Numbers 29:1 — The Feast of Trumpets is known as Rosh Hashanah – the “Jewish New Year” according to Jews for Jesus.
The Feast of Trumpets has a prophetic significance per GotQuestions.org:
In the New Testament, we see that the Lord’s Second Coming will be accompanied by the sound of a trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Each of the judgments in Revelation 8-9 is also signaled by a trumpet. Just as the shofar called the Jewish nation to turn their attention to the Lord and ready themselves for the Day of Atonement, so will the “trump of God” call us to heaven and warn the world of coming judgment.
Prophecy experts may distinguish the Lord’s Second Coming (post-tribulation) from the Rapture of the Church (pre-tribulation).
Luke 3 — Why does Luke’s genealogy differ from Matthew’s? Was Matthew or Luke wrong? Or as Zondervan Academic poses:
One of the genealogies is actually Mary’s, or
One genealogy is a royal/legal genealogy while the other is a physical genealogy, or
Joseph’s father adopted Joseph, or
Joseph was following levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5)
Psalm 62:1 and 5 — Waiting upon the Lord is a theme of John Donne’s poem “When I Consider How My Light is Spent,” published in 1673:
When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” I fondly ask. But Patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies: “God doth not need Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o’er land and ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait.
Proverbs 11:19 — As Moses said, “Choose Life!”
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Numbers 27:8 — Is God saying that women have less rights? Not at all, rather, He’s saying that the males have the responsibility to provide for those of their family. If they don’t provide for those of their household, they are worse than infidels (1 Timothy 5:8)! While they had the privilege of inheritance, they also had the responsibility of redemption (Leviticus 25:47-55). This is best seen in the Book of Ruth.
Numbers 27:18 — Joshua was called by God to lead the people of Israel. Even though he was a faithful spy, so was Caleb. We mentioned this earlier – sometimes you’re the one in charge, and sometimes you’re not, but submission to whoever God has put in charge is a biblical duty.
The Sacrificial Lamb, Josefa de Obidos
Numbers 28:3 — In addition to the other required sacrifices, every day there would be two lambs offered as a sacrifice. 720 lambs a year (Israel was under the lunar, not the solar calendar). Adding in the Sabbath lambs (vs. 9 – another 100, specifically additional per vs. 10), the new moon offerings (vs. 11 – 10 animals X 12 months = 120). From the entrance to Canaan in 1406 BC to the fall of the Southern Kingdom in 586 BC, that is roughly 770,800 animals sacrificed as a result of this chapter. Add to it the Second Temple (516 BC to 70 AD), that is another 550,840 animals. 1,321,640 animals sacrificed, of them 1,271,024 were lambs. Over a million lambs!
God spoke to Israel, Bring me a sacrifice Morning and Evening, Every day Offer a spotless lamb, Without a blemish This is my command, You must obey.
Sing Hallelulah, Praise to Jehovah! Worship the God of Abraham! Sing Hallelulah, Praise to Jehovah! Once for all is slain God’s Perfect Lamb!
Luke 3:1-2 — Dr. Luke is writing here, and like the medical doctors of today, Dr. Luke tends to be detail-oriented. Maybe I should say that I hope today’s doctors are detail-oriented (I don’t want the wrong leg amputated!). This “fifteenth year” is considered by many to be A.D. 26; there’s an interesting discussion at StackExchange.com.
Luke 3:4 — Prepare the way of the Lord! In the New Testament, this is the Greek wordKuriou, but the Hebrew that is quoted is from Isaiah 40:3, not a generic “lord”, but the “LORD” (transliterated as Jehovah or Yahweh). And what especially was coming? The Salvation of God (Luke 3:6)! And what does the name “Jesus” mean? “The LORD is Salvation!”
Psalm 61:2 — When your heart cannot reach the destination, God can lead you to the Rock that is outside your reach.
Luke 2:44 — Joseph and Mary were entrusted with the Messiah, and not only had they lost Him, but they didn’t know it until they were already a day’s journey out of Jerusalem. They let the Father down, but Jesus didn’t. He was about the business of His Father (vs. 49).
Now, (1.) David is here enquiring for help to carry on the ark: “Who will bring me into the strong city? What allies, what auxiliaries, can I depend upon, to make me master of the enemies’ country and their strongholds?’’ Those that have begun a good work cannot but desire to make a thorough work of it, and to bring it to perfection. (2.) He is expecting it from God only.
Proverbs 11:15 — Earlier this year we were warned about being surety for a friend (and we talked about NPR’s story on suretyship). If you didn’t get the message then, Solomon is repeating it!
