Mon.’s Devo - Deliverance From Evil

Read: Numbers 32:1-33:39; Luke 4:31-5:11; Psalm 64:1-10; Proverbs 11:22 The tribes of Rueben and Gad observed that the land they had captured from the Amorites and the Moabites was perfect farmland for their animals. They went to Moses with the proposition that if they went over Jordan with the other tribes to help them conquer their land, they could come back and take this land for their inheritance. They would leave their wives and children in this land while they fought for the other tribes. Moses agreed with their proposal when he realized they would help the other tribes first. Half of the tribe of Manasseh joined with Rueben and Gad. Moses wrote down a detailed account of their travel from Egypt to the Jordan. They left Egypt the day after their first Passover and they left defiantly. They realized that they were God’s children who he loved and they had come to see that he was more powerful than any of the gods and evil of Egypt. Egypt had no more control over them and they had been set free by their God. I see this same attitude happening to God’s people all over the world as we realize we have been ruled by an evil regime who has only wanted bad for us. God’s people are going to see a great deliverance that we are going to be able to say it was only the Lord who delivered us because we are his people and he loves us. Moses recorded from the time they left Egypt and went to Rameses, to forty years later when they reached Mount Hor where Aaron died at the age of 123. In Luke, Jesus was in Capernaum teaching at the synagogue on the Sabbath. A man possessed by a demon spoke up demanding to know why he had come to mess up their plan. (It is interesting how the demons knew exactly who Jesus was and the people were so doubtful.) Jesus demanded that the demon come out of the man. The demon threw the man to the floor but then left. The people were amazed and wondered what kind of man he could be that demons would flee in his presence. Jesus went home with Simon Peter to find his mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. Jesus healed her and she got up immediately and served them. People brought their sick and demon-possessed to Jesus after dark and he healed them. He refused to let the demons speak. One day he was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee when the crowd became so great he asked Simon who owned the boats if he could preach from their boats. When he had finished he wanted to bless Simon for letting him use his boats. He told him to go out deeper and let down his nets. Simon explained that they had fished all night and not caught anything. By this time it was well into the morning and fish didn’t usually bite during the day. But, Simon obeyed and brought up so many fish they had to get help from Andrew and his boats. Simon saw the miracle and fell at Jesus feet in repentance. Jesus told him not to be afraid but that from then on he would be fishing for men. Peter and his brother Andrew left everything and began following Jesus. Lord, may we drop everything for you. Thank you that you are delivering us from evil and bringing righteousness and justice to our land.

Sun.’s Devo - Power Over Satan

Read: Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21 God gave Moses the law about vows. If you want to understand this spiritually put Jesus name in for the husband. So if we say something that brings a curse on us and Jesus hears it and decides to stop it, it won’t curse us but if he allows it to pass, then we will reap the consequences of our impulsive words. This can be a comfort but the bottom line is that we need to watch the words that come out of our mouth because they can be life or death to ourselves and others. God told Moses to take revenge on the Midianites who had led the people into idolatry since that happened on his watch. He was to chose 1,000 men from each tribe to fight them. The high priest, Eleazar was to lead them into battle and the priests were to carry the sacred objects from the tabernacle into battle. They were to sound the charge on the trumpets and attack. They killed all five of the Midianite kings in battle. They also killed Balaam who had joined with Balak. Now we see his true colors. The Midianites stand for the stronghold of strife and contention. The Israelites took the plunder and burned all the towns and villages where they had lived. They brought the women and children back to the camp. It was the women who had led the people into idolatry and Moses was so mad at them for letting them live. He had them kill all the boys and the women who were not virgins. The people who killed them would have to stay outside the camp for seven days then be cleansed before they could reenter. They were to divide the plunder in two groups and give half to the ones who fought and half to the rest of the people. Out of the army’s plunder one of every 500 was to go to Eleazar and his family. From the half that belonged to the people they were to take one of every fifty and give it to the Levites. The plunder included sheep goats, cattle, donkeys and virgin girls. The generals and captains reported that not one soldier was missing so they made an offering to the Lord of items of gold that was captured. In Luke, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted. When he had fasted for 40 days and nights the devil came to him and tempted him, if he was the son of God, to turn the stones into bread. Jesus replied that the Scriptures say that man doesn’t live on bread alone. Then the devil took him to a place where he could see all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. He told him he would give him all of them and authority over all for the if her would just worship him. Jesus told him that the Scriptures said that you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil took him to Jerusalem to the highest point of the Temple and told him that if he was the son of God, jump off. He used Jesus words says, “the Scriptures say, He will order his angels to protect and guard you. He continued quoting the 91st Psalm. Jesus replied that the Scriptures also say not to tempt the Lord. Then the devil left for a season. Jesus returned full of the Holy Spirit and began preaching. He went to his hometown and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and went to read the scripture for the day. He unrolled the scroll of Isaiah and found the place where it said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Isaiah 61:1-2) He stopped right before it said and “the time of the Lord’s vengeance.” He then said, “the Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day.” The people doubted he was the Messiah because they had seen him grow up among them. Jesus said that he would not be able to do many miracles here because of their unbelief, then he told them of two miracles in the Old Testament that had to do with Gentiles being healed. The point was that God would go to the people who would receive him and it wouldn’t be the Jews. This made them furious. They forced him to the edge of the hill and intended to push him over the cliff but he passed right through the crowd and went his way. There is nothing the devil can do to us when we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. All of his plans will be thwarted and we will be saved. Lord, may we walk in the power of your Holy Spirit and fear no evil.

