Author: Bruce

I remember hearing a message on God’s will once.

The speaker talked about how some people see God’s will as the bullseye on a target. They think you have to hit the exact center or you’ve missed God’s will.

But the speaker talked about how God’s will is more like a fence.

There’s a lot of freedom for us within that fence in which we may make choices.

Go outside of the fence, and you’re out of God’s will.

Stay within it, and we find we can make many choices that are within the will of God.

Marriage is one of these areas. He said there probably isn’t just one person just for you. There are many possible people that you could choose that would be within the will of God.

The thing is, though, you need to stay within the fence.

That’s what God was telling the daughters of Zelophehad in chapter 36.

There was concern in the tribe of Manasseh that they would lose some of the land the Lord had given them if Zelophehad’s daughters got married to people of another tribe (they had inherited land because their father had died and did not have any sons).

And so God said,

They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. (Numbers 36:6)

The reason for this, of course, was that the tribe of Manasseh would not lose any of its inheritance to another tribe.

But here we see the will of God.

There was a fence (“Marry someone within their tribe”).

But within that fence, there was freedom (“They can marry anyone they please”).

The same is true with Christians today, in marriage of course, but also in every aspect of life.

There are fences we shouldn’t cross.

In marriage, God says we are to marry only Christians.

But within that fence, we can choose anyone we like. There is not that “one” that we are required to marry to be in God’s will.

The thing we shouldn’t do is freeze in our decisions wondering if we’re hitting the bullseye.

Remember that within God’s will, there’s a lot of freedom for us to move—in marriage, in our jobs, in every choice that we make.

Know where the fences are. Stay within them.

But as long as you do, don’t fret too much about whether you’re within God’s will. You probably are.

And if you aren’t—if God has a more specific target for you—he’ll let you know.

But don’t let fear of not hitting the bullseye freeze you in your decision making.

“I don’t approve of murder.”

That was one of the credos of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.

As I read this chapter, I get the feeling that God feels the same way.

As a result, he devotes a great deal of this chapter to the topic of bloodshed—namely, what was to be done if blood was shed intentionally or accidentally.

Then he said,

Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land. (Numbers 35:33)

I think we get jaded by the topic of murder sometimes, because we see it in TV dramas all the time, and even on the evening news.

But how often do you think about bloodshed polluting the land?

I don’t. And yet it does.

Why?

Because it shows an utter disregard for the value of life. And people who murder lose all perspective on its value.

Yet murder is only the final stage of a longer process that starts when we don’t respect the value of life.

We look down on people. We despise them. We hate them.

And when people hold these things in their heart, we may not murder them physically, but we murder them in our hearts.

That’s what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:21–22, when he said,

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”

Hatred of others pollutes the land, because hatred leads to murder in our hearts, even if it doesn’t translate into action.

In 1 John 3:15, John says,

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

But what was Jesus like? John continues by saying,

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16a)

Jesus valued us so much, he gave his life for us.

He didn’t take away life. He gave his life away.

And through his death on the cross, he gives us eternal life.

How about you? Do you value life?

Not just in your words. But in your heart. In your actions.

How do we show that we value life? John concludes by saying,

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16b)

Do we value the lives of the people around us so much that we are willing to sacrifice for them, just as Jesus did for us?

I’ve always hated weeding.

When I was a kid, I was occasionally given the chore of weeding our garden. And we had a pretty big garden too.

The thing my mom taught me was that you had to pull the weeds out by the roots. If you didn’t, they’d just grow right back.

Sometimes, though, you could pull out weeds by the roots and more weeds would still pop out somehow. Have I mentioned I hate weeding?

Well, this was a warning that God gave the Israelites time and again.

He gave it to them in Exodus.

He gives it to them again here in Numbers.

He told them, “Drive out the Canaanites. Get rid of all their idols and altars, and everything else connected to their religions.”

And here he says in verse 55,

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides.

They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. (Numbers 33:55)

Sin is the same way.

If we do not rid ourselves completely of it in our lives, it will become barbs and thorns in our lives. And eventually it’ll ruin our lives just as it does with anyone who falls prey to it.

There can be no compromise with sin in our lives.

No root of it can be left in our hearts if we are to live a life pleasing to God.

Either you pull it out, or it grows right back.

Lord, let me never compromise with sin. Let me never say, “Well, I’ll just do it this time.”

Too often, that one time turns into another and another.

Pull these weeds from my heart. I want to live a life pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Sometimes, as I read the Bible, I wonder about how much is God’s perfect will and God’s permissive will.

God’s perfect will, of course, is when everything is done exactly as he desires.

God’s permissive will is when he allows something but is not exactly happy about it.

The fall of man is a perfect example of this.

It was God’s perfect will that Adam and Eve have free choice.

But out of that perfect will we also see God’s permissive will. By allowing them to have free choice, he also had to permit them to go their own way.

Was he happy with their sin? No, but he permitted it.

So you could say that the fall of man came out of God’s will that they have free choice.

His perfect will would have been that they followed him.

But his permissive will respected their right to say no to him.

There are clear-cut examples of God’s perfect will and God’s permissive will, such as with Adam and Eve.

But other cases are not so clear.

When the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh decided to make their home outside of the land God had promised the people, was that within God’s perfect will or permissive will?

Moses certainly permitted it, so long as they agreed to fight with the rest of the Israelites until God had given them the land he had promised them.

But was it God’s perfect will?

At a guess, I’d say no.

And I wonder if in taking the land on the other side of the Jordan, these people gave up some of the blessings God had intended for them.

I can’t offhand think of anything they lost. I can’t prove that they did. But I do have to wonder.

They were happy with what they had on their side of the Jordan, but would they have been happier if they had taken the land God had promised them?

How often do we settle for second best in our lives?

How often has God offered us something wonderful, and we settled for something less because we were satisfied with what we had?

God may permit it, but we may miss out on the blessings he wanted to pour out on us.

Sometimes we settle for second best because we’re impatient for God’s timing.

Or maybe we settle for second best because we’re comfortable where we are, and we have no idea what God’s best for us looks like.

Both were probably true for those Israelites that wanted to stay where they were.

They didn’t want to wait any longer to settle down. And they had no idea what kinds of blessings were waiting for them on the other side if they waited.

I have to admit that I probably settle for second best too much in my life not because of impatience, but because of satisfaction with where I am.

Satisfaction and contentment are not bad things if you are where God wants you. But they can be bad if they hold you back from where God wants you to be.

I guess that’s the question I’m asking now. Am I where God wants me to be? Am I settling for second best?

The Old Testament can get pretty bloody sometimes. And this chapter is no exception.

God told the Israelites to wipe out the Midianites.

Why? Because they were the ones that led the Israelites to sin.

And when the Israelites spared the women, Moses got angry because it was many of these women in particular that led the Israelite men into idol worship. So they too were to be killed.

The only ones spared were the women who had had no part in the sexual religious rituals the Israelites had fallen into.

What can we get from this?

In order to live a holy life, we must root out all sin from our lives and the things that would cause us to fall.

Jesus put it this way,

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29–30)

Jesus uses extreme language here and doesn’t literally mean to cut off your hand or gouge your eye out.

However, the message is crystal clear: sin cannot be tolerated.

And so if something is causing you to sin, do what you must to get rid of it.

If videos you’re watching or magazines you’re reading are causing you to sin, toss them out.

If your boyfriend or girlfriend is causing you to sin, you need to break up with them.

If the friends you are hanging out with are causing you to sin, it’s time to put distance between you and them.

Too often we hang on to the things that cause us to fall, and then we wonder why we struggle with sin so much.

God says to let these things go.

What things in your life are causing you to sin?

As the apostle Paul wrote,

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (1 Thessalonians 4:7)

Chapters 28 and 29 go over in detail the sacrifices that were to be made by the Israelites. I won’t be reiterating any of them here.

Most of what I have to say on the subject of sacrifices, I’ve already stated in earlier blogs when I went through Exodus and Leviticus.

But there is one phrase that strikes me in these two chapters. It’s a phrase that is often repeated throughout—namely, that these offerings that were given were a “pleasing aroma” to God.

In the same way, when Christ offered his life for us on the cross, it was pleasing to God.

His sacrifice satisfied justice in the eyes of God and gave life to us.

