Numbers. Day 50, Fashion Advice For Holiness: Tassels With Blue Cords

We'll be concluding Chapter 15 today with a segment of Scripture regarding a particular type of embellishment, intended to promote godly living, that is to be sewn onto the edges of the people's garments. This embellishment is there for the purpose of reminding the Israelites they are to be holy: set apart for the Lord's service, separate from idolaters, different from the cultures around them. We are going to talk about how the sight of these items on the edges of garments served to remind the people every day, all day long, that they belonged to the Lord and must live in a way that honored the Lord. We'll also talk about how these items figure in one of the miraculous healings performed by Jesus.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all My commands and will be consecrated to your God.'" (Numbers 15:37-40) The color blue likely symbolizes the Lord's divinity---the glory of God. 

We think of Him being seated on His throne in heaven, so we have a tendency to look upward, point upward, or think upward when communing with the Lord or talking about the Lord. Blue is the color of the sky and the color blue tends to be associated in our thoughts with the throne room of God. When we think about God we can't help thinking "up", so to speak, and even when our heads are bowed in prayer our thoughts and our words are perceived by us as streaming in an "upward" direction toward the Lord. We often lift our hands toward heaven in praise or in supplication, symbolically reaching toward God who is seated in the heavens. We think of our prayers as rising upwards toward God, and indeed the Bible uses this terminology by saying that the prayers of the Lord's people rise up to Him like the smoke of the sacred incense. (Psalm 141:2, Revelation 8:4) The blue cord on the tassels is intended to make the wearer of the tassels focus their thoughts heavenward. If our thoughts are focused upward toward our holy God, we will be less likely to focus on things of this world that might lead us astray.

Jesus would have followed the instructions given in verses 37-40 above. He would have worn tassels with blue cords on the corners of His garments. Did Jesus need to be reminded to live a holy life? No, but Jesus was born under the Old Testament law and He kept the law. He is the only human being who ever perfectly kept the law. He obeyed every word God the Father ever said, and this included wearing the tassels with the blue cords. These tassels with their blue cords are mentioned in a story supplied to us in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, and Luke 8:43-48. In this story an unnamed woman had been suffering from a bleeding disorder for twelve years. Such a disorder would have rendered her ceremonially unclean and physically unwell. She had seen many physicians and had tried many "cures"  and had spent all her money, but instead of experiencing any relief her condition continued to grow worse. There was nothing left to try, medically speaking. She'd tried every reputable treatment and probably every alternative treatment as well. But as Jesus passes by on His way to heal the critically ill daughter of a synagogue leader, this woman is filled with the faith to believe if she can manage to touch just the edge of His garment, she will be made whole. We don't want to miss how great her faith is. She doesn't think she needs to have a conversation with Him. She doesn't think she needs Him to place a hand on her head and pronounce a blessing upon her. She doesn't think she needs Him to instruct her on some sort of action to take that will result in healing. She doesn't even think it will take Him knowing she's there. She believes the Lord Jesus Christ is so holy and so capable of doing all things that merely brushing one of the tassels of His garment with the tips of her fingers will make her well.

Various versions of the Holy Bible render these passages from Matthew, Mark, and Luke in different ways. Some say she touched the "hem" of Jesus' garment. Some merely say she touched "His clothes". But in the original Greek, the word used by the gospel writers to indicate the portion of His garment that she touched would be most properly rendered as "a fringe, a tuft, an appendage, or a tassel". As Jesus passes by this sick woman in the crowd, she makes a leap of faith and reaches out toward Him so that one of the tassels with the blue cord on the edge of His garment (likely His prayer shawl) brushes the fingertips of one trembling hand. And she is made whole! 

Not only is she made whole, but Jesus realizes healing power has gone out from Him. He didn't see the woman in the crowd. He didn't speak to her. She didn't implore Him to heal her. But He knew she was there because He felt healing power transfer from Himself to this woman of faith. He didn't allow her faith to go unacknowledged; He stopped and called her forth in front of the crowd and said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." This woman had been ceremonially unclean for twelve years. Not only was she unable to take part in religious services at the temple, but even in her own household no one could lie on a bed she'd used or sit on a chair she'd used or touch any garment she'd worn. Imagine the stigma she bore! Imagine her sadness and depression! Imagine how worthless she must have told herself she was! This, I believe, is why Jesus called her forth in this huge crowd and pronounced her whole in front of everyone there. He restored her dignity and sense of self-worth! There was a procedure she'd have had to undertake at the temple by bringing the prescribed offerings for a person who had been made whole from an issue of blood, and no doubt she did that, but Jesus knew she'd suffered so much and for so long that going through the process prescribed by the law wasn't going to be enough to heal the brokenness of spirit she'd endured for so long. She would be rendered ceremonially clean by the law and would be able to resume normal life in every way, but this particular lady needed a healing of spirit that could only be accomplished by the Lord declaring her whole in front of many witnesses. 

