May 22

Numbers 31 A war is raging in the spiritual realm for control of the church. Outright physical assaults on the church usually result in tremendous growth of the church. Witness China which now has more raw numbers of believers than does the church in the USA. Or witness Iran where the secret church is growing by leaps and bounds. It is the subtle spiritual attacks on the church that usually lead to its death. Witness the church in western Europe. The attack upon the foundations of the faith in 19th century led to wholesale pursuit for meaning and fulfillment elsewhere. The USA is not far behind. Abandoning clear Scriptural principles of the word, churches have sought to attract people through more fleshly appeal. About 10-15 years ago a pastor friend of mine went to visit one of those churches to see what it was like. He said, “I can see why that church is popular. . . It was better than a topless bar.” Should Israel have gone to war? Clearly the text states that the LORD commanded them to attack the Midianites and kill them. Is this vicious, if so, why? What does it tell us of His glory? First, let us always remember that the LORD is the Creator. As Creator, He has the supreme right over life and death. He can decide who lives and dies, and it is just, for He has that right as Creator. Second, let us remember His reasoning for commanding the death of the Midianites. It is found in Moses’ response to the captains when they returned from battle leading a host of captive women and children: 15–16 And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.” “The Midianites were among those who practiced sexual immorality as part of the ritual of their idolatrous religion.” The incident of Peor was leading young men away from the glory of the Lord. Can you imagine how popular a church would become in a college town if part of the worship included sex? I could see it right now—a wave of churches vying for the highest number of attendees through adding a ministry of sexual adoration. When there is a high probability that the whole congregation can be led astray, the Lord occasionally acts in what we would call severe forms of discipline in order to prevent the falling away of the larger group and to preserve His people. By commanding Israel to begin this war, the LORD demonstrates how serious He takes our not trading His glory for anything! This does not mean that there is no forgiveness for those who have fallen into that trap. Forgiveness, mercy and grace is always foremost in the plan of God, but if there is a recalcitrant group that will prevent that forgiveness from being received by the larger group, such as those whom Balaam counseled, then the LORD sometimes moves viciously to prevent it. I wonder if some of our congregations had been around in Balaam’s day, if the Lord would have lumped them in with the Midianites? Note that they only dispatch 12,000 warriors to deal with the Midianites, and afterward not a single warrior was missing! That is astounding in ancient warfare! Our warfare as the church is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in heavenly places. Our weapons are not human, but are spiritual and have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments. Should we not be at war upon our knees? If we would war on our knees, I think we would have far fewer warriors missing in action, and love would reign supreme. He is zealous in His love for us, and desires us to be zealous in love for each other. Indeed, that love is glorious! Indeed, we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

May 21

Numbers 30 I am sitting here at the donut shop. A group of 3 men are sitting at a table next to me talking about the split they had in their church about a year ago. They are speaking loudly, so it is not like I am eavesdropping. Obviously, it was a very emotional parting. When Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me,” what did He mean? What is He asking for? When Jesus said in John 13:34–35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another,” what did He mean? What about the lines of authority that He has established? What is our responsibility in the midst of these relationships? When do we part company? Divorce among couples in the church in the USA is running around 50%. Is it surprising then that splits within the church are so rampant? What does God expect for us to maintain unity? This chapter in Numbers deals with unity in the family. I can hear the feminists crying, “Foul! A man should not be able to rule over a woman like that! It makes women the chattel of men!” They are missing the point. As human beings, we are created, male and female, in the image of God. We are to reflect what God is like in our union as male and female and become one flesh. God is one in essence, yet He eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our unity is not the same thing, but it is to reflect the same thing. Within the Trinity the Father is the head decision maker, and yet the Son and the Holy Spirit have the ability to make decisions. They choose to submit to each other. Yet we could not describe either the Son or the Holy Spirit as the chattel of the Father. What we have here in Numbers 30 is a clear-practical-case outworking of lines of authority when a couple or family or church lives in unity in a way that reflects the unity of the Trinity. What does God expect for us to maintain unity? He expects love and purity. He expects death. Jesus died for His bride. He expects a husband to die to his selfishness in relation to his wife. He expects him to love his wife perfectly. While He still expects the wife to use her brain and contribute to the relationship, when the decision making time comes, He expects her to submit even as Jesus and the Holy Spirit submit to the Father. He expects mutual submission within the body. He expects the body and family to respect the lines of authority. You see we are to reflect the glory of the Trinity! And what glory that is! Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He died, so we can die too. He submitted to the Father, so we too can submit to each other. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

