Daily Bible Devotionals

“The entire Israelite community entered the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and they settled in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.”  Numbers 20:1 (HCSB)

“The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Take the staff and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water.’”  Numbers20:7-8a (HCSB)

“So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence just as He has commanded him. Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly and said to them, ‘Listen you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?’  Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.”  Numbers 20:9-11 (HCSB)

“But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.’”  Numbers 20:12 (HCSB)

“Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor.  Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son, Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and die there.’”  Numbers 20:25-26 (HCSB)

I have included so much Scripture here so you can see Numbers 20 as a complete thought. Generally, all these instances (combined with Edom’s refusal to let Israel pass through) are taught as individual lessons. The general theme of Numbers 20 is the end of the Mosaic era and the continuance of God’s leading. The central lesson is gleaned from the story of Moses’ drawing water from the rock at Meribah. Moses’ sister, Miriam, has just passed away, no doubt prompting Moses to question his own mortality and his legacy. Up to this point, whenever a miracle was performed, it was at Moses or Aaron’s hand, through their staffs.

The “staff of Moses” had become more synonymous with Moses’ power than God’s. In a greater sense, it represents how men worship the “leader” of worship over the “object” of worship (The Lord). The Lord instructed Moses to do a NEW thing: Take the staff, but don’t use it. “Speak forth” the water. The preacher may pass away, but the Word of God endures forever. (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25) It sustains the generations, regardless of the persona, charisma, or gimmicks of any leader.

Sensing his impending mortality, Moses decided his legacy and reputation among the Israelites would be something fantastic…and decidedly from Moses! He disobeyed God, literally trying to upstage Him by striking the rock twice to cause a GREAT flow of water. Moses achieved his desired result but to his own self-determined fate. He never entered Canaan. Aaron did nothing to stop Moses or explain to the people how Moses sinned. They would go down in history as Israel’s “dynamic duo,”… yet they didn’t finish well. It would be faithful Joshua whom the Lord chose to lead Israel into the Promised Land.

“For the purification of the unclean person, they are to take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and add fresh water to them. A person who is clean is to take hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all its furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, a corpse, or a person who had been killed.” Numbers 19:17-18 (HCSB)

The majority of commands in the Torah make perfect sense by today’s medical and scientific standards. For instance, the kosher dietary laws have been proven to direct people into healthier eating patterns. Concerning matters of personal hygiene, the Lord directed Israel to avoid mold spores and contagions centuries before the microscope was invented.

Forgive me for not detailing the practical nature of all 613 Torah commands. My point is simply that it took great faith for the community of Israel to follow what seemed like senseless orders from Moses. There was only God’s Word, with no practical science to support it. Only later (many generations later) did scientists begin to discover practical, observable scientific foundations for God’s instruction.  

I wish I could identify with Moses more in the Book of Numbers. Sadly, I find myself empathizing with the grumbling Israelite community. This was especially true when I was a younger disciple. So many of God’s commands seemed needlessly inefficient and laborious.   I wondered when I would ever enter that life of “freedom and abundant joy” I heard other followers of Messiah talk about.  

Shortly after choosing to follow Jesus, I found myself longing for (and taking a few) day trips back to “Egypt,” so to speak, just to remember the good old days of guiltless abandon. Those short returns to Egypt never really turned out like I wanted, and eventually, I learned to appreciate God and take Him at His Word.

I’m writing this to encourage you to trust Jesus by faith and stick with it. (Proverbs 3:5-12)

That said, let’s return to today’s (above) passage, Numbers 19:17-18. How does ash from an offering mixed with water purify a man and his household? Is it purely symbolic, or is there some medicinal property to this elixir? I have no idea. I simply know to trust the Lord’s Word over my instincts. Ultimately, my instincts have failed me, yet the Word of the Lord will always prove to be right. So, let’s hold on, pressing on until the end!

“The Lord told Aaron, ‘You will not have an inheritance in the land; there will be no portion among them for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.” Numbers 18:20 (HCSB)

Zionism is essentially the belief that Jews have a birthright to the land of Israel. That is, by virtue of being born, they have inherited the right to the land of Israel. This belief is founded by God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…promises often repeated throughout the Bible.

Zionism is obviously easier to believe if you are Jewish, but what of the Middle Eastern non-Jew? Welcome to the Mid-East conflict.

It is easy to understand conflict when there are two claimants, but what if there is a THIRD party? Where do Christians fit in, as it pertains to any claim to the land of Israel? I bring up the question simply because some Christians believe the Church has replaced Israel in the eyes of God. To them, Gentile Christians have not merely been grafted into the “vine” with Israel. Instead, Christians have replaced Israel altogether. Of course, Jesus is the true Vine, and I’m just glad to be here by His grace!

In the Middle Ages, Christian profiteers crusaded to free the “holy land” of Jews and Muslims. These Crusaders believed the land of Israel should be the sole possession of Christians. That plan did not work out well.

