February 5, 2019 – Day 36 – Numbers 1-3; John 4 Day 311–John 13-15

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 311-John 13-15 summary!]

The Book of Numbers is so named, because in it, God orders Moses to count the people of Israel. The book continues the account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and shows us why the wandering required an additional forty years to complete. In Numbers 1 Moses counts the men of fighting age in each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Levites are neither included in the list of the names of the twelve tribes, nor numbered, because God orders they not be counted.  Numbers 2 tells us of how the tribes were to camp around the Tabernacle. Three tribes were to camp on each side, so the Tabernacle was surrounded by the Israelites. The order was significant, because when the Israelites broke camp to move to the next location God directed them, they would break camp in the specific order God presented. The logistics of moving more than 600,000 fighting men, along with their families must have been challenging in a day with no communication technology but rams’ horns. Yet, they accomplished the task by following God’s directions.

Numbers 3 tells us of the Levites’ place among the Israelites. First, they were to serve Aaron and his sons in the priestly ministry. This work was vital and required diligent effort. The second “task” of the Levites was to serve as substitutes for the first-born sons of all the rest of the Israelites. God required the first-born son of every family as His, but in order to keep the families from having to give up their sons to Him, God accepted all the male Levites as substitutes. When all the first-born sons were counted, it was determined that a shortage of 273 Levites existed. The solution was an offering of 1365 shekels of silver was given to make up the difference.

In John 4 we read an extended account of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman. As we read the account, we find Jesus asked the woman for help. This would have been unprecedented for a Jewish rabbi. First, the person was a Samaritan, and the Jews detested the Samaritans considering them “half-breeds,” who had defied God’s commands. Second, she was a woman. Rabbis didn’t speak with women in public in Jesus’ day. Finally, the woman was immoral having been married five times, and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. This “trifecta” of disqualifiers didn’t stop Jesus from entering into conversation with the woman, asking her for help, and ultimately leading her into a relationship with Him. Because of her faith in Jesus, she called the rest of her village to come and meet Jesus, with the result that they all believed He was the Messiah. John 4 shows us how Jesus’ influence in one person’s life can transform many. This is good news for each of us as we share our faith in Jesus with one other person at a time. We never know when the one person God uses us to lead to Jesus, will lead many others to Him as well!

At the end of John 4, Jesus is encountered by a “royal official” who asked Jesus to heal his sick son. Jesus challenged the man by saying that unless he saw a miracle he would not believe. The man persisted to plea on behalf of his son. Jesus told him to go, that his son would be healed. It happened exactly as Jesus said. When the man returned home his son was well. The entire family believed in Jesus. Once again, we see how much impact one person’s healing can have, and that came from one person’s persistence in calling on Jesus.

Day 311-John 13-15 In John 13, Jesus offers His disciples one of the most powerful examples of what it means to be a servant leader, by washing their feet after they eat their last meal together before He is arrested, tried, convicted, beaten and crucified. Jesus sets forth a new commandment that they must love one another as He has loved them. In John 14, Jesus tells of His impending return to heaven, but that ultimately that would mean His return to take them to be with Him. While the disciples weren’t sure where Jesus was going or how to get there, Jesus told them, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  He also told the disciples they would do greater works than He, because He was going to the Father. In John 15, Jesus provides the amazing metaphor of Him being the “vine,” and we His followers, being the “branches.” So long as we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. Jesus tells us again of the importance of His new command to love one another as He first loved us.

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