May 15

Numbers 24 “You are one of those people who makes it really hard for optometrists like me.” “What do you mean by that?” I asked. “I’ll bet that ten years ago, you had better than average eyesight.” “Yes, that is true.” “Well, you are used to having great eyesight, but now it is only average so you think something is wrong. And you want me to fix it.” “That is why I came in here.” “I can never make your eyes as good as they used to be. I can give you some trifocals that can help you at differing distances, reading, medium range and long range. Your long distance vision isn’t all that bad. Basically your eyes are just aging.” That conversation with my optometrist was about six years ago. I bought the glasses. My vision has regressed now such that I cannot read without glasses. Putting on glasses is like having my eyes opened. I cannot read anything without them. Balaam thought his eyes were opened. He was a seer. A seer would see visions which would then need to be interpreted to know the communication of God. Balaam was a dirty seer in the sense that his heart was not fully yielded to the Lord. He wanted the money Balak offered, yet because of the incident of the donkey, he was too frightened to pronounce the curse against Israel. Hoping to talk the Lord into changing his mind, he keeps coming back asking God what to say. Twice he sees that it pleases the Lord to bless Israel. Now he is ready to seek God again. He set his face to the wilderness, the place from which he thought Yahweh was coming. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Often I have heard it said, and even said it myself, “God can’t use a dirty vessel.” In this case the saying is not entirely accurate. He embarks upon a third series of oracles. He has a clear vision of the glory of Yahweh, and he has a clear vision of the coming glory of Israel. What he says is truth, yet his motive is all messed up! God is using him! He gives another famous prophecy that was still useful to the Magi fourteen hundred years later: Numbers 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult. Fourteen hundred years later the Magi knew to follow a star that had appeared. How did they know? I think there were at least 4 reasons. First, Balaam was from northwest Mesopotamia, a region not too far from where the Magi came. It is quite possible that Balaam recorded this incident, or it was recorded by a disciple or descendant. Perhaps the Magi came across a copy of a scroll or clay tablet which recorded this. Second, Daniel was part of the caste of people from which the Magi came. I am sure that Daniel took the scriptures with him and left them for the Magi who followed him. The Magi would have had access to Numbers 24:17. Additionally, they would have had access to Daniel’s prophecy, and would know that it would be about time for the birth of the Messiah. Third, the Holy Spirit would probably have guided their desires and interest in studies in order to lead them to the right conclusions. Fourth, the Magi were astronomers and knew that this special appearance of a different star had meaning. The unrighteous Balaam was the first to predict the star as part of the blessing that Israel would be for the whole world. How could God use such a dirty man? Well, if we don’t praise Him, He can make rocks do it. He prefers clean hearts and clean hands, but if they are not clean, He still accomplishes His purpose. His glory cannot be sullied by our sin! That brings me hope and a warning at the same time. God can use me even when I am dirty, but He would prefer to use me clean. Revelation 2:14 indicates that Balaam was responsible for the events of Numbers 25: But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Balaam was so close to God, yet so far! I like what Matthew Henry says of him: That he saw the vision of the Almighty, but not so as to be changed into the same image. He calls God the Most High, and the Almighty; no man could speak more honorably of him, nor seem to put a greater value upon his acquaintance with him, and yet he had no true fear of him, love to him, or faith in him, so far may a man go towards heaven, and yet come short. May I never be like him, gazing upon His glory but never fully embracing it, used powerfully by Him but never finding true power, aware of the purity of God yet filled with impurity. In the end, Balaam saw the glory of God but never truly experienced it. Yes God can use a dirty vessel but how sad for that vessel! O Lord, let me not only see your glory, but let your glory cleanse me inside and out that I may personally experience Your transforming power! May the opening of my spiritual eyes lead me to a deeper walk with You! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

May 14

Numbers 23 “Lend me $50.00. I will pay you back by the end of the month.” A co-worker of mine pleaded with me to help him out. In 1976 that was a lot of money for people like we who were working for minimum wage. It was half of a week’s wage. He was married. I was single. He had an unexpected expense. I was living with my parents and had few expenses apart from earning college tuition. Against my better judgment, I loaned him the money. He did not pay back the money, and he soon went to work elsewhere. One could say that he lied, or one could say that he changed his mind, or one could say that he reneged on a promise, or one could say that he had spoken and not made it good. In my mind, I let it go. Three years later, I was married and was in need of some cash. Providentially he began working at a convenience store about two blocks from my house. I reminded him of the debt, and told him that I could really use the cash. He paid me back a week later. One could say he made it good—maybe. Three years late is not all that good. Balaam placed Himself between a rock and a hard place. God had unmistakably communicated to him that he should say only what He told Balaam to say concerning Israel. Balaam was hoping that God would change his mind and allow him to earn a large sum of money from the King of Moab by cursing Israel. The incident with the death angel and the donkey had kept Balaam from cursing. Balaam, a prophet of God was only now learning this about God! Now he had to produce a curse for the king, but he couldn’t. Maybe God could be manipulated. . . Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? That is the negative side of things. But think about it on the positive side. If God gives you a promise, you can bank on it! You can trust in it. It will happen, as you go forward in faith. Be careful that you are not trying to manipulate God into doing what you want, or you will end up as did Balaam. God had once blessed Abraham and his descendants. He would bless and would not curse them. It is final. God is unchangeable in His nature and His promises. He will not promise one thing and then do another. What He promises to me, He will perform. It is interconnected with His glory! I don’t have to remind Him three years later. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

