ThTribes Defense: The Agreement (Num. 32:16-42)

2/28/2009 7:27 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                    Focus:  The tribes’ defense; The agreement

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Numbers 32:16-42

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 ¶  Then they came near to him and said, "We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; 17  but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18  "We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. 19  "For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east." 20  So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, 21  and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven His enemies out from before Him, 22  and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD. 23  "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24  "Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do what you have promised." 25  The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, "Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26  "Our little ones, our wives, our livestock and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead; 27  while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will cross over in the presence of the LORD to battle, just as my lord says."

    28 ¶  So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 29  Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30  but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan." 31  The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, "As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do. 32  "We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan." 33  So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their territories, the cities of the surrounding land. 34  The sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, 35  and Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, 36  and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37  The sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, 38  and Nebo and Baal-meon— their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39  The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40  So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. 41  Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth-jair. 42  Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after his own name.

            This is the final two sections from chapter thirty-two of Numbers as explained in Warren Wiersbe’s book. 

            Moses and these tribes got all of the details of this agreement ironed out and it was given to Joshua and to Eleazar so that if they did not keep their bargain or vow then they would be subject God, for in verse 23 of chapter 32 Moses writes these now famous words:  “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

            Warren Wiersbe points out in his commentary on the decision of these Transjordanic tribes that he does not think that they made the right chose because for one reason they would not be in the Promised Land, for they may have made a choice just like the choice that Lot made for he was walking by sight and not by faith.

            Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say, “According to Hebrews 4, claiming the inheritance in the Promised Land is an illustration of the different ways believers today relate to the will of God and the inheritance He has for us now in Jesus Christ.  Some people are like the older generation of Jews that perished in their wanderings and never entered the land.  Others are like the ten spies who visited the land and saw its wealth but failed to enter in.  The Transjordanic tribes entered the land but didn’t stay there.  They preferred to live on the border and raise their cattle.  God wants His people to be like the new generation that trusted God, entered the land, claimed the victory, and enjoyed the blessings.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to be like the new generation that trusted God, entered the land, claimed the victory, and enjoyed the blessings.  By God’s grace I will be like them.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Fear only the Lord.
2. Learn Contentment.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

 

2/28/2009 7:51 PM

The Loyalty of People to Each Other (Num. 32:1-15)

2/27/2009 8:05 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                    Focus:  The loyalty of people to each other

 

Bible Reading & Meditation     Reference:  Numbers 32:1-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶ now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, 2  the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3  "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, 4  the land which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." 5 They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan." 6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? 7 “Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 “This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land. 9 “For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 “So the LORD’S anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying, 11 ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the LORD fully.’ 13  "So the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed. 14 “Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the LORD against Israel. 15  "For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people."

            In Warren Wiersbe’s book on Numbers he divides this chapter into four parts with the title of the chapter “The loyalty of people to each other” and then has sub-titles to each of the four parts.  The first two sub-titles are “The request” and Moses’ reaction of which I will take on this morning in this SD.

            Chapter thirty-two of Numbers is a chapter in which two of the tribes of Israel, Ruben and Gad, and later on half of the tribe of Manasseh would come to Moses and ask if they could have land on the East side of the Jordan river as their inheritance instead of going over to the West side of the Jordan river where the other tribes were going.  When the ask Moses about this they may have may a mistake and mislead Moses when they said “and do not take us across the Jordan.”  Moses immediately thought that they did not want to help their brother tribes in ridding the land of their enemies and went into a long conversation about how the ten spies had cause Israel to sin and thus caused them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.  In the next SD the response will be given to by these tribes as to what they really meant and want to do.

            The question that I have in all of this is whether or not this was the correct thing in the eyes of God for these two and a half tribes to settle out of what is called The Promised Land?  One thing that I see missing here is that neither these tribes or Moses came to the Lord to seek His guidance or answer in all of this and that makes me wonder whether or not this was the right thing for them to do.  As I have read the chapters following Numbers I have found that this action by these tribes did cause some trouble latter on for Israel, but I must say that there was a lot of trouble for those tribes that did go into the Promised Land too, so maybe this was not a problem.  I will say this that at this time in my life I do believe that this was the wrong move for these two and a half tribes to make, but this is not written in stone.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Moses may have spoken to quickly to the request of these tribes and these people probably framed their question in a wrong way.  I can learn from both of these situations by thinking before I speak and whenever I ask a question do it in a clear manner so it is not misunderstood. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Trust the Lord go guide my path today and to help things go smoothly with my work on the kitchen.
2. Learn contentment.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
4. Seek the Lord to search my heart to see if there is any sin in it.

