Gary Gleans

It is easy for misunderstandings to happen in our day to day relationship.  Today’s passage has all the makings of a classic misunderstanding that could have provoked a civil war in Israel.  However, because of clear communication on both sides of the issue, everything was cleared up and both sides of the argument went away happy with the outcome.  The key to maintaining right relationships with one another is usually open communication with one another.  There are several “rounds” of communication in this passage and I think that there are several lessons to be learned through this process. THE TRIBES COMMUNICATE THEIR DESIRE: The tribes of Ruben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh desire to stay on the side of the Jordan River where they are instead of crossing over to the land of Canaan.  Their reason for this is that they have many cattle and the land they were on was good for raising livestock.  While this request seems logical enough, I wonder if this was truly the best cho

Prior to the death of Moses, God told him to go and make war with the Midianites.  These people had tried to curse the children of Israel and then tried to pollute them through idolatry and immorality.  God had already dealt with Israel’s disobedience through the plague He sent, but now it was time for God to deal with the people of Midian.  It is always very important to remember that God is just.  There are times when it seems that sinners are not brought to justice and there are times when it seems to us that God’s judgment is severe.  We must recognize that God is always just in His dealings with men.  He may extend His grace for longer than we understand but He is still just.  We may not have all the information as to the depth of the sin in some nations, but we can rest assured that God’s judgment is always just. GOD’S PUNISHMENT OF MIDIAN: The kings of Midian recognized that Israel was blessed of God and they had great fear of the people.  They tried to have Balaam curse t

God wants His people to be honest and faithful; it is of utmost importance to Him that our words be trustworthy and that we keep our promises.  When vows are made, they are to be kept as a testimony to the faithfulness of God.  When we call ourselves the children of God and do not keep our promises, we reflect poorly upon Him and He is greatly displeased with us.  It is far better for us to refrain from making a vow than it is for us to make it and then not keep it.  This passage makes God’s expectations very clear.  I fear for the many who have made vows of faithfulness to their wives and husbands, only to flippantly break those vows through divorce.  This is not God’s intention for His people. MEN ARE TO COMPLETE THE VOWS THAT THEY MAKE: We are to be people who are bound by our words.  When we say we will do something we must do what we promise to do.  It is a very sad thing when the words of a believer cannot be trusted.  The promises that we make to God as well as the promise

It is easy for us to forget, that is why repetition is such an important tool in teaching.  Just prior to Moses leaving the people for good, he goes through and repeats the people’s obligations for their offerings and their feasts.  These were vital to the welfare of the people and the survival of the new nation that the Lord was separating for His purposes.  Each of these feasts are significant in that they are types of Christ’s coming; both His first and second.  These have been discussed in earlier blogs so I will not repeat them here.  Instead I would like to focus on two basic principles that I see in these chapters that simply sum up two very important priorities in our lives. REMEMBER THE SACRIFICE OF CHIRST: As we read through these chapters, we cannot help but be impressed with the numbers of animals that were to be killed and sacrificed each month.  These sacrifices were a constant reminder of the seriousness of sin and that wage of sin being death.  They pictured the i

The generation of people who refused to enter the Promised Land has now died and God has brought the nation back to the place where they are ready to enter the land once again.  Prior to invading the land there are a few things that still must be done in order to the will of God to be known and accomplished.  God is in control of the history of this world and His will is always going to prevail in the end.  It may be delayed by the sins of men, but God is not very concerned with the time factor.  He is very patient and never seems to be in a hurry; rather, He wants to be sure that His children are rightly related to Him and that His Word will be fulfilled. GOD’S WILL WAS TO BE DONE IN THE DIVISION OF THE LAND: God is concerned about each individual family within the nation of Israel.  He wants to make sure that each family has its rightful inheritance of the land.  One particular family was left without a son to inherit the land, so the daughters of this man were to be given the

