If God taught Sunday School: models, maps, and calendars

The Word for today:
Numbers 32

mark this:
These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts (besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings. (Numbers 29:39)

Yesterday, we saw that God loves a celebration:

God is often mischaracterized as stern and dour. We don’t often think of him as festive.

And yet Jesus, who is both the only way to God and the only way to get to know God, seemed to love being invited to dinner. He loved it so much that if no one invited him, he invited himself:
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." (Luke 19:5)

Not only did he invite himself, but once he got there, he wasn’t a picky eater:
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' (Luke 7:33-34)

God called for a lot of feasts in the Old Testament. He wanted happiness to abound. He wanted to celebrate often and regularly, lest anyone should get out of the habit of being happy!

Moreover, heaven is depicted as a big wedding reception, and the first impulse of the Prodigal Son’s Father was to hold a feast!

The angels celebrate every time a sinner turns to God. Talk about a daily excuse to party!

In the Old Testament, God instituted a yearly cycle of feasts that were designed to illustrate the Good News to come. When seen together, the feasts reveal God’s plan for mankind.

For Israel, the feasts were prophetic. For us, they are instructive.

This may sound odd to you, but when they make me Pope (don’t hold your breath) or, better yet, put me in charge of international Bible literacy, every Christian is going to be required to make a full-featured model of the Tabernacle and be able to explain the prophetic significance of each item of furniture.

When we’ve mastered that, we are going to do some map-making. Every believer will be able to explain the spiritual pilgrim’s progress that is symbolized by the journeys of Israel: out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the wilderness, over Jordan, into the Promised Land, up the hill rising from Jericho to Jerusalem, into the Temple, past the curtain, and into the Presence.

Then, having mastered the model and the map, we are going to make a calendar with the feast days marked out. We are going to be able to show the plan of God as it is outlined in the cycle of the feasts.

Finally, as a matter of continuing education, we will annually celebrate the cycle of Old Testament feasts. Partying will be mandatory in my administration! (Strictly for educational purposes, of course.)

***

Returning to some modicum of reality, I can assure you that I haven’t lost all of my marbles. (I applied for Worldwide Director of Biblical Literacy, but haven’t been appointed—yet.) But I am altogether serious about the syllabus I suggested above.

Give every Sunday School teacher a model, a map, and a calendar; then throw out all the silly videos we try to teach with today; and within five years the faith would experience Pentecost II. I guarantee it.

That’s probably not going to happen on an international scale anytime soon, but we can make a modest start right here. So I hope you’ll be here tomorrow for our very brief and basic summary of God’s Good News—past, present, and future—as depicted in the Feasts of Israel.

(Don’t forget your model and map, if you’ve made them.)

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cups too small for the wine

The Word for today:
Numbers 31

God is often mischaracterized as stern and dour. We don’t often think of him as festive.

And yet Jesus, who is both the only way to God and the only way to get to know God, seemed to love being invited to dinner. He loved it so much that if no one invited him, he invited himself:
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." (Luke 19:5)

Not only did he invite himself, but once he got there, he wasn’t a picky eater:
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' (Luke 7:33-34)

God called for a lot of feasts in the Old Testament. He wanted happiness to abound. He wanted to celebrate often and regularly, lest anyone should get out of the habit of being happy!

Q. What was he celebrating?
A. Whaddya got?

When God’s in charge of the feast, the menu makes your mouth water:

On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine--
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-8)

The most famous poem in history—not just in scripture, but in literature at large—tells us that God himself sets the table, and pours so much wine that the cups are too small:
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over. (Psalm 23:5)

In the only miracle (other than the Resurrection) reported in all four gospels, a crowd of 15,000 is too little to finish all the food Jesus brings to the picnic!

In Jesus’ first miracle, the wine is so good that, well, there must be some mistake:

Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." (John 2:7-10)

We, like the headwaiter, should stop making the mistake of expecting inferior wine. In the kingdom of heaven, it keeps getting better and better the longer the party goes on.

***

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the feasts God called Israel to attend. You’re invited, so we hope you can make it. Bring a big cup.

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sympathy for the devil: we’ve been warned

The Word for today:
Numbers 30

They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. (from 2 Peter 2:14-16)

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. (Jude 1:11)

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. (Revelation 2:14)



We say goodbye to Balaam today. As we do, I must confess that I’m conflicted about him. I have a certain regard, even sympathy, for him.

But scripture isn’t fooled. It is neither conflicted nor sympathetic about Balaam, and makes of him an example of spiritual error.

He will pop up, here and there, throughout the rest of scripture. He will continue to garner a lot of ink. But his name will become a byword, and his life a parable of darkness.

We knew from the start that he was the charlatan, the swindler, the prophet for profit. But he’s such a spiritual scam artist that he will steal your soul and then ask you for change.

We need to be wary of Balaams, past and present. So let’s take a look at this personified parable to see what he represents…

First, we are warned about the way of Balaam.
The way of Balaam is covetousness. We’ve already gotten a glimpse (Numbers 22:7) of what motivates Balaam’s ministry. Our suspicions are confirmed in 2 Peter:
They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. (from 2 Peter 2:14-16)

Next, scripture reminds us to avoid the error of Balaam.
His error was that he was not aware that God could declare righteous these sinners who trust in Him. Balaam thought God must curse/punish Israel, as the natural man reckons. But there is a higher righteousness in Christ. God had dealt with sin in the camp with the brazen serpent, just as God now declares sinners righteous by faith in Christ. (See Jude 11, above.)

Finally, beware the doctrine of Balaam.
The doctrine of Balaam was to entice the Jews to commit idolatry, to corrupt the people whom he could not curse. (See Revelation 2:14, above.) The church is not hurt from the outside. Satan joins the church to hurt it from within. (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.) Jesus was betrayed from the inside, by a “friend,” one of “his people.”

***

So whatever happened to Balaam? He kept working the angles until he died:
The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them. (Joshua 13:22)

Balaam—the false way, the error, the false doctrine—is the antithesis of Jesus—the Way, the Truth, the Life.

But I still like him, which shows us precisely how the world will be taken in by the ultimate antithesis, the Antichrist, who will be every bit as winsome and seductive (and spiritually confusing) as Balaam ever was:
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. (from 2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

We’ve been warned.

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looking forward to “the second Christmas”

The Word for today:
Numbers 28, 29

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.  (Numbers 24:17)

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  (Matthew 2:2)



Let’s pause, right here, for some perspective.

For the last couple of days we talked about the Wise Men, who pondered the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel until they found the King in Bethlehem.

These Gentile astronomers and scholars from Persia, Parthia, and Babylon -- places where Balaam was considered an outstanding prophet -- kept their eyes on the skies and their noses in the scriptures, anticipating the first arrival of the great King.

