Read: Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21
The laws about vows could be broken by a father or a husband. Our father is God and our husband is Jesus. So we are protected by God and Jesus if we make a covenant they disagree with. They can annul our promises if they know it will harm us or not be what they want. That is grace.
God gave one last assignment to Moses before he would take him to heaven and that was the kill the Midianites. Balaam was from this people and they had infiltrated their ranks with their women and their idolatry. Moses sent a thousand men from each tribe to attack the Midianites. They killed the five kings of Midan. The meanings of the kings names are desire or lust, deception, harassment, a pit, and a fourth part. I don’t understand the last one but the others are self-explanatory.
When the soldiers returned with the booty, Moses was angry that they had let the women and boys live. He knew that they would just bring their idolatry into the camp and pollute Israel once again. He had them kill every woman and boy except the virgins who could be rehabilitated.
God was always telling them to cleanse themselves on the third and seventh day. Jesus came on the fourth day and will come again after the seventh day so we have to be ready and clean when he comes. The first time he sent John the Baptist to cleanse the people of their sin. The last time he will send Elijah.
The spoil was to be divided so that the soldiers got half and Israel got half. The half that the people got would then be divided further and the priests be given a fiftieth of it. The priest were always to be taken care of just as we as God’s priests are always to be taken care of. The miracle of the whole battle was that not one Israelite was killed.
In Luke, Jesus has to be tested before he can enter into his ministry. He is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted and tried. One of the tests was against his identity and if he really knew who he was. The other was if he could wait for the Lord’s timing. Every time Satan came to him he said, “If you are the son of God.” This was the test against his identity. Every temptation was about his ministry. He WAS the rock that was turned to bread. He WOULD rule all the kingdoms of the earth. And, he WOULD be cast down and angels would bear him up but it would all be after he endured the cross. Satan promised to give it to him then. Satan is always about instant gratification and God is always about the process of maturity. Satan’s looks the easiest and the best but it leads to death and lack. God’s is harder but it leads to life and abundance.
Jesus left his temptation with power and went straight to the synagogue where he proclaimed his reason for being on earth. It was to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, give sight to the blind, release the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. At first the people were in awe of his words but when he gave the two examples of God doing miracles for Gentiles, they wanted to kill him. He made himself invisible and walked right through the crowd.
This was the beginning of his ministry!
Lord, help us to be obedient to what you tell us to do and not bow to the approval of man.
No comments:
Post a Comment