Mon.’s Devo - Out with the Old and In with the New

Read: Numbers 26:52-28:15; Luke 3:1-22; Psalm 61:1-8; Proverbs 11:16-17 The land was divided out by tribes and given out in proportion to how many people they had. Moses and Aaron had been from the tribe of Levi. The tribes were numbered from the age of twenty years old, but the Levites were numbered from the age of one month old (Numbers 3). Twenty was when you could go to war but Levites didn’t fight, they carried the ark and took care of it. At this time, the Levites were not numbered or given land. None of the original people were alive now except Joshua and Caleb. *** The daughters of Zelophehad from the tribe of Manasseh had no brothers so they would get no land. They came before Moses to present their case and God said to give them an inheritance to carry out their father’s name. This became law for men without heirs. *** God told Moses to go up on mount Abarim and see the land he had spent his last 40 years traveling to. He would not be able to pass into it but he could view it. Abarim means “land beyond”. *** Moses asked the Lord who would carry on his position as leader and God chose Joshua to be their shepherd and commander. Moses was to bring him out before the people and present him as their leader before Eleazar the priest. Moses laid his hands upon Joshua and honored him as leader before the people. *** God gave Moses instructions about the burnt offering, the grain offering, the drink offering, the daily offering and the Sabbath offerings. *** In Luke, Tiberius Caesar reigned over the land. Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea and Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. But the Word of the Lord came to John who was the son of Zacharias who lived in the wilderness. He preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins all around Jordan. He was the voice in the wilderness that the prophets had foretold. *** John preached that it didn’t matter if you were born a Jew, you had to repent to be saved from the wrath to come. People came to him to be baptized and then asked what they should do. To the people he said they should give their extra to those who had none. He told the publicans to exact no more than that which was appointed to them. To the soldiers he told them to not be violent or accuse anyone falsely. *** The people wondered if he was the Messiah but John told him that he was just baptizing with water but the one coming after him would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. *** When Jesus came to be baptized of John, the heaven opened and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven saying, “thou art my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.” *** In both of these readings the old charge is being replaced with the new. New wine has to be put in new vessels. The people had to prepare their hearts and minds to follow Joshua now instead of Moses and the people of the New Testament had to prepare their hearts to follow God instead of man. *** Lord, thank you that you always lead us through people, your Word and your spirit. May our hearts be prepared to receive the new you are bringing.