But Israel was not looking for him, with the exception of a small minority, such as Anna and Simeon (see Luke 2).

***

It is not necessary to be Rapture-ready in order to participate. You won’t be required to anticipate “the second Christmas” in order to participate in it, but why miss out on all the fun of looking forward to it?

One significant difference between Jesus’ first coming and the Rapture of the church is that the Wise Men, Simeon, and Anna were able to deduce the time of his arrival from careful scrutiny of the scriptures (especially the book of Daniel).

But there are no definite prophetic indications of when the Rapture will occur. (It is a biblical precept that time is often measured when Israel is front and center in scripture, while time is not measured when the church is in view.)

Therefore, when Rapture will occur is unknown, but that it will occur is certain. So don’t lose out on all the joys of anticipation as the time gets nearer. Any kid can tell you -- it doesn’t take a wise man to know this -- that there can be a whole glorious “month” of excitement and anticipation before the Day, itself, arrives!

We don’t have a clue (despite what the wackos will tell you) about the exact time of the Rapture of the church. But I can say with confidence that we’ve already passed “Thanksgiving.”

“Christmas, Part 2” is just around the bend. So let’s get into it before it we’re gone!

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when the starlight met its source

The Word for today:
Numbers 27, 36

For the past couple of days, we have been wondering about Balaam. There is no more bizarre character in scripture. He’s a prophet for profit, a religious racketeer, and yet God gives this man of murky morals one of the Bible’s most shimmering and significant visions of the future:

"I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel."  (Numbers 24:14-17)

Coming from Pethor on the Euphrates River, Balaam was a rare Gentile (non-Jew) among biblical prophets. Therefore he would continue to fascinate both Hebrew and pagan scholars for centuries. Throughout the “east,” his visions would be ceaselessly pondered and studied.

His prophecy was why Babylonian Magi (“Wise Men”) had known, for centuries, where the great “Light King” would be born.

But how did the Magi know when the time had come to saddle up the camels and gift-wrap the gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

Their answer, again, came from a prophet in “the east.” This prophet was not a Gentile like Balaam, but a Hebrew who had been forced into exile in Babylon. His name was Daniel and he possessed such striking intellectual gifts that he rose to become superintendent in charge of the Babylonian Magi.

Thus it was that the Wise Men of Christmas came to know when the Star would appear by reading (and doing the math) in the 9th chapter of the book written by what amounted to their college’s former president!—

God had, over 17 centuries, managed to arrange the itinerary of these eastern Wise Men through voices available to them in their own libraries. Balaam told them where to look; Daniel told them when to leave.

When they got to Jerusalem, they asked Herod (who thought he was King of the Jews) where the King of the Jews could be found! Herod, of course, was enraged. So, with murderous intent, he summoned the leading Bible experts to tell them where the Christ would be born:

They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.' " (Matthew 2:5-6, quoting Micah 5:2)

So the Magi traveled south for just a few miles until the Star stopped to reflect the Light back to its Source.

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Star and Scepter: a vision of the Light King

The Word for today:
Numbers 25, 26

mark this:
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel. (Numbers 24:17)


We all love the Christmas story—the little town of Bethlehem, the angels we have heard on high, the shepherds who were sore afraid, the stable and the swaddling clothes, the Wise Men and the Christmas Star!

The part I like best is when the Star shines down upon the baby in the manger, putting the spotlight right where it should be:

Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

But did you know that the wise men were not the first to see the Star of Bethlehem? They weren’t even close to being the first, because about 1500 years earlier God had shown the Star to Balaam, the hard-to-classify eastern prophet/profiteer. In those ancient days (that were almost as far removed from the wise men as the wise men are from us) this is what Balaam had seen:

"The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly, the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
"I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel." (Numbers 24:14-17)

Balaam, the Gentile diviner who saw the Star and the Scepter (the Light of the World/King of Kings) out of one eye while he saw $$$$$ out of the other eye, would continue to fascinate both Hebrew and pagan scholars for centuries. Throughout the “east,” his vision would be ceaselessly pondered and studied.

But his prophecy only told the Wise Men the place where the great Light King would be born. How, then, did the wise men know the right time to saddle up the camels and gift-wrap the gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

We’ll find out tomorrow. See you then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

The Word for today:
Numbers 23, 24



Q. Who is the oddest cat in Scripture?

I wouldn’t want to offend anyone (especially Him) but by any standard definition of “odd,” the oddest, hands down, is Jesus. But if you’re looking for the biggest oddball in scripture, then I would have to say Balaam.

And even odder than Balaam himself is his relationship with God. God gives Balaam great prophetic powers. He even gives him the power of the Holy Spirit.

Balaam’s story is invaluable to me, but in an inverse way. It is invaluable because it teaches me how much I have yet to learn about God.

As you read, forget Balaam and read about the character called God (or LORD.) Watch His interaction with Balaam, and then ask yourself how well you know this LORD, this God, who confides in a known religious huckster called Balaam, provides said charlatan with His Holy Spirit, and chooses said swindler to deliver one of the most remarkable prophecies in scripture. Doesn’t God know a better sort to consort with?

My advice to the reader is to read the Balaam chapters twice. (It is not burdensome to do so, for they are highly entertaining!) During the first reading, concentrate on Balaam. During the second reading, concentrate on God, bringing none of your presuppositions to the reading.

Balaam is a mystery, but this God character is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. He will leave you scratching your head, wondering just who does this remind you of? Just who is this God who hangs out with hucksters and swindlers and charlatans and losers and sinners and prophets and tax collectors and prostitutes and Pharisees and Judas and, umhh, me.

Whenever I’ve got God pretty much cornered (in my mind) and confined (to my mind) then I come back here to Numbers 22, 23, and 24. These three chapters wipe all of my smug suppositions and preconceived notions off the slate.

Then, knowing I know next to nothing, I’m in a perfect position to learn.

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the cross, as Jesus saw it

The Word for today:
Numbers 22


Here’s an easy question…

Q. What is the most well-known Bible verse?
A. John 3:16.

Here’s a slightly tougher question…

Q. Of all the Old Testament stories, which one did Jesus use to illustrate John 3:16?
A. For the answer, let’s turn to John 3 and see:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14-16)

Now let’s look at the story Jesus referred to:

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. (Numbers 21:4-9)

The serpent on the pole represented the people’s sins, just as Christ was made sin for us on the cross:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus told Nicodemus that He would be lifted up, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Through the snake and through Jesus, God provided a way of escape that required only faith from the people.

Neither the people of Israel -- nor Nicodemus, nor you, nor I -- can do anything more than look to God’s remedy with faith. If we do, we will live forever.

