Judges 6-7: How Soon They Forget (con't)

It's one thing for the world to prosper.  It's another for God's people to abandon him in order to achieve prosperity.  The latter often results in being forced hide out in order to avoid your enemies.  That's what happened to Israel whenever they forgot God.  They were overrun by their enemies. 

God's was still watching over his people and Gideon saw that in the form of the angel that sat down under the oak where he was threshing wheat in a winepress.

 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” - Judges 6:13-15  NIV

As is always God's way, he chose the weakest link to be Israel's savior.  As we cast around today for answers to the seemingly hopeless situation in our country and the world as a whole, we need to remember that it will not be power of any sort that brings us through.  It will not be some televangelist, promising that we can expect great things, who will show us the way. It will be those who are weak enough to know that they are powerless who will lead us out of our oppression.

2010 Post - Judges 6-7:  The Lord is Peace

Judges 4-8: How Soon They Forget

The Israelites were to live the same folly over and over again.  They would go their own way, forgetting about the Lord God that had brought them out of captivity.  Things would flourish for a while and then get desperate.  Their enemies would 'suddenly' bear down on them and the Israelites would run to a leader who had the ear of God who would be successful in thwarting the advance of the enemy.  They would rejoice over their victory.

“So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!
   But may they who love you be like the sun
   when it rises in its strength.”
   Then the land had peace forty years. - Judges 5:31:  NIV

And then they would forget.

God does marvelous things when his people turn back to him, but as long as they are seeking their own solutions, their own profit, they will fail miserably.  You cannot serve two masters, even if the one master is your own well-being......to be continued.

2010 Post - Judges 4-5:  The Women's Turn

Judges 1-3: Evil Practices and Stubborn Ways

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. - Judges 2:18-19 NIV
This sounds so familiar.  As long as we have godly rulers, we follow a godly life, but the minute we lose that godly ruler-ship, we revert back to the old, sinful, pagan, ways.  The gospel changes people and circumstances.  Look at the world around us.  The revival going on in Africa outstrips any work of the gospel in a so called 'Christian' nation like the United States.  It has been a long time coming and will take time for the effects to take place, but nations that were once considered primitive will become civilized and prosperous, while those that reject God will become more and more barbaric and uncivilized.  If you think that is not possible, look at us.  Just how civilized are we any more.  Civilized discourse?  That's a thing of the past.  Barbaric?  Look at how even the most educated of us decorate our bodies with tattoos and piercings and run around more than half naked.  The Ubangi's of fifty years ago have nothing on us.  Our art, our music, pales in comparison with the great artists and composers of the past.  As for acknowledgement of God, that is almost non-existent.  We can only pray that God is at this very moment raising up holy judges that will lead us out of this morass.

2010 Post - Judges 1-3:  You've Got To Serve Somebody

Joshua 20-24: Not With Your Own Sword and Bow

You did not do it with your own sword and bow. Joshua 24:12 NIV

'You did not do it with your own sword and bow', Joshua tells the Israelites as he prepares them for his death.  None of events that comprised their history, from Abraham on, was ever of the Israelites own doing.  It was all conceived, designed, and carried out by God's hand. 

Joshua's statement is a reminder to us as well, that nothing is of our own doing, at least nothing that is of any worth.  We may think we're going to fight for God, for truth, justice and the American way.  We may think that we're the defenders of God's cause, but we're only deceiving ourselves.  It is all orchestrated by God.  Everything, all events, whether they are local, national, or even global bear the mark of God's hand.  It has been that way since creation and is never going to change.  It is our choice whether or not we are pawns in God's hands or chosen servants; whether we will be moved by God or move with him. 

2010 Post:  Joshua 20-24:  As For Me and My House

Joshua 13-19: Allotment

I read these chapters that detail the allotment of the land between the twelve tribes and wonder 'Why are some of the portions so small, their details so insignificant?'  Did some of the tribes not care, or did they only care about enough to meet their immediate needs? 

