Numbers 16  The people of Israel were still questioning and challenging Moses and Aaron.. and rebelling against the Lord's clear commands.. even after seeing the consequences of those who had died already in their rebellion and unbelief.. 

Korah was the son of Izhar.. a relative of Moses and Aaron.. a leader in the tribe of Levi.  Dathan and Abiram and On.. were from the tribe of Reuben. Verse 1 tells us that this little gang.. "took action".  They brought 250 of the other leaders "men of renown".. Men put into position by the Lord's own choice.. and they all came against Moses and Aaron. "You have gone far enough .. " they told Moses. We are holy.. everyone is holy.. the Lord is here.. "so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?"

Mose fell on his face.  He was a humble man.. but he was not a weak man.  Moses told Korah and the others to come before the Lord the next day.."tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself." 

The next day Korah and some fellow Levites showed up.. but Dathan and Abiram wouldn't even answer the summons to come before the Lord.  So Moses told the people to get back away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.. and the Lord  did a new thing.. "the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly."  On top of that the Lord sent forth fire and consumed the 250 men who had tried to present incense to the Lord. 

Instead of repenting and seeking the Lord, the congregation continued to grumble! The Lord appeared once more in the cloud that covered the tent of meeting.. and sent a plague upon the people. 14,700 more people died in this plague, which was stopped when Aaron took his censor and brought fire from the altar to make atonement for them,  

Rebellion, jealousy, arrogance..those thinking they were better.. holier.. more worthy.. were the ones who  experienced plague.. fire.. and the ground splitting open and consuming the evil doers. The Lord took action against those who came against His chosen leader.. Moses and His chosen priest. Aaron. 

The Lord draws near to Himself those who are His.. He sees those who are holy.. and He sees those who just think they are worthy..  The Lord had called the tribe of Levi into service to Himself... but they were not content and not grateful.  They wanted more.. they wanted power.. they wanted recognition. They failed to take into account the sovereignty of God. They failed to submit to the authority that they were called to obey.  They brought destruction upon themselves and all of their family and all they had. 

The Lord had Aaron take up the bronze censers that were burned up with the 250 leaders.. and he made a "plating before the altar.. "   it was to remind the laymen to not come near to burn incense as Korah did. That job was meant for the true priests.. the sons of Aaron. 

Father, let us learn from Your Word what You would say to us today.  You have called men and women to serve You.. according to Your purpose and plan for each of us. We are grateful for the place You have made for us.. and we pray that we will serve You well and humbly.  We want to be content and not allow jealousy or arrogance or selfishness to have place in our hearts.  Oh may we have pure hearts and clean hands, Lord God!  Let Your will be done, Father. We surrender all to You.. Be glorified in our lives we pray. Amen. 

 Numbers 15 The Lord had just sent Israel back into the wilderness to drift through the next 40 years until those who had failed to trust Him for the land He promised, had all died. Now, He reminds them that He will give them the land and they will need to follow His commands now, in the wilderness, and later when they enter the land. 

The Lord commands them to bring special offerings when they enter the land. It's going to happen and when it does.. they are going to worship Him.  He assures them that He is still with them all the way.

The Lord also commands that the "alien who sojourns" with them should be treated the same as every Israelite. "There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you." 

Then the Lord gives directions for those who unintentionally sin or fail to observe His commandments.  He also gives directions for those who intentionally and defiantly do anything that blasphemes the Lord. One who sins unintentionally can find pardon and atonement. One who is defiantly sinning would be "cut off".  

It didn't take long for an example to be made.. "they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day.. " This man was sentenced immediately to be stoned and the people obeyed. 

The Lord gave one more command.. He wanted them to sew blue tassels to the corners of their garments.. these were to remind them to obey the commandments and "be holy to your God".  The tassels were supposed to  help them to constantly remember the commandments.. "so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot." 

"I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God, I am the Lord your God." 

So... what is it that the Lord, our Shepherd, is saying to us today?  First, I hear Him say.. set Your eyes on what is ahead.  Israel was in the wilderness.. but they would enter the promised land.. so  they could look forward to that and be prepared.  We look forward to the coming of Christ.  Peter wrote, "But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved since you look for these things, be diligent to be found in Him in peace, spotless and blameless." (II Peter 3:13-14)  

Secondly, the Lord is telling us to treat everyone the same.. we should not use one standard for some people and another standard for everyone else. We are all beholden to the same God and He shows NO partiality. 

