Podcasts about in numbers

In Numbers, Moses was instructed by God to speak to a rock that water would flow out. In his frustration, he smote the rock instead of speaking to it. Likewise, we often become frustrated while not understanding the plan of God and react in disobedience. If we will instead submit and obey Him, spiritual water will flow to those who are thirsty. 03/05/2023 - Sunday Night Scriptures Used (In Order of Occurrence):Numbers 20:2-13I Corinthians 10:1-5

Pastors Robert Baltodano and Lloyd Pulley Question Timestamps: Andy, NY (3:11) - Are children born without sin? Maria, NJ (6:40) - Was Moses's second wife, the Cushite woman, a black woman? Dennis, NJ (9:46) - In Numbers 16, was Koran related to Moses? Joe, HI (14:17) - If a deacon's child gets someone pregnant out of wedlock, should the deacon step down from ministry? James, NJ (16:41) - What is the best approach to practically applying the word of God to real life? Mary, MS (19:06) - Will people be able to be saved during the tribulation time? Janet, IL (22:20) - Is there a Bible for Dummies? Jeff, FL (24:28) - Could it be that the woman at the well's previous five husbands died? Aaron, NJ (33:45) - Why do the accounts in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, about David numbering the men, have different numbers as their results? What happens to the Jewish people that have yet to receive Jesus as their Messiah? Joe, NJ (41:05) - Can you give me some verses in the Bible that speak on why women shouldn't be pastors? David, NJ (45:23) - Why does Christianity keep perpetuating “race,” when Acts 17:26 says that all people come from one man? Orlando, NY (50:51) - In 1 Kings 19:11 it says “God was not in the earthquake,” does that mean God has nothing to do with earthquakes? How do you respond to people that blame God for earthquakes? Are earthquakes caused by evil? Questions? 888-712-7434 Questions@bbtlive.org

In Numbers 20 God instructs Moses to speak to the rock, for it to give up its water.  Does he?

In Numbers 13 and 14 we read the story of Joshua, Caleb and the twelve spies that were sent out from the Israelites to scout out the land of Canaan. Canaan was the promised land - the land that God was leading them to and had promised to them after freeing them from slavery in Egypt. Yet, ten of the twelve men sent as scouts decided that they were too small to fight the inhabitants and take over the land. In today's episode, Heather explains how this story can help inform and encourage our body image issues. Was it body image issues that kept these men from taking the land God had promised them? Why did the size of their bodies suddenly become an obstacle to obeying God? Hadn't God led them to victories in the past? Why did fear creep in here? If you've ever felt fear about your body not being good enough for what God asks of you, or if you've worried that your body needs to change for you to walk obediently in his will, this story should encourage and inspire you to think about things differently. You can read the whole story in Numbers 13 & 14 on Bible Gateway. Are you ready for body image coaching? If you need one-on-one help to pull you out from where you're stuck,Heather offers sessions by the hour. On average – coaching clients make great progress in 6-8 weeks. Start by booking just one or two sessions to help you get on the right track. Learn more or book your first session here: https://comparedtowho.me/christian-body-image-coaching-insecurity-confidence-gospel/  Want more helpful resources to improve your body image? Check out: www.comparedtowho.me and sign up for the FREE 5 Day Email Challenge.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Numbers 20:1-13) Yearly Theme: “Kindness is… Action” Series Title: “Kindness in the Wilderness” February 12th, 2023 Follow along in the Bible App: http://bible.com/events/49028402 Today we come to a passage of Scripture from the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. Again we pick up the narrative during the time the Israelites have been punished to wander in the wilderness for 40-years just outside of the Promised Land. The passage that we will be taking a closer look at today is only one instance of many when the Israelites grumbled and complained against GOD and Moses due to the harsh conditions of the wilderness they were condemned to wander. In Numbers 20 we see, however, not only were the people complaining about not having water, we see Moses and Aaron – in their anger toward the people – disobeying GOD’s command to bring water to the people by speaking to a rock. Let’s take a closer look:

Intro: This morning, we are looking a bit deeper into what it means to be "born again" through grace, by faith. Nicodemus and Jesus continued their conversation about what it means to be born again or born from above. Jesus tried to help Nicodemus understand by reminding him about when God brought judgment to the Jews by sending a swarm of poisonous sneaks into the camp. In Numbers 21:4-9, we find that people died after the snakes bit them. So, they asked Moses to pray to God on their behalf so that they might be saved and live. John recorded this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus to teach  Nicodemus and us about faith in the Person and work of Christ.

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision the people perish." This Sunday, Pastor Rick will be bringing a vision message that is a 2023 rally cry entitled, "Burn The Boats." In Numbers 13 and 14, we study the story of Israel on the brink of going into the Promised Land with only one thing that could hold them back, and that one thing was Israel. In 2023, we want to challenge the whole church to be ALL IN with the vision: BURN THE BOATS. This Sunday will be an amazing time of worship with our CCW family! It will serve as the prequel to the story of Joshua that we will be studying in our first sermon series of the year called "FORWARD."

Friday, 30 December 2022   “And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. Acts 13:19   The previous verse said that God put up with Israel for about forty years in the wilderness. With that, it next says, “And when He had destroyed seven nations.”   Israel was given the land by God. And more, they were instructed to go in and subdue it, eradicating every breathing soul. The reason for this was clearly stated several times and in several ways. And detailed instructions concerning this task were provided. As for the number of nations in the land, the number and naming of the listed nations vary several times in the biblical record. Paul is making a note of the list as it is recorded in Deuteronomy 7. There, along with the charge to destroy them is given –   “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.  3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. 5 But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.” Deuteronomy 7:1-5   Those seven nations were, as Paul next says, “in the land of Canaan.” This is the promised inheritance. It is a promise made at the time of Abraham, and it was repeated to Isaac and then again to Jacob –   To Abraham: “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.'” Genesis 13:7   To Isaac: “Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.'” Genesis 26:2, 3   To Jacob: “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ‘I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.'” Genesis 28:13   It is this land that was subsequently destroyed, meaning its inhabitants, at the time of Joshua –   “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.” Joshua 11:23   After that time, Paul notes that “He distributed their land to them.”   Great detail is provided in the book of Joshua concerning the division of the land. It includes notes about the borders, the names of the cities within those borders, etc. At the end of this land division, it then says –   “These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.” Joshua 19:51   Finally, Paul notes that this process was “by allotment.” This is a word found only this one time in Scripture, katakléronomeó. It is derived from words signifying “according to” and “assign by lot.” HELPS Word Studies says, “to arrive at (get down to) God's will, through the prayerful use of lots.”   Some manuscripts have a single letter change in this word which would then signify “he gave as an inheritance.” And it is true that the Lord gave the land as an inheritance to Israel, but this was accomplished through the use of lots. Either way, the land was promised to the fathers, it was again promised to the nation, and they entered and possessed the land. The actual division by lots is noted in Joshua 18:10 –   “Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.”   Life application: In Numbers 14, the people rebelled against the word of the Lord and set their hearts back on the land of Egypt. In this, the Lord sent them into exile in the wilderness. He could have simply destroyed them and gone in a new direction, but He had covenanted with them, and He is not like man. He remained faithful while they were faithless.   Eventually, their set time of punishment ended, and they entered the land. That entire process, from Numbers 14 until Joshua 3 was a typological picture of Israel's rejection of Jesus (the Lord) when He came. The Lord could have destroyed them and gone in a new direction (replacement theology), but He had covenanted with them, and He is not like a man. Again, He remained faithful while they were faithless.   The church is not a new direction. It is the acceptable continuance of God's direction, based upon the cutting of a New Covenant. That covenant was promised in Jeremiah 31, and it was promised to Israel and Judah. The Gentiles are grafted in by faith, but the covenant parameters were set. As such, replacement theology isn't just wrong, it is a woefully inept doctrine that fails to understand the nature of God and of His interactions with humanity.   We may not be happy with the Jews for whatever reason is floating around in our minds, and the Lord is certainly not happy with them as they continue to reject His offer of Jesus. But this does not negate His faithfulness to the covenant made with them. Having that set and understood in our minds will keep us on the proper path of what He is doing in this beautifully laid out redemptive plan.   O God, thank You for Your faithfulness to us, even when we are unfaithful to You. If we have come to You through the New Covenant, we are saved. It is “deal done” because You are the One who set forth the parameters. How blessed we are to know that You do not change, and by this, we know that we are saved forever! Amen.

In this episode, we cover Numbers 24 + 25. In Numbers 24, we get to hear the remaining five oracles from Balaam. God is going to use Balaam to prophecy many blessings and victories for the nation of Israel. In a turn of events, sadly in Numbers 25, Israel's men get seduced by the enemy and they commit the first apostacy.  Thank you for being a part of the club. Make sure to take a peek at the show notes below for Hayley's recap!Show NotesBlogShow notes are also available to view on Susanme.com/shownotes/Contact Bible Book ClubLike, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's InstagramLike or comment on Susan's Facebook or InstagramLeave us an Apple reviewContact us through our website formThanks for listening and happy podcasting!