All of us go through times in life when we feel like our tires are spinning and we just can’t seem to get anywhere.  The children of Israel must have felt exactly like this for the forty years that they spent wandering around in the desert.  The only purpose of these forty years was for the people who had rebelled against God to die.  Those who had rebelled against God really only had one purpose for the rest of their life and that was to repopulate the children of Israel in order to make up for the increase in the death rate and the decreased life expectancy of the people that God inflicted on the people over the forty years of desert wanderings.  I think that the lesson here is simply that sin will get you stuck in a rut from which you may never find release apart from death.  When we decide to rebel against God we stop progressing and run the risk of simply being put on the shelf until we die which will likely be accelerated because of our sin.  This census reveals at least two ve

Satan has several different tactics that He uses against the people of God.  These tactics have not changed very much throughout the centuries.  His ultimate goal is to destroy God’s people in any way he can.  Nations arise to kill God’s people, but God supernaturally protects them so this tactic has not been very successful.  Next he tries to deceive God’s people by causing us to doubt God’s goodness and he fosters dissatisfaction in our hearts.  This has been a very effective means of drawing the hearts of many of God’s people away from the Lord.  Finally, Satan strives to destroy God’s people by tempting them to sin so that the very wrath of God will bring them to destruction.  This too has been very effective and we can see this taking place in Israel as well as in our own cultures today.  Satan pretends that he is promising to bring the pleasure that he says we deserve; but his true purpose is to lead us into a path of pain and destruction brought about by sin. IDOLATRY AND

Balak continues to try to have Balaam curse the children of Israel but Balaam continues to reveal God’s plan for the nation and His blessings on them.  Balak becomes more and more angry and starts to threaten Balaam.  Too often, people claim that they want to hear the Word of God, but the reality is that they want God’s Word to justify their sin and they become very upset when their sin is condemned.  We must be careful to conform our lives to God’s Word and not try to manipulate God’s Word to conform to our lives. GOD HAS BLESSED ISRAEL WITH PROSPERITY: Balaam receives a message from God that confirms the truth that God has chosen to prosper the nation of Israel.  When He brought them out of Egypt, He made them a prosperous nation.  The people gave their own wealth to the children of Israel as they left.  God has continued to give the nation prosperity through the plunder of the nations.  However, the blessing of Israel extends to all nations who will bless Israel.  God’s desire

The saga between Balaam and Balak continues to play out as Balak is desperate to have a curse pronounced on Israel and Balaam seems desperate to please Balak so he can get paid.  I find it very interesting that Balak is convinced that his only hope is for God to curse Israel.  He recognizes that he is dependent upon God yet he insists on maintaining his own power and position.  This is called wanting to have your cake and eat it too.  Balak wants God to fight his battles and be able to defeat his enemy, yet he has no interest in serving God or submitting to God.  He wants to maintain the power of his position as ruler over his nation; yet he needs God’s help in order to do that.  It is a very dangerous when we try to make God our servant instead of being servants of God.  As Balaam instructs Balak on how to make sacrifices to the Lord and God appears to Balaam with messages for Balak; we see God’s relationship with Israel. GOD HAS DETERMINED TO BLESS ISRAEL: Despite all of their

One of the hardest temptations that a servant of the Lord faces is that of money.  Balaam, at first sight, seems to fear the Lord and want to do what is right.  However, we see that the Lord was displeased with Balaam’s actions as well as his motives.  Peter tells us that Balaam was motivated by money to go with the commission that Balak had sent.  This desire for money was almost the cause of his demise and the Lord set out to kill him on the way.  We must always be careful not to allow the motive of money become and excuse or a temptation to sin. THE FEAR OF THE LORD WAS ON MOAB: When Balak saw what God had done to the other armies, he became very afraid of what Israel would do to his people.  He realized that God was on their side and that he had no ability to overcome the God of Israel.  His only hope was to try to get God to curse the children of Israel and bless his people.  It is amazing to see that this pagan king recognized the work and power of God and knew that his ver