Precious friends, when the Lord declares us whole, we are whole! When He makes us clean, we are clean! No matter what is in our past, when we come to Christ and accept Him as our Savior, we are made clean from our past just as surely as the woman in the gospel accounts was made clean of her blood disorder. Our old lives and old natures are gone and we are made fresh and new: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation is come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17) Even though we still sometimes make mistakes after coming to Christ (because we are still living in mortal bodies in a fallen world), when we confess our mistakes He forgives us of them and makes us clean from them. (1 John 1:9)

The tassels with the blue cords are a visual reminder to the Israelites that they are the Lord's people. Because they are the Lord's people, they are to think and talk and behave like the Lord's people. As they go about their daily lives they will see these tassels with their blue cords swinging back and forth on the edges of their garments. This sends a continual message to their minds of: "I belong to the Lord. I am to obey the Lord's commands. I am different from the people of the idolatrous cultures around me. I serve the living God. God is holy and I must honor Him by being holy. God loves me and is good to me and I will thank Him for His love and goodness by doing what is right in His eyes."

Our chapter concludes with the Lord saying to the Israelites: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God." (Numbers 15:41) The Lord has said many times, "I am the Lord your God", so far in the Old Testament. He keeps repeating this message because the Israelites are going to a land where the Lord is not accepted or honored as God. The people need to have it firmly fixed in their hearts and minds that the Lord is God---their God---before they ever step foot in the promised land.

You and I need to keep this firmly fixed in our hearts and minds too because we interact with unbelievers every day. For one thing, if we don't remind ourselves who we are in the Lord, we can more easily be drawn into ungodly behaviors of the culture around us. For another thing, if we don't remind ourselves who we are in the Lord, we won't be capable of leading unbelievers to the faith. When conducting business over the phone or in person, many of the people we interact with don't serve our God. At school or in the workplace there are people who don't know the Lord. Unbelievers are around us in the grocery stores and restaurants. Unbelievers are driving on the same roads we drive. We all probably have unbelievers among our family members and friends. There are even unbelievers in our places of worship; not everyone who attends services is attending because they know the Lord. Because we are surrounded by unbelievers, it's extremely important that we speak and behave like people who know the Lord. If we don't look like we belong to the Lord, our testimony will have no effect on those who don't know the Lord. We have to be different. We can't afford to blend into the culture and swim with the stream because if we do we will not be able to lead others to faith. Souls are at stake! If we don't live godly lives that honor our Lord, how can we hope to draw anyone to Him? If lost people don't feel like we love them, why should they believe the Lord loves them? If we don't display a spirit of mercy and forgiveness, what would make them think the Lord wants to extend mercy and forgiveness to them? If God is our Father, we should look like Him. 

Numbers. Day 49, A Man Breaks The Sabbath

Thursday's passage dealt with what many versions of the Bible translate as "presumptuous sin" which was characterized as a sin where the offender blasphemes the Lord, despises Him, and purposely breaks His commands out of hatred and disrespect for the Lord. The Lord said the Israelites were to excommunicate anyone who sins in this manner. A person like this is too dangerous to the congregation of Israel to allow them to remain to keep stirring up strife and rebellion.

In Chapter 14 the Lord allowed a plague to come upon and take the lives of ten of the twelve men who were sent to the promised land on a reconnaissance mission. These ten men returned with faithless, ugly reports. They blasphemed the Lord by accusing Him of rescuing them from Egypt only to cause them to die in the wilderness. They stirred the people into a frenzy of doubt and panic which led to an assassination plot against Moses and Aaron and a plan to return to the land of their oppression instead of moving forward in faith to possess the land the Lord promised them. They intended to appoint a leader in place of Moses---a man who would take them back to Pharaoh where they would become the subjects of the wicked king of Egypt---and I suspect all ten of the men who stirred up the crowd were vying for position of new leader. The Lord Himself excommunicated these men and He did it by death. The threat to Israel was too large and too imminent for Him to allow the men to survive. They were about to bring about the downfall of the entire community and He could not allow that to happen.

