Eureka Baptist Church - AL

SONG OF SOLOMON: TOMMY NESLON VIDEO

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:23:49 +0000

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WHEN LOVE KNOCKS AND PRIDE UNLOCKS THE DOOR

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 20:20:19 +0000

What the Song of Solomon Teaches Us About Conflict

Key Text: Song of Solomon 5:2-6:3

Big Idea: Conflict does not destroy a marriage merely because it appears; conflict becomes destructive when pride matters more than love and victory matters more than reconciliation.

The Bible refuses to end the story where romantic movies usually end. The bride and groom do not ride into the sunset and live without disappointment. They enter ordinary married life, where two sinners must learn to love one another by grace.

The Song of Solomon emphasizes that conflict occurs in every marriage. The crucial difference is not whether couples disagree, but whether they pursue reconciliation or simply try to win. He also warns against retaliating through either explosive anger or icy withdrawal.

That is where Song of Solomon 5 takes us.
The garden has been beautiful.
The wedding has been celebrated.
The marriage has been consummated.

Then, almost without warning, love knocks on the door—and pride refuses to get out of bed.

Romance and Conflict Live in the Same House

Song of Solomon 5 begins with marital joy. But by verse 2, the atmosphere has changed.
The husband comes to his wife and calls:

“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
—Song of Solomon 5:2

He has been outside. He is weary. He comes looking for closeness, comfort, conversation, and affection.

But she answers:

“I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?”
—Song of Solomon 5:3

In other words, “I am already comfortable. I do not want to be inconvenienced.”

Whether we understand this as a dream, a poetic recollection, or a literal episode, the relational movement is clear: one spouse reaches out, the other hesitates, and distance enters the room.

This is often how conflict begins.

It does not always begin with adultery, betrayal, or some great act of rebellion. Sometimes it begins with a tired husband, a distracted wife, an unmet expectation, an impatient word, or an unwillingness to be inconvenienced.

One person says, “I need you.”
The other person hears, “You are demanding something from me.”
One person reaches for connection.
The other person feels interrupted.
One person wants to talk.
The other person wants to be left alone.

The issue may appear small, but small moments often reveal large truths about the heart.

Marriage is not difficult merely because men and women communicate differently. Marriage is difficult because every husband and wife carries remaining sin into the relationship.

A Christian marriage joins two people who have been justified but have not yet been glorified. Both belong to Christ, but neither has finished being sanctified. Both have received new hearts, but both still battle selfishness, pride, impatience, fear, defensiveness, and the desire to be served.

Marriage does not create those sins.
Marriage reveals them.

Conflict Begins When Comfort Becomes King

The bride’s response is revealing. She does not say that she is unable to open the door. She simply does not want to be inconvenienced.

Her robe is off.
Her feet are clean.
Her routine has been settled.
Opening the door would require effort.

This is one of the deepest causes of conflict in marriage: we want love without inconvenience.

We want companionship, but we do not want interruption.
We want intimacy, but we do not want vulnerability.
We want understanding, but we do not want to listen.
We want forgiveness, but we do not want to confess.
We want our spouse to meet our needs, but we resent being asked to meet theirs.

James exposes what lies beneath our quarrels: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” —James 4:1

James does not first blame personality differences, poor communication, stressful schedules, or financial pressure. Those things may provide the occasion for conflict, but they are not its deepest source.

The war around us begins with a war within us.

We desire comfort.
We desire control.
We desire appreciation.
We desire attention.
We desire respect.
We desire affection.

Those desires may be legitimate. But when a desire becomes a demand, and a demand becomes something we believe we must have in order to be content, that desire has begun to function as an idol.

Then our spouse is no longer merely disagreeing with us. Our spouse is standing between us and the thing we believe we must possess.

That is why we respond so strongly.
We are not merely defending an opinion.
We are protecting an idol.
Conflict reveals what we worship.

Your Spouse’s Sin Does Not Authorize Yours

Read Song of Solomon 5:4–6 ESV

The husband could have forced his way into the room. As king, he possessed authority and power. But he does not use his position to coerce his wife.

He extends his hand through the opening and leaves myrrh upon the door.

Then he withdraws.

When one spouse behaves selfishly, the other spouse must not simply return the same treatment. The Christian’s conduct is governed ultimately by God, not by the conduct of another person.

This is where many marital conflicts become destructive.
She speaks harshly, so he becomes cruel.
He withdraws, so she punishes him.
She criticizes, so he humiliates her.

He forgets, so she reminds him of every failure from the previous fifteen years.
Each spouse believes the other person’s sin has given permission to sin in return.

But Scripture says: “Repay no one evil for evil.” —Romans 12:17

Your spouse’s impatience does not authorize your anger.
Your spouse’s silence does not authorize your contempt.
Your spouse’s forgetfulness does not authorize your cruelty.
Your spouse’s failure does not release you from obedience to Christ.

This does not mean sin should be ignored. Biblical love speaks the truth. Serious patterns must be confronted. Trust may need to be rebuilt. Wise pastoral or professional help may be necessary.

But confrontation is not retaliation.

Truth is not vengeance.

A boundary is not punishment.

The question is not merely, “How has my spouse treated me?”
The deeper question is, “How has Christ called me to respond?”

The Christian spouse lives before the face of God. We do not get our moral instructions from the emotional temperature of the room. We receive them from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anger Can Be Hot or Cold

Retaliation does not always shout.

Sometimes it slams doors, raises its voice, makes threats, uses profanity, or breaks things. That is hot anger.

But sometimes retaliation grows quiet.
It refuses to speak.
It withholds affection.
It gives one-word answers.
It creates an atmosphere in which everyone must walk carefully.
It makes the other person suffer until they finally surrender.
That is cold anger.
One burns.
The other freezes.
Both punish.

The silent treatment can appear more respectable than shouting, but it may arise from the same sinful desire: “You hurt me, so I will make you hurt.”

Paul gives us a different way: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” —Ephesians 4:26–27

Paul does not deny that anger exists. There are times when anger is an appropriate response to evil. But even justified anger can quickly become self-righteous anger.

Anger becomes sinful when it seeks revenge, nurses resentment, exaggerates offenses, assumes motives, delights in another person’s pain, or refuses reconciliation.

The issue is not simply whether we become angry.
The issue is what our anger becomes.

Conflict Reveals Character

We often imagine that stressful moments excuse poor behavior.
“I was tired.”
“I had a difficult day.”
“I was under pressure.”
“I did not really mean it.”

But pressure does not create the contents of the heart. Pressure brings those contents to the surface.

When a cup is bumped, whatever is inside spills out.
When marriage bumps us, the heart spills.

Conflict reveals whether we possess humility or pride, patience or irritability, gentleness or harshness, self-control or impulsiveness.

This is painful, but it is also gracious.

God uses marriage as an instrument of sanctification. He places another person close enough to expose the selfishness we might otherwise conceal.

Your spouse sees how you respond when plans change.
Your spouse sees how you behave when you are disappointed.
Your spouse sees whether your public Christianity survives private frustration.
Your spouse knows whether the patience you display at church also exists in your home.

Conflict can therefore become a severe mercy. It shows us where we still need the transforming grace of Christ.

The goal is not to say, “This is simply how I am.”
The goal is to pray, “Lord, show me what this reaction reveals about my heart, and make me more like Jesus.”

You Are Not the Holy Spirit

One of the most exhausting mistakes in marriage is trying to force your spouse to change.

We manipulate.
We lecture.
We shame.
We bargain.
We withdraw affection.
We repeatedly make the same point with increasing volume.

We imagine that if we can find the right words, apply enough pressure, or demonstrate sufficient displeasure, we can produce repentance.

But only God can change the heart.

A husband is called to love, teach, protect, serve, and speak truth to his wife. A wife is called to love, respect, help, encourage, and speak truth to her husband. Neither has been appointed to replace the Holy Spirit.

We can communicate clearly.
We can confront lovingly.
We can establish righteous boundaries.
We can invite accountability.
We can seek pastoral help.

But we cannot regenerate, convict, or sanctify another human heart.

That does not make us passive. It makes us prayerful.

Instead of asking only, “How can I make my spouse change?” we begin to ask:
“Lord, how do You want me to obey?”
“Where do I need to repent?”
“Give me wisdom to speak truth.”
“Protect me from bitterness.”
“Work in my spouse in ways I cannot.”
“Do what only Your Spirit can do.”

Trying to control another person produces anxiety and manipulation.

Trusting God produces faithfulness.

Delayed Love Produces Distance

Read Song of Solomon 5:6–8 ESV

When the bride finally rises and opens the door, her beloved is gone.

“I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone.” —Song of Solomon 5:6

The moment has passed.

She searches for him, but the search becomes painful. The watchmen find her, strike her, wound her, and take away her covering.

The text reminds us that relational sin has consequences.
An unkind word can be forgiven, but it cannot always be forgotten immediately.
A broken promise can be confessed, but trust may take time to rebuild.

An apology may close the wound, but tenderness may still be required while the wound heals.

Forgiveness is real, but forgiveness should never be used as permission to behave carelessly.

We should never say, “My spouse is a Christian, so they have to forgive me,” as though grace makes sin insignificant.

Grace does not make wounds imaginary.

Grace makes healing possible.

This is why Paul commands: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up.” —Ephesians 4:29

Words build or break.
Tone builds or breaks.
Timing builds or breaks.
Reactions build or break.

Every conversation is laying another brick in the home we are constructing together.

The Gospel Gives Us a Better Response

The Bible insists that relationship advice is not enough.

We do not merely need improved communication techniques. We need new hearts.

We do not merely need to become less argumentative. We need to repent of the idolatrous desires beneath our arguments.

We do not merely need to control our tempers. We need the Holy Spirit to produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The gospel also gives us a greater model than Solomon.
When Jesus was rejected, He did not retaliate.
When He was insulted, He did not answer with insults.
When He suffered, He did not threaten revenge.

Peter says: “He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” —1 Peter 2:23

Christ did more than remain calm. He carried our sin to the cross.

He died for proud husbands.

He died for selfish wives.

He died for harsh words, cold shoulders, manipulative silence, uncontrolled anger, and stubborn self-righteousness.

At the cross, Jesus did not demand that His bride pay for her offenses.

He paid for them Himself.

That does not mean Christians excuse sin. It means we confront sin as people who know we live entirely by mercy.

The cross destroys our superiority.
The cross gives us courage to confess.
The cross gives us power to forgive.
The cross assures us that change is possible.
Because Christ has reconciled us to God, we can pursue reconciliation with one another.

When Love Knocks, Open the Door

When conflict enters your marriage, do not begin by preparing your defense.

Pause before reacting.

Ask God to rule your words.

Examine what you are desiring and why it feels so necessary.

Own your sin without attaching your spouse’s sin to the apology.

Speak truth without cruelty.

Listen without rehearsing your rebuttal.

Refuse both explosive anger and punishing silence.

Do not aim merely to prove your point. Aim to understand, repent, forgive, and restore fellowship.

Say:
“I was wrong.”
“What I said was sinful.”
“I hurt you.”
“I have no excuse.”
“Will you forgive me?”
“Help me understand what you experienced.”
“What can I do to begin rebuilding trust?”

Those sentences are difficult because pride hates them.

But grace teaches us to speak them.

A necessary qualification must also be made: physical violence, sexual coercion, credible threats, severe intimidation, and ongoing abuse are not ordinary marital disagreements. Seeking safety, involving church leaders and civil authorities, and receiving qualified professional help are not acts of marital unfaithfulness. They are appropriate responses to serious evil.

For ordinary marital conflict, however, the lesson of Song of Solomon 5 is clear:

Do not allow comfort to become your king.
Do not allow hurt to become your excuse.
Do not allow anger to become your master.
Do not allow pride to keep the door locked.
Love may knock at an inconvenient time.
Repentance may require getting out of bed.
Reconciliation may require surrendering the need to win.
But covenant love does not ask, “How can I defeat my spouse?”

It asks, “How can we confront this problem together beneath the lordship of Christ?”

Conclusion: Fight for the Marriage, Not Against Each Other

The presence of conflict does not necessarily mean love has died.

