Archive | December 2015

Numbers 28 & 29 – Offerings

Dec4

Good morning y’all. I’m lagging behind this week, pls pardon me 😦 .

Today’s blog is on Numbers chapter 28 and 29. I have to admit I couldn’t really see how to apply this chapter personally, seeing as it was all about the kind of offerings that should be offered to God when the Isrealites get to the promised land.

One of the things I did notice though, was the amount of sacrifices they had to make in order to atone for their sins. They had to repeatedly make those sacrifices because offering them one time just couldn’t cover for the sins. Aren’t we grateful for Jesus? He paid the price once and for all for us. His blood atoned for our sins. Hallelujah!!!

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I’d like to share a few bits from an article by John Karmelich on both chapters

Be blessed 🙂

“Know that Chapters 28 and 29 go well together. If I were in charge of the chapter breaks (and I’m not), I would have made this one single chapter. They are in effect one continuous story of what God requires of the Israelites once they actual enter the land of Israel.

Think of these chapters this way: The Israelites are now camped just outside of the land of Israel. They realize they must fight the inhabitants there in order to conquer that land.I’m guessing the average Israelite soldier is thinking, “How long will it take to win? How long before I just get to settle down there and live with my family? Will I even survive through that war myself? Yes I believe God will lead me to victory, but what is the cost?

In that sense, these two chapters are designed to calm the hearts of the Israelites by saying in effect, “Not only will you win this war, but here is how I (God) want you to worship Me once gets into the land of Israel.” I believe these two chapters are here to calm the Israelites fear that not only they will win this war, but that they will be able to focus on God throughout their years living in that land.

With that said, these two chapters in effect describe each of the daily, weekly, monthly and special holiday sacrifices that the Israelites must make in order to worship God.
   i)  To put it simply, the Israelites are required to sacrifices thousands of animals, over a ton of wheat, and many gallons of wine to God yearly on a sacrificial altar.
  ii)  What that also means is that God will provide for them all of the animals, wheat and grapes in order to make those sacrifices in the first place.
  iii)  God is saying, this land of Israel will be such a good land for one’s animals and for growing things, if the Israelites agree to follow My (God’s) instructions, there will always be plenty of food for them in order to obey these laws.

Now for the important question: why should we care about any of this?

The first thing to keep in mind is that God takes sin seriously. A reason why all of these sacrifices are made is to remember how seriously He does take sin. The idea is that there is a price to be paid for sin. Those animals being burnt up on that altar were in effect the price paid for their sins. Since Jesus literally became sin for us, we should never, ever take our own sins lightly as He died for every one of our sins, past, present and future.

The way I like to describe the life of the Christian when it comes to sin is, if we do believe that Jesus is God, why would we want to disappoint Him by sinning? We don’t avoid sin out of fear of going to hell. We avoid sin as that is the best way to live our lives and we don’t want to disappoint the one who did die for our sins.

Let’s assume we all know that fact about Jesus. If that is true, why should I care about all of these details about how many animals and non-animals are sacrificed throughout the Israelite calendar year? It is to think about all of these animals that were killed and realize that is how seriously God wants us to take sin”.

– Excerpt from “Numbers Chapter 28-29” by  John Karmelich. Full article can be found here

Thanks for joining today. I’d like to hear your thoughts and comments on the chapter 🙂

I’m blogging through the book of Numbers a chapter a day with Good Morning Girls. Check us out at www.goodmorninggirls.org

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Number 26 & 27 – Daughters of Zolephehad

Dec1

Good evening y’all. Happy Tuesday 🙂

Today i’m doing a combined study on Numbers chapter 26 and 27.

Be blessed 🙂

In chapter 26, God ordered a new census to be done of all males 20 and above. He also ordered for each lineage to be given an inheritance. In this chapter, the daughters of Zolephehad was mentioned. There story is detailed in chapter 27 which is where I’m focusing on today.

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“Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: “Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the Lord, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
So Moses brought their case before the Lord” (Num 27: 1-5 NKJV)

The daughters of Zelophehad understood Gods promise to give them an Inheritance in the promised land. By Israelite law passed in Deuteronomy, these girls were not entitled to any Inheritance seeing as their father died without living any sons behind. This meant the name of their father will be erased/ forgotten and they wont legally have a portion in the land.

The girls took it upon themselves to go to Moses and the leaders of Israel to demand their fathers inheritance. It’s something that had never been done before. So Moses asked to seek God’s face regards the matter before giving a response to the girls.

God responded by saying the girls should be given their fathers inheritance and also a new law was made for those who die without leaving a son behind.

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them” (Num 27: 6-7 NKJV)

These girls went against the norm and because of the demonstration of their faith, the law was changed to allow females Inherit land. Their boldness effected a change that will last for generations.

There is a lot to learn from the girls. They didn’t just sit down and wallow in self pity, NO! they realised they had a predicament and decided to do something about it . I’m sure some of their friends would have told them its impossible for them to inherit their fathers portion of the land; they would have tried to discourage them but the girls refused to listen to the negativity or the doubt raging within and around them. They chose to take the matter to Moses and the elders and indeed God favoured them.

Friends,I dont know what the issue may be that’s challenging you. Maybe just like the girls, your situation seems to be contrary to Gods promise. Don’t give up just yet. Bring your report before God; petition heaven and be persistent. God is able to change laws and break protocols for our sake.

You have to take a step of faith. The girls had to step out of their comfort zone In order to lay hold of that which God had planned for them.

Today, step out in faith. Believe God for that promise. It might seem impossible to you but the bible tells us that with God all things are possible and God is not a man that He should lie. lf He has said it, then He will do it. God who changed the order of things for the daughters of Zolephehad is still the same God and He can and will also do the same for you. Keep trusting and believing. Your change is on its way

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to share your thots on the chapter.

Have a blessed evening 🙂

***With God all things are possible***