Monday's Devo - 8-17-09 - Numbers 8-10
"Eight little, Nine little, Ten little Indians...."
Eight - "new beginning; change". These numbers and their meanings can be good or bad. In 2 Chron. 34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem. Josiah was a type of Jesus who was used to cleanse the land of idols and rebuilt the Temple. In comparison 2 Chron. 36:9 tells us about another king who came to reign when he was eight years also, only he was evil and only reigned 3 months and 10 days in Jerusalem. He and all the vessels from the Temple were carried to Babylon. In Acts 9:33 there was a man who had been bedridden for eight years. When Peter prayed for him he was instantly healed. This man got a new beginning.
Nine - "harvest" - Harvest requires a judgment about which fruit to keep and which to throw away. Neh. 11:1 "and the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem; the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of the ten to dwell in Jerusalem and the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities." Only one city out of ten made the cut to live in Jerusalem. In the New Testament we get to see God's heart about the harvest: Mat. 18:12 - "What are you thinking? If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the 90 and 9, and go into the mountains, and seek that which is gone astray?" God cares about all the fruit.
Ten - "measure for the purpose of accepting or rejecting what is being measured; a trial, test, or temptation" When the Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac he took 10 camels for the test. He told God that the woman who offered water for his camels would be the one. When Rebecca passed the test he gave her 10 shekels of gold bracelets for another test. She passed that one too. She abandoned all to follow God. In Matt. 25:1 there were 10 virgins who took the test 5 passed and 5 failed.
Lord may we be willing to change and start over when we need to and be ripe fruit when the Savior passes by. May our tests and temptations be what drives us closer and closer to completion and may all we do bring you glory.