It means two sinners are living close enough to expose one another’s hearts.

The great question is what they will do with what has been exposed.

Will they attack?
Will they retreat?
Will they manipulate?
Will they keep score?

Or will they carry their sin and pain to the cross?

Healthy marriages are not marriages without disagreements. They are marriages in which repentance remains alive, forgiveness remains available, truth remains gracious, and Christ remains Lord.

The strongest couple is not the couple that never fights.

It is the couple that has learned, by grace, to stop fighting merely to win and to start fighting together for holiness, healing, and covenant faithfulness.

Love is knocking.

Pride says, “Do not disturb me.”

Grace gets up and opens the door.

WHY SHOULD WE TAKE RELATIONSHIP WISDOM FROM SOLOMON?

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:39:29 +0000

Why Should We Take Relationship Wisdom from Solomon?

The obvious objection is this: Why should anyone listen to Solomon about relationships when Solomon had seven hundred wives, three hundred concubines, and allowed those relationships to turn his heart away from God? According to 1 Kings 11:1–8, Solomon became a tragic example of marital and spiritual unfaithfulness.

From a Biblical perspective, the answer begins with an important distinction:

We do not receive relationship wisdom from Solomon because Solomon was a perfect husband. We receive it because the Holy Spirit spoke true wisdom through an imperfect man.

Solomon’s authority does not rest upon the consistency of his life. It rests upon the inspiration of God’s Word.

1. God Specifically Gave Solomon Extraordinary Wisdom
When Solomon became king, he asked God for an understanding heart so that he could govern God’s people. God answered:

“Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.” —1 Kings 3:12

First Kings 4:29 says: “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure.”

Solomon’s wisdom was not merely the product of age, experimentation, or natural intelligence. It was a gracious gift from God. He spoke about human behavior, family life, work, money, speech, sexuality, friendship, conflict, temptation, and covenant faithfulness because God had given him unusual insight into the order of creation and the human heart.

However, possessing wisdom is not the same as practicing wisdom.

A person can know the road and still refuse to walk it. A physician may know what promotes health while neglecting his own health. A preacher may proclaim truths that expose his own disobedience.

Solomon’s later failures do not prove that his wisdom was false. They prove that wisdom must be obeyed, not merely admired.

Wisdom possessed is not necessarily wisdom practiced.

2. The Authority of Scripture Rests upon God, Not the Human Author
This is the most important answer.

Paul writes: “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” —2 Timothy 3:16

Peter explains that biblical authors: “Spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” —2 Peter 1:21

Biblical theology teaches that God used real human authors with their personalities, vocabularies, experiences, strengths, and weaknesses, while sovereignly ensuring that what they wrote was His trustworthy Word.

The Westminster Confession states:

“The authority of the Holy Scripture…dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God, the author thereof.” —Westminster Confession of Faith 1.4

Therefore, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes do not become authoritative because Solomon lived perfectly. They are authoritative because God inspired and preserved them as Scripture.

If moral perfection were required before someone could speak God’s truth, there would be no human authors of Scripture.

Moses lost his temper.
David committed adultery and murder.
Peter denied Christ.
Paul had persecuted the church.
Yet God spoke through sinful, redeemed, imperfect servants.

The messenger’s sin may contradict the message, but it does not cancel the truthfulness of the message when God Himself is its ultimate author.

3. Solomon’s Failure Does Not Disprove His Wisdom; It Demonstrates What Happens When Wisdom Is Ignored

Solomon’s life is not only a source of wisdom. It is also a warning.
Long before Solomon became king, God commanded Israel’s kings:

“He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away.” —Deuteronomy 17:17

Solomon violated that command dramatically. First Kings 11 records the result: “His wives turned away his heart.”

Solomon’s failure was not caused by following biblical relationship wisdom. It was caused by rejecting it.

His many wives were not evidence that biblical monogamy failed. They were evidence that Solomon abandoned God’s design for monogamous covenant faithfulness.

His divided household produced a divided heart, and his divided heart helped produce a divided kingdom.

Therefore, Solomon’s biography strengthens the warning contained in his writings:

Guard your heart.
Flee sexual temptation.
Delight in the spouse of your covenant.
Do not awaken love carelessly.
Do not allow rival loves to capture your affections.
Do not trade covenant faithfulness for momentary desire.

Solomon’s ruins preach as loudly as his proverbs.

Disobedience does not turn truth into falsehood; it turns truth into an indictment.

His life tells us, “Do not merely know what I knew. Obey what God has said.”

4. Solomon’s Relationship Wisdom Agrees with the Rest of Scripture

We should never build a doctrine of relationships upon one isolated verse or one person’s experience. Biblical theology interprets Scripture with Scripture.

The relationship wisdom associated with Solomon agrees with the Bible’s larger teaching.

Covenant Exclusivity
Genesis says: “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” —Genesis 2:24

Jesus reaffirmed this pattern in Matthew 19:4–6.

The Song reflects this exclusivity: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” —Song of Solomon 6:3

Marital Delight
Proverbs encourages a husband: “Rejoice in the wife of your youth.” —Proverbs 5:18

The Song celebrates the same affectionate, embodied, exclusive delight between husband and wife.

Sexual Restraint
The Song repeatedly warns: “Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” —Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5; 8:4

That agrees with the New Testament’s call to purity, self-control, and sexual intimacy within marriage.

Covenant Permanence
The bride declares: “Set me as a seal upon your heart…for love is strong as death.” —Song of Solomon 8:6

Jesus teaches: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” —Matthew 19:6

Sacrificial Love
The mature self-giving love described in the Song finds its fullest marital expression in Paul’s command:

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” —Ephesians 5:25

We do not trust Solomon’s relationship wisdom because it stands alone. We trust it because it harmonizes with the creational, covenantal, and redemptive teaching of the entire Bible.

5. The Wisdom Is Rooted in God’s Creation Order, Not Solomon’s Personal Experiments
Solomon did not invent marriage, sexuality, attraction, or covenant love.

God created them.
Before there was sin, there was marriage.
Before there was lust, there was desire.
Before there was adultery, there was covenant intimacy.

Genesis 2 shows that marriage belongs to God’s good creation. The man and woman were created for a relationship involving companionship, covenant, bodily union, and mutual delight.

The Song of Solomon celebrates these created goods. It teaches that:

Physical attraction is not inherently sinful.
Sexual desire is not dirty.
The body is God’s creation.
Marital intimacy is a gift.
Desire must be governed by wisdom.
Love must be protected by covenant.
Affection should be expressed, not merely assumed.
Marriage requires exclusivity.
Love must be cultivated like a garden.
Small threats must be addressed before they destroy the vineyard.

These truths do not arise from Solomon’s later corruption. They arise from God’s design for human beings.

Sin did not create romance or sexuality. Sin distorted them. Scripture does not abolish these gifts; it restores them to their proper place under God’s rule.

6. Solomon Shows That Great Knowledge Cannot Save a Sinful Heart

Solomon’s story fits the Biblical doctrine of human depravity.

The human problem is not merely ignorance. We do not sin only because we lack information. We often sin even when we know exactly what is right.

Solomon possessed extraordinary wisdom, but wisdom alone could not keep his heart.

He knew that adultery destroys.
He knew that sexual temptation promises pleasure but brings death.
He knew that a king must not multiply wives.
He knew that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Yet he wandered.

That teaches us something profoundly important: We need more than relationship advice. We need redemption.

A person can read every marriage book, attend every seminar, learn every communication technique, and still remain proud, selfish, lustful, defensive, controlling, or unforgiving.
Our deepest relationship problem is not a lack of technique. It is the presence of sin.

We do not merely need better principles. We need:

New hearts
Forgiveness
Repentance
The Holy Spirit
Union with Christ
Daily mortification of sin
Daily renewal in grace

Solomon can describe wise love, but Solomon cannot give us the power to love wisely.
That power comes through Christ.

7. Solomon’s Failure Protects Us from Turning Wisdom into Moralism

A merely moralistic reading of the Song might say: “Follow these principles, make good choices, and you will have a perfect relationship.”

But Solomon’s life warns us that knowing principles does not guarantee faithfulness, and even wise people can fall grievously.

Preaching must never reduce Scripture to relationship techniques:

Communicate better.
Choose the right person.
Establish boundaries.
Make time for each other.
Resolve conflict.
Keep romance alive.

Those principles may be helpful, but they cannot justify us, regenerate us, or sanctify us apart from Christ.

The gospel does not say, “Become good enough at relationships, and God will accept you.” The gospel says, “Christ has loved the unlovely, died for covenant breakers, risen from the grave, and gives His Spirit to those who trust Him.”

Biblical relationship wisdom should lead us not to self-confidence but to dependence upon grace.

The proper response is not: “I can build the perfect marriage.”

It is: “Lord, apart from You, I cannot love another sinner faithfully. Forgive me, change me, and teach me to love as Christ has loved me.”

8. The Song Presents a Love Far Different from Solomon’s Harem

The Song of Solomon does not celebrate a man collecting women for his pleasure. It celebrates focused, mutual, exclusive affection.

The woman is not portrayed as an anonymous object in a royal collection. She speaks, desires, evaluates, longs, remembers, searches, and expresses love. The relationship is personal and reciprocal.

The repeated language is not: “You are one among a thousand.”

It is: “My beloved is mine, and I am his.”

The Song’s portrait of love stands in judgment over Solomon’s later life.

In the Song, love is:

Personal rather than exploitative
Mutual rather than one-sided
Exclusive rather than promiscuous
Patient rather than impulsive
Tender rather than coercive
Covenantally sealed rather than casually consumed
Priceless rather than purchased

Song of Solomon 8:7 says: “If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.”

That is especially striking in connection with a king who possessed enormous wealth and power. Genuine love cannot be bought, accumulated, or controlled by royal authority.

Solomon may have acquired many women, but acquisition is not the same as covenant love.

A person may possess access to bodies and still not possess the intimacy celebrated in the Song.

9. Scripture Often Uses a Person’s Words to Judge That Person’s Life

The Bible does not attempt to protect its heroes from embarrassment. It allows their own words to expose them.

David wrote about righteousness, mercy, and purity, and then his sin with Bathsheba revealed how desperately he needed the mercy he proclaimed.

Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ and then denied knowing Him.

Solomon taught covenant faithfulness and then violated it.

This honesty is one reason Scripture is so trustworthy. The Bible does not give us polished legends about flawless people. It tells the truth about sinners under the providence of God.
Solomon’s wisdom judges Solomon.

That is not a defect in Scripture. It is part of Scripture’s design.

The Word of God stands above every biblical character. No king, prophet, apostle, preacher, or theologian is master over the Word. The Word examines them all.

The principle is: The church does not judge Scripture; Scripture judges the church.

Likewise, Solomon does not authenticate the wisdom of Scripture by his conduct. Scripture evaluates Solomon’s conduct by the wisdom of God.

10. Solomon Points beyond Himself to the Greater Solomon

Jesus said: “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” —Matthew 12:42

Solomon was wise, but Jesus is the wisdom of God.
Solomon taught faithfulness but became unfaithful.
Jesus is perfectly faithful.
Solomon allowed rival loves to divide his heart.
Jesus loved His Father with an undivided heart.
Solomon used royal privilege to acquire many brides.
Jesus surrendered royal privilege and gave Himself for one bride—the church.
Solomon’s relationships contributed to the decline of his kingdom.
Christ’s covenant love establishes an everlasting kingdom.

Solomon could write: “Love is strong as death.”

Jesus proved that divine love is stronger than death.

Christ entered the grave for His bride and rose again. He did not merely tell us how covenant love should behave. He embodied covenant love completely:

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” —Ephesians 5:25

The Biblical approach therefore does not end with Solomon.
We listen to Solomon, but we look to Christ.
Solomon gives us wisdom about covenant love.
Solomon’s failure shows us our need for redeeming love.
Christ is the faithful Bridegroom who forgives our failures and empowers us to love.

An Important Qualification

Taking relationship wisdom from Solomon does not mean treating everything Solomon did as wise.

We must distinguish among:

What Solomon taught under divine inspiration
What the biblical narrative records him doing
What God’s Word says about what he did

The fact that Scripture describes Solomon’s polygamy does not mean Scripture approves it. Historical description is not necessarily moral prescription.