But now, God says we are a pleasing aroma to him too.

It says in 2 Corinthians 2:15–16,

But we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

When God sees us, he smells the aroma of Christ in us. And as we go out in this world, we are to spread his aroma to the people around us.

It says in verse 14 of the same passage,

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

As it says in verse 16, to some people, we are the fragrance of life. They see Christ in us and are attracted to him. They see the life of Christ in us and want him in their own lives.

But to others, we are the fragrance of death.

Why? Because to anyone who rejects Christ, we are a reminder that death and judgment are coming to them. And no one wants that reminder.

The worst thing that could be said of any Christian is that they give off no fragrance at all.

If we don’t offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices, we’re just another person trying to make it through another day.

But God doesn’t want that of us. He wants us to offer ourselves to him, and as we do, to spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

What fragrance are you giving off?

And so we come to the second reason for the book of Numbers: the numbering of the people after the original generation that came out of Egypt died off.

But what’s interesting to me in this numbering is that Moses seems to add tidbits of information that serve as warnings for the people.

The warning?

The wages of sin.

First, he brings up the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with all their followers (Numbers 26:9–10).

Then he brings up the sons of Judah, Er and Onan, who died for their wickedness (verse 19; also see Genesis 38 for the full story).

Then the story of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, who offered unauthorized fire at the Lord’s altar.

And finally, of course, all the Israelites in the desert because of their lack of faith in God.

Chapter 27 then reiterates why Moses wouldn’t be able to enter the promised land: his disobedience in the desert of Zin.

What does this all show?

It shows that the wages of sin is death—that it is because of our sin that we will all die someday.

It says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.”

There is no getting away from it.

Sin is such a serious problem that all of us will die someday (unless Jesus comes back first, of course).

And because of our sin, none of us deserve to enter the Promised Land—that is, heaven.

But the good news is found in the latter half of Romans 6:23.

It says, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Because Jesus died on the cross, our sins have been paid for. And if we’ll just put our trust in him, we will be able to enter the Promised Land someday.

And even now, we can enter into God’s presence without fear.

How about you? Have you put your faith in Christ? Do you know for sure that you’ll enter the Promised Land someday?

Balaam may have prophesied about the Messiah, but as I mentioned before, he was no friend of his, nor was he a friend to Israel.

When God refused to let him curse the Israelites (costing Balaam quite a bit of money), Balaam plotted how to bring the Israelites down. And he soon found a way.

According to Numbers 31:16, Balaam advised Balak to use the Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men and lead them into idol worship.

The plot was successful. The Israelites fell into idolatry, and 24,000 were killed as a result.

Satan tries to do the same with us.

He knows God’s protection is on us, and so he tries to pull us away from God. And he always attacks us at the point at which we are weakest.

James writes,

Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:14–15)

The Israelites were tempted by their own lusts and allowed themselves to be dragged away and enticed.

That gave birth to sin, and the result was death.

We too sin when we are tempted by our own lusts and allow ourselves to be dragged away and enticed.

So what do we do?

Paul writes,

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22)

So first, we are to flee from temptation.

It’s what Joseph did in Genesis 39 when Potiphar’s wife tried to entice him to sin.

But it’s not enough to flee sin; we need to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

Don’t just run from what’s evil.

Run to what’s good.

And finally, remember you don’t have to fight sin on your own.

Join with others who also pursue Christ. Be accountable to them. And hold them accountable as well.

Help each other in your fight against sin.

You’ll find that the fight becomes that much easier with God and others on your side.

It’s officially Christmas in Japan. Sort of.

As I write this, stores everywhere are starting to put up Christmas decorations and sell them.

And it’s only November 2nd.

Actually, things were being put up two weeks ago.

Yesterday, I went to one store, and they had some really cool Christmas cards that played up to sixteen Christmas tunes. They cost about $20 or so.

I was almost tempted to buy one. Maybe I still will… in a month or so, anyway.

Anyway, Numbers is not a place where you’d expect to see a Christmas prophecy, but that’s exactly what you see here.

Balaam said,

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.

A star will come out of Jacob,
A scepter will rise out of Israel. (Numbers 24:17)

It was perhaps this prophecy that the wise men remembered when they saw the star in the east, causing them to come to Israel (Matthew 2:1–2).

God revealed to Balaam that a ruler was going to come out of Israel.

Balaam knew this. And yet, all the evidence points to the fact that he never turned his heart to the God of Israel.

He never turned his heart to the ruler who was to come.

Just to know about God is not enough. Just to know about Jesus is not enough.

To know that he came to this earth and lay in a manger in Bethlehem is not enough.

To know that he died on a cross to take the punishment for our sins is not enough.

To know that he rose again three days later is not enough.

We need to open up our hearts to him.

The priests and teachers of the law knew the prophecies of the Messiah. Yet they never bowed before him.

Herod knew the prophecies of the Messiah. Yet he tried to kill him.

How about you? What do you do with Jesus?

Have you given your heart to him? Or does he remain just a piece of information in your head?

In John 1:10–12, it says,

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Don’t be like Balaam.

Don’t be like the priests.

Don’t be like Herod.

Instead, recognize Jesus for who he is.

Believe in him.

And receive him.

A very amusing story here.

Balak, the king of Moab, is desperate to curse the Israelites.

Balaam desperately wants to help him.

But God intervenes each time.

Balak said, “Curse the whole nation!”

Balaam answers, “Sorry, gotta bless them.”

Balak takes him to a place where they can see only some of the people and says, “Okay, well, if you can’t curse all of them, at least curse some of them.”

And at that point, God gives Balaam these words.

God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?

I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it. (Numbers 23:19–20)

In other words, God doesn’t change. He always keeps his word toward us; he always keeps his promises.

And his love for us is such that he greatly desires to bless us.

People may change, but God does not.

What kinds of blessings does God give his people?

His presence. (Numbers 23:21)

His salvation. (Numbers 23:22)

Spiritual protection from evil forces. (Numbers 23:23)

Victory over our enemies. (Numbers 23:24; 24:8–9)

An abundant life. (Numbers 24:5–7)

Honor. (Numbers 24:7)

What is the only thing that can keep us from that blessing?

A heart that strays from God.

The Israelites would learn that soon enough.

But if we keep our heart in God’s hands, he will bless us.

And no one on this earth, nor any spiritual forces above, can keep that blessing from us.

I was reading a book where an author was talking about an embarrassing situation he once faced.

He went to a video store to find something for him and his friends to watch. He picked up one video, and from the cover, he knew it probably wasn’t something a Christian should watch.

But he thought to himself, “Well, it can’t be that bad. Besides, we’re adults, right? We can handle a few adult situations and adult language, right?”

As he was walking to the checkout counter, however, he kept feeling wrong about it. He couldn’t help thinking about how embarrassed he’d feel if someone from his church saw him renting the DVD.

But he still went to the checkout counter, and when he got there, the clerk looked at his ID. Suddenly her face lit up and she said, “Say, aren’t you…?”

He wanted to die.

But how many times do we do the same?

We know something is wrong.

We hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us.

And yet we ignore his voice and do what we want anyway.

That’s what Balaam did.

He was asked by Balak, king of the Moabites, to curse the Israelites.

God told Balaam no.

But when Balak sent him more men and more money to ask him to come, Balaam said, “I’ll think about it.”

God knew that Balaam was determined to go, and so he let him—with the condition that he would only say what God commanded.

But as Balaam went, it seems like he was trying to figure out some way to get around God’s words.

As a result, God set out to stop him. An angel blocked his way, and of course, we have the famous story of Balaam’s donkey.

God used that incident to impress on Balaam’s mind that there was no way God was going to allow him to curse Israel, and if Balaam tried, he would die.

Many times, we’re like Balaam. We know what God has said. But because sin can look so attractive, we look for ways to get around what God has commanded.

We are so determined to do wrong that we’re willing to compromise anything in order to do so.

But if we do so, we will reap the consequences.

All of us are tempted to sin. But what do we do with that temptation?

Do we quickly dismiss it?

Or like Balaam, do we entertain the thought of sin in our hearts?

Do we look for ways to get around what God has said so that we can do our own thing?

In Ephesians 4:30, it says,

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We were saved not to indulge in our sinful desires, but to be set free from them.