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Numbers 24:17 — The Star out of Jacob. Not the numberless stars prophesied of in Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4, 37:9; Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10, 10:22, 28:62; 1 Chronicles 27:23; Nehemiah 9:23; and Hebrews 11:12. Not the star of the Remphan (Amos 5:26, Acts 7:43), not the morning star (literal translation of the word Lucifer, Isaiah 14:12), not “Wormwood” of Revelation 8:10, not the falling star of Revelation 9:1, not the twelve stars of Israel (Revelation 12:1), and it’s not part of the third part of the stars that fell from heaven (Revelation 12:4).
This is the One whose star was seen in the east (Matthew 2:2), who is the Day Star (2 Peter 1:19), the holder of stars (Revelation 1:16), and the bright and morning star (Revelation 22:16).
Numbers 25:3 — What is Baal-peor?
Name of a Canaanitish god. Peor was a mountain in Moab (Num. xxiii. 28), whence the special locality Beth-peor (Deut. iii. 29, etc.) was designated. It gave its name to the Ba’al who was there worshiped, and to whose service Israel, before the entrance into Canaan, was, for a brief time, attracted (Num. xxv. 3, 5; Ps. cvi. 28). The god is himself also called “Peor” by abbreviation (Num. xxxi. 16; Josh. xxii. 17). It is commonly held that this form of Ba’al-worship especially called for sensual indulgence. The context seems to favor his view, on account of the shameful licentiousness into which many of the Israelites were there enticed. But all Ba’al-worship encouraged this sin; and Peor may not have been worse than many other shrines in this respect, though the evil there was certainly flagrant. In Hosea ix. 10 “Baal-peor” is the same as “Beth-peor,” and is contracted from “Beth-baal-peor.”
By the way, who was behind enticing the Israelites into apostasy? Balaam (Numbers 31:16)!
Numbers 25:14 — Zimri was the name of an Israelite who sinned, and on whom God commanded the Israelites to exercise the death penalty. It’s very unlikely that someone would name their child Ted Bundy today if they knew Mr. Bundy’s history, yet interestingly, someone in Israel named their child Zimri many years later, and he eventually became a chariot captain in the Israeli army and King in Israel (I King 16:9-10).
Luke 2:8 — What was special about the shepherds’ field?
The shepherds’ fields outside Bethlehem, to this day, play a central role in the Christmas celebrations in the Holy Land. Countless tourists have visited the fields between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The church historian Eusebius linked these fields to a unique biblical location called Migdal Eder, which translated means the “tower of the flock”.
The first time Migdal Eder is mentioned in the Bible is in the account of Rachel, who died after giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob. “Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder”, records Genesis 35:21.
This area on the outskirts of Bethlehem is also mentioned in the Talmudic writings. According to the Talmud, all cattle found in the area surrounding Jerusalem “as far as Migdal Eder” were deemed to be holy and consecrated and could only be used for sacrifices in the Temple, in particular for the peace and Passover sacrifices. There was thus a special, consecrated circle around the city of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:13-14 — George Frederic Handel’s Messiah captures this scene:
Luke 2:32 — The Light & Glory was the Star of Jacob and the Scepter of Israel!
Psalm 59:13 — This is a good example of an imprecatory psalm. Do these psalms violate the command to love our enemies (Luke 6:27-29)?
It is important to recall the theological principles that underlie such psalms. These include: (1) the principle that vengeance belongs to God (Deut. 32:35; Ps. 94:1) that excludes personal retaliation and necessitates appeal to God to punish the wicked (cp. Rom. 12:19); (2) the principle that God’s righteousness demands judgment on the wicked (Pss. 5:6; 11:5–6); (3) the principle that God’s covenant love for the people of God necessitates intervention on their part (Pss. 5:7; 59:10, 16–17); and (4) the principle of prayer that believers trust God with all their thoughts and desires.
Proverbs 11:14 — We’ll notice that many “business principles” are really “stolen proverbs.” Why do Fortune 500 companies pay their board members over $200,000 per year? Because, in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
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Numbers 21:2 and 5 — Good thing that we’re never as fickle as the Israelites! Yeah … right! We’ve never seen God deliver us from our enemies, restore our prisoners, and then get discouraged?
Numbers 21:8 — The serpent was in existence for 800 years until 2 Kings 18:4 when Josiah had to break it as an idol. But roughly 600 years later Jesus would talk about the serpent in the wilderness in John 3:14.
I’ve a message from the Lord, hallelujah! This message unto you I’ll give, ‘Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah! It is only that you “look and live.”
“Look and live,” my brother, live, Look to Jesus now, and live; ‘Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah! It is only that you “look and live.”
Numbers 22:6 — Was Balaam blessed by Satan, by God, or just a savvy soothsayer? Apparently by God – vs. 8 says that He knew the personal name of the LORD. Was this part of the Abrahamic blessing (Genesis 22:18) that people outside of Israel experienced the LORD?
