Milo

JANUARY 31

Reading 31

PERILS FOR PILGRIMS Numbers 10–14

“How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?” (Num. 14:11)Every defeat believers experience is ultimately rooted in unbelief. In these pivotal chapters of Numbers, we learn that a lack of trust in God may be expressed in different ways.

Definition of Key Terms

Unbelief. Unbelief here is not at all a failure to believe that God exists. As James reminds us, “Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19). Rather unbelief is a failure to trust God, and is expressed in some failure to obey God’s Word.

Overview

Signs of unbelief marred the journey to Canaan. Despite careful preparations (10:1–36), the Israelites complained of hardships (11:1–3), and displayed ingratitude (vv. 4–35). Even Miriam and Aaron were jealous of Moses’ leadership (12:1–16). Israel camped on the border of Canaan, as a dozen men were sent to learn about conditions there (13:1–26). Most of the spies were terrified by the strength of Canaan’s people (vv. 27–33). The people rebelled, flatly refusing to attack Canaan, and were sentenced to wander in the desert for 40 years, until all but two of the unbelieving Exodus generation were dead.

Understanding the Text

“You will be remembered by the Lord your God” Num. 10:1–10. Josephus says that the two silver trumpets that God instructed Moses to make were about 15 inches long. Two such trumpets were taken from the temple when Jerusalem was razed inA.D 70, and are pictured on Titus’ Arch of Triumph in Rome. The trumpets were used to direct the tribes when on the march. The trumpets were also to be blown when Israel went into battle. God would “remember” His people then. Here “remember” does not mean think of, but to act on behalf of. God remembers us on our pilgrimage too. As we will see, the real question is, Will we remember to act on His Word? “You can be our eyes” Num. 10:11–36. Moses’ request that his brother-in-law, Hobab, accompany Israel did not, as some have thought, show a lack of faith. The Midianites of that era were a nomadic people familiar with lands south of Canaan. Moses followed wherever the cloud God sent led him. Hobab provided information about the area toward which they were headed. It’s wise for Christians today to seek advice from other believers. It only becomes wrong if we permit human advice to take the place of divine guidance. “The people complained about their hardships” Num. 11:1–3. The plains of Sinai are verdant compared to the desert of Et-Tih. The people felt oppressed by the desolation, and began to complain. God’s cloud had led Israel into this desert. Yet after only three days, the people focused on their “hardships” rather than fixing their hopes on the good land toward which they were journeying. God’s fire burned only “some of the outskirts” of the camp. This fire was only a warning. Moses prayed, and the fire died down. Unbelief is discouraged by every hardship. Faith focuses expectantly on the future. “If only we had meat to eat” Num. 11:4–35. The people found a new cause of complaint: a monotonous diet! Numbers says “every family” was “wailing” at the door of its tent. For a year now God had provided manna, a miraculous, perfectly balanced food that provided all the body requires for good health. Rather than be grateful, the people shouted their dissatisfaction. God gave them what they wanted—meat to eat—but with it came a plague that killed thousands. In 1 Timothy 6:8, the Apostle Paul portrays the attitude we believers are to adopt on our pilgrimage. “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” The person who truly trusts God is content with what He provides. A preoccupation with material things, whether diet or riches, is a subtle but real expression of unbelief. What about the quail? Even in the early years of this century, great flocks of quail migrated across the Sinai peninsula. About 2 million of the low-flying birds were caught in the nets of Arabs living there. So the biblical story of low-flying quail has a modern corollary. Most important in Numbers, however, is the outcome. With the meat that Israel craved came a plague that killed thousands. For most of us, the abundance we sometimes crave would be spiritually disastrous. How much wiser to thank God for what we have than express unbelief by craving what we lack. Moses too cried out. He felt crushed by the weight of leading an unresponsive people. God answered Moses by sharing His Spirit with 70 elders in Israel. Not all discontent is ungodly. When our concerns are spiritual, or our needs are real, we should never hesitate to bring them to the Lord. “Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses” Num. 12:1–16. Miriam, Moses’ sister, was the leader of Israel’s spirit-filled women and a prophetess (cf. Ex. 15:20). Aaron, Moses’ brother, was high priest, Israel’s supreme religious leader. Yet these two became jealous of Moses and challenged his prophetic role as the primary person through whom God spoke to His people. God called the three to the entrance of the tabernacle. He affirmed Moses’ primacy and struck Miriam with an infectious skin disease. Aaron was spared because the disease would have disqualified him from the high priesthood, and Israel needed him to make sacrifices of atonement. The key to applying the passage lies in the description of Moses as “very humble” (v. 3). The Hebrew word, ’anaw, describes Moses’ attitude. It indicates an absence of pride or self-confidence, allowing complete dependence on God. The story pinpoints a common peril for leaders through whom God has spoken. Such leaders are susceptible to those subtle expressions of unbelief, pride, and jealousy. In contrast, humility in leaders is a sign of continuing trust in God. “Moses sent them to explore Canaan” Num. 13:1–25. Representatives of each tribe were sent to explore Canaan. Note that the Lord told Moses to send out the spies (vv. 1–24). Trying to learn as much as possible about where we’re going is not an indication of unbelief. “They reported to them and to the whole assembly” Num. 13:26–33. The spies agreed on their description of the land. It was rich and fertile. But it was populated by warlike peoples, living in walled cities. But the spies disagreed about what this meant to Israel. Ten were frightened, claiming, “We can’t attack these people; they are stronger than we are.” Two, Caleb and Joshua, disagreed. “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Faith and unbelief are still displayed in how we interpret life’s challenges. The problem is seldom in our assembly of the facts. It is in our interpretation of them. It is spiritual disaster to forget the most important fact of all; that God can lead us to triumph. “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt” Num. 14:1–45. The Israelites accepted the 10 spies’ view and rebelled (vv. 1–4). Moses and Aaron “fell facedown” as an expression of horror at Israel’s awful sin (v. 5). When they begged the people not to rebel against God, the “whole assembly talked about stoning them.” Moses and Aaron were saved only by an appearance of the visible glory of the Lord at the tabernacle. In judgment God announced that every adult over 20, except for Caleb and Joshua, would die in the desert. For some 40 years the doomed generation would wander in circles near Kadesh Barnea until everyone had died. As for the 10 spies who spread the bad report, they were struck down immediately by a plague (v. 37). Direct disobedience is always rooted in unbelief and leads to the most severe judgments of all. “Disobeying the Lord’s command” Num. 14:39–45. After God’s judgment was announced, the people decided they would attack Canaan after all. Moses rightly identified this as further disobedience. Timing is important in a relationship with God. Acting too late is as much evidence of unbelief as original hesitation. Both lead to disaster and defeat.