So as Paul also wrote,

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:13–14)

Grumble, grumble, grumble, complain, complain, complain. Grumble, grumble, gru… wait a minute.

The Israelites not complaining? The Israelites rejoicing?

Amazing!

But that’s exactly what you see here. After multiple complaints about no food or water, here you see God providing water for the people and their response.

Spring up, O well,
Sing about it,
about the well that the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank—
the nobles with scepters and staffs. (Numbers 21:17–18)

How often do we have a heart of thanksgiving?

How often, instead, do we complain about our lives and all our troubles?

I know I’m guilty of that far too often. As often as I criticize the Israelites for complaining so much, too many times, I’m just like them.

And yet, God has given me so many good things.

A beautiful wife. An adorable daughter. Friends. A decent job. A place to live. Food to eat.

In short, everything I need.

But more than that, God has given me eternal life.

As Jesus told the woman at the well,

Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14)

There is an old chorus that I remember from when I was a kid. It said,

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see.

Opens prison doors, sets the captives free.
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.

Spring up, O well.
Within my soul.
Spring up, O well.
And make me whole.
Spring up, O well.
And give to me that life abundantly.

Relationships are rewarding things.  But they can also be very fragile.  Easily broken.

And one thing that can destroy a relationship is a lack of trust.

Many marriages fall apart because a husband or wife doesn’t feel like they can trust their partner anymore.

The same thing is true in our relationship with God.  And that’s why it’s the one thing that God really requires of us in our relationship with him.

He requires that we trust him.

When we learn to trust him, everything else falls in place in our life with him.

When we don’t, everything falls apart.

Adam and Eve learned this in the garden.

The one thing that God said to them was “Trust me.  Don’t eat from that tree that gives you knowledge of good and evil.  There are some things you’re better off not knowing.”

But they didn’t trust him, they ate from the fruit, and everything fell apart as a result.

God asked the same thing of the Israelites.  “Trust me.  Believe that I love you and that I’ll take care of your every need.”

But time and again, the Israelites failed to trust him.  Instead they complained whenever things got tough. 

That’s what happened in this passage.  They started complaining once again.  “There’s no bread.  There’s no water.  And we detest this miserable food.” 

What food were they referring to, by the way?  Manna.  The bread from heaven. 

But from one side of their mouth, they were complaining that there was no bread, and from the other side they were saying they didn’t like the bread that they had. 

It wasn’t that God didn’t provide.  It was just that they weren’t content with what they had. 

Water, of course, was always a problem.  But God had proven himself faithful time and again.  No one ever died from lack of thirst.  God always provided what they needed. 

Yet the people complained.

So God sent poisonous snakes among them, and now people really did start dying.

Why?  Because God didn’t provide?

No.  Because they didn’t trust him.

The Israelites then repented, and said, “Moses, please pray for us.  We were wrong.”

Moses did pray. But God didn’t just heal the people.  They had to do something.

God told Moses to set up a bronze snake, and told the people, “If you want to live, look up to the snake.  If you do, you will live.”

Why did God do that?  Because he wanted to reestablish what had been broken.  Trust.

And he was saying, “The reason why this happened is because you didn’t trust me.  So the answer to this problem is simple.  Trust me.  Believe me when I say that if you look at the snake you’ll be healed.”

Everyone who looked at the snake lived.

But I wonder if any of the Israelites refused to do so because they couldn’t believe just looking at the snake could heal them.

God required faith.  Everyone who chose to trust lived.  Anyone who didn’t, died.

Someone once said that the opposite of sin is not good works.  The opposite of sin is faith.

Sin is basically saying to God, “I don’t believe in you.  I don’t believe your way is best.”

And because people take that attitude, it leads to all the other things we call “sin.”

But sin at its base is saying, “God I don’t trust you.”

That’s one reason why doing good works doesn’t balance out the bad things that you do.

God isn’t looking for good works in and of themselves.  He’s looking for faith.

And that’s why when God talks about the way of salvation, he doesn’t say “Do good works.”

He says, “Put your faith in my Son.  Just look to him and you’ll have eternal life.”

Because more than good works, he wants us to trust him.  He wants us to believe in him.  He wants us to have faith in him.

Without that, all of our good works are like filthy rags to him.

As Jesus said hundreds of years later,

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  (John 3:14-15).

God doesn’t require good works of us for salvation.  He requires faith.

But the good works we do are the fruit of our faith.

After all, if we truly trust God, won’t we do all that he asks?

How about you?  Do you trust God?

Everyone has boundaries. These are things that people will allow and will not allow in their relationships.

It may be certain actions. It may be certain words.

But whatever they may be, if we want to maintain healthy relationships, we need to respect those boundaries.

I remember one time getting a nasty email from one of my friends because of something I had written.

I had written her an email and wrote something that I had meant to be a joke. But in doing so, I crossed a boundary and hurt her feelings.

And she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was not going to allow me to do that again.

So I had a choice.

I could respect those boundaries and keep the relationship.

Or I could ignore them and destroy our relationship entirely.

To me, there really was no choice at all. I made things right with her, and I was very careful about the things I said or wrote to her from that time onward.

Moses and the people of Israel faced a boundary when facing the Edomites.

They were somewhat related. The Israelites, of course, came from the lineage of Jacob. The Edomites came from the lineage of Jacob’s brother Esau.

And now the Israelites wanted to pass through the land of Edom.

But the king of Edom said no.

The Israelites tried to be reasonable.

“We won’t go through any of your fields or vineyards and take any of your food. We’ll pay for any water that we may need as we go through.”

But the king of Edom still said no, and in fact they came out in force to make sure that the Israelites didn’t cross their territory.

And so the Israelites went around instead.

In Deuteronomy 2:4–8, you find that God gave them specific orders to respect their borders. And so the Israelites did. They respected the boundaries that Edom had set up for itself.

How about you? Do you respect the boundaries of the people around you?

When a person tells you “no,” do you still try to force yourself upon them anyway?

It may be things that you say. They say to you, “I don’t like hearing things like that. Don’t say those kinds of things.”

It may be things that you do. They say to you, “I hate it when you do that to me. Please stop it.”

To respect their boundaries is to respect their feelings and say, “Okay. I value you enough that I won’t do those things anymore.”

And by doing that, we can keep our relationships healthy and strong.

But if we ignore people’s feelings—if instead we violate those boundaries time and again—then we damage our relationships, and in many cases, even destroy them.

Many friendships, many marriages end when people don’t respect each other’s boundaries.

What, if any, boundaries have you violated in your relationships?

God says that if we know that someone has something against us, we are to go to them and make it right (Matthew 5:23–24).

In other words, do your best to repair the boundaries that you’ve damaged.

And let us be sensitive to the feelings of the people around us, protecting those boundaries from being knocked down again.

Everyone has their breaking point.

Someone continually hurts you.

Someone continually angers you.

And perhaps you hold on to that hurt or anger in your heart, never letting it show.

But the pressure builds, and eventually you explode.

That’s what seems to have happened to Moses.

One of the humblest men who ever lived suffered through the complaints, grumbling, and rebellion of the people for nearly forty years.

And now, despite wandering back and forth through the desert and seeing the Lord’s provision time and again, once again they complain.

“Why did you bring us here, Moses? Where are all the figs, pomegranates, grain, and grapevines that you promised? Egypt was so much better!

“Now we’re going to die because there’s no water. We might as well have died with those other guys that the Lord put to death. At least that was a quick death!”

(Amazing how their fear of the Lord after that incident eventually turned to rebellion once again.)

Moses went before the Lord, and God told him, “Go back to that rock you went to years ago to get water from. Only this time, don’t strike it—just speak to it, and water will come out for everyone.”

I don’t know that Moses actually thought this, but perhaps as they were on the way there, Moses started muttering to himself.

“I can’t believe these people. How many times do I have to go through this? Forty years! Forty stinking years!

“And God! Why doesn’t he just provide for us so that I don’t have to hear these complaints? Strike the rock! Speak to the rock! Who cares?”

Perhaps as they were walking along, Moses spewed out all these things to Aaron, with Aaron nodding in agreement.

And so they reach the rock, and all the years of frustration boil out.