If we want to understand the cross, we should see it as Jesus did. If we want to see it as Jesus did, we should liken it to the snake on a pole in Numbers 21,

For just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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guarding the gallery – part 2

The Word for today:
Number 21

mark this:
Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. (Numbers 20:8)



Of all God’s illustrations of Jesus, none is more completely developed than “the Rock.” Like a skipping stone, we can follow this Rock from one cover of the Bible to the other.

We first meet the Rock in Exodus:

I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:6)

In case we’re not sure of what the Rock represents, Scripture clearly tells us that the rock was a type (a prophetic picture) of Christ:

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

The rock was an illustration of Christ. It had already (see Exodus 17:6, above) been struck; and Christ the Rock is to be struck down only once:

Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (Romans 6:9-10)

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. (Hebrews 7:27)

When the people need water again, God instructs Moses to speak (a picture of prayer) to the Rock this time:

Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. (Numbers 20:8)

But Moses, angered over the people’s lack of faith, impulsively struck the rock with the staff. The water poured out once again, but Moses would pay a dear price for his disobedience.

By striking the rock, he was not careful to preserve the rock as a type of Christ. Thus Moses and Aaron were forbidden to enter the Promised Land:
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them." (Numbers 20:12)

Aaron died soon thereafter. But Moses lived for twenty more years. He would make it all the way to Mt. Nebo; but he died there, on the other side of the Jordan River, looking out over a Land he could almost reach out and touch.

Moses was not reprimanded for striking the Rock. He was reprimanded because striking the Rock presented a false picture of Jesus, who would be struck down -- at the cross -- but once. Thereafter his blessings would be procured through prayer.

God fiercely guards the pictures of Christ which he has painted for us. He knows that if they are clearly presented, they pour forth life to all who respond to them in faith.

So let’s not worry about Moses. It would take him 1500 years, but eventually we see him in the Promised Land, at the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.

Instead, let’s worry about the souls who will never see Jesus if we present a distorted picture of the Rock.

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guarding the gallery -- part 1

The Word for today:
Numbers 20

As an artist, God is in a class by Himself.

Certainly he is an artist as Creator -- of the sunset, of the flower, of the blue in the sky and in a pretty girl’s eyes. But he is also an unparalleled artist in the regular sense: he paints a picture like no one else can.

His pictures convey great spiritual truths that words are unable to express. And his favorite subject, by far, is His Son.

He has conveyed the beauty and power and bravery of His Son by painting him as a Lamb, as a Lion, as Light, as Bread, as a Star and as a Ladder to the Stars, as a Door and as a Door Knocker, as a Shepherd, as an Ark, as a rainbow, as a sword, as a burning bush, as an Angel, and even as a serpent! You get the picture.

But Of all God’s illustrations of Jesus, none is more completely developed than “the Rock.” Like a skipping stone, we can follow this Rock from one cover of the Bible to the other--

starting with the rock that was smitten, from which life-giving water flowed (Exodus);

to the stone the builders rejected which became the capstone of the arch (Psalms);

to the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands, which crushed the prideful institutions of man (Daniel);

to the stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for unbelievers (Isaiah/Romans/1 Peter);

which same stone is the foundation of the church, upon which the wise man builds his house (1 Corinthians/Matthew).

The Rock skips across the pages, touching down here, then there, then there, then there…

Tomorrow, we will watch it skip from Exodus to Numbers, from the past to the present, from the cross to the heavenly throne of grace.

As we do, we will not only view the Artist’s subject, but we will get a glimpse of how carefully He paints and how fiercely he guards His gallery.

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carrying a tent peg through the wilderness

The Word for today:
Numbers 18:8-19:22

mark this:
The Merarites are to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases, as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes, all their equipment and everything related to their use. Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry.  (Numbers 4:29-32)

The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden box, completely covered with gleaming gold. It was not big—about 4’ x 2’. It was not to be touched by human hands, so whenever Israel traveled, four men (two on each side) placed poles, inserted through rings on the ark’s corners, on their shoulders as they marched.

The ark went first, leading the entire national procession by perhaps 1000 meters as Israel followed the pillar of cloud/fire through the wilderness.

So if you were one of the four ark carriers, you were a very big deal in the ‘hood. No doubt the ladies fawned over these ark carriers, who were (literally) 1 in a million.

As explained below, only a man from the Kohathite Division of the Tribe of Levi would be chosen for such a plum position. So what did the rest of the Levites carry through the wilderness? Here, briefly, is the answer:

Aaron and his sons were the only persons allowed to directly touch the items inside the Tabernacle. They prepared the furnishings for transport.

The rest of the Tribe of Levi were divided into three divisions, named after Levi’s three sons:

The Gershonites carried the curtains of the Tabernacle, the tent with its covering, and the screens for the entrances.

The Kohathites (among whom were the four assigned to the ark) carried the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the various vessels.

The Merarites carried the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, bases, pegs, and cords.

***

If you were a Merarite, you were never going to the front of the procession, there to be admired as the reflection from the setting sun or the pillar of fire set the golden ark aglow.

If you were a Merarite, it was your lot in life to carry a tent peg. Which, of course, did not set hearts aflutter. But you soldiered on because you were a Merarite and that tent peg was your mission and ministry.

God’s people are not separated into divisions today, but many of us are, functionally, Merarites carrying a tent peg through the wilderness.

Whatever your function might be in God’s program today, carry it out with passion, verve, style, and aplomb. God never ranks the parts of his body, the church. He doesn’t rank the pastor ahead of the guy who organizes the parking lot brigade; he doesn’t rank the cool guy on lead guitar in front of the lady who cleans up after the banquet.

God has ordained a chain of command, but not a system of rank. He went out of his way in the New Testament to tell us that the body needs every part as much as any part:

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it.  (1Corinthians 12:21-24)

In the Old Testament, God wants us to see that the shimmering ark and the seldom-noticed tent peg are both, in important ways, prophetic pictures of the great Christ to come:

From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler.  (Zechariah 10:4)

I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will be a seat of honor for the house of his father.
All the glory of his family will hang on him.  (Isaiah 22:22-24; cf. Revelation 3:7)

***

God might have given you a public pulpit or platform. He might have placed you way out in front of the parade.

But He might have made you a “Merarite.” Maybe you’re a Mom whose sole mission is to tell your only child the saving story of Jesus. Or maybe you’re the guy who has to constantly deal with that balky old furnace which your church can’t afford to replace.

Until the twelfth of Forever, we will not know how our role relates to the whole. So until then, let’s be marvelous Merarites on our missions from God. Let’s park those cars, write these blogs, clean those tables, fix that furnace, and tell God’s great Story as if the whole Tent is upheld by the peg God gave us to carry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stick with Him, and He will stick up for you

The Word for today:
Numbers 16:36-18:7

mark this:
So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. (Numbers 17:6-8)




I like Aaron. I think about him a lot. And I think a lot of him.