But in Chapter 15 the Lord hasn't told the people to put to death a person who sins presumptuously against Him. He simply told them to put the offender out of the congregation. An incident occurs in today's passage that temporary throws the people into confusion. A person purposely breaks one of the ten commandments, and although this is certainly a sin that qualifies him for excommunication, it's also a sin that qualifies for the death penalty. 

"While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day." (Numbers 15:32) When giving instructions regarding keeping the Sabbath day holy, the Lord said, "Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death." (Exodus 31:14-15) Every person in the community was aware of the commandment to observe the Sabbath and the penalty for not observing it. "Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, 'These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do. For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.'" (Exodus 35:1-3) We can clearly see that the man who gathered wood on the Sabbath was certainly aware that it was the Sabbath and that he was not to work (gathering wood qualifies as work) or light a fire on the Sabbath. Because this incident occurs in a passage of Numbers that deals with those who commit presumptuous sins, Moses is letting us know that the man who gathered firewood on the Sabbath and who intended to build a fire on the Sabbath was doing it in purposeful disobedience to God. This man deliberately broke the Sabbath because he disrespected the holiness of the Lord. The Sabbath was just like any other day to him; he did not regard it as holy because he did not regard the Lord as holy. While picking up the kindling, he probably had the attitude, "Yes, I'm working on the Sabbath! So what? What's the Lord going to do about it?"

Based on what the Lord has previously said about Sabbath-breakers, I believe the community knows what should be done with this man but at the same time I think they may be wondering whether the Lord's instruction to excommunicate presumptuous offenders is an amendment to or overrides His previous instruction to put a Sabbath-breaker to death. After having recovered from and repented of their murderous plot toward Moses and Aaron, they may be loathe to commit any type of harm upon any person---even when the law commands it. We find them unsure how to proceed in our next verse: "Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him." (Numbers 15:33-34) They want to make sure the Lord still wants a Sabbath-breaker put to death. 

This is a death penalty case at this point in the history of ancient Israel. The Lord's word is clear on that. The circumstances are also clear; there's no doubt the man actually did what he's accused of doing. There are at least two witnesses to the man's crime against the Lord, for we are told "those who found him" took him to Moses and Aaron and the assembly. This fulfills the law that no one can be put to death without the eyewitness testimony of two or more persons. (Deuteronomy 17:12, Deuteronomy 19:15) There's no problem with their case against the man. The problem appears to lie in their understanding of whether or not the Lord still wants them to carry out the death penalty for Sabbath-breaking or whether the law has been amended and He only wants them to excommunicate the man. Or perhaps the problem is that they do understand that the death penalty is still the sentence for a Sabbath-breaker but that they are reluctant to impose such a harsh penalty even though the Lord's will is clear on this matter. 

When we did our study of Exodus we discussed how imperative it was for the people to regard the Sabbath as holy. Failing to honor the seventh day of the week by setting it aside for the Lord could cause them not to set aside time with the Lord. If they worked seven days a week, time for the Lord wouldn't be prioritized, possibly causing many to completely forego prayer and the study of His laws and commandments. This would lead to some forsaking the Lord entirely and/or falling into idolatrous practices. Also, if the people could not observe one day a week in the Lord's honor, it would be easy to stop ascribing as much honor to the Lord as is due Him. When we stop thinking of the Lord as someone so high above us that we can't even comprehend His glory and holiness and power, we stop walking in His ways. We stop obeying His laws and commandments. We stop setting aside time to commune with Him. We start thinking our will for ourselves is as important (or more important) than God's will for our lives. We stop consulting Him when we have important decisions to make. We follow our own sinful desires instead of following the principles of holy living. If we can't set aside some time each week (preferably each day) to spend in God's word and to spend in prayer, it won't be long before we start drifting from a close relationship from the Lord. And when we fall away from closeness from the Lord, we start falling into sin. 

