Sunday, March 10, 2019

Sun.’s Devo - The Penalty of Sin

Read: Numbers 14:1-15:16; Mark 14:53-72; Psalm 53:1-6; Proverbs 11:4
The camp of Israel was distraught and discouraged as they felt that their escape from Israel and all their hardships had been in vain. They had finally reached their land and it looked impossible to take. They spent the night arguing among themselves and crying. They wanted to stone Moses and Aaron and choose a new leader and return to Egypt.
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the people to beg them to change their hearts. Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage the people that they could take these people and their land. God showed up in a cloud over the tabernacle just in time. He wanted to destroy the whole lot and start over with just Moses. Moses was able to reason God from his anger but at the expense of all the people who had seen his wonders in Egypt. They would pay the price of their disbelief. They would wander in the wilderness one year for every day the spies spent in the land until they had all died out. Their children would cross over into the land they rejected.
When Moses told the people what God had said, some of them tried on their own to enter the land. They were badly defeated.
God also gave them instructions of the voluntary offering that would be made once they were in their land. It must be a lamb, bread and wine. We can enjoy all three of these once we are in the kingdom: salvation, fellowship with the Word and joy.
In Mark, Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin who accused him of blasphemy when they couldn’t get any testimony to stick. He was sentenced by his own testimony that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. You can see the hatred of Satan through the way the religious people treated Jesus. He was blindfolded, spit on, and beat as he was being mocked to prophesy. In the meantime, Peter was in the garden denying he knew him. What a lonely time for Jesus.
Lord, thank you for all you endured to save us from our sins. You who knew no sin, became sin for us; we are so grateful!

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