He was approachable. While his brother Moses seems like a distant character—up there alone on the Mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God—Aaron was down in the plain, with the people, and without a clue what God and Moses were doing way up there in the rarefied air.

He was the kind of guy (as they say, but not in Bible blogs) that you could have a beer with. He knew what it was like to mess up big time (see “Calf, Golden”) and he knew what it was like to try and weasel out of the big time mess he’d made (see “Calf, Golden,” again).

He knew what it meant to play second fiddle (see “Moses, Prince of Egypt").

He knew deep, deep sorrow. He’d lost two sons (see “Nadab and Abihu”) because, well, basically because they were screw-ups like him.

But he dared not find fault with God, so he just hid his sorrows in his heart, like we must when that’s the only place to hide them from ourselves. He just kept going, just one more step, just one more day, losing himself in his work until, over time, he found his groove, becoming a beloved priest and servant of God.

When they buried him, far short of the Promised Land, the whole nation closed down for 30 days. They would later mourn for Moses, too. But I don’t think they mourned for their superstar like they’d mourned for the second fiddle who had stopped to pet their dogs and somehow remembered the names of their kids.

***

Wherever Aaron went, his walking stick went with him. That stick was the biblical version of Linus’ security blanket—always at hand and always at the ready.

He’d watched it turn into a serpent, which devoured Egypt’s serpents. He’d seen it stretched over a retreating sea. But by far the best of all was when God made that old dead stick come to life.

When all the wannabes protested that this other, ordinary brother—with two golden calves and two dead sons in his checkered past—wasn’t fit to be high priest, that’s when God took matters—and Aaron’s dead walking stick—into His own hands.

When 12 rods—one from each tribe as God had ordered --were placed side by side in front of the ark, wouldn’t you just know it that God would reaffirm that Aaron was His guy. For, lo and behold, the next morning one of those dead sticks had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced almonds!

***

They’re going to lay us all, side by side, in the grave someday. When they do, the naysayers will say that your past was checkered and that the God you placed your hope in is as dead as you are.

But there will come another day when, because you identified with God, he’s going to identify with you. Believers’ bodies, strewn across the land like so many dead sticks, indistinguishable from the others in the pile, are going to rise from their graves just like God’s own Son rose long ago.

All of God’s sons—Jesus, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Lazarus, you, and Sue, too—will be confirmed by resurrection. Those who publicly proclaimed Him their God will be publicly proclaimed His sons.

Stick with Him, and He’ll stick up for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

where the grass is greenest

The Word for today:
Numbers 16:1-35

The rebellion of Korah (Numbers 16) is rooted in jealous covetousness. Korah wanted to be something that God had not appointed him to be. Ultimately, he wanted to be high priest.

But Aaron was high priest, and because the high priest is a prophetic picture of Christ — the unique mediator between God and man -- there could only be one.

In the same way, in a time before time, Satan had wanted to be God:

How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.'
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

Do the stories of Korah and Satan teach us, as Eastern religions do, that we should eradicate our desire for higher things?

No, the Bible does not teach the eradication of desire. What the Bible teaches is that our desires should stay on our side of the fence:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. (Exodus 20:17)

This might surprise you, but coveting in and of itself is not immoral. It all depends on what we’re coveting:
But covet earnestly the best gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:31/KJV)
But earnestly desire the greater gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:31/NASB)

If we want to experience heaven in our hearts, there’s no need to tamp down desire. This may at first sound contradictory, but the Bible’s highest teaching on desire is to let your desire blaze away for the things you already have.

For example, the Song of Solomon presents the Bible’s idea of a heavenly marriage. Let’s listen to the Bride:
I am my beloved's,
And his desire is toward me.  (Song 7:10)

Let that sink in. Let it infiltrate way down deep inside you. It’s a glimpse into Jesus’ heart and a key to the happiness of God, who maintains His desire for things that are already His:

I am my beloved's,
And his desire is toward me.  (Song 7:10)

If you want a working definition of heaven, it’s the place where the grass is always greener on this side of the fence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

seeing things…that aren’t really there

The Word for today:
Numbers 15

The unbelieving world sets up a false choice between faith and objectivity. But the Bible teaches that the real choice is between faith and fear...

Twelve men went to scout out the Promised Land. When they came back, ten of them reported that the Promised Land would be impossible to conquer. Their lack of faith magnified the problem; their eyes saw what their fears had told them:
"We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (Numbers 13:31-33)

But two of the men, Caleb and Joshua, give a minority report. Their eyes saw what God had told them:
"We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." (Numbers 13:30)

Faith sees things that aren’t there yet:
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. (Hebrews 11:1)

But unbelief sees things that aren’t there at all:
We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. (Numbers 13:33)

Fear told the ten that they would never be able to enter the Promised Land.  Faith told Caleb and Joshua that the Promised Land was theirs for the taking.

Many years later, every one of them was proved right; the ten died in the desert, while Caleb and Joshua entered the Land.  For better or for worse, we will all prove to be prophets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

how to hide behind “humility”

The Word for today:
Numbers 14:10-45

mark this:
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3/ESV)

Scripture tells us that Moses was very "meek" (ESV) or "humble" (NIV), more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3)

Scripture says the same about Jesus:
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:29)

But we know that Moses and Jesus were forceful characters. So which one is it—were they meek or forceful? The answer is “both,” because meekness is not weakness.

Biblical “meekness” is a matter of being obedient, subjected to the will of God.

Meek as a whip.
Action prompted by the fear of the LORD is meekness. If God were to tell you to shatter the stone tables (tablets) of the law on the nearby rocks—and out of fear of the LORD you shattered them, that’s meekness.

And if God were to tell you to overturn every table in the temple and drive out the traders with a whip—and out of fear of the LORD you did, that’s meekness.

And if a believer, who had long ago become part of the woodwork, were directed by the LORD to step forward, to lead, perhaps to lead with audacity—

And if that believer declined audacity because (in his mind) audacity isn’t “humble,” then he’s not meek or humble, he’s just disobedient.

Much of the humility I’ve witnessed in the church is just a convenient smokescreen for cowardice. It’s a “virtue” claimed by men who fear man more than they fear God. But the two meekest men in scripture were a tablet-breaker and a table-turning whip-wielder.

Human meekness is about not making waves. Biblical meekness is about parting the sea, or telling the raging waves to sit down and shut up--if that’s what God tells you to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dear God: If I may make a suggestion…" (part 2)

The Word for today:
Numbers 13:1-14:10a

Often, especially in the historical books of the Old Testament (Genesis through Esther) scripture doesn’t editorialize. It just lays out the facts and expects us to apply over-riding spiritual principles to them. Unless we apply these biblical principles, we can completely misconstrue the passages we are reading.

