Author: words and signs

77 “The Lord make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you.”

 Numbers 6:25

 This is part of the Aaronic blessing and is full of comfort for us. The Lord is so willing to bless us and save us from the ravages of sin and pride. As we humble ourselves before Him He shows us His glory and we are encouraged. He longs to bless and not curse, for His name and nature is love. He loves the unlovely and loves us so much that He gave all He had to redeem us.

 What daily blessing we enjoy at His gracious hand and the love that is poured out on us is beyond our comprehension. We deserve eternal punishment and yet we get the smiling face of God shining on our day and bringing us safely through it. He upholds all who fall down and freely forgives our transgressions. We can see His face reflected in the holy Word of God and the words seem to burn out the very heart of God as he communes with us.

 It is the greatest blessing we could have that God is favourable to us and does not condemn us. As we come before Him let us enjoy that burning love that never fails, even though we do. God’s face shines with holiness and when we see that reflected in the holy Word our faces take on the same shine, even as Moses on the mount Horeb. We become better as we draw near to God and more accurately reflect that glory of holiness each day as we draw near.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

Acts 4:13

76 “…then he shall confess his sin which he has done;”

 Numbers 5:7

 There is great power in the confession of sin and in taking our guilt seriously and having it dealt with. If we ignore our sin and never face up to it, we fail to grow in God and become entrapped by these same sins. Sin entraps us and causes us to be its slave. We must recognise our sin and face it so that we can overcome it in the power of God. There is full and free forgiveness to the sinner and God will not count our sin against us when we confess and turn away. Even if we keep falling down there is restitution and free pardon.

 Confession of sin is difficult for us because we do not want to have to face up to our inbuilt weaknesses and bring our faults to God. We don’t want to face our faults because it reminds us that we are finite and frail and need the Lord. We can somehow imagine that we are able to sustain ourselves and get strength from our resolve, but we fall and fail anyway and cannot support ourselves. 

 There is a real strength in facing up and bringing all our failure to the Lord. He knows all about them and yet loves us so dearly. He is willing to help us and get us through the paths of confession and repentance and bring us out into new life in Himself.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 1 John 1:9

 Such is the mercy and power of our God.

75 “… appoint everyone to his service and to his burden;”

 Numbers 4:19

 God appoints the gifts He gives to His servants, and we serve Him in great gladness and orderliness. He is not the God of disorder but requires that we serve Him with great peace of heart and mind.

 The body of Christ has its members, and God orders their duties according to His will and the distribution of His gifts.

“Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord.”

1 Corinthians 6:4-5

 God has given each of us a unique job to do and we stay in tune with Him when we do it for His glory. Not everyone can do what you do, and you have relationships and bonds that you need to foster and manage. We are all individual people who must serve the Lord in the way appointed by Him. Sometimes it can seem burdensome to us, but God welcomes us as we cast all our burdens on Him and prove His love for us daily. He is a burden bearing God and gives us all the grace we need to fulfil our ministries.

 Let us rise up and prove the mercy of the Lord and His daily power to us, leaving aside all doubt and fear that makes us tremble inside, and find the courage to do our daily tasks for His glory.

74 “The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses.”

 Numbers 2:2

 Families are important to God and He stipulates in His Word that we are to gather together with Him under the banners of our family ties. God has set the lonely in families that they will be full of joy and be provided for. Families are beautiful to God and He is honoured when we live together in peace and comfort. It is not His plan that families should be broken or fall apart with problems but that we should find them places where we can thrive and survive in peace.

“God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.”

 Psalm 68:6

 God wants us to live together in great peace and to honour one above the other. There should be no rancour in families but all be peace and under the banner of the presence of God. This is not the way of this world which does not encourage families but sets children against parents and undermines the sanctity of the family. We should strive for God-orientated marriages and relationships and seek the blessing of the Lord on them.

 The Lord will help us and we pray daily for our children and grandchildren that they will come to know the Lord personally and honour all His ways. Let us daily seek His peace with the love that holds the godhead together.

 

73 “As the Lord commanded Moses, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.”

 Numbers 1:19

 The Lord is very particular about His people and has chosen each one specifically in the past ages of eternity. God knows every soul that belongs to Him and treasures them. We have lists of names of the people of God in this book of Numbers, and it shows us the personal care God has over His people.

 God chose His people according to His good pleasure and not according to our goodness, for we do not have any. He chose us by pure mercy and grace and bestowed on us full salvation to spend eternity forever with Him.

“So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”  So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”

 Romans 9:16-18

 God names each of his people by name and knows them personally and all about their family history and lines of heritage. So with us, He loves us so intently that He is able to save us utterly from all sin and blame. God counts us and puts His eternal love on us out of His mercy and grace and we should rest secure in His great salvation and not doubt.

 

72 ”I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid.”