Thirdly, the Lord had shown us that we all fail.. none of us is perfect and even if we don't intend to sin.. sometimes we just do.  But.. He is good and He is always ready to forgive!  That does not mean that if we turn away from Him and rebel or "despise His word".. that He will automatically wipe away that sin. Only true repentance can bring us into fellowship with our God. He is the Lord!

Finally, I see that the Lord wants us to walk with Him continually.  He calls us to a life of constant fellowship. He wants us to remember Him and walk in obedience to Him.  We don't have blue tassels for our garments.. but we have the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and will keep us in His will if we keep our eyes on Him. 

Father, help us to be faithful in all things.  We are weak.. but You are strong. You are faithful, even when we are not.  You are good and willing to forgive and we are so filled with gratitude for Your mercies that are made new every morning.  Fill us Spirit of God and guide our thoughts, our words, and our deeds.  Keep our eyes on Jesus.. as we look towards the finish line.. fill us with hope and peace and make us spotless and blameless in Your sight we pray. In Christ Jesus we come. amen. 

 Numbers 14:20-45  The Lord pardoned the iniquity of the people of Israel as Moses had prayed. But, the consequences of their unfaithfulness would be devastating.  All of the men who had been numbered.. the entire army with the exception of Caleb and Joshua  would die in the wilderness without ever entering the promised land.  The 10 spies who had brought the "very bad report" died immediately from a plague. 

The rest of Israel were sentenced to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as shepherds... one year for each day that the spies had spent in the land of Canaan.  Only when the grumblers were buried in the wilderness would their children be able to finally take the land. 

Yet, even after the people mourned their loss, they turned around and disobeyed again!  Some men decided to go fight the Amalekites and Canaanites on their own.  Moses warned them that the Lord would not be with them for they were sinning against Him once again.  But.. they would not listen and went on their own.. and were struck down. 

The Lord did not leave Moses or the people without hope.. ".. as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.." (v21)  He told them to turn back to the wilderness.. for they would wander for 40 years.. but there would be a day when they would enter the land.. "When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you.. " He said. (15:2)  They would enter the land.. they would present offerings and worship Him.. there was still hope! He would not forsake them even in their wandering.

Father, sometimes we feel like we are wandering.. and our hope for Your return becomes dim..  Restore us Lord.  Give us greater faith and deeper hope. Open our eyes to see Your Hand at work, even now. Open our ears to hear Your voice calling us to wait upon You and to lift up our eyes because Jesus is coming soon. Fill us with Your Spirit and grant us strength and courage for You have promised to be with us and You always keep Your Promises.  Let all the earth be filled with the glory of the Lord, even as You spoke to Moses in the wilderness. We thank You for the good news of salvation.. still spreading out to every tongue and tribe and nation.  Rescue the perishing, Lord God.. Let the Light of the World.. Jesus Christ break through all the darkness we pray. In His wonderful Name. Amen

Numbers 14:1-19   There are consequences for rebellion and unbelief. The people of Israel lost faith in the God who was present.. in the cloud by day and the fire by night.. the same God who brought them out of Egypt with His powerful Hand.  They saw Him... but didn't know Him.  They didn't trust His promise that He would give them the land.. that He would conquer these enemies. That He would do what they couldn't do.  

Verse 5 tells us that Moses and Aaron both fell on their faces.. Verse 6 tells us that Joshua and Caleb "tore their clothes" and spoke to the people.  " If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us - a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land. "  

But the people were ready to stone them.. until the Lord showed up.. "Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel."

Imagine this.. when the glory of the Lord shows up.. it stops the rebels.. it stops the arguments.. He brings an end to the violence.  It must have been stunning.. this powerful appearance of the Lord in the midst of the multitude. 

The Lord seems to take Moses aside "How long will this people spurn Me?"  He is willing to "smite" them all right there and then.  But, weary and frustrated Moses intercedes instead of agreeing..   He reasons with the Lord.. his argument is that the Name of the Lord will be dishonored by the other nations if the people die in the wilderness like this. They will think that the Lord is unable to accomplish what He set out to do. "But now I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as Thou hast declared." Moses prays for the pardon of "the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, just as Thou also hast forgiven this people, from Egypt until now." 