It's interesting that an entire chapter is devoted to describing the land allotted to Judah, but only a short paragraph describes the allotment for some of the other tribes.  Was it fore-known that Judah would remain faithful to God for a much longer period than the other tribes; that Bethlehem in Judea would play a critical role, that the Lion of Judah would be our only hope: 

2010 Post - Joshua 13-19:  Dividing the Land

Joshua 9-12: The Lord Is Fighting for Israel

I have a tendency to limit God.  We so seldom see him move with the power that was exhibited in the Old and New Testaments that it is an easy thing to do.  Aside from earthquakes and tsunamis, today God's power is seldom seen, at least not like it was when the children of Israel fought the Amorites and. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! - Joshua 10:13-14 NIV

But even now, the Lord is fighting for Israel.  What has the promise of becoming a more frightening situation for Israel, is still ordained by God.  In addition to causing the sun to stand still, God has a history of toppling kings, or hardening the hearts of pharaoh's. 

We're going back to Israel in five weeks.  I suppose we should be anxious, but we are not.  What better place to be should the worst happen?  God has a history of delivering his people by unconventional means.  There is no reason to think the same won't happen this time.  In Israel, we will once again visit at least one 'Tell', the remains of ancient civilizations, some of which consist of over 20 different layers.  The sun has risen and set on all of those different civilizations, yet God's people have been preserved and are once more back in the land of their ancestors.  Think of all God has seen them through:  the Exodus, the capture of Canaan, the building of the great temple and city of Jerusalem, being forced into exile in Babylon, conquered by the Romans, Byzantines, Muslims and Crusaders and finally the Holocaust.  God's eye is still on his people, the same God that caused the sun to stay still for a full day.  He's still in control and the more desperate the situation, the more his power can be displayed. 

2010 Post - Joshua 9-12:  Rest from War

Joshua 6-8: What's God's is God's

With God's help, the Israelites captured and destroyed both Jericho and Ai. The attacks were different, but the final results were the same.  The Israelites rushed in and took anything of value as plunder.  The only difference was that at Jericho, as the people marched around the city walls, they devoted the city to the Lord.  On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.” - Joshua 6:15-19 NIV

You cannot rob God.  The Israelites learned this lesson through Achan whose sin in carting off plunder from Jericho caused them to lose their first battle against Ai.  Just as with Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament, be very careful with what you devote to God.  If you give him your voice, don't think you can lead worship on Sunday and sing in a night club the other nights of the week.  Once you give something to God, devote it to him, you can't take it back.  History is littered with the ruins of those who once ran wholeheartedly after God and then started living for themselves.  It never works:  Everything accomplished for yourself will only be a shadow of what could have been done for God.

Does that mean God has nothing for us?  No, the Israelites were given permission to take all of the spoils of Ai for themselves.  There were riches available for them, but those dedicated to God were for God alone. That is why tithing is so important for a victorious Christian life.  Ten percent of what we earn is supposed to be devoted to God.  If we rob him of that, we will see the effects on our prosperity.  It's not a matter of  'if we give we will prosper', rather if we don't give, we will not experience the overwhelming prosperity of God.

2010 Post - Joshua 6-8:  The Valley of Trouble

Joshua 1-5: A Scarlet Cord of Surrender

How did the men sent to spy out Jericho know that Rahab would have a receptive heart towards God's people and why would a person with such a reputation be used rather than some upright citizen?   Rahab knew who she was but she had seen God's power at work as well.  She was not embarrassed to hang a scarlet cord from her window to win God's favor.

God's standards are so different from our own.  Both the Old and New Testaments are littered with heroes from dubious backgrounds.  In addition to prostitutes, there are murderers, adulterers, liars, cheats , people who would shake their fists in anger at God, and even those who would deny him.  How can a pure gospel be spread by such people.  Or perhaps the questions should be how can the gospel be spread by any one else?   Who better to understand God's forgiveness than those of us with a tainted past?  Perhaps all of our failures serve as a means to soften our hearts towards the others God would touch as well.  God's not too impressed with our feeble efforts, we all fall short and we all have a shot at redemption.  Thank God, his standards are not as high as our own or none of us would be saved. 

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. - Acts 10:34-35 KJV

We're all tainted, we're all guilty.  If we are really honest, each of us could hang a scarlet cord out the window as a sign of surrender.

