Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Numbers 14 continues the story from yesterday.  The people react hysterically and want to replace Moses and Aaron as their leaders.  Despite that, they prostrate themselves before Jehovah and beg Him to forgive the Israelites.

It seems amazing in our day that they would not trust Yahweh after all the plagues, the parting of the sea, the water from the stone and the other wonders He performed to prove He was powerful.  Have you ever said or done something stupid and then tried to correct it by being even more ignorant?  That’s what they did.

After God pronounces judgment on their sin, they are remorseful and want to avoid the punishment of wandering in the wilderness for forty years.  They set out into Canaan and are repelled by the current residents.  Will forty years strengthen the faith of the Israelites?

Once again in Numbers 15, they are again instructed in the procedure for sacrifices.  Sacrifice is key to the forgiveness of our sins.  Read each paragraph and think about the death of God’s ultimate sacrifice after thousands of years of temporary solutions.

Unintentional sin is dealt with by sacrifice.  Intentional sin will cause ostracism from the congregation.  Today we celebrate the forgiveness of Jehovah by forgiving the shortcomings of others.  The next story emphasizes this difference.

A man is discovered doing a simple job on the Sabbath and God’s instruction is to stone him.  All sin is serious to the Lord.  Every one of us has done something worthy of death.  As we go through the laws again, notice the ones you are guilty of and remember the punishment they carried.

Tassels seem to be something silly to be given as a reminder of the law.  God wants us to use the simple to remind us that we are sinners and only He could solve this problem.

Moses writes to us in chapter ninety of Psalms. Time means nothing to Yahweh. The lifespan of humans is nothing to Him. Seventy or eighty years is the best we can muster against His eternal existence. We must count our days and respect the small amount of time we have here. It is up to Him to make our work here valid and useful.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger