Today’s reading includes Numbers 33:40-35:34, Luke 5:12-28, Psalm 65:1-13, Proverbs 11:23.

My focus today is on the cities of refuge, detailed in Numbers 35.

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

In our reading today we learn about the cities of refuge.  Six of the towns given to the Levites were to be known as cities of refuge.  These cities were designated places of safety for those who had accidentally killed someone.  They could run to a city of refuge and escape the whole “eye for eye” repercussions.  They must dwell in the city of refuge if they did not want to be killed by the avengers wanting to take their lives in revenge for the life accidentally taken.  We see in Numbers 35 that there were to be six cities of refuge, three on the east side of the Jordan River, where two of the tribes of Israel had decided to remain, and three on the west side in the land of Canaan.

Another interesting detail of concept of the cities of refuge is that the community was to protect the slayer from the avenger and escort them to the city of refuge.  Equally interesting is that the slayer had to remain there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the sacred oil.  (Numbers 35:25)

After the death of the high priest, the slayer could safely return to his own property, his family, and his life.

The slayer could not return to his life early, even if he had means to pay in retribution.  He could not buy his way out of his accidental sin.  He could only wait for the death of the high priest for this sin to be abolished.  He was at the mercy of the death of the high priest.

Interesting to note was that there were only six cities of refuge.  Six is the number for mankind.  Six is incomplete.  Seven is the holy number for completion and perfection.  So, where is the seventh city?  The one which completes and perfects the concept of the cities of refuge?  The seventh city is not a city at all.  The seventh perfect place of refuge is a Person.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  ² Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

                                                                                                Psalm 46:1-2

This Old Testament provision of cities of refuge was a foretaste of what was to come.  What had to happen for the slayer, the guilty one, to be released to live his life again?  The high priest had to die.  When Jesus, the greatest High Priest, died on the cross it forever released the guilty ones, thereby releasing them into a permanent place of safety and refuge.  We, the guilty ones, can now resume our lives, and rest securely in the fact that our God is our ever present, eternal refuge.

And once we understand our security in our Refuge, shouldn’t we “escort” others to this same truth?  Find your rest in Jesus, your City of Refuge.  Dwell there in His safety.  And then as a community of believers, let’s join together to escort others to this life-saving truth.

Today’s reading includes Numbers 32:1-33:39, Luke 4:31-5:11, Psalm 64:1-1-10, Proverbs 11:22.

In today’s reading we see the sad account of two of the tribes of Israel.  They experienced the same journey as the other 10 tribes.  They endured the wilderness, they saw the miracles, they experienced the fear, they worked through the complaints, they saw the discipline of the Lord when they sinned.  And now they were on the edge of the Promise land.  They had finally arrived.  And what did they want to do?  They wanted to stay back.  They wanted the safety of what they knew rather than step out in faith into all that God had promised them.  They wanted their wives and children to be safe, wanted to thrive in their occupation of raising livestock.  And from their perspective, the safest route to success was staying put.  So they took their petition and proposal to Moses.  They decided, like the prodigal son, to request their inheritance early, and went a step further by dictating what they wanted their inheritance to be.  Though Moses granted their request, he did so with much disgust.

⁶ Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Should your fellow Israelites go to war while you sit here? ⁷ Why do you discourage the Israelites from crossing over into the land the Lord has given them? ⁸ This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. ⁹ After they went up to the Valley of Eshkol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them.

                                                                                                Numbers 32:6-9

We see that Moses was disgusted for several reasons.  First, these two tribes were unwilling to receive the great gift God was offering them.  They were shrinking back for the safety of the known.  They were unwilling to step out in faith.  But just as our actions always have a domino effect, so was the case in this situation.  Their decision was discouraging the other ten tribes from crossing over into the promises God was offering them, too.  And this is what their ancestors before had done at Kadesh Barnea.  What happened there?

Kadesh Barnea was the infamous place of a huge failure of faith.  This is where they were previously on the outer edges of entering the promise land, the place “flowing with milk and honey”.  Moses sent 12 spies to scout out the land and to bring back samples of what was available there.  They brought back beautiful examples of grapes and other wonderful samples of the bounty of the land.  But they also brought back unbelief and fear.  All but two of the spies—Joshua and Caleb—discouraged the people.  They all agreed that the land was beautiful and bountiful, but instead of focusing on the blessing and promise of the Lord, they focused on their fear.  They said that there were giants in the land and that they seemed like grasshoppers in comparison.

So their fear replaced their faith and it spread like a contagious disease to all the people.  As a result, they all had to wander for 40 years.  And here they were once again on the edge of the Promise land and Moses was hearing a repeat of what happened at Kadesh Barnea. And Moses knew what could easily come.  Their lack of courage would discourage the other Israelite.  “Dis” is a prefix, derived from a Latin root.  It means to have a negative or reversing force.  When we are discouraged, we are experiencing the reversing of our courage.  It is a covert tool the enemy of our soul often uses, especially to divert us from a path God wants us to take.