Luke 1:30 — In today’s Old Testament reading, God told Moses to fear not; in this New Testament passage, He tells Mary to fear not as well.
Luke 1:33 — This is an application of the prophecy of Isaiah 9:7.
Luke 1:51-53 — The God of contrasts is the God of the impossible (vs. 37).
We’re trucking down the Bible highway! We’ve completed 5 books of the Bible and will begin Luke today!
Rodger Dusatko, Public Domain
Numbers 19:2 — Jimmy DeYoung has some great insights on the red heifer:
The ordinance of the “Red Heifer” was given to the Jewish people, from God, through Moses. This ordinance was for the “cleansing of those desecrated”, desecrated by coming in contact with “death”. Any such contact would make that Jewish person “un-pure” and with the need of “purification”.
The “ordinance of the Red Heifer” was given after the “Ten Commandments”, to Moses as the spokesman for God, to the Jewish people. It is a “prophecy”, in symbolic form, which was fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
As you can see by reading our devotional passage for today, the “red heifer” was to have never worn a “yoke” and was to be without a blemish of any type,verse 2. The “red” color of the young cow must also be without any other spot of any other color. The priest was to lead the red heifer to an “alter without the gate”, meaning 3,000 feet away from the Tabernacle or Temple, and “before his face”,verse 3, meaning to the “east” of the Tabernacle or Temple. “His face” is referring to the “Glory of the Lord” that hovered over the “Ark of the Covenant”. After the priest “ceremonially killed” the red heifer it was placed on a “fire” of cedar wood and reduced to ashes. While that was happening the priest added a “scarlet ribbon” and some “hyssop”, a sponge-like plant, and the ashes of these ingredients were then added to a “stone jar” with “living water”, running water or “rain water”. Then this “ashen-water” was sprinkled on that or those desecrated. This ordinance will be reinstated during the Tribulation Period but is only a prototype of the “purification by the blood of Jesus Christ”, to cleanse each of us from our personal desecration, the result of sin. By the way, there is now a report that a Red Heifer is ready to be used during the Tribulation Period, that yet future time of Judgment on the Earth.
Numbers 19:20 — If you refuse the water of separation (baptism into Christ – Galatians 3:26-27, Ephesians 4:4-6, I Peter 3:21) made possible by the death of the perfect sacrifice, you will be cut off from the congregation. John 3:36 reiterates this.
Numbers 20:8-12 — Moses had been faithful to God for multiple books of the Bible, enduring the murmuring of Israel and much more. Why is God so upset with Moses? Was it that he made himself equal with God (note the ‘we’ in vs. 10)? The problem is that Moses disobeyed. The first time he was commanded to strike the rock (Exodus 17). The second time he was commanded to speak to the rock. What was so important about the rock?
1 Corinthians 10:4 tells us that the Rock was Christ. Christ was sacrificed once (Hebrews 9:28). Unfortunately, many today still attempt to sacrifice Christ afresh (impossible per Hebrews 6:6)! We do not need to crucify Him again. We need to merely speak to Him. As Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Numbers 20:24 — God had demonstrated His Gospel message, and Moses and Aaron destroyed the picture and were judged. Aaron was not punished for making the golden calf or rebelling against Moses with Miriam but for tampering with the Gospel!
Luke 1:17 — John the Baptist would make ready a people prepared for the Lord. All the prophecies we read about today – the Red Heifer and the Rock in the Wilderness – were culminated in the message of John: “Get ready! Jesus is Coming!” Today we have a very similar message: “Jesus is Coming Again!”
Numbers 16:41 — Another day, another rebellion. Good thing that today we never grumble, murmur, rebel, or disobey the Lord! Right? Oh, wait … It’s interesting that Aaron, who had built the golden calf and was jealous of Moses, has now been on the right side in three of the last four rebellions (Aaron is absent from Numbers 14:44). If you want a fun research project, see where Aaron landed in the different rebellions we showed yesterday.
Numbers 17:8 — Aaron had sinned grievously against Moses and the LORD, leading two rebellions against God. Lucifer was irrevocably punished for leading just one, but Aaron repented and demonstrated his repentance by choosing the right side in the time of mutiny again and again. The LORD chose to publicly honor Aaron with a miracle and permanently preserve it in the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 17:10), to be stored with the manna and with the Ten Commandments. The only names found within the Ark of the Covenant are the LORD’s and Aaron’s. Aren’t God’s mercies amazing?