Moses reminded the Lord of His own words spoken on Mt Sinai.. ( Exodus 34:6-7) "The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation." And we are reminded once again of the character of our God.. for He never changes.  He is willing and able to forgive.. He will pardon our iniquities.. He is abundant in His lovingkindness towards us. But, He will not ignore those who continue in sin and rebellion. 

There is one thing that the Lord did change.... oh how great is His grace... In Ezekiel 18 the Lord declared that  "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself." (v20)  

Father in heaven, You are so good. You are ready to forgive. Ready to pardon our iniquities and give us life.  You are just in all You do.  We desire, Lord, to live for You and to please You.. even though we know that we fall short. So we thank You for being patient and loving towards us.. We are grateful that You are slow to anger and that You do not remember are transgressions against us when we repent and turn away from sin.  We thank You for the atonement that You have made for us through Jesus Christ the Lord who died on the cross, shedding His blood and giving us life through His death.  Hallelujah! What a Savior! We praise Your Name and pray that You will be exalted in all the earth !  Amen. 

 Numbers 13 And then there they were.. heading towards the land of promise.. and the Lord tells Moses to send out men to "spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel.. " 

One man from each tribe (except Levi).  Their names are carefully recorded: Shammu; Shaphat; Caleb; Igal; Hoshea (Joshua); Palti; Gaddiel; Gaddi; Ammiel; Sether; Nahbi; Geuel.  12 men from prominent families... chosen for this special force.  Imagine the pride and excitement to be given this great privilege and responsibility. 

Moses gave them directions as to where they were to go and what they were supposed to observe - They were to go up into the south country ( the Negev) then move on into the hill country.  So they went on their way and traveled 40 days up into Canaan, going as far as Hebron where they saw the "giants".. the people of Anak.  They saw the people of Amalek,  the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites. They saw the Canaanites.   They saw those who lived in the mountains and those by the sea. They saw the prosperity of the land and brought home the large cluster of grapes.  But.. they also brought home their fears and doubts.  

Only Caleb spoke up.  "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it." 

But.. the other men increased their arguments.. "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim.. and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."  The root of the word Nephilim, translated as "giants" is a word that means to fall.. to have a violent death, or to fall prostrate before .. The spies were ready to fall down in fear before these giants.  It was either that or they would be violently hewn down by them.  They exaggerated the story to say that "all" the people were giants. They felt their own weakness and led the people into fear instead of faith. 

This bad report.. especially with the addition of the word " Nephilim".. these "giants" brought the people to tears, "and the people wept that night." (14:1)  Their hopes were shattered and their faith was lost. 

 They "fell" to the enemy before even taking one step into  the land that God had promised to give them!

Father, You are greater than anyone or anything in this created world.. for You are the Maker and sustainer of everything.  Like David of old.. we may face the giants in our lives with faith and not fear!  Thank You for the examples of men like Caleb and Joshua.. like David and Paul and so many others that chose faith and not fear.  Let our testimony be that with You nothing is impossible . Let us stand before those who try to scare us.. knowing that our God is stronger.. and You will complete what You have said!  We bow before You and You only!  We will not fall.. for we stand on the solid rock... Jesus Christ the Lord.  He is our hope and we cling fast to His right hand.. for He will help us to keep on standing.  Thank You and Praise to our God!  You are Mighty to save and Gracious to all who look to You. Amen. 

 Numbers 12  As if the griping and greediness were not enough.. as if the plague weren't enough of a warning that the Lord disciplines those who sin against Him... Aaron and Miriam take up their complaint about Moses.. "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?"

"And the Lord heard it." 

Moses, we are told, was a very humble man.. and did not speak up to defend himself.  Instead.. the Lord calls Aaron, Mariam and Moses to the door of the tent of meeting.  The Lord, Himself appears in the pillar of cloud.  It is the Lord who speaks:

"Hear now My words; If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses.  He is faithful in all My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?" 

When the cloud lifted Mariam was completely covered with leprosy.  Aaron turns to Moses to beg forgiveness and to ask for healing for Mariam.   Here is Aaron, the high priest of Israel.. and he doesn't even know how to pray.. he has to turn to the same one that he just challenged regarding his position of leadership.. Moses..  It is Moses who seeks the Lord's help.. "O God, heal her, I pray!"