In our passage today no one wants to lay a finger on the Sabbath-breaker without doublechecking whether capital punishment is still the Lord's will for such a crime. Whether or not they should have been confused about this matter, at least they handle their confusion in the right way. They ask the Lord what to do and He tells them, through Moses, that His previous command to put a Sabbath-breaker to death still stands. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.' So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses." (Numbers 15:35-36)

At this pivotal moment in Israel's history, it's absolutely essential that they deal with various types of sin exactly in the way the Lord prescribes. If this man broke the Sabbath and nothing happened, imagine how many more would be tempted to break the Sabbath. If this man got away with an action that amounts to spitting in the Lord's face, imagine how many more would feel encouraged to be scornful of the Lord. Israel will begin taking over the promised land in the next generation. That land is filled with idolatrous tribes. If Israel does not have the Lord seated on the throne of her heart, and if she does not lift Him up to the highest degree in her mind, she could easily fall away from Him and fall into the idolatry rampant in the land of Canaan. Instead of becoming the powerful nation God promised she would be if she remained loyal to Him, the same punishment would fall on Israel as is going to fall on the sinful pagans of Canaan. The Lord was very clear about that in Leviticus 26:14-46. The Lord intends to uproot the idolatrous tribes of the promised land and plant Israel in their place. But if Israel falls into the same sin as these tribes, He will do to her the same thing He did to those who inhabited the land before her.

The entire community has to take part in putting the Sabbath-breaker to death. This should deeply impress upon them what a serious crime it is to revile the Lord in their hearts and reject His words. This should help keep them from making the same mistake. The man who broke the Sabbath broke faith with the Lord in his heart long before he decided to openly defy one of the ten commandments in the sight of his fellow countrymen. If he had been right with the Lord in his heart, his behavior would have reflected that. But he despised the Lord in his heart and scoffed at the Lord's commandments and felt he was above the Lord's law and not obligated to keep it. He set himself up as god of his own life. He enthroned himself as king of his heart and put himself above God. This is idolatry. This is just as much idolatry as if he made a sacrifice to a false god and bowed on his knees in front of a graven image. Taking part in his execution is intended to show the people they will be in danger of failing to regard the Lord as holy if they stop regarding the Sabbath day as holy. And if they stop regarding the Lord as holy, they will begin doing unholy things, and the blessings of the promised land will be removed from them.

Numbers. Day 48, A Particular Type Of Intentional Sin And Its Penalty

Yesterday we talked about the offerings for unintentional sins committed by individuals or by the community as a whole. Today we learn what Numbers 15 says the Israelites must do about a particular type of intentional sin. For this special type of sin there is no offering to bring that will allow the person to remain in the congregation of Israel.

"But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. Because they have despised the Lord's word and broken His commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them." (Numbers 15:30-31) The word rendered "defiantly" (or "presumptuously" in some versions such as the KJV) in the original language means something like: "to exalt oneself, to lift high, to be lifted up in pride". A Bible commentary I often consult is one by David Guzik, who says of this passage: "Literally, to sin presumptuously means to sin 'with a high hand'. It speaks of a flagrant rebellion against God, the law of Moses, and the nation as a whole." Another commentator whose writings I sometimes read, Adam Clarke, says the defiant and presumptuous sin of verses 30 and 31 is this type: "Bold, daring acts of transgression against the fullest evidence, and in despite of the Divine authority".

Our passage is talking about those who set themselves up above God by speaking out against Him and by trying to lead others astray from Him. Verses 30 and 31 come at a time when ten men have just lost their lives for inciting rebellion against God and against Moses and Aaron whom God has, at this juncture in history, appointed as the human political and religious leaders of Israel. These ten men set almost the entire community into an uproar to the point that many of them wanted to stone Moses and Aaron to death, select a leader who would do their will instead of God's will, and return to slavery in Egypt under a cruel and wicked king. The type of people the Lord commands Israel to excommunicate are the type who, as verses 30 and 31 says, blaspheme the Lord, despise His word, and break His commandments. The ten men who lost their lives in our previous chapter blasphemed the Lord by saying He could not and was not going to enable Israel to take the promised land; they called God a liar. They accused God of having bad intentions toward Israel by saying He had brought them to the borders of the promised land with the intention of allowing their soldiers to fall by the sword and their children and wives to be taken captive. The ten men turned the people against Moses and Aaron, almost causing their assassination. The ten men made slavery and oppression look better to the people than liberty and prosperity in a new land. 

God Himself excommunicated these ten men by allowing them to die, for they were too dangerous and held too much sway over the people to be allowed to continue living. But in the future the Lord says that Israel is to put out of the congregation anyone who speaks blasphemy against the Lord and who tries to entice others to turn against the Lord along with them. 