DEVOTIONAL

Afraid to Obey? (Num. 14)

“Don’t you think four years of God making me suffer is enough?” The question came from a young woman in a Florida Sunday School class. Over several weeks her story had gradually been shared with the other women in the class. She had been engaged to a young man who made her pregnant, then broke the engagement to marry her best friend. Within a year that marriage broke up, and he returned to marry her. Now they were divorced too . . . but still living together. Gently the teacher tried to explain. “Don’t blame God for making you suffer. Most often suffering is a consequence of our own choices. If you want to avoid suffering, you have to make better choices.” This is a lesson that Israel failed to learn. Israel, like the 22-year-old in that Sunday School class, assumed that a person can believe in God and do whatever he or she chooses. Each heard God’s voice of instruction, but each had decided not to obey. In making that decision, each displayed what Scripture calls “unbelief.” In Numbers 14 we sense the anger rebellious sins arouse, and also the grace still available to the sinner. God was angry enough with Israel to put the people “to death all at one time” (v. 15). Yet Moses reminded the Lord of His earlier revelation of Himself to Moses (cf. Ex. 34:6–7; Num. 14:17–18). God is “slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.” Yet God will “not leave the guilty unpunished.” In this passage, as in the life of the young woman in Sunday School, forgiveness and consequences are both displayed. God did not strike Israel with death “all at one time.” They lived long enough to see their children mature, and those children did gain the Promised Land. Yet as a consequence of their unbelief and rebellion they themselves could not enter the land. They suffered the very fate they feared, and died in the wilderness. Unbelief still holds us back, blocking our obedience to the Lord. Sometimes our motive is fear. We want to obey God, but we are afraid to. Sometimes our motive is selfishness. We feel that if we obey God we won’t get something we badly want. Whatever our motive, a failure to trust God enough to obey Him has consequences. Israel wandered in the wilderness. The young Florida divorcee suffers her uncertainties and pain. How much wiser to simply put ourselves completely in God’s hands, and to obey Him without holding back.