Numbers 18:1 — Not only did the LORD preserve Aaron’s name, but He spoke to Aaron again. Moses was able to speak with the LORD mouth to mouth (Numbers 12:8). Aaron was allowed to tag along with Moses on multiple occasions hearing from the LORD (Exodus 6:13, 12:1, 12:43; Leviticus 11:1, 13:1, 14:33, 15:1; Numbers 2:1, 4:1, 4:17, 14:26, 16:20, 19:1, 20:12, 20:23). Sometimes God told Moses to speak to Aaron His words (Leviticus 6:25, 16:2, 17:2, 21:17, 22:2, 22:18; Numbers 6:23, 8:2), but on a few occasions, Aaron heard from God alone (Exodus 4:27; Leviticus 10:8; Numbers 18:1, 8, 20). This communication from God is the first private communication since the rebellion that ended up with Miriam contracting leprosy. Sometimes when you’ve sinned against someone, you’re afraid to see them because you’re afraid they will give you the “silent treatment.” Following Aaron’s repentance, God restored fellowship with him, even in spite of his grievous sins! He tells Aaron that He Himself will be Aaron’s inheritance (vs. 20).
Numbers 18:19 — A covenant of salt? John MacArthur has some insight:
Numbers18:19 a covenant of salt forever. Salt, which does not burn, was a metaphor to speak of durability. As salt keeps its flavor, so the Lord’s covenant with the priesthood was durable. The Lord would provide through the offerings of His people for His priests forever.
Mark 16:4 — Not only was the gravestone rolled away, but every burden of my heart was rolled away. All my sin had to go, ‘neath the crimson flow!
The arrangement of the threads and knots, to which the Jews attached the greatest importance, was so adjusted as to set forth symbolically the 613 precepts of which the Law was believed to consist. In our Lord‘s time the Pharisees enlarged their fringes Matthew 23:5 in order to obtain reputation for their piety.
Numbers 13:32 – Ten Spies, Wilderness of Paran, Canaan Report
Numbers 14:2 – Israelites, Wilderness of Paran, Canaan Report
Numbers 14:40 – Israelites, Wilderness of Paran, Post-Canaan Report vs. Amalekites
Numbers 16:3 – Korah and 250 princes, rebellion
Numbers 16:41 – Israelites, upset about Korah’s death
Numbers 20:3 – Israelites, Kadesh, thirst (Moses struck the rock)
Numbers 25:1 – Shittim, Israelites, whoredom with the daughters of Moab
Numbers 31:14 – Officers and Captains, Battle of Midian, saving the women alive
Mark 15:1 — We see another Hebrew trial of Jesus. This was an attempt at legality (a daylight trial). However, according to some even this attempt violated the custom of waiting until after the morning sacrifice (for more see the great old classic, The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer’s Standpoint).
Mark 15:18 — The One they mocked as King, they will kneel before as Lord (Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10).
Psalm 54 — Did you catch the rhyming poetry?
save me/judge me
hear/give ear
strangers/oppressors
God/Lord
reward evil/cut them off
freely sacrifice/praise thy name
delivered me/desire upon enemies
Proverbs 11:5-6 — The rewards of righteousness are intrinsic.
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Numbers 14:4 — Interesting that even though this crowd is mutinying, they soon realize they need a leader. Thankfully Aaron is on the right side (vs. 5), even when he and the other leaders were almost stoned (vs. 10)!
Numbers 14:18 — Is Moses more just than God? Or is God seeing if Moses has remembered the character of God? In this verse, Moses is recalling Exodus 34:6-7 and claiming the promises that God has made.
Numbers 14:27 — God says they murmured against Him, but vs. 2 says they murmured against Moses and Aaron. When we grumble against the leaders God has allowed to be over us, are we grumbling against God?
Mark 14:64 — We have a grave error in the mistrial of Jesus.
By contrast, Jewish law prevents a confession from being used as evidence in a criminal proceeding. A commonly cited basis for this rule is the biblical verse prescribing that a person is to be convicted of a crime upon the testimony of two witnesses, thereby excluding other types of evidence. Because a party to litigation is ineligible to testify, reliance on the testimony of witnesses bars the use of confessions.
http://www.jlaw.com/Commentary/crimconfess.html
I’ve had the opportunity in Sunday School to present the “Necessity of the Trial of Jesus”. When we get to Luke’s account of the trial, I’ll share more on why this was an incredibly important event.
Psalm 53:1 — National Atheist’s Day is coming up (April 1st)!
I dreamed that the great judgment morning Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown; I dreamed that the nations had gathered To judgment before the white throne.
The rich man was there, but his money Had melted and vanished away; A pauper he stood in the judgment, His debts were too heavy to pay.
The souls that had put off salvation – “Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by; No time now to think of religion!” At last they had found time to die.
And O, what a weeping and wailing, As the lost were told of their fate; They cried for the rocks and the mountains, They prayed, but their prayer was too late.
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