2010 Post - Joshua 1-5:  Be Strong and Courageous

Deuteronomy 31-34: Rest Between His Shoulders

Sometimes as I read the chapters chosen for my daily devotion, nothing comes to me.  Everything is familiar, the stories have all been told before.  And then, suddenly a verse leaps out; one that seems specifically designed for me alone.  This morning it is the blessing that Moses pronounced on Benjamin, shortly before he climbed Mt. Nebo for a parting glance at the promised land before he died.

 “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,
   for he shields him all day long,
   and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”  - Deut. 33:12 NIV

'The one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.'  Suddenly I see what my relationship to the Lord should look like.  It is not adult to adult as I often imagine.  We are not on the same level at all.  I am his child.  He carries me.  I'm resting between his shoulders like a small child riding piggy back on his father's back.  I'm holding on for dear life, with my arms wrapped around his neck, but he's holding on to me as well.  He will not let me fall.  He loves me, I can rest secure in him.  If nowhere else, there is rest between his shoulders.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 31-34:  From Moses to Joshua

Deuteronomy 29-30: The Lord is Your Life

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. - Deut. 30:19-20

This sums it up for me.  The Lord is my life.  Apart from him, I have nothing, I am nothing.  Not just in a material, physical sense, but in the essence of life sense.  I've tried it the other way.  There is no life in going it on my own.  There is no life in any other possibility that can be offered to me.

My heart has no choice but to echo Simon Peter's words.   “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. - John 6:68 NIV

While I believe the promise that he will give us many years in this land, it pales in comparison to seeing him face to face.  My prayer is that at the end of my life, I will run to him, like a child runs into the arms of their daddy.  As the Marys discovered, there is no stone blocking the tomb.  He has the key.  He is my life in the here and now and in eternity.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 29-31:  Choose Life

Deuteronomy 26-28: My Father was a Wandering Aramean

Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. - Deut 26: 5 NIV

These were the words which the Israelites were to use as they presented their first fruits offering.  An offering from all they received, but often did not deserve.  Left to their own devices, they would still be back in Egypt instead of living in a land flowing with milk and honey.

These are also words we could use today as we bring our offerings to the Lord.  "My father was a wandering Aramean."  We are all descended from wanderers.  We are all prone to wander.  My own father wandered for almost forty years until he found the Lord.  Finding the Lord gave him roots, a family, and eventually prosperity.

God turns lives around.  Over and over again, he takes those who are wandering around, looking for answers and shows them that the only answer is to be found in him.  When we stop trying to become our own provision, he is able to provide.  When we stop trying to find a way, his way becomes clear.  God has always been there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. (Deut. 26:8 NIV) to bring us into the promised land.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 26-30:  Shout It From the Mountaintops

Deuteronomy 21-25: Without Loving God

How cold the Israelites keep track of all the laws given them.  There were rules for everything from what to do with an unsolved murder to what you could eat if you walked through your neighbor's field;  all the major and minor infractions were covered.  They had to be a holy, undefiled people because God was holy.  As the years went by, the laws in Deuteronomy became even more complicated.  Then Jesus came along.

It's really very simple, he told his disciples.  You must love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.  You don't need a guidebook for that.  You just need love, or as the apostle Paul put it.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  - Romans 13:9 NIV

This should be so easy, but in this present society, it seems to be the hardest thing to do.  We are constantly bombarded with the message that we are at the center; for each of us, our own well being is of utmost importance.  Look around and it's not hard to see the results of being so self-centered.  We climb over anyone in our way while at the same time we profess to be doing something good for society. The humanist would tell you that if you take God out of the equation it is easy to live an ethical life of personal fulfillment that aspires to the greater good of humanity.  But this has not been the case.  Our quest for personal fulfilment always comes at the expense of others.  We cannot love others as our self without loving God.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 21-25:  A Matter of the Heart

Deuteronomy 18-20: Don't Panic

When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” - Deut. 20:2-4 NIV

Don't panic.  That is the word the priests were to give the people before they went into battle. 

How often do I feel I am fighting the battle all alone, or even worse, how often do I feel that the battle has been lost already, so there is no reason to fight at all.  I find that especially true when I survey the world.  How can I fight all I see around me:  the broken homes, broken fathers and mothers, broken children?  How can I fight the forces that are dragging our society down to the depths:  the addictions, the drugs, the pornography, the incest, the greed and maliciousness?  How can any of us go into battle against all of these forces?