We do not reason: “Solomon had many wives; therefore many wives are acceptable.”

We reason: “God designed marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman; Solomon violated that design, and Scripture records the devastating consequences.”

We receive the inspired wisdom.
We reject the sinful example.
We learn from the consequences.
We look to Christ for grace.

Three Filters for Reading Solomon’s Relationship Wisdom
When studying Solomon, use these three filters.

1. Inspiration

Ask: What is God teaching through this inspired text?
The authority belongs to God, not to Solomon’s personal perfection.

2. Canon

Ask: How does this teaching agree with the rest of Scripture?
Interpret Song of Solomon and Proverbs alongside Genesis, the Law, the Prophets, the teaching of Jesus, and the apostolic writings.

3. Christ

Ask: How does this text expose our need for and find its fulfillment in Christ?
Relationship wisdom shows us what love should be. The gospel shows us where forgiving, transforming, covenant-keeping love is ultimately found.

AUGUST 1, 2026

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 02:00:00 +0000

PSALM 119
The Word That Leads Us Home

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 119 is not merely a celebration of rules; it is the testimony of a heart that has discovered God’s Word as life, light, and refuge. The psalmist faces temptation, suffering, confusion, and opposition, yet repeatedly returns to Scripture: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

We often approach the Bible either as a burden to avoid or a tool for proving ourselves. But God’s Word is first a revelation of the God who seeks, saves, and sustains His people. We do not obey to make God love us; we obey because His grace has already drawn us near.

Jesus is the Word made flesh and the only One who perfectly delighted in and fulfilled God’s law. At the cross, He bore the curse our disobedience deserved. Through Him, Scripture becomes not a ladder by which we climb to God, but a light showing us the Savior who came down to us.

One Truth to Behold
God’s Word reveals His faithful character and leads us to Jesus, our perfect Savior.

One Truth to Become
Become a person whose thoughts, desires, and decisions are increasingly shaped by Scripture.

One Question to Meditate On
Am I approaching God’s Word merely for information, or to know, trust, and obey the God who speaks?

Closing Prayer
Lord, open my eyes to behold wonderful things in Your Word. Shape my heart by Your truth, direct my steps, and deepen my love for Jesus. Amen.

JULY 31, 2026

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0000

PSALM 94
When Injustice Seems to Win

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 94 gives voice to the anguish of seeing the proud oppress the vulnerable while acting as though God does not notice. The psalmist does not deny evil or minimize suffering. He brings both his anger and his longing for justice directly to the Lord.

We often respond to injustice in one of two ways: despair, believing nothing will change, or vengeance, believing everything depends on us. This psalm offers another way. God sees, God knows, and God will judge rightly. His delay is not indifference, and His discipline is not abandonment.

Jesus is the ultimate proof that God’s justice and mercy are not opposed. At the cross, evil was exposed and judgment was satisfied, yet sinners were offered grace. Because Christ bore judgment for us, we can resist evil without becoming consumed by hatred. We can seek justice while trusting the final verdict to God.

One Truth to Behold
The Lord sees every injustice and will never abandon His people.

One Truth to Become
Become a person who confronts evil courageously, protects the vulnerable, and refuses to let bitterness rule the heart.

One Question to Meditate On
Where do I need to entrust my desire for justice to God while still acting faithfully?

Closing Prayer
Righteous Lord, comfort me when evil seems strong. Guard me from despair, vengeance, and bitterness. Give me courage to pursue justice, mercy toward others, and confidence in Christ, my refuge. Amen.

JULY 30, 2026

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0000

PSALM 71
Hope That Grows with Age

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 71 is the prayer of someone who has trusted God from youth and still needs Him in old age. The psalmist does not pretend that lifelong faith removes hardship. His strength is fading, enemies surround him, and the future feels uncertain. Yet he repeatedly calls God his refuge, rock, and hope.

The world often values us for our strength, usefulness, or achievements. As those things diminish, fear can grow. But God’s love is not based on what we can accomplish for Him. It rests on His faithful character and covenant grace.

Jesus entered our weakness and endured abandonment at the cross. Because He was forsaken in our place, those who belong to Him can confidently pray, “Do not forsake me.” Even as our bodies weaken, our hope can deepen. Every season becomes another opportunity to declare God’s faithfulness to the next generation.

One Truth to Behold
God remains our faithful refuge from youth through old age; His grace does not weaken when we do.

One Truth to Become
Become a person whose growing dependence on God produces enduring hope and a testimony of His faithfulness.

One Question to Meditate On
What fear about aging, weakness, or the future do I need to place in God’s faithful hands?

Closing Prayer
Faithful Father, be my refuge in every season. When my strength fails, deepen my hope in Christ. Help me proclaim Your righteousness and faithfulness to those who come after me. Amen.

JULY 29, 2026

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0000

PSALM 37
Do Not Fret—Trust the King

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 37 speaks to the anxiety we feel when evil appears to prosper. The wicked seem secure, while those who pursue faithfulness may suffer. Yet David reminds us that appearances are temporary: evil will wither like grass, but those who trust the Lord will inherit His promised future.

“Delight yourself in the Lord” does not mean God will grant every private ambition. It means that as God becomes our deepest treasure, He reshapes the desires of our hearts. We can release our need to control outcomes because our lives are held by a faithful King.

Jesus is the truly righteous One who suffered while His enemies appeared to triumph. Yet through His resurrection, He inherited the kingdom. In Christ, our future is secure. We do not need to envy, retaliate, or fret. We can wait, serve, and trust.

One Truth to Behold
The apparent success of evil is temporary, but the inheritance God gives His people is eternal.

One Truth to Become
Become a person whose quiet trust, patient obedience, and generous spirit reveal confidence in God’s justice.

One Question to Meditate On
What fear or injustice am I trying to control instead of entrusting it to the Lord?

Closing Prayer
Faithful Father, calm my anxious heart. Keep me from envy and anger, and teach me to delight in You. Help me trust Your timing, practice goodness, and rest in the secure inheritance I have through Jesus. Amen.

JULY 28, 2026

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:00:57 +0000

1 KINGS 2
A Kingdom Established by Grace

Devotional Reflection
David’s final words to Solomon call him to courage, obedience, and faithfulness to God’s Word. Yet the chapter also reveals the unfinished consequences of sin, ambition, and betrayal. Solomon’s kingdom is established through judgment, but even his reign remains imperfect.

This chapter reminds us that God’s kingdom cannot be built by human wisdom alone. Justice matters, obedience matters, and evil must be confronted—but no earthly king can perfectly cleanse the kingdom or the human heart.

Solomon points us toward Jesus, the greater Son of David. Unlike Solomon, Christ is perfectly righteous. At the cross, He did not merely judge His enemies; He bore judgment for His enemies. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus establishes a kingdom in which justice and mercy meet. Because our King has secured the throne, we can obey—not to earn His favor, but because we already possess it by grace.

One Truth to Behold
Jesus is the righteous King who establishes His kingdom through perfect justice and sacrificial mercy.

One Truth to Become
Become a person who courageously obeys God’s Word while extending to others the grace you have received in Christ.

One Question to Meditate On
Where is God calling me to practice courageous obedience rather than convenient compromise?

Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, my righteous and merciful King, rule my heart by Your Word. Give me courage to obey, wisdom to act justly, and grace to forgive as I have been forgiven. Amen.

JULY 27, 2026

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 19:58:58 +0000

1 KINGS 1
The King God Chooses

Devotional Reflection
Adonijah declares, “I will be king,” gathering power, influence, and public approval. Yet the throne does not belong to the loudest claimant; it belongs to the one established by God. While human ambition pushes itself forward, God quietly fulfills His promise through Solomon.

This chapter exposes the instinct of every heart: we want to rule our own lives. Like Adonijah, we build small kingdoms of control, recognition, and comfort. But self-made kingship always produces anxiety because it must constantly defend itself.

Solomon’s anointing points beyond himself to Jesus, the true Son of David. Christ did not seize His throne through self-promotion. He received His kingdom through humility, obedience, suffering, and resurrection. When we behold the rightful King, we are freed from the exhausting work of trying to be sovereign.

One Truth to Behold
God’s promised King will reign, despite human pride, weakness, or opposition.

One Truth to Become
Because Christ securely reigns, become a person who serves rather than strives, trusts rather than controls, and gives glory rather than seeks it.

One Question to Meditate On
Where am I saying, “I will be king,” instead of joyfully surrendering that part of my life to Jesus?

Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive me for trying to rule what belongs to You. Quiet my striving, deepen my trust, and teach me to serve with humility. Reign over every part of my heart and life. Amen.

JUNE 6, 2026

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0000

2 SAMUEL 19
Grace, Restoration, and the Return of the King

Key Verse:
“Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king.” — 2 Samuel 19:28

Devotional Reflection
2 Samuel 19 is a chapter filled with grief, reconciliation, and the difficult work of restoration after conflict. David returns to Jerusalem after Absalom’s rebellion, but victory is mixed with sorrow.

Grief That Overshadows Victory (vv. 1–8):
David mourns deeply for Absalom, crying, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!” His sorrow is understandable, but it discourages the troops who risked their lives for him. Joab rebukes David, reminding him that leadership requires balancing personal grief with responsibility to others.
The King Returns (vv. 9–15):
Israel begins to invite David back as king. David extends grace, even to those who opposed him, including Amasa, whom he appoints commander instead of Joab. Restoration begins not with revenge, but mercy.
Grace to Shimei and Mephibosheth (vv. 16–30):
Shimei, who once cursed David, now pleads for forgiveness. David spares him, choosing mercy over retaliation. Mephibosheth also appears, showing loyalty despite false accusations. David’s responses reveal a king learning to rule with grace rather than bitterness.
Faithful Service Rewarded (vv. 31–39):
Barzillai, the elderly man who cared for David during his exile, is honored by the king. Though Barzillai declines reward because of age, David promises kindness to his family. Godly leadership remembers faithfulness and rewards loyalty.
Division Still Lingers (vv. 40–43):
Even as David returns, tensions remain between Judah and the northern tribes. Unity is fragile, showing that restoration often takes time and humility.

This chapter reminds us that the return of the king brings both grace and responsibility. David’s mercy points forward to Jesus, the greater King, who welcomes sinners back not with vengeance, but with restoration.

What Does This Teach Us About God?

God’s grace restores those who return humbly.
Godly leadership balances justice, mercy, and responsibility.
God honors faithfulness and loyalty.
God’s kingdom is strengthened through reconciliation, not revenge.
God establishes His King and will complete His righteous rule—fulfilled in Christ.

One Truth to Behold
The King’s Return Brings Grace to the Undeserving

We behold this: David’s mercy toward Shimei and Mephibosheth points us to Christ, the King who welcomes repentant sinners with grace.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Behold

Memorize 2 Samuel 19:28 – Reflect on finding favor before the King.
Reflect on Grace – Recall ways Christ has shown mercy to you despite failure.
Thank God for Restoration – Praise Him for not treating you according to your sins.
Read Psalm 103:8–12 – Rejoice in God’s compassion and forgiveness.
Share Grace – Encourage someone struggling with guilt that the King welcomes repentant hearts.

One Truth to Become

Live as One Who Extends Mercy and Pursues Reconciliation
We become faithful when we imitate the King by choosing forgiveness over vengeance and restoration over division.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Become

Forgive Freely – Release bitterness toward someone who has wronged you.
Honor Faithfulness – Thank and encourage someone who has supported you faithfully.
Pursue Peace – Take one step toward reconciliation in a strained relationship.
Balance Emotion with Duty – Like David, don’t let grief keep you from serving others faithfully.
Fix Your Eyes on Christ – Remember Jesus, the true King, who restores His enemies through grace.

Small Group Discussion Questions
Why was David’s grief over Absalom both understandable and problematic?
How does David’s treatment of Shimei and Mephibosheth reflect grace?
What does it look like to pursue reconciliation while still honoring truth and justice?

Closing Prayer
“Lord, thank You for the grace You show to undeserving sinners. Teach me to reflect Your mercy, to forgive as I’ve been forgiven, and to pursue reconciliation in my relationships. Help me live under the rule of Christ, the true King who restores and redeems.” Our victory, and reigns forever. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.”

