[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 316-Acts 7-8; Matthew 3 summary!]
Numbers 18 records God’s commands concerning the priests and Levites. The first part of the chapter tells Moses how they are to be disciplined, while the larger portion of the chapter tells the Levites they are to receive the majority of the people’s tithes and offerings to use for their food and livelihood. The Levites would not be given a portion of land along with the other tribes when they entered the Promised Land, but would receive a tithe of all the produce of the land from each of the other tribes. We’re not told here, but the Levites were also given cities in which to live, and land where they could keep their flocks, so God ensured they would be cared for well. An important detail in this chapter is God told Moses only the priests and the Levites could come near the Tabernacle. If anyone else came near they would die. In addition, only the priests could enter the holy places in the Tabernacle and touch the holy instruments, so a hierarchy was being established among the Israelites, which would lead to a regimented priesthood. We will see when we get to the New Testament that system was superseded in the new covenant Jesus established. In the new covenant each of us has the right to go before God personally, and as Peter would put it to be a “kingdom of priests.”
Numbers 19 records the difficult to understand command to sacrifice a red heifer, then to burn it along with scarlet thread and hyssop, and afterwards to gather the ashes and to use them in “the water of purification.” In one commentary I reviewed, the author tells us King Solomon (the wisest man to live before Jesus), was said to have stated this was the only sacrifice he did not understand! The point of the process is obvious: when someone touched a dead person, or an object was in the vicinity of a dead person the person or object had to be “purified.” This was a spiritual process, but some authors point out the hyssop was a natural antibacterial agent, so the water of purification might have had medicinal qualities, and been an early anti-bacterial agent. Moses would not have known this, so God’s purposes could well have been both spiritual and practical. In any case, the practice was intended to ensure God’s people would regain their “cleanness,” after coming in contact with a dead person.
Numbers 20 records three specific incidents in the Israelites’ travels through the wilderness. In the first, the people ran out of water, and started complaining intensely to Moses and Aaron about the hardships they faced, and that they ought never to have left Egypt. Moses and Aaron appealed to the Lord for water, so God told them to “speak” to a particular rock and water would come out. Moses disobeyed God, and said, “Must we produce water for you?” and “struck” the rock with his rod. This action proved to be a serious mistake–and sin. Moses took credit for God’s action. In effect, Moses “stole” God’s glory. God will never share His glory with anyone. The result of this action was God told Moses neither he nor Aaron would enter the Promised Land. In the second incident, the Israelites wanted to pass through the land of Edom, where the descendants of Esau lived. The Edomites denied passage. Much later in Israel’s history this action would be remembered and the Edomites would be the object of the Israelite army’s wrath. Finally, we read of Aaron’s death. The account is straightforward. God tells Moses it is time for Aaron to die, so he, Aaron, and Eleazer, Aaron’s son, go up on a mountain, and Aaron dies. The people of Israel mourned for Aaron for thirty days. This chapter shows us the consequences of our actions can be severe. God is a just and holy God. That means all our actions, whether good or evil, have consequences. While we live on the resurrection side of Jesus’ life, and our salvation and redemption are in and through Him, we need to remember the principle: actions have consequences. God calls and expects us to live in obedience.
John 9 records another amazing miracle of Jesus, and another example of the Pharisees being more concerned about Jesus’ performing the miracle on the Sabbath than about His ability to perform miracles! In this case, Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. The disciples asked Jesus a question that reflects the beliefs of the culture in their day, and one which has held on through the ages: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” We often think bad things happen because of sin, and bad things do happen because of sin, but Jesus answered neither had sinned. In this case, the man’s blindness was going to glorify God. How? Through Jesus healing the man! Jesus helped us see not all physical ailments, and we can imply not all negative circumstances in our lives, are the result of sin. We live in a fallen world, so sometimes bad things are part of our reality. Thank God, He is there to be with us, and at times to heal the situation completely.
The Pharisees’ insistence on focusing on the miracle taking place on the Sabbath as breaking the Sabbath, rather than the man’s blindness being healed, shows us one of the problems with religion: religion sees the rules as more important than the suffering and healing of people. Jesus’ concern was for the man’s well-being. He didn’t care what day of the week it was. We see Jesus healing people on the Sabbath throughout all four gospels, so we know His healing of the blind man wasn’t an isolated incident. He established the principle that the welfare of people is more important than the observance of human rituals. We do well to remember this as we live out our faith in Him as well.
Day 316-Acts 7-8; Matthew 3
In Acts 7, Stephen offers his defense before his Jewish accusers by recounting much of Jewish history. They listened to Stephen until he got to the part about Jesus being the Messiah. Then they stoned Stephen to death. We’re told as this was taking place, a young man named Saul was watching over their coats and nodding with approval. This young Saul was soon to have his own encounter with Jesus as we will see tomorrow!
Acts 8 tells us after Stephen’s death a great persecution broke out against the church. Much of it was led by Saul. The good news in the midst of the persecution was it forced the believers to leave Jerusalem. Phillip went first to Samaria, where he led people to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. One of the new converts was a “sorcerer” name Simon. Peter came over from Jerusalem when he heard the news and when they laid hands on the Samaritans, they received the Holy Spirit! This was big news, because the Samaritans had been considered “half-breeds” by the Jews. We’re also told Phillip witnessed to an Ethiopian eunuch, who received the good news with great joy, and was baptized immediately. The Holy Spirit took Phillip away to another place after this.
As we return to Matthew 3, we read of John the Baptist’s ministry and his baptizing Jesus. The chapter is short, but it sets the stage for Jesus’ entire ministry. John’s proclamation was, “Repent! (or turn away from your sins and back to God) The Kingdom of God is at hand. This would become Jesus’ message as well. While John and Jesus were radically different in their methods, their message was the same.