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: Friday, March 01, 2024
Chapters: Numbers Chapters 14-15
Message: Only One Door to The Promise Land
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today it reminded me of what Jesus said about being the door to His sheep, [John 10:9-14 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.]
I did not know this until now, but a hireling is a mercenary, prostitute, or basically someone employed only for the money or other compensation and is willing to do anything for it. Who Jesus is referring to are the false preachers and teachers who are making money off of those who truly want Him in their lives, but are being denied the truth. When you think about it, those who are not saved and have no intention of getting saved really only stick around for profit. However, once a challenge comes that brings them to the point the God is the only one who can help them they are quick to flee. Yesterday, we read of the twelve men sent to spy out the land of Canaan, and ten of them brought back an evil report. As we continue in the reading of Numbers, we learn that that did not go over too well with the ones who had been complaining about the move from the start.
[Numbers 14:1-4 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.]
[Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.] So, they cried all night, no doubt replaying everything in their heads, trying to understand why they had gotten so far only to be stopped. Well, they should have trusted God, but instead they trusted the ten men who were either too afraid to cross over the Jordan and go get the land that God had promised them. As Christians, we tend to lose our fight and our might when all we see are challenges, but God needs to put us against the wall sometimes in order us to realize that He is the hammer that knocks the wall down. It is like faith and works going hand in hand, [James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.]
Moses and Aaron, really had no idea what the men saw that brought them to the conclusion that the people on the land were too strong for them and did not know what to do here. All they did was fall down on their faces in front of them, no doubt praying for God to help them. Well, Joshua and Caleb, stood up and tried to convince them that everything was okay and to trust God and He will get them over there, but they refused to listen.
[Numbers 14:6-11 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.]
[for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them,] In other words, Joshua and Caleb were trying to convince them that as big and strong as the men of the land appear, they are weak because they already know that they were coming. God, by His special grace and almighty power is the one who will fight for His people as long as they trust Him and not rebel against Him with every challenge. Remember, what Moses told them when they were at the Red Sea and the Egyptian soldiers were up against them? [Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.]
We can send our complaints up to God, but did it ever occur to us that God has some complaints about us? I really do not want to know what God has to say about me, but then again I already do, as He is sure to let me know. After all the complaining that the Israelites did since they left Egypt, God, finally opens up about His complaint about them. In fact, He was ready to disinherit them all and start over again.
[Numbers 14:11-16 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? 12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. 13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.]
[I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them,] God, has no problem with denying those who deny Him, but that is not really His intention, if it was, then none of would be here right now. This is what He was basically saying, but as Moses continues to plead with Him He does have a change of heart, well, to a point.
[Numbers 14:20-24 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: 21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.]
[and have tempted me now these ten times, Surely they shall not see the land] Tempting God is not the same as proving Him, He actually wants us to prove Him, hence the reason for the challenges, but what He does not want us to do is provoke Him by tempting Him, [1 Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.]
[because he had another spirit with him,] Yes, those ten spies that gave their evil report did have another spirit within them and it was from the devil himself. The devil is the one who puts doubt and fear in the minds of people about God and has sent many souls to hell by convincing them that God cannot do what He says He will do, [Luke 11:20-22 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. 21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.]
I started counting just how many times God had challenged them or I should say, proved them, and they really did tempt Him ten times, the first one being at the Red Sea. They also tempted Him when He challenged them with the bitter water, no water, the manna, the meat, and we cannot forget about the golden calf. Well, God, goes on with more complaints of His own toward them, and also decided that while He would still lead them to the promise land, not all of them would be able to cross over.
[Numbers 14:27-31 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, 30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.]
[Doubtless ye shall not come into the land,] Do you see why God was so angry with them? They doubted Him. Now, we all have doubts every now and then no matter how strong our faith in God, but those who are true do not doubt that God is able, what they doubt is that He will do it for them. I can give you countless times that I have doubted that God could do something for me because I was this wretched sinner who did nor deserve His mercy and grace. He proved me wrong each and every time and do you know why? I know that everything good that I do comes from Jesus. Paul, said this and I live by that same motto, [1 Timothy 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.]
Well, instead taking all those who rebelled over the age of twenty at one time, God, decided that they would die of their own causes. As for the rest of them, they had to spend one year for each day that the spies spent on the land wandering around the wilderness before they could return and cross over, [Numbers 14:34-37 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. 35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. 36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.]
[shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years,] This was like the younger ones receiving a forty year prison sentence and the older one the death penalty. God’s mercies are great, that is until they run out, and then you do not want to mess with Him. Well, guess what, they tried and failed miserably.
[Numbers 14:40-45 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. 41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. 44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.]
[will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.] Since there were six hundred thousand men, plus women over the age of twenty, it is pretty sad though to realize just how many people did not get into the promise land. There does come a time when God will close the door on those who refuse to accept Him. Repentance is only as good as the heart that truly is repentant of what they have done, [Luke 13:24-25 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:]
This is a lesson for anyone attempting to get to heaven without Christ, He is not with those who attempt to get in through any other means. Yes, salvation is by grace through our faith in Christ, but we must believe all of His Word to be true, anytime someone goes against one word, they are going against God by tempting Him, and He will not stand for it. After the uproar God had Moses gather everyone together and tell them again what the Law was concerning sin and how to be redeemed from that as long as they were repentant.
[Numbers 15:2-5,14 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you, 3 And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock: 4 Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the LORD bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil. 5 And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb. 14 And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; as ye do, so he shall do.]
[And if a stranger sojourn with you,] The same Law applies to everyone for those who choose God. God, has a great deal of mercy on the ignorant, it does not save them, but He does give them the opportunity to see the truth and accept it. God, goes on to explain this.
[Numbers 15:22-25 And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses, 23 Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; 24 Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. 25 And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance:]
[And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation] This is what Jesus does for us today only permanently, anyone who comes to Him through their faith in Him alone will be saved, [Hebrews 7:25-26 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;]
Yes, while salvation is by grace through our faith in Christ, we must believe all of His Word to be true, anytime someone goes against one word, they are going against God by tempting Him, and He will not stand for it. To prove how serious He was about their not being serious, God commands the death of someone gathering sticks.
[Numbers 15:29-33,35 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. 30 But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him. 32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. 33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.]
[Because he hath despised the word of the LORD,] Do you see what the whole sum of the matter is in all of this? Anyone who despises the Word of God will bear the iniquity of their sin. Why? [Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.]
[The man shall be surely put to death:] Every time I read this it reminds me of this guy who use to follow my posts and give me a hard time about what was written in the Bible, this being one of them, he concluded that God was evil because He not only killed people for nothing, but created evil. Anyone who despises the Word of God will find fault in it, I have even had people tell me that they would not follow it because they were not allowed to mix fabrics. Of course, none of this is about one breaking God’s commands, it is about their deliberate tempting His very words, [Acts 15:8-11 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Numbers 15:28-29 And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.]
Today’s Prayer: God, It is Your desire that we stay faithful to Your teachings, and just keep things simple. Scripture gives many examples of those who knew to do right, but chose to do wrong. The consequences of their wrong actions brought upon death, loss, and emotional pain, not only for themselves, but those around them. Lord, lead us and guide us, teach us to trust You in everything that You allow in our lives, help us to avoid the traps that catch us off guard, and to stand firm in our faith, even when we have set backs. Let us keep a fringe upon our heart so that we are always reminded that it is better to trust in Your understanding an not our own. Keep our eyes on You so that we do not fall nor bring anyone else down by not following You in the first place. I ask these in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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