Yesterday, in Numbers 11, we read that Moses, feeling overwhelmed, complains to the LORD that his duties are too much to bear. So God appoints 70 assistants to help him carry the load.

Just because God agrees to appoint the 70 does not mean that Moses had a better idea. By saying yes to Moses suggestion, God is exercising what theologians call his “permissive will.”

He allows Moses’ request, but the reader can infer that when Moses’ spirit is divided among the 70 elders, there is no more power, just more machinery. What results is not a power profusion, but a power diffusion.

Moreover, the reader can hear the subtle note of ingratitude and unbelief in Moses’ request, implying that perhaps God wasn’t doing His best for Moses.

God’s “directive will” was that the power of Moses’ spirit be undivided. But why? Why hadn’t God come up with the great idea of the seventy elders in the first place?

These questions go unanswered for over 1500 years, until we find that Moses’ complaint gave rise to what would later be called the Sanhedrin, which voted to have Jesus Christ crucified.

What we must take from these lessons is that it’s alright to pray for guidance and support from God, but we must be sure that our requests are not issuing from unbelief or ingratitude.

God, by his permissive will, sometimes allows a ‘Yes’ to our pleas and prayers and suggestions -- when the ‘No’ he directed in the first place was better.

For a further example, we do not need to look any further than the very next incident in chapter 11. When the people complained of manna, the daily food that God provided, God acquiesced to their complaints, promising he would send delicious quail into the camp in super-abundance--

until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?"  (Numbers 11:20)

We learn from Psalm 106:15, which comments on this incident, that  He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

We must always pray, to the degree that we can, from faith and gratitude. Because when we begin to think our suggestions could improve God’s program, he just might (as a means of loving instruction) allow our bright ideas to play themselves out…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dear God: If I may make a suggestion…" (part 1)

The Word for today:
Numbers 11, 12


Yesterday, we tried to show the importance of applying overall spiritual principles to the facts as they are presented in scripture.

We pointed to a seemingly uneventful passage in Numbers 10 where Moses asks his father-in-law, who’d lived in the wilderness area they were traversing, to be Israel’s “eyes.” It all sounded good. Moses was honoring, and trusting, his father-in-law’s experience and wisdom.

Yes he was. But as he did, he was dissing God. God had provided omniscient (all-knowing) guidance in the form of the pillar of cloud (by day) and fire (by night). For Moses to ask his father-in-law to serve as Israel’s eyes in the wilderness was a momentary lapse into unbelief. There is no other way to spin it.

Often, especially in the historical books of the Old Testament (Genesis through Esther) scripture doesn’t editorialize. It just lays out the facts and expects us to apply over-riding spiritual principles to them. If we don’t, we can completely misconstrue the passages we are reading.

Today’s reading provides another example of this. Moses, feeling overwhelmed, complains to the LORD that his duties are too much to bear. So God appoints 70 assistants to help him carry the load.

If this solution had been implemented by a human king or commander, it would be compassionate, sympathetic, and effective.

But God isn’t a human king or commander who sees the error of his ways and amends them. He is the Creator of the universe, who needs no suggestion box in order to optimally run the factory.

Unless we apply these biblical principles we can miss the point of this passage. Just because God agrees to appoint the 70 does not mean that Moses had a better idea. By saying yes to Moses suggestion, God is exercising what theologians call his “permissive will.”

He allows Moses’ request, but the reader can infer that when Moses’ spirit is divided among the 70 elders, there is no more power, just more machinery. What results is not a power profusion, but a power diffusion.

Moreover, the reader can hear the subtle note of ingratitude and unbelief in Moses’ request, implying that perhaps God wasn’t doing His best for Moses.

God’s “directive will” was that the power of Moses’ spirit be undivided. But why? Why hadn’t God come up with the great idea of the seventy elders in the first place?

We hope you’ll return tomorrow to find out what becomes of the Seventy…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

reading biblically: the facts speak for themselves

The Word for today:
Numbers 9:15-10:36

mark this:
Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel." He answered, "No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people." But Moses said, "Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes.” (Numbers 10:29-31)

 

God doesn’t get starry-eyed about people the way people get about people. Jesus, we are told, knew what was in man, and it wasn’t pretty:
But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. (John 2:24-25)

Scripture, seeing the world through God’s eyes, won’t let us stay starry-eyed either. It concludes all under sin (1). This offends many people. For example, Elton John, the acclaimed musician and moralist-in-his-own-mind, concludes otherwise:

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back, she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Perhaps Elton cruises a different boulevard than the one I live on. Because it is apparent, upon opening any daily newspaper, that a worldview which doesn’t account for sin, evil, fallen-ness, and depravity has a lot of explaining to do.

When reading scripture, we must see everyone – even Bible heroes like Moses – through the level gaze of God, concluding that all will, from time to time, fall short. Unless we make such foundational biblical principles part of our understanding, we won’t see things God wants us to see or learn the crucial lessons the Bible has for us.

For example, in Numbers 10 Moses asks his father-in-law to assist him, hoping that he would be “eyes” for Israel in a wilderness area which was familiar to him:

Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel." He answered, "No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people." But Moses said, "Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes.” (Numbers 10:29-31)

(If Moses’ spiritual error is not apparent (2), re-read the passage biblically, bringing over-riding spiritual principles to bear. If you’re still stumped, we love you to pieces anyway and in a couple paragraphs we will help you with the purport of the passage.)

Biblical literature is quite the opposite of today’s ‘journalism,’ which consists primarily of spin. ‘Facts’ are optional; those included (if any) are selected for their ability to prop up a particular agenda.

So we are not used to biblical reporting--which presents the facts, then leaves the 'spin' to us.

The Bible never says so, but it was a lamentable lapse of faith for Moses to enlist the help of human eyes when God had provided the pillar of cloud & fire to guide them through the wilderness. We are to learn from his lapse that even great faith can sometimes falter, reverting to human sight when supernatural vision is available.

***

God concludes that all fall short (3), including great heroes of faith. God also concludes that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (4), alert and intelligent enough to apply overall scriptural principles to the facts of any given story.

God has a high estimation of our reading comprehension skills. So let’s read biblically, and prove Him right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) Galatians 3:22
(2) It must be admitted, here in a footnote where nobody will see it, that this now-confident Bible reader had to take about twenty trips ‘round the block before it dawned on him that something in this passage was amiss. But we’ll just keep that to ourselves, won’t we. After all, I have an image to maintain!
(3) Romans 3:23
(4) Psalm 139:14

Shekinah: the arrivals and departures of Glory

The Word for today:
Numbers 8:1-9:14

mark this:

The Tabernacle was set up, and on that day the cloud covered it. Then from evening until morning the cloud over the Tabernacle appeared to be a pillar of fire. This was the regular pattern – at night the cloud changed to the appearance of fire. When the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel followed it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel camped. In this way, they traveled at the LORD's command and stopped wherever he told them to. Then they remained where they were as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle. If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed for a long time, just as the LORD commanded. Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days. Then at the LORD's command they would break camp. Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and moved on the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and followed. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. (Numbers 9:15-22)


The children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years. During all that time, a pillar (of cloud by day, of fire by night) hovered over the Holiest Place (the inner compartment of the Tabernacle.)