 

2/27/2009 8:37 AM

A Special Gift (Num. 31:48-54)

2/26/2009 9:35 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  A Special Gift

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 31:48-54

 

            Message of the verses:  “48 ¶  Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses, 49  and they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing. 50  "So we have brought as an offering to the LORD what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD." 51  Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrought articles. 52  All the gold of the offering which they offered up to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. 53  The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. 54  So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD.”

            This section could be a bit misleading without the help of reading from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary, especially on verse fifty where it says that this gift was to “make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”  1 Peter 1:18-19 say this on this subject:  “18  knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19  but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”  In the book of Exodus 30:11-16 Moses speaks of a gift to be given after a census and all of the men were to give a half shekel of silver who were twenty years of age and older and the census was just taken in Numbers twenty-six.  This gift was just a love offering to the Lord for taking care of all 12,000 soldiers because the Lord had protected all of then as none were killed.  This was a very large gift of 400 pounds of gold that was taken during this war with the Midianites and now was given to the Lord to put into the tabernacle.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God is gracious to me each and everyday and because of my financial situation it is hard to give a lot of love offerings, but according to Romans 12:1 I can offer myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord for worship and service each day of my life.  I can also offer things to the Lord in money and time above my tithes that I try very hard to faithfully give to the Lord, not that He needs my money and time, but it is done because of the love that I have for him in all that He has done for me at the cross.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.    Give myself to the Lord as a living sacrifice in order to worship and serve the Lord today.

2.    Trust the Lord to direct my path today.

3.    Pray that the Lord will bless our Bible Study today.

 

2/26/2009 10:13 AM

The Spoils of the Battle (Num. 31:25-47)

2/25/2009 11:02 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The spoils of the battle

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 31:25-47

 

            Message of the verses:  “25 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26  "You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation take a count of the booty that was captured, both of man and of animal; 27  and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28  "Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep; 29  take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the LORD. 30  "From the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD." 31  Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 32  Now the booty that remained from the spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, 33  and 72,000 cattle, 34  and 61,000 donkeys, 35  and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000. 36  The half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500, 37  and the LORD’S levy of the sheep was 675; 38  and the cattle were 36,000, from which the LORD’S levy was 72; 39  and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the LORD’S levy was 61; 40  and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the LORD’S levy was 32 persons. 41  Moses gave the levy which was the LORD’S offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 42  As for the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war— 43  now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44  and 36,000 cattle, 45  and 30,500 donkeys, 46  and the human beings were 16,000— 47  and from the sons of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”

            This paragraph speaks of how the booty was divided up between the men who went out to war and those who stayed home.  It was divided in half and then both the soldiers and the people gave a percentage to the Lord, which went to Eleazar the priest.

            Eleazar the priest ended up with seventy-nine women who had never slept with a man for all of those who had were killed.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These seventy-nine women went from living in a society where all kinds of sexual perversions were prevalent to a society where they would be serving the priest and the Levites who were serving the Lord.  People today need to take advantage of this kind of a situation, for someday this kind of a situation may not be as available as it is today.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
2. Learn contentment.
3. Give myself to the Lord for service and worship.
4. Trust the Lord that through His Spirit and His Word that my mind may be renewed.

 

2/25/2009 11:26 AM

           

ThePurification (Num. 31:11-24)

2/24/2009 9:20 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The purification

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 31:11-24

 

            Message of the verses:  “11  They took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast.  12  They brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

            13 ¶  Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp.  14  Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.  15  And Moses said to them, "Have you spared all the women?  16  "Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.  17  "Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately.  18  "But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves.  19  "And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.  20  "You shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of goats’ hair, and all articles of wood."  21  Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:  22  only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin and the lead, 23  everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean, but it shall be purified with water for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water.  24  "And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.’”

            The first thing that I wish to do is to paste a note on verse seventeen from a man named Adam Clarke whose notes are on the Online Bible:  “Verse 17. Kill every male among the little ones For this action I account simply on the principle that God, who is the author and supporter of life, has a right to dispose of it when and how he thinks proper; and the Judge of all the earth can do nothing but what is right. Of the women killed on this occasion it may be safely said, their lives were forfeited by their personal transgressions; and yet even in this case there can be little doubt that God showed mercy to their souls. The little ones were safely lodged; they were taken to heaven and saved from the evil to come.”  This verse would seem to be the most difficult to understand in this section and so that is why I copied and pasted this note.

