Let Us Then With Confidence Draw Near To the Throne Of Grace1
Exodus 19:1-6; 10-11; 16-18; 20-23
1On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6aand you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
What a loving introduction to the law! If anything could have prepared rebellious people to obey God, this would have done it. The Lord has provided for his children and raised them up, but, alas, they have rebelled against him.
10The LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
Their clothes smell of Egypt and must be washed, to show them that people and everything they touch is unholy. When God meets a person in love, they must be completely cleansed from the filth of sin by being washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.
16On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. (Those who have ears to hear the law must tremble, because it condemns all who are under it.) 17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
20The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’”
This is the spirit of the law. It shows us our sinfulness. It sets us at a distance from God, but the gospel removes our sin and brings us near to God. Hear how the Holy Spirit speaks concerning the law, by his servant Paul,2 in
Hebrews 12:18-26
18For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on the earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
Dear members of this family, let these solemn words sink deep into your souls. Do not despise the Lord Jesus, but believe in him now.
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1 Hebrews 4:16
2 Many believe the apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews.
Year One, April 2
God, Be Merciful To Me, a Sinner1
We are now about to read the awe-inspiring heart of the law of God, that is contained in
Exodus 20:1-17
but, before we read a line, let us sincerely ask the Lord to forgive our offenses against his holy name and to accept us in the Son of his love. God’s law has been honored and kept perfectly by the Lord Jesus. There is nothing left out and nothing repeated in the Ten Commandments. It is the only perfect law in the universe. None of us have kept it and therefore it would be foolish to hope for salvation by keeping it, because nothing but perfect obedience can be accepted by the justice of God.
1And God spoke all these words, saying,
2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3“You shall have no other gods before me.”
There is only one true God. We must not dare to worship or obey any other. Beware of making gold, or yourself, or your dearest relation into a god. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”2
4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
In the second commandment we are forbidden to worship God by bowing down to any image or worshiping him in any way he has not commanded. How great are the crimes of those who worship crosses, pictures, and bread; and even connect the idea of holiness to places and buildings.
7“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
Any unholy use of the divine name is exceedingly sinful. Beware of flippantly saying, “Oh My God,” and other disrespectful expressions.
8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
One day in seven is the Lord’s. To rob him of it is to injure ourselves as well as to disobey our Maker. Rest and worship are two of our sweetest blessings. The day should be set aside especially for them.
12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
We owe our parents respect, love, and obedience. This is the first commandment that comes with a promise.
13“You shall not murder.”
Anger and doing anything that would injure the health of ourselves or others are forbidden.
14“You shall not commit adultery.”
This forbids lust of heart, thought, and look, as well as actual actions.
15“You shall not steal.”
This forbids even taking things of little value as well as cheating and every kind of wrong.
16“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
All lying is condemned.
17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s”
This deals with sins of the heart. It shows that the command is very far reaching and involves even our thoughts and imaginations. Who can read it and then hope to be saved by their own activities and good deeds? Lord have mercy on us and forgive us for breaking your holy law.
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1 Luke 18:13
2 1 John 5:21
Year One, April 3
Whoever Believes and Is Baptized Will Be Saved1
We have selected for our present reading a portion that illustrates the difference between the law and the gospel.
Romans 10:1-21
1Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
The true spirit of Christianity is that of love and sympathy. It leads to prayer even for persecutors and to hope for the most stubborn of people. Paul prayed for the Jews.
2I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Do not deny the good points in others, even if they are not all we could wish them to be.
3For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Christ fulfills the law’s purpose for us. When we have HIM we have all the law requires.
5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Precious gospel. Not doing, but believing, saves us. We do not have to do or feel great things but simply to trust.)
10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”2 (Think about this verse. It should comfort even the most depressed seeker. Real prayer will be heard sooner or later.)
14How then will they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”3 16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”4 17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Be determined to continue attending the gospel ministry and be committed to listen carefully, because it is the way that faith comes.)
18But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for
“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”5
Sadly, not all hearers become believers. Most hear with deaf ears and do not obey the truth.
19But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”6
20Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”7
Sovereign grace sometimes saves the most unlikely people. At the same time those who sit under a gospel ministry may harden their hearts and perish. Beware of thinking outward advantages are enough. You must have real faith in Jesus.
21But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”8 (They were sincerely warned and lovingly invited. Yet it was all for nothing. Will this be the case with any of this household? God forbid.)
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1 Mark 16:16
2 Joel 2:32
3 Isaiah 52:7
4 Isaiah 53:1
5 Psalm 19:4
6 Deuteronomy 32:21
7 Isaiah 65:1
8 Isaiah 65:2
Year One, April 4
We Have Also Obtained Access By Faith1
After being given the law on Mount Sinai, Moses received instructions about public worship and sacrifices. All of these things pointed to spiritual matters. Therefore, we will read the New Testament summary of it found in
Hebrews 9:1-14
1Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies), 4having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
6These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. (The greatest of the Jewish high priests had to admit that they were sinners themselves and they had to present sin-offerings for themselves as well as for the people. But our Lord Jesus has no sin of his own; which is part of the reason he was able to bear our sin.)
8By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9(which is symbolic for the present age). (The Most Holy Place was not open to everyone, but only to Jews; and not to all Jews, but only to priests; and not to all priests, but only to the high priest; and not even to him at all times, or indeed at any time, but only on one solitary day in the year.) According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper (That is, they could not atone for sin. Therefore these gifts and sacrifices could not give peace to the conscience), 10but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
These washings and regulations were a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Light of the World appeared, the reason for these dim images was over. The time of reformation is now. Jesus is the completion and fulfillment of the ceremonial law. Is it not amazing that anyone would wish to undo this reformation and go back to the uselessness of trying to keep the law? Even worse, many professing Christians want us to practice the follies of the Roman Catholic Church in our own places of worship.
11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Our Lord’s offering is never to be repeated. It has been presented once and the result has been the absolute eternal redemption of all for whom he bled as a substitute. Oh what joy to see Jesus behind the second curtain, in the Most Holy Place, with a perfect offering, and to know that the one sacrifice has saved us.)
13For if the blood of goats and bulls, and sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Who can answer this question, “How much more?” It is a glorious declaration. Jesus can most certainly remove our sins. Beloved, has he removed yours? Answer as if you were answering before the living God!
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1 Romans 5:2
Year One, April 5
Our Fellowship Is With the Father1
Exodus 24:1-15, 18
1Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
Under the law, even those who were favored the most were not allowed to come very near to God. Even when he said, “Come near to Jehovah,” it was added, “but the others shall not come near.” How different the gospel, is! “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”2
3Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (Their tongues went faster than their lives. People are swift at promising, but limping in performing.) 4And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw (or sprinkled) against the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The blood is the main thing in all fellowship with God. No road is open to us but the crimson one. Peace comes where the blood of Jesus falls, but without that we are unclean and unable to have fellowship with God. Dear friends, has the blood of Jesus ever been sprinkled on you? Faith applies the blood. Do you have that faith?
