Revised Common Lectionary

Numbers 29:1-40   What blessing comes to us when the Holy Spirit comes to us! We thank You, Lord, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before the Holy Spirit can work through - to bring others to Christ, He must work in us - yo make us more like Christ. When, Lord, we pray for blessing, help us to pray for "the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

Numbers 16:1-50 In this chapter, we read about the judgment of God upon those who sinned against Him. God is perfectly holy. He calls us to be holy. This is not to be a pretence. It is to be real. Those who came under God’s judgment claimed to be holy (Numbers 16:3). God saw what they were really like. This very challenging. It’s a reminder that we must not take God lightly: “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Alongside this, we should also remember that Christ’s hands were pierced for us. He waits to welcome all who return to Him, fleeing from “the wrath to come.”

Numbers 14:1-45 The problems continue. The problems increase (Numbers 14:1-4). Again, there is the Word of encouragement – “this time from Joshua, as well as Caleb” (Numbers 14:5-9). The people bring judgment upon themselves. They will not enter the promised land. Of the older generation, only faithful Caleb and Joshua were to enter the land. They would lead the next generation into the land of promise, thus fulfilling the Lord’s promise of grace, which is always free grace – but it’s never cheap grace. Grace is freely given by the Lord – but it can never be taken for granted by us. This point – not taking God’s grace for granted – becomes clear in Numbers 14:39-45.

Numbers 12:1-13:33  In his leadership of God’s people, Moses faced problems. It was not an easy pathway towards the promised land. There was opposition from Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12:1). There was an unbelieving report, brought back from the land of Canaan by most of the spies (Numbers 13:31). Alongside these problems, there was the encouragement, which came from Caleb’s words of faith: “Let’s go now and take possession of the land. We should be more than able to conquer it” (Numbers 13:30). By faith, we shall overcome the problems.

Numbers 11:1-35 There were problems among God’s people. The spirit of complaint had spread among them. This brought the “fire” of judgment (Numbers 11:1). The spirit spirit of complaint comes when people don’t like what God is doing among His people.We see this in Numbers 11:26-28. The words of prophecy are described as the result of the working of “the Spirit” (Numbers 11:26), yet Joshua said, “Stop them, sir!” (Numbers 11:28). Note Moses’ response – “I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them” (Numbers 11:29).What we need is not the quenching of the Spirit, but the release of God’s Spirit among God’s people.

Numbers 22:1-24:25 The story of Balaam concerns the challenge of speaking God’s Word in truth. God is the God of truth (Numbers 23:19). His messengers must speak the Word of truth.. Before we can speak God’s Word in truth, there needs to be a confession of sin, an acknowledgment of how far we have deviated from the way of truth. This confession of sin is to be accompanied by a fresh commitment to walking in the way of truth (Numbers 22:34). Speaking the Word of truth involves looking beyond ourselves to the One who is the Word of truth – our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (Numbers 24:17).

Numbers 30:1-31:20 If, Lord, we are to live for You, we must learn to die to self: "Put to death what is earthly in you ... put off the old nature .... put on the new nature" (Colossians 3:5-11). When there is less of self in us and more of Christ in us, there will be more blessing for others: "death is at work in us, but life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:12).

Miriam and Aaron complained (Numbers 12:1-2). Caleb and Joshua encouraged (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9). Thank God for encouragers!

‘Drive out all the inhabitants of the land’(Numbers 33:52): We must drive out the enemy (Satan) if we are to enter more fully into our salvation in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:3-14). Idolatry is to be banished (Numbers 33:52). It has no place among God’s people. God wants us to ‘possess the land’(Numbers 33:53) - a fuller enjoyment of Him. Idolatry is settling for ‘second best’ - letting something or someone else become more important to you than the Lord. Don’t let it happen! The setting of the boundaries of the land of Canaan (Numbers 34:1-29) is a reminder that there are boundaries in the Christian life, boundaries set by God Himself, the boundaries of Holy Scripture. When we move beyond the boundaries of God’s holy Word, we move outside the sphere of God’s blessing. Live in the will of God - within the boundaries set by His Word.