This was one of many things that made them different from any other nation. When Paul wanted to give some of their identifying marks, he wrote—

They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God's special children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave his law to them. (Romans 9:4)

These were the only people who ever had the visible presence of God with them.

You could not go to Moses and find out whether or not you’d be traveling tomorrow. Moses didn’t know because Moses wasn’t in charge. Instead, they kept their eyes on the pillar. When it lifted, they got ready to march. The Levites took down the Tabernacle. Then the trumpet sounded and they marched without haste, their banners flying in formation behind the ark. Considering that Israel numbered in the millions, it had to be an awesome sight.

This pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, known as the Shekinah glory, was the visible presence of God.

After their wilderness journey was over, and they were settled in the Promised Land, Solomon erected a temple to replace the mobile tabernacle. God hallowed the temple with His presence:

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord (1 Kings 8:10–11).

However, later in their history when Israel turned from God, the Shekinah glory left the temple. As though reluctant to leave (1), it momentarily hesitates on the mountain east of the city (the Mount of Olives) before disappearing into the heavens. Later, when Jesus ascends to heaven from that very spot (2), it is no coincidence.

John wrote that, “We beheld his glory.” But only Peter, James, and John glimpsed Jesus’ visible glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration. (It was his glory, not his deity, that he laid aside when he came to this earth.)

When he comes again, there will be the sign of the Son of man in heaven (3) as he returns to earth, touching down at the very spot, on the Mount of Olives, from which the Glory had once departed and from which he had previously ascended. (4)

***

That sign is not for the church. We are never given a visible presence of God. Rather, we are given the inward presence of God, the Holy Spirit indwelling us. The Spirit of God is in the believer today.

Israel followed the pillar and cloud through the wilderness. Walking by faith, not by sight (5), the church follows the Spirit through this wilderness of sin, as did Jesus:

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness... (Matthew 4:1)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) The Glory departed in stages: see Ezekiel 9:3, 10:4, 10:19, 11:23; (2) See Acts 1:9-12; (3) Matthew 24:30; (4) See Acts 1:9-12 and Zechariah 14:4; (5) 2 Corinthians 5:7

Numbers 7 is heaven

The Word for today:
Numbers 6.22-7.89

 

I’m a systematic Bible reader. I try to cover all the bases. It’s all the Word of God, so I don’t think it’s up to me to say that one part is more important than another part. Therefore I try to read Nahum and Obadiah with the same attention I give to Matthew and Ephesians.

But as you know, some parts of the Bible are very difficult to sit still for. One example is found here in Numbers 7. It takes great concentration to read 12 paragraphs in a row which all say exactly the same thing.

But that’s the way God wrote Numbers 7, and who am I to say the repetition makes no sense. Therefore, year after year I bore down throughout this chapter’s 89 verses. I was determined to give every word its due:
He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. And his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. (Numbers 7:12-17)

Now repeat until you’ve read the same thing twelve times. Each of the twelve “identical” paragraphs differs in just one way: the name of the person who brings those identical offerings.

As I read those very same details over and over and over, I kept on wondering why and why and why?

Then one day, I got the answer: this is exactly the picture that we will see in heaven. There will be Jim and Elizabeth and Joyce and Edward and Sandra and Robert and Sam and Debbie and Julie and Don and Franklyn and Shelley…

Everyone who is in heaven will be there for precisely the same reason: he brought an offering. And the offering each person brings will be precisely the same offering: The Lamb of God, Jesus.

So when twelve people in Numbers 7 bring exactly the same offering, that’s a wee microcosm of the day when 3 billion persons (give or take a trillion) each step forward to offer the Lamb of God.

Imagine, if you will, what it might be like if we were all given our moment to walk to the throne of grace with the Lamb of God, to appear before the Father and, like John the Baptist of old, point to Jesus and proclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God, who took away my sin!”

Sort of personalizes the process, don’t you agree?

I always had a hell of a time getting thorough Numbers 7, until I realized Numbers 7 is heaven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

when Nazirites are normal, you'll know you’re not in Kansas anymore

The Word for today:
Numbers 5:21- 6:21

mark this:

When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink.
All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head.
He shall not go near a dead body. Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean.  (from Numbers 6:2-7)



We have a certain fascination for the Nazirite.

For the duration of his vow, he couldn’t drink any wine or even eat a grape. He couldn’t cut his hair. He could have no contact, or even proximity, to the dead.

Though most Nazirite vows were temporary and were taken by adults, both Samuel and Samson were dedicated at birth to be lifelong Nazirites. (1 Samuel 1:11; Judges 13:3-5))

(Samson’s life would be defined more by his vow-breaking than his vow-keeping. His hair was, famously, cut. He reached inside the corpse of a lion for some honey. The Bible also infers that he attended many a party, and not as the designated driver. Samson’s Mom may have dedicated him as a baby, but it seems the grown-up Samson wasn’t as dedicated as Mom.)

John the Baptist was the most famous Nazirite of all. His wild hair and clothes and diet have come to define the genre.

The popular perception of the Nazirite, therefore, was that he was strange, weird, and unusual--which he was, when seen against the background from which he came.

But when seen from God’s point of view, the Nazirite was normal. Here’s why:

When the Nazirite vowed to dedicate himself to the LORD, he was a picture of what man was meant to be, all along. That Israel saw him as unusual was an indictment of how far man had fallen from God’s original intentions.

In the same way, when we look at the life of Jesus, we are not to think of it as unusual. He lived the way we were always meant to live! He bore, and restores in us, the image that we were given in the first place.

It is especially significant that Jesus, the ultimate Nazirite, never took the three-fold vows. He made water into wine, he touched the dead to raise them. And God only knows how long his hair was.

The point is that he did not need to effect the outward appearance of the life which he lived through and through, all the way from the inside out. The image and likeness of God, which the Nazirite vow reflected, was not necessary for Jesus to wear. He didn’t need to take a vow; to promise to become, temporarily, what he eternally is!

The Nazirite was a picture of the way we’re all going to be (not look).  Someday, when we see Jesus as he is, we will be like Him again (1), which will make the “non-Nazirite” seem strange.