9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (When the blood was on them, they could come near, and enjoy quiet fellowship that even included eating and drinking. What they saw is not explained to us except for one detail; they saw the bright blue pavement beneath the sacred feet. All of our knowledge falls below the glory of our God. “For now we see in a mirror dimly,” but the day is coming when we will see him “face to face.”3)
12The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. (Moses enjoyed a higher degree of fellowship than any other man. He went up alone into the cloud. There are elect ones out of the elect who the Master brings very close to Himself, to “walk in the light as he is in the light.”4 To be highly favored in this way is the best honor and the greatest joy.) 14And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. (This was a delightful retreat for Moses, who would now, for a while, forget his responsibility for the people.)
18Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (O sweet time of fellowship with heaven. Six weeks with God! What a rest! Alas, Moses needed it, because the people were rebelling down below and making trouble for their leader’s heart.)
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1 1 John 1:3
2 Ephesians 2:13
3 1 Corinthians 13:12
4 1 John 1:7
Year One, April 6
You Shall Be Holy, For I Am Holy1
Exodus 30:11-16
11The LORD said to Moses, 12“When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the LORD when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. (Every census included a purchase price for each person counted. Every one of the Lord’s people was to be redeemed as a reminder to all generations that redemption is absolutely necessary for God to accept us. If we had not been bought with a price, the fierce plagues of divine judgment would have followed us even to the lowest hell.) 13Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel1 according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the LORD.”
God places his own value on people, because he knows their worth best. How much we owe is not left for us to decide based on what we think it should be. The Lord’s own will is what determines what our debt is. What we owe is what we owe, because HE requires it.
14Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD offering. 15“The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the LORD’s offering to make atonement for your lives.”
Believers differ in knowledge, gifts and graces, but they are all redeemed with the same price. The lowest believer was bought with the same blood as the foremost of the apostles. The poor, the unknown, the disabled, the illiterate, are as dear to the heart of Jesus as the richest and most gifted saint. What a sweet thought! Here is the true equality. “His righteousness is unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.”3 Let us all equally bless and love the Lord by whose blood we are equally redeemed.
16“You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.” (The atonement money was both a reminder of their relationship with the Lord as well as a reminder of their great obligation to serve their Redeemer.)
The apostle Peter explains that, when the Lord Jesus purchased our salvation with his precious blood, we became obligated to live a life pleasing to God.
1 Peter 1:15-21
15As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (The heart of true religion is living our lives in a way that reflects the Lord we worship.) 17And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, (Let a childlike fear of offending your Great Father always hold you back from sin. “Blessed is the man who fears always.”4) 18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
The same price that redeems us from destruction also redeems us from our pointless way of life. This price is no less than the heart’s blood of the Son of God. Until the world can offer us something more precious than the blood of Jesus, we will feel ourselves obligated by bonds of love to walk in holiness, and see Jesus praised.
20He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Jesus’ love to us is not something new. He was appointed to redeem us before worlds began. Do not let this world charm you with its constant claim of new and exciting things. It was a real love of concern that brought Jesus to earth to be our suffering substitute. Let our love be real too; not in word only, but in deed and in truth. Oh to be a redeemed family and to live like it. The Lord grant it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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1 1 Peter 1:16
2 shekel - about 2/5 ounce
3 Quoted from The English Preacher circa 1831
4 Commentary of the Book of Proverbs by Moses Stuart 1852
Year One, April 7
Keep Yourselves From Idols1
Exodus 32:1-14
1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
They were so undependable that they could not be trusted alone. Worse than that, they were terribly ungrateful. They forgot their God and gave Moses the credit for delivering them and even to him they were disgustingly thankless. They called him “this Moses,” as if they despised him and did so to the face of his own brother. They must have been in a state of wild rebellion, to insult both their great leader and his brother in this way. The fact was, they were so utterly unspiritual that they could not live in peace unless they had something they could see to call their god. They lacked the faith that sees him who is invisible.
2So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
Shame on Aaron for giving in to them! What idolatry to think that the infinite Jehovah looks like a young bull that has horns and hoofs. They went back to old Egyptian idolatry and set up an ox as the symbol of the God of power.
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” (That is, a feast to Jehovah. They still claimed to worship Jehovah, but broke the second commandment by making an idol in the form of an ox.) 6And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
7And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” (Who wonders that the Lord resented the insult offered to him by the people who owed him so much?) 9And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” (If Moses had been an ambitious or selfish man, this was a great opportunity for him; but he loved the people better than himself.)
11But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? (Notice the heart of his plea: God had called them Moses’ people {verse 7}, but he will not have it so, he calls them, “your people,” and begs the Lord to not be angry with them.) 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. (Moses appeals here to the name and honor of God. This is pleading with force!) 13“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever,’” (His third master plea is “the promise” confirmed by oath. He who can plead the promises of God will succeed.) 14And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. (If Moses succeeded as Mediator,2 how much more will the Lord Jesus, who prays for guilty sinners.)
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1 1 John 5:21
2 mediator - a person who attempts to make people involved in a conflict come to an agreement; a go-between. As used in the Bible, Jesus Christ intercedes between God the Father and Christians; that is, he prays for them.
Year One, April 8
If Anyone Does Sin, We Have an Advocate1
Exodus 32:15-20; 30-35
15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. (It is no small difficulty to leave fellowship with God to battle with other people’s sins. This can happen to us even today. May the Lord prepare us for it.) 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
Joshua was a soldier and therefore, his thoughts ran that way, but Moses knew better. It would be far better to hear the noise of war with spiritual enemies, than the sound of rebellion against the Lord.
18But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” 19And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
Moses is never blamed for this. His action represented his great hatred of sin and his zeal for the Lord of hosts. He felt that the tablets, which were written with God’s finger, would be polluted by being brought among such a people.
20He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
Moses shows the greatest contempt for their idol by making them drink it. Is it not strange beyond belief that followers of the Roman Catholic Church of our day actually worship the wafer and then eat it? They imagine that it is great religious respect to eat something they claim is divine.
This is a wonderful example of the influence of one man. In the midst of thousands of idolaters, Moses was able to tear down their idol, deface it, grind it to powder, mix it with water, and force the people to drink it. God was with him or the stubborn and pigheaded mob would have resisted him. He was very clear in his action. He did not tolerate idol worship for a moment. This decision, no doubt, gave him great influence for good among the people.
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” (His one thought was to do them good. He was like our Lord Jesus, a faithful Intercessor.)
31So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. 32But now, if you will forgive their sin--but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” (This was splendid self-sacrifice, of which we find a similar case in the apostle Paul. Moses meant what he said, but we must not judge his expressions by cold-blooded logic. They were the warm overflow of a tender heart.) 33But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.” (This is the voice of the law threatening to blot out the sinner, but the gospel freely blots out the sin.) 34“But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” (The Lord refused to be personally present with the tribes of Israel, but graciously promised to assign an angel to direct them. This was sad news for Moses, who knew the value of the divine presence; and to the people themselves it was dreadful news, especially the part that the Lord would visit them for sin.)
35Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
The people were the real makers of the idol. Aaron was only the person they used to create the idol. Neither the people nor Aaron are excused. The guilt of each is clearly stated. It was sad to see such a man as Aaron go so far off the correct path. Lord, keep each one of us by your Holy Spirit.