So what is the Gentile Christian’s inheritance, and more importantly, what does it mean to be a co-inheritor with Messiah Jesus? If followers of Jesus (Jew or Gentile) were to relate to a particular Israelite tribe, it would be the tribe of Levi. The New Testament speaks of all believers being part of a holy priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9) Yet, followers of Jesus should not yearn to build an earthly kingdom but the Heavenly one.

Question:  Whenever Israel was driven from the land by a conqueror, which tribe got to keep their inheritance?

Answer:  The Levites.

Levitical inheritance was not earthly. Neither is the heritage of followers of Jesus. God gave the Levites a birthright from which they could not be driven. They were given the privilege of serving the Lord.

No matter where a follower of Jesus may wander (or be led), their obligation, inheritance, and joy should be to serve the Lord by serving others, without regard for building personal kingdoms on earth.

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Numbers 17. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“Just as he (Moses) finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all of Korah’s people and their possessions. They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them and they vanished from the assembly.” Numbers 16:31-33 (HCSB)

There is much said about God’s love. It is true that He IS love and that He sent Messiah Jesus so sinners might be saved. (John 3:16) But in no way does God’s LOVE negate the fact that God is also JUST. He will by no means clear the guilty. (Numbers 14:18, Exodus 34:7, Nahum 1:3)

Often, we can confuse God’s “love” with His “long-suffering.” That is, when God is slow to wrath, we tend to believe He either doesn’t see our sin, doesn’t care, is powerless to act, or that His LOVE for the sinner prohibits His chastisement/rebuke of their sin. He does care, and today’s chapter clearly shows the Lord’s judgment of sin.

Remember that TWO things confound a fool: how SLOW God is to arrive, and how QUICKLY He shows up!

In sharing the gospel of the Messiah with Jewish people, you may run into those who say they don’t believe in Satan or do not believe in a literal Hell, where God sends people who refuse to believe in Him. I suggest you share Numbers 16 with them.

Chapter 16 also gives us a very clear picture of Hell. Men went down into Sheol (the grave/abode of the dead) with all that belonged to them. And they say you can’t take it with you. Notice the Scripture reads that Korah’s family (and the families of his allies) went down ALIVE into Sheol. It wasn’t that they died and were committed to Sheol. They went down alive. Hopefully, this account lends urgency to your calling to share the gospel because we can plainly see that the Bible teaches there is a literal Hell, and people can and will go there.

We often think of those believers who will be alive at the time of Jesus’s return and how they will be “taken up in the twinkling of an eye.” But today, we get an often-neglected view of the non-believer who will be on the earth at the time of Jesus’ second coming and how they will be judged and descend (alive) as quickly as the living believers are taken up.

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-52 (NKJV)

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on each tassel at each corner. These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not become unfaithful by following your own heart and your own eyes. This way you will remember and obey all my commands and be holy to your God.” Numbers 15:37-40 (HCSB)

Jesus said to some of the religious leaders of His day, “You make your tassels long and phylacteries large, and pray loudly on the street corner because you love to be seen and greeted loudly in the marketplace.”  Essentially, God-given displays of spiritual identity had become objects of egocentric attention for some worshipers.  

Prayer, phylacteries, and tassels are outward religious displays, supposedly reflecting an inward devotion to the Lord. Phylacteries are tiny boxes affixed by leather straps to the head and hands. Inside these boxes are scriptures, specifically, Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16, and Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21.

When a phylactery is enlarged, a prayer is shouted on a street corner, or a tassel is elongated, attention is thus drawn away from personal worship and toward the worshipper. The observer is led to believe the size of the vestment is proportional to the piety of the worshipper. Grandiose displays may be impressive to humans, but God is more concerned with sincerity than sensationalism. Quality of worship wins out over quantity.

Personally, I like the idea of reminders. Most people like reminders, too, or else the “Post It” note company would be out of business! God is concerned with our remembrance. This extends beyond an annual holiday or weekly Sabbath rest. He wants us to continually remember Him, as He continually remembers us: through His Son, Who is ever before Him as our testimony and advocate.

The Hebrew word for tassel is: “Tzitzit.”  In Hebrew, each letter has a numerical value. The letters of the word tzitzit, added together, equal 600. Each tzitzit has eight cords and five knots. This gives a total of 613, the number of all the commandments in the Torah.

As we focus our worship on God, He does not simply want us to remember the Ten Commandments but all of 613. The over-arching statement is that God wants us to remember to follow Him completely. Our complete devotion is not so our worship will be for show; rather, it will be for Him.

“All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.’” Numbers 14:2-4 (HCSB)

It is a common misunderstanding that the United States is a democracy. It is not. The United States is a republic with a democratically elected government. The difference between a republic and a pure democracy is simple. A pure democracy is basically “mob rule.”  Whatever the majority group members decide, with no governing principles to override the group, the majority wins.

A republic may hold democratic elections but is based on foundational creeds and principles, which may override the mob. Our republic is based on a constitution that outlines and protects fundamental human rights. These “rights” were written down by our country’s founding fathers…written as they saw fit, themselves being primarily Christians whom the Ten Commandments personally governed. Throughout the generations, no matter how the public opinion sways, our country’s actions and decisions must be governed by the Constitution…and its course altered if found in contempt of it.  

