Today’s reading is Numbers 15:17-16:40, Mark 15:1-47, Psalm 54:1-7, Proverbs 11:5-6.

In Numbers 15 we read again of sacrifices to be made in the event a person sinned.  There were many sins considered, but the one that stands out to me in this chapter was the sin of forgetting the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was to be received as a gift, and yet many saw it as an obligation.  We often still feel this way.  But the Sabbath is a gift for our benefit and for His glory.  Even if we felt we didn’t need it, we should observe it and keep it holy simply because the Lord God, Creator of the Universe said to.

It is the mercy and grace of God that He provided in such detail the provisions for forgiveness of sin He knew the people would commit.  But what if they didn’t sin so much?  Often, the sins were not deliberate.  Many could have been summed up as unholy forgetfulness.  And so, He gave instructions for a reminder.  It was a blue tassel.

³⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, ³⁸ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. ³⁹ When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. ⁴⁰ The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!”

                                                                                                Numbers 15:37-41

The people, not just the priests, were to make tassels for the hems of their clothing and attach them securely with a blue cord.  When they saw the tassels they would remember to obey the commands, remember to obey instead of following their own desires, as they were prone to do.  As we, too, are prone to do.  I picture the tassels blowing in the wind, I picture the tassels moving as they walked—wherever they walked.  And the movement of the tassels would cause them to remember the Lord their God.  The Lord repeated himself three times when he described why they should remember:  “I am the Lord your God…that I might be your God…I am the Lord your God!”

Think for a moment about the blue cord.  Do you remember what the color blue represented?  Blue represents the heavenly things.  It describes the sky, Heaven, and the Holy Spirit.  We need to be reminded of the heavenly things, the heavenly way.  We may not wear tassels with blue cords to do that, but we do have the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the blue, to walk with us wherever we go.

On this Sabbath day, let’s make an effort to remember the Lord our God that we might not sin against Him.  Let’s praise Him for His forgiveness and ask Him to send us reminders each day to follow Him instead of our own desires, as we are prone to do.

Come Thou Fount

Come thou Fount of every blessing; Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above,
Praise the mount; I’m fixed upon it: Mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by thy help I’m come
And I hope, by thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home,
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love,
Here’s my heart. O take and seal it; Seal it for thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wand’ring from the fold of God,
He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed his precious blood,
/Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love./
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let they goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart. O take and seal it; Seal it for thy courts above.

Today’s reading is Numbers 14:1-15:16, Mark 14:53-72, Psalm 53:1-6, and Proverbs 11:4.

But today, my thoughts are still in Numbers 13.  Verse one begins a critical period in the life of these former slaves.  The Lord wants Moses to send men out to explore the land of Canaan, the Promise Land.  God made it clear that He was going to give this land to the Israelites.  And so, Moses obeyed and selected 12 men, one leader from each tribe.  The next verses describe which men are sent and which tribe they represent.  And then we get to verse 16.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

In that verse, we see a tiny bit of information that is very important to the future.  This was a prophetic name change.  Hosea means “salvation”, which is a positive word in itself.  But Joshua means “YAHWEH is salvation”.  Much better!

In one commentary, it was further explained that Joshua’s old name meant “he saves” but the new name meant “the Lord is salvation” and “he will save.” So, this holy new nickname took the meaning of his birth name, “he saves” which indicated a present reality, and moves it to a prophetic reality of “he will save”.  And most importantly, the “he” of the salvation was not a random hero, but the everlasting God, who not only saves now, but will save in the future.   Joshua would live out this truth as he led the people through conquering the Promise land.

Moses must have prophetically known that Joshua was special—selected by God for an important work to come.  When Moses held up the staff of God with Aaron and Hur helping him hold up his arms, Joshua was leading the fighting on the battlefield.  Moses had the vantage point to see that Yahweh was the salvation.  Afterwards, he said to write the details on a scroll and then said, “And make sure Joshua sees it.”  He knew that Hosea regarded salvation, but he needed to become Joshua, who regarded salvation as from the Lord alone.  In the future, Joshua would not need to rely on the concept of salvation alone, for only the salvation of the Lord could help him lead the people in conquering their rightful land.

There are many examples of prophetic name changes. Throughout biblical history we find that over and over there is emphasis made on someone’s name.  In the Prayer of Jabez by Bruce H. Wilkinson there is great emphasis on the fact that Jabez meant “sorrow maker”.  And Jabez, knowing the implications of his name, prayed the following prayer:  Jabez cried out to the God of Israel,

“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. 