Moses turns to the people and shouts, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

Then, instead of speaking to the rock, he strikes the rock twice with his staff, and water comes gushing out.

God showed grace to Moses by giving the water. But he was not pleased. And he said,

“Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (Numbers 20:12)

In Psalm 106:32–33, it says,

By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them; for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.

Rash words. And rash actions. Both of them showing a lack of trust in God and a lack of honor toward him.

And all because of an anger that Moses allowed to take control, if only for a time.

But how often do we do the same? How often do we say rash words and do rash things in our anger or in our hurt?

But by doing so, we not only hurt others; we also hurt God.

I’ve mentioned before that the rock in the desert was a symbol of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Just as the rock was to be struck once to give living water and from then on only needed to be spoken to in order to give out water, Jesus was struck only once when he went to the cross so that we might receive eternal life.

Now, all we have to do is speak to him, confess him as Lord, and ask his forgiveness for our sins, and we’ll receive the living water of eternal life.

But when we give in to our emotions and say and do things that show a lack of trust in him and dishonor him, it’s like we’re striking Jesus all over again.

It was that lack of trust in God that led Adam and Eve to fall and dishonor God, sending Jesus to the cross.

And now, even though we’ve been saved, we’re showing that lack of trust and honor all over again.

All of us get hurt. All of us get angry. But what do we do with it?

Do we deal with it in a way that honors God—one that shows our trust in him?

Or do we, by our rash words and actions, strike Jesus all over again?

The apostle Paul wrote,

“In your anger do not sin”:

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:26–27)

When we hold on to anger in our lives—when we let it fester—it gives the devil a foothold in our lives that leads to rash words and actions.

Let’s not give the devil that foothold in our lives.

Instead, with our words and with our actions, let us trust in Jesus and honor him.

He deserves no less.

I’m really glad that I don’t live in the Old Testament days. All those rituals would probably have driven me crazy.

But God used those rituals as pictures to teach the people about who he is, who we are, and who we are called to be.

And in this case, he used the ritual of purification to teach us some important things about sin and our relationship with God.

First, sin is not something that we can just ignore.

When the people became unclean, they were required to be ritually washed. They couldn’t just ignore it.

If they willfully refused to be washed, they were cut off from the community.

Why? Because if they failed to be washed, they would defile the Lord’s sanctuary (Numbers 19:13, 20).

In the same way, to keep sin in our lives would be to defile the temple of God, which is our body.

The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us when we become Christians. We are his sanctuary.

And so if there’s sin in our hearts, we need to deal with it immediately. We cannot just ignore it.

It’s also the reason why not everyone can go into heaven.

To allow people whose sins have not been cleansed into heaven would defile the heavenly sanctuary.

God cannot allow that, and so people will be cut off from his presence.

Second, only a clean person could cleanse the unclean person (verses 18–19).

In the same way, only Jesus Christ, who was the only perfect person who ever lived on this earth, can sprinkle us clean from our sin.

The interesting thing about the burning of the heifer that made the ashes for the water of purification was that everyone involved in the making of the ashes became impure for a time.

In the same way, Jesus became impure—not by his own sins, but by the sins of the world that were placed on him when he died for our sins.

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, it says,

God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Third, there was no excuse for not being cleansed.

It was so easy. The water was readily available to anyone who needed it.

So if they failed to be cleansed and were cut off from the community, they had no one to blame but themselves.

The same is true with anyone who rejects the salvation that God offers.

It’s not difficult to be saved. Jesus Christ is readily available to anyone who calls out to him.

In Romans 10:13, it says,

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

But because it’s so easy, there is no excuse for anyone who rejects Jesus Christ. There is only God’s wrath and separation from him forever that remains for that person.

Have you been purified of your sins? Have your sins been forgiven?

As God’s people, we are given many gifts.

We are given the gift of salvation. We are given the gift of eternal life.

We are given the gifts of the Spirit.

But there’s another gift we are given as well.

God told Aaron in this chapter, “I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.” (Numbers 18:7)

God gives us the same gift.

But unlike the Aaronic priesthood that was only given to Aaron and his sons, the priesthood we are given is for all who believe in Christ as their Savior.

Man, woman, Jew, or Gentile—all of us are priests before God.

In Galatians 3:28, it says,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And again in Revelation 1:6, it says that he “has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.”

Why is priesthood a gift?

Basically, because it’s a position we could not have earned.

Aaron and his sons were appointed as priests by God, and from then on, men were born into the priesthood.

But when God chose Aaron and his sons, it wasn’t because they were special or more spiritual than the others. Aaron proved that when he made the golden calf under pressure from the Israelites.

In the same way, when we are born into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ, we become his priests.

Not because we deserve it.

Not because we are more spiritual than others.

This service as priests is given to us as a gift.

It’s not a gift that is to be taken lightly.

God told Aaron and his sons to be very careful with this gift that they had been given. God said,

You, your sons and your father’s family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood. (Numbers 18:1)

One thing to remember is that our bodies are the temple, the sanctuary of the living God. And as God’s priests, when we sin, it defiles that sanctuary.

Not only that, we put a stain on the priesthood that God has given us. And God holds us responsible for that.

And yet it’s a gift of great privilege—a privilege in which we can enter into the presence of God.

We have an even greater privilege in this respect than the priests of the Old Testament.

Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place where God’s presence was, and that just once a year.

But we have access to him at all times.

It’s also a privilege in which we may serve the living God, as God works through us to touch the world around us.

And while the Aaronic priesthood was limited in scope to the Jewish nation, we are called to be priests who touch the whole world.

How do you see this gift God has given you? Do you take it lightly? Or are you thankful for this ministry as priests that God has given you?

And do you use this gift that God has given you to touch the lives of others?

There are some leaders who are worth following, and then there are those who are not.

The problem is that if you choose to follow a bad leader, they’ll drag you down into the pit with them.

I once belonged to a company whose president’s incompetence dragged the company down into bankruptcy.

I should’ve left a lot sooner than I did, but I chose to keep following. (Indirectly, anyway. I didn’t work directly under him, nor did I ever actually meet him.)

At any rate, by continuing to follow, I paid a heavy price.

The Israelites learned the same lesson.

Three men—Korah, Dathan, and Abiram—caused 250 of the Israelite leaders to rebel against Moses, and presumably they influenced many of their followers to rebel as well.

Apparently, their biggest problem with Moses was that he hadn’t led them into the promised land and instead kept them wandering around in the desert.

Of course, they conveniently forgot two things.

First, it was God giving Moses instructions on what to do. Moses wasn’t making his own decisions.

Second, it was their rebellion against God that kept them out of the promised land, not Moses.

But on top of that, the Levites weren’t satisfied with their position as helpers to the priests and apparently wanted to be priests themselves.

So they accused Moses of being a power‑hungry dictator. (Loose translation.)

Since Dathan and Abiram wouldn’t come before Moses, God told Moses and the people to go to Dathan and Abiram’s tents.

God was originally going to destroy all the people who were following these two, but after Moses interceded, God told Moses to warn the people to get away from these men’s tents.

God then proceeded to swallow these men and their families up into the earth. Then he put to death the 250 Levites by fire.

Their followers then complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed God’s people.”

God got so upset at their response that he started a plague against them, and only at Moses’ and Aaron’s intercession were any of them spared.

As if that weren’t enough, God told the tribal leaders to bring their staffs to the Tabernacle.

Out of the twelve staffs, God caused only Aaron’s to sprout, bud, and blossom, producing almonds.

By doing so, he made absolutely clear whom he had chosen to lead the people.

Who are you following?

This is important in all aspects of life, but especially on the spiritual side.

What kind of pastor leads your church?

What kinds of Christian books are you reading?

What kinds of Christian teachers do you watch on TV or listen to on the radio or on the internet?

What kinds of things should you be looking for in a spiritual leader?

There are many things, of course, but here are a few.

First, they should be people whose hearts belong to God—people who love him with all their heart.

Second, they should be people who really love the people around them—who really care about them.

Third, they should be humble.

Moses was one of the humblest men in the world. So was Jesus.

They’re the kind of people we should follow:

People who aren’t so concerned about their position.

People who seek to serve rather than be served.

Fourth, they should be people who teach the word accurately.