JUNE 5, 2026

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0000

PSALM 64
When God Turns Hidden Arrows Back on the Wicked

Key Verse:
“But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly.” — Psalm 64:7

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 64 is David’s prayer in the middle of hidden attacks, whispered threats, and secret schemes. This is not a battlefield psalm—it is a psalm for those wounded by words, betrayal, slander, and unseen opposition.

1. David Brings His Fear to God (vv. 1–2)
David begins honestly: “Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint.”

He is not pretending strength. He feels hunted, surrounded by enemies who plot in secret. Yet instead of carrying fear alone, David carries it to God. Faith is not the absence of fear—it is taking fear to the right place.

2. The Power of Destructive Words (vv. 3–6)
David describes his enemies like assassins:

Their tongues are sharpened swords.
Their words are bitter arrows.
Their attacks are secret and calculated.

Psalm 64 reminds us that words can wound deeply. Gossip, slander, manipulation, and false accusation are not “small sins” in God’s eyes. Evil often hides behind smiles, whispers, and secret counsel.

The wicked believe no one sees them: “Who can see them?” (v. 5)
But heaven sees everything.

3. God Fires the Final Arrow (vv. 7–8)
The turning point comes suddenly: “But God…”

The enemies shoot arrows secretly, but God shoots one arrow openly and decisively. The hunters become the hunted. The plotters fall into their own trap.

This is one of the great comforts of Scripture: God does not ignore hidden evil. What is whispered in darkness is fully visible to Him.

4. The Result: Fear, Worship, and Trust (vv. 9–10)
The psalm ends with worship:

People fear the Lord.
They proclaim His work.
The righteous rejoice and take refuge in Him.

David’s confidence is not that he can outmaneuver his enemies, but that God is Judge, Defender, and Refuge.

What Does This Teach Us About God?

God hears the cries of His people when they are attacked unjustly.
God sees hidden evil and secret motives.
God defends the righteous in His perfect timing.
God turns fear into worship and trust.

One Truth to Behold

God Sees What Others Hide
We behold this: no whispered attack, hidden betrayal, or secret scheme escapes the eyes of God.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Behold

Memorize Psalm 64:7 – “But God shoots his arrow at them.”
Bring Fear to God – Pray honestly about hidden hurts and attacks.
Release Revenge – Trust God to defend you instead of retaliating.
Read Romans 12:19 – Leave vengeance in God’s hands.
Rest in Refuge – Spend quiet time remembering God is your protector.

One Truth to Become
Live as One Who Trusts God Instead of Fearing People
We become faithful when we stop living controlled by the opinions, attacks, or threats of others and instead take refuge in God.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Become

Refuse Bitterness – Do not let hidden wounds harden your heart.
Guard Your Words – Refuse to use your tongue as a weapon against others.
Pray for Integrity – Ask God to make your private life righteous before Him.
Choose Worship Over Worry – Turn anxiety into praise and prayer.
Fix Your Eyes on Christ – Jesus endured false accusations and entrusted Himself to the Father.

Small Group Discussion Questions

Why do you think David brings his fears so openly before God?
How have you experienced the destructive power of words?
What does Psalm 64 teach us about trusting God when attacked unfairly?

Closing Prayer
“Lord, You see every hidden wound and hear every whispered attack. Thank You that You are my refuge and defender. Keep me from bitterness, guard my tongue from sin, and teach me to trust You when others oppose me. Let my fear turn into worship and my anxiety into confidence in Your justice.”

JUNE 4, 2026

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0000

PSALM 62
My Soul Waits in Silence for God Alone

Key Verse:
“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.” — Psalm 62:1

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 62 is a psalm of quiet confidence in God during pressure, opposition, and uncertainty. David writes as a man surrounded by enemies, yet instead of panic, his soul rests in silence before God. This psalm teaches us that true stability is not found in circumstances, wealth, or people—but in God alone.

1. God Alone Is Our Rock (vv. 1–2)
David begins with one of the strongest declarations in Scripture:
“He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

The world shakes. People fail. Enemies rise. But God is a rock—unchanging, immovable, dependable. David’s confidence is not in his own strength but in the character of God.

2. The Instability of Human Strength (vv. 3–4)
David’s enemies attack him like a leaning wall ready to collapse. They bless outwardly but curse inwardly. Human approval and human power are unstable foundations. The more David looks at people, the more fragile life appears.

3. Resting in God Alone (vv. 5–8)
David repeats his declaration, but now he speaks directly to his own soul:
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence.”

Faith sometimes requires preaching to your own heart. David tells himself to stop striving and start resting. God is not merely a helper; He is refuge, hope, salvation, and defense.
David then calls the people to trust God at all times and to “pour out your heart before Him.” Silence before God does not mean emotional numbness—it means confident surrender.

4. The Emptiness of Earthly Security (vv. 9–10)
David warns against trusting in status, power, riches, or oppression. Whether high or low, humanity is “lighter than a breath.” Wealth cannot carry the weight of your soul. Only God can.

5. God Alone Has Power and Steadfast Love (vv. 11–12)
The psalm ends with two unshakable truths:

Power belongs to God.
Steadfast love belongs to God.

This means God is both strong enough to save and loving enough to care. In Christ, we see both perfectly displayed at the cross.

Psalm 62 reminds us that the soul finds peace only when it stops leaning on temporary things and rests fully in God.

What Does This Teach Us About God?

God alone is our rock, refuge, and salvation.
God’s power and steadfast love are perfect and unchanging.
God invites His people to trust Him fully and pour out their hearts before Him.

One Truth to Behold
God Alone Is the Safe Place for the Soul
We behold this: when everything else shakes, God remains steady.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Behold

Memorize Psalm 62:1–2 – Let God’s Word steady your anxious heart.
Practice Silence – Spend 5–10 minutes quietly resting before God in prayer.
Pour Out Your Heart – Honestly tell God your fears, frustrations, and burdens.
Identify False Refuges – Ask yourself what you run to besides God for security.
Read Psalm 46 – Rejoice that God is your refuge and strength.

One Truth to Become
Live as One Who Rests Fully in God’s Strength and Love
We become faithful when we stop leaning on unstable things and trust God alone as our security.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Become

Reject Self-Reliance – Begin each day acknowledging your dependence on God.
Trust God in Pressure – When anxiety rises, repeat: “He alone is my rock.”
Refuse to Idolize Wealth or Approval – Hold earthly things loosely.
Encourage Others – Point someone else toward God as their refuge.
Fix Your Eyes on Christ – Rest in Jesus, the unshakable Rock of salvation.

Small Group Discussion Questions

Why does David repeatedly say “God alone” throughout this psalm?
What are some “false refuges” people trust in today?
What does it practically mean to “wait in silence” before God?

Closing Prayer
“Lord, You alone are my rock, my salvation, and my refuge. When my heart is anxious and the world feels unstable, teach me to rest in You. Help me stop trusting in temporary things and anchor my soul fully in Your power and steadfast love.”

JUNE 3, 2026

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0000

PSALM 61
Lead Me to the Rock

Key Verse:
“Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” — Psalm 61:2

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 61 is the cry of a weary king who knows exactly where to run when his heart is overwhelmed. David writes from a place of distance, weakness, and longing—but he also writes with confidence in the faithfulness of God.

A Heart Overwhelmed (vv. 1–2):

David begins with desperation: “Hear my cry, O God.” His heart is fainting under the weight of trouble. Yet instead of collapsing into despair, he asks God to lead him “to the rock that is higher than I.” David knows he cannot rescue himself. He needs a refuge greater than his own strength, wisdom, or emotions.

A Refuge Proven Faithful (vv. 3–4):

David remembers who God has always been: a refuge, a strong tower, a shelter from the enemy. Memory fuels faith. God’s past faithfulness becomes David’s present confidence. He longs to dwell in God’s tent forever, safe under the shadow of His wings.

A Future Secured by Grace (vv. 5–8):

David trusts that God hears vows, preserves His king, and extends steadfast love and faithfulness. The psalm ends not in panic, but in worship: “So will I ever sing praises to Your name.”

Psalm 61 reminds us that the safest place for an overwhelmed heart is not escape, but the presence of God. Christ Himself is the Rock higher than us—the refuge we climb into when storms rage.

What Does This Teach Us About God?

God hears the cries of overwhelmed hearts.
God is a refuge stronger than our fears or enemies.
God’s steadfast love and faithfulness sustain His people.

One Truth to Behold
God Is the Rock Higher Than Our Weakness
We behold this: when our hearts fail, God remains unshaken and strong.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Behold

Memorize Psalm 61:2 – “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
Pray Honestly – Bring your overwhelmed heart to God without hiding.
Recall God’s Faithfulness – Write down times He has been your refuge before.
Read Psalm 46 – Meditate on God as your strong tower.
Rest in Christ – Thank Jesus for being your eternal refuge and Rock.

One Truth to Become
Live as One Who Runs to God First When Overwhelmed
We become faithful when trouble drives us toward God, not away from Him.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Become

Run to Prayer First – Before reacting to stress, cry out to God.
Practice Worship in Weakness – Sing or pray even when emotions are heavy.
Seek Shelter in Scripture – Let God’s Word steady your heart daily.
Encourage Others – Point someone overwhelmed toward God’s refuge.
Trust His Stability – Remember the Rock does not move, even when life does.

Small Group Discussion Questions

What does it mean practically to be led to “the rock that is higher than I”?
How does remembering God’s past faithfulness strengthen us in present trouble?
Where do you tend to run first when your heart feels overwhelmed?

Closing Prayer
“Lord, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Be my refuge, my shelter, and my strong tower. Help me trust Your steadfast love more than my fears, and teach me to rest safely in Your presence.”

JUNE 2, 2026

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:04:24 +0000

PSALM 58
The God Who Judges the Wicked

Key Verse:
“Surely there is a God who judges on earth.” — Psalm 58:11

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 58 is a bold and sobering psalm of David. It confronts corrupt leaders, celebrates God’s justice, and reminds us that evil will not reign forever.

Corrupt Leaders Exposed (vv. 1–5):
David addresses rulers and judges who were meant to uphold justice but instead practiced violence and deceit. Their wickedness is so deep that David describes them as estranged from righteousness “from the womb.” Like a cobra refusing the charmer’s voice, they reject correction and truth.
A Prayer for God’s Judgment (vv. 6–9):
David cries out for God to break the power of the wicked. His language is vivid—teeth broken, arrows blunted, evil swept away before it can prosper. This is not personal revenge but a plea for God to stop injustice and defend the innocent.
The Triumph of God’s Justice (vv. 10–11):
The psalm ends with confidence: the righteous will rejoice because God judges rightly. Evil may seem powerful for a season, but it will not endure forever. The final declaration is the anchor of the psalm: “Surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Psalm 58 reminds us that in a world full of corruption and injustice, God is neither blind nor passive. His justice may seem delayed, but it is certain.

What Does This Teach Us About God?

God sees every act of injustice and corruption.
God will judge wickedness in His perfect time.
God defends righteousness and vindicates His people.

One Truth to Behold
God’s Justice Will Ultimately Prevail
We behold this: evil does not have the final word—God does.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Behold

Memorize Psalm 58:11 – Let it anchor your hope in God’s justice.
Pray Honestly – Bring your grief over injustice to God instead of bitterness.
Trust His Timing – Resist the urge for personal revenge; leave judgment to God.
Read Romans 12:19 – “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Praise God’s Righteousness – Worship Him as the perfect Judge.

One Truth to Become
Live as One Who Pursues Righteousness While Trusting God with Judgment
We become faithful when we stand for truth and justice without taking vengeance into our own hands.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Become

Speak Truthfully – Refuse deceit, gossip, or corruption in your own life.
Defend the Vulnerable – Stand up for those treated unfairly.
Reject Bitterness – Don’t let anger harden your heart.
Pray for Leaders – Ask God to raise up righteous leaders and expose corruption.
Fix Your Eyes on Christ – Remember Jesus is the righteous Judge who will set all things right.