                                                                          1Chronicles 4:10 

The prayer that Jabez prayed was a prayer to overcome the meaning of the name and all the implications that followed the name.  Proverbs 22:1 tells us that “A good name is more desirable than great riches”.  For many reasons that I don’t fully understand, a person’s name is valuable and can help or hinder someone.  Before we take this too literally, I need to explain that most of the value or hindrance attached to a name is in the spiritual realm and in the actions associated with the name.  There are many examples in the Bible in which God changes a particular person’s name so that they can rise above life’s circumstances and fulfill all that God’s plan intends for them to fulfill.  A few common examples are the following:

Abram to Abraham

Abram meant “exalted father”.  This is ironic because his greatest struggle was the infertility that he and Sarah experienced.  Abraham meant “Father of Many”.  God was preparing him for the extraordinary.  Not only would he become a father, but would become the father that had as many descendents as the sands of the ocean.

Sarah to Sarai

Sarah was first Sarai.  Both names meant “princess”, but Sarah meant “God’s princess”….preparing the ordinary for the extraordinary.

Jacob to Israel

Jacob meant “deceiver”. After persistent wrestling with spiritual issues, God changed his name to Israel, which meant “Prince of God”.  The deceiver became a nobleman, royalty in God’s Kingdom.

 Saul to Paul 

Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle.

Simon to Peter

Simon’s name was changed to Peter, the rock on which God built his church, and this was after he betrayed the very One who was going to do the extraordinary work.  God still wanted to use him in an extraordinary way.

Hosea to Joshua

And here we find in Numbers 13 that Joshua, too, had a name change.  Moses, through prompting and a prophetic word from God, gave Joshua this new name right before he went into the Promise land the first time as one of the 12 spies.  The meaning of his new name bore fruit at this time when he returned and he and Caleb were the only ones to believe that God could save.  They stood up and said, “…do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up.  Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us!”  He trusted in the Lord’s salvation, not his own.  And that trust continued throughout his lifetime.

In each of those examples we see a 2-part process.  First, there was relationship with God, and then there was significant change in their ordinary lives, which prepared them for the extraordinary.  We don’t need to change our names to be used of God.  The point is not really about the names themselves.  The point is about us and our view of us.  How do you view yourself?  There are 2 opposite extremes that are equally dangerous and wrong.  One extreme is the puffed up, prideful person who thinks very highly of himself…Let’s look at what the Word has to say about that type of person:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

                                                                             Romans 12:3

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

                                                                            Proverbs 16:16

But what I find more often among women is the opposite extreme.  So many women are bound by the negative view that they have of themselves.  Self-image and self-esteem are hot topics these days, because so many people are crippled by a misplaced view of themselves.  I say misplaced because our tendency is to view ourselves through the eyes of the world, through what others think about us, or through our past.  Many times our past cripples our ability to be fruitful and fulfilled in our present and our future.  And that is just what the enemy of our soul wants to happen.  But God has a different plan for us.  He wants us to view ourselves in the way that He sees us.  Yes, He knows our sin.  Yes, He knows our past.  Yes, He knows everything about us.  But this is an example of how He views us:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

                                                                             Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

                                                                              Jeremiah 31:3

Revelations 2:17 says:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”

In heaven, we, the children of God will be given a precious white stone, with a new name inscribed on it.  This holy ‘nickname’ will be just between us and God; a holy, loving symbolism of all He sees in us, through His never-failing eyes of love.

Today’s reading includes Numbers 11:24-13:33, Mark 14:22-52, Psalm 52:1-9, Proverbs 11:1-3.

Today, I am thinking about Moses.  What a job he had!  What a life he led.  His greatness was hidden in the wrappings of an ordinary basket.  He was a sinner, a rebe,l which led to his title of murderer.  Then he was a flee-er, running away from his mistakes.  Then, he was a settler—settling for a life of mediocrity, not wanting to rock the boat, just wanting to tend his sheep.  But then, there was the bush burning with holy calling, holy forgiveness for his past, holy trust beckoning him to go do the job God knew he could do.

What most important characteristic do we see in Moses as a result of his past, his encounter with a holy God, his reluctance to feel equipped to handle the call?  The characteristic developed through the fire of trial and the face to face with a holy God was humility.  Today we read in Numbers 12:3 about the humility of Moses.

