30 posts tagged “moses”
"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
“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
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
The entire Israelite community entered the desert of Zin in the first month,
and they settled in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there." Num 20: 1
"The Lord spoke to Moses, 'Take the staff and assemble the community. You
and your brother are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will
yield its water.'" Num 20: 7-8a
"So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence just as He has commanded
him. Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly and said to them, 'Listen you
rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?' Then Moses raised
his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of
water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank." Num 20:
9-11
"But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust Me to show
My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly
into the land I have given them.'" Num 20: 12
"Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron's
garments and put them on his son, Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his
people and die there.'" Num 20: 25-26
The reason I have included so much scripture here is so you can see Numbers
20 as a complete thought. Generally, all these instances, (combined with
Edom's refusal to let Israel pass through), are taught as individual
lessons. The general theme of Numbers 20 is: The end of the Mosaic era; the
continuance of God's leading.
The central lesson is gleaned from the story of Moses' drawing water from
the rock at Meribah. Moses' sister, Miriam has just passed away, no doubt
prompting Moses to question his own mortality and hence, his legacy. Up to
this point, whenever a miracle was performed, it was at Moses or Aaron'
hand, through their staffs.
The "staff of Moses" had become more synonymous with Moses' power than
God's. In a greater sense, it represents how men worship the "leader" of
worship over the "object" of worship. The Lord instructed Moses to do a new
thing: Take the staff, but don't use it. Speak forth the water.
The preacher may pass away, but the Word of God endures, forever. It
sustains the generations, regardless of the persona or charisma of any
leader.
Moses, sensing his impending mortality, decided his legacy & reputation
among the Israelites would be something fantastic
and decidedly from Moses!
He disobeyed God, literally trying to upstage Him by striking the rock twice
in order to cause a GREAT flow of water.
Moses achieved his desired result, but to his own self-determined fate. He
never entered the Canaan. Aaron did nothing to stop Moses, or explain to
the people how Moses sinned. They would go down in history as Israel's
"dynamic duo"...
some set-up for the next generation.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
www.livingroomstudy.org
"For the purification of the unclean person, they are to take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and add fresh water to them. A person who is clean is to take hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all its furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, a corpse, or a person who had been killed." (Num. 19 17-18)
The majority of commands in the Torah make perfect sense by todays
medical & scientific standards. For instance, the kosher dietary
laws have been proven to direct people into healthier eating patterns.
Pertaining to matters of personal hygiene, the Lord directed Israel to
avoid mold spores & contagions, centuries before the microscope was
invented.
Forgive me for not detailing the practical nature of all 613 Torah commands, because my point is simply that it took a great level of faith for the community of Israel to follow, what seemed like, senseless orders from Moses. There was only Gods word, and no practical science to support it. Only later many generations later did scientists discover the practical observable scientific foundations for Gods instruction.
I wish I could identify with Moses more in the book of Numbers. Sadly, I find myself empathizing with the grumbling Israelite community. This was especially true when I was a younger disciple. So many of Gods commands seemed needlessly inefficient and laborious. I wondered when I was ever going to enter that life of freedom and abundant joy I heard other Christians talk about.
Shortly after choosing to follow Jesus, I found myself longing for day-trips back to Egypt, so to speak .just to remember the good old days of guiltless abandon. That never really turned out like I wanted, and eventually I learned to appreciate God and take Him at His word.
Im writing this to encourage you to trust Jesus by faith, and stick with it. Proverbs 3: 5-12
How does ash from an offering mixed with water purify a man and his household? Is it purely symbolic, or is there some medicinal property to this elixir? I have no idea. I just know to trust the Lords word over my instincts.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"Just as he (Moses) finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath
them split open. The earth opened it mouth and swallowed them and their
households, all of Korah's people and their possessions. They went down
alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them
and they vanished from the assembly." Num 16: 31-33
There is much said about God's love. It is true that He is love, and that
He sent His Son Jesus, that sinners might be saved. Jn 3:16 But in no way
does God's love negate the fact that God is Just. He will by no means clear
the guilty. Num 14: 18, Exodus 34:7, Nahum 1:3
Often times, "love" is confused with "long suffering". That is, the fact
that God may be slow to wrath doesn't mean that He won't eventually display
His wrath.
In the Tanakh (Old Testament), there are two occasions when men entered
Heaven, alive. The first was Enoch, and the second, Elijah. Enoch and
Elijah are often thought of as examples of the church being raptured,
caught-up into Heaven, without having died.
"Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom;
nor the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and
the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor
15:50-52
Also, "The dead will be changed and rise, followed by those who are alive at
Messiah's coming." 1 Thes 4: 17
The resurrection of the dead is described in the Tanakh, but what of the
modern Jewish notion that Hell is not mentioned on the Torah?
I believe Hell is clearly indicated in Numbers 16. Notice the scripture
reads that Korah's and his allies' families went down ALIVE into Sheol. It
wasn't that they died and were committed to Sheol. They went down, alive.
There is urgency in the gospel, because there is a literal Heaven and Hell.
