Growing up in a big city can bring big problems with it. Society in urban areas is uniquely different than it is in rural areas. The difference is not so much in the surrounding elements as it is in the people living so close to each other. The Bible tells us that God's people are responsible for...

As Moses and the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness they understood that the presence of the LORD God was costly. offerings were directed and commanded by God to be given before the LORD would ever come into their presence. There was a personal and communal cost to the presence of...

God's instructions to Moses and Aaron about physical impurities pointed to the holiness of God and the necessity of purity in every part of our relationship with Him. In order for the people of God to enter the Tabernacle where they would worship and fellowship with Him, their bodies had to be fr...

There are many who have not learned the truth about God's presence. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. In Hebrew that means He tabernacles within us. In other words, we are the tabernacle, and the Holy Spirit sits on the mercy seat of our hearts‚-‚-the Holy of Holies. That is where our High Priest...

The first commandment of the ten tells us: “And God spoke all these words, saying: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me” (EXODUS 20:1-3). The very first commandment was positioned to emphasize the im...

God knew when He proclaimed His law to the people of Israel that He would also set aside sacred feasts and celebrations to not only help them remember His acts of creation, protection, deliverance, and provision, but to also to give them a rest from their everyday lives. Our study today of Leviti...

Here we read that the priest had to make personal judgments about the value and quality of different things dedicated to the LORD, whether that was food, land, or animals. We also read that people were dedicated to God, such as when Hannah gave her young son Samuel to the High Priest Eli ( 1 SAMU...

The way in which the tribes of Israel were organized around the tent Tabernacle––the center of the camp—was very strategic. The reason the book is called Numbers is because it is based on two military censuses that happen in chapters 1 and 26. Chapter 1 is the first census and consecration of Isr...

God had anointed the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting as holy. Today as we study Numbers 4, we will read about the specific instructions given by the LORD through Moses and Aaron to the Levites, who were the selected tribe set apart by God to move and handle the holy items and to systematically move...

Our study of Numbers 9 today covers the Passover observed and celebrated as a feast to the LORD, after they had come out of the land of Egypt. The children of Israel were to keep the Passover at its appointed day and time. However, there were certain men who could not celebrate Passover on that d...

The way we react shows people around us more about who we are than the way we act. To act like a Christian is easy, but to react like one who follows Christ is a lot more difficult. The way we react to a situation speaks to those around us about who or what we believe—in other words—our faith. We...

There were specific ways that the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron to make sacrifices. This is the LORD who brought them out of Egypt. In Numbers 19 we see that instructions were given to do certain things in certain ways to preserve the purification rituals or laws of purification. The way in whic...

"Balaam was a diviner-prophet from the Mesopotamian town of Pethor. In today’s world, we would call him a spiritualist or a psychic. Ancient Near Eastern texts report the power of diviners, magicians, and soothsayers to manipulate the gods through incantations and other methods to bring a blessin...

God had chosen Israel. He had delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh. Now Israel was on the doorstep of the Promised Land. But the challenges for Israel were deep and sordid. Numbers 25 begins: “Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. ...

There is a struggle on the earth. God is the Creator, the owner, the provider and, still, many of the people He created and provides for do not believe in Him. Some have concocted a notion in which they believe the earth and universe were created through billions of years by chance. In other word...

Cities of refuge were needed in order to maintain purity and order in the community. They were designated cities of protection so that a person who killed someone unintentionally could flee there to avoid the avenger of blood, a blood-relative or kinsman of the deceased, until he could stand tria...

Much of the book of Deuteronomy contains repetitions of the laws found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. We learn much about the forty years of Israel wandering in the desert. Moses discovered that the people of Israel were selfish and stubborn, often thinking only about themselves. Deuteronomy ...

There are two places in the Bible where the Ten Commandments are listed: Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Today as we read chapter 5 of the last book Moses wrote to the Israelites, he explains in the strongest terms what the law says as he reviews the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are recogn...

One of the great offences listed in the Bible is pride—believing we are great people when we are not. There is evil in this world, along with sin. There are many psychologists who are easily offended by that statement even though it is true. It was James, also known as James the Just, the writer ...

It was called the Promised Land for a very good reason. The children of Israel were not just moving to a better place for their own comfort, they were heading to a new homeland where God could demonstrate His strength in the nation. This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they had never...