“We have spoken against the Lord” (Numbers 21:7). Before we can hear the Lord speaking to us, we must stop speaking against Him. How can we hear what the Lord is saying to us if we keep on speaking against Him? If we are to speak for God, we must begin with listening to Him.

Numbers 10:1-36 We thank You, Lord, for Your Holy Spirit. He works in us to bring blessing to us. He works through us to bring blessing to others. Without the working of Your Spirit, there can be no blessing. May the "living waters" of Your Spirit flow in our hearts and out from our hearts to others to bring blessing to many (John 7:37-39).

Numbers 24:1-25 Lord, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit. He leads us to Jesus, our Saviour (John 15:26). Help us, Lord, to "hear what the Spirit is saying" to us (Revelation 3:22). He calls us to hear the voice of Jesus - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him ... "(Revelation 3:20). He calls us to receive us the new life which begins, for each one of us, when we say, "Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today. Come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus."

Numbers 33:1-49 Help us, Lord, to put the past behind us. Help us to press on into Your future. We learn from the past. Help us not live in the past. Help us, Lord, to let the past be the past. Help us to make a new beginning with You. Help us to move forward with You and for You (Philippians 3:13-14).

Numbers 22:1-41  Help us, Lord, to look, listen and learn. We look into Your Word. We listen to what Your Word is saying to us.We look and we listen - so that we might learn to love You more. Love for You - This, Lord, is what our looking and listening are all about. What, Lord, have we learned if we're not learning to love You more? Teach us, Lord, to love You - more truly and more fully.

Numbers 21:1-35  We thank You, Lord, for Your great salvation. Nothing comes from ourselves: nothing but our sin - our need of Your salvation. Everything comes from Jesus, our wonderful Saviour. Salvation is never our achievement. It's always Your gift. Help us, Lord, to say with all our heart, "To God be the glory!" Help us to thank You for Jesus, our Saviour - He "opened the life-gate that all may go in." Help us to say, "Praise the Lord."

Numbers 35:1-36:13 The whole of life is to be arranged according to God’s perfect plan. This principle underlies all the detailed instructions given here. We see it, first, in Numbers 35:1 – “The Lord spoke to Moses … ” It is repeated in Numbers 35:9 – “The Lord said to Moses … ” It is emphasized in Numbers 36:5-6 – “So Moses gave the Israelites a command from the Lord … This is what the Lord commands … ” It is seen in the response of “Zelophedad’s daugthers” who “did as the Lord commanded Moses.” It is found in the concluding verse of the book of Numbers: “These are the commands and rules the Lord gave the Israelites … ” (Numbers 36:13). Life may be very different today. Still, the spiritual principle remains the same: Our life is to be lived according to the teaching of God’s Word.

Numbers 27:1-23 Joshua was to lead the  people beyond the point to which Moses had led them. Joshua was chosen and empowered by God. Reading the story of God’s people, from one generation to another, we find that the names change – but the Lord remains the same. Moses played his part. Joshua played his part. At every point in the story, God is there, upholding His servants in every generation.

Numbers 15:1-41 God’s work among His people was directed toward the future – “Once you’re settled in the land I’m giving you” – and it was grounded in the past – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God” (Numbers 15:2,41). Our present obedience draws strength from our past redemption – “It is finished” – and our future hope – It is still to come.

Numbers 20:1-29  Neither Moses nor Aaron were to enter the land, promised by God to His people (Numbers 20:12,24). This is a reminder to us that we dare not presume on God’s continued blessing. The fact that He has blessed us in the past does not mean that He will always bless us. We can lose out on His blessing. The blessing of God is to be treasured. It is not be taken lightly. It must never be taken for granted.

Numbers 19:1-22 When we read about being made clean, we must look beyond what we read in the Old Testament. From the sprinkling of the blood of “a red cow that is perfect, with no defects”, we must look on to the New Testament, where we read of “the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).