Our experiences with God are designed to build hope and trust in our lives.  As the children of Israel journey through the wilderness and the old generation dies off; the new generation needs to have experiences of victory themselves.  The Lord gives them battles that they must fight in order for them to gain confidence in Him and His ability to deliver them from enemies.  It is impossible to serve God effectively if we do not trust God completely.  God fulfills His promises to us and grants us victories by His grace so that we might grow in our faith and live hopeful lives in Him no matter how difficult our circumstances may become. GOD PROVIDES FREEDOM FROM ARAD: As the children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness they came across the nation of Arad who came and took some of the children of Israel captive.  This brought great sorrow to them and caused them to come before God and plead with the Lord that He would deliver them into their hands.  They promised to compl

Human leaders are never permanent, nor are they perfect.  Leaders pass away just like everyone else and they fail just like everyone else.  That is why it is absolutely vital for leaders to prepare their successors so that the work of the Lord can carry on even in the face of the tragic death of a leader.  Moses, Aaron and Miriam have been used of God to free the children of Israel and lead them through the desert but they are now old and there is about to be a great change in the leadership of these people.  These are difficult days for the nation as it wanders through the desert waiting for the forty years of punishment promised by God. MOSES DISOBEYS THE WORD OF THE LORD: Once again the children of Israel are complaining about the lack of water and are longing to go back to Egypt.  This problem has been repeated over and over again.  Moses must have been sick of this attitude and so he does the right thing by taking this problem to the Lord and seeking for God’s answer.  God t

The children of Israel had to be constantly concerned about making sacrifices to the Lord and being sure that they were clean ceremonially before the Lord.  I am so thankful that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse me from all my sin and that His blood has made me clean before Him and gives me access to the presence of God.  It certainly is a high privilege to live in fellowship with God through the Word and prayer.  Christ has given us access to the Lord and we must be forever grateful for this blessing. THE SACRIFICE FOR SIN: A red heifer had to be sacrificed by the priest in order for the sins of the people and the priest himself to have their sins covered.  The animal was to be sacrificed and burned with special objects.  Then all that was left of the animal and the ashes from the fire were to be taken outside of the camp and left there.  This sin offering was to protect the people from the wrath of God for their sin.  All who offered the sacrifice and cleaned it up a

Aaron and the tribe of Levi were set aside by God for the purpose of ministering in the Tabernacle.  They were to do the work of the ministry for the people and as a result the people were to support them with food and finances through the sacrifices that were brought to the altar.  This was a position of great importance for both God and the people and was not to be taken lightly by the Levites or by the people.  God’s work is to be done with excellence and is worthy of the support required to make it happen.  Ministers and there members would do well to remember these basic principles. THE MINISTRY IS A PRIVILEGE: Aaron and his sons were given special responsibilities in the work of the Tabernacle.  All of the tribe of Levi was dedicated to the service in some way but they were limited in their access to the tabernacle itself.  Those who were not separated unto this task would be killed if they approached areas of service that were dedicated only to the Levites or if the Levite

There are times when we just want to resolve things once and for all.  I get the sense in this passage that God is simply tired of having to establish the leadership of Moses and Aaron over the children of Israel. He decides to use a clear sign that will demonstrate to all that Aaron is the one who has been chosen to be the priest over the people.  God is capable of both establishing and defending His leaders.  It is a comfort to know that He is in charge and that we can rest in Him. GOD PREPARES A TEST: God instructs each head of each tribe to bring a rod with their name written on it and place it before the altar.  God promises to demonstrate in clear way the person He had chosen.  Every man had the same opportunity and must have felt that there was some reason that he deserved to be the priest.  God does this in an effort to demonstrate His approval and appointment of Aaron and thereby squelch some of the rebellion that had been going on in the camp.  It is absolutely vital th

I have often said that the ministry would sure be a lot easier if it did not involve people and we could just concentrate on building things.  Of course that is a comment steeped in sarcasm because we know very clearly that the ministry is PEOPLE.  Moses has his hands full of “people problems” that make his job a lot harder than in needed to be.  However, Moses had one very special thing going for him; God was on his side and made a very quick solution for the problem that he faced.  As a leader it is important to know that the Lord is our shelter and strength.  As a follower it is important to honor the leaders the Lord has established.  This chapter treats two common problems that we will often face in our own hearts and the hearts of the people with whom we work. INSUBORDINATION: No one really likes being told what to do.  It is easy for us to imagine that if we were the leader we could do whatever needs to be done better than it is currently being done.  This is especially tr

