March 13th readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Numbers 19:1-20:29 ~ Luke 1:1-25
Psalm 56:1-13 ~ Proverbs 11:8

Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 20 verse 12 we read about God pronouncing that Moses & Aaron would not enter the Promised Land - "But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!""  Why did this happen?  Well, it's best to stick with Scripture - God says that Moses & Aaron did not trust God enough.  They did not trust God enough to demonstrate his holiness to the people of Israel.  Thus they will not lead them into the Promised Land.  Where was the lack of trust?   Go back to verse 8 and you'll see God tell Moses to "command the rock" for water - command meaning verbally... then in verse 11 we see Moses strike the rock twice - not using the verbal command God instructed him on, but using an action.   There also may have been a pride issue when Moses in verse 10 says "must we bring you water from this rock?"  You'll notice the little word WE - We being Moses & Aaron? -this is probably not the way to best recognize God for God bringing water out of the rock...  It looks like Moses is taking credit.   How about us in our lives today?  Are there times when we disobey God's direct commands to us?  Are there times when we take credit for God's work?  Even if we generally follow God's instructions - as Moses clearly does for the majority of his life - should we be on constant watch that we do not disobey God?

New Testament - Today we begin the Gospel of Luke!  Commentary on the Gospel of Luke is at these 3 links –
http://bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1226
http://bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1744
http://bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1745 

In today's readings in Luke chapter 1 we read about the birth of John the Baptist being foretold by the angel Gabriel.   Gabriel shares with Zechariah this powerful message about John in verses 16 & 17 - "He will persuade many Israelites to turn to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah, the prophet of old. He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom.""  This is a message for us to consider today - do we need to be persuaded to turn to God?  Do we need our disobedient minds changed to accept godly wisdom?  Can we open our ears to the message of John the Baptist some 2,000 years later?  Will we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord?

One interesting side note - only two angels are mentioned by name in the Bible - Michael and Gabriel.  And here is Gabriel delivering the message from today's readings to Zechariah -

Psalms - Psalm 56 verse 10 makes a One Year Bible blogger quite happy :) "O God, I praise your word. Yes, LORD, I praise your word."  Does this verse make you happy?  Do you praise God for the gift of the Bible?  Do you praise God's very Word, the Bible?  Why?  or why not?

Proverbs chapter 11 verse 8 is a great reminder that God rescues those who trust in him.  Has God ever rescued you?

What verses or insights jumped out for you in today's readings?  Please post up in the Comments section below!

Grace,
Mike

Comments

[Emberglow]

Yes, Numbers is just striking where God clearly tells Moses and Aaron that they will not lead Israelites into the promised land. How can we expect to win if we wont give credit to God for the strength and grace he provided all the way to the victory ?

In fact this theme clearly unites with 2 Corinthians 12:9,10 , '' But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'.Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.''

This is just a beautiful theme. The truth of God. I put the smile of God's grace upon my weakness. And I lift my hands to receive the power of God to fight every battle and win every war. Hallelujah!!!

[kate]

I wonder if it was pride because the Bible does say that Moses was the most humble man? I'm thinking it might have been just frustration at the people and their unbelief, but his act showed his unbelief and the way he did it showed his dishonor of God in front of all the people. Just a thought....

[sikee]

Why is it that God punishes both Moses and Aaron? Since it seems that Moses is the one who errs. Can anyone help share here why Aaron was punished too?

TIA =)

[Luciano Del Monte (Luch)]

Further to the discussion re 'positivity' and 'success' gospel, I am reminded of something Karl barth said when it comes to theology. Barth said, "All theology is a matter of EMPAHSIS!" And apparently those who heard him say this made the point that he strongly emphasized the word "EMPHASIS". Isn't it true that we tend to emphasize those parts of theology that we want to emphasize? I know I do. In the past I have given lip service to the poor because in the spiritual culture I was raised what was emphasized was 'discipleship, one to one mentoring' and so forth for which I am thankful, but there was little said about the poor and about social injustice. Then God in in His wonderful way gives me a son who loves the poor and wants to serve the poor and cares about injustice, and that's what he sees as he reads the scriptures. Who is right? We both are! I love Ecclesiastes 7:18 that says, "It is good that you grasp one thing and not let go of the other. For the person who fears God avoids all extremes." I like that piece of wisdom. The truth is rarely in the extreme. God calls us to live in the tension. That's good for us.

For example I don't know how one can read these chapters throughout Numbers and see a lot of 'positive thinking'. I see a lot of judgment, pain, disobedience, complaining, arguing, and contentiousness. How many exhortations are there in the Bible that tell us to take our 'happy pills.' To be sure we exhorted to "think on these things,' 'to rejoice always IN THE LORD", not in our circumstances.
Our psalm readings take us on a roller coaster ride of positive and negative feelings. That's what I find, and that's what is true of my life.