Personal Application

Be alert against the many forms that unbelief can take in your life.

Quotable

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. . . . As has just been said, ’Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’ “—Hebrews 3:12–15

Numbers

JANUARY 30

Reading 30

READY FOR PILGRIMAGE Numbers 1–9

“At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out” (Num. 9:18).Pilgrimage demands each believer prepare for warfare and for worship. When God’s people are on the march, they need to be ready for both.

Overview

After a year at Mount Sinai, the people spent 50 days preparing to journey on to Canaan. Moses took a census of fighting men (1:1–54), assigned campsites (2:1–34) and the travel tasks of the Levites (3:1–4:49). Three issues of ritual purity were decided (5:1–6:27), the tabernacle and Levites were purified (7:1–8:26), and the people celebrated Passover (9:1–23).

Understanding the Text

“Take a census” Num. 1:1–54. This first census reported in Numbers was to count men “able to serve in the army.” The count included every able-bodied male over 20. Each was “listed by name, one by one.” The census found 603,550 able to serve. It is fascinating to note the emphasis on individuals among the hundreds of thousands. When God’s people are on pilgrimage, every person counts. It’s the same in the church today. No matter how many millions of believers there are, you and I are “listed by name” as members of God’s army. The issue isn’t whether or not we count. It’s whether God can count on us. Years later, after a new generation replaced the men and women now camped at Sinai, another army census was taken. The overall number was about the same, 601,730. But the number contributed by several of the tribes differed greatly.

Tribe	Numbers 1	Numbers 26
Reuben	46,500	43,730
Simeon	59,300	22,200
Gad	45,650	40,500
Judah	74,600	76,500
Issachar	54,400	64,300
Zebulun	57,400	60,500
Ephraim	40,500	32,500
Manasseh	32,200	52,700
Benjamin	35,400	45,600
Dan	62,700	64,400
Asher	41,500	53,400
Naphtali	53,400	45,400
	603,550	601,730

