Sonshine's Journal

Moses returns our thoughts back to the sin of Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire in the Holy Place and God took their lives. As hard as that was, it teaches us the failure of our sinfulness before a Holy God. So, when this chapter crosses our reading, we are to stop and ponder what price has been paid for our sins. In the OT, it was the price of slain animals and their blood and the one goat paying the price of separation from the congregation. Aaron as High Priest offered the blood for himself and the people on this day before God. 

Fast forward to Hebrews 9 and we read: that Christ entered once for our sins. He is our atonement. Two steps: one is the shed blood for our sins and the scapegoat is the price of separation from our sins. Jesus paid it all and for that we are most grateful. 

Today as you read these chapters stop and ponder the price for your sin. Is Jesus your atonement? Have you accepted His payment? Are you now like the free goat or are you like the separated goat wandering in the desert of your sins? Christ is the One whose sacrifice truly cleanses the heavenly holy places, and he’s the One who, like the scapegoat, utterly removes and bears away our sins.

The nation of Israel has been wandering and will continue to wander for many years—-all because they refused to obey God. How often do we wander because of the same issue? We move from here to there and are never content. But, one day we will be when we see and understand the ways of God. When that happens, God will open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings upon us too numerous to hold. That has been my experience over and over. We wonder why and it is this: we are never satisfied and content with what God has given us now and are looking for more and more. The children of Israel have never been content and still are discontented. But, for me, I am content. Be careful what you wish for as God may indeed continue to bring these discontented ideas to you until you learn contentment. 

Now as to Moses. God reveals to us why he could not enter the Promised Land. He had disobeyed and did not trust God. Another lesson for us. Obey God. Listen to Him and follow His ways. Thus God told him to climb to the top of Pisgah and there prepare Joshua to lead. Did Moses cry? Did he plead with God? Yes and yes but God told him to be silent. When God tells us no are we silent or do we weep? 

Welcome to the book of Deuteronomy and its lessons for us. 

We as 21st century believers still have problems when we read chapters like this. We ask, isn’t God a God of love and mercy? Or, isn’t God patient not willing any to perish? Why would He want vengeance against the Midianites? To understand, we must return to previous chapters where we read about the sin of immorality. We read that Phineas had killed an Israelite that blatantly brought a Midianite woman to the camp for sexual pleasure. We erroneously thought that was enough but God saw way beyond that circumstance to what lay ahead if not found a way to end this sin. So he gave the rule to the Israelites to kill all those who perpetrated this sinful character. 

The world sees this as a character flaw but instead God is showing us how to purify a people for His kingdom work. God cannot tolerate sin and He will use whatever means to cleanse it from the land and the people. He could have brought physical destruction but instead He chose to use the armies of Israel and we ask why?  Perhaps this is the reason: God wants us to see the gravity of sin upon God’s people. He wants us to see the price that has to be paid. 

It is the same with the church in Corinth. Paul led the people to realize the gravity of sin and how to cleanse the church. God sent His Son to pay the price of our sin and why no longer does a chapter like this one need to be revisited. 

When we as Christians read these chapters we wonder why God had the Israelites bring so many offerings and why were women left to their men to nullify or keep vows. So let’s step back and see if we can understand the reasons behind these chapters.

First why so many offerings and why so many details? The answer may lie in this fact, men are inherently sinners and in need of repentance and cleansing. These offerings reveal to the people how sinful they were and the heavy price that must be paid to rectify them before a holy God. 

Now as to vows made by women but can be removed by the men in their family. Again, we must understand the vow, understand the reasoning and the wisdom of the men who hear and decide. God holds the male family member responsible for his household. That is a heavy responsibility for the men. 

Principles to glean: What we see as strange is indeed perfectly made pure by God’s design. God has set aside these chapters to remind us of the power of offerings to cleanse us and to remove vows that would not honor God. 

What we fail to realize is that sin is sin, righteousness is purity and holiness. We also fail to realize our sin corrupts not just ourselves but others as well. God clearly had given examples to follow for righteousness and the early Israelites knew them, yet one man decided rules didn’t apply to him. His lust for sex led him to seek pleasure rather than holiness and the consequence was the loss of his life and the woman with whom he sought that pleasure. We fail to realize how our sin affects others as well as ourselves. It destroys our testimony and God’s blessing that He had planned for us. It is interesting to read that both were named and thus this is not just a random point but for all eternity they and their sin is noted. Be careful what you wish for! 