What can we learn from this account?  We are at times tempted to settle for less than the beautiful things God has planned for us.  We want to settle into a life of spiritual mediocrity. We want to feel the safety of what is known rather than step out in faith into what is unknown.  As our courage wanes, we become the source of discouragement for ourselves and others.  And what should we do in these times of discouragement?  Turn our eyes to the One who can keep us steady and help us stay the course.  We can remind ourselves of the truth and proclamation Moses said to Joshua, just before he led the people into the Promise land.

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

                                                                                                            Joshua 1:9

Today’s reading includes Numbers 28:16-29:40, Luke 3:23-38, Psalm 62:1-12, Proverbs 11:18-19.  As I read through the text I saw a phrase repeated several times.  See if you can find it in the following verses.

⁶ This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.

                                                                                                Numbers 28:6

 ² As an aroma pleasing to the Lord, offer a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

                                                                                                Numbers 29:2

Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days. ¹³ Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect.

                                                                                                Numbers 29:12-13

³⁵ “‘On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly and do no regular work.³⁶ Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

                                                                                                Number 29:35

Over and over in this passage and in many others throughout the Bible we see that the sacrifices were a pleasing aroma to the Lord.  To us, it may smell like burning flesh, to God it may smell like the best barbeque, something He savors.  But it is not the savoring of the food, it is the savoring of the redemption it brings to the people He adores, His children whom He created.  God loves the sinner.  And even more than that, God loves the sinner who is working out his salvation, who is in the process of redemption, who is the prodigal son returning home.  And in the Old Testament, that was represented by the smell of a burning sin sacrifice. On outward appearance, it was the aroma of death.  But to God it was the aroma of life, for through the death of the sacrifice, life comes.

Recently, I saw a video of a sermon by Pastor Jim Cymbala which really touched my heart.  He shared a beautiful story of ministering to a homeless man and being ministered to himself.  When the man came forward, the smell that surrounded him was almost unbearable.  Cymbala tried to give him money but the man pushed the money away, saying, “I don’t want your money, I want this Jesus you are talking about.”  And great conviction fell upon the good pastor and he began to weep.  He and the homeless man embraced each other and wept.  And Cymbala heard the whispering of the Holy Spirit.  These were the life changing words: “You see that smell?  If you don’t love that smell, I could never use you.  Because the whole world smells that way to Me.  All the stinking, filthy sin of mankind—I sent my Son to die for that smell.  So you’re either gonna embrace it and love people in My Name or I can’t use you, I’ll put you on the shelf.”  Pastor Cymbala went on to say, “And with God as my witness, you can believe it or not, suddenly that smell was like the most beautiful ladies perfume you have ever smelled in your life.  It was overwhelming.”

William Wiberforce was a leader in the movement to abolish slave trade.  One of his tactics was to take influential people on tours of the slave ships. Once they entered the ship, they experienced the smell of death, and the unpleasantness made them want to rid themselves of slavery.  My husband, Mont, says we as Christians should appeal to the senses of non-Christians.  They should see our good works, they should hear our truth spoken in kindness, they should feel our love, they should “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) by our friendship, and they should smell the fragrance of Him upon us.  This fragrance should be that of life, causing them to want to break free from their own forms of slavery and end their smell of death.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?

                                                                                                2 Corinthians 2:14-16

Today’s reading includes Numbers 26:52-28:15, Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17.  Today what caught my attention was the following verses:

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. ¹³ After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, ¹⁴ for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

¹⁵ Moses said to the Lord, ¹⁶ “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community ¹⁷ to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership,^[f] and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. ²⁰ Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. ²¹ He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

²² Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

                                                                                                            Numbers 27:14-23

This passage indicates that this was the beginning of the end for the incredible life of Moses.  He was not to be the one to lead the people into the Promise Land.  He had been a faithful leader through the wilderness, but was now required to pass the baton to another.  And why was he not allowed to fulfill the mission to the end?  Because “when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.”  So, what really happened in the Desert of Zin?  The story is back in Numbers 20.  The people were once again complaining and coming in opposition toward Moses and Aaron.  There was no water and the people wanted to pick another leader who would return them to the land of their slavery.  This is what happened:

⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “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. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

                                                                        Numbers 20:6-12

Moses was angry.  He was angry at the people and his anger clouded his view of what God wanted to do.  He had already seen the glory of the Lord when he sought Him in the tent of meeting.  He humbly asked God’s advice, and God told him exactly what to do.  But when he left the tent of meeting, his anger towards the people returned.  And he made several critical mistakes.  God intended this time to be a time of showing His holiness to the people. Moses was told to speak to the rock, just as God spoke the world into existence.  But instead he struck the rock not once but twice in anger.  He also took the credit for it by saying “must we bring you water…”  The “we” was he and Aaron, who of course could not have provided water from a rock.  Only God could do that.  And lastly, he made a grave mistake by not honoring God and His holiness in the sight of all of the Israelites.  Moses publically led the people to lose their focus on God and place it on man instead.  In God’s eyes, leaders are held to a higher degree of accountability.  Just look and see the stricter qualifications of the deacons and elders found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9.  Yes, Moses had to be punished.  But he still was favored and adored by God as evidenced by the fact that God took him to the Promise land and let his eyes see the land he had searched for.  Though he would not be allowed to walk in the land, he was allowed to see it.  He was allowed to complete his mission of guiding the people to the Promise land.

