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Numbers 18-20
Mighty Moses
Strikes Out
Psalm 24:1-6 Who Gets Blessed and Intimate with God?
1.“The earth is Yahweh's, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.2.For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods.3.Who may ascend to Yahweh's hill? Who may stand in his holy place?4.He who has clean hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.5.He shall receive a blessing from Yahweh, righteousness from the God of his salvation.6.This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face --- even Jacob. Selah.Observations
24:4.We sacrifice integrity in taking short-cuts to temporal blessings.
24:5.
The blessing mentioned is conditional.
24:6.
Seeking His face goes beyond seeking His blessing.
Application
Integrity is necessary for intimacy with God and blessing.
Prayer
Holy God of my salvation, may I live righteously as I seek you. Amen.
Proverbs 6:23-29 Getting Burned
23.“For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,24.to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.25.Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.26.For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.27.Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?28.Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?29.So is he who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be free from punishment.“Observation
6:23-29.God's word guides us in the paths that are pleasant, and which avoid pain. When the word reproves us, bringing to light our wrong values and actions, we can be instructed in the way to life and happily ever after. Proverbs warns against the illegitimate pleasures of the immoral woman who hunts her prey with flattery and cunning. Painful consequences, which will totally wipe out any memory of pleasure await those who allow themselves to be captivated. It's not worth it. See Proverbs 5:15-21 for a little preventative maintenance for married guys. See Deadly Desires on Truthbase.net for both married and single guys.
Application
Those who live for the passing illegitimate pleasures of this world, will not only not be satisfied, but will suffer pain.
Prayer
Lord, help me keep Your perspective on life, and what's worth doing and worth not doing; protect me from deadly desires, and let me find my greatest pleasure in following You. Amen.
Numbers 18-20 Mighty Moses Strikes Out
Numbers 18 Levite Reward and Inheritance for Service Rendered
1.Yahweh said to Aaron...2.Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tent of Yahweh, dies: shall we perish all of us?6.I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given to Yahweh, to do the service of the tent of meeting.7.You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and you shall serve: I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift: and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.12.All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give to Yahweh, to you have I given them.20.Yahweh said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them: I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.21.To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting.22.Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.29.Out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave-offering of Yahweh, of all the best of it, even the holy part of it out of it.30.Therefore you shall tell them, When you heave the best of it from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine-press.31.You shall eat it in every place, you and your households: for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.32.You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it: and you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.Observation
18:1-32.God rewards His servants with an inheritance. Since the Levites did not get a portion of land, they got the best portion of the tithes and offerings. Aaron himself got God. Despite the consecrated privileged position, profaning (treating as common or unholy) the holy things resulted in death.
Numbers 19 Red Heifer Remedy
1.Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,2.This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, [and] on which never came yoke.3.You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and kill her...4.and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.5.One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:6.and the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.9.A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water for cleansing: it is a purification for sin.13.Whoever touches a dead person, and doesn`t purify himself, defiles the tent of Yahweh; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet on him.Observation
19:1-13.The red heifer, burned with cedar, hyssop and scarlet was a means of cleansing from defilement resulting from contact with a dead body. It was not an atoning sacrifice. Failure to avail oneself of God's remedy resulted in being cut off. See Digging Deeper for more.
Numbers 20 Miriam and Aaron Die, Moses Gets DQ'd
1.The children of Israel, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.2.There was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.3.The people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh!4.Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?5.Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.7.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,8.Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their cattle drink.9.Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him.10.Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?11.Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.12.Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, Because you didn`t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.13.These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.
15.how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers:16.and when we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border.17.Please let us pass through your land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king`s highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.21.Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: Israel turned away from him.
23.Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,24.Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you (both NIV) rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.25.Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;26.and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered [to his people], and shall die there.27.Moses did as Yahweh commanded: and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.28.Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.29.When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days.
Observations
20:1-29.All three "heroes" fail to make it into the Promised Land.
20:3.
No water, and the people blame Moses, using the same satanic lies of previous murmurings. This goes beyond “slow to learn” to “extreme stupidity”. No trust, no value change. They don't incur additional penalty, but Moses does.
20:8-12.
Moses was told to speak to the rock. He strikes the rock, twice. Striking is not speaking, and is disobedience. It wasn't out of anger nor frustration, but rather doubt or trusting in past experience. God said Moses didn't believe. Previously Moses was told to strike the rock at Horeb (Ex 17:5). Surprisingly the water gushes out and God is seen as sanctified or holy. Three quick lessons: God expects us to listen carefully and obey precisely; there are always consequences for failing to obey what He said; God holds leaders to a higher standard (James 3:1). While Moses lost out on the Promised Land, he will enjoy the Promised Kingdom (Mt 17:4; Mk 9:4).
20:14-21.
Edom refuses passage, and will get paid back.
20:24. Aaron also gets disqualified, possibly for failing to stop Moses from striking the rock (???), and the High Priest job gets passed to his son.
Application
God requires exact and specific obedience to enjoy His blessings. Listen carefully.
Prayer
Holy God, help me listen accurately and loyally obey all that You want me to do. Amen.
Digging Deeper
Numbers 19 The Red Heifer Cleansing
Most ancient (and even modern) cultures have taboos against touching dead bodies, to prevent physical and spiritual contamination. Since death was the result of sin, demonic (sinning) spirits might be connected with the dead.
The ashes and added ingredients (which were used in cleansing lepers Lev 14:4) would provide ritual/symbolic cleansing, through obedience. The red heifer, a young female cow, was a symbol of life (not only by virtue of fertility, but also thru the blood red color); cedar wood has a reddish tint (and is an enduring preservative); some varieties of hyssop (which was first used to apply the Passover blood, and later in the sanctuary for sprinkling blood on cleansed lepers) have purplish red berries; and the scarlet/red cloth or wool was also a symbol of blood. Moses also used hyssop to sprinkle blood upon the redeemed people (Heb 9:19) when they accepted the terms of the covenant (Ex 24:8).
So it seems that the Red Heifer is not related to atonement for sin, but cleansing from sin, and is ritual, deriving its power from obedience.
Ps 51:6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
God in a nutshell: God requires precise faithful obedience, cleansed lives, and rewards to those who serve Him as He's specified. He deprives the disobedient doubters of blessings and rewards. God holds greater servants to greater accountability, because they should know better (Lk 12:48). However, He doesn't totally reject His doubting people, nor undo their forgiveness, but instead calls them to holiness. Those who proudly sin are cut off. God will glorify Himself regardless of our doubt and disobedience.
Us in a nutshell: We can begin our relationship with God having good intentions, but lose focus on God's will, then doubt, disobey, and be disinherited. If we avail ourselves of God's provisions for getting back in fellowship, we can minimize the damage; but still damage is done.