It is amazing to see the consequences of sin as we look on from the outside of the children of Israel.  It seems so simple for us to see their failures and question how they could be so blind in this situation.  How could they think it would be better to go back to Egypt?  How could they think that it would be better to die in the desert than to die fighting for a better land for their children?  Sin is blinding and it makes us think things that are completely irrational.  We must be warned that we have this same tendency towards spiritual blindness when we are faced with difficult circumstances. THE REBELLION OF ISRAEL: The children of Israel make a decision to turn from God and Moses and elect a leader to take them back to Egypt.  They are ready to stone Moses and all those who want to follow God’s direction and trust Him.  When rebellion gains momentum it becomes a very dangerous thing.  The mob gains confidence in numbers and it seems like all control will be lost.  We need t

It is amazing to consider how quickly the children of Israel were able to arrive at the Promised Land.   They were at point of entry to the land and God called them to send spies into the land so that they could report back as to the quality of the land and the size of the task ahead of them.   It was a clear task they were to go and see then come and speak.   The decision as to whether or not they would go into the land was not up to the group, that decision had already been made.   The purpose of the mission was to determine how to go into the land and not “if” they would go into the land.   We must be careful to do our jobs and let the Lord do His job and not become confused by trying to do the work that belongs to God alone.   We have a list of twelve names, then of which are known by almost nobody, the other two are names we all use to this day.   They all had the same job but they did that job in very different ways.   Here are two areas in which they were far different. A DIF

When Moses had fled Egypt, he married a woman from outside of Israel.  God had given Moses a family who took him in and provided for him in his time of distress.  Moses had a supportive wife and a wise father-in-law who had served as a counselor to Moses during the early days of their journey.  Apparently, Miriam, Moses and Aaron’s sister was jealous of her or of Moses and his relationship with God and his leadership that she and Aaron became critical of Moses and His wife.  God takes the criticism of His leaders very seriously.  We must be very careful about the way that we treat those whom God has placed in leadership. MIRIAM’S REBELION AGAINST MOSES: Jealousy is a very dangerous thing, especially when it is directed against a person who God has placed in leadership.  In many ways it must have been hard for Miriam, Moses’ sister, to see her little brother in such a high position of leadership.  Aaron too seems to have allowed his jealousy to get the better of him and so they fo

There are certain sins that we seem to tolerate in our lives that God demonstrates a zero tolerance policy.  One of those sins is complaining.  We are so quick to find fault with the circumstances in which we find ourselves and we have a hard time keeping our mouths closed about our discontent.  When that happens we inevitably start murmuring and complaining.  The children of Israel had just started on their journey after building the tabernacle but it did not take them very long to start complaining about this new reality in their lives.  God does not take this lightly and takes steps to show all of us how much He hates complaining. THE PROBLEM OF THE PEOPLE: It is so easy for us to be forgetful of the problems of the past when we are focused on the problems of the present.  The “good old days” were really never as good as we make them out to be.  The people are on the move for the first time, the stress level must have been up, the exhaustion level must have been up and the lev

After a year of preparation and organization the children of Israel are ready to embark on the next stage of their journey towards the Promised Land.  A year is a very long time to be staying in one place on a temporary basis.  “Camping out” with two million people for a year would not have been possible without the supernatural provision and protection of God.  The risk that they faced now was that they could simply “get comfortable” with where they were and not be that interested in moving forward.  Too often we are easily satisfied with much less than what God wants for us.  We get comfortable and then we fear change and just start putting down roots and we do not move forward to do what God wants us to do and go where God wants us to go. THE TIME FOR TRUMPETS: God had Moses make trumpets that were to be used for communicating orders to the children of Israel.  They were to be used to call all the people or just the leaders for meetings.  They were also used as an order to pac