³ (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

In all the world, he was the most humble.  That was why he was honored above all to be the great leader of God’s chosen people.  It wasn’t his talents, his personality, or his drive.  It was his humility.

What is humility?  My dictionary says it is a modest or low view of one’s own importance.

It doesn’t say that it is a low self-esteem.  It doesn’t say that it is description of one who doesn’t think very highly of themselves.  It says that they have a low view of their importance.  Which means they realize that other people, other causes, other callings are more important than they are; are more important than what they desire.

I have heard it said that it is not that a humble person does not think very highly of themselves, but that a humble person doesn’t think very often of themselves.  They are too busy thinking of others.

In today’s text, we see that his humility resulted in an intimate and close relationship with God.  God trusted him.

⁶ And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say:

“If there were prophets among you,
    I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions.
    I would speak to them in dreams.
⁷ But not with my servant Moses.
    Of all my house, he is the one I trust.
⁸ I speak to him face to face,
    clearly, and not in riddles!
    He sees the Lord as he is.
So why were you not afraid
    to criticize my servant Moses?”

Not only did God trust him because of his humility, God also defended him.  When Aaron and Miriam got jealous, they started criticizing him.  They criticized his wife, and they criticized the importance of his calling.  In their pride, they believed that they were just as capable of leading the people and hearing from God as Moses was.  But it was that very pride which eliminated their ability to hear truth from God.  They were thinking of themselves and had convinced themselves that their criticisms were valid.  One thing of importance to note.  This was a sibling fight.  Aaron was Moses’ brother and Miriam was Moses’ sister.  Sometimes we don’t take seriously the command to love one another well among our family members.  We often speak harsh and vicious words and justify our actions because the recipients are our family members.  We would never speak that way to those outside of our family, so why do we think it is okay among our family?  When this justification happened among these two siblings, God was not pleased.  Not at all.  It is significant to me that God called them all to the Tabernacle—to the holy place.  And the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud—the same pillar that had been leading them.  This pillar was their safety and their security for this was the presence of God.  But God loves us too much to leave us in our sin, even in the “little” sin among our family members.  Verse nine is frightening indeed:

“The Lord was very angry with them and he departed.”

When He departed, the consequences of sin had its full impact and Miriam stood covered with leprosy.  Remember that leprosy represented sin and uncleanness.

A lesser man would have felt justified.  A lesser man would have been happy that they were punished.  But what did the humility of Moses bring forth?  He stood in the gap.  He cried out to the Lord, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!”  And God listened to the plea of His humble servant and did heal her. But not until she had time to learn the lesson he wanted her to learn.  She was kept outside the camp for seven days until the discipline had its complete and perfect work in her heart.

So, what is the practical lesson for us?  Seek humility in all things and in all relationships.  Then we just may be ready to be used of God.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:10-12

Today’s reading includes Numbers 10:1-11:23, Mark 14:1-21, Psalm 51:1-19, Proverbs 10:31-32.

Arise.  That is the word that stands out to me today.  Arise.  What does it mean to arise?  I saw two definitions in my dictionary:  1.) emerge; become apparent, and  2.) get or stand up.  This is the passage that caught my attention today:

³³ They marched for three days after leaving the mountain of the Lord, with the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant moving ahead of them to show them where to stop and rest. ³⁴ As they moved on each day, the cloud of the Lord hovered over them.³⁵ And whenever the Ark set out, Moses would shout, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!” ³⁶ And when the Ark was set down, he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel!”

                                                                                                Numbers 10:33-36

In this passage, we find the people of God leaving the mountain of the Lord, going out into the wilderness, with the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant moving ahead of them, leading the way.  It showed them the place of rest.  It showed them to way to go. The ark contained the reminders of His faithful covenant, as well as His concentrated, holy presence.  And as the Ark went forward leading the way, Moses would shout “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered!  Let them flee before you!”

This was a shout of confidence, a shout of dependence.  He did not depend on himself as a leader, nor did he depend on the fighting skills of the people.  He depended on the Lord to lead and the Lord to make a way.  He depended on the Lord to arise, to stand up, emerge, and become apparent.  That is all it would take to scatter the enemies before them—for God to simply emerge and become apparent.  It does not say, “Fight, Oh Lord!” nor “Call down fire, Oh Lord!”  It says, “Arise..emerge…become apparent.”

