March 13, 2010; Numbers 19:1-20:29, Luke 1:1-25, Psalm 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8

Heavenly Father, you have become our Light and our Salvation and have shown us the way to find peace with you and with our fellowman.  Help us to be your lights to our fellowman to share that good news with our world.  Let our thoughts and our words be expressive of the fruits of your Spirit and be acceptable in your sight. Amen

Response to Numbers 19:1-20:29

Numbers 19 Purification by sprinkling with the ashes of the Red Heifer in water;

Leviticus 14:49–52; "To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. He shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn."

Hebrews 9:13-14; "The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death (Or from useless rituals) so that we may serve the living God!"

Wow, a different time and a different place!  Numbers 19 brings us to the sacrifice of the red heifer.  Some would call it the prophecy of the red heifer, but my personal guess is that that prophecy has already taken place as noted in Hebrews 9:13-14 above.  Is it possible that the law concerning two birds has been changed from Leviticus 14 of which we commented on February 23 to a Red heifer? Perhaps birds were not readily available or the symbolism was better observed by the red heifer?  The best was required in the preceding verse (Numbers 18:32) Perfection! Was the red heifer the most holy of their sacred animals! Perhaps also, the ceremony with birds was a bit too messy and left nasty blood stains.

This ceremony also brings back memories of purification of the people through the ceremony of Numbers 5:17 "Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water." which the wife accused of having an affair must drink. (see March 5 blog on Numbers 5)  I do not believe these ceremonies could be done by these people without the same feelings as the African tribes with their witch doctors.  At the time these laws were implemented, the people could not have understood the greater meaning.  However, they were still cleansed as their hearts were in the right place. 

This provides a great source for spreading the word of God to other cultures within the world.  The worship of idols and the sacrificial ceremonies held by the Israelites were not unlike the practices of the Midianites, or the Cushites, the Jebusites, etc.  It seems to me, God was taking pagan culture and focusing it in on Jesus Christ.  Why else would there be so many sacrifices which were all revealed in that one day on the cross?  This means, a missionary should be able to go into a foreign culture and begin with recognizing the desire of the people to honor God and taking their culture, ceremony, and religion and lead them to God's Loving Gift of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, if one would observe the worship of the Buddha and see the people bowing down to this idol and offering incense; before saying "Wrong you heathen", they could respect the heart of worship and relate the custom to old testament ritual and thereby share the Love of God through the fulfillment of such ritual through the life and death of Jesus Christ.  However, this does not mean one should backslide and worship idols in dishonor to God's greatest gift.

Hebrews 9:15; "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." and John 3:18; "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. These two verses (which follow two of my favorite verses) will be two sudden comebacks by those who wish to preach election.  However,just as the firstborn were called; just as Aaron was called; just as the Levites were chosen; just as the Israelites were chosen; just as the disciples were chosen; just as Seth, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob...; So you, if you are a believer, have received the blessing of knowing Jesus Christ!  This is a tremendous blessing so that you can be a blessing.  If you keep this to yourself, and claim that you are just one of the lucky ones, and all those others are wicked, you stand condemned all over again!  Any branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off!  Dude, you've found the Red Heifer! the sacrifice of sacrifices! Mix a little of His dust into your holy water and sprinkle a bit of it on the next joe that asks what it is about you that sets you apart in Faith, Hope, and Love;

"Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."(Isaiah 8:12) But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (I Peter 3:14b-16)

Gentleness and respect!  Perhaps my tone was over the top.  Perhaps this washing of self is ridding myself of prejudice and expectation and just sharing the beauty of Jesus Christ as the words come to mind in the course of conversation. "Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:19b-20.

Before we leave Numbers 19, I wish to mention the possible symbolism of verse 12-13a. "He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the Lord's tabernacle."  How might this relate to John 20:17; "Jesus said, 'Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "  I have wondered what happened a week after Jesus died.  All I am aware of is that He rose on the third day and ascended into heaven on the 40th day.  Perhaps the seven days were the Passover and the symbol of seven days ran the course of the feast days of unleavened bread?  Share your ideas.

Numbers 20:1; "In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried" http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-route-migdol.htm . 