In the New Testament we find the Apostle Paul recommending the excommunication of a church member. The man in question was having an affair with his own stepmother. This fact was common knowledge and the members of the church knew the man was openly living in blatant, unrepentant sin, yet no one took any action to ensure that this man wasn't allowed to be a bad influence on the congregation. The church leadership should have taken him aside privately to lovingly counsel him about his lifestyle and urge him to repent. The church leadership or the congregation---or both---should have objected to this man taking part in their services while he was living proudly and brazenly in sin. But no one said a word. On the contrary, Paul says, "You are proud!" (1 Corinthians 5:2) The word translated as "proud" is similar in meaning to the word translated as "defiant" or "presumptuous" in our text from Numbers 15. It means to "lift oneself up, to bear oneself loftily, to be puffed up". The congregation wasn't mourning that one of their members had fallen into sin, as Paul says they should be in 1 Corinthians 5, but instead they had the attitude of, "So what?" Instead of being sad, they were defiant. Paul called them out on their wrong attitude and advised them to put the man out of their congregation for the purpose of causing him to feel sorrowful and repentant. Later, in 2 Corinthians 2, we learn that the man did repent and that Paul advised the church to accept him back into the congregation lovingly and as their brother in Christ. He said, "You ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him." (2 Corinthians 2:7-8)

It would not be Christlike if the congregation refused to accept the repentant man back into church. The Lord has accepted his repentance; the church would be hypocritical not to do likewise. They aren't to berate him by saying, "You should have known better!" What would that accomplish? He's already come to see that he should have known better. He's sorry for his sin. He's made things right with the Lord and now he's trying to make things right with his brothers and sisters in Christ. If they refuse to accept his apology in the right spirit, they are sinning against him and against the Lord who has already forgiven him. 

What are we to do when someone realizes the error of their ways, repents to the Lord, and seeks the forgiveness of their fellow believers whom they have wronged? Here is the answer: "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently." (Galatians 6:1a) When someone comes to us in guilt and sorrow, we aren't to haughtily pronounce, "I told you so!" We aren't to exclaim, "You got what you deserved!" We aren't to put them down by saying, "What did you expect? How did you not see this was going to go horribly wrong?" Is that what Christ says when we come to Him and confess our mistakes? No, He restores us gently in love. A person who realizes they have erred greatly is already beating themselves up for it. They already feel terrible. They already feel like a fool. They already wish they hadn't sinned against the Lord and/or against their fellow man. Why would we want to heap more guilt and grief upon them? What would that accomplish except exalting ourselves by being able to say, "I told you so! I was right and you were wrong! If only you'd listened to me!" 

No one has the right to say things like that except the Lord whose laws and commandments have been broken. And yet He offers forgiveness instead. He extends mercy instead. How can we refuse to do likewise?

Numbers. Day 47, Unintentional Sins Committed By The Community And By Individuals

Everyone has committed deliberate sins: knowing what's right but choosing to do the opposite. In addition, everyone has committed unintentional sins; we've done something in ignorance of God's laws and commandments or we've said or done something that we didn't realize was wrong in the moment, but later the Holy Spirit convicted our hearts of having made a mistake. Today's passage tells the Israelites what to do when they realize they've unintentionally failed to keep a commandment of the Lord.

"Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Moses---any of the Lord's commands to you through him, from the day the Lord gave them and continuing through the generations to come---and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering." (Numbers 15:22-24) Unintentional sin is still sin. A sin offering is required when the community realizes it has done wrong. 

King David understood it was possible to sin without being aware of it and he said to the Lord, "But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults." (Psalm 19:12) You and I have a lot of things to do every day. We encounter all sorts of situations. We don't always react in a way that best reflects who we are in the Lord. But we're so busy in our daily lives that we may not realize in the moment that our attitude or reaction was wrong. David asks, "Who can keep track of their sins? Forgive me for sins I'm not aware I've committed." When David calls his faults "hidden" he doesn't mean they're hidden from God. He means they're hidden from himself. He knows he may have said or done something sinful without being aware of it or that he may have had thoughts or attitudes that didn't line up with God's thoughts and attitudes. In case he's left anything out when confessing his sins to God, he asks the Lord to forgive him for sins he doesn't even realize he's committed.

When the community realizes they've done something wrong as a group, they bring the offering to the tabernacle. "The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven, for it was not intentional and they have presented to the Lord for their wrong a food offering and a sin offering. The whole Israelite community and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong." (Numbers 15:25-26) This one offering is accepted by the Lord as atonement for the entire community.