Too often I see people who don’t. They may love God and people, but their teachings don’t align with God’s word. And because of that, people fall into spiritual error.

Finally, they should be people whose actions match their words.

They should be practicing what they preach—or at least be up front about areas in which they are still struggling and growing.

Many Israelites paid the price by following those they shouldn’t have. We will too, if we’re not careful.

Who are you following?

In my living room on our cabinet door hangs a blue tassel. It’s my graduation tassel from university.

I also have my high school tassel hanging around somewhere, but it’s a bit weather-worn, so I think it’s attached to one of my travel bags.

But anyway, whenever I see them, they’re a reminder of my school days—the good and the bad, but mostly good.

It was lots of hard work, but lots of fun too.

Well, in this passage, God told the Israelites to make tassels as reminders too—but a different kind of reminder. He said,

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 going 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 15:38–40)

These tassels would swirl around the edge of their garments, thus being a constant reminder with every step they took that they were a people set apart for God, and that they were to follow him and his commands.

We don’t need to do that, of course, but I think it is good to have little physical reminders of God and his word.

Taped on my computer is a little piece of paper that says, “God is your provider.”

Someone once gave me a gift of about $100, and with that gift attached that message.

I put it on my computer to remind me in these tight financial times that we’re facing as a family that God will provide my needs.

I suppose the best tassels, however, are those we attach to our hearts when we memorize Scripture.

Physical reminders often lose their effectiveness over time. We get so used to seeing them that we never really see them anymore.

But when we tie God’s word to our hearts like tassels, God is able to take those tassels and use them to remind us of him, his word, and his goodness in our times of need.

I used to memorize Scripture a lot as a child. It’s something I should probably start doing again.

Time and again, God has used those tassels that I tied to help me.

Maybe it’s time to make some more tassels that God can use to help me in the future.

I love my two-year-old daughter Yumi, but she is definitely starting to get more rebellious. Generally, it’s nothing serious.

Me: “Time to eat!”
Yumi: “I don’t wanna eat.”

My wife: “Time to take a bath.”
Yumi: “I don’t wanna take a bath.”

Me: “Time to go to bed.”
Yumi: “I don’t wanna go to bed.”

My wife: “Gotta change your diaper.”
Yumi: “I don’t wanna change my diaper.”

Usually, in these times, it doesn’t take much to get her to do what we want. But then there are times of absolute open defiance.

There was one incident we had at the breakfast table at the end of a meal.

When she’s finished eating, Yumi always has to say, “Gochisousama,” which loosely translated means “Thanks for the meal.”

But on this day, she refused to say it.

We wouldn’t let her get down from her chair, though, until she said it.

She started wailing and crying, but she wouldn’t say that one simple word.

I’m not sure how long it took. An hour maybe?

Anyway, it’s this type of attitude that God hates. And it’s something you see in these two chapters.

First there was the defiance of the Israelites in not going into the promised land.

Then there was the defiance of the Israelites in trying to go to the promised land against God’s orders.

And both times you see the people being disciplined for it.

Then in chapter 15, God told them what to do if they sinned unintentionally.

God hates all sin, but there are many times that we sin and we don’t even realize it until later.

And God said in that case, just offer a sacrifice, and all will be forgiven.

But the consequences for defiant sin were much harsher.

There was no sacrifice to make. They were simply cut off from the people.

That was the case with the man who broke the Sabbath.

This was not a situation where the man just happened to forget. He knew what he was doing was wrong. And yet he did it anyway.

Perhaps people warned him, saying, “Hey, you shouldn’t be doing that.”

But he ignored their words and did it anyway. And because he so blatantly sinned, with no compunction about it, God said he was to be put to death.

All of us sin. We’re sinful people. But do you sin willfully?

Sometimes people say, “Well, I’ll just sin, and then ask God for forgiveness.”

That’s an attitude of defiance toward God.

As the writer of Hebrews says, when you do that, you’re trampling Jesus underfoot and insulting the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 10:29)

If you’re a Christian, God will forgive you, yes.

But that doesn’t mean you’ll escape sin’s consequences.

God forgave the people for their sin of rebellion in the desert. But even though he forgave them, he would not allow them into the land he promised them.

They suffered a lot of pain and sorrow because of their choices. And when we choose to deliberately defy God, we’ll find pain and sorrow from our choices as well.

As Paul wrote,

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7–8)

There’s an old worship song that goes,

Lord, I give you my heart,
I give you my soul.
I live for you alone.

Every breath that I take.
Every moment that I’m awake.
Lord, have your way in me. — Reuben Morgan

It’s a song I often sang in church, and I’m sure there are similar songs nowadays that express the same thought.

But while we say that we give our hearts to God, how much of our hearts are we actually giving to God every day?

For Caleb, he gave his whole heart to God. And even when popular opinion was against him, he put his complete faith in God and was determined to follow him no matter what.

So while God condemned most of the people of Israel to wandering around in the desert until they died, he said of Caleb,

But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. (Numbers 14:24)

A different spirit.

A spirit that says, “I believe in God. I believe he can do anything.”

A spirit that says, “I know that my God is good and that he always keeps his promises.”

And a spirit that says, “Because I know these things, I will follow him no matter what.”

That’s what wholeheartedness is about.

When we believe in God, when we believe he can do anything, when we believe he is truly good and that he always keeps his promises, then it’s much easier to be wholehearted in following him.

But as long as we harbor doubt about these things, it’s very hard to be wholehearted. Instead, we always hold something back from God.

It might be our future career. It might be our money. It might be our ministry. It could be anything.

I know, because I still struggle being wholehearted sometimes. A lot of times, actually.

It’s so easy to hold things back from God.

But it’s impossible to please God that way.

As the writer of Hebrews says,

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

How much of your heart does God have?

It’s amazing to think of how little faith I can have at times.

Concerning money, for instance.

God has always provided for me and my family, and yet I constantly seem to worry about it.

Back when it was easy to save money, I never worried. Now that it’s a bit of a struggle, I worry quite a bit more.

The question is why? God has promised to provide. He always has. Why don’t I trust him more?

That’s what the Israelites were facing: issues of trust.

After about a year in the desert, they were about to enter the land God promised to give them.

God told them to send out scouts and check out the land. The scouts came back and said it looked great… except for one thing:

The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large…

We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are…

The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size…

We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:28–33)

And with that, the scouts discouraged the people from entering the land.

The question is why?

Sure, they faced a tough task. But how was that tougher than parting the Red Sea and destroying Pharaoh’s army?

On top of that, God had consistently performed miracles before their eyes. And every day, he showed his presence before them with the pillar of cloud and fire.

Despite all that, they not only failed to trust him; they outright rebelled against him.

What can we learn from this? Several things:

First, if we are to learn to trust God, we need to start focusing on him instead of ourselves and our situation.

That’s exactly what the scouts didn’t do. They didn’t mention a word about God and what he could do. All they mentioned was what the Canaanites and their cities were like and how the Israelites compared in stature to them.

But Joshua and Caleb were different. Instead of focusing on these things, they focused on God and said,

The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.

If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.

Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up.

Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them. (Numbers 14:7–9)

Second, don’t listen to those who refuse to trust in God.

Instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb, who trusted in God, the Israelites heeded the words of those who didn’t trust God.

And so not only did those scouts die, but all those who saw the miracles of God died without seeing the promised land either.

When you follow the words of those who don’t trust God, you often end up just like them—in sorrow and despair.

Finally, remember what God has done for you.

When we remember, it helps strengthen our faith.

When we forget, we lose our faith. Ten times the Israelites tested God.

Each time, God showed himself true. But the Israelites never remembered that.

The words of God ring clearly with me as I read this,

“How long will these people treat me with contempt?

How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11)

Lord, let me never be like the Israelites who failed to trust in you and as a result never received the promise that you gave to them.

Lord, you have always been faithful to me. And yet so often, I falter in my faith, just like the Israelites.

Help me not to focus on my circumstances or my own weaknesses.

Rather, let me focus on you, on your goodness, and all that you’ve done in the past, knowing that what you’ve done before, you will continue to do in the future.

Help me to trust in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

There are times I wish I were different. Okay, there are many times that I wish I were different.

I wish I weren’t so painfully shy sometimes.

