Numbers 25:1-26:65 As we follow the Israelites and their journey toward the Promised Land, we have seen that with God on their side, there is nothing they should fear. God has promised them land, his presence, and victory. In essence, God is like a coach telling His people if they trust in him they will win. The things which keep the Israelites from experiencing these promises are not external ene...  Read More

Numbers 22:1-24:25 Rather than focusing on Israel, today we spend some time interacting with Balak and Balaam. Balak is king of the Moabites, one of the nations residing on the edge of the Promised Land, and Balaam is a diviner hired to curse the Israelites. On the one hand Balaam talks to God and makes prophesies on his behalf, on the other hand he uses methods which have been completely condemne...  Read More

Numbers 19:1-21:35Where is Jesus in the Old Testament? Since Jesus is the eternal Son of God, he is all over the pages of the Bible as it all points to him. He is there even when he is not named. We see Jesus creating at the beginning of Genesis, we see Jesus talking with the Father and Spirit as they create humanity, we most likely see Jesus as the Angel of the Lord at various moments, and we see...  Read More

Numbers 16:1-18:32Contentment. We live in a culture that seeks to breed discontentment with our stuff, with ourselves, and even with our spouses/families. The lie that somehow our lives would be better if our circumstances changed has been around forever. In our passage today we read about the Kohathites led by Korah who were assigned the role of carrying the tabernacle from camp to camp. They loo...  Read More

Numbers 14:1-15:41How do you respond to the evil and wickedness around you? God gets to a point where he is ready to annihilate the nation of Israel and start over again, but Moses inter‐ venes. God is ready for justice, but when Moses petitions for God to forgive, he relents. It is a strange interaction, but one that happens multiple times in the Bible. We have seen this when Abraham petitions Go...  Read More

Numbers 11:1-13:33God never gives us more than we can handle. This is a popular phrase that is not actually in the Bible. It is the belief that God will never make our lives too difficult, painful, or hard —that life will be a breeze. The statement actually reflects far more of a 21st century American perspective than it does of anything in the Bible. Despite the newness of this phrase, a similar ...  Read More

Numbers 6:1-27; Numbers 10:1-36We all want to be blessed. The opposite of blessing is curses and no one wants that. Yet often we tie blessing solely to material prosperity and, if that is our definition, then we will often feel like blessing is far from us. Numbers 6:22-27 reminds us that what God determines as blessing is often different than our perception of blessing. The priests were to pronou...  Read More

Numbers 4:1-5:31I'm sorry. This short statement is one of the important phrases for us to learn; the ability to apologize. We constantly wrong people in word and deed, so it is essential that we learn to ask for forgiveness. This involves admitting a wrong and asking that our wrong be covered. In Numbers 5:5, we are reminded that ultimately all our sin is against God. When we wrong another, we hav...  Read More

Numbers 2:1-3:51It is quickly clear why the book of Numbers is titled as such. It is called Numbers because it deals with lots of numbers. It is easy to get overwhelmed by numbers. When we hear that the population of the world is nearly eight billion or the population of the United States is over three hundred million, those are staggering numbers in which we can get lost. Yet behind the numbers a...  Read More

Leviticus 27:1-34; Numbers 1:1-54 . "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!"(Abraham Kuyper) We so often divide up the world into secular and sacred─things to which God is concerned/attentive, and areas of life irrelevant to God. God’s heart is far different than this perspective; God cares about every...  Read More

Leviticus 25:24-26:46 God places a high value on redemption and restoration as evidenced in His provision of the Year of Jubilee (every 50th year) for the Israelites. The Year of Jubliee presented a fresh opportunity to win freedom from slavery and regain property hard times had caused them to lose. In non- Jubliee years, God made provision for redemption through the kinsman-redeemer, a close rela...  Read More

Leviticus 23:1-25:23 Sleep is a wonderful gift from God. It is potentially the only time when our body, mind, and emotions can rest. If you struggle with sleep, you understand just what a gift it is. God's desire is that we would experience rest not only when we sleep but throughout our day. Leviticus reminds us about the times of rest that were commanded by God under the Old Covenant law. Every S...  Read More