When only one person realizes he or she has sinned unintentionally, a less expensive offering is to be brought. "But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you." (Numbers 15:27-29) The foreigner who converts to the God of Israel is required to do no more than a native-born Israelite. As the Lord said to the Israelites earlier in our chapter, "You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord." The faith of the converted foreigner is as valid as the faith of the Israelite. They are worshiping the same God. 

Sometimes we know for a fact, the minute a word comes out of our mouths or as soon as we make some sort of choice, that we've messed up. Other times we may not realize it in the moment and will later recall that we behaved in a way that was not godly. Unintentional sin is still sin and we should confess it to the Lord as soon as we become aware of it. And just in case we've sinned without being aware of it, during our prayer time we can say something like what David said. "Lord, I may have said or done something today that didn't honor You. I may have sinned without being aware of it. Please forgive me for all my sins: those I've committed knowingly, those I've committed unintentionally, and those I've committed without knowing it." David didn't want unconfessed sin in his life because he didn't want anything coming between him and God. I think that's a good attitude to have.

 

Numbers. Day 46, Offerings In The Future, Part Two

The Lord is speaking about how the Israelites are to bring offerings to Him when they reach the promised land. Any non-Israelite who believes in and worships the Lord is to bring their offerings in the same manner.

"Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when they present a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. For the generations to come, whenever a foreigner or anyone else living among you presents a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, they must do exactly as you do. The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: the same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you." (Numbers 15:13-16) A Gentile who converted to the God of Israel was to observe the same religious customs as a native-born Israelite. The same faith that saved the Israelite saved the Gentile; therefore the Bible says, "You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord." 

There is equality here. The Lord accepts the faith of one person in the same way He accepts the faith of another person. He doesn't count one nationality or race "better than" or "less than" another. In the New Testament we find both Jews and Gentiles joining the Christian church and the Apostle Paul urged the members not to discriminate against each other for being from different backgrounds. He appealed to them to love one another and maintain a spirit of unity since they were all of one family in the Lord. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:2-6) 

We have to be careful in our congregations never to discriminate against each other. The same faith that saves one saves another. In the Lord's eyes we are the same, no matter where we came from or what we've done in the past. The faith of the person who grew up in church and who has always been a law-abiding citizen is not more valuable than the faith of the person who gave their heart to the Lord while incarcerated in prison. The faith of the poor is as valuable as the faith of the wealthy. The faith of the one who came to the Lord late in life is as valuable as the faith of the person who has served the Lord for many decades. The faith of the person of one race is as valuable as the faith of the person from any other race. The faith of the female is as valuable as the faith of the male. We are "the same before the Lord". (Numbers 15:15b)

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the Lord. Present a loaf from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering from the threshing floor. Throughout the generations to come you are to give this offering to the Lord from the first of your ground meal." (Numbers 15:17-21) We noted yesterday, when we began Chapter 15, that the Lord is careful to begin each set of the instructions in this chapter by saying, "When you enter the land". Instead of entering the land in the very near future, there is now going to be a forty-year delay due to the rebellion which occurred upon the return of the twelve spies from the land of Canaan. The Israelites' entry into the promised land has been delayed but not cancelled. The Lord keeps reminding them of this over and over as He provides instructions for going about their religious lives in the promised land. 

Can we cause a delay in blessings the Lord wants to give us? We certainly can. Our disobedience and doubt can delay or even divert blessings from us. Failure to trust the Lord can keep us from moving ahead when He says to move ahead. Failure to seek the Lord's will before making a decision can cause us to make the wrong decision. I am sure I have delayed blessings or missed out on blessings altogether because my faith was too weak to move boldly ahead in the direction the Lord said, or because I didn't seek His will in an important decision and went the wrong way, or because I was in a rebellious spirit and deliberately chose to do the opposite of what He instructed me to do. This is why it's so important that we daily remain in close contact with our Lord through the study of His word and through prayer. We can't really know Him if we don't study His words. We can't build a solid foundation of faith unless we are familiar with the most important guidebook of all: the Holy Bible. This book should be consulted for encouragement and guidance on a regular basis. Time should be spent in prayer on a regular basis, talking to and listening to the Lord. This is how we build relationships with our fellow human beings; this is how we build our relationship with the Lord: by spending time with Him. If we build upon this foundation of faith, day after day after day, we'll be less likely to suffer a crisis of faith when the Lord tells us to move ahead toward some great blessing. We'll be less likely to make a big decision that goes against Biblical principles. We'll be less likely to want to be disobedient and do the opposite of what the Lord tells us to do. This means we'll be less likely to miss out on beautiful blessings the Lord wants to give us.