But, ever so faintly I hear the words:  'Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me,' and  'I will never leave you or forsake you..'  'Don't panic', our High Priest tells us, 'for God goes with you to fight your enemies.'  Don't be fainthearted, for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 18-20:  Who Said Anything About Safe

Deuteronomy 13-17: Prone to Wander

These chapters start out with the command that any prophet or seer who tries to convince the people to follow other gods, must be put to death.  It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. - Deut. 13:4 NIV 

That command would not be as difficult to follow as the next:   If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. - Deut. 13:6-10 NIV

This is pretty radical, but God is a jealous God.  These passages remind us that we must recognize the power of those we love to convince us to follow other gods or take our eyes off of the one true God.  Anyone who has overcome an addiction knows that they have to leave the old behind:  friends, co-workers, even family.  Associating with anyone who is still living the old life that they want to escape is going to pull them back down. 

This morning I woke to the words of an old hymn, Come Thou Fount,  running through my head.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.(1)

I'm prone to wander, just like the Israelites, prone to leave the shelter of God's love for the promise of something that can never really satisfy.  If it means divorcing myself from all those I know that would entice me to follow after other gods, then they must become dead to me.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 13-19:  Live Generously

(1)  Ro­bert Ro­bin­son, 1758; ap­peared in his A Col­lect­ion of Hymns Used by the Church of Christ in Angel Al­ley, Bi­shop­gate, 1759.

Deuteronomy 9-12: He is Your Praise

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, - Deut. 10:15-16 NIV

It's an amazing thing, that this God, who owns all of creation, who owns the universe, should set his affections on us.  How can he love us?  I look around and there is not much of anything that is lovable in this world. Not only do we bicker and fight with each other, but we destroy God's creation daily just as we destroy each other.  We're vicious, unloving, sinful, proud, loose, undisciplined, and unrestrained people and that is just those who call themselves Christians.  The rest of the world has taken the depths of depravity to an even greater level. 

Yet God still loves us.  He still loves me and I am as guilty as the next one of falling short of what he commanded us to be.  Those are easy words to put down on paper but do I really think I am as guilty as the rest of the world?  Do I say I fall short because it is what is expected of me.  Do I secretly think that it is the rest of the world that has gone mad while I am still saintly?  I confess that sometimes I feel that way.  I see everyone else's faults and seldom my own, which is perhaps more grievous in God's eye than being the worst of sinners.  Where is there any hope? 

Hope abounds.  God has been faithful to his creation when we have not.  He has done wonders, not only when he created the earth or brought the Israelites out of Egypt, but the most great and awesome wonder when he provided a way when it was hopeless.  He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. - Deut. 10:21 NIV

I have seen it with my own eyes  I've seen his mercy and grace.  I have seen his great and awesome wonder in my life.  He indeed is my praise.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 9-13:  Blessing or Curse

Deuteronomy 5-8: Where is the Righteousness?

The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” - Deut. 6:24-25:  NIV

Moses spoke these words to the children of Israel as he was recalling all that God had done for them and encouraging them to never forget.  Unfortunately, for that generation and all of those that were to follow, God's decrees and commands were all too soon forgotten, abandoned, or expanded upon until it was impossible to follow them.  Where was their righteousness? 

The same is true for me.  My memory is faint, my recollections spotty.  I can't remember all of my sins, let alone all that God has done for me.  And as far those commandments, when I hold them up against Jesus' measuring rod.:  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. (Matt. 5:21-22 NIV),  I fall short every time and have to cry as the apostle Paul, 'Woe is me."

But, thank God, he provided a way.  Just as he led the children of Egypt out of slavery in Egypt, he leads me out as well.  The sacrifice has been laid on the altar and I am free.