Sat.’s Devo - The Countdown

Read: Numbers 28:16-29:40; Luke 3:23-28; Psalm 62:1-12; Proverbs 11:18-19 God gave the special instructions for the offerings to be made for each of his feasts. For Passover, Unleavened Bread and Feast of Weeks (the spring festivals) the offering was the same: 2 bulls with 6 quarts grain moistened with olive oil for each bull 1 ram with 4 quarts grain moistened with olive oil 7 one year old lambs mixed with 2 quarts grain moistened with olive oil for each lamb It changes when they came to the fall feasts. for the Feast of Trumpets which occurred on the first day of the new civil calendar the offerings were: 1 bull, 6 qts. quarts grain moistened with olive oil 1 ram, 4 qts. quarts grain moistened with olive oil 7 one year old lambs, 2 qts. quarts grain moistened with olive oil for each bull Ten days later on the Day of Atonement the same offering would be offered as on Trumpets. Five days later on the Feast of Tabernacles a countdown occurred. Day 1: 13 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 Day 2: 12 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 Day 3: 11 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 Day 4: 10 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 Day 5: 9 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 Day 6: 8 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 Day 7: 7 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2 On Day 8 it started over: Day 8: 1 bull, 1 ram and 7 lambs along with the grain offerings 6-4-2. So, what does this mean to us? The feasts are our timelines. Passover - Jesus died on the cross, Unleavened Bread - Jesus was buried, First fruits - Jesus rose from the dead, and on Pentecost - The Holy Sprit was given to the Church. All of these spring feasts have been fulfilled. The fall feasts (3) have not been fulfilled. The Feast of Trumpets - God will come for his bride, Day of Atonement - the fate of the world is sealed, and on Feast of Tabernacles - Jesus will come and set up his millennial kingdom. This countdown of bulls is interesting because on the Biblical calendar that will happen during the Great Tribulation. There a countdown because the day is approaching that Jesus is coming. Another reason for the lessening of bulls might be that as people die in the Tribulation there will be less sin to atone for. That is purely my speculation. Day 8 is what the Jews call Simbat Torah which is the day after the Week of Tabernacles is over. They celebrate the Torah and begin reading it at the beginning that day. That will mark the beginning of a whole new day - the Eighth Day. In Luke, Jesus was known as the son of Joseph so we have his line. Joseph was of the lineage of Judah and linked back to King David and the kingly line. His lineage is taken all the way back to Adam who was the son of God. So many famous people were in his line like Methusalah, Enoch, Noah and Abraham. Lord, thank you that you are our rock and our salvation - our fortress where we will never be shaken. Victory comes from you!