On that day, when Samuel and John the Baptist seem normal, we’ll know we’re not in Kansas anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) 1 John 3:2

the family Name

The Word for today:
Numbers 3, 4

mark this:
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. (Numbers 3:1-3)

 

Biblical genealogies:

You’ve seen ‘em,
you’ve skipped ‘em,
but did you know you’re in ‘em?

The genealogy of Jesus Christ opens the New Testament and everything depends on it. We might skim those names, but you can be sure that the enemies of Jesus scrutinized every detail, hoping to expose a mistake.

We have coarse words for people who don’t know who their Dad is. But we’ll use illegitimate, a synonym which is slightly less stigmatized.

In the Old Testament, the priest had to be able to prove his heritage. He had to be able to prove that he was Levitical in order to be legitimate.

If he weren't from the tribe of Levi and the the clan of Aaron, he could not serve as priest. Here’s an instance, from the book of Nehemiah, of de-legitimacy due to a deficient genealogy:
The sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. (Nehemiah 7:63-64)

Can you declare your pedigree as a Christian? If you’re not sure, then let me point to your scriptural genealogy:

Now are we the children of God. (1 John 3:2)

You are the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)

To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. (Romans 8:14-16)

***

A Christian must and ought to know he’s a child of God:

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)

Any experienced child of God will tell you that there will come a dark wilderness night when the enemies of your soul will question your pedigree. When they do, you're in good comany--because they already tried it with Jesus:

And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." (Matthew 4:3)

They will say that you don’t resemble God at all. They will say that you don’t act like God all the time. (The attack usually comes when we are most vulnerable to these charges.)

That’s when you will need to turn to these verses, in order to set the record straight. So write them in the back of your Bible somewhere, read through them every now and then, and don’t skim!

Don’t try to defend yourself with your own words. Just show the enemy these words of God, which comprise your genealogy. Don’t try to joust intellectually with those who would question your eternal paternity. In the kingdom of heaven, as on earth, it’s not primarily what you know, but who you know:

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him.  (2 Timothy 1:12)

Just mention the Name of Jesus Christ, and indicate that you’re related to the Father through him. Then watch the enemy retreat. He cannot withstand the Name:

"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation." (Psalm 91:14-16)

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the carousel of unbelief

The Word for today:
Numbers 1, 2



“If only I knew then what I know now…”

That’s the lament of many lives. But a wavering believer’s lament is different.

The book of Numbers documents the wayward wandering of Israel. God told them the Promised Land was theirs for the taking. But instead of acting on God’s word, they looked at their enemies and their obstacles and let their fears overcome their faith.

The name of the book comes from the census taken in chapter 1 and another census in chapter 26. Those “numbers” tell a tragic tale. In chapter 1 there are 603,000 (men over 20, capable of combat.) In chapter 26 there are 2,000 less. They were fewer than when they had started.

And their forty years of wilderness wandering had gotten them exactly nowhere. When we get to chapter 20, they are at Kadesh Barnea — where they had refused to go into the Promised Land in the first place. It was like they were riding a merry-go-round and got off where they got on. Because of their unbelief, they had not advanced an inch.

A wasted generation ago, Israel had known what they needed to know. God had been their eyes. He told them what was up ahead. They knew, but they didn’t believe. They trusted their own limited vision instead.

When we look back over our lives, we will not regret that we weren’t told what was ahead. Our experiences will have confirmed that we were truthfully told all that we needed to know. Our regrets will be that we didn’t believe the advance word that we were given.

So why don’t we cut our losses right here and now. Let’s say you’ve known the Word but haven’t fully acted on it/followed it for two years, or ten, or twenty. That’s still a lot better than forty years of going nowhere.

Hank Williams, Jr. wrote that he was fated to live out the life his Daddy had led (1). We are not. We do not have to wait until we’re in Kadesh Barnea (again) to get off the Carousel of Unbelief.

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(1) “Family Tradition,” 1979

By faith others – “faithfulness”

The Word for today:
Hebrews 13.9-25

mark this:
Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:36-40)


Yesterday, I wrote that the persons enshrined in God’s Hall of Faith might seem, to us, to be less than likely candidates:

Who invited a con artist like Jacob to this party? Or a womanizer and vow-breaker like Samson? Or an adulterer like David? Or a prostitute like Rahab?

There are many persons in the Bible who make us wonder what God sees in them. Our befuddlement is compounded when God commends them amongst the heroes of faith.

Not many of us would have voted them into the Hall of Faith. If anything, we might have voted them into the Hall of Shame.

There’s a person you know who, to you, isn’t just less likely but least likely to ever have his portrait in the Hall of Faith. You’ve concluded that there’s no way that such a misfit could ever make it.

But just for the heck of it, I want you to envision this person’s portrait hanging in the Great Hall. The best way to do that is to walk into your bathroom, look into your mirror, and behold a hero of faith!

Then read what God said about the unnamed “others” in the Hall:

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated. (Hebrews 11:32-37)

Put yourself in the shoes of these others. What evidence did they see in their lives of the great faith that God would someday honor by including them among his Heroes of Faith. They weren’t, like the heroes mentioned in the preceding verses, conquerors who put armies to flight. They did not witness the resurrection of their loved ones. They did not enforce justice or stop the mouths of lions.

Instead their faith brought them mockery, affliction, and mistreatment. No signs and wonders, no acclaim, no miracles, no success at all. Many of them might have thought that their failures proved how weak their faith had been. In their very own eyes, I’ll bet that many of these “others” saw themselves as the last persons on the planet whom God would commend for faith.

Sound like anyone you know?

But in a very deep way, these “failures” had greater faith than the conquerors and the miracle makers. How so?

When we remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1), then these who remain faithful to God without tangible success are in a realm of faith which Jesus placed in a special category of its own:

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:27-29)


We think of faith in terms of drama -- as something akin to magic, as something that moves mountains. But that’s not the faith that is most precious to God. What honors God more than dramatic faith is expressed by a simpler and more modest word: faithfulness.

There’s an unrecognized hero of faith-fulness in that mirror of yours. She reads God Word, day by day, and stays true to Him.

She reads his letters every day, and remains true to Him while he’s away. That’s what a hero of faith looks like.

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By faith Rahab – “What are you doing here?”

The Word for today:
Hebrews 13:1-8

mark this:
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. (Hebrews 11:31)

I once had a snooty girlfriend who herself had many snooty friends. So it came to pass that my snooty girlfriend invited me to a snooty party at her snooty friend’s home.

At the time I was working until 9:00 p.m. almost every night. So I told my girlfriend that I’d be arriving a little late.

I was careful to bring what I considered my preppiest clothes to change into after work. But it turns out they weren’t preppy enough.

Because when I rang the doorbell a very pretty smiling faced opened, looked me over, turned her face back into the room and called out, “Did anybody order a pizza?”