Summary: Continuing our series in the book of Numbers. In Numbers 31-32, Israel is enriched greatly because of fighting the Lord's battles. In this lesson, we consider how these events reflect the way we are still called to fight the Lord's battles against sin, and how God enriches us when we do so. Speaker: Bryant Bailles Passage: Numbers 31-32 Legal notice: Speakers here typically quote from the NASB, ESV or NKJV almost exclusively, and the respective copyright notices follow. Some occasionally quote from the King James Version, which is public domain (in the US). Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright by The Lockman Foundation Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In this episode, we cover Numbers 15 and 16! In Numbers 15, we get a repeat and a few additions to some offerings to remind the Israelites of how to be holy and have a relationship with God. In Numbers 16, Moses faces more mutiny from the people.  Thank you for being a part of the club. Make sure to take a peek at the show notes below for Hayley's recap!Show NotesBlogLeviticus Offerings ChartShow notes are also available to view on Susanme.com/shownotes/Contact Bible Book ClubLike, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's InstagramLike or comment on Susan's Facebook or InstagramLeave us an Apple reviewContact us through our website formThanks for listening and happy podcasting!

In this episode, we cover Numbers 7-8. In Numbers 6, Israel received God's blessing. Within these following chapters, the people are going to respond to God's blessing with a dedication of gifts to God in gratitude. It is going to be a parade of tribes presenting their gifts in order.  Thank you for being a part of the club. Make sure to take a peek at the show notes below for Hayley's recap!Show NotesBlogPatriarchal Lineage: 12 Sons + 12 Tribes of IsraelShow notes are also available to view on Susanme.com/shownotes/Contact Bible Book ClubLike, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's InstagramLike or comment on Susan's Facebook or InstagramLeave us an Apple reviewContact us through our ...

Blow the trumpets (Num. 10:8). The blowing of the trumpet seems to have been a priestly ministry until David appointed musicians as full-time ministers before the Lord. Even during the years of David's musical expansion, the priests primarily blew the trumpets. In Numbers chapter 10, we can see the five ministries of the trumpet. These ministries represent the five ministries of the present-day worship team. I want you to see that we have more to do than simply play music, sing or dance—we have a responsibility to serve the priests as they come to worship. Go to; http://vivienhibbert.com for more information Change your routine and it can change your life.” -Manuel To sign up for the eCourse individual or group go to; https://sowm20.square.site/ To get a copy ebook or hard copy of my devotional go to; https://payhip.com/sowm https://worshipingmusician.com/ "You can't just master prayer or skill, you need to do it everyday." -Manuel D. Rodriguez #minstrel #worshipingmusician #levite #worshipHim #thepriesthood #theminstrelminute “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭144:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sowm/support

Our God Is A God of Abundance2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”Have you ever prayed for something and then gotten way more than you prayed for?  God is always doing this for His children.  He loves to lavish His love and His grace on us.  He  showers us with mercy and forgiveness as well.  God is amazing.  I want to look at some examples of how our God is a God of abundance.  When we are reading in Mark 6:30-44 we are reading about Jesus feeding the 5,000.  This is where Jesus took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed 5,000 people.  This is a miracle, no one would have thought that could be done.  I think if I had been feeding that many people I would have put limits on them while I was handing the food out.  I would have told them to make sure to just take one piece of each until we make sure there is enough for everyone. Mark 6:42-43 says, "And all ate and were filled;  and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” Jesus didn't limit people, He wasn't worried.  He knew His Father was a God of abundance.  After all 5,000 people had eaten, they still had 12 baskets of bread and fish.  Can you even imagine that?  Can you picture how much they had left over after feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish?  Do you remember when God rained down quail for His children when they were in the dessert?  In Numbers 11 it talks about how the Israelites were complaining because they had no meat to eat.  They were saying it was better when they were in Egypt because at least they had meat and other fine things to eat.  Now, remember, they were slaves in Egypt, but right now all they could think about was how they wanted meat to eat.  So, God gave them a miracle and He rained down quail on them.  God could have given them meat for one or two days, but instead He gave them meat for a whole month.  He is a God of abundance.  It says it Numbers 11:32, “So the people worked all that day and night and all the next day, gathering the quails; the least anyone gathered was ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.”  Every single person gathered at least ten homers.  I know that number probably means nothing to you, or at least it means nothing to me.  I have no idea how much an homer is.  However, I did google it to see.  If we do a bit of math we see that 10 homers is equal to about 220,000cm3, and at 0.98gm/cm3 that works out to about 1900 birds, weighing about 475 pounds.  You can't look at that number and tell me that God isn't a God of abundance.Next, let's look at Peter when he was trying to catch some fish.  Peter and his brother Andrew had been out  all night trying to catch some fish.  They were really behind on their taxes and they needed that money. They were not able to catch anything all night long.  In the morning Jesus was on the shore and he ask Peter if He could get in his boat to preach to the people on shore.  Afterwards Jesus told Peter to put his net back into the water.  Peter explained they tried to catch fish all night and nothing happened but since Jesus was asking he would do it.  Then in Luke 5:6 it says, “When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.” They had to call the other boat over to help and both boats were filled with fish. God knew how much money they owed.  He could have given them just enough fish to pay off what they owed.  But that is not who God is.  He likes to go above and beyond what we need and what we expect.  There are stories of God's abundance in our life time as well.  I have told the story before and yet I don't think you can repeat stories of miracles too often.  My parents were praying for food one day as they had just said they would babysit a family of 8 kids and they had at least 8 kids of their own at this point.  Within the hour of that prayer their neighbor came over and gave them grocery bags of food they didn't need as they had their father move in with them and he had a lot of food at his house but they had also just gone shopping.  Then there was another knock at the door and and someone else gave my parents a bunch of extra meat they had from their last hunting trip.  I talked about a story of abundance in my witness last week.  God could have found Tony any job and yet He gave him a job with a promotion.  He gave Tony a job that he loved with awesome people to work with.  He moved us to a place where we had incredible friends and a great support system.  He moved us to a place where we had an incredible house and the boys each had incredible friends.  The teachers at the boys school were amazing.  We didn't lack anything.  My sister was searching for a new job. A part time job so she could have more time with her family.  Not only did God find her a part time job, but he found her a job that checked all the boxes she was looking for.  It was part time and it was fully remote.  It had a flexible schedule so if her grandkids had to stay home from school she could help their parents out and watch them.  She made more money per hour than she did in her full time job.  It wasn't just any job, it was the perfect job.  I am sure you all have your own stories of the abundance God has provided for you.  If you can't see the abundance, I challenge you to look for it.  I challenge you to examine how God has answered your prayers. What have you asked for and what has He given you?  I have a friend who decided to move closer to home.  She and her husband decided to give themselves a year to sell their house, move back home and build a new house.  Well, God had other plans.  Within 3 months of deciding to move they had sold their house and started building their dream house closer to their parents.  I believe they moved into their new house just after the new year, just 7 months after they had decided to move.  Now they are living on a farm, in a newly built house, they have chickens, they are growing vegetables, they both have new jobs.  God is so good!  He is definitely a God of abundance.  If you can't see you abundance, keep looking I know it is there.Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you.  You are too good to us and we are so grateful.  Thank you for the abundance you give to us.  The abundance we don't deserve and yet you give to us freely. Thank you for all the ways you show up for us Lord.  You are truly amazing.  Lord, we just ask that you help us to recognize where in our lives you are providing for us, where you are giving us an abundance.  We ask you to show each one of us and help us to fully appreciate all you do for us.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  Tomorrow's witness will be one of my sisters, Dianne.  She has a witness of how God miraculously helped her pass a certification test she needed to pass.  I look forward to sharing that with you tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

[Numbers 20:1-13] In Numbers 20:1-13 Moses dishonors God's holiness in the presence of the Israelites and is prevented from entering the promised land.

In Numbers 32-1-15 we find the unbelieving report from the ten spies discouraged the hearts of Israel. In return the Lord had fierce anger towards them because of this discouragement that they were doing. Rather than increase the nations confidence in the Lord, they had doubts fall upon them.

In Numbers 32-1-15 we find the unbelieving report from the ten spies discouraged the hearts of Israel. In return the Lord had fierce anger towards them because of this discouragement that they were doing. Rather than increase the nations confidence in the Lord, they had doubts fall upon them.