Public speaking, amazingly enough, I have no problems with. I suppose joining a speech club when you’re in high school does that for you.

But meeting new people? Really tough.

Socializing at parties? Uncomfortable.

I’m really jealous of those who are naturally outgoing and friendly. I wish I could be that way, but I’m not. And I wonder sometimes why God had to make me this way.

There are different kinds of jealousy. And jealousy can really cause problems, especially in the church, resulting in hurt feelings, division, and damaged ministries.

One type of jealousy is displayed by Joshua.

It’s the reluctance to give up what was once theirs, or in this case, Moses’.

Prior to Numbers 11, Moses had special access to God’s Spirit—his wisdom most likely, and most definitely his power—that others did not.

But when Moses complained to God about the burden of leadership being too heavy, God said, “Fine. Choose some people who are leaders among the people, and I will take the Spirit that is upon you and share it among them. That way, they can help you carry the load.”

Seventy men were called, and sixty-eight showed up.

Where were the other two?

We don’t know.

Maybe they somehow never got the summons. Maybe they ignored it. Maybe they were too busy.

Whatever the reason, they weren’t there. God then came and anointed the sixty-eight with his Spirit, and they started prophesying.

But he also anointed the two who didn’t show up, and they started prophesying too.

And Joshua got upset.

I don’t know if he was upset about the other sixty-eight. It’s possible that he didn’t want God’s anointing shared with them either.

But he took special issue with the two, probably because, “They aren’t one of us. They were supposed to come and join us, but didn’t.”

It’s kind of reminiscent of a story in the New Testament where some of the disciples complained about a person outside of their group driving demons out in Jesus’ name (Mark 9:38–40).

And they said to Jesus the same thing Joshua said to Moses: “Stop this guy!”

But Moses said to Joshua,

Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them! (Numbers 11:29)

That should be our attitude as well.

Sometimes in the church, we are given a ministry, but suddenly we’re asked to share that ministry with another. And we get jealous and say, “But this is MY ministry.”

Actually, it isn’t. It was a ministry given to you by God for his purposes, not your own.

And it should be our desire that more people get involved in ministry—that God would anoint more people with his Spirit, and that more people would be blessed because of the people who have joined this ministry that you’re a part of.

There’s no room for jealousy, within churches or between churches.

Our prayer should be that the Lord of the harvest would send more workers into the harvest field so that more people might be saved.

And if they can do our ministry better than us, we should be thankful that God’s kingdom is increasing and simply be content with the place that we have in the kingdom.

But there’s another kind of jealousy—a jealousy that was exhibited by Aaron and Miriam.

They both complained about Moses’ position, saying,

Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he also spoken through us? (Numbers 12:2)

Not only that, they tried to undermine his authority by criticizing his marriage to a Cushite woman.

As a result, God disciplined them for their attitude.

Sometimes, we do the same thing.

We desire to have a position in the church that another has. Sometimes we criticize them by saying we’re better than they are.

“Why is he doing that? I wouldn’t do things that way!”

Or if we can’t criticize their ministry, we find other things to criticize them about, justified or not.

But either way, it’s an attitude that is displeasing to God.

God has given to each Christian of the Spirit as he wills. Each of us has a place in the church. And so we are to be content with what God has given us and serve as he wills.

If that means someone has a higher position than us, or that we have to share our responsibilities with someone else so that the ministry can flourish, we should rejoice in that and not be jealous.

As one song puts it,

For your glory.
For your kingdom.
For your name, O Lord, here I am.

I love chili. Probably because it’s one of the few things I can make. 🙂

I don’t get chili much here in Japan. Nowadays, I only make it when my wife is visiting her hometown and I’m left behind because of work.

So I make chili, and it lasts me about five meals or so (lunch and dinner).

Probably because I don’t have it much, that’s no problem. But I don’t think I could do that every day for a month, much less a year.

That’s what the Israelites were facing.

They had had a year of eating only manna, it seems, and while at first they were grateful for what God had provided, they were now getting tired of it.

“Manna in the morning. Manna in the afternoon. Manna in the evening. We’ve got manna coming out of our noses! We want something else! Meat! Fish! Melons! Cucumbers!”

(Why cucumbers? They’re fine, I guess, but I would never crave them.)

“Garlic! Onions!”

(I guess they liked having strong breath.)

Not only that, this was right after they were disciplined by God for complaining about all the hardships they were facing. And God and Moses were understandably upset.

After all God had done for them—setting them free from a life of slavery and providing for their every need.

Even so, they complained.

God eventually answered their demand for meat, but while they were still eating, they were struck by a plague that killed a number of them.

What can we learn from this?

First, remember to be thankful for what you have.

It’s easy to criticize the Israelites. But how often do we do the same?

How many people in third-world countries would be rejoicing to have all the luxuries we do? Or even to just have food on the table. To have clothes. To have a nice place to stay.

And yet, despite the fact that we have all these things, we complain. “I want this! I want that!”

How much happier would we be if we could only learn to be content.

Second, a heart of discontent can be contagious.

The complaining started with a few of the “rabble,” but quickly spread to the rest of the people.

And so if we have people around us who are always complaining, we need to be very careful that it doesn’t spread to us and affect our attitudes.

Third, God has the power to provide all our needs.

So if we find ourselves in times of need, instead of complaining, we should just ask him.

Jesus told us,

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

When Moses questioned God’s ability to provide meat, God replied,

Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you. (Numbers 11:23)

And God did provide.

Finally, what we think will satisfy usually doesn’t.

The Israelites thought that if they would just have meat, they would be happy. But instead it brought death.

The Israelites called the place Kibroth Hattaavah, which means “graves of craving.”

And that’s where our cravings will eventually lead us if we let them control us.

How many people have died earlier than they should have because of their cravings for alcohol, food, cigarettes, or drugs?

How many people have sent their relationships and finances to the grave because of their cravings?

Let us not lust after the things that will never satisfy.

Instead, let us seek after the One who alone can satisfy.

And be thankful to him.

I love the words of Moses as they set out from Sinai. He said,

Rise up, O LORD! May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you. (Numbers 10:35)

In other words, Moses was saying, “Lord, please go before us. You’re the one leading us, and we will follow you. But be the one who smooths our paths for us. Scatter all your enemies that would attack your people.”

And every time the Israelites set out from then on, he would pray that same prayer.

It’s a prayer that we should pray as well. The Bible says,

Be self-controlled and alert.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus also taught us to pray that God would deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

Satan fights against God every day. And as God’s people, we are his targets as well.

I’m not saying that there’s a demon behind every rock. But Satan and his demons are out there, and they are working to prevent us from doing God’s will in this world.

So we should be praying as Moses did.

Rise up, O LORD. May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you.

When the pillar of cloud came to rest, then Moses would say,

Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel. (36)

In other words, he was saying, “You have blessed us by making us this great people. But now as we are in this place at your leading, please be among us. Let your presence never be far from us.”

That too is a prayer we should be praying.

“God, you’ve led us this far. You’ve called us and made us your people. So don’t be a God who is far away. But be in our midst. Let us know your presence in our lives.”

Lord, as you called the people of Israel out of Egypt to be your people and led them through the desert, so you have called me out of bondage to sin and are leading me through this life on earth until I reach the Promised Land.

So Lord, constantly go before me. Protect me from the enemy who would attack me and try to destroy me.

In each place that you lead me to along this path of life, I pray that you would ever be with me. Stand by me. Be here to meet my needs.

And be here to give me the guidance and protection that I need. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“I love you. I need you.”

How often do we say these words to the people we care about?

It’s easy sometimes to take people for granted—to let our relationships with them just kind of drift apart. In our marriages. In our families. In our friendships.

All because we forget to let people know how much they mean to us.

When Moses and the people of Israel were finally about to set out from Mount Sinai to go to the promised land, his brother-in-law Hobab, who had been staying with them, planned to go back to his own land.

But Moses said,

We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’

Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel. (Numbers 10:29)

But Hobab replied,

No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people. (30)

Moses could have given up at that point, but he didn’t.

Instead, he said,

Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes.

If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us. (31–32)

And in just those few words, Moses conveyed just how much he loved Hobab and needed him, and so Hobab joined them.

How about you?

Are there relationships that you’re letting drift? Do you let the people you love know just how much you really love them and need them?