What does the decline of Simeon by some 37,000, and the increase of Manasseh by over 20,000, suggest? Simply that if we do not do our share, God’s work will still be done. But someone else will win the blessing that might have been ours. “Camp around the tent of meeting” Num. 2:1–34. In the 13th century G.p. Egyptian armies used the same square formation that the Lord introduced here. The royal tent was placed in the middle of the camp, surrounded by different army corps. The symbolism does not suggest that God is protected by His people; He is the protector. The organization of the camp proclaims to all that the Lord is Israel’s Commander and King, the heart and center of the nation’s life. “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites” Num. 3:12. The Levites were not counted among the fighting men. They were set aside to guard the tabernacle and to do the “heavy work” (’abad, ’abodah) of taking it down, transporting, and erecting it. These Hebrew words come from a root that means servant, or even slave. In Old Testament times the status of a servant depended on two things: how close he was to his master, and how significant his service was. The structure of the camp put the Levites closer to the Lord’s tabernacle than any other tribe. And their work was to guard and transport the holiest objects in Israel’s faith. Doing God’s “heavy work” is a privilege. It places us close to Him, and in serving Him we build for eternity. The 22,000 Levites between 30 and 50 took the place of 23,273 “firstborn” that belonged to the Lord. God had claimed Israel’s firstborn as His own when He slew the firstborn of Egypt. How could there be only 22,273 firstborn in a community with over 600,000 men of military age? Some suggest that the 22,273 were born after the Exodus began, some 13 months earlier. Why were only men between 30 and 50 counted? Possibly because God’s “heavy work” calls for servants who are both mature and at the height of their strength. “Send them outside . . . so they will not defile their camp” Num. 5:1–4. This is the first of three purity issues God raised in preparing Israel for pilgrimage. The camp was organized to prepare for war. But to journey safely, Israel had to depend on God and remain close to Him. Anyone who was defiled and might interrupt fellowship with God, as those with infectious skin disease, had to be put outside to keep from contaminating the community (see Lev. 11–15). Application to our personal pilgrimage of faith is obvious. We are to cleanse our lives from impurities, as Israel was called to cleanse her camp. “Wrongs another in any way” Num. 5:6–31. Ritual contamination by an infectious skin disease was visible. Moral failures were more difficult to ascertain. First, any person who wronged another “in any way” was guilty and “must” confess the wrong and make full restitution. We are each responsible to maintain a right relationship with God and with others in the faith community. But what if another is unwilling to admit a wrong? The text describes a test to be given a wife whose husband suspects her of unfaithfulness. God promised to act through the rite to clear an innocent wife or to identify a guilty one. The rite reminds us that if we do not deal with sins ourselves, we, like the guilty wife, “will bear the consequences” of our sins. “A special vow” Num. 6:1–21. The person who took a Nazarite vow took on many of the special obligations of Israel’s priests. Priests could not drink wine before offering sacrifices (Lev. 10:9); the Nazarite could not use any product of the vine. The high priest could not mourn for his near relatives (21:2ff), nor could the Nazarite. On completing his vow, the Nazarite even offered the same sacrifices that Aaron did when he was ordained (cf. Lev. 8). The presence of Nazarites reminded Israel that the whole community was holy, layman as well as Levite. Each believer could voluntarily commit himself or herself totally to the Lord. “To bless the Israelites” Num. 6:22–27. With the community organized and purified, Aaron and his sons were able to pronounce one of the most beautiful of benedictions over Israel. The blessings described are ours too when we journey in purity with Jesus and His friends. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. Assured of God’s presence and organized into a more disciplined force, Israel was ready for war. But first Israel had to be ready to worship. “He . . . consecrated it and all its furnishings” Num. 7:1–8:26. Just before departing, the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the Levites who were to serve in it were all ritually cleansed by sacrificial blood and dedicated to the service of God. The solemn ceremonies underlined the importance of holiness for anyone ready to set on life’s spiritual pilgrimage.

DEVOTIONAL

The Nature of Our Pilgrimage (Num. 9)

Israel’s final act before setting out on the journey to Canaan was to celebrate the Passover. This annual festival of freedom recalled God’s mighty acts in winning freedom for His people. It served to remind Israel of redemption from Egypt, for redemption had laid the foundation of Israel’s existence. Redemption was each individual’s charter deed to personal relationship with the Lord. Even ceremonial uncleanness did not prevent a person from celebrating Passover. In fact, the ceremonially unclean were commanded to keep Passover. Why? Because personal relationship with God depends on the experience of salvation, not on living the good life. But notice what follows this ceremonial reaffirmation of Israel’s salvation. The writer of Numbers looks ahead and sums up the daily experience of Israel on pilgrimage. “Whenever the cloud [which indicated the visible presence of God with His people] lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; whenever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped” (v. 17). A redeemed people can to look to the Lord for daily guidance. It’s the same for us today. Conversion is the beginning of our pilgrimage, not the end. There may be warfare ahead. But God can and will guide us safely through life’s trials. If we wish to travel safely, we must remember that God is with us, and look to Him daily for direction and guidance. Personal Application

Organization speaks of discipline, and purity of moral commitment. Without both, our spiritual journey is sure to be marked by breakdowns and delay.