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1 1 John 2:1
Year One, April 9
My Presence Will Go With You1
Exodus 33:1-7; 12-23
1The LORD said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
4When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. (The people still had some conscience left. When Moses spoke to them it was evident, but, like the morning dew, it only lasted a short time.) 5For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” (As if the Lord did not know how to show mercy to unrepentant sinners.) 6Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
This must always happen before mercy. Pride must remove her disguise, self-righteousness must throw off her cloak and self-importance must take off its jingling jewelry.
7Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.
They were not worthy to have the Lord stay in the center of their community. The Lord did not leave them completely, but he went into the outer circle. All who would seek the Lord must go outside the camp. The lesson is clear and it is still true today.
12Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (The Lord gives us his presence now and rest at the end of life’s journey. What a precious promise!) 15And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”
17And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” (We have received grace and that grace is what guarantees answers to our prayers.) 18Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (We see that the sovereignty of his grace is the very glory of God. Why do people quarrel with it?) 20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Nowhere else can God be spiritually seen, except from the Rock of ages cleft for us.2 We now see only the edge his garments, but even this glimpse delights us. How sweet to know that however little we see of God, yet it is God, our Father.
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1 Exodus 33:14
2 A reference to the hymn Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me written by Augustus Toplady in 1776. A cleft is a hollow place in a rock. The story is told that, one day Toplady was overtaken by a thunderstorm and ran to a limestone rock formation where he took shelter in a “cleft” and wrote his now famous hymn.
Year One, April 10
The LORD Looks On the Heart1
1 Corinthians 10:1-12
1For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (A great deal of spiritual guidance is lost if we allow ourselves to remain ignorant about Old Testament history. God intended us to learn many practical lessons from the Israelites. They had the law and the special privilege of being the chosen people of Jehovah and yet they perished. We should pay attention, to prevent the same thing from happening to us. Were we baptized with water when we began our religious life? So were they. At the Red Sea, with the cloud above them and the sea on either side, they were buried in baptism with their leader.) 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
This resembles the Lord’s Supper. They ate manna and drank from the rock that was split open. The bread and wine of the Communion Service also represent him whose flesh is true food and whose blood is true drink.2
5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. (They died, even though they took part in the sacrifices and other things that God told them to do. We will also fall unless, by faith, we steer clear of their fault of unbelief.)
6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (Our baptism, our taking part in the Lord’s Supper, and other benefits of being church members, may make us think we are safe from God’s anger, but we must take heed, because far more is needed.)
In the Psalms we find the same lesson set to music.
Psalm 95
1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
They were his people on the outside. They were given every advantage to make them worthy to be called God’s chosen people. But they never became a spiritual people. Their privileges were of no use and they died in the wilderness. Let us beware of depending on anything short of saving faith and a real change of heart. “You must be born again.”3
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1 1 Samuel 16:7
2 John 6:55 - Jesus said, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
3 John 3:7
Year One, April 11
Make Your Face Shine Upon Your Servant1
In our present reading we will see how the Lord reopened his communications with Israel, even though their sin had quickly broken all their agreements almost before they had agreed to them.
Exodus 34:1-5; 28-35
1The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.”
Let us learn here, that although people have broken the law of God, yet the Lord in infinite mercy to his people visits them again. First, he causes their hearts to be broken and prepared by the preaching of his prophets and ministers. Then, he writes the law on those “tablets of human hearts.”2 Having the law in the heart is better than the law on stone.
2“Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.”
Moses must go up a second time and be with the Lord. The people must be tested a second time to see if they will serve God when their leader is absent.
3“No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” (Distance was always the rule of the law. Moses went up to God alone, but Jesus takes all his people with him.) 4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. (Notice, that Moses, like other good men, was up early in the morning. Matthew Henry says, “the morning is perhaps as good a friend to Christians to grow in grace as it is to thoughtful and creative people to develop their natural skills.”3 God loves servants who are prompt and on time.) 5The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. (He declared the character and the excellence of Jehovah.)
28So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (In being miraculously supported for forty days without food, Moses represents the law, followed by Elijah the chief of the prophets, and finally our Lord Jesus, in whom the gospel is made known.)
29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
After such long closeness with God Moses came down enriched with the best treasure and adorned with the best beauty. What he had seen was unconsciously reflected from him, as it always is from those who have had fellowship with God.
30Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
Everybody could see the brightness of Moses’ face except himself; and the same may be said of the man who lives as in the presence of God.
31But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. (In this he was unlike most men, who are usually far too ready to show their brightness to everybody, wishing for admiration. True excellence does not try to draw attention to itself.)
34Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. (Before God we must all be unveiled. All things are open before him.) And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, (The only proper subject for the life and message of the Lord’s ministers is what comes from the Word of God.) 35the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
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1 Psalm 119:135
2 2 Corinthians 3:3
3 From Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Exodus 34:4.
Year One, April 12
He Is Altogether Desirable1
The apostle Paul gathers lessons from the veiled face of Moses and presents them to us in:
2 Corinthians 3:7-18
7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? (Moses taught the letter of the law—the outward signs and details of rule and order. The gospel reveals the inner secret of the law—the heart and the spirit of truth. This is certainly more glorious than religious ceremony. Babies in understanding may be most impressed with the shallow glory that dazzles the eye, but mature adults respect most that inner light of spiritual beauty that lights up the soul.)
9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. (The law only gives condemnation and death. How much more glorious is the gospel, that gives righteousness and life? If the judgments and decisions of a judge are viewed with respect when he sits in court, how much more admiration is there for the chariots of love and the banners of grace that adorn the procession of a beloved Prince?) 10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. (As the moon’s light fades away when the sun appears, so Moses is out shined by our Lord.) 11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
To the eyes of wisdom, things that are temporary can never shine with the same brightness as facts that are real and eternal. Sparks can never compete with stars. It is the crowning excellence of the gospel that it will never pass away. It is “an eternal gospel.”2 Bless God for this.
Our Lord’s transfiguration3 was a visible expression of the superior glory of the gospel. Not only our Lord’s face, but also his whole body glowed with an overwhelming light, that overpowered the three disciples. The glory of the gospel of grace amazes the angels, delights the perfect spirits in heaven and deserves to be the continual subject of our admiring wonder. In the gospel, God has shown us more of the glory of his nature and character than in all the rest of the world.
12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. (The glory of the gospel, as shown by types4 in the Old Testament, was too great for the Jews. A veil was needed to hide much of it. Now, unfortunately, the glory of the fully revealed truth has baffled them; but it is not so with us. We delight in a plain, unveiled gospel.)
15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. (Or else they would clearly see Jesus revealed in their law and would accept Him as Messiah at once. A veil over the brain is bad, but a veil over the heart is worst of all.) 16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (Poor Israel will see her Messiah eventually. The veil over the heart will be removed by the Holy Spirit.) 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (The Spirit of God forbids us from standing a long way away from the Lord, because of his awesome appearance. Instead, he gives us freedom to come near to our heavenly Father in the sweet awareness of his deep love for us.)
18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (We have been given a spiritual faith that looks into the inner truth. The truth about Jesus shines too brightly for the eyes of unbelievers and, like the sun, they cannot look at it. The Spirit of the Lord has brought us close to God, opened our defective eyes, and allowed us to see the character of the Invisible God and to share in it.)
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1 Song of Solomon 5:16
2 Revelation 14:6, “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.”
3 transfigure, transfiguration - to change into another form. When the Lord was on a high mountain with Peter, James and John, “he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” This event is found in Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; and Luke 9:28-36.