May 10

Numbers 19 I could smell him before I even saw him. My office was in the SE corner of our 40X80 building. The front doors were near the NE corner of the building. When he opened the door, a blast of air swept past him carrying his smell all the way into the office. It is not uncommon for homeless people to have a distinctive ‘human’ smell, but this was overpowering! I struggled the whole time that I talked with him with the physical nausea which was evoked by his presence. It was supposed to get cold that night, and he wanted shelter. One of my elders was on the governing board of the City Rescue Mission. So as a church, we supported the ministry of the Rescue Mission financially, emotionally, prayerfully and with our acts of service. I offered to take him to the shelter. He would have none of it. He said that He did not feel safe there. I thought to myself, “With a smell like this, no one would want to be near him. He would probably be the safest person there.” When he realized that the only help which he would get from me was to take him to the shelter, he left in disgust mumbling something about, “Jesus wouldn’t have done that.” I walked back to my office. I could still smell him. Fifteen minutes later, I could still smell him. Although it was cold outside, I propped open the doors and slid up the windows. After an hour I could still slightly smell him, but it was cold inside the building. I shut the doors and windows. The next morning his lingering odor was still there when I walked in. I drove to the store and bought some air freshener to mask the smell. It was a full week before I could no longer detect his residue. I wonder, “Could he smell himself?” In 17:13 the people had expressed their terror at coming to the tabernacle lest they all die. Matthew Henry speaks of it as: They seem to speak despairingly, as if God was a hard Master, that sought advantage against them, and took all occasions to pick quarrels with them, so that if they trod every so little awry, if they stepped ever so little beyond their bounds, they must die, they must perish, they must all perish, basely insinuating that God would never be satisfied with their blood and ruin, till he had made an end of them all and they were consumed with dying. Here the Lord continues to provide a remedy for their unclean state. Their rebellion was a stench in the nostrils of God, our merciful and gracious God chose to cleanse them and us of the stench. Before the priest could minister, a ceremonial cleansing needed to take place so that stench of rebellion might not nauseate the LORD God as the representative of the people came forward to intercede for the people. I wonder, “Could they smell their spiritual stench?” That question leads me to a more personal question, “Do I have a spiritual stench before God? Is it a distinctly ‘human’ smell that is nauseating to Him?” In order to remove a smell it is best to remove the cause. The French are famous for their perfumes because they developed them in an age when bathing was considered unhealthful. The perfumes effectively masked that distinctively ‘human’ smell. Today the most effective way to remove the smells is to bathe regularly. It is interesting that the invention of soap probably comes from the ancient practices of sacrifice. The major ingredients of soap are lye and animal fat. Lye is obtained by running water through wood ashes. As the water travels through the ash, it leaches out lye (sodium hydroxide). Pure lye is a dangerous chemical because its strong alkali ph lever eats just about everything. That is why it makes such a good soap. To make soap, the animal fat is rendered, and lye is added at a proper ratio. The concoction is allowed to cool and becomes soap. Lots of soap and water is usually a good way to remove the cause of bad odors. Is it not interesting that God’s solution to the uncleanness of the high priest and the people is to burn a red heifer and to mix its ashes with water and then to sprinkle that water on the object being cleaned as part of the cleansing ceremony? But why a red heifer? A pure red heifer was indeed a rare thing. The rabbis used to say, ‘If but two hairs were black or white, it was unlawful.’ The purity of the heifer speaks of the purity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The water poured through His ashes is strong enough to purify the worst stench. That is His glory! He is strong enough to purify the most defiled stench upon us. He not only forgives us, but He also cleanses us of our stench, if we let Him! But we like the homeless man, often turn and walk away preferring our stench to His cleansing water. Does that over power His glory? No, it only makes it more difficult for us to see it. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

