"But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, none of her
vows and none of the obligations she put herself under are binding. The
Lord will absolve her because her father prohibited her." Num 30: 6
"But if her husband prohibits her when he hears about it he will cancel her
vow that is binding or the rash commitment she made, and the Lord will
forgive her." Num 30: 8
"Any vow a widow or divorcee put herself under is binding." Num 30: 9
"These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the
relationship between a man and his wife, or between a father and his
daughter in his house during her youth." Num 30: 16
I'm betting that not many "women's rights" rallies begin with citing these
(above) passages…perhaps a closer look is in order. Numbers 30 gives
practical direction for the time it was written, as well as providing a
greater metaphor of God's relationship with Israel, extended to Messiah's
relationship with His church. In short, it speaks to us, too.
Often in the bible, Israel is referred to as a "virgin" (Jer 31), or a
"wife" (Hos 2: 19-20). The New Testament church is called the "bride of
Messiah" (Rom 7:4) and potential followers are depicted in the parable of 10
virgins. (Matt 25: 1-13) God is known as both "Father" and "Husband".
I believe Numbers 30 is less a commentary on the impetuous nature of
females, and more a testimony of the absolution & redemption God directs
towards His "beloved". Whenever a virgin (young girl) or a wife committed
herself in a rash and binding manner, her father (or husband) had the option
of canceling her vow, as long as he acted the moment he found out about it.
This passage is not intended to shame females, but to show God's great grace
& mercy. Numbers 30 is a picture of how we…the "virgin daughter" of God, or
"bride" of Messiah…impetuously commit ourselves to sin. Yet, when we
confess & make that sin known to God, He is willing to forgive us, canceling
sin as if it never happened.
"If we confess our sin, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
You'll never get yourself into some "deal with the devil" that God can't
undo.
Who is not covered? Widows & divorcees.
Keeping with the metaphor: Jesus is alive, forever! His bride will never be
widowed, but Satan's will. Jesus promised never to leave or forsake us;
hence His bride will never be divorced. Satan will leave you in a
heartbeat.
In short, while salvation is offered to all, those without a personal saving
relationship with Messiah have no access to absolution/forgiveness. Their
vows to worldliness are legally binding...along with the consequences.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"You are to hold a sacred assembly in the seventh month, on the first day of
the month, and you are not to do any daily work. This will be a day of
jubilation for you." Num 29: 1
Isn't it amazing that the Lord has to tell us to rest? Not only does He
tell us to rest, but He actually made it a command! It's as if we would not
rest unless there was some penalty involved.
When I was a kid, I hated school. I did all I could to avoid my school
work
right up to testing time. Whenever it came time for testing, my
laziness caught up with me. The test was about to expose my lack of
initiative.
School grades are indicators of progress
not intelligence. No matter how
smart I may have thought I was, that was not the point. I had not seized
the opportunity to improve.
When test time came around, I spent all my energy developing schemes to
cheat. Maybe, I would write notes on my arms. Perhaps, I would look at
someone else's paper. Somehow, I would cheat the system, because I thought
I was smarter than the system.
Did you know it takes twice-as-much energy to cheat, as it does to study?
How smart is that? Plus, how much anxiety carries on, until you get your
grade?
You know what the kids who studied a little bit every day do, the night
before the test? They rest. They don't have to cram. They don't have to
cheat, and worry how their schemes will go undetected. They simply recite
what they have learned.
Why do we have to be commanded to rest? Possibly, it's because we've been
lazy in our daily devotion to the Lord. Perhaps, we have cheated God, and
we are lacking what He provides to the faithful. Maybe, we are busy trying
to be our own providers, instead of trusting God.
Whatever the excuse, whatever our situation, we are commanded to rest.
Jesus said, "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give
you REST." Matt 11:28
The faithful should celebrate His rest, and the sinner turn from his ways
and enter into it.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"The Lord spoke to Moses, 'Command the Israelites and say to them: Be sure
to present to Me at its appointed time, My offering and My food as My fire
offering, a pleasing aroma to Me.'" Numbers 28: 1-2
I grew up in a church environment where people spoke of "giving to the Lord"
in two terms: Tithe, and Offering. The tithe was defined as giving 10% of
one's income, and it was considered to be the minimum one was required to
give. An offering was defined as anything over and above the tithe.
In actuality, if you were to add up all the tithes and offerings in the
Torah, you would find yourself giving over 60% of your income. Part of the
reason for this high number is that Israel was a "theocracy." That is, the
religious leaders ran the government, social relief, courts, the army, etc.
Statistics indicate the vast majority of churchgoers give less than 10% of
their income. As a matter of fact, about 20% of church members foot the
bill for the other 80%. This statistic is roughly the same as the
percentage of wealthy Americans who pay the majority of taxes. It may be
easy to disdain the rich, but they're toting the note for the rest of us.
What I find interesting in this chapter is how "offering" begins close to
the heart, then radiates outward. The prescribed offerings begin with daily
devotion. From there, it grows to weekly, monthly, and annually. I don't
believe the Lord listed these offerings in this order, arbitrarily.