4 type - something or someone that represents something or someone else, usually in the future.
Year One, April 13
You Are Christ’s1
Exodus 35:4-5a; 20-29
4Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded. 5aTake from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD contribution.”
The Lord loves a cheerful giver.2 He would be right to demand money from us because it really is his, but he would rather we gave because we want to give. Every Israelite indeed3 should be a giver, because they are first a receiver.
20Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
They went off at once to get their offering. Promptness is an indication of willingness.
21And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. (There were some who loved their gold better than their God, but the majority was generous. They gave with joy, not because they were forced to.) 22So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sort of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the LORD.
This is a good example of contributing to God’s work. If Christian women would throw their jewelry into God’s treasury, and if godly men would present their excess of gold, there would be enough and more than enough.
23And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. (The gifts varied in value, but all were accepted alike. They were given voluntarily and accepted graciously.) 24Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the LORD’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 26All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. (Giving labor is as good as giving money or things. The women worked with their best skill. When the needle is used for the Lord it should be the best needlework in the world.)
27And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD. (Should we allow those who were under the law to give more than we who are under the gospel? No! We should far exceed them in giving to the Lord our God.)
Paul gives inspired directions for giving to the work of God in:
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
6The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (Notice the many “alls” here. Let us aim to have them all and then overflow in giving.)
1 Corinthians 16:2
2On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. (This is the true Christian practice: Set aside the Lord’s portion each payday and then give from the Lord’s money to the various works that need our help. From the oldest to the youngest, let us all be cheerful givers.)
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1 1 Corinthians 3:23
2 2 Corinthians 9:7
3 John 1:47, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’” In other words, an “Israelite indeed” is a true follower of the true God.
Year One, April 14
He Has Finished Transgression
The laws the Lord gave to Moses about sacrifices are very instructive. Every detail should be given serious study. We have chosen the law about the sin offering for this reading.
Leviticus 4:1-12
1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, 3if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering. (The command begins with an “if;” if anyone sins or if the priest sins. Of course, it is all too certain that they do sin. It is most gracious on the Lord’s part to appoint a sacrifice to deal with the situation. The victim must be without blemish or it cannot be an acceptable substitute. How well the Lord Jesus fills this requirement.)
4“He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the LORD. (By faith we must acknowledge that the sacrifice is the payment for our sin. The victim must die and pour out its blood, because the blood is what satisfies God’s justice.) 5And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, (The blood was clearly visible everywhere, because it is the very heart of atonement.1) 6and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
7“And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the LORD that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 9and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys 10(just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. (When our Lord Jesus was made sin for us, he was forsaken by God.2 Nevertheless, he was still dear to God and therefore part of the sin offering was placed on the altar of burnt offering, where offerings of thanksgiving were placed, but not offerings for sin.)
11“But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung-- 12all the rest of the bull--he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up. (The sin offering was considered unclean and must be taken “outside the camp.” Even so, when Jesus was made sin for us,3 he was made to suffer outside Jerusalem.)
Hebrews 13:10-14
10We have an altar from which those who serve the tent (that is, those Jews who continue to sacrifice animals) have no right to eat. 11For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. (Calvary was outside Jerusalem) 13Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Our Lord, in who we trust, was set apart and covered with disgrace for our benefit. Even so, our holy faith makes us a people separated from the world. Leaving our friends and relatives behind means little. Going “outside the camp” to Jesus is what really counts. With joy we follow him “outside the camp” to the place of separation, in anticipation of living with him forever.)
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1 atonement - A payment made to satisfy someone who has been wronged. An animal sacrificed as an offering to restore a relationship. Jesus is the Lamb of God and offered himself as a sacrifice to restore the relationship between God and man that was broken when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden.
2 Matthew 27:46, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
3 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Year One, April 15
The LORD Your God…Is a Jealous God1
Leviticus 10:1-11
1Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. (These young men were self-willed and they also may have been drunk. They dared to violate the Lord’s commands in his own immediate presence. They followed their own wills about the time, place and way of offering the incense. No doubt they thought these were small details, but indeed nothing is small in the service of God. He will be worshiped in his own way and not in ours. In our day some change the ordinances2 of the Church without considering that there may be more sin involved than they think. Besides, there is one fire in the church and that is the Holy Spirit; and one incense and that is the work of Jesus. It is daring disrespect to look for other excitement or offer any other righteousness to God.)
2And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (The devouring flame flashed right across the ark of the covenant and killed them. Think about that, and remember that they were a minister’s sons and ministers themselves. “The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”3 Nadab and Abihu died when they worshiped God their way and made offerings the way they wanted to. We fear that thousands will perish the same way. Let us be careful and prayerful and walk respectfully before the jealous God; looking only to worship him as his own Word directs.) 3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said, ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace. (All godly parents must hold their peace when they see their graceless children perish before the Lord. God is most strict with those closest to him. Let them guard themselves against resenting the Lord’s actions.)
4And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said.
Everyone saw what happened and were warned. It is very sad when those who should teach holiness by their lives, only teach it when they become examples of God’s anger in their deaths.
6And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the LORD has kindled. 7And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
The offenders’ closest friends were called on to demonstrate their approval of the divine justice. Others might mourn the sin and doom of the offenders, but their family members were told to show no sign of mourning.
8And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying, 9“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.”
Probably because Nadab and Abihu had been drinking, all priests were forbidden from now on to drink wine during their times of service. It is a disgusting sin when a Christian minister hopes to stimulate his effectiveness by drinking wine. It is an unauthorized offering of strange fire before the Lord and will certainly be dealt with accordingly. He who serves God must be calm, sober, and not excited with any passions of the flesh. Oh for a baptism of the Holy Spirit, to free the Lord’s ministers from every false excitement and make them wait on the Lord in quiet holiness.
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1 Deuteronomy 6:15
2 ordinance - Religious rite or ceremony specified by God. Spurgeon would mean Baptism and Communion.
3 Deuteronomy 4:24
Year One, April 16
We Have All Become Like One Who Is Unclean1
The dreadful disease of leprosy was so common among the Israelites that laws were made for controlling it. Rules were put in place so that persons who had been cleansed of their leprosy could return to the society of Israel from which they had been excluded. Among the laws was one notable one that we will read because it is full of teaching.
Leviticus 13:12-17; 45-46
12And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, 13then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean.
This seems very strange and we cannot use space here to attempt to explain it. But we can confidently assert that when a person sees nothing else but sin in himself he is very close to salvation. The sin we do not recognize within us is far more dangerous than the sin we see and mourn over. When the sinner’s wickedness is properly understood, they will come quickly to the Lord Jesus for cleansing. As long as we think there is some goodness in us, we proudly boast about it and we are in a sorry case. However, when we see that, from the sole of our foot even to our head, we are only wounds and bruises and rotting sores, then we are humbled and our cure begins.
14But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease.
What we ignorantly value the most about our self is just what the Lord considers to be our deadliest quality.
16But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean. (When they thought their disease was the worst they were really better. “The Lord sees not as man sees.”2 When the disease covered the entire body and his case seemed hopeless, he was clean. When self-righteousness is gone, when we realize there is nothing good in us,3 then our hour of grace has arrived. If the priest found the person to be unclean, the law shut them out from the camp.)