2010 Post - Deuteronomy 5-8:  Hear O Israel

Deuteronomy 1-4: God's Word

Moses begins his farewell speech to the Israelites with these words:
Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you......
.......See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say,
“Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” - Deut. 4:2-6 NIV

Do not add or subtract from the commands of the Lord.  Something I have to think long and hard about. What commands have I imposed upon myself that are not really of his doing? What commands of God am I subject to artful forgetting.  It is all too easy for us to adopt the commands and practices of the culture around us instead of studying and listening to what God has said to his people.  At it's worst, we witness those who have added so much to the gospel that it results in people being caught up in a cult.  And on the other side, we see those who have given the gospel so much permission that they are free to do whatever they please.  But these two extremes don't let me off the hook.  I have to measure my life and actions, not against the popular culture of even the church, but against his laws and his commands.  As Moses concluded:

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.  - Deut. 4:39-40 NIV

It's God's decrees and commands that we have to keep.  In order to do so, we must study these decrees so well that they are written on our hearts.  We have to be wise enough to distinguish between what popular culture would decree and what are God's commands.  We cannot rely on the words of others who seem to be more knowledgeable than us.  We have to know God's word.

Deuteronomy 1-4:  What More?

Numbers 31-36: In Retrospect

God wants us to acknowledge, understand, and learn from our past.   At the LORD’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages: (Num. 33:2 NIV ) Just like the children of Israel, if we look back, we can see our stumblings and failings, the times when we disobeyed and the times when we were obedient.  We can see the pain and everlasting consequenes of our disobedience as well as how God blessed us even when we didn't deserve it. 
Usually, it's in the here and now that we can't see God's hand.  That's where we often feel abandoned or at the very least unimportant in the overall scheme of things.  But that has never been and will never be the way God works.  He is there all the time.  We are his people all the time.  He is moving and directing even if we can't see him.  He is active in our lives.  We are being led.  If we choose to follow him obediently, our path will look different than if we try to go it on our own.  That's what the Israelites learned when they spent forty years going in circles.  We would do well to look to their history in order to change the course of ours.

Numbers 31-36:  Wrapping up Loose Ends

Numbers 25-30: A Day of Rejoicing

God has always drawn men to himself, and those whose hearts long for him are never disappointed.  There comes a time, at a certain age, when we see more of our loved ones and acquaintances being drawn even closer, being drawn from this world into the heavenly realm.  The saints of God here on earth become the saints in heaven. In the past couple of years, I have seen many leave this tarnished abode for their heavenly home.  Another saint left just this week.  

Just like Moses, we are given only a glimpse of what the future holds.  Moses got to go up the mountain to see what the land was going to be like, but it was not his to enter.  He led the way.  He brought the people to that place and time, but that was all he was to do.  It was time for him to let the responsibility rest on the shoulders of another:  Joshua, someone he had mentored and watched grow into a faithful and powerful man of God.  Moses knew it was only fitting that he should let go.  The promised land waited for the children of Israel and heaven waited for him.

Our mourning for those who have gone on can never overshadow the rejoicing that must take place when they are reunited with those who have gone on before.   Moses would soon see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the sons of Israel.  Ken gets to see Pastor Jim, Curtis, Kent, Gerald and my own father.  What a day of rejoicing that will be.

2010 Post - Numbers 25-30:  Another Generation, Another Census

Numbers 22-24: The Shout of the King

Balak, the king of Moab, was terrified when he saw the number of Israelites invading the plains of Moab and would have done anything in his power to destroy them.  Realizing he didn't have the physical power to defeat them, he went to Balaam, the seer, to enlist the a supernatural power.  But the supernatural power was for the Israelites not against them, so all of Balak's entreaties fell on deaf ears.

God had chosen the children of Israel as his own.  While there were many times when he could have turned his back on them, they were still his chosen ones.  'I can't curse those that God has not cursed.' Balaam told Balak.  'Try again.' was Balak's response, So Balaam has to make it even clearer.

God is not a man, that he should lie,
   nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
   Does he promise and not fulfill?
I have received a command to bless;
   he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

“No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
   no misery observed in Israel.The LORD their God is with them;
   the shout of the King is among them. - Num. 23:19-21 NIV

Those that God has chosen are blessed, regardless of the circumstances.  What God has promised, he will not take back.  How differently we would live, how much better our lives would be, if we truly understood that 'the shout of the King' is among us. 