People who devote themselves to personal worship on a daily basis are more
likely to go to church on a weekly basis. In addition, they are more likely
to volunteer on a monthly scheduled basis. Of course, they will celebrate
the yearly holidays
and it will be more special to them, because it is a
continuance and culmination of how their lives are consumed with worshiping
the Lord!
On the other hand, if we don't offer ourselves daily, we have a decreased
chance of being consistent with weekly worship. Our lessened commitment
means we probably won't be volunteering and committing to any scheduled
service. Sadly, annual holiday attendance winds-up being burdensome and
guilt-filled.
Where your investment is, there your heart will be. Everyday and everything
belongs to Him.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"When the community quarreled in the Wilderness of Zin, both you and
your brother Aaron rebelled against My command to uphold My holiness
in their sight at the waters. Those were the waters of Meribah of
Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin. So Moses appealed to the Lord, 'May
the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the
community who will go out before them and come back in before them,
and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord's
community won't be like sheep without a shepherd." Num 27 14-17
Among church congregations, the subject of leadership & succession is
of high importance. That is, "Who is going to lead us?" and "Who will
replace our leader when he is gone?"
Some congregations are governed by "boards of elders" or "deacon
committees" who are afraid of a renegade pastor amassing too much
power. The preacher basically works under the authority & advisement
of a group. The "group" government only works to the extent that the
group is seeking the Lord and shares a clear vision of God's leading.
Other congregations allow the pastor to be the sole authority. This
form of government is called the "Moses" model. The "Moses" model
only works to the extent that the leader is humble and seeks the
Lord's will above his own.
The purpose of any congregational leadership model is to uphold the
Lord's holiness in the sight of the people. Any leader, or body of
leaders, which fails to uphold His holiness will never see all that
God desires for their community of believers.
A flawed component of earthly leaders is that they are human! No
human or group of them will ever completely uphold God's holiness.
Still, God chooses and installs leaders. Furthermore, we should
submit to them because they are His provision.
Let's consider the "kind" of leader Moses petitioned the Lord for, on
behalf of Israel. That is, one who had gone out & come back in, in
order to lead out, and bring back in.
Moses came out of Egypt, then he came back into Egypt, to lead Israel
out. Sadly, he was unable to lead them into the Promised Land,
possibly because he had never been there. But Joshua had.
Jesus came from Heaven, and has returned. He told His disciples, he
was going to prepare a place for us, and that He will return to bring
us back with Him.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
“These are the ones registered by Moses and Elazar the priest when they registered the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho. But among them there was not one of those who had been registered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they registered the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord said to them that they would all die in the wilderness. None of them was left except Caleb, son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” Num 26: 63-65
“Hey Moses, turn the lights out when you leave!”
Have you ever been the last one in line? You know, it’s half time at the football game and you wanted to watch the marching band, so now you’re stuck for 30 minutes trying to get a hot dog... only to find out the guy on front of you bought the last hot dog.
The generation of Israelites who had been delivered from Egypt had grumbled, complained, and turned from the Lord. They had refused to enter the Promised Land by faith, so the Lord told them they would not enter at all. The whole generation was to die in the desert, within 40 years. Only Joshua and Caleb were to enter. They were the only ones who declared, “We can defeat then inhabitants of the land because God is with us!”
In addition, Moses & Aaron disobeyed the Lord by refusing to “speak” water from a rock, choosing to smack it with Moses’ staff. In return for their poor leadership, God barred Moses & Aaron from leading Israel into Canaan.
As Moses got the results of the census, one thing must have been going through his mind: I’m the last guy.
Every one of the adults from the generation who left Egypt had passed away, just as God said. Soon, Moses would be gone... but Israel would enter the much awaited “Promised Land”.
Something I love about Jesus is how he has entered-in to Heaven before us. Not only will He lead us into Heaven, but He has also defeated the enemy! Moreover, He prepares a place for us.
Blessings
Steve Wiggins
The Lord spoke to Moses, Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with My zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in My zeal. Therefore, I grant him My covenant of peace. It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his descendants because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites. Num 25: 10-13
I find it interesting how the enemy of Israel summoned a foreign prophet to curse Israel, but they were unsuccessful because the Lord would not allow Israel to be cursed. The end of chapter 24 has Balaam and Balak going their own ways, frustrated over Gods blessing of Israel, despite their attempts.
Of course, all of this plotting was taking place outside of Israels awareness. Perhaps, more interesting is how unaware of Balaam & Balak Israel was doing a fine job of cursing themselves! Their enemies were wondering where Israels weakness was, and Israel was engaging in open sexual sin with the women of Moab. The bible says the personal sexual sin was itself, Baal worship.
Lesson: Israels enemy is not among the Nations. The enemy of Gods children is Satan. This also applies to His children in Messiah, Jesus.
For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. Eph 6: 12
Make no doubt: Spiritual forces affect human attitude and actions. But where men will give up the fight, the enemy never relents. Balak & Balaam walk away confused, but Satan entices the men of Israel with the oldest trick in the book.
