‘And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 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!’
The remarkable high priestly blessing given by God to be pronounced in Old Testament times lists the elements of spiritual life and experience given freely by God to all who sincerely seek and trust Him. Here is the substance of a true meeting with God.
Israel’s susceptibility to the Moabite strategy of penetration and corruption, and Satan’s use of this today. Moses retired, the type of Christ to be unblemished for entry into the land. The Reubenites and our tendency to settle down rather than fight the Christian warfare.
Why God used the phenomenon of an ass seeing the angel of the Lord and speaking. Balaam’s true visions, and how he grasped the vulnerability of Israel should she lose her distinctiveness. The outcome – ‘the doctrine of Balaam’ – found to this day among evangelicals.
From the meaning of the ‘serpent of brass’ to the lessons of Balaam’s contradictions. A true prophet, and false; sincere, yet insincere; powerless, yet unleashing against God’s people the most devastating and enduring Satanic strategy. Balaams surely ‘live’ today; the biblical record is for us.
The people craved a repentance-free, non-challenging religion, but God commands that His appointed worship be kept sacred. How His rules for ministry are disobeyed today. The profound message of the red heifer. Also the error of Moses that cost his entry into Canaan.
The Israelites did not accept that unbelief and disobedience should shut them out of Canaan, Korah and the people demanding both a new priesthood, and a no-repentance, non-sifting ministry. Here are the parallels for our time, and the lessons of the wanderings.
The disastrous decision at Kadesh when the people recoiled from entering the land, and the present day equivalent when churches and members recoil from serious effort to reach young and old alike in the battle for souls. Why has the serving culture almost disappeared?
Lessons begin to flow from this typical church, including: the cloudy pillar shows the way but they must watch for localised dangers. The daily prayer of Moses provides a profound plan for our petitions. Satan infuses gloom that quickly turns to lust – plus remedial thinking.
From the ‘strange fire’ judgement to the march from Sinai, we trace the preparation of the Israelites in (1) learning to preserve the presence of God; (2) maintaining purity, and (3) pursuing an ideal of true dedication. Here is a pattern for churches today.
The chief and distinctive purposes of Numbers seen through NT eyes, the Israelites being a type of the church. Here is the ‘working church’ concept, seldom followed today, the call-up to war and activism, faith, holiness, order, and the centrality of worship in everything.