            This reminds me a little bit of when king Saul was told by the prophet Samuel to go and kill (I think it was) the Amorites and he did not do as he was told and the Lord was very upset with Saul for not doing what he was suppose to do.  In the same way Moses was upset that the army of Israel did not destroy all of these Midianites for it was the women who would have tempted Israel men the most since just a little while ago there were a large number of the children of Israel killed in a plague because of some of the men had committed adultery with these women and now they bring them into the camp along with the little ones.  I agree with Adam Clarke in that the killing of the little boys was mercy to them for if they would have grown up in the environment of their parents who worshiped idols they would have probably learned that same thing from them.

            These 12,000 soldiers had to be purified according to the Law of Moses after touching a dead person and all of the booty had to be cleansed as well and all of this took a week so they all had to stay outside of the main camp for a week.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are times when God’s justice is difficult to understand, yet God is God and He can never do wrong even though at times it is hard to understand and to endure.

 

 My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Learn to be content.
2. Trust the Lord in both the good times and in the bad times.
3. Trust the Lord to direct my path today.
4. Put on the spiritual armor.
5. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.
6. Have my mind renewed by God’s Spirit through God’s Word.

 

2/24/2009 9:42 AM

The Battle (Num. 31:1-10)

2/23/2009 9:26 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The battle

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 31:1-10

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2  "Take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people."  3  Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD’S vengeance on Midian.  4  "A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war."  5  So there were furnished from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.  6  Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

            7 ¶  So they made war against Midian, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.  8  They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.  9  The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered.  10  Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire.”

            The scene now changes from the last chapter as God tells Moses that he has to send Israel into battle to fight against the Midianites and then Moses would be taken in death as he is gathered to his people.  Moses would take 1000 men from each tribe to do battle against the Midianites and it is supposed that Joshua would head up the army with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to go into battle with the army.  The Ark of the Covenant would go with them and the trumpet would be blown as Israel went into battle.  It is interesting that one of those who would be killed was Balaam who was instrumental in adding to the sin of Israel and that is why God was going to destroy the Midianites. 

            Joshua killed all of the males and all of the kings, but the women were not killed and that is a subject for the next SD. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Sometimes God gives His children hard tasks to complete, but God is always right in what He does and what He has His children do even thought some will disagree with what is done.  I must be faithful in doing the things God leads me to do. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today: 

 

1. Trust the Lord to lead my life each and every day as I go live in a world that is a battle ground for believers.
2. Be content.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
4. Have my mind renewed with the Word of God.

 

2/23/2009 9:49 PM

The Widow & Divorcee; The Married Woman (Num. 30:9-16)

2/22/2009 1:49 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time Focus:  The widow and the divorcee; The married woman

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Numbers 30:9-16

 

            Message of the verses:  “9  "But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.  10  "However, if she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an obligation with an oath, 11  and her husband heard it, but said nothing to her and did not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she bound herself shall stand.  12  "But if her husband indeed annuls them on the day he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the obligation of herself shall not stand; her husband has annulled them, and the LORD will forgive her.  13  "Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it or her husband may annul it.  14  "But if her husband indeed says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her obligations which are on her; he has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them.  15  "But if he indeed annuls them after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt."  16  These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and as between a father and his daughter, while she is in her youth in her father’s house.”

            Verse nine speaks of the widow and also the woman who is divorced and this is another brief section in Warren Wiersbe’s book “Be Counted.”  If the widow or the divorced woman makes a vow then she is bound to it, but if she made the vow in her husbands house and if her husband heard it and did noting to stop it is a good vow that must be kept.  However if the husband hears the vow and does nothing right away and but wants to do something latter he must bring a sin offering to the Lord.

            One can see that the power of speech is important and should be kept and one of the reasons for the break down of the family or a nation is because the truth of theses types of statements is kept.  I believe this is one of the biggest problems that our nation is facing today.  It all started back in the 1960’s when people were trying to kick God out of everything and now we are paying for this at this time in our society.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I need to make sure that I tell the truth and keep my words and my vows that I make.

 

Bible Reading & Meditation    

1.  Be content.
2. Trust the Lord to guide my path.
3. Trust the Lord in all areas of my life.

2/22/2009 2:07 PM

Sanctity of Words; The Single Young Woman @ Home (Num 30:1-8)

2/21/2009 8:23 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time Focus:  Sanctity of words; The single young woman at home

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Numbers 30:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, "This is the word which the LORD has commanded.  2  "If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

            3 ¶  "Also if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, 4  and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand.  5  "But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.  6  "However, if she should marry while under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7  and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8  "But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he shall annul her vow which she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself; and the LORD will forgive her.”