My wife has a strong belief in God, but she also has breast cancer. There are times the only thing we believe in is the will to live, but we CHOOSE to believe in God and His Sovereignty. I think those who teach the health and wealth emphasis of the gospel do a lot of damage to people who love God, are obedient to Him, but like Job have no idea why they have to suffer as they do.

I don't doubt that Schuller and Olsteen and others like them have good intentions. I liken them to taking a happy pep pill. It lasts for a little while but it isn't enough. Only True Truth sets one free. Psalm 34:6 speaks to me about what is really true, "I cried ouit to the LORD in my suffering, and he heard me. He set me free from all my fears."

[Jan]

All I can say is this: As Job once said, "Though He slay me, I will yet praise Him."

We can be positive & filled with faith & believe His Word about having what we beleive we can, IF we have no doubt in our heart...but ultimately it is always up to Him...He is always still in control.

[Vance Brown]

Numbers 19

Note very helpful information about the RED HEIFFER offering from doing a search on this website-- http://hebrew4christians.com

"Moses is given the unusual ritual law (chukat hatorah) of the Red Heifer (parah adumah), whose ashes purify those contaminated by contact with death. This ritual is considered CHOK within the Jewish tradition, since it makes no rational sense. In fact, the Talmud states that of all the taryag mitzvot (613 commandments, this is the only one that King Solomon could not fathom, since this sacrifice is the most paradoxical of all the sacrifices found in the Torah. However, as we shall see, the symbolism of the parah adumah (Red Heifer) is a clear foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Mashiach Yeshua to deliver us from death."

CONTINUING WITH COMMENT from hebrew4christians.com--

"The parah adumah (Red Heifer) sacrifice is entirely unique, for the following reasons:

1. It was the only sacrifice that specifically required an animal of a particular color. This animal was extremely rare and unique of its kind...

2. It was the only sacrifice where all the rituals were carried outside of the camp (and later, outside the Temple precincts). That is, the 'blood applications' of this sacrifice occurred in a location apart from the altar...

3. It was the only sacrifice that ritually contaminated the priest who offered it, but made the one who was sprinkled by it clean.

4. It was the only sacrifice where the ashes were preserved and used (other sacrifices required the ashes be disposed of outside the camp).

An interesting further note about how the ashes and blood were used in this sacrifice is given:

"...the blood was assimilated into the ashes of the sacrifice, which were then gathered and mixed with water to create the 'water of separation'...for the Israelite community."

HOW JESUS IS THE PERFECT FULFILLMENT OF THE PARAH ADUMAH SACRIFICE (Red Heifer).

1. He was completely without sin or defect.

2. He was sacrificed outside the camp.

3. He made Himself sin for us.

4. His sprinkling makes us clean.

5. The "water of separation" that His sacrifice created is the means by which we are made clean from the impurity of sin.

~~~

Numbers 20 (NKJV)
10
And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”
11
Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
12
Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

~~~

Note how the Holy Spirit helps us interpret this passage properly in I Corinthians 10 (NKJV):
1
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea,
2
all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3
all ate the same spiritual food,
4
AND ALL DRANK THE SAME SPIRITUAL DRINK. FOR THEY DRANK OF THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM, AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST.

NOTE:
The Holy Spirit clearly indicates that THE ROCK WAS CHRIST. This IN NO WAY proves that rocks, trees, and nature are "divine" and "one with the divine essense" as New Age philosophy would have us believe.

YET, in a real way we do not completely understand, CHRIST HIMSELF was providing for HIS PEOPLE in the OT.

So... Moses was in fact striking CHRIST. We should never respond in arrogance to the Lord.