Summary: Continuing our series in the book of Numbers. In Numbers 25-26, Israel joins themselves with the Moabites in idolatry and sexual immorality. In this lesson, we consider what we can learn from Israel's sin, the solution of Phinehas' jealousy and the second census of the nation afterward. Speaker: Bryant Bailles Passage: Numbers 25-26 Legal notice: Speakers here typically quote from the NASB, ESV or NKJV almost exclusively, and the respective copyright notices follow. Some occasionally quote from the King James Version, which is public domain (in the US). Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright by The Lockman Foundation Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

RG 091122   Acts 9:1-14 Saul was a zealot. It means he was raised in the tradition of zeal, celebrating heroes like Phinehas. In Numbers 25, Phinehas stopped a plague against the Israelites by driving a spear through two disobedient people in the throes of passion. Their blasphemous act was ended in righteous violence, thus […]

Everybody can't be the leader! The Lord's half-brother Jude saw threats to the early church, and noticed similarities to much older attacks on the people of God. We need to be on guard against these in our time. And that's why we've kept a bookmark in Jude, and turned back to the Book of Numbers for a look at Korah's rebellion. In Numbers 16 Korah challenges Moses, and it doesn't go well. Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand. You can purchase a copy of this message, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free. RS09092022_0.mp3Scripture References: Jude 1:11; Numbers 16

Moses had his hands full with people questioning his authority and presuming themselves to be superior. In Numbers 16 he's approached by Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram, Reubenites. They brought alongside them in their rebellion two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation.When Dathan and Abiram rebelled against God, their wives got caught up in the rebellion and suffered the consequences.All God's Women is a daily devotional women's Bible study podcast and internationally syndicated radio show where we journey through the Bible one woman's story at a time. If you enjoy learning about women in the Bible, tune in each weekday for 2-minute Bible stories about Bible women. If you enjoy listening to All God's Women podcast and radio show, you're going to love my brand new Women of Prayer Bible study. Get to know the character of God by studying the prayers of women in the Bible. Grab your copy today. Available in paperback and Kindle.

Moses had his hands full with people questioning his authority and presuming themselves to be superior. In Numbers 16 he's approached by Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram, Reubenites. They brought alongside them in their rebellion two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation.When Dathan and Abiram rebelled against God, their wives got caught up in the rebellion and suffered the consequences.All God's Women is a daily devotional women's Bible study podcast and internationally syndicated radio show where we journey through the Bible one woman's story at a time. If you enjoy learning about women in the Bible, tune in each weekday for 2-minute Bible stories about Bible women.If you enjoy listening to All God's Women podcast and radio show, you're going to love my brand new Women of Prayer Bible study. Get to know the character of God by studying the prayers of women in the Bible. Grab your copy today. Available in paperback and Kindle.

God chose the Levites to take care of the tabernacle, and within the tribe of Levi, he picked Aaron's family to have the special duty of offering sacrifices and burning incense. In Numbers 16, a Levite named Korah and 250 Israelite leaders accuse Aaron and Moses of setting themselves above everyone else. What's going on here? In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss the story of Korah's rebellion, God's judgment and mercy, and the responsibility of the leaders God chooses.View full show notes from this episode →Timestamps Part one (00:00-7:24)Part two (7:24-27:40)Part three (27:40-42:47)Referenced ResourcesInterested in more? Check out Tim's library here.You can experience the literary themes and movements we're tracing on the podcast in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.Show Music “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS“Wake Up” by xander.“The Size of Grace” by Beautiful EulogyShow produced by Cooper Peltz. Edited by Dan Gummel, Tyler Bailey, and Frank Garza. Show notes by Lindsey Ponder. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by MacKenzie Buxman.Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

INTRODUCTION This chapter closes Leviticus by underlining the true covenant between God and His people through vows. Not only does God take His Word, and the obedience (or disobedience) of His people seriously (cf. Lev. 26), God takes the words of His people seriously. This is why Jesus cautions us against thoughtless vows. God keeps covenant, and His people are to be people of their word. THE TEXT “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying speaking unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation…” (Lev. 27). SUMMARY OF THE TEXT When Israel swore vows to the Lord, they would promise to dedicate people or beasts to the service of the Lord or give an offering of equivalent value plus twenty percent (Lev. 26:1-13). Likewise, if a house or land were dedicated to the Lord, it would be considered holy to the Lord, and its value would be reckoned from the year of Jubilee with the fixed value of the tabernacle shekel (Lev. 26:14-25). Only the firstborn of animals could not be redeemed, along with those things devoted to the Lord (Lev. 26:16-34). VOWS THAT HELP & HURT Throughout the Old Testament, God's people worshipped Him through paying vows (Dt. 12:6ff, Ps. 50:14, 61:8, 66:13, 116:14, Jon. 1:16, Nah. 1:15). These were promises of offerings in response to particular answers to prayer. Jacob vowed to give tithes to the Lord if the Lord kept him safe and brought him home again safely (Gen. 28:20-22). One infamous example is when Jephthah vowed to sacrifice whatever came out to meet him when he returned from battle in peace, and his daughter was the first to greet him (Jdg. 11:30-40). The context of Jephthah's vow indicates that his daughter was dedicated to service in the tabernacle as a virgin (cf. Jdg. 11:39), not literally sacrificed, but it was still a great grief to the family. In Numbers 30, God says that adult males must not break their vows, but that young women who are still in their father's house still have the protection of their father hearing and confirming or annulling their vows (Num. 30:4-5). The same protection and forgiveness is granted to a married woman (Num. 30:6-7). But the vows of a widow or divorced woman stand against her (Num. 30:9). When a man annuls the vow of someone in his household, scripture says that he bears the iniquity and it is forgiven (Num. 30:12, 15). This is why Psalm 15 says that the man who dwells on God's holy hill swears to his own hurt and does not change (Ps. 15:4). When people swear a vow to the Lord, they are invoking His name, and therefore Jesus warns against making vows (Mt. 5:33-37). James warns of the same danger, lest you come into condemnation (Js. 5:12). And yet Paul took a Nazirite vow, and there is no indication of sin (Acts 18:18, cf. Acts 21:23). And Hebrews says that people may swear an oath to solve matters of contention (Heb. 6:16). So we conclude that swearing vows is lawful and sometimes necessary, but vows must be taken seriously because God will hold us accountable. CHRISTIAN VOWS Christians have determined that where the covenant stakes are high, vows are necessary, invoking God's name, asking God to judge the parties for loyalty or disloyalty. A business contract is one form of this in order to avoid contention. Marriage vows are some of the most important and potent. The wise woman of Proverbs 31 says that her son is the “son of her vows” (Prov. 31:2), and the adulterous woman forsakes her husband by covenant (Prov. 2:17, cf. Mal. 2:14). This is why civil and ecclesiastical leaders also swear vows to fulfill their covenant offices faithfully and why we swear membership and baptismal vows as a congregation. The word “Amen” is also a vow and pledge of loyalty to the Lord (cf. Num. 5:22, Dt. 27:15ff). APPLICATIONS Some are tempted to get wound tight about reading the fine print on a user agreement, but the central point is that because we are made in the image of God, our words are powerful like God's Word. The power of life and death are in the tongue (Prov. 18:21). The tongue is a fire that sets whole worlds ablaze, full of deadly poison (Js. 3:6-9). We live in a land full of foul words, cursing, and poison, frivolous vows and many lies, and it can be easy to get used to it. You can become accustomed to speaking disrespectfully to or about your husband or wife. You can get used to biting your children with criticism, being angry at parents, or just telling lies. But you are spewing poison, and you are asking for God's judgment. In our wedding ceremonies, we not only swear to keep ourselves only for our spouse in sexual purity and fidelity, we also swear to “love, honor, and cherish.” Harshness, bitterness, anger, and critical spirits are not a fulfillment of your vows to the Lord. Peter warns husbands in particular that failure to honor wives as the weaker vessel and a co-heir of the grace of life hinders prayer (1 Pet. 3:7). God promises to listen to your words and honor your words as well as you listen to and honor the words of your wife. Elsewhere, God promises to forgive us as we forgive others, and Jesus says that as we do “unto the least of these” we either do or do not do unto Him (Mt. 25:31ff). What kind of words are you serving Jesus? The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, easily intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace (Js. 3:17-18). Yes, our culture is disintegrating in perversion and bitterness, but you cannot fight fire with fire. The only antidote to words of death and broken vows is the Word of Life and God's covenant kindness and mercy. Have you been harsh? Have you been critical? Have you made promises and not kept them? Some of the most potent and powerful words are words of confession and forgiveness. Forgiveness is God's great covenant vow to us in the blood of His Son, and it is the central vow we make and keep that builds Christian culture.

Summary: Continuing our series in the book of Numbers. In Numbers 22-24, the king of Moab calls for Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam was a Gentile prophet of God and he always seems to confess a great respect for the authority of God's word — but every reference to Balaam in the New Testament portrays him as an example of apostasy. In this lesson, we consider what we can learn from Balaam's hypocrisy and the blessings God pronounced on Israel through him. Speaker: Bryant Bailles Passage: Numbers 21 Legal notice: Speakers here typically quote from the NASB, ESV or NKJV almost exclusively, and the respective copyright notices follow. Some occasionally quote from the King James Version, which is public domain (in the US). Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright by The Lockman Foundation Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In Numbers 13 we find that twelve men were sent out to spy the Promised Land and come back with two perspectives of the situation. The majority acknowledge that the land is fruitful but it's impossible to take because it's occupied by powerful people, while they seem like grasshoppers in comparison (Num. 13:33). Two men however, Caleb and Joshua, believe the promise and power of God to bring them into the Promise Land, in spite of any difficulty. It turns out, all of them experienced exactly what they confessed. Have you ever faced a situation where what God had promised looked ridiculous at best? In today's podcast you will learn about the power of perspective, the importance of what you are focusing on, and what makes the difference between trusting God and complaining against Him.

