365 Reflections

Miriam should not have gone there but she did. Numbers 12:1-2 (ESV) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. No sooner does the Lord start to spread a prophetic gift to many more in the camp than Miriam decides to selfishly substantiate her place among the people of God. I've seen this growing up in Spirit-filled Church. One of the benefits of a Spirit filled church? Spirit filled people. One of the detractors? Spirit-filled people who get arrogant and possessive because they are Spirit-filled.  Notice that Miriam and Aaron do not speak badly about Moses' leadership or his decision making. Even though you could infer that it was his statement that he wished all God's people were prophets which compelled this sudden coup. Miriam and Aaron saw 70 more prophets in

In the midst of the grumbling of the Israelites and watching the judgment of God in the wilderness for those who formerly complained, Moses begins to lose both his patience and his faith. He loses his patience earlier in Numbers 11: Numbers 11:11–12 (ESV) Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? But what we see God speak back to Moses reveals something more tragic that has transpired in him because of the consistent complaints of the people he has experienced. God first tells Moses He will supply enough meat for them to eat for a month, until they gag on it. (The warning here is that sometimes God will give us what we demand and it will hurt only us.) But back to M

Numbers 11 starts the long list of moments Israel has with God wherein they question His ways, complain about His provision, and outright misrepresent the facts. First, there is the very brief account of grumbling in the camp: Numbers 11:1–3 (ESV) And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them. From this moment, another grumbling erupts soon after: Numbers 11:4–6 (ESV) Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

Number 10 concludes the time Israel spends at the foot of Sinai. The camp is assembled, ordered and the tabernacle is filled with its instruments. The people are settled around the camp, the Levites have been given their responsibilities. All is set for Israel to wander along the path of God's leading to the Promised Land. Now in Numbers 10:11 Israel is making its first move following the leading of the glory cloud of God. Numbers 10:11–12 (ESV) In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, 12 and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. But in the midst of all this amazing God-directed movement, Moses has a curious conversation with one of his in-laws: Numbers 10:29–32 (ESV)   And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lo

Numbers 10 opens with a passage about Silver Trumpets to be made for signaling the way of the camp. Numbers 10:1–7 (ESV) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. 3 And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 4 But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. 5 When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out. 6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. 7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm. The trumpets were the instruments that moved God's people in the right direction. They priests, directed by Moses, w

Numbers 9:15–17 (ESV) On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. We come to Numbers 9-10 to read about the incredible detail of Israel's commitment to follow the presence of the Lord. If the Lord's presence, represented by the cloud and pillar of fire didn't move, they didn't move. If He did move, Israel moved. And with repetitive, almost redundant speech, the writer makes certain we understand as God moved, so did Israel. Yes, Israel was stuck like glue to their God. They longed to be where He was, intimately. Notice the delineated description: Numbers

What do you do when life leads to places where you cannot be all God expects you to be? The answer lies in Numbers 9. Israel is about to celebrate the Passover for the first time since it's origination in Egypt. This is the meal that would define them as a people and ultimately point to Christ as the final Passover Lamb of God. The passover meal taught Israel how God was their hope in bitter circumstances, how they had been spared by God's elective grace from His wrath. The Passover was also a time to gather in homes and share a meal, learning to be a community of love in the care of their God and one another. The Passover was the most important meal of the year. But what about those who could not celebrate Passover because of less than perfect conditions? Numbers 9:6–8 (ESV) And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said

Numbers 8:14–16 (ESV)   “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15 And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. 16 For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. Numbers 8 shows Moses consecrating all the Levites to the Lord for His service and to shelter His tabernacle from intruders. Something interesting happens. The Levites are substituted for the firstborn sons of Israel. From now on, they will be the "living sacrifices" before God from among the people. This is a further reason to believe that the Old Testament Levites point to the New Testament believers. Numbers 8:17–18  (ESV)   For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struc

Jesus would rather have no church in a community than a dead church. That is what is made clear in the first three chapters of Revelation. With every encouragement, challenge or correction given to the 7 churches in Asia Minor Jesus promises to remove the lamp stands of those churches that do not heed His word and walk in His ways. But before there were churches in Asia Minor, there were seven lamps in the Holy Place of the tabernacle. Numbers 8:1–4 (ESV) Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” 3 And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. The holy place of the tabernacle was to remain continually lit. W

The longest chapter in the Books of Moses is Numbers 7. What a chapter to attain that designation. If you read it, it gets boring and repetitive very fast on the surface. But this incredible chapter is teaching us something powerful about God, our giving and His leading. Numbers 7:1-5 (ESV) On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, 2 the chiefs of Israel, heads of their fathers' houses, who were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were listed, approached 3 and brought their offerings before the LORD, six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the chiefs, and for each one an ox. They brought them before the tabernacle. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, 5 "Accept these from them, that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service."

The Nazareth Vow of Numbers 6 is pretty well known for the people who were committed to it. The regulations for those who take the vow are listed as follows: Numbers 6:2-8 (ESV) "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. 5 "All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. 6 "All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his mo

Numbers 5 ends with the most curious prescription for a woman who's husband suspects of adultery. The reason for his suspicion is well founded. It begins by highlighting that the woman has left her home. Numbers 5:12 (ESV) "Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him" So the wife in question is not simply suspected for no reason. She has gone astray. The question is, did she defile herself with another man or did she simply abandon him for a while? To find this out a strange procedure was carried out in which the woman would come to the priest and take an oath and drink water mixed with the dust from the floor of the temple and the ink of the curses for adultery written in a book and see what would happen. Here's how the passage illustrates the "test" for her innocence: Numbers 5:23-28 (ESV) "Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 And he s