Category: Numbers

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

These two and a half tribes were cattlemen. The land across the Jordan was excellent for cattle – plain country with good grass. Moses speaks strongly. The tribes respond respectfully – they realise that Moses has an excellent point that they can’t refute. They kept their bargain with Moses.

SJA Notes

* Loving God, unless You build our house we labour in vain, unless You watch over us we stay away in vain. Be our God and we Your people, in truth!

“Be sure your sin will find you out.”

Here Moses gives us a powerful exhortation – You can be sure that your sin _will_ find you out.

Reuben and Gad (and half of the half-tribe of Manasseh) didn’t want to enter the promised land. They figured what they saw with their eyes would be better than whatever God had in store for them (we remember back to Lot’s folly, choosing the place that eventually cost him so much).

You can almost see the angry steam rising off Moses, bristling with indignation.

“And behold, you have risen in your father’s place, a brood of sinful men, …”

Reuben and Gad covenanted to send all their warriors with the rest of Israel, to purge and clear out the promised land.

They heard the warning, they agreed to reject the sin as it crouched at their door.

Despite their folly, they then chose wisdom.

This is important for us to read, these examples.

Who are we but the same people, still making foolish decisions.

We read in Proverbs 4,

“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”

And then in Proverbs 9,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

Let us today be exhorted to get to know our God, to grow in our fear and trembling before Him.

* Dear God,

Please open our hearts today, teach us from Your word today loving Father in Heaven!

Please work good through the bad decisions we make.

Please help us find and choose Your wisdom today Lord.

Amen.

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

Vows are directly related to the Third Commandment – “You shall not misuse (take in vain) the name of the LORD your God.” Every time a Christian promises, signs something or takes a vow, we automatically involve the Name of God. It’s like a child involves the name of his/her family in whatever he/she gets up to.

SJA Notes

* Almighty God of our salvation, by awesome deeds You answer us with righteousness. You are the hope of all the earth.

“Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.”

We read here the truth of who Balaam was. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, a snake in the grass.

It was the advice of Balaam that is mixed in and through the tragedy of Peor,

“So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel.” Numbers 25:3

Jesus has clear words to say about people like Balaam,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognise them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:15

We see the fruit of Balaam was idolatry and gross moral failing (adultery included).

Let us then be alert for this kind of activity in our church families.

Let us be convicted of our own continual need for Jesus, without whom our fruit is dead and diseased.

We have been grafted into the true vine, and our fruit is to be healthy and good (Galatians 5:22-23).

* Merciful God,

Please protect us against those who would be like Balaam (even ourselves).

We are weak and weary, troubled and lost – Please be our strength, our wisdom, our light for this life.

Please teach us from Your word today.

Amen.

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

These three festivals form a whole package covering three weeks. They are prophetic of Christ’s ministry – His birth, death and return! Trumpets – proclamation of God’s wonderful promise of salvation (through Moses and through Jesus the Prophet Moses said would come in Moses’ stead), the Day of Atonement – the death of the first-born of Egypt/Red Sea and the death of the First-born Son/the Empty Cross and Tomb, the Feast of Tabernacles – the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! Footprints in Time large enough for the blind to fall into!

SJA Notes

* God of Light and Love, not to us but to Your Name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!

“You shall not do any ordinary work.”

Here we have again the order and instruction for worship.

Ordinary work.

We see at the times of offering, the feast, that there is the prescription of not doing any _ordinary work_.

Back in Numbers 15 we read of a man being stoned by the congregation for gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.

Gathering sticks was obviously considered ordinary work (within the different reasons people would have had for a task such as gathering sticks).

In Mark 2 and Matthew 12 Jesus gives rebuke to the Pharisees and says that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

In Luke 13 Jesus gives one of the synagogue rulers a hard word, showing that they didn’t really understand the law of Moses regarding the Sabbath and work, “You hypocrites!”

Whether we consider that there is a prescription against ordinary work (and whatever that is interpreted as) on the Sabbath or not, it seems like a wise starting point to make sure we are keeping our Sunday (the new Sabbath, the Lord’s Day, when our Saviour rose from the dead) as different, setting ourselves apart to draw closer to the Almighty.

Less us.

More Jesus.

* Dear God,

Thank You for the love we see at the cross, You the Son bearing Your just wrath so that we don’t have to.

Please help us to know You better today from Your word.

Amen.