May 9

Numbers 17-18 I remember reading somewhere once that Martin Luther froze in fear of God at the first occasion of His presiding over communion. He could not do it! The fear of God was so great upon Him! At one point in His quest to love God, he indicated that He hated God because the standard God set was so high that he could not attain it! In his ill-directed pursuit of God he pursued all kinds of self-inflicted penance in hopes of satisfying the wrath of God against his sin. He descended to the depths of self-flagellation in hopes of bringing life under control to appease God. But it was to no avail until he embraced salvation by grace through faith. He could not provide the sacrifice needed. The people were terrified as they considered the wrath of God in relation to His design for authority. Finally, they are beginning to get the importance of His wrath as it related to them. There is a set order of authority that God gives to bring the removal of sin from His people. Yes, the path is through sacrifice, but the people thought anyone could sacrifice. That was the essence of Korah’s rebellion. The people accused Moses of killing the rebels. They still did not get it. The problem was one of a recognition of authority. They did not realize that they did not have the authority to take matters into their own hands. They did not understand their place in God’s redemptive purpose. They wanted a place which did not belong to them. Then the Lord brought forth another miracle to designate to them the source of redemption. The leader of each tribe had to bring his staff or rod. The rod was a symbol of their authority or power to rule their tribe. The rod was left in the tabernacle overnight. The next day only the staff of Aaron, representing the tribe of Levi, was fruitful. It bore buds, blossoms and ripe almonds. Clearly the miracle indicated that only the line of Aaron bore the authority for priestly intercession. Then they began to understand a little bit more that redemption comes from God, not man. They realized that they had been trying to grasp a place which they could not obtain and had made a mockery of God’s mercy and grace. Num 17:12–13 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?” They get it. Chapter 18 is God’s answer to their fear. Yes He is the one who redeems, but He chose a specific order for the distribution of that redemption. The Sacrifices spoke of the redemption to come, but it was administrated through the priesthood. They would bear the guilt of the people. The people could relax and let the sacrifice take care of it. But they also needed to remember their place among the people of God. Because of their tremendous responsibility, the priests had no inheritance in the land. The Lord was their inheritance. Today, Jesus is our sacrifice. It is still administered through Him as our High Priest, but we are all now all a holy priesthood. Our inheritance is in Him. Is that not marvelous? I have the awesome privilege of having Him as my inheritance! But there is still a principle that was seen in Aaron’s day. There still are appointed positions of responsibility that God appoints and raises up within the body of the priesthood of believers. There are still apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers etc. Everyone has a position appointed to them by the Lord, we need to find who we are and be that. We also need to be careful about taking someone else’s responsibility. The Glory of Jesus is that He takes away our sin so that we can come boldly before the throne of God. He takes our fear and replaces it with joy. We need not cringe before Him, but we should repent and enter into his courts with praise, with thanksgiving and with joy. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

May 8

Numbers 16 He was one of the most impressive men that I have ever met. He had many degrees, which I believe included a certificate from Moody Bible Institute, a BA, a Masters in Counseling and a Th.D., all from institutions which I greatly admire. He was extremely articulate and a great teacher of the word. He immediately attracted people to himself and began teaching a Bible Study which was wonderfully beneficial to those involved. But there were some things that he saw that were wrong about my ministry, among them was that he said that I was arrogant. He led a group of people that demanded my resignation. At one point during the struggle he suggested that I was mentally ill, and was afraid I might commit suicide. Eventually he called me a hireling and said that my life was a ‘waste.’ After leaving our church he went to another where he did a similar thing with the pastor there. He claimed that he had no desire to promote himself, but that we were deficient in our service. In terms of gaining a following, he was indeed a man of ‘renown.’ How is it that people who have seen the glory of God can be so obstinate in seeking their own glory? I am not sure that I can answer that question, other than the simple answer that it is inherent in the heart of all humans as part of the sin nature. We do not see a clearer example than in this chapter. If God had not so clearly been involved in Moses’ leadership, then one might be able to excuse Korah, Dathan and Abiram, but by this time God had many times revealed himself through Moses and his ministry. This speaks to me that I must be very careful, in as much as my heart is extremely susceptible to self-deception! Yes, Moses had taken on much authority, but it was all at the call of God, not his own. The events of the Exodus and the first year and a half out of Egypt should have clearly demonstrated it! Why would these ‘men of renown’ (v.2) criticize Moses in this way? Well, certainly God had told the nation that He wanted them to be a ‘kingdom of priests’ (19:2), but they had rejected it by their response to God’s appearance at Mt. Sinai (20:18-19). It is almost as if after there was enough time for the shock and awe of the appearance of God to wear off, that the people forgot His awesome glory. How is it that these ‘men of renown’ could so easily forget? How is it that they became known as ‘men of renown’ anyway? First of all they were apparently heads of their families, that helped. Secondly, by this time the nation had already gained a major military victory against the Amalakites (Ex 17). Undoubtedly they had gained reputation by the way they fought and/or helped organize the battle. However it happened, the point is that the text clearly states that they were men of renown. Could it possibly be that their own renown ‘went to their heads?’ I think it had. There was one cure to it. God once again revealed Himself in His glory. This time it was the glory of His wrath. In response to the glory of God, the ground opened up and ate the 250 men of renown for lunch. Mmmm. . . tasty. I’d better be careful about His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john