Quotable

Master, speak! Make me ready When Thy voice is truly heard, With obedience glad and steady Still to follow every word. I am listening, Lord, for Thee; Master, speak, oh, speak to me! -Frances Ridley Havergal

Numbers

INTRODUCTION

This fourth book of the Old Testament picks up the story of Israel’s origins. The descendants of Abraham, God’s man of faith, have been freed from slavery in Egypt. They have been guided to Sinai, where they were given a complex Law to live by and a tabernacle at which to worship. Now the Israelites are about to set out from Sinai on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Because of disobedience, that journey, which could have ended in rest for God’s people within a few short months, was extended to some 38 years. On it, the generation that began Israel’s pilgrimage died, to be replaced by a generation willing and eager to follow the Lord. Numbers takes its name from the censuses which it records. The book is half narrative and half legislation. Its focus is the Promised Land toward which Israel journeys. Its stories and its laws are filled with lessons that we can apply on our own earthly pilgrimages toward heaven.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

I.	At Sinai	Num. 1–9
	A. Organizing the camp	Num. 1–4
	B. Cleansing and dedication	Num. 5–9
II.	The Lost Generation	Num. 10–19
	A. The journey to Kadesh	Num. 10–12
	B. Israel’s disobedience	Num. 13–14
	C. Years of wandering	Num. 15–19
III.	The New Generation	Num. 20–36
	A. Kadesh to Moab	Num. 20–21
	B. Balaam	Num. 22–25
	C. Preparation for victory	Num. 26–30
	D. Promises of victory	Num. 31–36

JANUARY 29

Reading 29

WORSHIP AS COMMITMENT Leviticus 23–27

“Follow My decrees and be careful to obey My laws, and you will live safely in the land” (Lev. 25:18).Believers demonstrate commitment to the Lord by the decisions they make. These last chapters of Leviticus survey a number of decisions the Israelites would face when they entered the Promised Land, and reflect choices you and I face today.

Overview

Commitment to the Lord was to be expressed by setting aside time to worship (23:1–44), by daily and crisis obedience (24:1–23), by demonstrating concern for the land (25:1–7) and compassion for the poor (vv. 8–55). To encourage commitment, God rewarded obedience (26:1–13) and punished disobedience (vv. 14–46). Beyond this, each person could voluntarily dedicate himself and his possessions to the Lord (27:1–34).

Understanding the Text

“The appointed feasts of the Lord” Lev. 23:1–44. Six annual festivals were to be kept by the Israelites. No work was to be done on any of these days. They were to be dedicated to worship and celebration. The religious holidays were vivid reminders of the nature of Israel’s relationship with the Lord. Several of them reenacted experiences Israel had with the Lord. These were intended to affirm each new generation’s identity as a people redeemed, guided, protected, and provided for by the Lord. No wonder that most of the feasts were occasions for joy and rejoicing. Israel’s religious calendar set a pattern we Christians follow. At Christmas we remember the incarnation of the Son of God. On Good Friday we meditate on Christ’s death for us. Each Easter we rejoice in His resurrection, which guarantees our own. We can choose to focus on the spiritual meaning of our holidays, and so make them times of celebration and spiritual renewal. “The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses” Lev. 24:1–23. This chapter describes two situations in which our commitment to God is to be expressed as obedience. Verses 1–9 emphasize “continually,” a “lasting ordinance,” and “regularly.” They speak of repeated patterns in each believer’s life. We are to make sure that the ordinary things in our daily lives are in harmony with God’s will. Verses 10–23 describe a crisis. A young man of mixed parentage “blasphemed the name of the Lord with a curse.” The implication is that he used God’s name in a magical incantation intended to harm an enemy (cf. v. 10). Here was a situation very out of the ordinary! So the people wisely sought a ruling from God. When the ruling was given, the people obeyed and stoned the blasphemer to death. When we face a crisis situation, we too need to wait until the will of the Lord is made clear, and then act on it. Both habitual obedience to God’s known will and seeking God’s direction in crisis are ways we demonstrate a commitment to obedience that God welcomes as acceptable worship. “The land itself must observe a Sabbath” Lev. 25:1–7. In Eden God had told Adam to “work it [the Garden] and take care of it.” Now the Israelites are told to rest the land every seventh year, and not plant any crops. The principle is clear. Human beings are still responsible for earth’s ecology. Acid rain isn’t just a political football bounced between Canada and the U.S. It’s a reflection of man’s unwillingness to live responsibly in the world God has committed to his care. ISRAEL’S RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