            This section begins the last chapter in Warren Wiersbe’s book “Be Counted,” as far as going along with the book of Numbers.  He will have one final chapter as a summary of the book of Numbers, but this chapter covers chapters 30-35 as chapter 36 has already been looked at in an earlier SD.

            This chapter is entitled “Preparing for Conquest,” as these chapters along with the entire book of Deuteronomy are the final books of Moses and will give preparation to this next generation of the children of Israel before they go into the Promised Land.  The first section in this last chapter is about words, basically vows and oaths.  A vow is something a person makes to the Lord that he will do and an oath is something that a person promises to the Lord that he will never do. 

            In the first two verses of this chapter Moses speaks to the heads of the tribes of Israel about vows and oaths, but in verses three-eight Moses speaks to the single young women who are living at home.  Moses tells them that if they make a vow to the Lord and their father hears of this vow and does not stop the woman from keeping the vow then she must keep it, but if the father hears of the vow and wants to stop it he can do that too.  The same is true with a woman who is married and makes a vow to the Lord and the husband hears it but does nothing about it then she must keep it, however if the husband wants to stop it he can as soon as he hears of it.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Words are important is what I get out of this section, for I am to watch what I say for sometimes when I am tired or mad the words that I speak are not worth speaking so I need to watch what I say.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today: 

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
2.  May my life be transformed by the renewing of my mind through the Word of God.
3. Learn to be content.
4. Trust that the Lord will guide my path.

 

2/21/2009 8:43 PM

The Feast of Tabernacles (Num. 29:12-40)

2/20/2009 7:49 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The Feast of Tabernacles

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 29:12-40

 

            Message of the verses:  “12 ¶  ‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.  13  ‘You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD: thirteen bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without defect; 14  and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, 15  and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. 17  ‘Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 18  and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 19  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.  20  ‘Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 21  and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 22  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.  23  ‘Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 24  their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 25  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.  26  ‘Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 27  and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 28  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.  29  ‘Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 30  and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 31  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offerings.  32  ‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 33  and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 34  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.  35  ‘On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work.  36  ‘But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; 37  their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 38  and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.  39  ‘You shall present these to the LORD at your appointed times, besides your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings and for your grain offerings and for your drink offerings and for your peace offerings.’"  40  Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in accordance with all that the LORD had commanded Moses.”

            In these verses there is found the many sacrifices that were offered during the Feast of Tabernacles.  This feast lasted for seven days and was a picture of the 1000 year kingdom of Jesus Christ on this earth.  There is a slight difference in the number of bulls offered each day in that it goes down by one each day of this feast ending up with seven bulls offered on the seventh day along with all of the other sacrifices listed, which are the same each day.

            In his commentary at the end of this section Dr. Wiersbe points out three practical lessons from all of these offerings.  The first is that all of these offerings were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  The blood of these animals could not take away sin as the blood of Jesus Christ has done but were a picture of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross.  Second the ministry of the priest was very important to the nation of Israel for they could not have functioned without them, and of course the practical application is that Jesus Christ is our high priest who intercedes for believers in heaven.  Jesus Christ is our advocate and mediator in heaven.  Third is that all of these sacrifices that were given each year were very expensive and showed that the people of Israel were willing to give them to the Lord under the Law even thought they were so expensive.  Believers today should be able to give more that Israel did while under the law because we are under grace.  I would like to add another practical reason that these sacrifices or feasts give to believers today and that is their prophetic value.  I have mentioned that these feasts follow a patter not only in the things that pertain to Christ but also they pertain to things that happen in the Church too of which Christ is the Head.  His death burial and resurrection came of different feast days and the Church began on a feast day.  The Church could end as far as it’s life on earth on a feast day, and I know that is not set in stone, but it does make sense and God always things that make sense.  The 1000 year reign of Christ on this earth is also pictured in one of these feasts, so I, along with others believe that there is prophetic significance in these feasts. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that I take from this SD is that I could be giving more for the cause of Christ than I am giving.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord.
2. Have my mind transformed by the Word of God.
3. Put on my spiritual armor.
4. Learn more about Jesus Christ.
5. Learn contentment.

