[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 313-John 19-21 summary!]
Numbers 7 records the offerings the Israelites brought for the dedication of the Tabernacle. They brought a collective gift of wagons for carrying the Tabernacle’s supplies, then each tribe brought the same gift on successive days: a silver tray with a grain offering, a golden incense holder with four ounces of incense, and various animals to be sacrificed. The ritual continued for twelve days, the same each day. At the end of chapter 7 we’re told whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle, God spoke to Him. This again established the importance of Moses to the people of Israel. He was their true mediator, because he spoke to God directly for them, and brought God’s instructions to them.
Numbers 8 offers brief instructions concerning the lamps to be used in the Tabernacle and how they were to be directed, so the light would shine a certain way. Then the remainder of the chapter presents the Lord’s instruction for the dedication of the Levites to Himself. Each Levite was to wash in the water of purification, then shave his entire body. Then he would be clean. After that, the entire nation of Israel was to place their hands on the Levites, symbolizing that the Levites were becoming the substitute for the first born of each of the other tribes. This is a significant action. We see this, because the Levites were then to lay their hands on the sin offerings before they were sacrificed. That means all the Israelites would see the Levites as being “sacrifices” of a type for themselves. The final instructions concerning the Levites was their years of service. They were to start serving at the age of twenty-four and then to “retire” at the age of fifty. Retire is in quotes, because while they could no longer serve directly before the Lord after the age of fifty, they could continue to serve as guards of the Tabernacle. They wouldn’t quit working, but their work was now in a supportive role rather than a direct one.
Numbers 9 records God’s command to celebrate the Passover for the second time. The instructions (as usual) were quite explicit, and those who were ceremonially unclean at the time of the Passover were required to wait exactly one month and then to celebrate it. The remembrance was so significant that anyone who failed to celebrate it was to be cut off from the people. In the second half of the chapter, we read of how the cloud of God would hover over the Tabernacle. At night, it turned to a pillar of fire. When the cloud moved the people broke camp and followed where it led. We’re told the cloud would sometimes only stay overnight, while at other times it would stay a few days, a month or even a year. Regardless of when the cloud moved, the people followed. How awesome would it be to have God’s direction laid out that clearly in our lives? It must have been a helpful reminder to the Israelites that God was always with them, because the cloud was always there, and gave them clear direction. Thankfully, we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us daily. We need to be sure we listen to His voice and direction and follow where He leads, because as we do, we will gain deeper discernment.
John 6 is one of the longest chapters in the New Testament. In it we read the account of the feeding of the five thousand. This is the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four gospels, which tells us of its significance. In John 6, we find after Jesus performed the miracle, the people wanted to make Him king. Jesus’ response was to go off by Himself to pray. Later He joined the disciples who were on a boat, which meant Jesus walked on water to join them! The next day the crowds came after Jesus asking Him to show them a miracle. (What was feeding five thousand men, along with woman and children with five loaves of bread and two fish, if not a miracle?) In the midst of the discussion, Jesus told the crowd that their “work” was to believe in Him. Think about that for a moment: our work as Jesus’ followers is to believe in Him. That belief in Jesus is not a mere acknowledgement of His existence, but faith that He is God’s Son, and Savior and Lord of our lives.
Jesus had demonstrated His worthiness to be their king the day before, but the crowd started questioning Jesus more, and eventually Jesus told them they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood, a statement pointing to the Lord’s Supper, but one the crowd interpreted literally. This caused a great many of Jesus “disciples” to fall away. When Jesus saw the mass exodus, He turned to the twelve and asked, “Are you leaving, too?” Peter answered Jesus by saying, “Where would we go? You have the words of life!” Many times in our lives, people raise questions about Jesus, about our faith in Him, about the miracles and exorcisms of Jesus and they want to know how we can believe all those things. That is where our faith is put to the test. Jesus is true, and faith in Him results in salvation in every age, but unless we do have the faith Jesus requires, we never experience the fullness of following the one who’s words are life to us–here and now and for eternity!
Day 313-John 19-21
John 19-21 record Jesus’ death, resurrection and the events that took place after His resurrection before He returned to heaven. In John’s record of Jesus’ crucifixion, we read of the soldiers piercing Jesus’ side, rather than breaking His legs as had been done to the others who were crucified beside Him. This holds significance, because the Old Testament tells us that not a bone of the Messiah’s body would be broken. Even though He was brutally beaten and crucified, His bones weren’t broken. John is the only gospel writer who gives us a detailed record of Jesus appearing first to Mary Magdalene after He rose from the dead. The meeting is so poignant, because Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus at first, thinking He’s just the gardener, but all He has to do is say, “Mary!” and at once she recognizes Him. In the final chapter, Jesus reinstates Peter by asking Him three times, “Simon, Son of John do you love me?” Each time Peter answers in the affirmative. Jesus tells Peter he will one day give up his life in serving Jesus, which must have been a great comfort, after his previous denials of Jesus. As we know, Jesus’ grace is always greater than our sin or failure, but John 21 shows us that so powerfully.