For a second it was kind of funny. I actually glanced over my shoulder to see if there were a pizza delivery person, or a pizza delivery car in the driveway. There was not, so it dawned on me that Miss Snoot (who’d already had a snootful, I might add) was dissing me!

This was confirmed when, having ascertained that no one had ordered pizza, she turned back to me and asked, “What are you doing here?”

I was annoyed, and when I am annoyed I get quick-witted. “I’m here to raise the average IQ at this party by ten points,” I proclaimed as I strode past her and disappeared into the mix.

***

“What are you doing here?” Many people have the same question about some of the strange rangers who populate the pages of the Bible and, in some cases, have even been enshrined into the Bible’s Hall of Faith.

Who invited a con artist like Jacob to this party? Or a womanizer and vow-breaker like Samson? Or an adulterer like David? Or a prostitute like Rahab? Did anyone order a pizza?

There are many persons in the Bible who make us wonder what God sees in them. Our befuddlement is compounded when God commends them amongst the heroes of faith.

This is as it should be. God wants our presuppositions to be shaken to the core. He wants our sometimes spiritually snooty selves to understand that seeing all, he sees us all on the same basis — as sinners. Rahab had just been a more open sinner than some of us are.

But there’s never been a prayer meeting, or a pastor’s conference, or a church retreat where she wouldn’t raise the average Faith Quotient by 50 points — just by walking in the door.

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By faith Jacob — the fighter still remains

The Word for today:
Hebrews 12:18-29

mark this:
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.  (Hebrews 11:21)



A long, long time ago I grabbed my duffel bag and my track spikes and set out for Williamsburg, Virginia, to attend the College of William and Mary. It was 1971 and the world was as young as I was.

William and Mary was the east coast mecca for middle-distance runners. If you could make it there, you could make it anywhere. And I was going to try. By god, I was going to fly or die.

We weren’t, in 1971, within a million miles of the technological sophistication we take for granted today. We had transistor radios and record players with weak speakers. So when I got to William and Mary, I was blown away by the music I was hearing.

Some of those students were made of money. They didn’t have cars, they had imports. And they didn’t have radios, they had sound systems. So it was like hearing the music all over again. I was particularly taken with a song called “The Boxer,” by Simon and Garfunkel. I’d heard the song before, but not the way it sounded through a Yamaha receiver and Advent speakers.

The first lines seemed particularly appropriate to my situation:

I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.

When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station,
Running scared…

As the months went by, I learned that William and Mary wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and neither was I. And I kept on hearing that song, with its one-word chorus:

Lie-a-lie, lie la lie lie lie la lie, lie-a-lie

During my first season, I did not light up the skies at the east coast middle-distance mecca. Then the winter came on and I began to perceive, between the lines of my Mother’s letters, that all was not well with my Dad. About a week before the college emptied out for Christmas, I heard from the Boxer again:

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone,
Going home…

And I did.

***

When I first encountered Jacob in the book of Genesis, I distinctly remember thinking that I’d met my twin. He was a confidence man and a usurper, cutting the corners and playing the angles.

I read familiarly about his first trip away from home, when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to the stars. But time passed him by in the far country until, one night, he fled. Behind him were the lies and broken promises of his Uncle Laban. Ahead of him waited retribution, at the hands of Esau, for his own lies.

Sending his family and possessions ahead, he was alone again. Or so he thought, for that was the night he wrestled with God:
And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.  (Genesis 32:22-25)

God, ever the Savior — and by whatever means necessary -- had broken Jacob’s leg in order to save Jacob’s soul.

***

One of the dear scenes in scripture is when—wouldn’t you just know it-- God calls Jacob back for a curtain call. It doesn’t happen until way down at the other end of the Bible, in the New Testament book of Hebrews:

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. (11:21)

What staff? Remember that he had been crippled, so he had a staff that enabled him to walk. Even when death came, this man did not want to lie down and die.

That verse always carries me back—to Genesis; to races run and lost; to wishes, lies, and dreams; and to a clearing where stands a boxer,

A fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down

I don’t know what God broke in you to save your soul. He may have blessed you with a broken spirit, a broken heart, broken promises, or a broken leg.

What I have learned from my own wrestling match with God is that he will mend your heart but leave the stitches. He leaves just a little reminder of every glove that laid you down.

I’m not sure why. All I know is that there was another man in that wrestling match long ago, who to this day carries the marks (1) of the battle that saved your soul.

But the fighter still remains.

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(1) John 20:25-28

By faith Enoch -- the company God keeps

The Word for today:
Hebrews 12:1-17

mark this:  (Hebrews 11:5)
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.



Stand in the Rain likes to exercise its vivid scripturally-based imagination.  So when we see the chance, we take it.

Today’s article, then, will be in the realms of speculation, conjecture, whimsy, and delight. Though these things might not butter your bread, they will surely frost your cake…

Enoch is one of those characters who make the Bible a mystery! Just when you think you’ve got things figured out, you run into a Melchizedek or an Enoch to remind you that you don’t know jack, Jack.

Genesis gives us all of 51 words about Enoch…

Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not,  for God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24)

And every one of those 51 words leaves us hoping for the 52nd, which isn’t there—because Enoch isn’t there anymore, either.

Enoch is the answer to some of the best Bible trivia questions:

Q. Who is father and son, respectively, to the Bible’s oldest and second oldest persons, respectively?
A. That would be Enoch, whose son Methuselah (969 years) and father Jared (962 years) had the longest lives in scripture.

Q. There are two people in scripture who do not die. Name them.
A. Enoch and Elijah.

***

Most of the time, Enoch is taught as a picture of the Rapture, which he certainly is.  Stand in the Rain has already presented him in that way,  as a picture of our transported future selves.

But he’s more, so much more, than just Enoch the Transported.  So today we’d like to introduce you to Enoch the Transformed…

Genesis says that Enoch walked with God and he was not. Enoch had vanished! Certainly that can mean more than a mere disappearance. Could it be that as he walked with God, his “appearance” became more and more Christ-like, to the point where Enoch was not.

In this transcendent regard, carefully consider these scriptures:

John the Baptist:
"He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

The Apostle Paul:
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. “  (Romans 8:29)

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.  (1 Corinthians 15:49)

The Apostle John:
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2)

***

It is true that Enoch disappeared, in a moment—poof!

But the far greater story is that a man named Enoch, who had not walked with God for his first 65 years, turned his steps around. Nothing much happened at first, but day after day, step after faltering step, he kept on and on with God. Then one day, after 300 years of a re-shaping relationship, God noticed that Enoch had become so much like Jesus (and so unlike the old Enoch) that, effectively, Enoch was not.

So, the transformation complete, God took him.

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