Neither is inherited by birth, but: Heaven by grace, through faith…or Hell
by judgment, through faithlessness.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on each tassel at each corner. These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not become unfaithful by following your own heart and your own eyes. This way you will remember and obey all my commands and be holy toy our God. Num 15: 37-40
Jesus said to some of the religious leaders of His day, “You make your tassels long and phylacteries large, and pray loudly on the street corner, because you love to be seen and greeted loudly in the marketplace.” Basically, God-given displays of spiritual identity had become objects of egocentric attention for the worshiper.
Prayer, phylacteries, and tassels are all outward religious displays, supposedly reflecting an inward devotion to the Lord. Phylacteries are tiny boxes, affixed by leather straps to the head and hands. Inside these boxes are the commandments of God.
When a phylactery is enlarged, a prayer is shouted on a street corner, or a tassel elongated, attention is thus drawn away from personal worship, to the person worshipping. The observer is led to believe the size of the vestment is proportional to the piety of the worshipper. Grandiose displays may be impressive to people, but God is more concerned with sincerity than sensationalism. Quality of worship wins-out over quantity.
Personally, I like the idea of reminders. I think most people do, or else the “Post It” note people would be out of business! God is concerned with our remembrance. This extends beyond an annual holiday, or weekly Sabbath rest. He wants us to continually remember Him…as He continually remembers us, through His Son who is ever before Him as our testimony and advocate.
The Hebrew word for tassel is: “Tzitzit”. In Hebrew each letter has a numerical value. The letters of the word tzitzit equal 600. Each tzitzit has 8 cords and five knots. This gives a total of 613, the number of all the commandments in the Tanoak (Old Testament).
God does not simply want us to be reminded of the 10 commandments, but of all 613.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
“All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.’” Num 14: 2-4
It is a common misunderstanding that the United States is a democracy. It is not. The United States is a “republic”, with a democratically elected government. The difference between a republic and a pure democracy is simple. A pure democracy is basically, “mob rule”. Whoever has 51% of public desire at election time, wins.
A republic holds democratic elections, but is based on foundational creeds and principles, which may override the mob. Our republic is based on a constitution, which outlines & protects basic human rights, as listed in the 10 commandments. No matter how the public opinion sways, its actions and decisions may be overridden by the constitution.
For instance, in the “wild West”, if someone were accused of a crime, a lynch mob would form to hunt that person down, and hang him, without trial.
Then came frontier justice and circuit-riding judges who stood between the accused and the mob. A fair trial is based on evidence, weighed against the law as upheld by the constitution. As long as men are willing to abide to the foundational principles supporting our constitution, the United States should fare well…primarily because those foundational constitutional principles are the 10 commandments!
For Israel, things were not much different. Theirs was a Theocracy (God-centered government) not a republic…but the basic standards were similar with two exceptions: 1) Only 1 religion was tolerated. 2) Leaders were chosen by God, instead of the people.
God’s commandments acted as their “constitution”, so to speak. As long as Israel chose to follow the Lord and live within His commands, following His leader, things would go well. But when Israel chose to not trust God and His leader, Moses, their natural inclination was to “…appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”
No matter where we live or under what form of government we may find ourselves, it is always incumbent upon us to follow the Lord, first & foremost.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance
to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came
forward, He said: 'Listen to what I say: If there is a prophet among
you from the Lord, I make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak
with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is the only one
faithful in all My household. I speak with him directly, openly, and
not in riddles; he sees the image of God. So why are you not afraid
to speak against My servant Moses?'" Num 12: 5-8
"Envy" is pride wounded in competition. Whenever I see someone who
is consumed with envy, I start looking for where the competition is,
because somehow they are responding from that vulnerable place of
realized or impending defeat.
For Cain & Abel, the competition was over God's favor of their
offerings. For Jacob & Esau, it was over birthright and blessing.
I've seen it between recording artists in the marketplace, and between
ministers over congregants. There was serious competition going-on
between Moses' siblings.
Moses' brother, Aaron was oldest, and by birthright it was his
responsibility to spiritually lead the family. As high priest, he
was indeed leading Israel, spiritually. Perhaps, he also wanted to
lead them militarily & administratively.
Miriam was Moses' older sister. She followed Moses' baby basket down
the Nile, straight to Pharaoh's daughter. Miriam negotiated for
Moses' own mother to nurse and raise him! It must have been hard for
Miriam to submit to Moses, without seeing him as a child who needed to
be watched-over.
God saw past their pseudo-righteous indignation and spoke directly,
concerning their envious hearts. Miriam & Aaron's dispute wasn't over
Moses marrying an Egyptian woman. It was over his authority. God cut
straight to the issue, never mentioning the Egyptian woman.
In God's pronouncement, there is a profound lesson concerning
prophecy and faithfulness. There are several biblical instances,
where people who aren't particularly righteous prophesy. Even
Balaam's donkey prophesied! All that meant was that God wanted to
send a message, and He isn't limited by the righteousness of the
messenger.
Most profound is God's statement about faithfulness. When we are
faithful, God's messages don't come to us in abrupt off-time spurts.
He speaks directly and openly to the faithful. Leadership is not
about age or experience, necessarily. It is a matter of faithfulness.
Be faithful.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
