God continues to teach the people through Moses to prepare them to enter the land.

• Pagan influences – Israel is to drive out the inhabitants and destroy all of their religious objects, lest they be ensnared by pagan influences.  What pagan influences from our culture have influenced you?  How can you protect yourself from the pagan influences around you?
• Cities of Refuge – God required Israel to designate cities of refuge for people to run to who accidentally killed another person, lest the dead person’s kin in wrath killed the accidental killer.  Our sins are not accidental, and God’s wrath justly rests on us.  The wages of sin is death.  But Jesus is our city of refuge that we can run to and find safety and deliverance from God’s wrath.  Praise the Lord for your Savior today!
• Polluted Land – This idea of the land being polluted by sin has come up before (see for instance Leviticus 18:24-28), and here it is again (Numbers 35:33-35).  Consider the sins of our country, and how polluted our land has become.  God’s judgment is surely coming.  Cry out to God for mercy, and a revival that turns the hearts of the people from the idols of our land to the one true God!  May he start with his church!

God instructs Israel to attack those who had led them into idolatry.

• Evil advice – Balaam may not have been able to curse Israel, but apparently he came up with the plan to ensnare Israel (31:16).  What evil ideas do you need to beware of lest you are ensnared?
• God’s preservation – After the huge battle, Israel counts their men – and miraculously not one has been killed.  God will not always work this miracle.  Our times are in his hands.  But in this situation, God miraculously preserved them.  How has God preserved you?  Will you trust him with your life?
• Offering to God – In response to God’s preservation, they give a special offering to God.  Have you ever offered a special gift to God in response to his special preservation or care in your life?  Do you respond with gratitude for his blessings?

God gives instructions for the people before they enter the land.  Consider:

• Preparation – Once again it is time to prepare to enter the land.  God tells them to count the men able to go to war.  They work out details regarding the inheritance of the land.  The transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua begins.  What is God calling you to do?  Are you doing what is necessary to prepare?
• Time – God describes how the people are to use their time, taking breaks from their regular work for Sabbaths and festivals.  God is king over our time as well.  Are you using your time in a way that pleases the Lord?
• Sacrifices – Consider how many animals were required to fulfill all of the sacrifices in chapters 28-29!  In Jesus we have a better sacrifice whose single sacrifice forever paid the debt of our sins (Hebrews 10:11-14), making any other sacrifice unnecessary.  Praise the Lord!

God’s people face opposition from the outside.  Observe:

• God’s Sovereignty – God gives the Amorites and the land of Bashan into Israel’s hands.  King Balak of Moab is afraid, and so he tries to get Balaam to curse Israel for him.  God won’t allow Balaam to do it, but instead requires Balaam to bless Israel.  Throughout, we are reminded that God is sovereign over all the nations.  And he is still in control today in our world!
• Prophecy – Balaam is required to speak the words God gives him, and as he speaks, he predicts the coming of a king (24:17).  Many years later a star will proclaim the birth of a king – our Savior!
• Idolatry – The people of Moab living around Israel invited Israel to join with them in their sacrifice and worship of other gods.  Many of the people of Israel joined them.  How does our culture invite us to worship other gods?  Have you had people invite you to join them in following another god or in disobeying the one true God?  How might the example of Israel in this passage help you to stand firm for the one true God?

In our passage, we see our failure and God’s salvation.

• Cleansing – God requires the sacrifice of a red heifer.  The ashes would be mixed with water to provide cleansing to those who became unclean.  Jesus sacrificed himself that he might cleanse us from all our sins.  Praise the Lord for his cleansing work in your life!
• Fall of a leader – Moses was given a relationship with God that few others on earth could claim.  Knowing God as he did, he should have treated God with proper respect.  But in a moment of weakness, he failed – and was refused entry into the land.  How quickly we can fall!  Watch your life closely!  And cry out to God for grace to stand!
• Bronze snake – In response to their complaining, God sends fiery serpents into their midst, and many die.  In response to their cries, God tells Moses to make a bronze snake.  When anyone is bitten, they are to look on the bronze snake, and they will live.  Jesus takes this episode as an example to us (John 3:14-16).  As they had to look to the bronze snake to be saved, so we must look to Jesus to be saved.  Faith is essentially looking to God.  Are you looking to God for your salvation?

 

In our passage today, God continues to provide for Israel, despite their rebellious nature.

