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.

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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 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 the next holiday on the bigger calendar.  So let’s get into it before 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 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 its 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.

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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 said 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 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 a pretty girl’s eye.  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 ladies who clean 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.

On the other hand, 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 single peg God gave us to carry.

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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, Lou, 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.

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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.

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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.

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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, subservient 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 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.

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