45“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’”
He was required to wear the torn garments of sorrow. His head was uncovered as if in mourning for himself as dead. His mouth was covered as if to show he could never more have contact with others. To prevent others from coming near him and catching the dreadful disease, he had to sound the warning cry, “Unclean, unclean.”
46“He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (He must live outside the camp. No one would dare approach him. He was not allowed to come near anyone. His disease was repulsive, painful, harmful, and deadly. So are sin and the sinner’s condition before the Lord. They are not allowed to be in God’s presence and are dead in trespasses and sins.4 Spiritual power and holiness do not exist in them. Streams of impurity flow in their soul and make them completely abhorrent to God. The shadow of death has fallen on them. No human hand can heal them. There is no balm in Gilead.5 There is no doctor for them. The sinner is sick to the point of death. They are far beyond all earthly help. Yet there is one who can heal with a word. He is present here, saying to each one of us, “Turn to me and be saved. For I am God, and there is no other.”6 The person who refuses this Physician deserves to die and die they must. Will it be so with any of us? Rather let each one of us put our trust in Jesus from this very hour.)
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1 Isaiah 64:6
2 1 Samuel 16:7
3 Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”
4 Ephesians 2:1-2b, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.”
5 A reference to Jeremiah 8:22
6 Isaiah 45:22
Year One, April 17
Purge Me With Hyssop, and I Shall Be Clean1
Leviticus 14:1-7
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, 3and the priest shall go out of the camp, (If the priest was busy with other duties, the leper had to wait until the priest could leave the camp and come to him, but Jesus is always ready to hear the sinner’s cry. Besides all that the priest could do was to pronounce a person ceremonially clean who was already healed, but Jesus actually heals the soul that is sick with sin.) and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, 4the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. 5And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen ware vessel over fresh water. 6He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field.
Blood and water come together as one bird is sacrificed and the other lives and is pronounced clean. This picture is completed more fully in Jesus. Blood and water flowed from his side when he was slain for us to remove our guilt and he also lives for us and becomes our righteousness. “[He] was delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification.”2 He came not by water only, but by water and blood. And we are now born of water and of the Spirit. Like the living bird, we also fly in the open field and a new song is in our mouth, even praise to our God.
In the Gospels we meet with the cure of a leper by our Lord, in which the Jewish practice and ceremonies are referred to.
Mark 1:40-45
40And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
Here was enough faith to believe that Jesus could remove an incurable disease, but there was still a sad “if” in his faith, like a dead fly in the jar of lotion. In spite of that, the Lord Jesus accepted the imperfect faith and gave a perfect cure in return.
41Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” (What a blessed “I will.” Christ’s will is omnipotent.3 He can save us even with his wish. He can save us at this very moment.) 42And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. (Salvation is immediate. The moment we believe in Jesus we have eternal life.) 43And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” (While the law was in force our Lord kept it. How much more should we obey the gospel in every point of principle and command?)
45But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. (Jesus was humble and did not seek honor from others. But the man’s gratefulness would not let him be quiet. He told his story and the news ran along like fire over a prairie. It blazed in every direction, to the praise of the Good Physician.)
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1 Psalm 51:7
2 Romans 4:25
3 omnipotent, omnipotence - all powerful, almighty, absolute and supreme power, having unlimited power.
Year One, April 18
Christ Bore the Sins Of Many1
Leviticus 16:1-10; 15-22
1The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, 2and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.”
The death of Nadab and Abihu became the time of more instruction to Israel. We should always learn from the Lord’s judgments on others. Aaron was taught that even he could only come to God as the Lord showed him the correct way to enter the Holy Place.
3“But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. (He was to wear only the ordinary linen garments worn by all the priests and not the glorious robes of the high priest. His washing was meant to show his cleanness from sin. This pictures our Lord Jesus who, in making atonement for us, laid aside his glory and became like his brothers, except without sin.) 5And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.”
See how superior our Lord is? He had no need to make an offering for himself.
7“Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for [the scapegoat].2 9And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, 10but the goat on which the lot fell for [the scapegoat]3 shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.”4
The Lord Jesus, our great substitute, takes the sins of his people away into the wilderness of nonexistence.
15“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel. (Do we not see here our Great High Priest, alone, without a helper, making atonement for us?)
20“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.”
The first goat showed the Savior suffering. The second goat represented the effect of that suffering in the complete removal of Israel’s sin. For the man who rests in Jesus sin is gone. Gone forever.
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1 See Hebrews 9:28
2 ESV Azazel meaning scapegoat or the one to bear the blame for others and suffer in their place.
3 ESV Azazel (see preceding footnote)
4 Azazel can mean either the scapegoat itself or, in this case, the place in the wilderness to which the scapegoat is released.
Year One, April 19
Let…Us Celebrate the Festival1
Today let us consider two of the holy seasons God commanded his people to observe. First, The Day of Atonement and then The Feast of Tabernacles.
Leviticus 23:26-32; 37-43
26And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27“Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation,2 and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. (Sorrow for sin is a blessed thing. Being sorry for sin cannot make a person righteous, but it is always part of receiving the atonement. If sin is sweet to us it will destroy us, but when our soul is distressed about it, the day of atonement has arrived.) 28And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.”
If sin could be removed by doing good works, the Lord would not have commanded “you shall not do any work” on the Day of Atonement. There is no thought here of working for salvation.
29“For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. (There is no more certain sign of destruction, than to not have any internal pain for sin. True sorrow for sin is intense. The Jews said, “a man had never seen sorrow who had not seen the sorrow of the Day of Atonement.”) 30And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.32It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”
This day of expressing sadness for sin was followed by the joyous Feast of Tabernacles. Sacred sorrow prepares the heart for holy joy. We must receive the atonement before we can enter into the joy of the Lord.
37“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38besides the LORD Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. (The Spirit of God places great importance on the joy of our faith. He continues to focus our attention on it. The fruit of the Spirit is joy.)
39“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.”
This was a very happy time. The Jews said, “he who never saw the rejoicing of the Feast of Tabernacles, had never seen rejoicing in his life.”
40“And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.” (Andrew Bonar says, “Imagine the scene presented to us; earth in its luxuriance during the reign of righteousness and peace and joy. ‘Every splendid tree’ furnishes its branches for the occasion. The palm is mentioned first because it was the tree that had most often provided them shelter in the wilderness, as at Elim.”3 Being reminded of what divine love had done for them, the people spent a happy week in the shade of the tree branches. They no doubt felt and said, “it is good to be here.”)
41“You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Such delightful celebrations refreshed people’s hearts with sunny memories. The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles picture the loving kindness of the Lord. When the Lord’s people sorrow for sin, they have their sorrow turned into joy.)
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1 1 Corinthians 5:8
2 convocation - A large formal assembly of people, a large group gathered together.
3 Andrew Bonar (1810-1892). A minister of the Free Church of Scotland and youngest brother of hymn writer Horatius Bonar.
Year One, April 20
Hallowed Be Your Name1
We shall now read a short story that is very horrifying to think about. However, it is full of serious teaching for all of us. May the Holy Spirit give us grace to learn from it.