Fri.’s Devo - Preparing the Way

Read: Numbers 26:52-28:15; Luke 3:1-22; Psalm 61:1-8; Proverbs 11:16-17 As they were nearing their destination, God gave Moses instructions on how to give out the land. The people were to stay in their own tribes and land was to given in proportion to the number of people in their tribe. The Levites had not been counted in the census. They were divided into three clans - the Gershonites, the Kohathites and the Merarite clans and into five subclans - the Libnites, Hebronites, Mahlites, Mushites and Korahites. Aaron, Moses and Miriam were from the Kohathite clan. Their parents were Amran and Jochebed. The meaning of their names were “high people” and “Jehovah-glorified”. When the Levites were numbered they were not counted among the other tribes but separately. The males were counted from the age of one month up and there were 23,000. Levites were called from birth and were not counted in the army. Only Joshua and Caleb had been numbered in the first census. The rest had died because of their rebellion. The five daughters of Zelophehad from the tribe of Manasseh came to ask for the inheritance of their father’s. He had no sons and had been of the generation that died in the wilderness but they wanted land for his name’s sake. God agreed with them and it became a law that property would be passed down to the closest of kin. God told Moses to appoint Joshua the new leader. Moses was to lay his hands on him, transferring some of his authority to Joshua in front of all the people. Eleazar would confirm it with the sacred Urim which was the “Yes” token. God gave the priests the instruction for the daily sacrifice. Every Sabbath they were to offer a burnt offering, and a grain offering moistened with oil. Every new moon (the first day of the month) they were to offer the same. All of this was a sin offering to atone for their sins. In Luke, we are given the leaders of the Roman empire at the time. Iberius was the emperor, Pilat the governor over Judea, and Herod Antipas the ruler over Galilee. Herod’s brother, Philip was ruler over Iturea and Taconituis. Lysanias was ruler over Abilene and Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. It was during this government that God sent John to prepare the way for his son. John went to the Jordan and preached repentance from sin and told them to turn their hearts back to God. John told them that he was a voice making the road clear for the Messiah to walk on. John baptized the people to wash them of their sin. He told the people how to take care of one another and how to deal fairly in their business with one another. He even rebuked Herod Antipas, their ruler because of his unholy life. Herod finally put John in prison to keep him quiet. John made it clear to them that he was not the Messiah. He was only baptizing with water, but the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came down like a dove and descended upon him. God spoke from heaven and said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” God says that about us also even though it is sometimes hard to believe. Lord, thank you that today we read where you made room for even the daughters who wanted to preserve their father’s name. We want to preserve your name on the earth. Thank you for your love for us and that you chose us from the foundation of the earth to be your children.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Warriors

Read: Numbers 26:1-51; Luke 2:36-52; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 11:15 After the plague killed 24,000 people, God told Moses and Eleazar to number the warriors in each tribe. They were all the men at least twenty who were fit and could go to war. Each tribe were numbered by clan. Judah had the largest number - 76,500 and Simeon, the smallest at 22,200. I found it interesting that one of the clans in the tribe of Zebulun had no sons but five of their daughters were mentioned. This is a list of warriors so they must have been part of the army. Also in the tribe of Asher, his daughter Sarah was mentioned as if she was counted in this number. Every tribe had its own characteristics and it was important which tribe you were from. It carried on into the New Testament where Anna was mentioned from the tribe of Asher. Asher means “happy”. Her father was Phanuel which means “the face of God”. Her father must have taught her how find her happiness in seeing into the face of God because as a prophetess, that was what she did. It was said of Anna that she had lost her husband after only seven years of marriage and had remained a widow ever since. She was now 84 and spent her days praying and fasting in the temple. When she saw Jesus, she knew he was the one they had been waiting for and told everyone who had been seeking God for a Messiah. Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. When Jesus was twelve they went as usual but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. When Mary and Joseph realized he was missing they went back looking for him. Three days later, they found him in the Temple sitting among the religious teachers listening to them and asking questions. They were amazed at his questions and even more amazed at his answers. Mary asked Jesus how he could do this to him and his answer was that he had to be about his father’s business. His father was God and his business was in the Temple. When a Jewish boy reaches the age of 12 they follow their father in their business and that was what Jesus was doing. Jesus followed them home to Nazareth and obeyed them. Jesus grew in his walk with the Lord. It says that he grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. Lord, may we seek your face and grow in wisdom and stature and favor with you and all people. May we be counted as your warriors.