 Leviticus 26:6

 What a complete and comforting word from the Lord to us in the midst of the troubles of life. We all experience difficulties and sometimes it seems more than we can bear. God looks at His beloved people and tells them that there is rich blessing and boldness for those who keep to His commandments and do not stumble. There are temporal blessings for those who obey and follow the precepts of the Lord.

 For a start, the land will have peace, and we will know tranquility in the ordinary things of life. This is such a massive blessing and not to be taken lightly. To have government and authorities that make good laws and promote peace in communities is a big blessing.

 In our personal life we will also know peace as we lie down on our beds and do not fret about the circumstances that surround us in life, but know that God is caring for us. We can know the keeping and protecting will of God each day as we leave all to His tender care of us and not bow to the worries and fretting of our own minds.

If we give in to sin and temptation, we will not know this blessing but be full of the cares of this life and the doubts that assail those who do not remain close to God.

“Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them, for the Lord your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

Let is stand strong in the power of our God.

71 “You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.”

 Leviticus 25:17

 Here we have another iteration of the second tablet of the law of God in the ten commandments. We are not to do wrong against each other as human beings and are to have proper regard and respect for all. God is no respecter of persons and regards each human as precious and important. It is the interest of God how we treat each other, and that we should be merciful and good as He is.

“The second is like this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

 Mark 12:31

 Jesus sums up the second table of the law in these few words. We must be honourable in all our dealings, and put the wellbeing and comfort of others before ourselves. We are to be diligent to spread the good news of the gospel with every soul.

 We do what is right because we have regard for the Lord and what he has told us. We are to honour the command and put it into practice even in our thought processes. We should not dishonour anyone, but lift each person up before the Lord to have dignity and respect.

“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord”

Leviticus 19:18

 

70 “Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually.”

 Leviticus 24:8

 We are to think intentionally about the Sabbath day. It should be a day of rest from the usual things we do in life and be set apart for worship, learning and study and service to the Lord. We are not to find ourselves disorganized and having to do chores and shopping on the Sabbath day. It is not a usual day but is set apart for God and we should mark it personally as such.

 Things in our life should be orderly and the Sabbath is no exception. It is not a holiday, but a day of seeking after the things of God and making it different for ourselves. We mark it as the saints of old did by setting our activities around church and service and not doing the other things we do in the week. The modern world is not set up for this and lots of activities happen on the Sabbath that once would have happened on a Saturday. We need to think clearly about what we involve ourselves in on the Sabbath and how we should mark it. This is a matter for our conscience, and we bring it all before the Lord to guide us and help us to make the necessary sacrifices.

 There are Christians who treat the day like any other day, but this is not the teaching of the Word of God. The commandment is very clear that we are to come aside from our daily routine and put the Lord at the center of our day. When we put God first, we will know His blessing, and we will prosper in our souls and show love and regard for the Lord our God.

 

69 “You shall not profane my holy name…”

 Leviticus 22:32

 There are many names for God in the Bible and all of them are precious. We must be very careful in our thoughts and speaking that we show deep reverence for the name of God and be careful not to use it unwisely. God is very jealous of His name for His perfections are bound up with it.

 Our culture is full of profanity and it is very hard to stay away from it, yet we should not expose ourselves to it in the cultural pursuit that we encounter. We must keep our mind clean and clear of all evil, for God will not count us innocent if we approve of His name being taken irreverently.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.”

Exodus 20:7

The commandment is very clear. We must not imbibe the speaking patterns of this world, which has no regard for the Lord, but have lips that are sanctified to God and are careful about what we say.

 We must also exercise a ministry of warning to others who indulge in profanity to cover their emotions or express blame. We should not be blaming the Lord for the things that happen to us. Let us be diligent servants and keep our speech clean and upright before the Lord or maker.

 

68 “It is wickedness.”

 Leviticus 18:17

 This short phrase comes in a chapter about sexual purity and impurity. We are to refrain from all sexual evil that God calls “uncleanness.” We are to keep our lives pure from the lusts of our flesh that continually seeks its own fulfilment but we are to be fulfilled in Christ and in all spiritual strength.

 All sexual impurity is wickedness. We are to put to death sexual sin in every aspect and keep ourselves in the love of God. God will keep us and bless us if we have regard for His holiness in our life and earnestly fight the fight of Christ that we might enter into all spiritual blessings. God will reward us with His felt presence and a sense of spiritual satisfaction when we are victorious in Him.

 The New Testament has lists of sins that we are to stay away from and we are to earnestly fight that fight of faith.

“Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness…”

 Galatians 5:19

 God spells it out for us so that we are in no doubt as to how we should think and speak and act. We must be beyond reproach and keep our minds clear of all sexual sin and lustfulness. This is a difficult fight but one we can win in the power of the Holy Spirit. We foster good desires after God and keep reading the Scripture and God will set us free from all uncleanness.