Questions Covered: 03:38 – According to the bible, does the soul stay in the grave until judgment day, or does the soul go to heaven? 12:36 – Was Hebrews among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and if it was, was the author named? 17:44 – In 1 Cor. 1:17, is Paul separating the gospel and baptism? 22:33 – If Mary had said no to becoming the mother of God, would that have contracted sin/opened her up to sin? 29:08 – Can you explain Numbers 5:21? It appears contradictory with most modern Catholic views on abortion. 32:49 – In Acts 2, were the apostles actually speaking the other languages, or were the people hearing it in their own language? 35:56 – With reference to 2 Peter 1:10, what is the opinion on the Doctrine of Eternal Security? Can you abandon your faith? 44:24 – When and how did the Jewish religion stop sacrificing animals, and is there still sacrifice? 47:10 – In Matthew 12:40, why does it say three nights, when Christ was only in the tomb for two nights? 49:19 – In Numbers 9:11-14, can you clarify what it means for strangers and sojourners to participate in the Passover? …

The condition of our heart when we approach God matters very much to Him! In Numbers 20:6-13 Moses assumes a very acceptable posture of falling on his face prostrate before God and prays for a very worthy cause of needing water for the Children of Israel. All looked good from the surface.The scripture says that the glory of the Lord appeared to them there when he prayed. But, despite God answering the prayer with very specific direction to speak to a rock and God would miraculously cause it to produce water for the people, Moses blatantly disobeyed and struck the rock instead. God called this disobedience unbelief. Unbelief separates us from God, and ultimately, if not corrected and repented for, prevents us from achieving our goal of making Heaven our home. It certainly kept Moses out of the Promised Land.

A Review of 2014. The Mystery behind the Brazen Serpent. As we continue with our recap of 2014, we are now ready for the month of July. This Tree of Life will focus on July. We had the privilege of studying a few messages from Deacon Rick Bettez on Science catching up with The Bible. And then doctrine of Feasts by Rick Kabrick. My main message in July dealt with the doctrine of the Substitutionary Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. It all Began in that very important passage in Joh 3. JOH 3:1-8, Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Here is our Lord dealing with religion. Religion needs a spiritual birth, it needs changes. Because you see religion can be very evil, even Satanic. Religion has false doctrine, called doctrine of demons, 1TI 4:1. Religion has a devil's communion table, 1 Co 10:19-20. Religion has another gospel, GAL 1:6. Religion has another Jesus, 2CO 11:4. Religion has another Spirit, 2CO 11:4. Our Lord's words in Joh, “Do not marvel” suggest the reaction of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was totally shocked in spite of all his human accomplishments. He was totally baffled. In verse 8, Jesus illustrates that a spiritual thing is not something that you can see. When you were born again you didn't see it, but God the Holy Spirit entered you into union with Christ. The Holy Spirit came to indwell inside of you, you didn't feel it or see it either. JOH 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Where does the wind begin and where does it end? The wind cannot be seen, only the effects are visible. You know wind exists because it hits you in the face. However, you do not know how the wind got there or where it's going. So, it is with the spiritual birth. It is unseen, but it is nevertheless real. JOH 3:9, Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” He had not been taught this and notice our Lord uses a little sarcasm at the right time. JOH 3:10-13, Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, {even} the Son of Man.” The first man to enter into heaven in a resurrection body was the Lord Jesus Christ. However, in verse 13, the Lord Jesus Christ declared that He was and is in heaven as God at the very moment He was speaking to Nicodemus but as man He is not one place on earth, and that is talking to Nicodemus. He could be in heaven at the same time that He was also in His human body because He is the God-man, the unique person of the universe. JOH 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;” Nicodemus was familiar with Numbers 21 which gives us the story of the serpent. And so, what did our Lord mean when He said “The son of man must be lifted up?” He meant that true life could only come out of death. He meant that in order for a new creation to begin the old creation must be destroyed. Our Lord referred to His sacrificial death as a lifting up because the Jews were looking for a Messiah who should be lifted up. They were talking about the Messiah being elevated as King over Israel. However, our Lord talking about the Messiah being lifted from the earth hanging on the Cross. The principle again is that the cross must come before the crown. They wanted the Messiah to be elevated to the throne of David but before this, He must be lifted up upon the cross and put to shame. To illustrate the character the meaning and the purpose of His death, the Lord refers to the well known incident in Numbers 21. In Numbers 21 Israel was murmuring against the Lord and against Moses, the man of God. NUM 21:4-9, Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. And the people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. These fiery serpents bit the people so that some of the people died and many others were wounded from the poisonous bites of the literal serpents. In verse 7, notice that they confessed they had sinned and they cried unto Moses for relief. And Moses cried unto God and the Lord told him to make a serpent out of brass and place it on a pole. The Jews who were bitten by the fiery serpents were told to look at the brazen serpent “in faith” and they should be healed. This all was a foreshadowing of our Lord. It spoke of Christ being lifted up on the Cross in order that He might save, through the look of faith, those who were dying from sin. The serpent was an appropriate figure of that deadly and destructive power, sin. In GEN 3:15, the serpents' seed is said to be unregenerate sinners, JOH 8:44. GEN 3:15, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” The serpent therefore represented the sinner. The poison of the fiery serpents' bite effected the entire system of its' victims. There was no deliverance therefore for the Jews unless God provided one. The remedy which God provided was a “public exhibition” of the destroyer, the serpent on a pole. GAL 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us‑‑ for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Why didn't Moses use one of the actual serpents and spike a fiery serpent on the pole? Because it would have damaged the typology. It would have pictured God's judgment on the sinner himself and worse still, it would have misrepresented our sinless substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. HEB 7:26, For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. The type chosen was in the likeness of a serpent, it wasn't an actual serpent, but a piece of brass made to look like one. This correlates with ROM 8:3, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God {did:} sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and {as an offering} for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. How could a serpent symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One from God? A serpent is one of the last things we would ever think would represent the Lord. However, the brazen serpent foreshadows Christ only as He was lifted up on the Cross. The lifting up pointed to the Cross. The serpent was a reminder and emblem of the curse. It was through the agency of that old serpent, the devil, that our first parents were seduced and brought under the curse of a Holy God, GEN 3:1-5. And, on the Cross never forget, the Holy one of God was made a curse for us. GAL 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us‑‑ for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” So, the serpent accurately prefigured the crucified Savior being made a curse for us. But why a serpent of brass? This brings out once more the perfect accuracy of the type or the doctrine of typology. In the scriptures brass symbolizes divine judgment! The brazen altar illustrates this truth for on it the sacrificial animals were slain. Upon the brazen altar descended the consuming fire from Heaven. In Revelation 1 where Christ is seen as judge inspecting the seven churches, we are told that His feet were like fine brass REV 1:15, and His feet were like burnished bronze. So, in John 3:14, the serpent spoke of the curse which sin produced and the brass told of God's judgment falling on the one made sin for us. But, there is another thought suggested by the brass. Brass is harder than iron, or silver, or gold, and therefore it told of our Lord's mighty strength. He was able to endure the awful judgments which fell upon Him, a mere creature, though sinless would have been utterly consumed. From what has been said so far, it is evident that when God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and to place it on a pole and told the Jews to look on it and they should live, that He was preaching to them the Gospel of His grace. Let's note some things the Jews were not told to do: 1. They were not told to manufacture some ointment as the means of healing their wounds. Spiritual lotions do not cure disease only the Lord Jesus Christ can cure a disease when it's miraculous. Like the poor woman mentioned in MAR 5:26, many spend all that they have on such idiotic solutions like a magic oil or ointment. MAR 5:25-26, And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse, Notice she had even gotten worse. There are a lot charlatans out there especially the television evangelists who manipulate those in need and are nothing more than fake healers not faith healers. And they will answer to God for their lies. They teach for money, accept bribes, sell whatever they can to take money from the simple-minded. Look at what the Lord said in Micah 3. MIC 3:9-11, Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And twist everything that is straight, Who build Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with violent injustice. Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, “Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.” They were also not told to minister to others who were wounded and help each other out. That would be the blind leading the blind. What use would it be for a person to jump into deep water to rescue a drowning man if he could not swim himself. They were also not told to fight the serpents. What use would it be to fight the serpents for those who had already been bitten? They could all have killed a thousand serpents each but they would still have died. Fighting against the serpents or fighting against sin or the devil will not solve a thing. They were not told to make an offering to the serpent on the pole. God did not ask any payment from them in return for their healing. Liars and deceivers in the Christian church telling others they have to make a faith offering or sow a seed of faith financially if they want to be healed. Grace ceases to be grace if any price is paid for what it brings. They were told not to look at Moses, the man of God.They had been looking to Moses but God commanded them to look at the brazen serpent. Moses was the law giver and how many today are looking to him representing the law for salvation and spirituality. In other words, they are depending on their own works. They were not told to look at their wounds. Some think they need to be more occupied with the work of examining their own wicked hearts. To be occupied with self is to be occupied with that which God has condemned.ROM 6:6-14, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. The devil is very pleased when he gets an individual looking at good works, feelings, baptism, self, etc. as opposed to Christ. Let's look now at the positive side: 1. Moses was commanded by God to make a serpent of brass, it was something the Lord provided. Moses was commanded to place this brazen serpent upon a pole. Therefore, the divine remedy was publicly exhibited so that all Israel might look and be healed. The Lord's promise in NUM 21:8 was that “It shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it shall live.” The point is that man was to look away from himself to the divinely appointed object of faith. The brazen serpent was lifted up so that those who were too weak to crawl up to the pole itself simply could look and be healed. NUM 21:8, Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.” No matter how many times he may have been bitten, no matter how far the poison had advanced, if they looked they could be healed, anyone could be look and anyone could be healed. It is interesting that man became a lost sinner by a look as in GEN 3:6, When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.Now the sinner is saved by a look, ISA 45:22 “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. After salvation the Christian life continues by looking. HEB 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. At the end of the Christian life we are still to be looking for Christ. PHI 3:20, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; From the beginning to the end it's a mere look. In that great crowd of bitten Israelites there were some with young eyes, some with old eyes that looked at the serpent. Some with clear vision and some with dim vision. Faith is simply the eye of the soul looking toward the Lord Jesus Christ, even if it's only a little faith. JOH 3:14-16, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Since God is perfect, His plan is perfect. Man's biggest problem which was sin was solved by a perfect God in eternity past. Everything we will ever need in time, every sin that we would ever commit has a divine provision from a perfect God. Every sin in the human race that would ever be committed has a divine solution “in Christ.” God knew every failure we would ever have, every suffering and every heartache. Therefore, He made a provision for every situation in this life. There will never be a trial, or a testing or a suffering too great for the plan of God to handle. Billions of years ago at a certain point of time God loved us. Love requires thought not emotion and billions of years ago, God thought about you. And when He thought about you, He loved you. And because He loved you, He decided to act upon that love. 1JO 4:19, We love, because He first loved us. However, it says that God so loved the world. It is true that God is love but here God so loved the world. God's love for both the believer and unbeliever is centered around the Cross. It is true that God is love and because God is love the cross exists. When a member of the human race by passes the cross or rejects Christ as his or her personal Savior, he then becomes the object of divine wrath.