Wed.’s Devo - We Are Blessed

Read: Numbers 24:1-25:18; Luke 2:1-35; Psalm 59:1-17; Proverbs 11:14 It was Balaam’s third time to attempt to curse Israel but he had gotten the message that God would only bless Israel so he didn’t go through all his incantations to curse. He just looked out over the tents of Israel and prophesied. He blessed them once more as a nation that devoured all who opposed them. He blessed everyone who blessed them and cursed everyone who cursed them. That made Barak mad since he was in the ones who wanted to curse them! He sent Balaam home without pay. Then Balaam went on to say that out of Israel would rise a star who would crush the heads of Moab’s people and Edom’s. This ruler would destroy the survivors. Then he looked on Amalek and prophesied its demise. Then the Kenites demise. Asshur and Eber would perish also. No one would survive unless the Lord willed it. So, this is how Barak got his curse on Israel. He sent his seductive women into their camp to invite them men to their celebration to their gods. They worshipped the Baal of Peor. Moses ordered the judges to execute the sinners. One of the Israelite men blatantly brought a Midianite woman into his tent in broad daylight. When Phineas saw this he ran into the man’s tent with a spear and ran it all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. This stopped the plague that had already began. The plague killed 24,000. God rewarded Phineas with a promise that his descendants would have a permanent right to the priesthood. He had stood in the gap for the people, cleansing all of them by what he did. The man who was stabbed was named Zimri which means “musical” and the woman’s name was Cozbi which means “false”. That sounds like “false worship” to me. Then the Lord ordered Moses to attack the Moabites because they had tricked them into worshipping their god. In Luke, Caesar decreed a tax from everyone he governed which was almost the whole world. It was surely all of the Roman Empire. Everyone had to pay their taxes in their place of birth and Joseph was from Bethlehem. Mary was nine months pregnant and about to deliver and did as soon as she got there. They placed Jesus in a manger in the stable they were staying in. He was born in a manger which the animals ate from and would end being food for a different kind of animal. God proclaimed his son’s coming out in the fields to a group of shepherds. All the angels of God sang his birth. These lowly shepherds were the first to behold their king. Jesus was taken to his dedication where Simeon, a devout follower of God prophesied over him. He said that he would be a light to the Gentiles and the glory of the Jews. He would also reveal the hearts of many. (He definitely revealed the hearts of the religious leaders.) When the prophetess, Anna saw Jesus she said he was the redemption of all Israel. Mary and Joseph took Jesus back to Nazareth where he grew up. Lord, thank you that a curse without a cause will not alight on us. You have called us blessed and we choose to walk in your blessings.

Tues.’s Devo - God’s Fulfilled Promise

Read: Numbers 22:21-23:30; Luke 1:57-80; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 11:12-13 The King of Barak had hired Balaam who was a soothsayer. Second Peter 2:15 says that Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness. He was a sorcerer who made his money cursing and doing evil things to people. Second Peter goes on to say that Balaam was like wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. For when he speaks his great words of vanity, he allures through the lusts of the flesh. He promises liberty but is a servant of corruption whose goal is to overcome men and bring them under bondage. Revelation 2:14 says that Balaam taught Barak to cast a tumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. When Balaam couldn’t curse Israel, he stood to lose lots of money. So, he taught Barak how to have Israel curse themselves. We will read about that tomorrow. God was so upset with Balaam that he asked to go with Barak instead of obeying him the first time that he sent an angel to kill him. The sorcerer who is skilled into seeing into the spirit world could not see the angel because he was so blind with deceit. His donkey did see the angel and tried to get out of the way. Balaam beat his donkey to get back on the road when God opened the donkey’s mouth and he spoke to Balaam. The fact that Balaam didn’t act shocked that his donkey was talking to him tells me that he was used to all sorts of paranormal things. His donkey rebuked him and then Balaam’s eyes were opened to see the angel with the drawn sword. He immediately fell to the ground in fear. Balaam got another stern warning to speak only what God said. He needed all these warnings because the great King Balak, the destoyer, came to meet him personally. The first place the king took Balaam was to Bamoth Baal which means “high places of Baal”. There he sacrificed to Baal on the altars there. God gave Balaam the message and he went back and told Barak. Basically he told him he couldn’t curse what God had blessed and that these people were God’s and they were righteous. King Balak was furious. Balaam told him he couldn’t speak anything but what God put in his mouth. So King Balak took him to another place to look down at a different group of the Israelites. Maybe he could curse them. Barak took him to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. This was a place where their “watchmen” surveyed into the spirit realm. Once again they offered seven ram and seven bulls on the altars there. Balaam’s message was even stronger. He said that God hadn’t changed his mind about blessing his people and that no magic had power against Israel. Balak told Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!” LOL! Barak was relentless. He wanted to take Balaam one more place to see if he could find a chink in their armor. He took him to the top of Mt. Peor. Poor means “the opening” which I’m thinking it meant a portal. They had a god they called Peor so this was probably his portal. In Luke, John the Baptist was born. Zechariah was still speechless. They took the baby to be circumcised on the eighth day and assumed he would be named Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth said his name was John. They gestured to Zechariah what he wanted the baby to be named and he wrote JOHN on a tablet. The moment he wrote it he could speak. The people were filled with awe and Zechariah prophesied over Israel and over John. He told Israel that the Saviour had come to rescue them from their enemies so they could serve God without fear. John would be called his prophet who would prepare the way for the Lord. He would tell the people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. John grew up and entered into his public ministry. Lord, thank you that you stand up for your children and you bless us when the enemy wants us cursed. You bring us salvation and light and you guide us to the path of peace.