Small Group Discussion Questions

Why is it important to believe that God will judge evil?
How can we seek justice without becoming consumed by bitterness or revenge?
What injustices in today’s world most challenge your trust in God’s timing?

Prayer
“Righteous Lord, thank You that You see every injustice and will judge rightly. Keep me from bitterness and revenge, and help me trust Your perfect justice. Teach me to walk in righteousness, defend the weak, and rest in the certainty that You will make all things right.”

JUNE 1, 2026

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:02:09 +0000

PSALM 26 & 40
From the Pit to the Presence of God

Key Verses:
“I wash my hands in innocence and go around Your altar, O Lord.” — Psalm 26:6

“He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock.” — Psalm 40:2

Devotional Reflection
Psalm 26 and Psalm 40 beautifully belong together because they reveal two sides of the believer’s walk with God:

Psalm 26 shows the heart that longs to walk in integrity before God.
Psalm 40 shows the God who rescues sinners and gives them a new song.

Together, they remind us that the Christian life is both a pursuit of holiness and a testimony of grace.

1. A Heart That Desires Integrity (Psalm 26)

David begins Psalm 26 asking God to examine him:
“Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” (Ps. 26:2)

This is not the prayer of a sinless man but of a surrendered man. David’s deepest desire is to live honestly before God. He refuses to settle into hypocrisy or wickedness. He loves God’s house, God’s worship, and God’s presence.

Integrity in Psalm 26 is not self-righteous perfection—it is wholehearted devotion. David knows that only a heart fixed on God can walk steadily in a crooked world.

2. A God Who Rescues from the Pit (Psalm 40)
Psalm 40 shifts from integrity to rescue. David remembers crying out to the Lord from a “miry bog” and a “pit of destruction.”

“He inclined to me and heard my cry.” (Ps. 40:1)

God does not merely sympathize from a distance; He reaches down and lifts David up. He sets his feet on a rock and puts a new song in his mouth.

Psalm 26 says, “Lord, I want to walk rightly.”

Psalm 40 answers, “And when you fall, I am the God who lifts you up.”

3. Worship Flows from Redemption

In both Psalms, worship is central.

In Psalm 26, David circles the altar with thanksgiving.
In Psalm 40, David sings a new song because of God’s deliverance.

Holiness and worship are never separated from grace. We do not worship because we are flawless—we worship because we have been rescued.

4. Jesus: The Perfect Fulfillment

These Psalms ultimately point to Christ.

Jesus alone lived Psalm 26 perfectly, walking in complete righteousness before the Father.
Jesus also fulfilled Psalm 40 perfectly, delighting to do the Father’s will (Ps. 40:7–8; Hebrews 10:5–10).

And through His death and resurrection, Jesus lifts us from the pit of sin and places us securely on the Rock of salvation.

What Does This Teach Us About God?

God desires integrity in His people.
God rescues those who cry out to Him.
God turns despair into worship.
God provides righteousness and redemption through Christ.

One Truth to Behold
God Is Both Our Examiner and Our Deliverer
We behold this: The same God who searches our hearts is the God who rescues us from the pit.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Behold

Pray Psalm 26:2 — Ask God to search and refine your heart.
Remember the Pit — Reflect on where God has rescued you from spiritually.
Memorize Psalm 40:2 — Let it remind you of God’s saving power.
Worship with Gratitude — Thank God not only for blessings, but for redemption itself.
Read Hebrews 10:5–10 — Rejoice that Jesus fulfilled these Psalms perfectly for you.

One Truth to Become
Live with Integrity While Resting in Grace

We become faithful when we pursue holiness without forgetting that our hope is in God’s mercy, not our perfection.

✦ Action Steps for One Truth to Become

Walk Honestly — Refuse hidden compromise or hypocrisy.
Cry Out Quickly — When you stumble, run to God instead of hiding in shame.
Stay Near Worship — Like David, remain close to God’s people and presence.
Sing a New Song — Let your testimony of grace encourage others.
Fix Your Eyes on Christ — Trust the One who lived righteously and rescues completely.

Small Group Discussion Questions

How do Psalm 26 and Psalm 40 balance integrity and grace?
Why is it important to let God examine our hearts honestly?
What “pit” has God rescued you from, and how has it changed your worship?
How does Jesus fulfill both the righteousness of Psalm 26 and the redemption of Psalm 40?

Closing Prayer
“Lord, search my heart and lead me in integrity. Thank You for rescuing me from the pit and setting my feet upon the Rock. Help me pursue holiness while resting fully in Your grace through Jesus Christ. Put a new song in my mouth so my life becomes a testimony of Your mercy and faithfulness.”

WHY WILL SOME OF US GET FEWER REWARDS IN HEAVEN?

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000

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FOUR LESSONS ON MONEY FROM ONE OF THE WORLD'S WEALTHIEST PREACHERS

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Christian History originally published this article in Christian History Issue #19 in 1988

John Wesley not only turned 18th century England around with his preaching, but he made lots of money in the process. Here is a story about, and advice from, a man who knew how to make money . . . and how to spend it.

MOST OF US KNOW that John Wesley was used by God to revive 18th-century England and to start the Methodist Church. We know him as a great preacher, and a greater organizer. We remember him for his contribution to the Church’s thinking on sanctification. But few of us realize that Wesley made enormous sums from preaching; the sale of his writings made him one of England’s wealthiest men. In an age when a single man could live comfortably on £30 a year, his annual income reached £1,400. No wonder Wesley had strong opinions about the place of financial matters in the Christian life. This “rich” preacher has much to say to us about money.

Why Revival Tarries
In later life, Wesley grew discouraged with Methodism. Although he had seen the movement grow from two brothers to a society of almost a million people, he felt that it had lost much of its spiritual power. He believed the Methodists no longer hungered and thirsted for righteousness as they once had. He observed that they were not as eager to attend the 5 a.m. preaching services as in the past. He feared his followers had lost much of their love for their neighbors for he saw that they were not as ready as they had been to visit the sick and needy. He was convinced that this decline in the way they loved the Lord and their neighbors had grieved God’s Holy Spirit, and had driven him from their midst. He feared his lifetime of labor had been in vain.

Besides thinking that God had abandoned the Methodists, Wesley thought he knew the cause of this desertion: A particular sin had caused them to lose their first love and had separated them from God. Wesley said that not one Methodist in 100 obeyed the Lord in this regard. He complained that others never preached against this sin, and in later life he spoke against it frequently. In his last three years of life he published as many sermons against this sin as he had published against it in the previous fifty. In what he thought might be his final sermon, he rebuked his followers for their disobedience to the Lord in this area. He even told the Methodists in Dublin that they were personally responsible for the decline of Methodism. “Ye are the men, some of the chief men, who continually grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and in a great measure stop his gracious influence from descending on our assemblies.”

What had these men in Dublin done to merit this rebuke? What was the crime of the Methodists in London, Manchester, and Bristol whom Wesley found lacking? What was the sin that convinced him that God had abandoned them, and which he thought was hindering revival?

The Love of Money
Wesley noted that in the old days of Methodism, the people were poor. But, he observed, in the 20, 30, or 40 years since they joined the society, many Methodists had become 20, 30, or even 100 times richer than they were at first. With this increase in wealth had come a decrease in godliness. It seemed to him the more money the Methodists had, the less they loved the Lord.

Wesley noted several instances of the decline of godliness among the Methodists. The first was a lessening of their love for God, shown by a lack of interest in sanctification. He told them they no longer had “the same vehement desire as you formerly had of ‘going on to perfection.’” A second instance was pride. Wesley warned his followers that increasing wealth had made them arrogant. They had become more confident of their own opinions and less willing to hear reproof: “You are not so teachable as you were, . . . ; you have a much better opinion of your own judgment and are more attached to your own will.” (from the sermon Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity)

Another sign of their backsliding was that the Methodists were less meek than they had been. In the past, Wesley said, “your love was not provoked, but enabled you on all occasions to overcome evil with good.” But now, “How quickly you are ruffled!” The next indication of their spiritual deadness was an unwillingness to help the poor. Wesley reminds his hearers, “You once pushed on through—cold or rain, or whatever cross lay in your way, to see the poor, the sick, the distressed.” Now, however, he asks, “Do you fear spoiling your silken coat? . . . Are you afraid of catching vermin?”

The final mark of how far the Methodists had fallen was their neglect of personal evangelism. Whereas his followers once readily spoke to people about their souls, Wesley is now forced to inquire, “But which of you now has that compassion for the ignorant, and for them that are out of the way? They may wander on, for [all] you [care], and plunge into the lake of fire without let or hindrance. God hath your hearts.” (from the sermon The Danger of Riches. See also On Riches and Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse 8, and The Use of Money, for similar comments.)

One Word Wesley Hated
We don’t usually think of John Wesley hating anything. He was the one who always preached about love: love for God and for neighbor. He even taught that God’s love could so fill our hearts that we would be able to love God and each other perfectly. But there was one word that Wesley hated. He described this word as “idle,” “nonsensical,” “stupid,” “miserable, ” “vile,” and “diabolical.” He said it was “the very cant of hell.” Obviously no Christian should ever utter it. This exceedingly evil word “afford.”

“But I can afford it,” replied the Methodists when Wesley preached against extravagance in food, dress, or lifestyle. Wesley argued that no Christian could afford anything beyond the bare necessities required for life and work. He based his reasoning on five main points:

1. God is the source of the Christian’s money. None of us really earns money by our own cleverness or hard work. For God is the one who gives us the energy and intelligence. He is the true source of all our wealth. Wesley inquired of some Methodists who felt they were entitled to a higher standard of living now that they could afford it, “Who gave you this addition to your fortune; or (to speak properly) lent it to you?” (from On the Danger of Increasing Riches)

2. Christians must account to the Lord for how they have used money. Wesley urged people always to use money wisely, because at any time they may have to give an account to the Lord for the way in which they have used the wealth he gave them. Because no one knows when that might be, no one should ever waste money now, planning to make it up to the Lord later. “How long are you to stay here?” Wesley asked those who felt free to spend extra money on themselves. “May you tomorrow, perhaps tonight, be summoned to arise and go hence, in order to give an account of this and all your talents to the Judge of quick and dead?” (from On Dress)

3. Christians are trustees of the Lord’s money. The money God has put into our hands is not our own, but His. We do not own it, rather we are His agents in distributing it. Thus we must use it not as we wish, but as He directs. Wesley reminded his hearers of this truth by asking, “Can any steward afford to be an errant knave? to waste his Lord’s goods? Can any servant afford to lay out his Master’s money any otherwise than his Master appoints him?” (from Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity)

4. God gives Christians money for them to pass along to those who need it. God’s purpose in giving us money is for us to help the poor and needy. To use it on ourselves is to steal from God. Wesley demanded of some comfortable Methodists:

Do not you know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud your Lord, by applying it to any other purpose? (from On the Danger of Increasing Riches)

5. Christians may no more buy luxuries for themselves than they may throw their money away. God made us trustees of His resources so we may feed the hungry and clothe the naked in His name. We should turn our extra money into food and clothing for the poor. Just as it would be wrong to destroy other peoples’ food and clothes, so it is also wrong to spend money needlessly on ourselves. Wesley said, “None can afford to throw any part of that food and raiment into the sea, which was lodged with him on purpose to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.” But if we are determined to waste God’s money, Wesley argued that it would be better actually to throw it into the sea than to spend it extravagantly. At least throwing money into the sea hurts no one, while spending it needlessly on ourselves poisons all who see it with “pride, vanity, anger, lust, love of the world, and a thousand ‘foolish and hurtful desires.’ ” (from On Dress,)

Wesleys Advice
Wesley felt that Methodism had lost its spiritual power because the Methodists had become rich. He often preached against the sins of the well off, such as desiring riches and misusing money. He specifically rebuked extravagance in food, dress, and lifestyle. Wesley, however, did not just condemn the wrong use of money, he also gave his hearers clear biblical guidelines for the right use of money.

And how has God directed Christians to use their incomes? Wesley lists the following four scriptural priorities:

I. Provide things needful for yourself and your family (1 Tim. 5:8). The believer should make sure that the family has the necessities and conveniences of life, that is, “a sufficiency of plain, wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on,” as well as a place to live. The believer must also ensure that the family has enough to live on if something were to happen to the breadwinner.