A Review of 2014. The Mystery behind the Brazen Serpent. As we continue with our recap of 2014, we are now ready for the month of July. This Tree of Life will focus on July. We had the privilege of studying a few messages from Deacon Rick Bettez on Science catching up with The Bible. And then doctrine of Feasts by Rick Kabrick. My main message in July dealt with the doctrine of the Substitutionary Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. It all Began in that very important passage in Joh 3. JOH 3:1-8, Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Here is our Lord dealing with religion. Religion needs a spiritual birth, it needs changes. Because you see religion can be very evil, even Satanic. Religion has false doctrine, called doctrine of demons, 1TI 4:1. Religion has a devil's communion table, 1 Co 10:19-20. Religion has another gospel, GAL 1:6. Religion has another Jesus, 2CO 11:4. Religion has another Spirit, 2CO 11:4. Our Lord's words in Joh, “Do not marvel” suggest the reaction of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was totally shocked in spite of all his human accomplishments. He was totally baffled. In verse 8, Jesus illustrates that a spiritual thing is not something that you can see. When you were born again you didn't see it, but God the Holy Spirit entered you into union with Christ. The Holy Spirit came to indwell inside of you, you didn't feel it or see it either. JOH 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Where does the wind begin and where does it end? The wind cannot be seen, only the effects are visible. You know wind exists because it hits you in the face. However, you do not know how the wind got there or where it's going. So, it is with the spiritual birth. It is unseen, but it is nevertheless real. JOH 3:9, Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” He had not been taught this and notice our Lord uses a little sarcasm at the right time. JOH 3:10-13, Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, {even} the Son of Man.” The first man to enter into heaven in a resurrection body was the Lord Jesus Christ. However, in verse 13, the Lord Jesus Christ declared that He was and is in heaven as God at the very moment He was speaking to Nicodemus but as man He is not one place on earth, and that is talking to Nicodemus. He could be in heaven at the same time that He was also in His human body because He is the God-man, the unique person of the universe. JOH 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;” Nicodemus was familiar with Numbers 21 which gives us the story of the serpent. And so, what did our Lord mean when He said “The son of man must be lifted up?” He meant that true life could only come out of death. He meant that in order for a new creation to begin the old creation must be destroyed. Our Lord referred to His sacrificial death as a lifting up because the Jews were looking for a Messiah who should be lifted up. They were talking about the Messiah being elevated as King over Israel. However, our Lord talking about the Messiah being lifted from the earth hanging on the Cross. The principle again is that the cross must come before the crown. They wanted the Messiah to be elevated to the throne of David but before this, He must be lifted up upon the cross and put to shame. To illustrate the character the meaning and the purpose of His death, the Lord refers to the well known incident in Numbers 21. In Numbers 21 Israel was murmuring against the Lord and against Moses, the man of God. NUM 21:4-9, Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. And the people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. These fiery serpents bit the people so that some of the people died and many others were wounded from the poisonous bites of the literal serpents. In verse 7, notice that they confessed they had sinned and they cried unto Moses for relief. And Moses cried unto God and the Lord told him to make a serpent out of brass and place it on a pole. The Jews who were bitten by the fiery serpents were told to look at the brazen serpent “in faith” and they should be healed. This all was a foreshadowing of our Lord. It spoke of Christ being lifted up on the Cross in order that He might save, through the look of faith, those who were dying from sin. The serpent was an appropriate figure of that deadly and destructive power, sin. In GEN 3:15, the serpents' seed is said to be unregenerate sinners, JOH 8:44. GEN 3:15, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” The serpent therefore represented the sinner. The poison of the fiery serpents' bite effected the entire system of its' victims. There was no deliverance therefore for the Jews unless God provided one. The remedy which God provided was a “public exhibition” of the destroyer, the serpent on a pole. GAL 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us‑‑ for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Why didn't Moses use one of the actual serpents and spike a fiery serpent on the pole? Because it would have damaged the typology. It would have pictured God's judgment on the sinner himself and worse still, it would have misrepresented our sinless substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. HEB 7:26, For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. The type chosen was in the likeness of a serpent, it wasn't an actual serpent, but a piece of brass made to look like one. This correlates with ROM 8:3, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God {did:} sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and {as an offering} for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. How could a serpent symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One from God? A serpent is one of the last things we would ever think would represent the Lord. However, the brazen serpent foreshadows Christ only as He was lifted up on the Cross. The lifting up pointed to the Cross. The serpent was a reminder and emblem of the curse. It was through the agency of that old serpent, the devil, that our first parents were seduced and brought under the curse of a Holy God, GEN 3:1-5. And, on the Cross never forget, the Holy one of God was made a curse for us. GAL 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us‑‑ for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” So, the serpent accurately prefigured the crucified Savior being made a curse for us. But why a serpent of brass? This brings out once more the perfect accuracy of the type or the doctrine of typology. In the scriptures brass symbolizes divine judgment! The brazen altar illustrates this truth for on it the sacrificial animals were slain. Upon the brazen altar descended the consuming fire from Heaven. In Revelation 1 where Christ is seen as judge inspecting the seven churches, we are told that His feet were like fine brass REV 1:15, and His feet were like burnished bronze. So, in John 3:14, the serpent spoke of the curse which sin produced and the brass told of God's judgment falling on the one made sin for us. But, there is another thought suggested by the brass. Brass is harder than iron, or silver, or gold, and therefore it told of our Lord's mighty strength. He was able to endure the awful judgments which fell upon Him, a mere creature, though sinless would have been utterly consumed. From what has been said so far, it is evident that when God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and to place it on a pole and told the Jews to look on it and they should live, that He was preaching to them the Gospel of His grace. Let's note some things the Jews were not told to do: 1. They were not told to manufacture some ointment as the means of healing their wounds. Spiritual lotions do not cure disease only the Lord Jesus Christ can cure a disease when it's miraculous. Like the poor woman mentioned in MAR 5:26, many spend all that they have on such idiotic solutions like a magic oil or ointment. MAR 5:25-26, And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse, Notice she had even gotten worse. There are a lot charlatans out there especially the television evangelists who manipulate those in need and are nothing more than fake healers not faith healers. And they will answer to God for their lies. They teach for money, accept bribes, sell whatever they can to take money from the simple-minded. Look at what the Lord said in Micah 3. MIC 3:9-11, Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And twist everything that is straight, Who build Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with violent injustice. Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, “Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.” They were also not told to minister to others who were wounded and help each other out. That would be the blind leading the blind. What use would it be for a person to jump into deep water to rescue a drowning man if he could not swim himself. They were also not told to fight the serpents. What use would it be to fight the serpents for those who had already been bitten? They could all have killed a thousand serpents each but they would still have died. Fighting against the serpents or fighting against sin or the devil will not solve a thing. They were not told to make an offering to the serpent on the pole. God did not ask any payment from them in return for their healing. Liars and deceivers in the Christian church telling others they have to make a faith offering or sow a seed of faith financially if they want to be healed. Grace ceases to be grace if any price is paid for what it brings. They were told not to look at Moses, the man of God.They had been looking to Moses but God commanded them to look at the brazen serpent. Moses was the law giver and how many today are looking to him representing the law for salvation and spirituality. In other words, they are depending on their own works. They were not told to look at their wounds. Some think they need to be more occupied with the work of examining their own wicked hearts. To be occupied with self is to be occupied with that which God has condemned.ROM 6:6-14, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. The devil is very pleased when he gets an individual looking at good works, feelings, baptism, self, etc. as opposed to Christ. Let's look now at the positive side: 1. Moses was commanded by God to make a serpent of brass, it was something the Lord provided. Moses was commanded to place this brazen serpent upon a pole. Therefore, the divine remedy was publicly exhibited so that all Israel might look and be healed. The Lord's promise in NUM 21:8 was that “It shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it shall live.” The point is that man was to look away from himself to the divinely appointed object of faith. The brazen serpent was lifted up so that those who were too weak to crawl up to the pole itself simply could look and be healed. NUM 21:8, Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.” No matter how many times he may have been bitten, no matter how far the poison had advanced, if they looked they could be healed, anyone could be look and anyone could be healed. It is interesting that man became a lost sinner by a look as in GEN 3:6, When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.Now the sinner is saved by a look, ISA 45:22 “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. After salvation the Christian life continues by looking. HEB 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. At the end of the Christian life we are still to be looking for Christ. PHI 3:20, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; From the beginning to the end it's a mere look. In that great crowd of bitten Israelites there were some with young eyes, some with old eyes that looked at the serpent. Some with clear vision and some with dim vision. Faith is simply the eye of the soul looking toward the Lord Jesus Christ, even if it's only a little faith. JOH 3:14-16, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Since God is perfect, His plan is perfect. Man's biggest problem which was sin was solved by a perfect God in eternity past. Everything we will ever need in time, every sin that we would ever commit has a divine provision from a perfect God. Every sin in the human race that would ever be committed has a divine solution “in Christ.” God knew every failure we would ever have, every suffering and every heartache. Therefore, He made a provision for every situation in this life. There will never be a trial, or a testing or a suffering too great for the plan of God to handle. Billions of years ago at a certain point of time God loved us. Love requires thought not emotion and billions of years ago, God thought about you. And when He thought about you, He loved you. And because He loved you, He decided to act upon that love. 1JO 4:19, We love, because He first loved us. However, it says that God so loved the world. It is true that God is love but here God so loved the world. God's love for both the believer and unbeliever is centered around the Cross. It is true that God is love and because God is love the cross exists. When a member of the human race by passes the cross or rejects Christ as his or her personal Savior, he then becomes the object of divine wrath.