Leviticus 24:10-16; 23
10Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, (Among the people of God there are some who are not actually Christians. In their heart they are Egyptians, that is, lovers of sin, even though they act very much like true believers and freely socialize in their meetings.) 11and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. (He blasphemed The Name. There is a name given among us that is above every name, a name at which every knee will bow,2 and misery shall be on the person who hardly even respects the name of Jesus.) Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. (Bad people bring shame to their mothers. May we never do that.) 12And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them.
It is not for us to judge unbelievers unless we have the Lord’s authority from the Bible. However, statements against the name and glory of the Lord Jesus should fill us with horror and make us consider what the doom of those who speak them will be.
13Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14“Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. (No ordinary punishment could satisfy such contempt for God. The person must die. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved,3 and because the offender had caused injury to the blessed name, he must be destroyed immediately. There is no other way. We would be untrue if we held out even the slightest hope of eternal life to those who despise the name of Jesus. Instead, the faithful must all lay their hands on the unbeliever’s head, to show their agreement and approval of his just punishment. There is mercy in Jesus, but those who want the Lord Jesus out of their lives bring down their blood on their own heads.) 15And speak to the people of Israel, saying, 16Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
23So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses. (No other end is proclaimed for a blasphemer of “the Name” except a swift and terrible death. Those awful words of the apostle that we will now quote, should sink down into every heart and move us to devoted obedience to the name of Jesus.)
Hebrews 10:28-31
28Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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1 Matthew 6:9
2 Philippians 2:10-11, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
3 Acts 4:12
Year One, April 21
The Year of My Redeemed Has Come1
Leviticus 25:8-17; 25-28; 39-42
8“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. (The preaching of the Gospel is declaring a spiritual jubilee. Jesus our great High Priest has proclaimed “liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”2 Our Lord’s atoning work is the true source of our holy joy. This is the time of every believer’s jubilee, because every believer has been set free by Christ!) 11“That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vine. 12For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
13“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.” (The Jews were not to purchase property from one another. Instead, their “buying” was leasing or renting the land for however many of the forty-nine years were left until the year of jubilee. The Lord declared that the land should rest every seventh year. Therefore every seventh year was not a “years for crops,” but a Sabbath year and therefore did not count in estimating the value of the property. In our buying and selling we should take great care to be fair, so we do not cause the Lord to become angry with us.)
25“If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. (Praise God. Our Lord Jesus is our closest brother who has redeemed our lost inheritance for us.) 26If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28But if he has not sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.” (Our lost possession is now restored to us. In fact, we have received back even more than Adam lost.)
39“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. 42For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.” (The gospel jubilee has set us free and given us true liberty. Now we know the meaning of the Lord’s words, “My year of redemption has come.”3 Has everyone in this house celebrated this jubilee? If not, may the Holy Spirit bring us to the point where we will.)
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1 Isaiah 63:4 alternate reading
2 Isaiah 61:1 and quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18
3 Isaiah 63:4 NASB
8“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. (The preaching of the Gospel is declaring a spiritual jubilee. Jesus our great High Priest has proclaimed “liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”2 Our Lord’s atoning work is the true source of our holy joy. This is the time of every believer’s jubilee, because every believer has been set free by Christ!) 11“That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vine. 12For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
13“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.” (The Jews were not to purchase property from one another. Instead, their “buying” was leasing or renting the land for however many of the forty-nine years were left until the year of jubilee. The Lord declared that the land should rest every seventh year. Therefore every seventh year was not a “years for crops,” but a Sabbath year and therefore did not count in estimating the value of the property. In our buying and selling we should take great care to be fair, so we do not cause the Lord to become angry with us.)
25“If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. (Praise God. Our Lord Jesus is our closest brother who has redeemed our lost inheritance for us.) 26If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28But if he has not sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.” (Our lost possession is now restored to us. In fact, we have received back even more than Adam lost.)
39“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. 42For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.” (The gospel jubilee has set us free and given us true liberty. Now we know the meaning of the Lord’s words, “My year of redemption has come.”3 Has everyone in this house celebrated this jubilee? If not, may the Holy Spirit bring us to the point where we will.)
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1 Isaiah 63:4 alternate reading
2 Isaiah 61:1 and quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18
3 Isaiah 63:4 NASB
Year One, April 22
The Righteous Shall Be Glad1
Numbers 10:29-36
29And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the LORD has promised good to Israel.” (We should talk to our friends and relatives about the advantages that can come from being associated with the people of God. It may be they will be led to join with us.) 30But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” 31And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us. (Those who are converted to the faith often become of great service to the church. This should encourage us all the more to want to see them trust in Christ.) 32And if you do go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you.”
The agreement was made to share and share alike. This was true friendship. Believers know that the Lord involves himself with all his servants. All who fear the name of the Lord are one family. God feeds them with the same bread of life, clothes them with the same righteousness, protects them with the same fatherly care, and brings them by the same grace to the same glory. Those who truly join with us in Christ’s church will enjoy all the advantages that benefit us.
33So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey. And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. 34And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.
35And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” (This is the Rising Prayer. It acknowledges that Israel’s journey is troubled by enemies and it looks away from all human help to the Lord alone. The Lord has only to rise up and his enemies and ours are gone. Oh Lord, now arise!) 36And when it rested, he said, “Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”
This was the Resting Prayer. It pleads for God’s presence. Fearing that the Lord may have been offended during the day, it begs him to return and abide with his people.2
Let us read a few verses of David’s psalm, in which he sings of the Lord’s glorious marching through the wilderness.
Psalm 68:1-8
1 God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
Such a God is not to be worshipped with sadness or half-heartedness. Let our joy in him be full.3
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
exult before him!
God is as much with us as he was with the Jews. Let us sing his praises as much as they did.
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows,
is God in his holy habitation.
Therefore let his people remember the orphan and help those organizations whose mission is to benefit them. Let them also have pity for poor widows who are in God’s very special care.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
Gracious as God is, he cannot bless those who continue in rebellion. Sin is a source of misery and always will be.
7 O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
May the God of Israel be honored forever. His presence is still our support and comfort. Our inmost hearts adore him. Lord throughout this day go before us and bless us with your presence.
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1 Psalm 68:3
2 John 15:5b - Jesus said, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
3 John 15:11 - Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Year One, April 23
I Am the LORD Your God1
Numbers 11:4-5; 10-23
4Now the rabble2 that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! (Trouble in the camp usually started with the rabble. It is the same with the church of God now. Those professing Christians in the church who are Christian in name only are the kindling for Satan’s matches. It is sad, however, to see that the Israelites were ready enough to follow the bad example of the mixed multitude. Their murmuring was groundless. They lacked neither bread nor water, but they wanted luxuries. Such complaining is sure to be punished.) 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.”
10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
The meekest man3 failed in his meekness. He was so angered by the senseless demands of the people that he spoke unwisely to God. The best of men still have weaknesses. In Moses’ case the Lord showed great compassion to his servant by sending him help to assist with such a great responsibility.
16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.”
The Lord overlooked Moses’ childish language and met the real burden of his case. The seventy men would have been of no use without the Spirit, but with it they became valuable helpers. Oh Lord, give your Spirit to all the elders and deacons of our churches, as well as to all pastors and evangelists.
18“And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
Too much becomes nauseous. In God’s wisdom, he gave them so much of what they wrongly desired that they became disgusted with it. In this way, the Lord often makes people sick of their darling sins.