2010 Post - Numbers 22-24:  It's All in What You See

Numbers 20-21: Lost to History

I am always trying to find maps of ancient Israel to understand the location of all the cities that are mentioned in Israel's conquest of the promised land.  Most of the records of the whereabouts those cities and their inhabitants have been lost.  We can only presuppose as to their exact location.  Just like the kings of those nations, they have faded into oblivion.  The enemies that loomed so large in Israel's eyes, the ones that denied the Israelites access to the land God had promised them, have all been lost to history. 

That has often been the case in my life as well.  Those enemies, the fears I faced, have been long forgotten.  There is a vague, fleeting, memory of old battles won or avoided by God's providential hand, but that is all.  I really have few scars to show for all God has brought me through.  What does stand out in my mind, whenever I reflect on the course of my life, is all of those times where God's power was at work.  In retrospect, I  see my past as God's leading and guiding me to where I am right now.  Does that mean that all the battles have been won, that all of the enemies have been faced?  That was not God's promise to the Israelites and it is not his promise to me.  But he did promise that he would go before and would bring them (and me) to a land of promise, one flowing with milk and honey.  I must keep my eyes on him and not on the the opposition.

2010 Post- Numbers 18-21:  A Generation Passes

Numbers 16-19: God is the Inheritance

It's no wonder Moses lost patience with the children of Israel.  They were always complaining or rebelling.  They wanted to be the ones in charge.  They wanted to be in leadership, they wanted to be in charge of the priesthood.  'We're all as holy as you' they told Moses.  They all wanted to share in the profits of ministry until God decreed that the Levites were not to own any property.  They were to live solely off of the tithes they received but were not to receive any material inheritance.  They had nothing to pass down to their descendants but the tradition of service to God in the temple. 

How many people would go into ministry today if the requirement was still the same, that those who minister before the Lord are not to own any property?  If God gave ministers today the same command that he gave to Aaron:  “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites. - Num. 18:20 NIV

How many would be willing to serve God if he was their only inheritance?  Of course, the priest in Israel's day only had to be responsible for a tent and a few pieces of furniture. Their requirements were simple, they didn't need to own land. A few sheep and oxen plus the first fruits of the harvest were enough to sustain them. They didn't have multi-million dollar sanctuaries and vast organizations that they were responsible for. They just had to represent the people before God.  That was all.

Numbers 13-15: Giants in the Land

Centuries later, the writer of the Hebrews addresses the very issue encountered by the Israelites after the spies returned from spying out the promised land.

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
    As has just been said:
   “Today, if you hear his voice,
   do not harden your hearts
  as you did in the rebellion.
Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. - Heb. 3:12-19

Not believing God is a sin.  When an entire nation does not believe God's promise, they wander in the desert for forty years and never get to see the promised land.  The same is true for an individual.  If we don't believe God and his promises, we will wander in the desert as well and will miss out on the promised rest and an abundant life here on earth.  There are giants in the land.  Sometimes that is all we see, but then we are not looking at God.  It always has been and always will be a choice between seeing the giants or seeing God, between believing in giants or believing in God..

2010 Post - Numbers 13-17:  We Are Lost

Numbers 9-12: Face to Face

There were prophets and then there was Moses.  It all started with the people complaining about the lack of meat in the camp.  'How can I handle all this grumbling and complaining?' Moses asked God who answered with his own question.  “Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.” (Num. 11:23 NIV)  At God's prompting, seventy of the elders stood around the tent of meeting.  When God spoke to Moses from the cloud, the Spirit rested on the seventy elders and they all prophesied.  The next thing you know quail are falling around them for as far as the eye can see. 

The seventy elders heard from God, which prompted Miriam and Aaron to wonder why Moses was the one in charge.  Didn't they hear God as well?  God called the three of them to the tent of meeting and spoke directly to Aaron and Miriam.
“Listen to my words:
  “When a prophet of the LORD is among you,
   I reveal myself to him in visions,
   I speak to him in dreams.
But this is not true of my servant Moses;
   he is faithful in all my house.
With him I speak face to face,
   clearly and not in riddles;
   he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
   to speak against my servant Moses?” - Num. 12: 6-8 NIV

There are prophets, there are those who see visions and dream dreams.  But that is not the same as being intimate with the Lord.  Sometimes we confuse the two and think that the only spiritual ones are those who hear or see.  But true intimates are those who know. 