Moses, in his relationship with Yahwey, may have had a sense that this was not an ordinary rock and that God Himself was providing water through it.

~~~

Why was Aaron included in the judgment of Moses? It may be because Aaron did not oppose Moses and did not try to stop Moses' wrong attitude.

LUKE 1

The ministry of John the Baptist makes me think of an excellent comment I read this morning about revival:

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST. FEARFUL, PRIDEFUL DISCIPLES WERE TRANSFORMED INTO HUMBLE, POWERFUL REPLICAS OF JESUS.

TODAY, WE DO NOT HAVE THE FIRE OF THE HOLY GHOST, WE HAVE CASPER, THE FRIENDLY GHOST. WITH CASPER, EVERYONE GOES TO HEAVEN. CASPER CUDDLES, BUT NEVER CONVICTS. HE NEVER CALLS PEOPLE INTO CONFORMITY WITH CHRIST.

YOU SEE, TRUE REVIVAL IS A HOT LAVA-FLOW OF COURAGE BEING POURED INTO THE BACKBONE OF A ONCE DEFEATED PEOPLE. It is radiant faces, purified souls and holy lips. It is people becoming like Jesus.

Vance

[Emberglow]

Luch, thanks for your thoughts. Yes, actually Bible is so diverse in theology that it must be taken in its entirety. Its so easy to prove two contradictory things from one Bible.

I personally, find it a matter of extreme interest as well as confusion how in the OT God is always bestowing upon believers gifts, money, sheep, servants, heaps children, silver and gold and other wealth etc. But in the NT Jesus says it is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. I have met many Christians who are middle class and are so happy with their lives and they consider much money as evil.

I find these are conflicting themes...?... I personally, believe much money can be a good thing for Christians. But then I also know that much philanthropic work in this world, coming from the rich and famous folks like Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Bono etc. is not necessarily done by Christians.

But behind all this very vast design I see God working. That's why I believe people must have the freedom to have their own life and determine their own purse size. And at the same time we Must love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. When we do that, it will be impossible not to love others...

[Luciano Del Monte (Luch)]

emberglow,
very well said!!!

[John]

God has not changed. God is perfect. If He changed tomorrow, then He was either not perfect before He changed, or He would be less perfect after the change.

Things happen in His plan that seem like change, but God is soverign and it is all in his plan. Who are we to know?

God's character and essence do not change.

Heb. 13:8
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

A good line from "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger" is:
'God would not be God if you could perfectly understand Him.'

Isaiah 55:8-9
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."NIV

All we know is what He has revealed of Himself through His "Word".

[John]

Moses, Aaron, and the Rock

Psalm 106:32-33
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. NIV

Writer of the Psalm is probably David (author is Holy Spirit) says Moses spoke "rash" words. Definition of "Rash" -"marked by unthinking boldness; with defiant disregard for danger or consequences;.."

God did not call people rebels, and Moses did not say God provided water. Moses spoke out of turn and disobeyed God by striking the Rock.

1 Cor 10:1-4
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." NIV

'Symbolically the "Rock" represented Christ. Christ was smitten once for our transgressions. There is no need for Christ (the Rock) to be smitten again. Moses was to speak to the Rock (like we are to pray to Christ). Moses by disobeying messed up a symbolic foreshadowing message from God. For this God would not allow him to bring the people into the Land.' - Chuck Missler

[Note: Moses did enter the Land during Christ's Transfiguration, and some believe Moses will be back in Israel during Tribulation. Moses Penalty would be that he could not lead "the people" into the Promised Land.]

Aaron, well Aaron had always proven able to be swayed. He was not a perfect priest (servant) of the Lord. (Are any of us?) He was with Moses at the Tent when God spoke, and Aaron did nothing to stop Moses' rash words. In modern day times - Aaron was an accomplice.

Aaron also received a penalty. Aaron would also be precluded from entering the Promised Land with the People of Israel. That meant he was going to die before entry, it so happens - it occured at this point in time.

Notice, Aaron is not put to death as a malefactor, by a plague, or fire from heaven, but dies with ease and in honour. He is not cut off from his people, as the expression usually is concerning those that die by the hand of divine justice, but he is gathered to his people, as one that died in the arms of divine grace. ...
MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. 1997, c1995. Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments . Thomas Nelson: Nashville

Aaron was honored for the service he DID provide to the Lord.

[John]

emberglow,

"Its so easy to prove two contradictory things from one Bible."

I spent quite a bit of time trying to find contradictions in the Bible. I couldn't do it. My failure in this self-imposed task is what led me to salvation.

I don't see the contradiction in your example. Yes, believers in the Old Testament were often blessed materially. I imagine they always thanked the Lord, and offered some portion back.

A "rich man" outside the kingdom of God would find it difficult to gain entry because, in his heart, the rich man probably is focused on his material possessions and not focusing on God. Until he releases that "love of his heart" for riches, the rich man would be hard pressed to be truly seeking the Lord.

I think that is why Jesus said it is "hard" - Jesus never said it was impossible. Joseph of Arimethea as one example.

[John]

Luke

Zechariah - means "God remembers"

Elizabeth - means "His oath"

Together: "God remembers His oath"

[I just love how God's plan is so intricate down to even the names of the people.]

God's oath????

Psalm 89:34-37
I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.

Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
and I will not lie to David-

that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;

it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky. NIV

[Ramona]