In Numbers 9:15-10:36 Israel are finally ready to leave Mount Sinai. The time for preparation has ended and their final directions relate how they are to come and go as they travel. This is unfolded in: The Cloud The Trumpets The Invitation

It's Week 5 of our LEGENDS series and this week we're looking at Moses! In Numbers 21, we see Moses fashioning a cure for the sickness that was spreading throughout the camp, at God's direction. All they had to do, was look to the cure and they would be healed. In the same way, we have the cure for the sickness of sin. All we have to do is point people to the cure. Just like Pastor Dustin asks, what will you do with the cure?

In Numbers 23:19, we study the truthfulness of God and his words. God is completely different from man in that he always speaks the truth. God has given us his message in Scripture which is without errors. The Bible is not only error-free but is incapable of erring. Believing in an error-filled Bible is an affront to God and his nature. Many will claim to find errors and contradictions in the Bible, but by studying Scripture we can affirm the Bible's truthfulness. May we read and study God's Word often to respond to the lies propagated about Scripture. Isn't the Bible…Filled with Errors? (Numbers 23:19) | Fact Check (Part 3) | Nathan Yovichin Compass Bible Church Junior High Ministry

In Numbers 4, the Gershonites and the Merarites had a role that wasn't as "fancy" as the role of the Kohathites. But their roles were crucial and important, even if they were more in the background. Go to www.p40ministries.com to find more info about The Bible Explained and P40 Ministries.

Have you ever felt trapped in a certain behavior pattern and struggled to break out? Often when we approach our behaviors head on, we lose badly. How can the Torah guide us in this aspect? In Numbers chapter 6 the Torah discusses the Nazirite, one who accepts upon himself to separate from certain physical pleasures and focus on their spiritual growth. And, the commentaries all struggle with understanding this section. In one place, the Torah describes him as holy and even compares him to the high priest, but at the same time the Torah requires him to bring a sin offering, implying he's doing something wrong? Join me as we take a deeper look at the Nazir and try to understand exactly what he is attempting to accomplish. Once we understand that, we can apply it to improving our own lives as well! All the sources quoted in this podcast can be viewed on this source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/414076?lang=bi Happy Listening! Rabbi Moshe To sponsor a podcast or make a tax-deductible donation to support this podcast and DATA of Richardson go to: https://thethinkingjew.com/support-us/ For questions comments or topic requests, email: thethinkingjewpodcast@gmail.com

In Numbers 3, God purposefully ordains the Levites to do acts of service for the temple, the priests, and for God. But that's not all. He ordains the entire tribe as the "firstborn." What might this mean for us modern Christians? www.p40ministries.com is where you can talk to Jenn, order your new wardrobe, or just chill and listen to more podcast episodes!    

Transcript Podcast Introduction Today is Monday, so we'll read from the Law. We'll read Numbers 25-28  I'll have some comments after the reading. And of course I'll have an “On This Date In Church History” segment for you, too. I'm calling today's episode “One Righteous Man.” Comments on Numbers 25 In Numbers 22-24 Balak tried to... The post Numbers 25-28: One Righteous Man first appeared on Lifespring! Media.

Join Revival Cry Podcast host Eric Miller as he talks about “The Highway of Prayer”. In this message Eric shares how often the Church wants to take the backroads to revival instead of taking the highway God prepared for us, which is through prayer. In Numbers 13, once Israel came out of Egypt they should have made it to the Promise Land the land of Canaan in less than 2 weeks. After Moses sent the spies, including Joshua and Caleb, to check out the Promise Land God already gave to Israel, the spies came back with a report. Joshua and Caleb had a good report while others said that Israel should not go in. Even though the men and woman of prayer were willing to go into the Promise Land, the rest of Israel chose not to go in, so Israel wandered in the desert for the next 40 years. I believe this message today will encourage those of you who have prayed for revival but have not seen others pursuing God for revival in prayer. Let the Lord anoint you as one of His spies to you take “The Highway of Prayer” today! Eric Miller's 30-Day Devotional: “Hearing God through His Creation” www.amazon.com/dp/B09CF83HLV (English) “Escuchar a Dios a Través de Su Creación” www.amazon.com/dp/B09CGCXG5 (Spanish) Website: www.revivalcry.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/RevivalCryInternational/] Instagram: www.instagram.com/revivalcryinternational/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/RevivalCryInternational Hope Radio: www.hoperadio.net/angel5  

Join us this week.  Did Moses really want to die if leading the children of Israel going to be so burdensome?In Numbers 11:14-15 it reads....I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.  And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee....From Come Follow Me:Even on foot, it wouldn't normally take 40 years to travel from the wilderness of Sinai to the promised land in Canaan. But that's how long the children of Israel needed, not to cover the geographical distance but to cover the spiritual distance: the distance between who they were and who the Lord needed them to become as His covenant people.The book of Numbers describes some of what happened during those 40 years, including lessons the children of Israel needed to learn before entering the promised land. They learned about being faithful to the Lord's chosen servants (see Numbers 12). They learned about trusting the Lord's power, even when the future seems hopeless (see Numbers 13–14). And they learned that being faithless or untrusting brings spiritual harm, but they could repent and look to the Savior for healing (see Numbers 21:4–9).We're all like the Israelites in some ways. We all know what it's like to be in a spiritual wilderness, and the same lessons they learned can help us prepare to enter our own promised land: eternal life with our Heavenly Father.#comefollowme #ldspodcast #oldtestament #moses #christianpodcast #childrenofisraelSupport the show

In Numbers 6, rules for the Nazarite vow are given and God allows second chances for those who accidentally break their vow. Click here to download the Daily Word, Teaching Notes, Study Guide Questions and Artwork for this lesson.