II. “Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.” (1 Tim 6:8). How should Christians decide how much to spend on themselves and their families? Where should they draw the line? Wesley answers by quoting Paul’s words to Timothy. He adds that the word translated “raiment” is literally “coverings,” and thus includes lodging as well as clothes, and continues, “It plainly follows, whatever is more than these is, in the sense of the Apostle, riches; whatever is above the plain necessities, or at most convenience of life. Whoever has sufficient food to eat, and raiment to put on, with a place to lay his head, and something over, is rich.” (from The Danger of Riches)

III. “Provide things honest in the sight of all men ” (Rom. 12:17) and “Owe no man anything” (Rom. 13:8). Wesley says that the next claim on a Christian’s money belongs to the creditors, and adds that those who are in business for themselves need to have adequate tools, stock, or capital for the carrying on of that business.

IV. “Do good to them that are of the household of faith” and “As you have opportunity, do good unto all men” (Gal. 6:10). After the Christian has provided for the family, the creditors, and the business, the next obligation is to use any money that is left to meet the needs of others. Wesley says that God gives his children money so that their reasonable needs will be met, and then He expects them to return the rest to him by giving it to the poor. God wants all Christians to regard themselves as “only one of that number of the poor, whose wants were to be supplied out of that part of [the Lord’s] substance which He had placed in their hands for this purpose.” The Lord will then inquire:

Wast thou accordingly a general benefactor to mankind? feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the sick, assisting the stranger, relieving the afflicted, according to their various necessities? Was thou eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame? a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow? (from The Good Steward)

Besides giving these four biblical principles, Wesley also recognizes that some situations are not clear-cut. It is not always obvious how the Christian should use the Lord’s money. Wesley accordingly offers four questions to help his hearers decide how to spend money:

• In spending this money, am I acting as if I owned it, or am I acting as the Lord’s trustee?
• What Scripture requires me to spend this money in this way?
• Can I offer up this purchase as a sacrifice to the Lord?
• Will God reward me for this expenditure at the resurrection of the just? Finally, for the believer who is perplexed, Wesley suggests this prayer before making a purchase:

Lord, Thou seest I am going to expend this sum on that food, apparel, or furniture. And Thou knowest I act therein with a single eye, as a steward of thy goods, expending this portion of them thus, in persuance of the design thou hadst in entrusting me with them. Thou knowest I do this in obedience to Thy Word, as Thou commandest, and because Thou commandest it. Let this, I beseech Thee, be an holy sacrifice, acceptable through Jesus Christ! And give me a witness in myself, that for this labor of love I shall have a recompense when Thou rewardest every man according to his works. (from The Use of Money)

He is confident any believer who has a clear conscience after praying this prayer will be using money wisely.

Wesley especially warns against buying too much for children. People who would never waste money on themselves might be more indulgent with their children. On the principle that gratifying a desire needlessly only tends to increase it, he asks these well-intentioned parents:

Why should you purchase for them more pride or lust, more vanity, or foolish and hurtful desires? . . . Why should you be at further expense to increase their temptations and snares, and to pierce them through with more sorrows? (from The Use of Money)

Wesley’s Example
Wesley preached a wealth of words about money. He had many ideas about the right and wrong uses of lucre. And as a man with one of the highest earned incomes in England in his time, he had the opportunity to practice what he preached. Many might ignore what he said about money, but none could dismiss the way he used it; what he preached by deed spoke louder than his words.

As a child Wesley had known grinding poverty. Samuel Wesley, his father, was the Anglican priest in one of England’s lowest-paying parishes, and he had nine children to feed and clothe. John rarely saw his father out of debt, and he once saw him marched off to debtor’s prison. When John followed his father into the ministry he had no illusions about its financial rewards.

However, though John followed his father’s vocation, he did not share in his poverty. Instead of being a parish priest, he felt God’s direction to teach at Oxford University. He was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, and his financial status changed dramatically. His position usually paid him at least £30 a year—more than enough money for a single man to live on. He seems to have enjoyed his relative prosperity while teaching, spending his money on playing cards, tobacco, and brandy. One incident that happened to him at Oxford changed his perspective on money. He had just finished buying some pictures for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a Winter day and he noticed that she had only a thin linen gown to wear for protection against the cold. He reached into his pocket to give her some money for a coat, and found he had little left. It struck him that the Lord was not pleased with how he had spent his money. He asked himself:

Will Thy Master say “Well done, good and faithful stewards?” Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money that might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid? (from On Dress )

Perhaps as a result of this incident, in 1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was £30, and his living expenses £28, so he had £2 to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still lived on £28 and gave £32 away. In the third year his income jumped to £90, again he lived on £28, giving £62 away. The fourth year he made £120, lived again on £28 and gave £92 to the poor.

Wesley preached that Christians should not merely tithe, but give away all extra income once the family and creditors were taken care of. He believed that with increasing income, the Christian’s standard of giving should increase, not his standard of living. He began this practice at Oxford and he continued it throughout his life. Even when his income rose into the thousands of pounds, he lived simply and quickly gave his surplus money away. One year his income was slightly over £1,400; he gave all away save £30. He was afraid of laying up treasures on earth, so the money went out in charity as quickly as it came in in income. He reports that he never had as much as £100 at one time.

Among the ways Wesley limited expenses were by doing without luxuries and by identifying with the needy. He had preached that Christians should consider themselves members of the poor, whom God had given them money to aid., He put his words into practice by living and eating with the poor. Under Wesley’s leadership the London Methodists had established two homes for widows in the city. They were supported by offerings taken at the band meetings and at the Lord’s Supper. In 1748 Wesley lived in the same accommodations, along with any other Methodist ministers who happened to be in town. Wesley rejoiced to eat the same food at the same table, looking forward to the heavenly banquet that all Christians would share.

Dr. White, assistant professor of Christian Thought and History at Spring Arbor College in Michigan, is the Author of The Beauty of Holiness (Zondervan, 1986), a biography of revivalist Phoebe Palmer.

ONLY ONE LIFE

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 17:30:02 +0000

Only One Life, Twill Soon Be Past
by C.T. Studd

Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its days I must fulfill.
living for self or in His will;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.

Settled Blessings

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 02:00:00 +0000

Predicting the future is a tricky business at best, as history demonstrates. In 1929 Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at Yale University, carved out a niche for himself in history when he said, “Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau,” mere months before Wall Street crashed. Decca Records turned down the opportunity to sign the Beatles in 1962 with the words, “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Ken Olson, founder and president of Digital Equipment Corporation, declared in 1977, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Trying to track the trends of the future gives you a wonderful opportunity to fall flat on your face. The things that seem certain bets often backfire, while the most unlikely prospects may end up as runaway successes.

If predicting the future is hard, then how about controlling the future? What if you don’t like the apparently inevitable prospect that your future holds for you—is there anything you can do about it? How do you face and defeat problems that are far beyond your ability to control? Perhaps you have received a diagnosis of an incurable disease, either for yourself or for a loved one. Or perhaps you find yourself in a situation where life seems to have locked you in a box and thrown away the key. You see no way out through your own resources. Is it possible to find help and hope outside yourself when the only light that you see at the end of the tunnel is an onrushing express train that seems certain to crush you?

THE FOLLY OF SPIRITUAL COUNTERFEITS

That was the situation in which Balak, King of Moab, found himself. An enormous threatening force, the Israelites, was massing on his border. They had already defeated and destroyed Og, King of Bashan, and Sihon, King of the Amorites. He thought his territory might very well be next on their list (22:2, 3). Conventional warfare held out little prospect of success. So where was he to turn? His solution was to summon the internationally renowned prophet and diviner Balaam, in the hopes that through him he could acquire a weapon of mass destruction, a curse from the gods that would change Israel’s future and thereby also his own.

At first sight that solution to Balak’s problem may not seem very relevant to our modern situation. Even if the root of the problems in our lives can be identified as a person, we are not normally greatly tempted to call down a literal curse on him. In contemporary society when there is an archrival outperforming us at work or at school, we don’t typically pull out a voodoo doll and stick pins in it, hoping through sympathetic magic to debilitate him or her. Yet the broader temptation to pursue spiritual counterfeits as a means to relieve our pain and pursue increased success remains tremendously attractive to our culture as the rising levels of interest in psychics and horoscopes demonstrates. What is more, even if we don’t seek out the modern equivalent of pagan divination to seek the solution to our problems, we may still look to created things and people as the ones from whom our blessings will come. Yet this passage demonstrates clearly that the Lord alone has power to bless and curse.

Pursuing this theme, the passage underlines for us the folly of all spiritual counterfeits. Balak’s assertion when he first sent envoys to hire Balaam (“I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed,” 22:6) is shown to be mere wishful thinking. Far from Balaam being able to exert a measure of control over the deity, as a pagan prophet was paid to do, extracting whatever outcome he sought from his encounter, the Lord controlled Balaam. The Lord told him where and when to go and required him to say only what the Lord instructed him to say, reducing Balaam to a mere messenger boy. If the Lord could do that to an internationally acclaimed prophet like Balaam, no one would ever be able to stand against him. Balak’s plan to curse Israel was doomed from the outset.

COSTLY AND UNCERTAIN RITUALS

One aspect of the folly of pursuing spiritual counterfeits that emerges is the vast expense that they require. Three times, in three different locations, Balaam made Balak go through costly rituals. Each time he had to build seven altars, and on each one he had to sacrifice a bull and a ram, the most expensive of the various sacrificial animals (23:1, 14, 29). That was in addition to the cost of sending the envoys (twice) to persuade Balaam to come (22:7, 15), the cost of the feast on his arrival (22:40), and the promised payment of a handsome reward on completion of the contract (22:17). Balaam’s services were certainly far from cheap, a fact that is equally true of his modern counterparts.

We also see clearly here the uncertainty of spiritual counterfeits. Even after all this expense, there was no guarantee of Balak receiving any message from beyond, let alone one that would be favorable to him. Whereas in Israel only one altar was ever necessary for sacrifice, since Israel served only the one true God, here seven altars were required for each attempt to contact the deity. Presumably this was an attempt to cover all of the spiritual bases.1 Yet even with all of that effort, Balaam said to Balak after the first set of offerings, “Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me” (23:3). Balaam could not guarantee results from the process. The second time Balaam expressed similar uncertainty when he said, “Stay here beside your offerings, while I seek a manifestation yonder” (23:15, NJPS). There was no sure access to the Lord through this procedure: it was filled with “perhaps” and “maybe.” This uncertainty of approach for Balaam forms a striking contrast with the access that the Lord had promised to Moses. Whereas prophets—even true prophets—were dependent on dreams and visions, Moses had been granted the constant and assured right to meet with the Lord and speak to him face to face (12:7).

Balak might still have thought that all of his money had been well spent if it had finally accomplished his goals of cursing Israel. However, in the end all of his expense went for nothing. Balaam first tried to curse the whole camp of Israel from Bamoth-baal (22:41). From there he could see the whole camp of Israel spread out before him.2 Yet the only words he found he could utter were words of blessing (23:7–10). His second attempt was more limited in scope, seeking only to curse part of Israel. If he couldn’t manage to curse the whole people, perhaps he could at least manage to curse a small part of them. This attempt too was an abject failure: once again, he could only bless Israel (23:18–24). Nor was a third attempt from a different location any more successful (24:3–9). In each place, Balaam’s best efforts to curse Israel accomplished nothing.

In fact, as a weapon of mass destruction, Balaam proved to be not only impotent but actually counterproductive. Not only was Balaam not able to curse Israel, he repeatedly blessed them at Balak’s expense! What is more, when Balak finally ran out of patience with Balaam after three failed attempts and tried to send him packing, Balaam proceeded to deliver yet another oracle free of charge, which contained yet another blessing on Israel (24:15–24)!

That is always the way it is with spiritual counterfeits: they make grandiose claims for themselves and promise to give us substantial rewards, yet in the end they turn out to be expensive, uncertain, and ultimately impotent. There is neither blessing nor curse to be found in psychics or mediums, in astrology or horoscopes, or in any other source than the one true living God. These spiritual counterfeits have no power to affect either the present or the future.

