Thur.’s Devo - Jesus’ Baptism

Read: Numbers 26:52-28:15; Luke 3:1-22; Psalm 61:1-8; Proverbs 11:16-17 Yesterday we read that God told Moses to record the number of men 20 years or older that could go to war in the different tribes. Today, he told them to divide the land according to this number. The greater number of men there were to defend the land, the greater the amount of land they received. But, they numbered the Levite differently. They were numbered from one month old. There were 23,000 of them. No one from the first census was in this new census because they had all died like God said they would, except Caleb and Joshua. One of the daughters of Zelophehad presented a petition for their own property. Their father and brothers had all died in the wilderness, but they had not rebelled with Korah. The daughters wanted to preserve their father’s name and own land in their family’s name. Moses brought their case before the Lord, and God said their claim was legitimate. This became a law that if a man died and had no son, his inheritance would go to his daughters. God told Moses to climb one of the mountains and look over the land that God had promised to him and his descendants. He would not get to enter because he sinned against the Lord when he struck the rock, instead of speaking to it. Everything that was done in the Old Testament was a sign and a shadow of the fulfillment through Christ. The rock was Christ according to First Corinthians 10:4. Christ was struck once for our sins and then we believe and confess what he did for us to receive salvation. He is not crucified again. When Moses struck the rock, he was messing up the picture God was showing us. His disobedience was a big transgression to God because of this. Moses cried out to God for a leader to shepherd the people. God chose Joshua because he already had the Spirit of God on him. Moses was to present him to the priest before the people and publicly commission him to lead the people. The priests were to confirm their choice with the Urim which was the “yes” stone in the ephod of the high priest. God then gave Moses instructions how to offer sacrifices that please him. There were offerings for every Sabbath and the first day of every month. In Luke, we are given the political climate of the land. Rome was in charge and Tiberius was the caesar. He was noted for his vicious and infamous life. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests who were not anointed by God but there by bribery and fraud. It was in a day like this that God chose to send John to the people to preach repentance and baptism. John was the voice preparing the way for Jesus. He taught the people that they were not saved from the wrath of God just because they were Jews; they had to personally repent and get their hearts right with God. He taught the people to share with those who had nothing. He taught the tax collectors not to tax the people more than the government required. He told the soldiers to stop making the people bribe them just to stay alive. John explained that he only baptized with water, but the coming Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The Holy Spirit would separate the believers from the unbelievers and burn up the sin. John spoke against sin and even the sin in the government. Herod Antipas had taken his brother’s wife as his own and done many other sins. Condemning Herod’s behavior got John thrown into prison. Doing the right thing on earth does not make you popular on earth but it is better to be popular in heaven than to have the praises of man on earth. Lord, help us to fear You above man. May you baptize our nation with your Holy Spirit and your fire.