On the Road

We are on the road for a couple of weeks...will resume in a week or so...in the meantime, we are having a wonderful time getting together with family and old friends,, restoring our hearts and minds.

Numbers 22: Baalaam

Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land. Balak said: “A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”  Num 22:2-6 NIV

We forget just how powerful we believers appear to the world and then wonder why they treat us as they do.  Regardless of how we feel or how we see ourselves, they sense the power that is God living in our lives and it scares them.  The world senses, and rightly so, that should God choose to do so, their lives would be turned upside down, the world as they know it destroyed, just as the world of the Amorites and Moabites was.  The enemy toys with them and gives them the false impression that they can wage war against God and win, that they can curse God's people out of existence.  If that were true, it would have been done centuries ago, but it is not true and will never be.  Since the Children of Israel followed Joseph to Egypt, empires and civilizations have vanished, leaving nothing behind but a few crumbling monuments, but, God's people are still alive, the gospel is still alive, God is still on our side.  People have summoned various Baalam's through the centuries to curse God's people, but it has all been in vain.  God's people have survived, the Baalam's have not.

Numbers 14-21: Crisis After Crisis

they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Num. 21:5 NIV

Crisis after crisis, after crisis, complaining after complaining.  It's a wonder that God didn't abandon the Israelites once and for all, all of them, including Moses.  The people rebel and are struck with the plague.  Korath and his friends rebel and are swallowed up.  Miriam and Aaron get testy and Miriam turns leporous.  Even Moses gets frustrated at Meribah and strikes the rock twice when they grumbled about the water, forfeting his chance to enter the promised land.   In between all of this, God is still issuing  instructions for the priesthood and how they are to live their lives.

That's the same God that we serve, he has never changed.  He is still faithful when we are not.  He still loves us and still chastises us when we get out of hand.  It is always for our own benefit, however, just like the Israelites, we may not see it Immediately.  Perhaps it is only through the veil of  history we will see our rebellion and God's love.

Numbers 13: Giants in the Land

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “ And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” - Num.  13:30-33 NIV

There have always been giants in the land, giants of poverty, disease, inequality, disability, addiction, infidelity, lust, ambition, envy, gluttony, all those things which would keep us from God's promises.  We can refuse to go up against them, we can go around in circles in the desert of despair, or we can face them.  We can say, like Caleb, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”  Or we can declare, like the rest of the spies,  "We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”   Just as with the Israelites, God has given us his promise.  He goes before us.  What more do we need?  There are giants in the land, but they're nothing compared to our God.

Numbers 9: Where is God?

At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the LORD’s command they encamped, and at the LORD’s command they set out. They obeyed the LORD’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses. - Num. 9:18-23 NIV

What was God protecting the Israelites from?  What was he propelling them away from or towards?  Did they ever grumble, 'We've been here too long.  When are we going to move?' or 'Why are we moving so soon?  We just got settled'.  The same questions revolve in our heads today.  Can it be that   God is moving amongst us, that he is ordering our lives even when we don't sense it.   Perhaps we'd be more comfortable with a fiery cloud to demonstrate that God is still with us, that he is orchestrating our lives, when all we feel is silence on his part, when all we experience is the mundane or excruciatingly never ending pain.  Where is God in those times when there is no guidance?  Where is God?

Numbers 7: Following God

His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;  one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;  one male goat for a sin offering;  and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old, to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering.

This exact phrase is repeated twelve times in the seventh chapter of Numbers.  Since there are no accidents in God's kingdom, why was it so important that the identical offerings from each tribe in Israel be documented?  Is it perhaps to illustrate how precise God's requirements are, how they must be carried out exactly as prescribed, how there can be no deviation from the requirements.  For those of us on this side of the cross, is it to illustrate just how powerful Christ's sacrifice was, what it spared us from?  Not just hell fire and eternal damnation, but the monotonous repetition of trying to live up to God's standards.

