Vows are sacrosanct. They must be kept. The only exception occurs when a woman makes a vow and is a member of a household. In those cases, the head of the house has the authority to break the vow.
Thought for the day: Jesus doesn’t encourage us to make vows. He simply encourages us to be truthful. A “yes” or a “no,” without fanfare and promises, should always be enough!
Matthew 5:37 (WEB) “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.”
The entire seventh month of the calendar year was special (which corresponds to the middle of September to the middle of October in our calendar). It began with special offerings and the blowing of trumpets. Ten days later was the day of atonement, celebrated with fasting and special offerings. And then, five days after that, a festival that lasted eight days, the festival of booths. During the festival the Israelites lived in booths to remember the time they spent in the wilderness. It was accompanied by special offerings throughout the week, and a day of rest at the beginning and the end. The festival of booths would remind the Israelites of God’s care (for 40 years), God’s faithfulness (in bringing them to the promised land), and God’s punishment (letting an entire generation die out because of their faithlessness).
Thought for the day: Jesus used the festival of booths to proclaim a profound truth about Himself!
John 7:37-38 (WEB) “Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ “
A.W. Tozer said, “worship of the loving God is man’s whole reason for existence.” It shouldn’t surprise us then that God gives Israel repeated reminders of how they are to sacrifice, give, keep the Sabbaths, and observe the festivals when they get to the promised land.
Thought for the day: While we recognize that many of these gatherings foreshadowed and were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, they should also remind us of the importance of corporate worship!
Hebrews 10:24-25 (WEB) “Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The Growth of the Kingdom
Mark 4:21-34
I) God shares His ___________
II) It comes by ____________ revelation
A) We see it in _____________
B) We see it in _____________
III) General revelation ____________:
A) Everyone is _____________ before God
B) We all know something about _________
C) We are __________ to God
D) There is a sense of ___________ in creation
E) We all have something in ____________
IV) But we need ____________ revelation to be saved!
A) We are clouded by _________
B) We are clouded by ____________
C) Which is why we need the ____________
D) And the Spirit uses the ___________
V) God also uses us to share His ______________
A) We ______
B) But we aren’t responsible for the ___________
C) Growth can take _________
D) But growth will __________
E) And the kingdom will be a blessing to ________
God defies the patriarchy!!! Or does he? While the passage certainly does indicate the worth and rights of women, God declares here that family and tribal legacies are to be protected. We would do well to remember that the whole is greater and more important than individual parts. We (men in particular, but women too) need to do a better job of putting the needs of our families ahead of our own. That’s what sacrificial leadership is, and it’s what is needed in the church as well.
For example, Moses doesn’t whine and moan about his punishment. He is most concerned about the next generation of leadership for the nation. When he asks God for direction, God chooses Joshua, who was one of only two spies willing to obey God and invade the promised land! Moses is an example of what leadership should look like in the home, the church, and the nation.
Thought for the day: Jesus’ words and life model leadership for us.
Mark 10:45 (WEB) “For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The census is for the allotment of the land when the Israelites finally take possession of it. Larger tribes will receive a greater inheritance. Joshua and Caleb are all that are left from the original census; an entire generation has passed away. This was because of God’s judgement for their sin. But even with that we see compassion. The children of Korah did not die for their father’s sin (26:11). Sometimes the consequences of our actions affect others, while other times they do not. Even in the midst of God’s judgment, we often find mercy.
Thought for the day: We deserve judgment, but thankfully God gives us grace and mercy!
Ephesians 2:4-5 (WEB) “But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”
If you can’t beat them, seduce them.
We don’t always realize how the people we hang around with, the colleagues we work with, or the spouses we marry will influence us. The Moabites were able to lure the Israelites into idolatry by having their women seduce them. It sounds like a plot in a spy movie! God was not pleased, and a plague is the result. Believe it or not, there was actually a leader who brought one of the women into his tent in the midst of the nation’s punishment. Phineas recognizes this, kills him, and God’s wrath is assuaged and the plague stops. Phineas and his offspring are rewarded as a result of his actions. God then instructs Israel to wage war against the Midianites for their part in the plot.
Thought for the day: Holiness is important and necessary if we hope to experience God’s blessing. A part of holiness is being careful who we hang around with and who we marry.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (WEB) “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from amongst them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
Balaam not only blesses Israel, he also gives a number of prophecies concerning their future. He anticipates a coming king (star, scepter) that will defeat Israel’s enemies. He also gives three prophecies regarding the future. The first and third probably refer to David’s defeat of the Amalekites and the Philistines. The second possibly refers to the eventual rise of the Assyrians.
Thought for the day: David’s kingdom and victorious reign anticipates Christ’s ultimate rule over creation.
Hebrews 1:7-9 (WEB) “Of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.’ But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.’ “
Balaam doesn’t come out immediately and say that the Israelites are blessed. Instead he says, “I will only say what the Lord tells me to say.” It seems that he is trying to walk a fine line, presumably to get paid! But ultimately, Balaam is more scared of God than he is of Balak. Although hired to curse Israel, he blesses them three times (twice in our passage today), and Balak is not amused!
Ironically, Balaam does find a way to circumvent God. He later gives some advice that causes God to turn on His people.
Numbers 31:16 (WEB) “Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.”
Thought for the day: Balaam’s mantra should be our mantra: “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?” God’s Word should guide our thought, actions, and speech!
Psalm 119:41-48 (WEB) “Let your loving kindness also come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your word. So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word. Don’t snatch the word of truth out of my mouth, for I put my hope in your ordinances. So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever. I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your statutes before kings, and will not be disappointed. I will delight myself in your commandments, because I love them. I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.”
So, we come to one of the more humorous and tragic stories in the Bible. It’s also confusing! Is Balaam a follower of God, or not really? It appears that he was but was overtaken by his own greed. Why does God tell him to go with the messengers, but then get mad when he does? Verse 22:20 reads “if the men have come,” but Balaam takes the initiative to go to them in 22:21. That’s why God uses his donkey to confront him!
Balaam’s greed becomes notorious as an example of how NOT to be.
2 Peter 2:15-16 (WEB) “Forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A speechless donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.”
Jude 1:11 (WEB) “Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.”
Thought for the day: Don’t give in to greed! It will lead you down a dark, God defying path.
1 Timothy 6:10 (WEB) “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
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