June 8, 2025 "Set Apart to Restore" (Numbers 33:50-56)

Set Apart to Restore  

Numbers 33:50-56

 

One condition that God gives his people is to set themselves apart from the people of Canaan. They were to drive out all the Canaanites. If the Israelites did not do this, the Israelites would have problems.

 

Numbers 33:55-56 ESV

[55] But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. [56] And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

 

The Israelites sought after pleasure. Their idea of satisfaction was to satisfy their desires.  

 

We have to separate ourselves from sin to let the kingdom of God to manifest in our lives. We have to be salt and light of the world. This means we need to engage in the world to change it. However, we need to be changed first by Christ. We need to seek God and Goa alone to be changed.  

 

Let us be holy first. Let us choose Holiness and pursue God.

 

Destroy every idol, but what is an idol? Why are idols so dangerous?  

 

Numbers 33:52 ESV

[52] then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.  

 

We want control and idols give us comfort and the illusion of control. Idols are those things that we turn to we don't have control instead of turning to God. The Bible is clear when it says that Idols do not satisfy.

 

If God is not your God whom you rely on, there will be pain and dissatisfaction.

 

 God gave the Israelites everything but warned them to put God first and separate them from sin. God will take your obedience and turn it into restoration.  

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May 18, 2025 "On God's Side" (Numbers 23:1-12)

On God's Side

Numbers 23:1-12

 

Balaam was a prophet who was known by many. Balak is a king who fears the Israelites. He hires Balaam to curse God's people, but after sacrificing seven bulls and seven rams to God, God meets Balaam telling him to deliver His message to Balak. Balak does not like the message Balaam gives.  

 

Numbers 23:12 ESV

[12] And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”  

 

Balaam could not go against God's word. He knew God. He knew how to sacrifice to God and what to sacrifice. He also knew that you cannot go against God. However, Balaam was not with God. He was not on the side of God and was for himself. In other words, God can use evil people.  

 

God met with Balaam. Most people have never met with God, and yet Balaam did.

 

Numbers 23:4 ESV

[4] and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

 

God can give words even to those who do not go out and glorify God.

 

Numbers 23:5 ESV

[5] And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”  

 

Everyone wants to win. Being on God's team means you will be on the winning team. To be on God's team, we need to be actively and purposefully trying to glorify God aligned with His will.

 

 God wants us to bless others through his blessings. God wants to save everyone. God can use us if we are on His team or not. We can depart from God and not live his purpose and still be used by God. We can show up to church, wear a crucifix, do mission trips, and still not be on God's side because we go off to do our own things.

 

We will go through hard times whether we are on God's side or not.

 

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May 11, 2025 "Look Up and Live" (Numbers 21:4-9)

Look up and Live 

Numbers 21:4-9 

 

When we read about the Israelites as a nation, we often hear about their complaints. They often bring up the life was better in Egypt as was the case in Numbers chapter 21 

 

Numbers 21:5 ESV 

[5] And the people spoke against God and against 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 worthless food.”  

 

The Israelites ignore that the Lord saved them from slavery. They are rejecting the salvation from God when they talk like this.  The truth is that God was providing food and water for then. They ate heavenly food and called it worthless food. 

 

Often the blessings which God gives us become sore points for us. The discipline our parents gave us, the education we received, the people who support us can all be areas of resentment because we feel entitled. We cannot imagine a life without these blessings and therefore take it for granted.  

 

Before, whenever the Israelites asked for water or food, God provided. However, this time God sent snakes. 

 

Numbers 21:6 ESV 

[6] Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.  

 

God wasn't just punishing the Israelites. He was teaching them to trust in Him and not focus on the blessings. 

  

Numbers 21:8-9 ESV 

[8] And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” [9] So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.  

 

When we chase after God, we can overcome the difficulties. We need to fix our eyes on God and not what we want. We need to see the sins on the Cross. We have to confront the evil in our lives. 

 

God wants us to focus on Jesus. We will start to realize that we are living in Grace. We will see how much we are blessed. 