21But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” (Moses began looking at second causes instead of almighty God. That led to doubting, and he even forgot another possible source for meat. He forgot the birds of heaven from which the Lord provided meat for the people.) 23And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” (Our Lord is grieved when we do not believe him. Perhaps some of us are also guilty of it. Is it so? Then let us humbly bow before the rebuke of this verse, and then hopefully expect to see every promise of the Lord fulfilled, for so it shall be.)
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1 Exodus 20:2
2 rabble - “a multitude consisting of Egyptians or other people, which being affected with God’s miraculous works in Egypt . . . joined themselves to the Israelites”. —Matthew Poole
3 Numbers 12:3, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
Year One, April 24
Do Not Quench the Spirit1
Numbers 11:24-34
24So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
See what the Lord can do! Let it encourage us to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”2 Many a Moses is overwhelmed because of a lack of helpers, but the Lord can send them all the assistance they need.
26Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. (Maybe Moses and the people had not expected prophetic gifts to follow the gift of the Spirit, but only the power to govern the people. This was probably the reason for the excitement when two of the elders began to preach in parts of the camp where they had not yet heard about the prophesying at the tabernacle.) 27And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.”
Jealousy for his master’s honor moved Joshua to try stopping the unusual ministry of Eldad and Medad. There are still many today who are zealous to stop those who “dare” to preach, but have not attended the “right” school or been ordained by the “right” church.
29But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Moses did not have a selfish spirit. If the men were really moved by the Spirit of God, he had no desire to stop their unusual method. Far from it; he wished that all the Lord’s servants had the same gifts and graces. Irregular ministries have been the means of the salvation of thousands, and therefore we rejoice, and will continue to rejoice when they bear fruit.) 30And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31Then a wind from the LORD sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits (or three feet) above the ground. 32And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers (or almost 600 gallons). And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
They feasted without fear even though they had been told that evil would come of it. They no doubt stuffed themselves and then worked hard to come up with a way to preserve what remained; as if they thought they would never have such a great supply again. Greediness is its own plague and brings other evils with it.
33While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague.
These gluttons dug their grave with their teeth. Many die by eating or drinking too much. The sins of drunkenness and gluttony devour their thousands. God punished one sin by another. Those who complained because they wanted meat, received, as a penalty, death while eating the meat they had longed for.
34Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (or, graves of craving), because there they buried the people who had the craving. (Shocking sins can be reminders for us. They serve to warn us not to become resentful and greedy. May the Lord make us thankful for His mercies and save us from fleshly lusts.)
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1 1 Thessalonians 5:19
2 Matthew 9:38
Year One, April 25
Love Does Not Envy1
Numbers 12:1-15
1Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. (They complained because they were jealous of Moses’ power. Moses was a good man; so good that even those who knew him best could find no fault with him. The only complaint they could come up with was that he had married a woman who was not an Israelite. And the only thing they could accuse her of was that she was a foreigner, an Ethiopian.) 2And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. (Moses must have been hurt by the jealousy of his brother and sister, but he did not fight his own battle. He left the matter to God, who disapproved of the cruel bitterness of Moses’ ungrateful siblings.)
3Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Some other writer has inserted this verse under divine direction. Moses would not have said it of himself, but the Lord took care that somebody else would record it. God honors those who honor him. Moses was meek and so he did not fight to protect his own reputation. Therefore the Lord fought for him.)
4And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. (The suddenness of the Lord’s action shows the importance of the matter, as well as the Lord’s anger about it.) 5And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. 6And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Aaron had been wrong about the golden calf; therefore he ought to have been very quiet. As a woman Miriam would be expected to keep her opinion to herself. Yet, envy pushed both of these good people into a bad spirit and then into a wrong and sinful position. Above all things, let us avoid envy, for “jealousy is fierce as the grave.”2 If God chooses to make others greater and more honored than ourselves, what right do we have to question his right to do so?) 9And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed. (This was the surest sign of his anger. God’s presence is heaven to his children and his absence is misery.)
10When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
If Aaron had been made a leper he could not have performed his office of high priest. Miriam’s disease was a punishment for both of them and possibly she had also been the leading offender.
11And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 13And Moses cried to the LORD, “O God, please heal her--please.”
Miriam wounded Moses with her tongue and now Moses uses his tongue to cry, “O God, please heal her.” This is the true way to heap coals of fire on the heads of those who injure us.3 We must pray for those who abuse us.4
14But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” (In ancient eastern culture, when a child provoked their father, the father would spit in his child’s face and then the child was forbidden to be in the father’s presence for seven days. How much more then should Miriam be shut out of the camp for a while when she had so grossly offended the Lord. Miriam’s leprosy was a terrible mark of God’s displeasure.) 15So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. (This showed their respect for her and their grief for her disease.)
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1 1 Corinthians 13:4
2 Song of Solomon 8:6. “Jealousy ... swallows up and devours all.” - Matthew Henry
3 A reference to Proverbs 25:22 and quoted by Paul in Romans 12:20. Some believe “heaping coals of fire” on an enemy’s head was a figure of speech for taking vengeance. Others think it refers to the ancient kindness of giving live coals to your enemy which he carried home in a jar on his head to start a fire in his home for cooking and warmth. Spurgeon evidently intends the second meaning. See his comments on Romans 12:20 (Year Two, October 4).
4 Luke 6:28
Year One, April 26
We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight1
Numbers 13:1-2; 17-21; 23-33
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. (The Lord permitted Moses to send spies because of the hardness of the people’s hearts. It would have been far better for them to have believed the Word of the Lord and followed the pillar of cloud. How foolish of them to want to spy out the land that the Lord had already spied out for them a long time ago.) From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”
17Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath.
23And they came to the Valley of Eshcol (Eshcol means cluster) and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.
They brought back positive proof that the country was excellent for producing wonderful crops. This huge cluster of grapes is like the holy comforts that Christians enjoy even in this world. They are also promises of the joys of heaven.
24That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
25At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. (Every day of spying cost Israel a year of wandering in the wilderness. The apostle Paul says “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Walking by sight is expensive work.) 26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29The Amalekites dwell in the land of Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” (The report of sight was completely discouraging. How much better it would have been for Israel if they had walked by faith! These spies took careful note of everything that could discourage their hearts, but they either left out, or misunderstood many things that should have made them hopeful. If we decide to leave the road of faith, we are sure to have a hard time of it.)
30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim,), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (If they had only believed their God, these things would not have made any difference! Had he not struck down the Egyptians? Caleb and Joshua had faith and therefore they had courage. But unbelief is cowardly. Oh, for grace to trust in the Lord. If we place our trust in God instead of people, our lives will grow great and good before the Lord.)
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1 2 Corinthians 5:7
Year One, April 27
Have Faith in God1
Numbers 14:1-21
1Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. (When children cry for no reason, they soon have a good reason for crying. And that was what happened in this case. Have we not also sinned in very much the same way?) 2And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
They asked whether God had brought them out of Egypt to kill them. They should have been ashamed to insult Jehovah like that! Truly we are just as guilty if we think that God has led us so far on the road to heaven only to allow our enemies to be victorious over us.