Let’s not take our relationships for granted.

Instead, let us make sure they know just how much they mean to us.

All it takes is two simple phrases:

“I love you.”

“I need you.”

Here in Japan, when people go to a shrine, they’ll often go up to a bell, give a small offering (and we’re talking small—maybe five to ten cents or so), clap their hands twice, and pray to the god of the shrine.

The idea of the bell and the clapping is apparently to get the god’s attention while they are praying.

At first glance, it seems that God is saying the same kind of thing here when he talks about the blowing of the trumpets.

He says in verse 9,

“When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets.

Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies.” (Numbers 10:9)

But God isn’t someone who is sleeping and needs to be woken up. He’s not a God who needs to be reminded that we’re here and need his help.

What I think he’s telling us is that even when things are going badly, even when times are tough, even when it seems we are being attacked on all sides and God seems a million miles away, he has not forgotten us.

And when we call out to him, he will answer, and he will help.

It’s easy for us to remember God in the bad times. But he also tells us that we are to remember him in the good times too.

He says in verse 10,

“Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God.

I am the LORD your God.”

Are you going through tough times right now? Does it seem like all your prayers are bouncing off the wall?

Know that God hasn’t forgotten you.

Call out to him and know that he will hear and he will help.

Are you going through good times now?

Don’t forget God. Remember to thank him for his goodness.

Take the time to write down the good things he’s doing in your life, so that when the bad times come (and they will come), you won’t forget his love and faithfulness toward you.

I always figured I’d get married in my mid-twenties. I think my brother got married at about age twenty-eight, my sister at about age twenty-six, and I figured I’d get married at about age twenty-seven.

It didn’t happen that way. I had to wait all the way until I was in my mid-thirties before I got married. And it got frustrating at times.

But in God’s timing, he gave me everything that I asked for in a woman, and more.

I never compromised in the standards that I felt God had given me, but I got close sometimes.

But I know other single Christians who struggled with the same things I did. And they did compromise in areas where they shouldn’t have.

I’m not judging them, because I’d have to judge myself. While I may not have compromised in this area, I have compromised in others.

But as Christians, we need to learn to do things God’s way and in his timing.

To me, that’s the lesson of Numbers 9.

First, there’s the story of the Passover.

God commanded that all the people celebrate it, but some could not because they were ceremonially unclean. And so they asked Moses what to do.

Moses didn’t just give his opinion. Rather, he said, “Wait until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you.” (Numbers 9:8)

And when he received his instructions from God, the people obeyed.

And then the story relates how God led the people.

The cloud which represented God’s presence stood over the tabernacle. And when it lifted from the tabernacle, the people would set out. Wherever it settled, the people stayed.

The Israelites only moved when the cloud did. Even if it stayed for an entire year, the people would not go out ahead of it.

Instead, they would wait for God’s timing.

The Bible says,

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Sometimes, we think we know all that we have to do. Sometimes we even think we know better than God.

But so often we get into trouble because we don’t take the time to seek God’s will.

Or we get impatient waiting for God’s timing, and we go ahead and do things on our own.

How much better would our lives be if we did things his way and in his timing? Whether it’s searching for a husband or wife, whether it’s searching for a better job, whatever it may be.

It’s not always easy, especially when we have to wait a long time.

After waiting a year in one place, I can imagine the Israelites getting impatient, wondering when they’d be able to go to the land God promised.

But God knew what was best for them, and he asked them to trust him and to keep doing things his way.

He asks the same thing of us.

Lord, sometimes as I consider my life, things don’t go the way I hope. And I get impatient. And I start to wonder if it’s worth waiting on you and continuing to do things your way, or if I should just do things my own way.

Lord, help me to be obedient to you and your voice. You have proven yourself faithful to me when I’ve done things your way and in your timing.

So help me to remember those times when I’m feeling tired, when I’m feeling discouraged, when I’m feeling impatient. Help me to do things your way and in your timing. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The Levites were chosen by God to serve him after the incident with the golden calf.

At that time, the Levites showed their zeal for God by following his command to put to death those who had persisted in their sin, even after Moses and Joshua had come back to the camp from Mount Sinai.

But in this passage, before they could start serving God, they needed to have their sins atoned for and to be ceremonially washed.

Then they were presented before the Lord, and only after that were they ready to serve.

I think there are several things we can pull from this passage.

First, zeal for God is not enough when it comes to serving him. Before we can serve him, our sins need to be washed clean by the blood of Jesus.

After all, how in the world can we claim to be serving God when we refuse to do the most important thing he has commanded? To repent of our sins and to believe in his Son for the forgiveness of sins.

Second, it’s important to offer ourselves to God if we want to be used by him.

In Romans 12:1, it says we are to present ourselves to God as a holy and living sacrifice.

God is somewhat limited in how he can use us until we present ourselves before him in order to serve him.

It’s a decision that says, “I’m here to be used for you, Lord. Use me as you will.”

And when we do that, it gives God a free hand to work in us and through us for his purposes. In Romans 6:13, it says,

…but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (NASB)

Third, we don’t just serve God however we desire to.

The Levites certainly didn’t. They worked under the direction of the priests.

In the same way, we work under the direction of our High Priest, Jesus.

Finally, and I’ve already noted this somewhat already, the order of the life of service to God is first purification and then service.

So many people think that if they serve God or try to do good things, those works will purify them.

But all of our good works are like filthy rags to God until our sins are taken care of. (Isaiah 64:6)

First, we must be purified, and only then will the service we do for God be accepted.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtledoves and a partridge in a pear tree.

When I read this passage, I kind of think of that song with the seemingly endless repetition.

Only instead of gradually building up to twelve gifts, all the gifts are mentioned every single time, twelve times! (sigh)

Apparently, this is also the longest chapter in the first five books of the Bible (eighty‑nine verses’ worth), with most of them repeating the same phrases over and over again.

What’s the point?

I suppose it’s a reminder to us that when we offer something to God, he doesn’t just take it for granted.

He doesn’t say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Now go on, get out of here so the next person can bring in his gift.”

Instead, he looks upon each gift that we bring to him and cherishes it.

Each Israelite tribe had their own special day to bring their gifts to God. And although each gift was the same, everything was carefully recorded by Moses.

I think God sees our gifts the same way.

He sees everything we bring him, whether it’s our tithes and offerings, whether it’s our time that we give serving him, or whatever it may be.

He sees each gift, and he carefully records it in his book.

Why? Because of how he sees us. He sees us as his precious children.

And whenever we do something because we love him and want to please him, it touches his heart.

Do you ever feel like you’re not much in the eyes of God? Do you ever feel like you don’t have much to give him?

God doesn’t necessarily care what you bring him, as long as he has the thing that’s most important to him: your heart.

As long as he has that, he looks at you and everything you give to him as the most precious gift in the world.

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible, a prayer of blessing that the priests would say over the people of Israel.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24–26)

It is a prayer that I would love for someone to say over me. And as God’s priests, it’s a prayer that we should be praying for others.

What are we asking for?

1. We’re asking for God’s blessing on them.

We pray that they would know every spiritual blessing that they have in Christ: forgiveness of sins and adoption as children of the Most High God.

And we pray that God would bless them in their everyday lives: in their relationships, at work, in all that they do.

2. We’re asking for God’s protection for them.

We ask that God would protect them from the attacks of the enemy and all evil.

3. We’re asking that the Lord would shine his face on them.

We ask that he would reveal himself to them in every way so that they could know him better.

4. We’re asking that he would pour out his grace on them.

Each and every day, we need the grace of God in our lives. And so we pray for that in the lives of the people around us.

5. We’re asking that God would turn his face toward them.

That he would not turn away from them because of their sin, but that he would actively pursue them and work in their lives in order to bring them closer to him.

It has the picture of God looking at them with a smile of pleasure on his face because of what he sees.

6. We’re asking that he would give them peace.

We ask that God would give them the peace that surpasses all understanding and only comes through Christ.

And God says that as we pray that prayer over people, he will put his name upon them and bless them.

In other words, he marks out these people as special to him, and he will work in their lives that he may bless them.

To everyone who reads this blog, that is my prayer for you:

That God may bless you and keep you.

That he would cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

That he would turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Amen.