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Apr 6, 2025 "Becoming a Channel of Blessing" (Numbers 8:14-26)

 

Becoming a Channel of Blessing

Numbers 8:14-26

God intentionally separate the Levites from the Israelites. This sometimes brings up the question, "Why the Levites and not other tribes?"

The Israelites were chosen as a nation to bless the whole world. The Levites were chosen to be priests to make atonement.

Numbers 8:19 ESV

[19] And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

Being a priest is not just a job. Today, we have a mission to tell people about God. We have a responsibility to expand God's Kingdom.

Revelation 1:6 ESV

[6] and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

Instead of keeping God's grace, mercy and blessing, we need to pass it on to others. 

After the Levites were chosen, they cleaned themselves before they served the Lord.

Numbers 8:21 ESV

[21] And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 

We need to make sure our hearts are clean. Otherwise, the work will not be done as it should. After we clean ourselves, we can act and be obedient.

Numbers 8:22 ESV

[22] And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. 

In verses 24 to 26 brings up generational service and training. The Levites are to work as a team.

Numbers 8:24-26 ESV

[24] “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. [25] And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. [26] They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.

 

The older were to assist the younger generation. They were to train the younger generation to ensure God would be worshipped correctly. 

It does not need to be a huge thing. Faithfully obeying God in little things is just as important.

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Mar 30, 2025 "A Law for Love: Why God Gave Us the Law?" (Numbers 5:1-10)

 A Law for Love: Why God Gave Us the Law? 

Numbers 5:1-10 

  

Although God created a new covenant, the laws which were given still remain. The rules and laws are to protect us and help us maintain our Christian Walk. The laws are like a greenhouse. There are boundaries, but they protect us and help us grow. 

  

Numbers 5:2 ESV 

[2] “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.  

  

We may ask, "Why did God command the Israelites to remove these people?" Were they sinners? Job was the most righteous person, and he had a skin disease. The skin disease does not have to be a sin. 

  

We might look at the law a set of punishments for breaking the laws, yet God's purpose was to protect us. 

  

People who were put outside the camp could return once they were healed. This was to protect the camp. The priest would check to see if the person was restored to health. 

  

Much the same, for those who had sinned and broken the law, they had to make restoration.  

  

Numbers 5:7 ESV 

[7] he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.  

  

The law is to protect and encourage restoration.  

  

Sins will not just affect us personally. Sins will affect us, our families, our communities and our workplace. We need to genuinely repent and make restoration. We have to properly make amends to those hurt.  

  

Being free from sin is not just personal benefit. It is to benefit the whole community. Repentance should not just change you but also change our community. Sins that are not dealt with will damage you and those in your community.  

  

During this season we need to transform. We should not just confess for personal reasons but also for our community 

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Mar 23, 2025 “You Are Called, Too”(Numbers 1:47-54)

You are called, too.

Number1:47-54

In this passage, we see God giving the Levites a special purpose. The Levites were not counted in the census commanded by God. The census was to count all the men capable of military service. Levites were excluded from this census because they had to take care of the tabernacle. 

Many people think the Levite had a cushy job. They did not have to fight or risk their lives. However, their jobs were hard. The Levites had an extremely demanding job because they had to live in hyper vigilance. They could be killed by God for not following the rules completely. 

Many people also believe that unless they are called by God to be pastors, this passage does not include them. God calls us all to maintain and manage the church. We might not be pastors, but we are called to do different tasks and responsibilities to keep the church running. 

The tabernacle may not exist anymore as a tent or temple, but it still exists in our hearts. We need to keep and maintain the tabernacle in our heart. We are all called to keep our lives pure. We are to pray for forgiveness and turn away from temptations.

The final misconception is that our calling is higher than others. The truth is that all of our callings are just as important as others. All of our jobs can be holy and sacred. All jobs are important and we can dedicate it to God. The degree of holiness and authority of a pastor is the same as other callings. 

Our callings from God is the same for all jobs. Whenever we do our jobs for God's glory, we are fulfilling our calling. Our daily tasks and prayers are significant to God. 

Every day we can live to glorify God and follow our calling. Just like the Levites, we, too, have been called.

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