A lesser man would have possibly been jealous of the next leader, or bitter towards God that he was being replaced.  But not Moses.  He asked the Lord to replace him with a great leader, someone who would be a shepherd to the people and lead them well.  And God answered Moses prayer and appointed Joshua to take the position.

Moses was given the honor of commissioning someone who had been his faithful helper throughout the years.  Joshua had proved that he had a spirit of leadership through the years of hardship and struggle.  And what were the characteristics of this spirit of leadership?

Joshua had proved that he was a whole-hearted follower of God for it was said that he rarely left the tent of meeting—the church of the day.

Joshua had proved that he was courageous by leading the fight against the Amalekites.

Joshua had proved that he was humble by submitting to and backing Moses’ authority.  He did not follow Korah’s rebellion like 250 of the other prominent leaders did.

Joshua had faith in God’s provision, not his own.  He and Caleb were the only ones of the twelve spies that were optimistic and courageous enough to believe that they could possess the Promise Land.  He and Caleb alone stood up for God’s cause and now is reaping the blessing of his obedience.  He found first hand that it is better to stand up for righteousness, even if you have to stand alone.  In time, God will reward.

So, in this spirit of leadership with the characteristics of faith, courage, and humility, Joshua was appointed the next leader of the people of God.

Is God calling you to be a leader?  In your home?  Among your friends?  In your church?  At work?  Then keep in mind what God’s view of leadership is, and make sure your character exudes these three things:  faith, courage, and humility.

Today’s reading includes Numbers 26:1-51, Luke 2:36-52, Psalm 60:1-12, Proverbs 11:15.

In today’s reading we see more evidence of why this book of the Bible was named Numbers.  After the plague, the warriors were numbered once again, according to tribe.  Lots of names and lots of numbers.  I am sure we could take any of the names from any of the tribes and after studying it out, find something interesting.  But today, only one verse caught my attention.  It was found in the listing of the tribe of Asher.  Who was Asher?  He was Jacob’s eighth son, and the second of Jacob’s two sons by Zilpah, Leah’s maid. The other son by Zilpah was Gad.  His name means “happy, fortunate, blessed”.

¹² Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah named him Asher,^[e] for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”

                                                                                    Genesis 30:13

When Jacob blessed his sons with a prophetic blessing in Genesis 49, Jacob declared words of good fortune and that “Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings.”  Indeed, the descendants of Asher did grow and increase in number and power.  In the two censuses found in the book of Numbers, the tribe of Asher grew from 41,500 to 53,400 adult males.  An interesting, but probably insignificant fact to note:  When the combined numbers of Asher’s warriors are combined, the total is 12, God’s holy number representing His family and His covenant.

Later, we see that they accomplished great things and failed at some, too.  But in the end, the tribe of Asher, along with the others of the 12 tribes of Israel, is promised the Seal of God for 12,000 of their members in the book of Revelation.

Asher seemed to have a special blessing in his life and in his lineage.  It was found in Numbers 26:46.

⁴⁶ Asher also had a daughter named Serah.

Out of all the names listed in all the tribes, this is the only name of a woman.  Her name meant “princess” and was a derivative of the name Sarah or Sarai.

Why was Serah so important to be listed among the warriors of the tribes of the Lord’s family?  The truth is, we don’t know much.  But she is listed as one of the 70 members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt.  The fact that she is the only woman listed in the genealogical lists indicates that there was something powerful, courageous, or extraordinary about her personal history.  Many Jewish legends were created with Serah being the heroine.  As far as what we know through scripture, her name pops up several times, possibly over a period of two hundred years, thus the Jewish describe her as the oldest ancient woman.

But with all this vague information, what can we learn from Serah?  What can we learn from the fact that her name was listed as a place of honor, but without detail?  When I began to think about it, what popped in my head was this scripture:

¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

                                                                                                Luke 10:19-21

We can do many mighty and important things.  We actually have been given the power and authority through the Holy Spirit to have great victories in our lives.  But recording our strength, even our victories, is not what is important.  The fact that our names are written and recorded in heaven is where our great significance lies.  And we could not have that greatest victory if it had not been given to us as a gift from Jesus.

The important thing is not that others see what great things we do, but that God sees what we do. Though others may not see, God sees every secret, righteous thought, word, deed, and prayer.

We have an audience of One and any good we have in character or action is from Him and for Him.  The greatest things we do, most people will never see nor know about nor record for posterity’s sake.  But God sees and God knows and He records our names in the Lamb’s book of Life.

³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

                                                                                                            Matthew 6:3-5