Numbers. Day 45, Offerings In The Future, Part One

Chapter 14 was about rebellion. Right after the rebellion of our previous chapter comes this chapter which deals with various supplementary offerings that the people will bring to the Lord after they arrive in the promised land. Following the shame of their rebellion and their resounding defeat when they went up against their enemies without the Lord's approval, the people may be harboring some doubts about whether God still loves them. The Lord's words in Chapter 15 are proof that He still intends to give the land to Israel and make her into a great nation. He would not speak of offerings in the promised land if He wasn't going to take them there. Because of their rebellion there will be a forty-year delay in taking possession of the land, but it is still going to happen. And because it is still going to happen, the Lord talks about supplementary offerings the people will bring to him there.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'After you enter the land I am giving you as a home and you present to the Lord food offerings from the herd or the flock, as an aroma pleasing to the Lord---whether burnt offerings or sacrifices, for special vows or freewill offerings or festival offerings---then the person who brings an offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of olive oil. With each lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.'" (Numbers 15:1-5) The Lord's words are very reassuring when He says, "After you enter the land I am giving you as a home". He doesn't say, "If you enter the promised land," or, "If I still give you the land for your home". He has not given up on Israel and I am glad He is not a God who gives up easily. If He were, where would I be today? He had to put a lot of effort into bringing me---a little lost lamb---into the sheepfold. I wasn't seeking Him; He was seeking me. I was living in rebellion and sin but He kept working with me anyway. The Lord is patient and I am glad He is. 

The amount of flour, olive oil, or wine brought with an offering varies according to the size of an offering. "With a ram prepare a grain offering of two-tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a third of a hin of olive oil, and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Offer it as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vow or a fellowship offering to the Lord, bring with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil, and also bring half a hin of wine as a drink offering. This will be a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this manner. Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare." (Numbers 15:6-12) The material in this chapter may not seem all that exciting to us after the action included in some of the previous chapters, but I think it's important at this point for the Lord to get the people back to the basics. He's helping them to focus their minds on their worship services in the future in the promised land. 

When we realize we've gotten off track and out of the Lord's will, the first thing we need to do is confess and repent. But the second thing we need to do is get back to the basics of our faith: spending time in the Lord's word and spending time in prayer with Him. In Chapter 14 we found the people being sorry for their rebellion, although they went about trying to "fix it" in the wrong way by going up to attack some of the tribes in Canaan even though the Lord had already said that, as discipline for their rebellion, He would not be with the army during this generation of fighting men. We can't "fix" our own sin, so the Lord brings the people back to the basics of their faith, and these basics include sacrifices and offerings for sin. In doing this He reminds them that righteousness comes from Him. No one can do enough good works to make themselves righteous. No one can perform enough deeds to undo or make up for their sins. We sin daily, multiple times a day. We could never keep an accurate count of our sins, much less do enough to atone for them. Salvation is by faith, not by works. Here in Chapter 15 the Lord reminds the people that their righteousness comes through faith in Him, not through any works they can perform with sinful human hands. 

Numbers. Day 44, Ten Men Sentenced/A Bad Choice Made And A Battle Lost

The Lord is not going to strike the entire camp with a plague, but He will pass sentence on the ten men who stirred the people to rebellion. If these ten men had returned from spying out the land of Canaan with faith-filled reports like Joshua and Caleb did, the assembly would not have fallen into such disbelief that they accused the Lord of intending to let all their soldiers be killed and their women and children taken captive. The assembly would not have proposed killing Moses and Aaron and then choosing a new leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt. The crime of these ten men is a capital crime in the Lord's eyes. They caused the people to speak out bitterly against the Lord who loves them and who is providing faithfully for them. They caused the people to prefer slavery in Egypt to freedom as a sovereign nation in the promised land. The Lord decides these ten men are too dangerous to be left alive because they will keep on stirring up strife and enticing their fellow man to turn away from the Lord. 