Be Strong | Brody Holloway | Saturday MorningConsequences will come any time we compromise on what Scripture teaches. In Numbers 25, Israel became comfortable and submit to the cultural norms of the pagan people around them. Today, culture is making a mockery of the Biblical sexual ethic that God created us for. The issue is not desire or attraction, but an idolatrous heart.Believers, Christ is the source of your identity. The roots we put down here have eternal implications. Society is going to sell you the easiest path, and we quickly become comfortable and tolerant in our sin. Men, we were not created for safety. We are ambassadors for Christ. You are not a victim of your sin but a conqueror in Christ. Live like it, and fight sin. References: Numbers 251 Peter Romans 1Learn more about our student and adult conferences at Swoutfitters.com. P.S. If you liked this episode, we'd love to hear your feedback! Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify and help us get the content out to help others grow in their faith and mission to equip the Church.Want to go deeper? Join the Snowbird Newsletter and get our list of favorite books! ==================================================Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the exposition of Scripture and personal relationships in order to equip the Church to impact this generation.==================================================We'd love to connect with you. Follow us here:FacebookYouTubeInstagram

Pastor Zack Strong Be It Unto Me   Text: Luke 1.26-38, Ephesians 5.26-27 The greatest darkness we can experience is no revelation of God in our lives. Gabriel- man of God, messenger of the Lord These short verses show a complete story of redemption in the totality of God. Mary- beloved, bitter, rebellious Before the earth began, God had already chosen who He would bring His Som through. God was looking for a bride to partner with to rule and reign throughout eternity. God is refilling the earth with light and hope through his beloved who is in a state of bitterness and rebellion. Mary was favored because God bent down and offered her gifts and resources. In Numbers 6.24-26, God extends His arms to lavish us with His gifts. God wasn't speaking just to Mary but to His beloved church to offer His gifts. Mary's status as a virgin represents God's redemptive work making us completely pure again as if we had never sinned. Christ died before the foundation of the earth, not just at Calvary. Just as Mary produced a son, the church produces sons. God is the only one who can make the church clean through the washing of the Word, a kind of baptism. The only time the enemy has our ear is when we don't have the Word in us. If we could get rid of spots or wrinkles on our own, we already would have. God can deal with the things we can't and renew our youth. Joseph- the increase of God Five Things God Asked of Mary 1. Will you give me your dream? He wants to do something bigger. 2. Will you give me yourself? God will not violate your will. 3. Will you carry the Savior of the world? Everything God wants to do in us is for a redemptive work in someone else's life. 4. Will you fulfill the promise? Angels can assist us but they can't do our jobs for us. And our job is not to tell anyone how sinful they are but who they really are. 5. Will you take a step of faith? It's not about our works or our ability but our trust in Him.

It is Sunday morning, 20th March, the year 2022. And this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.If we start off in the first book of the Bible, I am reading verse 25:“Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”Genesis 18:25Then we go to Job:“Surely God will never do wickedly,Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.”Job 34:12You and I serve a just and righteous God. In Numbers 32:23, the Bible says:“…be sure your sin will find you out.” Our God will not be mocked, no! Nor made a fool of by any man, government or by any world leader. But we say, “But look how they get away with it.” The worldly system of justice, we know, is rotten, it is perverted.We say, “Lord, where are you?” But our God sees everything, even that which happens behind a closed door. Why do righteous men like Steven pray for their enemies? While the people were stoning him to death in Acts 7:60, He said, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” Why? Because those righteous men know that we serve a just and a righteous God and unless there is repentance, there will be severe consequences.Do not be concerned about justice taking place, God has promised that justice will take place. Let's make sure that we get the plank out of our own eye before we start taking the splinter out of somebody else's.I remember as a young farmer, just starting off, I was still a wild man - I hadn't met Jesus yet. I used to work 18 hours a day, I had a young family to feed... There was a man who used to come and visit me, about the same age as me, him, his wife and children. He always arrived round about lunch time, that's right! And we always gave him lunch. He didn't have a job. His family didn't really have clothes to wear and my wife used to give some of our children's clothes to that lady so that her children could have clothes. He was always telling me to get my life right. “Angus you have got to become a Christian. We are Christians. You can't live like you are living.” I used to say to myself, “When we got to Heaven, I will get there before he does because at least I can feed my family.” But what would happen if I got to Heaven and said, “Lord, the reason I have not become a Christian is because this other guy who says he is a Christian has lived a terrible life.” And the Lord looks around and says, “But he is not here.”Folks, I want to tell you, we need to concentrate on our own lives and God will do the rest.Have a wonderful Sunday.Jesus bless you and goodbye.

In Numbers 25 the Moabite women seduce the Israelite men and God sends a plague. On today's One Single Story podcast Pastors Stephen Mizell, Sheryl Daughety and Jay Rivenbark discuss idols, temptation and slippery slopes. Today's Reading: Numbers 23-25

Numbers 13 & 14 is one of those passages we just have to know. This passage explains why the Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. It also helps us understand the necessity of faith and trust in God in all times. Join us for a powerful study in how faith and trust ultimately overcome doubt and despair. A Daily Study in the Key Chapters of God's Word! 1. When you think about the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, if you did not know the historical account of Numbers 13 & 14, what would a 40-year wandering imply? 2. Going to Numbers 13, what did Moses do in verse 2? Why? 3. In verse 17, what information were the spies told to gather? 4. When the spies returned to give their report, what did they say in verses 27 to 29? What was the overall gist of their point? 5. Caleb and Joshua did not agree with the other 10 spies. What did Caleb say in verse 30 According to verse 31, whose view prevailed? Why? 6. What did the other spies go on to say in verses 32 & 33? What were their fears focusing on? In regards to God, what were they not focusing on? 7. In Numbers 14, verses 1-4 what did the people decide to do? Who were they believing? In terms of their covenant with the Lord, what did this represent? 8. Verses 6-9 record Joshua and Caleb second attempt to convince the people to trust the Lord. What was the basis of their point? What principles from these verses can we apply to our lives today? 9. How did the people respond to Joshua and Caleb in verse 10? Who steps in to save them? 10. What was the Lord's pronouncement in verses 22 & 23? What would happen to the people in verse 29? According to the Lord's words in Numbers 14:31-32, who would enter the Promised Land? Why? 11. How did this judgment lead to the 40 years of wilderness wandering? Why? 12. In terms of application for today, what principles can we learn about grumbling and trusting in the Lord? Where should our hope rest? What should be the basis of our hope? The Key Chapters Bible Podcast is a daily, 15ish minute podcast that goes over the key chapters of the Bible, one per day, explaining how it fits into the overall message of God and how it relates to our lives now. Jump in today or start back in Genesis 1! To see our dedicated podcast website with access to all our episodes and other resources, visit us at: www.keychapters.org. Available on all major podcast platforms, and now on YouTube. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OqbnDRrfuyHRmkpUSyoHv Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/366-key-chapters-in-the-bible/id1493571819 As always, we are grateful to be included in the "Top 40 Bible Podcasts to Follow" from Feedspot.com. Also for regularly being awarded "Podcast of the Day" from PlayerFM. Special thanks to Joseph McDade for providing our theme music. 

In Numbers 13 & 14, God wanted to take the children of Israel into the promised land but they were consumed with fear and sinned against the Lord! Listen to some key points on how to walk by Faith

Some stories are just so odd that it's just easier to ignore them and move on...why try to make sense of something or try to understand a spiritual truth about something that can't possibly be real?!  In Numbers 22, the people of Israel are on the verge of entering the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness. A neighboring king gets nervous as they approach so he hires a guy named Balaam, who is able to see visions and give prophecies, to go scare Israel away. God tells Balaam not to go, but he eventually goes anyway. On the way, the path gets narrower and narrower...and the donkey sees the angel of the Lord. The donkey avoids the angel, but Balaam (who can't see the angel) strikes the donkey on three separate occasions. At this point the Lord speaks to Balaam through the donkey!  Are we listening for what God has for us? Are we heading down a path that God might have warned us about, but we just don't seem to be getting the message? Are there donkeys in our lives that are trying to point us in the right direction?  This is a passage about discernment! Also...We put the 'explicit' designation on this podcast because we use the term 'ass' to refer to the donkey. This was done based on the translation we used. We didn't want to get into trouble...hence the label. We also wanted to catch your attention in case you listen to this in the presence of younger ears and aren't ready to explain how a donkey had a different name back in the day...or why Lisa seems to have a potty mouth! ___ This podcast is a partnership between 40 Orchards and Processing Faith… 40 Orchards, with Steph and Lisa, invites people to wrestle through Biblical texts using the ancient Jewish concepts of midrash. In a 40 Orchards study, every question is safe, everyone is welcome, and every voice is valued. We believe there's room for all of us. No person and no question is off limits—because we know that together we can expand each other's experience of what is sacred, whole, and good.  You can learn more about 40 Orchards and sign-up for a study by going to 40orchards.org. Processing Faith is a space created by Jason Steffenhagen for people to do exactly that…process their faith. It's not one thing…but more like a good recipe. It's like 1 part pastoral care, 1 part theological exploration, and 1 part wrestling with all the questions.  You can learn more about Processing Faith and sign-up for a free 45 min session by going to processingfaith.com.