Again, following the move, the rebellion erupts again as the people are in the desert and there is no water.  Do you think sometimes God was just waiting to see if they would have faith?  Perhaps they did and they wondered why God tested it so!  How would this leader, Moses - now a a senile old man (from their viewpoint perhaps), lead them into this "God-forsaken" wilderness ((vs.5 KJV) this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.?) Yet, hadn't their faith been tested before?  If you look at the map, they certainly had left a fairly large body of water and only made it halfway to the next body of water before Miriam died.  (see summary in Numbers 33. Aaron died on the first day of the fifth month of the 40th year.  Perhaps Miriam died in the first month according to 20:1)

Moses also had apparently lost his patience.  He disobeyed God and struck the rock before the people instead of speaking to it.  (vs. 10) "He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, 'Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?'"  Not only did he strike the rock, but he spoke in anger and his word choice did not give the glory to God.  Perhaps God's frustration with the people through this period was more reflective of Moses attitude and frustrations of a leader in a very difficult situation.  His sister had just died - perhaps due to the hardship of this latest move - and Aaron wasn't faring that well either.  However, transferring his distress upon the reputation of God met with discipline in that He would not be able to cross over into the promised land.  I'm guessing that as we saw Moses on the "Mount of Witnesses" (Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, (February 27)), that He made it home. 

Having been thwarted by the Edomites, the Children of Israel were turned back to Mount Hor where Aaron died (Numbers 33:38 05/01/40) and his son Eleazar replaced him as High Priest.  The Edomites were sons of Esau (Genesis 36).  All in all, not a happy time for the nation of Israel.  It would almost seem that God were not on their side, but then we might remember, they had lost His blessing due to their earlier lack of faith and true to His word, an entire generation would be buried in the wilderness before their children entered the promised land.  Certainly, the Lord's promise, as well as his discipline for His children, will be fulfilled. 

Response to Luke 1:1-25

We now begin the third of the 4 Biblical accounts of Jesus life on earth.  As mentioned at the beginning of Mark, these two authors (Mark and Luke) were contemporaries.  It is believed that Mark's gospel was first with much information being borrowed and built upon by Matthew and Luke.  First hand reference to their contemporary nature is given in Paul's letter to one of his disciples, Timothy, in II Timothy 4:11; "Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry."  Also when Paul wrote to the Colossians, he shared a bit of Luke's reputation; Colossians 4:14; "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor."  Luke was a writer.  He wrote a legal defense for Paul as Paul prepared to be tried before the Emperor Nero.  Luke shares that this first "narrative" is written from a compilation of eyewitness accounts that he wished to place into an orderly account.

The book is written to Theophilus; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophilus_(Biblical).  This website mentions the greek meaning of the word to be 'friend of God or (be)loved by God or loving God.  However, it also mentions two High Priests that bore the name Theophilus, one who served in 37-41 AD, and the other who served in 65-66.  It would appear from Luke's introduction that he borrowed circulars or hymns being used in the early church (Magnificat of Mary (1:46-55), Benedictus of Zechariah (1:67-79, and Gloria in Excelsis of the angels (2:14), and the Nunc Dimittis of Simeon. 2:29-32)) which he used in his orderly account.  The "Passion" is mentioned in his second book in Acts 1:3.  The "stations of the cross" begin already in chapter 9. This book is filled with early church history as Luke portrays the virtues of Love and Joy in relation to God our Father through the life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. 

Being that the book is written from a somewhat legal aspect as Luke stands in defense of Paul, There is tremendous tie ins to the Old Testament and law.  This too, works from a standpoint that Luke may have been writing to one of the High Priests of the Jewish faith, attempting to prove that this Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy and that Paul's ministry was truly from God.

The book begins, in fact with the tie in to the priestly office as we visited the priest Zechariah who's wife, Elizabeth, was a descendant of Aaron.  Zechariah was fulfilling the duties established in Exodus 30:7-8; "Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.  He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come." Through Elizabeth, Zechariah was told, you shall be blessed with joy and gladness with a child who shall be filled with the Holy Spirit "even from his mother's womb, to prepare the hearts of the people for what is yet to come.  Zechariah will name the child John, John the Baptist.  As is common with man, faith did not come easy without discipline.

