be viewed as in error factually, but hateful and harmful morally. The account of a Redeemer who would return as a Judge against anyone will be written off as backward and mean-spirited. Many will insist that all must be one in every sense. There will be no room in their view of life for the “God” who is above all and over all in power and in love.

People will be irreverent. People will be unholy.

This will be true outside of the church, but it will also be found inside the church. Moses took off His sandals before the voice of God in the desert. Many people will be unwilling to take off their sandals anywhere. There will be no holy ground for them, for there will be no holy One for them.

holy

But we cannot wish away God just by rejecting Him. He is the “I-AM.” Jesus knew this. The way to oneness between the Creator and the creature can only be found in Him.

Jesus was reverent. He was willing to fulfill all righteousness in submitting to a sinner's baptism, though He knew no sin. But He was not willing to pretend agreement with the religious self-righteousness of the Pharisees.

He had the greatest zeal for the Holy One of Israel. He was and forever is the Holy One of Israel.

In Him, the church is holy. We are reverent before Him. We use His Name with respect, and love His bride, the church. We are holy, for Jesus, our life, is holy.

Numbers 25

God had spoken amazing words of triumph for Israel through the mouth of Balaam, a man who did not love the Lord or the descendants of Jacob. The king of Moab was unable to crush Israel through the words of this sorcerer. Yet, “the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.”

There is more than one way to bring trouble upon the church. That which could not be accomplished through incantations, came to pass, at least in part, through immorality.

The immorality was not only sexual, it was religious. The men of Israel became entangled in Baal worship.

This spiritual adultery brought about the fierce anger of the Lord against His beloved. God instructed Moses to put the chiefs of Israel to death publicly. Moses sent out the judges as agents of divine judgment against all those who had joined themselves to a false god.

One man, Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, zealously obeyed the Lord's call for justice, and his story is recorded in this chapter. Because of this one man's dedication to the Lord, a plague that killed twenty-four thousand people was stopped.

Phinehas killed one man and his Midianite partner with a single spear, piercing them both for their tansgression. That one act brought a covenant of peace to him and to his descendants.

The story of Phinehas is a story of divine justice through the death of the guilty. The story of Jesus is the account of an innocent man being pierced for our transgressions.

The death of Jesus brought about a much more extensive covenant of peace for the Lord's people. A plague of far more devastating dimensions was ended for us in the death of our perfect Substitute.

What motivated Christ in this great battle against sin? Zeal for the Lord's house consumed Him. We are that house, the true bride of our faithful Redeemer, and the spiritual descendants of the One who bore our iniquities through His very public death.

Later in this book, in Numbers 31:8 and 31:16, and even in Revelation 2:14 we learn that Balaam the sorcerer had a teaching role in the immoral events that took place in Peor. We read about what happened to him in another place.

The Man that Balaam saw, the Star from Jacob, did not come to Israel as a sorcerer. He was not willing to travel unauthorized pathways to spiritual power. He showed His love for His Father's justice and mercy through the way of the cross. He has become the only everlasting atonement not just for Israel, but for the whole world.

Numbers 24

The king of Moab, Balak, wanted results. He got a champion sorcerer, Balaam, to come and look at the camp of Israel in order to speak a powerful curse against them. Two times now this guru of spells had spoken words from God upon Israel that were blessings instead of curses.

By the third try Balaam was beginning to see more clearly that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel. Therefore he abandoned some of his magical arts and went toward the wilderness. He saw the tribes of Israel in their formation. Then the Spirit of God came upon this unlikely prophet.

Israel would be blessed like a very sturdy grove, a fruitful forest. God's kingdom would be higher than the other kingdoms of the world. God confirmed the promise He gave so long ago to Abraham: “Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

Balak clapped his hands together, not in approval, but with deep frustration and anger. Balaam had forfeited any gain that would have been his as compensation from the king of Moab. But God would still use this sorcerer as an amazing spokesman of some very important revelation. Balaam would speak further words of blessing upon Israel.

This time the good word was not only about the nation, but about one special person from out of the chosen nation. A star would come out of Jacob, one who would have the scepter of a king.

This coming Messiah would be the same one announced to Eve who would crush the head of the serpent. This One from Jacob would have true dominion.

Before the coming of the holy One of Israel, the people of God would face great hardship and discipline from the Almighty. Even today the church has been warned that in this world we will have tribulation.

Yet we can be of good cheer, because a great star has appeared. That sign in the heavens announced the coming of the Holy One of Israel. Though He faced great affliction for our sake, because of His righteousness and mercy we have a sure hope.

Balaam's words were completed. He had disappointed the leaders of Moab who were counting on him to severely weaken Israel. But who can stop the hand of the Almighty? He will bless us with peace. He has purchased us through the blood of an acceptable Substitute. The King who died on the cross and rose from the dead is our true and everlasting King.