"So the men Moses sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it---these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived." (Numbers 14:36-38) What was the "bad report" these men spread? Was it that many of the cities were large and fortified by walls? No, this was true. Was it that some of the giant, warlike Anakim were in the land? No, this was true. Their bad report was that, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." (Numbers 13:31) The reason this is a bad report is that the Lord is on the side of Israel. Who is stronger than the Lord? No one! Therefore the people of Canaan are not stronger than the Israelites. This is why Caleb said, "We can certainly do it." (Numbers 13:30. This is why Joshua said, "The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." (Numbers 14:9) 

When the ten men told the people they weren't strong enough to take the promised land, what they were really saying was that the Lord wasn't strong enough. The ten men were attacking not only the power of the Lord, but also the integrity of the Lord, because the Lord made the promise on oath to Abraham that Abraham's descendants would be given this land and become a great nation in it. The ten men are saying, "The Lord's word is no good." In this moment in Chapter 14 the people are looking at and listening to the ten faithless men instead of looking at and listening to the Lord. Because the ten men hold too much sway over the people, and because there is a very real and present danger of the men inciting the assassination of Moses and Aaron, and because the people are ready to turn back to slavery instead of moving forward in faith, the Lord cannot allow the ten men to go on living. If He does, they will prevent the tribes of Israel becoming the nation of Israel. They will cause the Israelites to return to slavery in Egypt where, over time, they would assimilate into the Egyptian culture and eventually forsake the God of Abraham.

"When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, 'Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!'" (Numbers 14:39-40)The people are shocked to learn the ten men have perished from the illness that suddenly struck them. Their shock turns to sorrow that they ever trusted the men at all. They realize the death of these men is the judgment of the Lord and now they know they were wrong to doubt the Lord and believe the bad report of the men. It's appropriate for them to feel sorry for doubting the Lord, and it's definitely appropriate for them to repent, but they are wrong for deciding that now they will go up and attack the inhabitants of the promised land. The reason this is an unwise decision is because the Lord has already sentenced them for their former faithlessness by declaring that forty years will pass before Israel takes possession of the promised land. And during that forty years, every man of fighting age who spoke against the Lord's ability to give them the land will perish in the wilderness. It's too late to say, "Now we will go up and fight for the land," because the Lord is not with the army at this time. 

"But Moses said, 'Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, He will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.'" (Numbers 14:41-43) Moses tries to prevent them from going to battle by reminding them what the Lord has said. They've repented of their previous rebellion, which is good, but they have entered a new rebellion. The Lord could not have been more clear when He said that the current generation of fighting men will not take possession of the land but that it will be the next generation to whom He will give it. In attempting to fight the Amalekites and Canaanites now, they are rebelling against God who plainly said He would not give success to the generation of Israel's soldiers who doubted Him: "In this wilderness your bodies will fall---every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun." (Numbers 14:29-30)

The army ignores Moses and forges ahead. "Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord's covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah." (Numbers 14:44-45) Moses remained in the camp because he knew the Lord was not with the army. Moses was not going to put his "seal of approval" on this doomed endeavor by going out with the troops. Also the ark of the covenant remained in the camp, signifying that the Lord was not with the army. Later in the Bible, when Israel is doing what's right by seeking the Lord's will before going into any battles, we'll find them taking the ark along with them to symbolize the Lord's presence in the army. But they aren't allowed to take it now, in Chapter 14, because the Lord is not with the army. Shame, defeat, injuries, and loss of life occur because the soldiers engage the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle during a time when they know the Lord isn't with Israel's soldiers. This didn't have to happen. 

When our plans go awry it's important to stop and consider whether our plans were the Lord's plans to begin with. Did we forge ahead and do what we wanted without consulting Him? Did we make sure we were in the Lord's will or did we just assume we were in the right and that the Lord would back us up? The Lord is never obligated to "get on board" with what we're doing. On the contrary, we are obligated to get on board with Him. This is why the Bible instructs us, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6) The smartest thing we could ever possibly do, before making any big decision, is to make sure this is the direction the Lord wants us to go. We cannot assume we are in the right, for, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12) We can't trust in human wisdom or follow our hearts because the human heart is "deceitful above all things". (Jeremiah 7:9) When we encounter defeat we must ask ourselves whether we brought it upon ourselves by going in a direction the Lord never intended us to go. If God is for us, no one can be against us. But if we've gotten out of the Lord's will and done a thing He never wanted us to do, we are responsible for our own defeat. The appropriate action to take is to feel sorry for our sin and confess it and repent of it, having learned that the best way to live victorious lives is to seek the Lord's will before making any big, potentially life-altering decisions.