4And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
To avoid one evil they talk about rushing into a worse one. They chatter about going back to Egypt, but they would not have the cloud to guide them or the manna to feed them. Unbelief is insanity.
5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
The people should have been the ones falling on their faces before Moses and Aaron. The best of people are very often the ones talked about as being the worst.
6And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. 8If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. (Joshua and Caleb argued their case very well, but the people were about to reward their faithfulness by stoning them to death.) But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. (God appeared for the defense of his servants. Anyone who touches them, touches the apple of God’s eye.2)
11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (This was a great offer, but how lovingly Moses turned it down. He was thinking more of Israel’s good and of God’s glory than of his own honor.)
13But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation.’ 19Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”
20Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.3 (Do you see the value of having someone standing between you and the anger of God? Praise God; if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.4)
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1 Mark 11:22
2 apple of his eye is used in Psalm 17:8 and Deuteronomy 32:10. It means something or someone very precious or dear.
3 Verse 21 is taken from the New American Standard Version. The ESV reads, “But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,”
4 1 John 2:1
Year One, April 28
The Lord Knows Those Who Are His1
Let us read a passage in the book of Revelation, that will keep us thinking about the twelve tribes whose story we have been considering for so long.
Revelation 7:1-10
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. (The most unpredictable powers of nature are under God’s control. God’s angels have even the most powerful and destructive forces on earth thoroughly under control, as though they were horses controlled by bit and bridle. God has many servants. Therefore no part of the universe will suffer because there are no agents to protect it. No matter where we are, God’s holy bodyguard is with us.)
2Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” (Not a ripple disturbed the waters, not a leaf moved on the trees, until God allowed the winds to blow. Evils have no power until the Lord lets them loose. No child of God needs to be afraid of the terrible years to come. No destruction can come until all the Lord’s Noahs are safely in his ark.) 4And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: (It is a large number to indicate a great multitude. It is an exact and complete number to represent everyone that God placed in his Church.)
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
The royal tribe of Judah takes its place at the front. Otherwise its royalty would mean nothing.
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
Unsteady, but yet kept by God. It is not our faithfulness to God, but his faithfulness to us that saves us.
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
Even though defeated by many trials, they overcome in the end.
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
He was given some of the richest soil in Israel in this life and glory in eternity.
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
He gave generous words,2 and now enjoys a generous inheritance.
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
Manasseh was given a double portion on earth and yet he still has his portion in heaven.
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
Levi and Simeon were cursed by their father for their sin, yet the tribes contain some of the elect.
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
Levi was the tribe of priests. Now all believers are priests before God.
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
He was too fond of ease, but still redeemed.
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
The sea-dwelling people. Thank God for converted sailors.
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
Archers shot at him,3 but his full number is saved.
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
Last and least in Israel, yet not forgotten by electing love.
These make up the Jewish believers. The elect among the Gentiles are mentioned next.
9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (We join this heavenly song with heart and voice. All glory be to Jesus our Lord. Happy was John to hear the eternal unity of the saints in heaven singing their praise to the Lamb of God. We will hear them in heaven in the future, but even now we send up our joyful praise to increase their volume.)
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1 2 Timothy 2:19
2 Genesis 49:21, “Naphtali is a doe let loose. He gives beautiful [or generous] words.” NASB
3 A reference to Genesis 49:23
Year One, April 29
Sin When It Is Fully Grown Brings Forth Death1
Numbers 14:26-32; 36-45
26And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27“How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: (It is a horrible thing when the Lord takes people at their word and says, “so be it” to their wicked talking. They said that they were brought out to die in the wilderness and the Lord tells them that they will die. It was at this time that the Lord swore in his anger that they would not enter into his rest.2) 29your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. (God will not forget the innocent. Even if there are only two who are not guilty, God will not include them in his act of judgment.) 31“But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.” (God uses words of contempt when speaking of these grumbling people. Again and again their bodies are called “dead bodies,” as if they were no better than animals. Sin makes people disgusting.)
36And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land-- 37the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD. 38Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive. (The ten spies had been the cause of all this evil and they were rightly brought to an end immediately. It was also proof that the Lord would be as good as his word to the rest of that evil generation.)
39When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.” (Like the pendulum of a grandfather clock that swings from one side to the other, they went from one form of sin to its opposite.) 41But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed? 42Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”
It is dangerous, even deadly, to go where God will not go with us.
44But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
Nothing is difficult when the Lord’s power is with us, but to enter into any service without the help of God is foolishness. It can only end in defeat. Those who try to fight their own way to heaven, will, like these Jews, find that the enemies of their souls are too many for them. Acting as if something is true when it is not is just as dangerous as no action when something is true. Action and inaction are often companions. They seem to go back and forth in the souls of unbelievers like the heat of summer and the cold of winter. May the Lord deliver us from both.
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1 James 1:15
2 Psalm 95:11, “Therefore I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
Year One, April 30
He Remembers That We Are Dust1
This psalm is the record of Moses’ emotions when he saw the people dying in the wilderness. It should not be read as an entirely accurate picture of the feelings of godly people. The death of godly people is not a judgment of God’s wrath, but a falling asleep in God’s arms. They leave this present evil world to be where Jesus is.
Psalm 90
A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
In every age God is the home of his people. Keep this sweet thought in mind. Moses and the Israelites lived in tents like their fathers before them, but God was still their real home.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Men die, but God lives forever. Even if nature itself should die, God does not change.
3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
One word from God is enough. When he gives the order, the spirits of people return to him.
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
What are the centuries compared to eternity? Comparing a drop of water to the ocean makes more sense than comparing time to the life of the Eternal One.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
People live and thrive and die and decay. They are as weak as the grass in the field. Where are all the people who lived before us? You cannot find them any more than you can find people who have not even been born yet! Like the grass that grew when Jacob fed his flocks, the people of the past have disappeared.
7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
Remember that Moses was speaking about this group of Israelites in the wilderness; not about us today. We enjoy Jehovah’s love, but Israel in the wilderness melted away before the Lord’s hot displeasure.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
Glory to God. As believers, our sins are pardoned and put behind the Lord’s back. But it was not so with that generation. This verse can only be applied to the ungodly now. Are there any such in this household?
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
Our days are passed in peace, because the Lord has given us rest. But as for Israel in the desert it was sadly the very opposite. The curse of God rested on them like it does with the ungodly today.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Old age brings sorrow and pain. Do not have your heart set on living to an extreme old age. However, if it does come, remember that God has given it to you. Otherwise, growing older will be a burden to you.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
May we never know the power of God’s anger. The fear of it is awful, but the reality of God’s anger is more than we can imagine.
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
That is, be merciful to us whose days are numbered.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Lord, give us mercy equal to our sorrows. Give a joy for every sadness.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
They should cheerfully accept the hard job of living in the wilderness, because their children would have the joys of the promised land. In the same way, we gladly accept the burden and heat of the day, and are even ready to die, as long as God’s church continues in the world.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
Moses spent most of his lifetime working long and hard to build up the nation of Israel. He is prayerfully concerned that his work might be for nothing. His prayers were answered. A great nation was established, and its mission has been accomplished, even to this day. Servants of God, do not be afraid. Even though you fear that your life’s work may be swept away by your death, true service for the Lord will outlast the pyramids.
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1 Psalm 103:14
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