The cry for God to arise is found in many other places in scripture.  Here are a few of those places:

Arise, O Lord! Rescue me, my God! Slap all my enemies in the face! Shatter the teeth of the wicked!

Psalm 3:7

Arise, O God, and defend your cause.

Psalm 74:22

Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

Psalm 68:1

All of these verses have the same theme.  Those praying these militaristic prayers want to see God emerge and come to their rescue.  They want to see His presence.  They want to see their long-awaited victory.  And He does arise, and He will arise on our behalf, when we trust in Him and when we are walking in His ways and along His path.  But then there is another scripture with the theme of arise.

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

Isaiah 60:1

This is an admonition to Jerusalem, but it is an admonition to us, as well.  If we have the Light, we will be the light to a dark world.  But we must arise.  If we lay hidden we will not shine.  We must arise in the confidence that our God goes before us.  We must arise and trust that He will arise and makes our enemies scatter.

We must arise, shine because He arose.

He arose from the grave and not only scattered, but destroyed our great enemy of death and sin.  We arise out of our fear, we arise out of our complacency, we arise out of our sorrow and shame–all in the confidence that He arose and has already defeated our great enemy.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.

Isaiah 60:1-2

Today’s reading includes Numbers 8:1-9:23, Mark 13:14-37, Psalm 50:1-23, Proverbs 10:29-30.

When we were back in Exodus 25 we read about the specific way God instructed Moses to make the lampstand.  Every detail was followed because every detail was significant.  It was to be made of pure gold, hammered to perfection.  Its shape was to be that of a tree with six branches–three on each side, and the shaft of the trunk going up the middle, for a total of seven lamps in the lampstand.  It was to be tended by the high priest and its light was never to be extinguished.

The tree was in the likeness of an almond tree.  Throughout scripture we see many references to the almond tree.  The almond tree is often referred to as the “wakeful tree” because it is one of the first to “wake up” in springtime.  Its blossoms come forth in January or February, very quickly.  The Hebrew word for almond is almost exactly the same word for waken and watch.  It means “to awake, watch, wake, be alert”, and, to “keep watch of, be awakeful over”.

The seven branches, of course, mean completion and perfection, but let’s think about the placement of the branches.  There were three on either side for a total of six.  The number six is the number representing man.  Then up the middle comes the tallest, thickest, most sturdy branch, the one that is really the trunk of the tree, which completes the number to the holy number seven and provides stability to the other branches.  It is the highest light.  This causes me to remember the truth that it is Jesus in me that shines the highest light.  It is Jesus who is the Light of the world and causes His followers to also be the light in a dark world.  He rises tallest, highest, best and brightest.

There are many more details and symbolisms in the almond tree design and the light of the lampstand which we will discuss further in the coming days, but today let’s look at the reading found in Numbers 8:1-4.

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give Aaron the following instructions: When you set up the seven lamps in the lampstand, place them so their light shines forward in front of the lampstand.” ³ So Aaron did this. He set up the seven lamps so they reflected their light forward, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁴ The entire lampstand, from its base to its decorative blossoms, was made of beaten gold. It was built according to the exact design the Lord had shown Moses.

When I read these words this morning what caught my eye was this phrase: place them so their light shines forward.  The seven lamps reflected their light forward, just as God planned.  It lit up the area in front of the lampstand which was placed in front of the Holy Place.  What practical truth could we learn from this?

My friends, look forward.  Don’t look back to the darkness of your pain or sin or shame.  Look forward.  The light of Christ beckons you forward.  Your light can be a beacon to others to find the way forward.  Even if you are in the shadow of the valley of death or pain, you are merely passing through that dark valley.  Let the light of Christ propel you forward.

Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me

                                                                                     Psalm 23: 4

The placement of the light shining forward in front of the lampstand lit up the way to the Holy Place.  It lit the way to the place of redemption.  The Light of Christ still lights the way to holiness and redemption.  Don’t look back to the darkness; look forward to the light.  Keep your eyes on the Light.

When Jesus rebuked Satan in Mark 8:33, he said, “Get behind me, Satan!”  Jesus tells Satan to get behind him, for he is not allowed in the forward places of the light.

¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

                                                                                                          Philippians 3:13-14

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

                                                Isaiah 43: 18-19

May we look to the Light of Christ to light our path and then may we share that light with others propelling them to the holiness of Jesus.