Pastor Billington's Blog

Numbers 33

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – Santayana

Recollection and remembrance. It’s important. It’s why people do genealogy. It’s why many end up writing their personal histories. To pass on lessons. To put things in perspective. To better understand. Here is how Moses recounts their history: “God brought you out of slavery. He delivered you with miraculous acts. He walked with you. He protected you. He brought you to the land He promised you. He did exactly what He said He would do! It’s yours for the taking. Make sure that you do what you need to do. Make sure that you defeat the people. Make sure that you worship God, and God alone. If you fail to do what God commands, then you’ll be in big trouble. You should understand that from your journey!”

Thought for the day: We need to pass it on!

Psalm 78:2-4 (WEB) “I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.”

Numbers 32

“I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.” – Red Green

“One for all and all for one.” – Shakespeare, Dumas

A portion of the nation couldn’t just quit! They were in it together, and Moses made sure that they understood that. Ruben, Gad, and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh took their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, but their fighting men went with the rest of the nation to claim the promised land. It’s an interesting situation. They ended up securing the safety of their families, but they were also leaving them behind. For many this was a goodbye that was much earlier than it needed to be.

Thought for the day: God expects us to work together as His body. We are component parts that make a up larger whole.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (WEB) “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”

Numbers 31

The Midianites were a group of nomadic tribes that were associated with the Ishmaelites, Amalekites, and Moabites. That’s why we see both terms (Midianites and Moabites) being used in some of our reading.

This chapter can seem hard to us because of the brutality here. Killing women? Killing boys? We could argue that it was a different time with different rules, but that’s only part of the answer. These weren’t simply the men of a nation who engaged in battle with God’s people. These were women that willingly prostituted themselves with the Israelites and encouraged them to engage in idolatry, all to help their own nation gain an advantage (Numbers 25:1-3). They couldn’t be trusted and had to be punished. Imagine how upset God was at those who came up with the plot to turn Him against His own people! The killing of the remaining boys meant that God’s judgment over this people was total. The Israelites became God’s avenging angels.

Deuteronomy 32:35 (WEB) “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.””

The rest of the chapter details what to do with the spoils of war. A portion to the fighting men, a portion to the people, and a tribute portion to God, given to the priests and Levites. The men were so thankful for God’s protection that they also gave a thanksgiving offering to the Lord!

Thought for the day: God occasionally uses people or nations to enact judgment on others. But His usual requirement for believers is much different.

Luke 6:35-36 (WEB) “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind towards the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful.”

Numbers 30

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.”

Numbers 29

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.’ “

Numbers 28

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.”

Numbers 27

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.”

Numbers 26

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—”

Numbers 25

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.”