The Lord sentences Mariam to 7 days of isolation, outside the camp.. to "bear her shame".. a light sentence for the sinfulness she had in her heart...  sins of envy, jealousy.. pride.. arrogance..unbelief. But, He does answer Moses' prayer. 

After the 7 days of Mariam's exile.. the people moved out again. 

The Lord heard the words of Aaron and Mariam. He pays attention to all our words. As I used to tell my grandsons when they were little.. "Words matter".  We need a guard on our tongues.  and we need a guard on our hearts.  The Lord had a powerful message for Aaron and Mariam.. they didn't even qualify to be called prophets.. they had not received visions or dreams, let alone meet with the Lord face to face as Moses did.  They didn't seem to know the Lord at all.. yet challenged Moses who was "faithful" in the Lord's household! 

Both Mariam and Aaron died in the wilderness. They would never see the Promised land.  Little is said about the death of Mariam.  The people did mourn after the death of Aaron.  We are not told what their lives were like after this event.  Hopefully they humbled themselves before the Lord and sought to serve Him with all their hearts. 

May we also learn from the words of the Lord.. remembering that wherever the Lord puts us is where He can use us to do His will. Let us give thanks to Him who has a perfect plan for each of His children and let us learn to be content to trust in Him and walk humbly with our God... no matter what. 

Father in heaven, fill our hearts with Your Spirit.. the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  When we are weak.. when we envy or complain.. when we fail to be content.. or when we grow weary, Lord God be our strength.  Let the power of Your love fill us and overflow from our lips.. words of grace and encouragement.. words of humility and obedience. May we know You and draw near to You, like Moses. Keep our hearts clean and pure before You we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

 Numbers 11  Three days out of Sinai.. and the complaining began... It began with the "rabble".. those on the outskirts of the camp.. but quickly spread to the people of Israel. The Lord heard the complaints and became angry.  He sent fire that "burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp."

An attitude of greediness seeped into the camp, again beginning with the "rabble" and spreading throughout the camp. The people began crying and complaining to Moses.  They wanted meat. They wanted the food they had in Egypt.  They wanted more than manna.  They wanted more than what God had provided. 

Moses was "displeased" and the Lord was angry.  Moses began his own complaining.. "Why hast Thou been so hard on Thy servant?"   That touches a nerve, doesn't it?  Lord.. this is too hard.. why are You so hard on me?  Why have You given me so much responsibility?  Why have You made me carry this heavy burden ?  What is it that I am complaining about today?

The Lord listened to Moses and granted him some help.  70 elders were called to the tent of meeting.  God took the Spirit who was upon Moses, and put Him upon the 70 saying, ".. and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you shall not bear it alone."  And so He did as He said. 

He also addressed the complaints of the people. They wanted meat and He gave them meat.  Quail by the thousands landed for miles around the camp. Bushels and bushels of quail were gathered by the people. But..."While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was even chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. " 

The Lord told Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see  whether My word will come true for you or not." It is a word we need to hear too. 

The Lord dealt swiftly and justly with His people. He always does what He says He will do and we need to listen carefully to what He says.  We are given this example for His purposes.. to learn from the failures of Israel.. They listened to the "rabble".  First mistake.  We fall into this so easily.. we listen to the world.. the complaints and the greediness of this world invade our thoughts... and our lives. Secondly, the people of God turned to Moses.. to a man and not to God.. for the solutions they wanted. We need to take heed of this error.  No man can accomplish what Moses was asked to do.  But God can.. He is the One with unlimited power! 

The biggest mistake that the people of Israel made though... is that they didn't trust God or take Him at His Word. They allowed the spirit of greediness to take hold and forgot all the goodness that He had poured out on them. They completely missed the one thing that would make all the difference.. Gratitude. True faith.. true love.. true obedience are found in a life that is full of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. 

Father in heaven,  You have poured out.. lavished Your grace upon us through Jesus Christ the Lord. You are worthy of all praise and thanksgiving.  You have blessed us with every spiritual.. and physical blessing that we need.. and You have loved us with everlasting love. How can we hold back and complain?  Oh, may we continually give thanks to the Lord.. You are good. You are ready to forgive. You are abundant in lovingkindness. There is none like You! There are no works like Yours. Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Holy Spirit.. Amen.