King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Tuesday, March 09, 2021
Chapters: Numbers 33-34
Message: God’s Authority
Hello My Friend,
There is a saying, “There are too many chiefs and not enough Indians.”. Does it every feel like there are more people telling us what to do, and few actually doing it themselves? We have doctors telling us that we need to be a certain size, we must eat this and cannot eat that. We have these experts telling us that we must wear a mask, or two, or three on top of each other, we cannot touch anyone or even sit in the same room with family, or even a dog. We have mayors, and governors telling us that we cannot operate our businesses, go to school, to church, or even see a doctor, for fear of giving someone a virus that seems to change every day. And now we have our lovely Congress who gets to tell us how much money we are to make, and that we all must get the same wage, no matter if we work hard or just sit there and do nothing. Who by the way, gets to make as much money as they want. Jesus said, [Luke 20:24-25 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s. 25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.]
Let me remind you that America was founded by God fearing people who got tired of the government, who by they way, have their own set of rules, telling them how to live, and even who to worship. This it why the very first Amendment in our Constitution states, [Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.].
[and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.] While we are to have respect for our government, we cannot be forced to comply with mandates and laws that go against our faith. This is why we have the separation of Church and State, it was never designed to keep God our of our government, rather keep the government out of our Church. Believe it or not, God plays a huge part in His people finding the perfect land for them to dwell while they are here on earth. Of course, His timing is everything, when God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to make them a great nation and bring the Israelites back to the land that he promised them, it was four hundred and thirty years after they came into Egypt, and became enslaved to them. Numbers, Chapter thirty-three replays their forty year journey to get into the land promised.
[Numbers 33:1-4 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. 3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. 4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.]
[on the fifteenth day of the first month;] Fifteen days after God declared the month of Abib or Nisan as year one, and the first month of the year, which is actually between March and April. Now, even though Hebrew calendar begins with the month of Nisan, the beginning of the New Year, known as Rosh Hashanah, which is the month of Tishrei, is between September 5th, and October 5th, when God is said to have created the world. This is also what we know from the Bible as the Feast of Trumpets. The reason that the Jewish New Year changes its date every year has to do with the phases of the moon and Passover, which is observed a hundred and sixty-three days after the first day of Passover. In fact, the Jewish actually did not celebrate one day each year as a new year, there were four, Nisan [March-April], the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Passover], Sivan, [May-June] the Feast of Weeks, and Tishrei [September-October], which observed both, the Feast of Tabernacles, which was the last day of the year, followed by the Feast of Trumpets, which is the beginning of the New Year.
Why God had me look this up and spend an extra hour and a half reading about Jewish months is beyond me, but all I can gather from it is that God wants to remind us that there is always a first and a last, a beginning and an end, He is the one who decides the times, seasons, and we are to never forget that our year one actually began the day that we received Christ as our Saviour, [II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.]
Now, Israel is finally coming to the end of their journey to the promised land, it had been forty years since they left Egypt, this was a new beginning for the new generation The people living in Canaan heard all the stories too, they knew what happened to the Egyptians, how the Red Sea was parted, and all the men of the army drowned when it closed back up. They heard about their defeating the Ammonites, and taking over their land, and now, they were just a boat ride away from coming into their land and taking it from them. In fact, God gives them instructions on this very matter, He was giving them the land, but they were going to have take it.
[Numbers 33:52-56 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: 53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. 54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. 55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. 56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.]
[Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you,] When you read this it sounds an awful lot like what happened when the English settlers came to America and attempted to drive the Indians off the land. Why did God command them to drive out the people already living on the land? First of all, this was the land that God had given to Abraham, and promised He would return them there. Second, they were idol worshipers, and made up their own gods, if they remained, Israel would follow them. And, third they would be pricks in their eyes. A prick is not a vulgar word, it is literally a small, slender pointed object, hard enough to pierce through the skin and is painful, kind of like a thorn. What God is saying is that the people would blind their eyes from seeing Him, be a constant pain for them. This is why we cannot be yoked with unbelievers.
[II Corinthians 6:14-17 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.]
[as I thought to do unto them.] God’s promises are conditional when it comes to earthly possessions, He will give, but He will also take away should we take advantage of His good graces. You see, for the saved, born again, Christian, God is our authority, we may be subject to our nations leaders, but they are not the authority over us. If what they are enforcing goes against His Word we have the authority from Him to challenge their authority, [Hebrews 13:8-9,16-17 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.]
The world will never accept God as their authority, they rather accept some cosmic force in the universe, than accept that the one and only cosmic force, and Creator of all is the Almighty God Himself. Now, when the tribes of Reuben and Gad saw the beautiful land before them and how much there was of it, they did not want to dwell in the land that God promised them, instead they asked if they could remain there. God reminds Israel that they already received their inheritance.
[Numbers 34:13-19 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe: 14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance: 15 The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising. 16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 17 These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance. 19 And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.]
[Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.] Before there were kings in Israel, and even when Saul and David were kings, the priests were the court of law, and they judged according to the Law of Moses. Many of the laws in America and in fact, the Constitution, were in fact put in place with the Word of God as their guide. We should all be so blessed to have this again, but sadly that is not the case and we will continue in this decline until this nation repents, [Psalms 33:10-12 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Numbers 33:4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.]
Today’s Prayer: God, I know that Your hand is in everything that I go through on this journey You. I am, but a tale that is told, penned down in a book that is all about me, and when my journey began with You. Thank You, for loving me and not giving up on me, for giving me an inheritance that is eternal. No matter what You give or take away while I am here, there is one thing You will never take away and that is my inheritance in Your Kingdom. Thank You for Your mercies and grace, and for the infirmities that You refuse to remove from me in which Your grace uses to establish and keep me faithful to You. Lord, Lead me and guide me, teach me to number my days, that I may apply my heart to Your wisdom, make me glad through my affliction, and in the years that I have seen evil. Let Your work appear through me, and be the glory of those You have entrusted me with. And let the beauty of Your Son be upon me, as You establish Your work in me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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