Back in Bible times, people would sometimes consecrate their lives to God, usually for a short period of time.

Some, however, did so throughout their lives. And in doing so, they took the vow of the Nazirite.

A Nazirite basically made three vows in his service to God.

First, he wouldn’t drink wine or have any kind of food or drink coming from grapes.

Second, he would let his hair grow and not cut it until his vow was completed.

And finally, he would not go near a dead body.

There were several famous Nazirites mentioned in the Bible, including Samson and John the Baptist. And each had a special task from God.

Samson was chosen to deliver the people of Israel from the Philistines.

John, of course, was called to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.

But what can we get out of this passage?

Well, basically, people who were Nazirites made a conscious decision to separate themselves for God.

As Christians, we are called to do the same.

Paul wrote,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

In other words, we are to offer our bodies to God as something set apart for his use (holy) and as something pleasing to him. This, Paul writes, is what worship is all about.

Worship is not just about singing songs to God. It’s a life that’s set apart for God.

Does this mean we need to let our hair grow long, never drink wine, or go near dead bodies?

No. But I think there are some things that we can draw from these things.

First, as people set apart for God, we need to let his Holy Spirit fill us and be the one who controls our life.

As Paul wrote,

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

Like I said, this doesn’t mean you can never drink. But wine should never be allowed to control your life.

Nor should anything else, for that matter, whether it be the internet, pornography, work, hobbies, or whatever else it might be.

What controls your life?

Is it God? Or is it something else?

What dominates your time? What dominates your thoughts?

Is it God? Or is it something else?

Second, we need to be vocal about our decision to be set apart for Christ.

In those days, the Nazirite’s growth of hair was a clear declaration to the people around them of who they were setting themselves apart for. People could look at them and know immediately that they were people set apart for God.

In the same way, the people around us should know that we are Christians and that we’re living for him.

Some people say, “Well, I’m a silent witness. I live a good life and people see that, and they probably know I’m a Christian. So I don’t feel the need to say anything.”

But the problem with that is that there are many “good” people who aren’t Christians. And if we don’t say anything, people won’t think, “He’s a good Christian.”

They’ll just think, “He’s a good person,” and leave it at that.

Yes, our actions are important. They validate what we say. But by themselves, our actions are not enough.

Third, we are to stay away from dead things.

I don’t mean to stay away from dead bodies as the Nazirites did. But I mean to keep away from the sins that lead to death and make us unclean.

As Paul again wrote elsewhere,

Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. (2 Corinthians 6:17)

As I said before, Nazirites generally dedicated themselves to God for a short time. But we are called to give ourselves to God for our lifetime.

Why? Because Jesus gave himself up for us. He gave up everything to come to earth and die on a cross so that our sins could be forgiven.

And so we give ourselves to him, “in view of God’s mercy,” the mercy that he has poured out in our lives.

Back in Leviticus 4–6, I mentioned five points about sin that should be noted. You can find them here.

As I read this passage, I find three more things God would have us learn about sin.

First, when we sin against another person, we’re also sinning against God.

God says in verse 5 that when we wrong another in any way, we are really being unfaithful to God.

When you wrong your husband or wife, you’re being unfaithful to God.

When you wrong your daughter or son, you’re being unfaithful to God.

When you wrong your father or mother, you’re being unfaithful to God.

When you wrong your neighbor, your friend, your coworker, or even the stranger on the street, you’re being unfaithful to God.

King David knew this.

When he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then killed her husband in order to marry her, he was confronted by the prophet Nathan.

And in his psalm of repentance, he wrote,

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. (Psalm 51:4)

Second, no one’s going to get away with nothing when it comes to sin.

Okay, that’s bad grammar. But no matter how well you have hidden your sin, it will come to light, either in this world or in the next.

You may hide your sin from even the people closest to you, but you’re not going to be able to hide it from God.

That’s what you see in the latter part of this chapter.

When a husband suspected his wife of adultery but had no proof, he could bring her before the priest, and she was given a bitter drink.

If she miscarried or was childless after that, it was considered proof of her guilt.

On the other hand, if nothing bad happened to her, it was considered proof of her innocence.

There was nothing magic in the water itself, nor in the dust of the tabernacle that was put into it. But it was a provision made especially for the Israelites by the God who knows the heart.

Through this test, God brought judgment on the guilty while protecting the innocent.

Finally, there’s no room for revenge when someone wrongs us.

The impression that I get from this test that God gave was that it was to prevent the husband from sinning because he thought his wife was unfaithful to him.

It prevented him from wrongfully divorcing his wife. And it also prevented him from even going to the extreme measures of beating her or murdering her because he thought she did something wrong.

God’s last word on the subject was that by doing this test, a guilty woman would bear the consequences of her sin, while the husband would retain his innocence.

In other words, even when the woman wronged her husband, he was not to take revenge on her in any way. Rather, he was to leave that in God’s hands.

It’s the same with us. We are never to take vengeance into our own hands. We are to leave that in the hands of God.

As Romans 12:19 says,

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

We talked about the concept of clean and unclean in the book of Leviticus, and we see the same concept rise up here.

One verse that strikes me is verse 3. God says of those who are unclean,

Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them. (Numbers 5:3)

The idea here is that God is so pure, nothing impure may come into his presence. It must be banished from his sight.

One misconception people have is that if they’re good enough, it will outweigh any bad things they may do, and God will let them into heaven.

They imagine that there’s a balance scale at the gate of heaven. They think that all they have to do is make sure that their evil deeds don’t outweigh their good ones, and God will let them in.

But the gate of heaven is not like a balance scale. It’s more like a security gate at an airport.

If you go to the airport, before you enter the plane, you must go through the security gate.

And if you have brought scissors, a knife, or even a bottle of water, you will not be allowed through the gate until these things are removed from your person.

It doesn’t matter how much you complain to the security guard about how innocent these things are; they won’t let you in.

You could say, “But look at all the good things I have in my bag. I have a gift for my grandma. I have all these nice new clothes I bought. Don’t these things outweigh the fact that I have a bottle of water in my suitcase?”

But the security guard will just look at you and say, “No. Either take it out, or you can’t go through.”

God is the same way when it comes to sin.

You can complain to him that you’ve done many good things in your life, and so you deserve to go to heaven.

But it’s not the good things that you do that keep you out of heaven, just as it’s not your gift for your grandma or your new clothes that keep you from entering the security gate.

Rather, it’s your sin that keeps you out.

And if you try to enter heaven with sin in your heart, you will be “set outside the camp.”

You will not be allowed into heaven.

There’s only one way for your sin to be dealt with, and that’s through the blood of Jesus.

Jesus died on a cross to take the punishment for your sin, and if you’ll just believe in the work that he did for you and ask for forgiveness, your sins will be washed away.

With your sins taken care of, there will then be nothing to hinder you from entering heaven’s gate.

Instead, you’ll be welcomed with open arms.

As it says in Romans 10:9,

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

We now reach the book of Numbers. This book was named so because the people were numbered twice in this book.

The first two chapters detail the numbering of eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The purpose of this numbering was to see how many people were available for battle when the Israelites entered Canaan.

After the people were numbered, they were assigned a certain place in the camp, basically placed there by tribe.

The next two chapters detail the numbering of the last tribe, the Levites, and detail their responsibilities.

The words I see most often in these four chapters are “assigned,” “set out,” “appointed,” and “responsible for.”

I think we can get two things out of this.

First, as God’s people, we are in a spiritual war. In Ephesians 6:12, it says,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

And as part of God’s army, we are assigned a certain place in that war, just as the Israelites were.

All of us are assigned to take the gospel of Jesus Christ into a dying world in order to set free those who are captive to Satan’s kingdom.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, you have your place in that battle. Whether you are in your neighborhood, or in your workplace, or in your school, God has called us to war against Satan and his forces.

But just as the Levites were called to serve in the tabernacle, we’re also called to serve within the body of Christ, that is, within his church.

I’m not just talking about serving in the church building, but serving his people with the gifts God has given you.

As it says in Romans 12,

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:4–8)

Soldiers. Servants. That’s our calling as Christians while we’re here on earth.

May we all take our assigned places that God has set out for us, and fulfill the responsibilities he has appointed each one of us for.