In fact, the same is true of all of the many created things to which we offer allegiance as our idols. They are all ultimately equally impotent to bless or to curse. Some seek their value in money and possessions, but wealth cannot make us genuinely worthwhile as persons, and its absence cannot rob us of our dignity. Others look to power for their validation, but power cannot fulfill us, and its loss cannot make our lives meaningless. Still others invest the approval of people with ultimate significance, but gaining the love of a particular person is not where our value lies, nor will we be destroyed if they are taken from us, however painful that loss may be. None of these created things can make or break us, even though we continually act as if they can.

The power that we ascribe to these idols that we have set up for ourselves is evident in the way we pour ourselves so devotedly into pursuing their demands and are so wrapped up in fears of their loss. We would willingly go to the ends of the earth to do their bidding, and we regularly sacrifice on their altars whatever they demand. They fill our dreams and our nightmares, and they shape our expenditures and our relationships. They are profoundly expensive masters, both in financial terms and in terms of the turmoil that they create in our souls. Yet in the end, like all idols, they are impotent to deliver what they promise or threaten.

THE CERTAINTY OF BLESSING

In dramatic contrast to the expensive, uncertain, and ultimately impotent search for blessing and curse through spiritual counterfeits and the idols of our hearts, there is the free, certain, and effective way to blessing through Israel’s God. Israel did not have to pay Balaam or offer special sacrifices to receive a word of blessing from the Lord through him. On the contrary, the Lord had already freely committed himself in advance to bless Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:2, 3). The Lord had already told the Aaronic priests to pronounce his blessing regularly on the people, without any fee changing hands (Numbers 6:24–27). Balaam’s words of blessing were simply a reflection of the Lord’s settled attitude toward his people. As Balaam himself put it, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it” (23:19, 20). Human beings are fickle and changeable creatures, but when the Lord declared a people blessed, they were indeed blessed.

The oracles of Balaam not only declared that the Lord’s blessing rested on Israel, however. They also unfold for us different aspects of that settled blessing—past, present, and future.
First, Balaam declared that the Lord has blessed Israel in the past. The Lord had multiplied their numbers to uncountable proportions, like the dust of the earth, just as he had promised Abraham: “Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?” (23:10; see Genesis 13:16). He had brought them out of Egypt (23:22; 24:8), and he gave them the strength to defeat hostile nations resembling a wild ox (23:22; 24:8) or a lion (23:24; 24:9). The Lord made them a people distinct from all other nations, separated for a relationship with him (23:9). All of these predictions must have seemed far-fetched when originally given; yet the Lord had fulfilled each one.

Second, Balaam declared the Lord’s blessing upon Israel in the present. The Lord protected them from natural disasters: “He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel” (23:21). He guarded them from supernatural dangers: “For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (23:23). What made them distinct from every other nation was the unique fact that God dwelt in their midst: “The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them” (23:21). They alone out of all the nations of the earth had a special relationship with the Lord, acclaiming him as their King and belonging to him as his people.

FUTURE BLESSINGS

What is more, the Lord would continue to be with Israel in the future, promising them fruitfulness and abundant water (24:6, 7) and victory for their king over Agag, the king of the Amalekites (24:7). This last promise is particularly striking since at this point in their history Israel did not yet have a king, even though God had already promised them that they would have one at some point in the future (Genesis 17:6). This promised monarch of the future would experience the Lord’s blessing, resulting in triumph over all of his enemies, who were personified as the king of their primary enemy, Amalek (see 24:20). Ultimately, all of Israel’s enemies would be destroyed: Moab would be defeated, Edom conquered, and even the great empire of Assyria4 would be brought low in the end (24:17, 18, 24).

These oracles of Balaam, which declare not merely positive present realities but a glorious future yet to come, are most certainly true because the Lord’s sovereign power extends beyond the present into the future. What man cannot predict—what the future holds—the Lord is able to declare, because he himself holds the future in his hands. Even sickness, disease, and the schemes of evil men are not exempt from his sovereign will to bless his people. For that reason, when Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who had been born blind, Jesus explained that this personal tragedy had happened precisely so that the work of God might be displayed in his life (John 9:3). That man’s disability was not an accident of fate: it was part of God’s plan to display his glory. In fact, even the most wicked act of history, the crucifixion of Jesus, was the result of God’s set purpose and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23). God’s sovereignty does not free human beings from their responsibility for their acts, but it does assure us of the certainty that his purposes of blessing and curse will assuredly come about. Who but the Lord has the power to foretell what the distant future holds? Who but the Lord holds that future in his hands?

This truth is a great comfort when life seems out of control, whether outwardly or inwardly. Outwardly life seems out of control whenever our circumstances threaten to swamp us through one calamity or another. Inwardly life seems out of control whenever our emotions threaten to drown us in a morass of anxiety or sorrow, of fear or depression. Precisely in those times of unsettled circumstances and tumultuous emotions, the Lord’s settled purpose to bless his people is a wonderful assurance. As the hymn-writer put it:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

If God is for us, who can be against us? The settled assurance of the Lord’s purpose to bless us in Christ enables us in the midst of life’s chaos to sing,

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

A STAR FROM JACOB

The greatest declaration of Israel’s future blessing, though, was left for the distant future. In Balaam’s final oracle he announced that a star would come out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel, a great king who would definitively crush all of her enemies (24:17–19). In that day, pride of place would not be sufficient to keep Israel’s adversaries safe: the Amalekites, who were “first among the nations,” would come to ruin (24:20). A secure location would be no defense either: the Kenites would be flushed out of their rocky lair (24:21). Even those whom God used to destroy those nations would themselves ultimately go down in defeat at the hands of others—the Assyrians who would overcome and enslave the Kenites would themselves be subdued in due time by a warlike power from across the sea (24:24).6 Meanwhile, those who brought low the Assyrians would themselves come to ruin in the end (24:24). Who can endure this great day of the Lord’s wrath (24:23)?

This final oracle thus spans the entire sweep of human history. Nation after nation will rise to world domination and then fall to defeat. But when the messianic King arrives on the scene, no people other than Israel, the nation set apart, will survive the final day of destruction. At the end of all things, when all of human history has played out its course of changing fortunes, the Lord’s people will be the only ones left standing.

If it is true that Israel as God’s people has a unique relationship with the Lord that means both their present blessing and final security, then they are indeed to be envied. If the Lord has chosen Israel to be his own and has promised to be with them in the past, the present, and the future, then Balaam’s wish is understandable: “Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!” (23:10). When you even out the merely temporary fluctuations in the fortunes of people and nations, there are ultimately only two fates offered in this world. There is the Lord’s blessing leading to a flourishing life and an enviable death or the Lord’s curse leading to defeat and ultimate destruction.

Yet the coming of the star that Balaam foresaw wasn’t entirely what you might have predicted. At the birth of Jesus, a heavenly star indeed rose over Israel to mark where the infant King lay. Yet the baby King lay in a manger, not in a palace, and those drawn by the star were not Israelites but foreign Magi, students of signs and portents as was Balaam, who came from the east, Balaam’s former home (Matthew 2:1–12) King Herod, an Edomite by descent, was not instantly crushed by the coming of this new King but continued his rule, slaughtering scores of innocent children in Bethlehem. The rising of this star in Christ’s first coming did not yet bring about the total destruction of the nations, for Jesus had come first to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to … Israel” (Luke 2:32). Yet in another way, his coming was exactly what Balaam anticipated: those who, like the Magi, blessed the new Israel, Jesus, and submitted to him found a blessing for themselves. Meanwhile, those who cursed this new Israel found themselves under a curse, just as the Lord had promised Abraham (24:9; see Genesis 12:3). What is more, the day is yet coming when God’s final judgment will be delivered on Herod and on all those who stand against him and his anointed.

ISRAEL’S BLESSINGS FULFILLED IN CHRIST

What that means, then, is that these oracles for Israel are precious promises for us. Some Christians believe that Old Testament promises that speak of “Israel” are only intended for ethnic Israel and not for the church. For them, Balaam’s prophecies speak of a glorious future for the physical descendants of Israel, but they would call any attempt to apply these promises to the church “replacement theology.” I would suggest that this is a misunderstanding of what the Scriptures teach about Israel. It is not that the church has replaced Israel in the New Testament so much as that Old Testament Israel—ethnic Israel—finds its true goal and fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is himself the star of Jacob, the Israel of God.

In the person of Jesus, therefore, the true Israel has arrived, and all those who come to God by faith in him—Jews and Gentiles alike—become God’s children and are thereby incorporated into this new people of God (John 1:11, 12). In Christ, Jews and Gentiles together become the true heirs of the promise given to Abraham, his spiritual descendants (Galatians 3:29). Outside of Christ, on the other hand, there is no longer any true Israel. It is those who are in Christ who are the true chosen people: a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9). We have been chosen by God for exactly the same special relationship that he had with his Old Testament people. In his incredible grace and mercy, God chose us before the foundation of the world, so that we might be blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3, 4). He has rescued us from the final judgment that awaits all those who remain outside his people and has given us the glorious inheritance of a relationship with himself. In Jesus, the star of Jacob has risen for us and for our salvation.

If this is so, then we may have the assurance of the Lord’s settled purpose to bless us in Jesus Christ. No one can rob us of that blessing, and nothing can prevent us from inheriting its promises. All those who trust in Christ and are united to him by faith will die the death of the righteous, for Christ’s righteousness is credited to them, exactly as if it were their own. Whatever life throws at each of us, it must therefore always be “well with my soul,” for Christ has died in our place and is now risen from the dead. If we keep our eyes on that reality, then none of the traumatic rises and falls in our temporal fortunes that are an inevitable part of life in this fallen world can ever completely shake us. We will be settled on a solid rock, established on a firm foundation. People may come and go: some will let us down and hurt us, while others, no matter how faithful, will ultimately die and leave us on our own. But God will still be there. Fortunes may be made and lost, houses may burn, stock markets may crash, and cars will inevitably rust. Yet in Christ, we have an inheritance that no misfortune can touch. At the end of the day, only God remains, and those upon whom his blessing rests.

BALAAM’S CURSE

Ironically, though, Balaam never found that blessing. Even though he declared that he wanted to “die the death of the righteous” (23:10, NIV), once again his life didn’t match up to his words. If Balaam truly wanted to die the death of the righteous, the way to do so was to join the righteous during his lifetime. The Magi of Jesus’ day showed the way: he should have come to Israel’s God and laid his treasures at his feet. Had Balaam been willing to say good-bye to Balak and (more pertinently) to abandon his passion for Balak’s silver and gold, he could have received what he desired. The doors in Israel were open to aliens and strangers who wanted to abandon their old religions and join themselves to Israel and to her God. Sadly, though, money was more important to Balaam than achieving the death of the righteous. As a result, he stayed among the Midianites who opposed Israel and Israel’s God, and he died by the sword in their midst (31:8).

It is a sobering reality to think that many people say they want to die at peace with God but are not willing to pursue peace with God while they live. Being reconciled to the Lord is not something we can put off until a more convenient time, for in all probability such a time will never come and we will die still in our sins, rebels against the Lord of Heaven and earth. A day is coming when the Star of Jacob will come to crush all such rebels and enemies. When Jesus returns to this earth, it will be as a warrior riding out for the final battle in which he will crush all of his enemies (Revelation 19:11). If we want to spend eternity under God’s blessing as part of his people, today is the day to enter into his favor. Come to Christ now, as the Magi did at his incarnation, and submit your life to his lordship. Ask for his forgiveness to cover your sins; receive his righteousness to clothe your spiritual nakedness. The door is open today for everyone who will come in and bow the knee willingly to the Lord to receive his blessing. So come, enter into his people. As you do so, you will receive his blessing, find peace in the midst of a tumultuous world, and be able look forward with joy to the day when his final victory will be accomplished.

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 281–290). Crossway Books.