• A reminder – God instructs the people to make tassels to remind them to follow God’s commands.  He provides this reminder as one more way to encourage the people to follow Him.  What has God placed in your life to remind you to follow Him?
• God’s patience – The people rebel against God’s choice of leadership, yet God doesn’t wipe them out.  He causes Aaron’s staff to sprout to end Israel’s grumbling about who should lead them.  God patiently provided them with proof of his choice of leaders.  How has God been patient with you?
• Portion – The Levites would not receive an inheritance of land like the other tribes.  Instead God would provide for them by giving them a part of Israel’s offerings to God.  God is their portion and inheritance (18:20).  The psalmists would later take this language to proclaim their satisfaction and fulfillment in God alone (Psalm 16:5, 73:26).  Is God your chosen portion?

 

Our passage today is the turning point of the book.  On the verge of entering the land, the people rebel.

• Grumbling and Unbelief – The spies return with tales of giants, and the people begin to grumble again.  They refuse to believe God can bring them into the land.  Note that grumbling flows out of unbelief: they didn’t believe so they grumbled.  When you grumble, you are failing to trust God.  Ponder how this truth intersects your life.
• God’s Judgment – God decrees that none of the people over 20 years old will enter the land.   Instead they will wander around in the wilderness for 40 years.  Tragically they missed the blessing God had intended for them.  Rebellion against God is serious!  Sin has consequences.
• God’s faithfulness – Despite their rebellion, God doesn’t utterly reject them.  He will bring their children into the land.  He will keep his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  As if to make this clear, God starts chapter 15 with the words, “When you come into the land….”  God’s purpose will stand.  You can trust God to be faithful to his promises even in spite of our sins.
• Good examples – In the midst of the rebellion, three men show us a better way.  When the mountain in your path seems gigantic, will you trust God like Caleb and Joshua?  When all around you are walking in sin, will you courageously stand like Caleb and Joshua?  When you see people straying and judgment nearing, will you intercede with God like Moses?  Don’t follow the crowd.  Swim against the current and live for God!

In our passage today, the people leave Mt Sinai for the Promised Land.  Observe:

• God’s direction – When the cloud went up, the people would leave.  When the cloud remained, the people stayed.  The people moved according to God’s direction.  How have you seen God guide your life?  Are you seeking to move your life according to God’s direction?  Are you seeking to live by the Book?  Are you sensitive to the Spirit’s leading?
• Grumbling – The people begin to complain.  They grumbled in Exodus on their way to Mt Sinai; now they are grumbling again as they leave.  This murmuring against God is a continuous theme throughout the rest of Numbers.  Is it a theme in your life?  Are you a grumbler?
• Consequences – God responds to their grumbling with punishment.  Many die!  God apparently hates grumbling.  Does your attitude towards grumbling match God’s view?  Do you need to confess your sins to the Lord?  When things get tough or don’t go your way, what might you do instead of grumbling?

Chapters 5-6 conclude the section of laws that started with Leviticus.  Chapters 7-8 flashback to the dedication of the tabernacle that was set up back in Exodus 40.

• Blessing – Interestingly, the section of laws ends with a blessing.  How has God blessed you?  Kept you?  How has he been gracious to you?  What peace has he given you?  Take some time to give thanks to the Lord for his blessing in your life!
• Giving – After the tabernacle was set up, each tribe offered gifts to be used for the work of the Lord?  When has God moved you to give a special gift to the work of the Lord?  What work might he be calling you to give to now?  It might be a material gift or the gift of your time.  In what ways might God be calling you to offer your life to the work of the Lord?
• Cleansing – To serve the Lord, the Levites had to be cleansed with water and sacrifice.  Jesus is our sacrifice that cleanses us.  Baptism is the water that symbolizes our cleansing through Jesus.  Take time to thank God for his cleansing work in your life.

The time is coming for the Israelites to leave Mt. Sinai.  Like with any trip – preparations must be made.  This requires some organization:

• Organized for battle – First, they must be ready to fight the upcoming battles they will face as God leads them into the land.  So God tells them to count those able to fight tribe by tribe.  How has God prepared you for the battles you are facing?  What might God want you to do in order to be better ready to face future battles in your life?
• Organized for worship – God organizes the camp around the tabernacle where he dwells.  The camp is literally organized around God.  How have you organized your life around God?  How might you better organize your life around God?
• Organized for service – God assigns the Levites to different tasks in their service to him.  Likewise today, God assigns different tasks to each Christian in his or her service to God.  How has God called and gifted you to serve?  Are you fulfilling the task God has given you?