“If you follow My decrees” Lev. 26:1–46. It’s so easy to misunderstand. We often think of punishment as a penalty, when it is really encouragement. This chapter reminds Israel that God uses two means to encourage obedience. The first means is reward (vv. 1–13). God promises to bless Israel if they follow His decrees “and are careful to obey My commands.” Each blessing should make us thankful, and motivate us to keep walking in God’s ways. The second means is punishment (vv. 14–46). Punishment would follow “if you will not listen to Me and carry out all these commands.” Yet even punishment is intended to encourage rather than create despair. How? First, punishment serves as a reminder that God remains involved in His people’s lives even when we sin! If we did evil and prospered, we’d have proof that God has deserted us! Second, punishment shows that God is faithful to His word. The Lord promised to discipline Israel when they disobeyed. He would surely keep His word and bless them if they turned back to Him. Third, punishment makes people aware of their need for God. Only people aware of a need for the Lord are likely to turn to Him. You and I need to see those infrequent times when God punishes us as encouragement. As Proverbs 3:11–12 says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.” “A special vow” Lev. 27:1–34. The Law set a minimum amount that the Israelites were to contribute to support ministers (vv. 30–33). But each individual had the privilege of making a special vow to the Lord. The person making a vow might give anything he possessed-himself, one of his family, an animal, his house, his family land, or a field he had purchased. In effect, the person making the vow paid the value of the dedicated thing into the tabernacle or temple treasury. Why then doesn’t the chapter simply speak of giving various amounts of money rather than specify persons, animals, houses, and land? To teach us that everything important to us—every relationship and every possession—is to be held in trust and, when required, made available to the Lord. Money is impersonal. Only when it represents something that is near and dear to us does a gift we give to God have significance to us—or to Him.

DEVOTIONAL

This Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8–55)

It was to be a year for rejoicing, the Year of Jubilee. It was to be a year when every poor family won the lottery, and every rich man rejoiced for him. When Israel entered Palestine, each family was to be given its own land to cultivate. That land, and the crops it produced, was to support the family and be the source of its wealth. God said that such land must not “be sold permanently.” No family was to be thrust into poverty; each was to have and keep its own capital. But what would happen if a family did have reverses and became poor? First, others who could were to help out, by lending money without interest or selling food at no profit (vv. 35–37). Second, if desperate, a man might sell the right to harvest crops the family land would produce, but not sell the land itself (vv. 13–29). Third, if destitute, a person might even sell himself, but such a person could not be treated as a slave (vv. 39–53). But, when the 50th year came, the Year of Jubilee, everything was to be set right. Any debt the poor owed was canceled. Any land the family had sold was reclaimed. And anyone who lived in servitude was freed. No wonder “jubilee” has come to mean “jubilation,” and “rejoicing.” God truly does care about the poor. Through these unusual provisions of Old Testament Law, God showed His people how they could express concern for the poor too. Yet the Year of Jubilee that we read of here was never celebrated in Israel. Not once. When each 50th year came, the rich tightened their grip on their wealth. And the poor continued in their poverty. God’s people had the opportunity to fulfill a dream. But again and again they turned away. Today, when we read the ageless code that so beautifully displays God’s concern for the poor and the oppressed, we too are called to dream of a just and moral society. A community of faith in which people have priority, and concern for those less fortunate is a mark of the godly.

Personal Application

What elements in this chapter’s plan for dealing with poverty can Christians adopt today?

Quotable

“It is not the Christian man’s part to think in this wise: what have I to do with this fellow? . . . Remember only those things which Christ hath done for thee, which should be recompensed, not in Himself, but in thy neighbour. Only see of what things he hath need, and what thou art able to do for him. Think this thing only, he is my brother in our Lord, co-heir in Christ, a member of the same body, redeemed with one blood, a fellow in the common faith, called unto the very same grace and felicity of the life to come.”—Erasmus of Rotterdam