2/20/2009 8:20 AM

           

Feast of Trumpets; Day of Atonement (Num. 29:1-11)

2/19/2009 8:13 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time           Focus:  The Feast of Trumpets; The Day of Atonement

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference: Numbers 29:1-6; 7-11

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  ‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.  2  ‘You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect; 3  also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4  and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.  5  ‘Offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, 6  besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.”  “7  ‘Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work.  8  ‘You shall present a burnt offering to the LORD as a soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect; 9  and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 10  a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 11  one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.”

            These verses cover two sections in Warren Wiersbe’s book, “Be Counted” and they are about two more feasts that Israel was to keep during their year.  The first day of the seventh religious month is the first day of the civil calendar.  I think that I am correct in calling this Rosh Hashanah.  The feast of trumpets was meant that Israel should not do any work and there were specific offerings to be offered.  There were different times when the trumpet was to sound in Israel, but this time it was for a gathering of Israel to come to the feast.  There was a great deal of time between this feast and the last feast, which was Pentecost and now all of the harvest would have been in.  Some believe that the rapture of the Church could come on this feast day as the trumpet will sound when that happens and the rapture is the end of the Church age as all believers, dead and alive will have their bodies changed to new glorious bodies and will all meet the Lord in the air and then be transported to heaven.

            The Day of Atonement follows close behind the feast of trumpets and this was the day when the high priest would go into the holy of holies and would take with him burning incense and also sacrificial blood.  It has been said that there would be a rope tied around his ankle in case he would die their and since no one was allowed to go into the holy of holies they would have to pull him out.  This offering is a picture of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins as He offered up His own body for payment of my sins that day on the cross.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In a way these two feast signify the Lord’s Table or Communion, for in the communion service I am to confess any sins that have not been confessed and I am to look back at the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf on the cross and am also to look forward to the coming of the Lord for me in the rapture of the Church. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Offer myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord today.
2. Have my mind renewed.
3. Put on the spiritual armor.
4. Learn more about the Lord.
5. Learn contentment.

 

2/19/2009 8:37 AM 

Passover; Pentecost (Num. 28:16-30)

2/18/2009 8:21 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Passover; Pentecost

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Numbers 28:16-25; 26-30

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 ¶  ‘Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the LORD’S Passover.  17  ‘On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast, unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.  18  ‘On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.  19  ‘You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect.  20  ‘For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram.  21  ‘A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs;

22  and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you.  23  ‘You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.  24  ‘After this manner you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to the LORD; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.  25  ‘On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.  26  ‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.

27  ‘You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; 28  and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram,

29  a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30  also one male goat to make atonement for you.  31  ‘Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect.”

            This is two sections in Warren Wiersbe’s book, “Be Counted” that I am going over for today’s SD.  It should be noted that all of this is repeated from earlier books in the Scripture, (Exodus and Leviticus) where these feasts are explained in further detail.  It should also be noted that this is a reminder to this second generation by the Lord through Moses of the importance of these feasts.  All of these feasts are pictures of Jesus Christ and what He has done to fulfill the meaning of these feasts.

            Passover is a picture of the death of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world for Jesus Christ died on the cross exactly when the lambs of the Passover were slain.  Next comes the feast of unleavened bread which was for seven days, and the children of Israel were not to eat anything with yeast in it.  “Firstfruits was celebrated on the day after the Sabbath following Passover, which meant it was always on the first day of the week (Lev. 23:9-14).  It speaks of the church today of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first day of the week (1Cor. 15:20-24), the Lord’s Day. On that day, the priest cut a sheaf of grain from the wheat harvest and offered it to God, indicating that the whose harvest belonged to Him.  When Christ arose from the dead on the first Lord’s Day, He guaranteed our resurrection as well (Rom. 8:18-23; John 12:23-33).”

            Next will come the feast of Pentecost and this came fifty days after Passover, counting from the Feast of Firstfruits, which was the day after the Sabbath following Passover.  For Christians this celebration is the beginning of the Church for it began on Pentecost as can be seen in Acts chapter two.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at all of the Jewish Feasts I can seen the Lord Jesus Christ in all of them for He is the Lamb of God and He took away my sins, and He is the Firstfruit, and He is the head of the Church, and He will come to get His bride when the harvest on this earth is done as indicated by the feast of Tabernacles. It is heart breaking to me that the people of Israel do not realize that the feasts that they celebrate each year picture their true Messiah who has already come to make payment for their sins.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for service and worship.
2. Put on my spiritual armor.
3. Learn more about my Lord and Savior Jesus Chirst.
4. Learn contentment.

 

2/18/2009 9:17 AM