Numbers

The Chosen Ones

God selected the tribe of Levi to serve him and the people of Israel in the tabernacle. In the same way Jesus selected twelve apostles to serve him and the early Church. When Judas needed to be replaced the apostles drew lots for his successor, trusting God to work his will through such a process.

We see these chosen ones as being special and they are.

No Exclusions

The Passover is so important God excludes no one from its celebration, not the foreigner, not the person who is unclean because of a dead body, not the man or woman who is far away on a journey. All are called to celebrate the Passover and the rules for celebrating it must be the same for both a foreigner and a native born child of Israel.

Why is it so important? We know the Lord passed over the houses of the children of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt.

A God Without Words

That we follow God’s leading to come or to go or to stay where we are is clear enough from this passage. But the idea that God does not always use verbal commands in the sense of Scripture verses or other people’s words or placing sentences in our mind should also be understood. The cloud is the sign of God’s presence and its movement or absence of movement is the command.

Becoming the Very Thing We Despise

It’s not always easy working and living life with a community of people. It’s even more difficult when you lead such a group. As a parent, supervisor, or team member, there are times when ungrateful attitudes, unreasonable expectations, sense of entitlement or complaints can really frustrate us.

Moses experienced this frustration multiple times during his journey with the children of Israel.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Have you ever wanted something so badly but didn’t feel like God cared enough to provide? Jesus reminded us to ask God “give us this day our daily bread,” but what I want and what I need are not always the same thing. When I am discontented with the “daily bread” that God supplies it becomes easier for me to believe that God doesn’t want what’s best for me.

In this story, the Israelites again complained about their lack of meat.

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen published her famous novel “Pride and Prejudice” in 1813. Among other things, it explored the elaborate code of morals and manners upheld by the British landed gentry of the day. Austen’s world seems overly concerned about appearances and class distinctions to many of us today. But pride and prejudice are exhibited in every culture, in every age, and our story today illustrates this well.

Right Observations, Wrong Conclusions

Have you ever obediently embarked on a mission for God and then had it turn out badly? In this story the Israelites obediently send out twelve leaders on a reconnaissance mission to the Promised Land to find out about the residents (how strong they and their defenses are) and how good the land is.

The spies return from their mission and they have made all the right observations.

Irrational Unbelief and Rebellion

The twelve leaders have reported – they have drawn divergent conclusions from their mission observations. The community must now choose, and they give into fear. They cry “all night” and then complain against Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died in Egypt or the desert, fully convinced that God is leading them into Canaan “just to have us killed and our women and children captured”.

Appropriate Consequences, Presumptuous Response

The people have reached the edge of the Promised Land only to be told that they must turn around and head back into the wilderness. They are facing the consequences of their unbelief and rebellion. God tells the people that they have complained “against me too many times” and every person who “ganged up against me” will die “here in the desert”. Their children will wander in the desert for forty years—one year for each day the land was explored.

Disorganized Thinking, Organized Rebellion

In this story, Korah a Levite, along with three friends, recruits 250 respected leaders who challenge Moses’ and Aaron’s right to lead. They accuse Moses and company of thinking they are “better than anyone else,” declaring that they are all part of God’s holy people. Moses views Korah’s rebellion as against God, (not Aaron); the result of an ungrateful spirit that doesn’t recognize the honor God has bestowed upon Levites who serve God in the tabernacle (vv 4-11).