"God never forsakes His people in the wilderness!" In this episode, Lauren Chandler shares powerful truths from her newest Bible Study, With Us in the Wilderness: a Study of the Book of Numbers. We are all prone to walk through wilderness seasons when life is difficult and God feels distant. Lauren reminds us that even when God feels far away, His presence is always near. In love, God allows wilderness seasons to draw us nearer to Him, but the wilderness will not last forever. While the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and struggled to trust God before experiencing the fulfillment of His promise, we can learn to follow His leading and experience His presence every step of the journey. { USE PLAYER BAR @ TOP OF PAGE to listen to show, subscribe and share } Important Takeaways from Show Numbers in the Hebrew Scripture is called "In the Wilderness"  Being in a wilderness season does not necessarily mean we are doing something wrong God's love followed Adam and Eve out of the garden; His presence is always with us in the wilderness Your faith can be strengthened and deepened through the wilderness In Numbers, the tabernacle of God's presence was in the center of the camp Our lives should be centered and grounded in God as well God doesn't ask us to come to Him already put together Go to God undone and allow Him to put you back together Find a way to connect with God every morning and stay connected to Him throughout the day The Lord was leading the Israelites through the wilderness, they just had to keep their eyes on the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud Choose to live from the shadow of God's presence rather than the shadow of your fears He is the God of the wilderness just as much as He is the God of the promise Like Moses, we can take our complaints straight to the Lord Be faithful with your gifts and opportunities but continue to find your identity in being a child of God We are defined by God and His love for us, not by what we can do for Him Don't ever believe you outgrow the gospel, we need it every minute of every day The Lord bless you     and keep you;  the Lord make his face shine on you     and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you     and give you peace. ~Numbers 6:24-26 Links from Show Bible Study Book: With Us in the Wilderness: a Study of the Book of Numbers Teen Girls' Bible Study: With Us in the Wilderness: a Study of the Book of Numbers Leader Kit: With Us in the Wilderness: a Study of the Book of Numbers Steadfast Love - Bible Study Book: A Study of Psalm 107 [Disclosure: I make a small commission from affiliate links used in this post.]   Connect with Lauren Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Connect with Joanna  Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter Get Episode Updates! We'd love to have you join our special Living Room Podcast email list. Even if you're already part of my regular list, by applying in the form below, you'll be notified when new episodes air - and get a special gift for joining (among other things!)   I'd love to hear from you... What spoke most to you from Lauren's interview?

Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference:0:00 - Introduction 1. 0:30 {Should We Ask God to Change Us?} You taught once in a past video that when we pray, we should NOT ask God to change us, as that would be like asking or expecting God to do all of the work. Can you please elaborate on that, and how to rightly pray instead?2. 7:49 {About Forgiveness of Unconfessed Sin} Are you forgiven or held accountable for the sins you’re not aware of and don’t repent of? For example: gluttony, laziness, or even getting mad at someone and later forgetting about it.3. 10:37 {Why is Suicide a Sin?} Why do Christians see suicide as a sin if it’s never condemned in the Bible? Why should I be forced to live a pathetic life I never asked for?4. 15:55 {About “Feeling” God’s Presence} I always hear Christians say they “felt the presence of God.” How can I feel His presence? I read His Word as much as I can and pray often, but have never “felt” His presence.5. 20:11 {About Astronomical Alignment} Do you think the astronomical alignment on Sept 23rd, 2017 is a fulfillment of Revelation 12:1-3? It feels like astrology to me.6. 24:55 {Was Martin Luther Saved?} Do you think Martin Luther went to Heaven, despite the fact that he had a hatred toward Jews and was unrepentant?7. 29:04 {About Worship Principles} What is difference between the normative and regulative principle of worship? Any useful thoughts to this discussion, what to avoid, what to strive for?8. 35:03 {How to Keep Marriage God-Centered} Is your wife a part of your ministry? How do you keep your marriage God-centered?9. 38:17 {Do Numbers & Leviticus Contradict?} In Numbers 5, there is a test for an unfaithful wife. In verses 27-28 however, the punishment called for appears to differ from that in Leviticus 20: 10 which calls for death. Am I missing something?10. 44:30 {Can a Muslim be Saved?} Is it possible for a Muslim to be saved through faith since they also believe in to getting into Heaven by God's grace (although through works) and through repentance of sins?11. 49:53 {About the “Wages of Sin”} If “the wages of sin is death,” why is there a Hell? When a non-believer dies, why wasn't that debt paid by their death?12. 53:03 {Did Pharaoh in Exodus have Free Will?} I was just wondering what your thoughts were on Exodus 9: 12. Did Pharaoh have free will?13. 59:25 {How Important is Inerrancy?} I found out that several big teachers and content writers at my church don't believe that the Bible is inerrant? Should I be concerned?14. 1:02:39 {About Adoption/Homosexual Couples} How should Christians who are unwilling/uncalled to adopt respond to gay couples who adopt without looking like hypocrites or inhospitable (since they’re not taking in these kids themselves)?15. 1:06:43 {Should we Read Non-Canonical Books?} Would you recommend that current Christians develop an awareness of Scripture that is no longer canon?16. 1:09:46 {About the Galilean Wedding/The Rapture} Have you studied the Galilean wedding being justification for a pre-trib rapture? I’m having a hard time finding trusted sources to teach on this.17. 1:12:28 {About the “2 or 3 Witnesses” Principle} What is the significance of the Bible saying "2 or 3 witnesses" to establish an accusation, as opposed to saying "2 witnesses" or "3 witnesses"?18. 1:14:13 {Should a Head Pastor be Close to His Staff?} What are your thoughts on a head pastor who does not interact with his staff? I teach at a church and have no real relationship (to the point of pain) with my pastor as he is never present.19. 1:17:53 {Do Ghosts / Demons Exist?} I have a feeling that something is living in my house that shouldn't be there, and it is taking all the energy out of me! Do ghosts/demons really exist, and how can I get rid of

Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference:0:00 - Introduction 1. 0:30 {Should We Ask God to Change Us?} You taught once in a past video that when we pray, we should NOT ask God to change us, as that would be like asking or expecting God to do all of the work. Can you please elaborate on that, and how to rightly pray instead?2. 7:49 {About Forgiveness of Unconfessed Sin} Are you forgiven or held accountable for the sins you’re not aware of and don’t repent of? For example: gluttony, laziness, or even getting mad at someone and later forgetting about it.3. 10:37 {Why is Suicide a Sin?} Why do Christians see suicide as a sin if it’s never condemned in the Bible? Why should I be forced to live a pathetic life I never asked for?4. 15:55 {About “Feeling” God’s Presence} I always hear Christians say they “felt the presence of God.” How can I feel His presence? I read His Word as much as I can and pray often, but have never “felt” His presence.5. 20:11 {About Astronomical Alignment} Do you think the astronomical alignment on Sept 23rd, 2017 is a fulfillment of Revelation 12:1-3? It feels like astrology to me.6. 24:55 {Was Martin Luther Saved?} Do you think Martin Luther went to Heaven, despite the fact that he had a hatred toward Jews and was unrepentant?7. 29:04 {About Worship Principles} What is difference between the normative and regulative principle of worship? Any useful thoughts to this discussion, what to avoid, what to strive for?8. 35:03 {How to Keep Marriage God-Centered} Is your wife a part of your ministry? How do you keep your marriage God-centered?9. 38:17 {Do Numbers & Leviticus Contradict?} In Numbers 5, there is a test for an unfaithful wife. In verses 27-28 however, the punishment called for appears to differ from that in Leviticus 20: 10 which calls for death. Am I missing something?10. 44:30 {Can a Muslim be Saved?} Is it possible for a Muslim to be saved through faith since they also believe in to getting into Heaven by God's grace (although through works) and through repentance of sins?11. 49:53 {About the “Wages of Sin”} If “the wages of sin is death,” why is there a Hell? When a non-believer dies, why wasn't that debt paid by their death?12. 53:03 {Did Pharaoh in Exodus have Free Will?} I was just wondering what your thoughts were on Exodus 9: 12. Did Pharaoh have free will?13. 59:25 {How Important is Inerrancy?} I found out that several big teachers and content writers at my church don't believe that the Bible is inerrant? Should I be concerned?14. 1:02:39 {About Adoption/Homosexual Couples} How should Christians who are unwilling/uncalled to adopt respond to gay couples who adopt without looking like hypocrites or inhospitable (since they’re not taking in these kids themselves)?15. 1:06:43 {Should we Read Non-Canonical Books?} Would you recommend that current Christians develop an awareness of Scripture that is no longer canon?16. 1:09:46 {About the Galilean Wedding/The Rapture} Have you studied the Galilean wedding being justification for a pre-trib rapture? I’m having a hard time finding trusted sources to teach on this.17. 1:12:28 {About the “2 or 3 Witnesses” Principle} What is the significance of the Bible saying "2 or 3 witnesses" to establish an accusation, as opposed to saying "2 witnesses" or "3 witnesses"?18. 1:14:13 {Should a Head Pastor be Close to His Staff?} What are your thoughts on a head pastor who does not interact with his staff? I teach at a church and have no real relationship (to the point of pain) with my pastor as he is never present.19. 1:17:53 {Do Ghosts / Demons Exist?} I have a feeling that something is living in my house that shouldn't be there, and it is taking all the energy out of me! Do ghosts/demons really exist, and how can I get rid of