[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 314-Acts 1-3 summary!]
In Numbers 10, we read of the silver trumpets God commanded Moses to make. These trumpets were to call the Israelites or their leaders to assemble before the Tabernacle. In addition, once they entered the Promised Land, they would be used to call the Israelites to battle or to celebration. This “technology” was vital for the people, although it seems so primitive from our perspective. The remainder of the chapter tells us of the Israelites first move from one place in the wilderness to another. The detail of which tribe was to go first, and the order in which clans of Levites who carried the various parts of the Tabernacle and its contents were to travel, is–as we have come to expect–extensive. The planning was such that by the time the last of the people of Israel had arrived at a new destination, the Tabernacle was already set up and ready for use. As I read this account, I was reminded of how often I am not nearly that intentional with the details of my life. While we live under grace and not under law, at times I can use my “freedom” as an excuse not to be as disciplined as would be helpful. Our reading in Numbers, helps us see how important order and discipline were for God’s people. They remain important for us as well.
In Numbers 11, the Israelites complaining to Moses gets stronger. Their complaints focus on a lack of variety in their diet, and how much better it was in Egypt. They cry out for meat to replace the manna, which God provided daily. God’s responses might seem extreme. First, He sends fire, which kills some of the Israelites. They cry out to Moses for help. Moses cries out to God and God stops the fire. Then Moses cries out to God, telling God he needs help. God sends the Holy Spirit on seventy elders of Israel. This shows us how different it was in Moses’ time than in ours when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Each of us who knows Jesus as Savior and Lord have the Holy Spirit in our lives, but only Moses and the seventy elders held that blessing in Israel. Eventually, God responds to the Israelites cry for meat by sending thousands and thousands of quail to the camp. The sight must have been incredible, given the account tells us each Israelite gathered fifty bushels or more. As they started to eat, God sent a plague on the people. Again, from our perspective this seems extreme. Why would God kill people for wanting meat? We need to look to the plan of God once again. He was creating a people set apart, a holy people. They thought first and foremost of themselves and their own needs. How easy that is for each of us. God wanted the Israelites to be grateful for what He provided, not to worry about what they lacked. Another vital lesson for us!
In Numbers 12, the complaining turns from the nation as a whole to Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ brother and sister. They complained because Moses had a foreign wife, and asked whether God only spoke through Moses? God’s response was immediate. He reminded Aaron and Miriam that Moses was His friend, and then struck Miriam with leprosy. Moses cried out for God to restore Miriam. God said He would, but only after seven days. Human nature is a complaining nature. Moses found favor with God, because He submitted His nature to God, because He lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Time after time, Moses cried out to God for His people. Such a response models God’s intention for us. We are called to intercede for others even when they have turned against God, and when they’re complaining against God and us. That is never easy, but it is part of our calling as those God has treated as friends.
In Numbers 13, we read the account of Moses selecting twelve spies, one from each of the tribes of Israel, to go in and scout out the Promised Land. When they returned, the spies reported the land was amazing. It produced incredible fruit, crops and was a land “flowing with milk and honey.” Once they had offered that report their work was done. Moses had chosen them to scout out the land and bring back a report. But the spies didn’t stop there. They told of the people who lived in the land, including giants, and then concluded, “We can’t go in there!” Caleb, one of the twelve spies disagreed. He believed with God’s support they could take the land. As we’ll see tomorrow, the people didn’t wait for Moses to give them instructions. They voted. We don’t read about the people voting often in the Bible, but when they do, it’s not a good thing. More about that tomorrow. For today, let’s remember, when God gives us a task, it’s always best to carry out the task, and not to worry about analyzing the situation and making recommendations. I’m not saying we ought not to think when we’re obeying God. I’m saying we need to obey God, and not let our observations change our obedience into disobedience.