Jeremiah 1:5; ""Before I formed you in the womb I knew (chose) you, before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Malachi 3:1-5; "See, I will send  my messenger (Isaiah 40:3) who will  prepare the way before me (Haggai 1:13), . Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple (Luke 4:21, Isaiah 42:6-9); the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire (Isaiah 63:9), will come," says the Lord Almighty. But who can  endure the day of his coming (Isaiah 33:14) Who can stand when he appears (Ezekiel 22:14)? For he will be like a  refiner's fire or a launderer's soap (Isaiah 1:25, Psalm 51:7-9). He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver (Zechariah 3:9). ; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver (Daniel 12:10). Then the Lord will have men who will bring  offerings in righteousness (Micah 6:6-8),  and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord (Ezekiel 18:21-24), as in days gone by, as in former years (II Chronicles 7:1-3, 14).
     So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers (Deuteronomy 18:10), adulterers (Ezekiel 22:9-11) and perjurers (Jeremiah 7:8-10), against those who defraud laborers of their wages (Leviticus 19:13), who oppress the widows and the fatherless (Exodus 22:22-24), and deprive aliens of justice (Deuteronomy 27:19), but do not fear me (Proverbs 9:10)," says the Lord Almighty.


Malachi 4:5-6 (ESV); "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes (Joel 2:31). And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction (Numbers 14:27-29, Isaiah 11:4)."

There is another key to scripture in the understanding of the words awesome and terrible as the translators use them interchangeably.  The entire understanding of the passage is affected by the choice of word.

The following is a short fiction story I wrote in 2008 which was inspired by Luke 1:5-25.

There was a man of God who had a wife in her late 30's or 40's. To date, she had not been successful in having children. As custom would have it, love was no longer as important in their relationship as it once had been. This man had a vision in which he was told to go home and love his wife and together, they would be blessed. To this, the man of God responded, "Yeah, right." He summarily found himself deaf (his friends communicated with him in sign) and mute.  He,therefore, went and did what God had directed. Indeed, based on his condition, the man was forced to spend much more time with his wife, who was forced to care for him more than she had in many years.

Due to their renewed attention to one another, they were blessed with a son. She claimed this was a God thing, and chose to name the baby, John (meaning God is Good). He agreed, knowing this certainly was a reflection of the awesome love of God.

Therefore, from the earliest thoughts of the conception of this child, through John, God caused mankind to turn their hearts toward home. This too, as a tie in to the new age, was in fulfillment of the prophecy of the final verse of the old testament - and salvation from the optional curse.


Response to Psalm 56:1-13

According to the heading for this Psalm 56, David's inspiration came from I Samuel 21:10-15.  This was just after Ahimelech the priest helped David with show bread from the Temple and Goliath's sword for which Saul in his wrath would eventually slaughter the priests at Nob and their families.

I Samuel 21:10-15; "That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances:
" 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.  Achish said to his servants, "Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?"

For much of David's life, he was on the run from Saul.  Saul hunted David down as he understood that God had chosen David as King over him.  He felt a similar anguish as the Israelites did when God had removed his blessing from them.  Just as the world looks down on those who would consider themselves blessed by God apart from the rest of the world.

Yet, we see into David's heart in this Psalm.  We see the fear and anxiety as He is oppressed by wickedness!  He has not so much a pride about his relationship with God, but a confidence and a trust that He will be alright regardless of what this world would do to him.  His faith was tried for many years before the blessings he hoped for became a reality.  Until that time, his struggle with faith caused him to be mighty in battle.

This Psalm sounds a bit like modern hymns where there are verses and a chorus.  Verse 4, 10 and 11 echo the focus of David's love and devotion;

Psalm 56:4; "  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? Verse 10 adds a line of honor to God as the Lord of his life.  He is the light of life that we may walk before Him and keep from stumbling.  He will deliver our soul from death - therefore, we offer him our thank offerings and render unto Him our lives.

Response to Proverbs 11:8

Noting the hostilities between David and Saul, Solomon grew up in the blessings that had come upon David.  He certainly must have been aware of the difficulties his Dad had endured before claiming the throne.  He could observe from childhood the fruitfullness of righteousness as He learned of the troubles of Saul and watched the hopelessness from which his father emerged as he faced the rebellion of his older brother Absolom with strength of conviction.  From family experience, this wise man had witnessed God as the protector, deliverer, Savior, and rock.

And that He is! Persevere with patient anticipation for your blessing.  Relish in the excitement of life as your story of salvation unfolds.

Until tomorrow

Rick.