For instance, in the “Wild West,” if someone were accused of a crime, a lynch mob would form to hunt that person down and hang him without trial. Then came frontier justice and circuit-riding judges who stood between the accused and the mob. A fair trial is based on evidence, weighed against the law as upheld by the Constitution.  

As long as men are willing to abide by the foundational principles supporting our Constitution, the United States should fare well…primarily because those foundational constitutional principles are the Ten Commandments!

For Israel, things were not much different. Theirs was a Theocracy (God-centered government), not a republic…but the basic standards were similar with two exceptions: 1) Only one religion was tolerated. 2) Leaders were chosen by God instead of by the people.  

God’s commandments acted as their “constitution,” so to speak. If Israel chose to follow the Lord and live within His commands, following His lead, things would go well. But when Israel decided not to trust God and His leader, Moses, their natural inclination was to “…appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

No matter where we live or under what form of government we may find ourselves, it is always incumbent upon us to seek and follow the Lord and His Word, first and foremost.

“Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, ‘We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!’ But the men who had gone up with him responded, ‘We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!’ So they gave a negative report to the Israelite community about the land they had scouted: ‘The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.’” Numbers 13:30-32 (HCSB)

Any courtroom attorney will tell you that an eyewitness account is not always dependable. Sometimes, circumstantial and forensic evidence is better. In clinical studies, where several people are subject to experience a random event, the post-occurrence interviews can vary greatly.

When faced with a challenge, people respond from one of two positions: Scarcity or Abundance. We see both responses in today’s chapter. This is the dilemma of the return of Israel’s spies.  

Joshua and Caleb approached the “promised land” from the position of abundance. They matched their human experience with God’s promise. When they weighed the “abundance” of God’s power and presence against the “scarcity” of giants who trusted in false gods, they saw the apparent outcome of the impending war…that it would favor Israel. In short, they were men of faith.

Of course, the ten other spies saw Israel’s situation from the scarcity standpoint. They were faithless and chose to trust only the resources they could see. There was no room in their plan for God’s miraculous intervention.

If being a part of the stadium outreach events of Greg Laurie taught me anything, it was that where God guides, He provides. (And usually in that order!)  For that matter, the Harvest events’ enduring impact on the “Church-at-large” will most certainly extend beyond scores of converts, which is a number that can be counted. The hidden influence of the events is that the Harvest organization acted as a “Caleb or Joshua,” encouraging local congregations with the message, “We can take this land!” That encouragement is infectious!      

There is another overriding moral of this story. Before God said, “Take the land,” He said, “Send the spies.” Perhaps the perspective God was providing Moses was not, “Is the land worth fighting for?” but instead, “Is Israel faithful enough to fight for the land?”

When we study the Bible, and faithfully seek God, we sow the “seeds of readiness.” In this way, we will be prepared to respond faithfully whenever God says, “GO!” trusting He will provide what is lacking to accomplish what He commands today.

“Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, He said: ‘Listen to what I say: If there is a prophet among you from the Lord, I make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is the only one faithful in all My household. I speak with him directly, openly, and not in riddles; he sees the image of God. So why are you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’” Numbers 12:5-8 (HCSB)

“Envy” is pride wounded in competition. Whenever I see someone consumed with envy, I start looking for where the competition is because somehow, they respond from that vulnerable place of realized or impending defeat.  

For Cain & Abel, the competition was over God’s favor of their offerings. For Jacob & Esau, it was over birthright and blessing. I’ve seen it between recording artists in the marketplace and between ministers and congregants. There was a serious competition going on between Moses’ siblings.

Moses’ brother, Aaron, was the oldest, and by birthright, it was his responsibility to lead the family spiritually. As High Priest, he was indeed leading Israel spiritually. Perhaps he also wanted to lead them militarily & administratively.  

Miriam was Moses’s older sister, and she followed Moses’s baby basket down the Nile, straight to Pharaoh’s daughter. Miriam negotiated for Moses’ own mother to nurse and raise him! It must have been hard for Miriam to submit to Moses without seeing him as a child who needed care.

God saw past their pseudo-righteous indignation and spoke directly concerning their envious hearts. Miriam & Aaron’s dispute wasn’t over Moses marrying an Egyptian woman. It was over his authority. God cut straight to the issue, never mentioning the Egyptian woman.

There is a profound lesson concerning prophecy and faithfulness in God’s pronouncement. There are several Biblical instances where people who aren’t particularly righteous prophesy. Even Balaam’s donkey prophesied! All that meant was that God wanted to send a message, and the righteousness of the messenger didn’t limit him.

Most profound is God’s statement about faithfulness. When we are faithful, God’s messages don’t come to us abruptly or untimely. He speaks directly and openly to the faithful. Paul says we should strive for such a relationship with God above all else! (1 Corinthians 14:1) Leadership is not necessarily about age or experience. It is a matter of faithfulness. Be faithful and keep seeking God’s “revelation” as you read His Word.