In John 7, we read of Jesus going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths. His appearance there caused a great stir, because the people were amazed at His teaching, as they had already been amazed by His signs and miracles. Arguments arose over whether Jesus was the Christ or Messiah. The religious leaders attempted to arrest Jesus, but the arresting officers they sent, were caught up in Jesus’ teaching, and didn’t arrest Him. This caused the religious leaders to condemn the arresting officers and the crowds. They said the people didn’t know anything, and the testimony of the prophets was the Messiah would be descended from David and come from Bethlehem, not Galilee. (They were apparently unaware Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and was, indeed, descended from David.) As they were condemning Jesus, Nicodemus stood up for Jesus by pointing out it wasn’t the habit to condemn someone before giving him a hearing and a trial. The rest of the religious leaders turned on Nicodemus, asking whether he was also from Galilee.
Throughout John’s Gospel, we find extended discourses between Jesus and the religious leaders. The result is always the same: Jesus reveals something vital about Himself, in this case that He has streams of living water for anyone who wants them; then the religious leaders condemn Jesus and anyone who follows Him. This cycle is repeated until the point when the religious leaders arrest Jesus, give Him a “trial,” condemn Him, and then pass Him on to the Romans for execution. As we read these passages, we might automatically side with Jesus, because we live on the resurrection side of the cross. If we attempt to consider why the religious leaders took the position they did against Jesus, it becomes apparent they had many preconceived notions of who the Messiah would be, from where He would come, and the purpose of His coming. Jesus didn’t measure up to these preconceptions, so rather than examine the preconceptions to see whether they were true, they condemned Jesus. We would do well to learn from their mistakes. We might also have preconceived notions about Jesus based on what others have told us, or what we have read in books. The key is to read the book, the Bible, and then draw our conclusions about Jesus from what we find there.
Day 314-Acts 1-3; Matthew 1
Today we turn to the Book of Acts for the first time. The full title is often “The Acts of the Apostles,” but some have contended a better title would be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the central actor in the book. From start to finish, we see how different the presence of the Holy Spirit in everybeliever’s life makes humanity. As we saw so often in the Old Testament, only a select few received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The masses followed these anointed leaders. Now, from Acts 2 forward, every believer has the opportunity to be led by the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 1, Luke introduces his second book to Theophilus. He tells us the first book (the Gospel of Luke) told all that Jesus had done and taught. This second book starts after Jesus had risen from the dead. Indeed, in chapter 1, Jesus has his final meeting with the apostles before returning to heaven. In that meeting, He tells the apostles they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from that moment. He also tells them once they receive the power of they Holy Spirit they will be His witnesses “…in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The “formula” is: Wait. Receiver Power. Go. How vital it is for us to keep that order in our minds and hearts. Unless we wait for the filling of the Holy Spirit, we won’t have any power to carry Jesus’ mission forward in the world. There’s no sense going without that power. In the remainder of chapter 1, the apostles choose a replacement for Judas. The interesting thing about that is we never hear about the replacement again, because Jesus already had a replacement in mind–more about that in future chapters of Acts.
Acts 2 offers us the record of the first “Christian” Pentecost, often considered the “birthday” of the Church. That’s because Jesus promise to send the Holy Spirit was fulfilled that day. 120 believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and witnessed to the thousands of Jews who were in Jerusalem for what was at that moment the Jewish holy day of Pentecost. Through their ministry 3,000 people responded to the Good News, and the Church was born. In Acts 3, we see the amazing power God gave to His children through the Holy Spirit as Peter and John received power to heal a lame beggar. The account is amazing and joyous as we see a man released from a lifetime of being unable to walk. He not only walks, but he also leaps and runs and praises God. Peter uses this opportunity to tell the people gathered in the Temple where the miracle took place, about Jesus. More people responded to the Good News and additional thousands were added to those who believed.
As we return to Matthew 1, we read again the genealogy of Jesus as well as the account of His birth. Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth contains different details than Luke’s, as we would expect. After all, Matthew’s heritage was Jewish, and Luke’s was Gentile. That means Matthew was quite concerned about how Jesus, as the Messiah, fulfilled the Jewish Scriptures. Luke, on the other hand, was more concerned about how Jesus’ coming fulfilled God’s overall plan for humanity.