Second example is in the lives of five daughters of Zelophehad, all of whom were righteous. Since they had no longer any male to seek a husband for them, they came to Moses for wisdom. This was wise and honoring to their father as well as the community. Zelophehad had only borne daughters, not sons so they had no one to seek suitors for them. Moses went to the Lord for direction and God honored these young women. All were blessed and given direction on how to obtain a husband since their father had passed away. 

We can learn much from these two examples of what to do and what not to do. Do we seek to honor or to bring dishonor to our families and our nation? 

Moses gave rules and laws regarding sin as given by God. He revealed the laws regarding intentional sin and unintentional sin. How does one know if they have sinned unintentionally? Only the heart will reveal to us that area. John reminded his readers of that fact. “Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God.”  [1 John 3:21]. That word confidence means: “2) free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance 3) the deportment by which one becomes conspicuous or secures publicity.”

While there may have been a distinction in terms of the consequences of unintentional and intentional sins in the Old Testament, the Bible is clear all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Rom 3:23. Today take time to spend in prayer seeking the heart of God and your heart. Does your heart speak words of condemnation or  freedom of that? Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. 

Cleansing oneself to be pure like Jesus involves a daily, intentional process of sanctification through faith, repentance, and obedience to God’s Word. Key practices include confessing sins to receive forgiveness, renouncing ungodly behaviors, renewing the mind with Scripture, and relying on the Holy Spirit to transform the heart and actions. Where are you today?

When we murmur or complain the Lord is displeased. These chapters prove that point and are a reminder of what that cost is. God sent them to spy out the land and they did but the report they brought back put fear into the hearts of the people. Here we see the “deadly d” of discontent, discouragement, dismay, and more. Only Joshua and Caleb had pure faith and God spared them with His outstretched hand with the promise of inheriting the land they had seen. Forty years and the death of that generation only these two would be alive to tell about it to the next generation. Caleb would remind Joshua of God’s promise and he did indeed inherit the land he had seen. 

How often do we complain and murmur? It displeases God and it spreads like a plague through the camp or in our case, our church, our families, our nation etc. Beware of this sin! 

From early on, Moses inquired of the Lord how to worship Him. God gave Moses several requirements and now the time has come for them to consecrate the work and the workers. Great detail is given so that all are aware of the price that was paid for this place of worship. Moses listed not only the gifts but the men who came forward to present the offerings. After the last of the presentation of the gifts, Moses consecrated the Tabernacle. From there, Moses led them further into the wilderness where they could worship the Lord. As they journeyed, the cloud moved or lingered. The flame of the Light of God also illuminated their journey and it too, moved or lingered. But, the most important part of this movement were the words Moses spoke: 

Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, 

“Rise up, O Lord! 

And let Your enemies be scattered, 

And let those who hate You flee before You.” When it came to rest, he said, 

“Return, O Lord, 

To the myriad thousands of Israel.”

What a wondrous set of verses to remind them and us in turn, that God goes before us and behind us to protect us. Today, we have the Holy Spirit to do the same. Do we honor the Lord such as this to honor the Lord who is our Protector? 

As we have seen over and over that God is the God of order and this also pertains to how he ordered the movement of the Tabernacle from one place to another. Aaron and his two remaining sons were given strict orders in how to prepare the furniture in the Holy Place. First they were to cover all with a blue cloth and then to cover that with a leather cloth. The leather would thus protect in inclement weather and also the sun’s harsh rays. How good is our God to give these men explicit instructions which they followed for years. How good are these men to be obedient. 

The lesson we learn from this chapter is that God desires obedience with clear instructions for Him to bless them. This is a beautiful reminder to us about  these same standards. The question before us is: Are we following God’s explicit instructions regarding the things pertaining to the house of God? I love how our church does this in the preparation of the communion elements which are covered until the appropriate time in the service. How about you? Are you obeying God in all His instructions whatever they may be? 

God called Moses to teach and to prepare the nation of Israel so they were given such orders that all may be organized and with proper design. Paul referenced this about God to the Corinthians and to us in turn: “1Co 14:33 for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints,” He spoke to the church but the principle is such: all things are to be done in order just as He ordered creation from day one to day six and then rested on the seventh. 

Here God orders that creation of a protective group of the nation, specifically the Levites to serve Aaron and the priesthood. He told them to organize them with specific duties to assist Aaron and his remaining two sons. Guzik writes a helpful note: “to be a priest and to be a Levite were not the same thing at all. Only those who were descendants of Aaron could be priests.”  

Today as you observe your church’s function, note the order and honor such for in doing so you present men to serve and to honor God’s design.