Numbers 19-20:29

Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God's fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God's wonder and grace didn't seem to mean much--most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased. The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did--"First the people partied, then they threw a dance." We must not be sexually promiscuous--they paid for that, remember, with twenty-three thousand deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them. These are all warning markers--DANGER!--in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel--they at the beginning, we at the end--and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. (1 Corinthians 10:1-11 MSG)

What we are reading in Numbers can be explained in the first 1/3 of the tenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. Numbers and the rest of the Old Testament were written for us as examples. God loves me enough, you enough to have provided real live examples for us NOT TO follow.

Moses was to speak to the “Rock” who was Christ and not to strike the Rock, especially not two consecutive times, actually the last two times totaled three because the “Rock” was struck previously (Exodus 17:6). Christ was only struck ONCE and because everything written in the Old points to Christ, hitting the Rock instead of speaking to the Rock, perverted the image of Christ.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7 KJVR)

Jesus would only be struck down once, on the cross, we don’t need to continually crucify Him over and over again. He died ONCE for all. Moses and Aaron gave the Children of Israel a tainted image of Christ when they struck the Rock twice.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

P.S. God being Holy can only fellowship with a Holy People. Anything that is corrupt is sin, anything that is not alive is sin because there is no death in God. Death is a sign of corruption, it is a distortion from “In the Beginning …” When we take our clothes to be washed/dry cleaned the purpose is to have the dirt removed. When God provided a way for His people to be Holy so they could commune with a Holy God, removal of the corruption, the sin and degradation that man fell into is a given. When you place detergent into the wash to get your clothes clean do you get upset when the dirt flows down the drain? Think about it.

[Andrew B]

Re emphasis in theology:

Tangentrider Laura has a nice post at:
http://lauraswritings.blogspot.com/2006/03/theology-is-like.html

[John]

If one concedes truth, by definition it is "absolute truth". Anything else is something less than the truth, and hence - not the truth.
======================================================

Excerpts

"The greater tragedy is not just that we live with a proliferation of lies, but that this is probably the first time, certainly in western civilization than society at large does not believe in the existence of absolute truth.

This radical step toward moral and metaphysical skepticism, which asserts the very impossibility of knowing the laws by which our individual lives must be governed, is the single greatest indicator of our postmodern mind.

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). In a world increasingly enslaved by error and alienation, and seduced by images to believe a lie, how wonderful to be freed by the truth to His peace. The Scriptures tell us that the enemy of our souls is the father of all lies. He will do anything to keep us from coming to the truth, because it is the most valuable thing in the world and leads us to the source of all truth, to God Himself."

http://www.rzim.org/publications/jttran.php?seqid=38

[Emberglow]

Hey John, if you see no contradictions in Bible then you sure are blessed! On the other hand we are all so subjective and also its so easy to put same thing in different contexts. Isnt it interesting, different denominations from Super conservative Baptist to Liberal Presbyterian and Methodist churches use the same Bible? Yet their theology is so different.

I once wrote an extensive email to Beliefnet (www.beliefnet.com) telling them if some people want to have a homosexual lifestyle, its ok. It's their personal choice but at least they should not imply that Bible does not condemn homosexuality (when it clearly does condemn it in Leviticus and Paul's epistles). And I got a reply back. To my utter disbelief the writer quoted Bible many times and tried to prove that Bible does not condemn homosexuality. He or she even pointed that relationship between David and Jonathan was possibly homosexual! Of course I trash this but the writer truly believed in it all.

Truth is there are heaps subjects where people can use Bible to prove their point such as in issues concerning marriage, divorce, abortion, money, theology, baptism and so on.

But as I said, if we trust God we will never be misled and if we do get lost we will be forgiven and be brought back on track. Because God is good, merciful, loving and we are selfish, weak, imperfect, sinful, fallible.

[John]

emberglow,

"Truth is there are heaps subjects where people can use Bible to prove their point such as in issues concerning marriage, divorce, abortion, money, theology, baptism and so on."

Yes, different people can interpret the Bible differently in an attempt to give validity to their position.

If it is consistent throughout the Bible, and I disagree, then I respectfully disagree. If it is not consistent throughout the Bible, nor bears up under scrutiny, then they are incorrect.

"Of course I trash this but the writer truly believed in it all."

Sincere belief does not make it truth. I am sure there were sincere believers amongst the terrorists in the 9/11 planes, I am sure David Koresh had sincere believers, and I am sure some Satanists, wiccans, Scientologists, etc. are sincere in their belief.

Sincerity has never been a test for the truth. It is an emotional attribute.

We should praise God and God alone. I don't think praising his inspired Word may be scripturally sound.

[John]

Anonymous,

I have not seen anyone here talk about "praising" the Bible. It is what it is - "God's Word". It is to be studied (not just read) and used as a tool for Christian Growth.

If you admit it is "inspired" then it certainly is to be respected. Not sure where you got the idea of "praising" the "inspired Word -referred to by you in your post.