2010 Post - Numbers 9-12:  Move 'em Out

Numbers 5-8: Restitution Required

The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged.- Numbers 5:5-y NIV

Do we really grasp this concept?  If we wrong another in any way we are unfaithful to the Lord.  If we truly understand this, then all of our petty jealousies, our back-biting, our snide aside comments about another, our gossip, our haughty attitude, our white lies, our feelings of superiority would all take on a different meaning.  It's not just the colossal, great, obvious, sins against each other that God sees.  He sees it all.  He even sees our hearts and we are guilty.  We are unfaithful to the Lord.  We are guilty and restitution is required. 

The Twelve Steps of AA recognize the concept that restitution is required much better than a lot of Christians today.  In order to have a right relationship with God, we have to take care of any of the wrongs we have committed against each other.

2010 Post - Leviticus 5-8:  Dedication

Numbers 1-4: Known by God

For many, the book of Numbers is one of the most boring in the Bible.  It contains all the numbering of tribes and the endless repetition.  Wouldn't it have been enough to say:
These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. The total number was 603,550. - Num 1:44-46 NIV

Instead, each tribe was listed just as it was for Reuben:  All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families.  The number from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500. - Num 1:20-21 NIV

It wasn't enough to just count the men.  They had to be listed by name, one by one.  Each man's name was important.  Each man's name was known to God.  From the leaders of each tribe down to the most unimportant member of the smallest tribe, each man's name was known and recorded.  Nothing has changed today.  Each of our names are written and recorded for God as well.  We may not think we have anything to contribute.  We may not have the well-known, up in lights name, but we are known to God.  What we do, what we accomplish, is not as important as the fact that our name is recorded.  We are known by God.

2010 Post - Numbers 1-4:  In Order to Move

Leviticus 25-27: Sabbath Rest and Year of Jubilee

Sabbath rest is something most of us don't understand any more.  It's not just a matter of the blue laws, which prohibited commerce on Sunday, becoming extinct.  We have lost the ability to rest.  We are all continually multi-tasking; surfing the internet, communicating with our cellphones, twitter, skype, playing browser games with strangers around the globe or using one of the many social networking application.  If we're not doing that, we're trying to find some way to obtain, organize or get rid of an accumulation of material possessions, or pursuing any of a thousand possible leisure options to keep ourselves amused.  We're doing anything to keep ourselves busy.  What are we running from?  What do we not want to face?  Could it be our very own creator?

When God set forth the Sabbath rest and Year of Jubilee for the Israelites, it was intended to make them stop.  Stop and rest as in the case of the Sabbath and stop and start all over again as in the case of the Year of Jubilee.  In both cases, the outcome was that people were forced to recognize that life was not all of their doing or all about them.  Rest, because that's what God did on the seventh day after he created the world.  Return everything to it's original owner, because we are only sojourners after all.  Both celebrations were to remind the Israelites and us of the supremacy and permanency of God as opposed to those of us for whom life is fleeting and all of our possessions only temporary.

2010 Post - Leviticus 25-27:  Sabbath Rest -

Leviticus 21-24: The Feast of Tabernacles

God gave Moses instructions on how the Israelites were to celebrate everything he had done for them.  They were to bring him the first fruits of their harvests.  They were to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets,  the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The latter was to be celebrated after the crops were brought in.  The children of Israel were told to live in booths or tents for seven days. They were to celebrate in this way for generations to come so their descendants would have an understanding of what God had done when he brought the people out of Egypt and turned them into a great nation.  The future generations needed to know that their ancestors started out with nothing.  They moved from place to place at God's command, with only what they could carry, and out of that obedience a great nation was born. 

It is the same for most of us if we look at our past.  Most of us are descended from immigrants who came with only the few possessions they could carry to a new land.  Most of our descendants were thankful to God for what they had been given.  While we give lip service annually with our Thanksgiving feast, are we still as thankful today, or do we need to go back to living in a tent to understand this great gift we have been given?

2010 Post - Leviticus 21-24:  The Seriousness of Being God's People