 I'm afraid that if I were born an Israelite during the time of the Exodus, I might have ended up like Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu.  I'm a rebel at heart.  The last thing I want to do is conform to any set standard, to be just like everyone else, yet that is what God calls us to do.  Whether we admit it or not, we are all conformed to something, even if it is our own individuality.  In doing so, we miss everything that God has for us.  Christ's death provided access to eternal life, but it did not take away our human desire to carve out our own life. Conforming to a lot of laws and regulations does not make us holy, following God does.  Allowing our mind to let go of all pre-conceived notions of who or what we are to be frees us to be all God intended us to be.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2 KJV)

Numbers 6: Basking in His Love

The LORD said to Moses, 
“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 
“‘“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. ”’ 
“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” - Numbers 6:  22-27 NIV

We look for so many blessings, but do we look for the one true blessing that makes the whole of our life better, the one that raises our head?  That can only be the blessing that comes when the Lord makes his face to shine upon us, when he is gracious to us, when he turns his face to us and gives us peace.  No other blessing, nothing else that we would ask for compares to having God's face directed at us.  Earthly outcomes no longer matter when we bask in the presence of his love. 

Leviticus 26: Who is to Blame?

“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.
 “‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.  - Lev. 26:3-9 NIV

Anyone who wants to understand what has happened to our country need only read the first verse of this passage.  There was a time, in our founding when, perhaps not all, but a good portion of the citizens were people of faith.  They obeyed God's laws as well as those of the founding fathers and as a result, this nation prospered.  I fear that now the covenant has been broken.  Not just by the people who were never people of faith, but by those who consider themselves to be the children of God as well.  I know that I have failed in many ways to follow God's decrees.  I know that my sins are covered by the blood, that my soul is secure, but that does not mean that my sins are not contributing to the breaking of God's covenant with this country.  It may be something as simple as not loving my neighbor as myself, but any sin, either of commission or omission, threatens the covenant with God that secured prosperity for this country in years past.  We can't point fingers at the world and expect them to repent. We can't blame them for the situation in our country if we don't accept any part of the blame ourselves.

Leviticus 24: Safety Insurance

 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. -Lev. 24;18 NIV

We will do anything to insure safety, both physical and emotional, often putting one above the other.  The drug addict is too worried about his emotional needs to care about his safety.  He forgets to eat, abandons those he loves, all in the quest for that one thing which will fill the emotional void within.  Others are so concerned for their safety that they forget to take care of their emotional needs, morphing into workaholics who have no time for relationships or leisure. The end result for both is not a place of safety but of peril.

Ultimately, most of us fail to realize the one aspect of our lives that will guarantee both our physical and emotional safety; that is our spiritual safety, our relationship, our obedience, our trust, our reliance on God to meet all of our needs.  God promises that if we rely on him, if we obey him, we will find safety.  All our needs will be met and more.  We will eat our fill and live in safety.  Why is that so hard to do?

Leviticus 18: To Give Life

The LORD said to Moses,  Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. 
You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.  You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God.  Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD. - Lev. 18:1-5 NIV

It is so hard to be holy.  We drift from one extreme to the other, from total abstinence to total abandonment, neither of which was decreed by the Lord.  All the while, we miss the point; God's commands are to give us life, not to take that life away.  Why are we not to defile our family or our neighbors?  Because to do so brings death, not necessarily physical death, although sometimes that is the result, but spiritual death.  When we choose to follow our desires despite God's commands, the life giving, life sustaining, life enabling source in our soul dies.  Is it any wonder we see so many people dependent on outside influences such as drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, etc., today?  Their souls have died, and they will do anything to make themselves feel alive again, if only for a fleeting moment in time.  God knew that his people would be surrounded by those with no hope, those who would use any means possible to fill up the god-sized vacuum in their lives.

On the other hand, we have such a life affirming gospel.  We should not be afraid to share it with the world, for it is life.