Were it not for the zealousness of Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, Gods wrath would have destroyed Israel.
Often, we compartmentalize our lives. We have a section for work, family, religion. When we say we give our lives completely to God, we often mean we give Him all of that compartment which bears His label.
God is jealous to consume ALL of your life. Whether our sin is hidden our openly flaunted, if we are truly His people, He will pursue us in order to purge that sin from our midst. Why not just confess it, and give it up?
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
Blessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you.
God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? I have indeed received a command to bless; since He has blessed, I cannot change it. Num 23: 19-20
Balaam tried his best to curse Israel, to do more than God instructed, or to speak beyond what God put into his mouth.
Why would Balaam continue to angle against the Lord? Balaam is a for profit prophet.
In recent years, Americans have witnessed the advent of the celebrity defense attorney. These lawyers generally choose high profile clients who are clearly guilty. Utilizing courtroom theatrics and a keen understanding of the weak points of the law, they somehow win their clients freedom.
When these attorneys study the law, they arent looking for ways to serve justice. They are searching for loopholes that will circumvent justice because thats what their clients are paying them to do! Balaam would have made a great criminal defense attorney.
Balaams biggest problem was, perhaps, that he never understood the connection between obedience & blessing. Because Balaam was driven by money, by pride, and who knows what else, he constantly, consistently refuses to do what God tells him to do. He consistently chooses the seen over the unseen. Faith is the evidence of things unseen. Hebrews 11: 1
Balaam wanted to have a relationship with God, to be able to bless and curse, to be a real prophetbut he never wanted to obey. He wanted all the benefits and none of the responsibilities.
Balaam is an illustration of a person who has access to the truthlike a person who reads the Bible all the timebut never obeys it! These people have access to the truth, or have knowledge of the truth, but are never willing to put it into practice because they insist on doing what they want to do.
It is admirable that you would join with me in reading a chapter of the bible each day. The benefits of the bible come not from simply reading, but living what you read.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
Then the Lord opened the donkeys mouth, and she asked Balaam, What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times? Balaam answered the donkey, You made me look like a fool. If I had a sword in my hand, Id kill you now. But the donkey said, Am I not the donkey youve ridden all your life until today Have I ever treated you this way before? No, he replied. Then the Lord opened Balaams eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the path with a sword drawn in His hand. Num 22: 28: 31
What is a donkey? It is simply a beast of burden. It carries your load, and even you, wherever and whenever you want. A donkey, although stubborn by nature, exist solely to serve men.
For Balaam, his donkey was a metaphor of his relationship with God. Balaam wanted the benefits of Gods power and wisdom, without having to be accountable to Him. In that sense, Balaam was a bit of a braying donkey, himself!
What I find interesting in Balaams conversation with his donkey, and the subsequent dialogue with the Angel of the Lord, is how merciful God was towards Balaam. The Lord is basically saying, What have I done to you, that you would mistreat me, mistrust my leading, and attempt to insert your will, where you know it is impossible to change mine?
I believe Balaam a non-Jew, had a real shot at a relationship with God. In the end, he chose an affiliation over a relationship. Balaam knew about God, but he never really knew Him. In the same way, there are many who affiliate with church, yet don't know Jesus in a saving way. They wish to reap the benefits of associating with the Lord, but never surrender to His authority.
Maybe, we should ask ourselves what God has done to us, when we are
tempted to choose our personal gain over the Lords promises. Could it
be that we have affiliated with God, yet denied ourselves a true (and
completely obtainable) relationship with Him? How we follow Him,
regardless of the circumstances, is perhaps the truest indicator of our
faith.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
The people then came to Moses and said, We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that He will take the snakes away from us. And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a snake image and mount it to a pole. When anyone looks at it, he will recover. So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it to a pole. Whenever someone was bitten and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered. Num 21: 7-9
I was recently flying home from a five-day ministry event. Because we have a large ministry team, spread-out over the LA area, we utilized several different airline carriers. I was traveling with three others when we received news that there were weather delays in Dallas.
When faced with difficulty, we generally have a choice as to how we will respond. Furthermore, our personal responses can set the tone for a whole group of people. I turned to those traveling with me and said, Our job is to bring the joy to this airport.
Remembering our mission as believers helped determine our response to our situation. We set the emotional and spiritual tones for ourselves, and then we went about the task of ministering to those around us flight personnel, shop workers, fellow passengers.
Israel did not have a very good history when it came to controlling their responses to adverse circumstances. Whenever you are around someone who is negative, almost every comment is like a snakes bite, full of venom. Have you ever considered a negative attitude to be a sin? God does.
In this chapter, the Lord directs Moses to fashion Israels sin as He sees it. It is as if God were saying, If you want to be venomous with your comments, your judgment will be literal venomous snakebites. Not until you see your sin as God sees it, will you recognize your need for healing/salvation.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. John 3:14-15
Jesus, bloody, beaten and crucified thats what we allow sin to do to us. Only when we see our sin as God sees it, do we appreciate His method of salvation.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