The Politician and the Donkey

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 01:00:00 +0000

Listening to the 2004 debates between the candidates for President of the United States of America was a fascinating experience. In each debate there were questions from the moderator to each candidate in turn, and each candidate had a chance to rebut the answers of the other man. In order to understand the positions of the presidential hopefuls, though, it was never enough simply to listen to what they said. You always had to be careful to notice what they didn’t say as well. In some cases the answer given by the candidate bore little or no relationship to the question he had been asked. In other cases the candidates answered part of the question but left another key aspect deliberately unmentioned. The casual listener might be moved by impressive sound bites or by the outward demeanor of the candidates, but the person wishing to understand their respective political platforms fully had to listen very carefully to the silences as well as to the words.

Numbers 22 has a lot in common with these political debates. The superficial reader, whose attention is focused on sound bites and the surprising appearance of a talking donkey, may easily miss the point and end up confused by this narrative. Is Balaam the hero or villain in this story? Is he a sinner or a saint? Why did God tell Balaam to go with Balak’s envoys (v. 20) and then get angry with him when he did just that (v. 22)? Did God suddenly and inexplicably change his mind? Or were there valid reasons for his anger? The key to understanding this story is to recognize that Balaam was a politician as well as a prophet, a man who made a living from his words. Such people do not always say what they mean or mean what they say. The speeches of people like Balaam need to be analyzed closely to hear what they do not say as well as what they do say. When you do that, the narrative springs to life with a whole new level of clarity.

IN SEARCH OF A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION

The story begins with Balak, King of Moab, looking across his border in terror at the reality of the Israelites as new neighbors (vv. 2, 3). Given what the Israelites had done in the previous chapter to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and Bashan respectively, this was perhaps not a surprising response. The idea of a conventional war against the Israelites seemed to have little prospect of success because of their vast numbers, and the thought of seeking a peaceful settlement with this new political reality apparently didn’t arise. What Balak and the Moabites wanted was a nonconventional war involving a weapon of mass destruction that would debilitate the Israelites, enabling the Moabites to be victorious over them. In the ancient world there was only one such weapon of mass destruction: a curse from the gods that would decisively tip the balance of power against your enemies.

It was in search of just such a curse that Balak sought out Balaam, a man with an international reputation for dealing in such weaponry. Balak sent messengers to summon Balaam to curse Israel, so Balak could defeat them in battle and drive them away, saying, “I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (vv. 5, 6). At this point, the battle lines were clearly drawn, for in Genesis 12:2, 3 the Lord had already declared to Abram:

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

By summoning Balaam to curse Israel, Balak had set himself against the Lord and the Lord’s people, and therefore he was under a curse of his own. Which curse would win out—the pagan prophet’s or the Lord’s?

LISTENING TO THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE

The elders of Moab, along with their allies from Midian, went to Balaam carrying Balak’s message and the down payment on the proposed divination contract (v. 7). Balaam responded by asking them to spend the night with him while he sought the direction of “the LORD” on the matter (v. 8). Now this is certainly a striking and surprising twist in the story: Balaam used the personal name of Israel’s God (Yahweh) as the one from whom he would seek direction. It raises the concern that if Balaam were able to consult the Lord, perhaps he could change the Lord’s mind from blessing to curse. Perhaps he had enough standing with his master to receive what he requested. Yet one shouldn’t jump too quickly from Balaam’s words to the conclusion that Balaam was an orthodox follower of the Lord. Like all politicians, Balaam was quite capable of playing the “God” card when and how it suited him to do so. He obviously knew who the Lord was and apparently received messages from him, but exactly what his relationship to the Lord was has yet to be made clear. In a narrative in which a donkey also sees the Lord and speaks his words, the ability to prophesy truthfully in the Lord’s name should not by itself be rated too highly.

Sure enough, the Lord appeared to Balaam in the night and asked him, “Who are these men with you?” (v. 9). On the face of it, that is a simple question, but why did God ask it? He certainly didn’t need the information from Balaam since he already knows all things. In the Bible God typically asks questions not for his own benefit but for the benefit of his hearers. When God said to Adam, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:11), he was giving Adam an opportunity to confess his sins. When the Lord asked Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8), he wasn’t expressing personal uncertainty; he was giving Isaiah the opportunity to volunteer for the mission. So too when the Lord said to Balaam, “Who are these men?” he wanted Balaam to reflect on who would be giving him his orders if he accepted their commission. What authority did they have to summon him, and what power did they have to reward him? These were not gods who had come to him—they were mere men.

Balaam responded to the Lord’s inquiry with a carefully edited version of Balak’s message (compare v. 11 with vv. 5, 6). What he left out in his presentation to the Lord was profoundly significant. Balaam omitted the fact that Israel had settled next to Balak but had not attacked him and that Balak’s action therefore could not be construed as justified self-defense. He also left out Balak’s flattering assertion that Balaam had the power to bless and to curse effectively. In contrast to this dissimulation on Balaam’s part, the Lord’s answer was definitive and clear: “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed” (v. 12). The promise of Genesis 12 was explicitly still in force. The Lord had declared his will clearly and unequivocally to Balaam.

CONFUSING SIGNALS

In the morning Balaam took this message from the Lord and conveyed it to the envoys of Balak—once again in carefully edited form. What he said to them was simply, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you” (v. 13). There was no mention of the fact that he was unable to curse Israel because the Lord had decreed definitively that they were blessed, nor was there evidence of any reluctance on his own part to do their bidding. In fact, if they listened carefully, they would hear quite the contrary. When my son tells one of his playmates that his dad says he can’t come out to play until his homework is finished, he makes it evident that he would very much like to go with them but is presently being detained against his will. So too when Balaam said that the Lord had refused to let him come with them, he clearly implied that he personally would have loved to be able to oblige Balak if only the circumstances had been different.

By the time the envoys returned home to tell Balak the news, the process was beginning to resemble a game of Telephone, in which children whisper a message from one to the next down a line. In that game, the message that emerges at the far end is often quite different from the message that started out. So too here the message that Balak received was quite different from the one that the Lord sent. Far from being told that Balaam could not curse this people because the Lord had declared them to be blessed, he heard from his envoys only that Balaam had refused to come (v. 14). Not unnaturally, Balak read this as a mere negotiating ploy on Balaam’s part and responded by sweetening the pot. Balak promised to honor him greatly (i.e., reward him substantially) if he would only come and curse this people (vv. 16, 17). Nothing (and no one) should therefore prevent him from coming. Balak backed up his improved offer by sending a higher-ranking delegation of envoys to convey it to Balaam (v. 15).

When the more distinguished entourage of Moabites and Midianites arrived at Balaam’s home with this message, the prophet had to choose where his priorities lay. On the one hand, there was Balak, offering him honor and financial reward, while on the other there was the clear decree of the Lord: “You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed” (v. 12). Which path would he choose?

On the face of it, Balaam’s response to the messengers of Balak sounds wonderfully spiritual: “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more” (v. 18). What a noble and self-sacrificial position he adopted! However, you mustn’t forget that Balaam was a politician, and words are cheap. Balaam promptly exposed the true feelings of his heart with the rest of the words that he spoke to the delegation: “So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me” (v. 19, emphasis added). If Balaam really meant the fine words he had just said about not doing anything great or small beyond the command of the Lord, there was no reason for him to invite Balak’s princes to stay. What part of “You shall not go with them” didn’t he understand? What did the Lord need to add to “You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed”? Inviting the men to stay the night showed that Balaam still hoped the Lord would change his mind or that he might yet find some other way to claim the bounty offered by Balak. For all his wonderful words, Balaam couldn’t let the prospect of Balak’s gold escape without a fight.

What was the Lord’s response to Balaam’s request? “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you” (v. 20). Many commentators fail to notice that this is not a direct command to go to Moab. And it is not the exact opposite of the previous command to remain at home. Rather, it is a conditional sentence: “If the men have come to call you … go.”8 Clearly the condition in the clause has been met: the men have, in fact, come to summon him. So what is the point of including the condition here? The answer is that by putting the focus on the men, it brings to the foreground the same issue as was posed by the Lord’s original question: “Who are these men?” That is, what authority did they have to summon him? In other words, the Lord was saying to Balaam, “If the summons of men and the glory (reward) that they offer is really so important to you that it outweighs the expressed command of God, then you may go with them.” This is the equivalent of Joshua’s challenge to Israel to choose whom they would serve, whether the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites or the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Balaam had to make a decision whether to go with the men and follow his idolatry or stay home and follow the Lord. Yet even his freedom to follow his own gods was limited. He was only free until he reached the end of a short leash, for even if he went with Balak’s men, he could do nothing other than what the Lord told him.

ANOTHER KEY SILENCE

At this point there was another crucial omission on Balaam’s part. In verse 13, after the Lord had spoken to him the first time, we read, “So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak …” He then recounted the substance of the Lord’s words to him. On this second occasion, in verse 21, the scene opens in exactly the same way: “So Balaam rose in the morning …” But from there onward the events diverged. What Balaam did not do this time was to get up in the morning and tell the princes of Balak what the Lord had said. He didn’t say to them, “Look, I can come with you if you want, but I can only say what the Lord says—and he has already made it clear that Israel is blessed and not cursed.” Instead, Balaam went with them in haste and without any explicit clarification of what had transpired overnight, presumably giving the envoys the impression that he had straightened out the difficulties with the Lord and was now all set to earn his substantial fees by cursing Israel.

Once that key omission is observed, it is simple to explain why, having given Balaam permission to go to Moab in verse 20, the Lord was so angry with him in verse 22. The Lord was angry not simply because Balaam had gone with Balak’s messengers but rather because he had gone in a way that evidenced a lack of submission to the Lord. He acted as if he were a free agent, able to control his own destiny as well as that of other nations. The Lord therefore determined that it was necessary to teach Balaam a lesson about who was in control of his life, whether he liked it or not. He needed to learn that though man may propose, God is still the one who disposes.

DIVIDED HEARTS

We have much in common with Balaam. One challenge that the story clearly faces us with is the question of who is pulling our strings. Faced with a choice between obeying the clear command of God and pursuing Balak’s house full of silver and gold, the silver and gold triumphed in Balaam’s heart, for all his protestations to the contrary. His besetting sin was greed, as Peter rightly diagnosed it (see 2 Peter 2:15). As a result, he went to Moab with the envoys of Balak instead of sending them on their way with the clear word of the Lord. The Lord gave him over, up to a point, to his sinful choices. Are we so very different from Balaam though? To what extent do the very same things that Balak offered Balaam—money and prestige—have a grip on our hearts? Are we ourselves free from the love of money, which Paul describes as the root of all evils (1 Timothy 6:10)? If these precise things do not hold our hearts captive, perhaps other idols drive our thinking just as surely: acceptance, physical beauty, intellectual accomplishment, or the like.

In seeking to understand what drives us, it is important to recognize that the answer is often more evident in our actions than in our words. Just as Balaam’s attempt to extract a different response from the Lord exposed his divided heart and betrayed the emptiness of his words, so too our words and actions are often at odds. Like Balaam, we may piously commit ourselves to the Lord wholeheartedly on Sundays, while from Monday to Saturday our lives are driven by the summons of different masters. We may say, “We love the Lord, not money,” but our spending patterns in our checkbooks tell a different story. We declare, “We fear the Lord and not people,” yet our cowardly refusal to stand up for Christ in the office or the classroom reveals a different truth. The essence of integrity is someone whose words and thoughts and actions are thoroughly integrated: they are all aligned in the same direction. Are we such persons of integrity? Do our words and our actions line up with each other?

If not, then it is almost invariably the case that our actions expose the real truth about our hearts. Our actions make plain what else we must have apart from the Lord to make our lives meaningful and significant. It may be money or power or acceptance or comfort or a myriad of other things, but whenever obedience to the Lord’s Word means that our idol is challenged, we find ourselves drawn away from obedience in pursuit of our “what else.” No matter how orthodox and impressive our words are, they are not worth the breath expended in uttering them if there is no congruence between them and our deeds.

BALAAM AND THE DONKEY

Balaam’s lesson in humility took the form of the famous incident with his donkey. The angel of the Lord took up a position on the road in front of Balaam to oppose him, with drawn sword in hand (v. 23). It was a menacing sight, the import of which the donkey clearly understood. Three times the angel of the Lord stood in the way; three times the donkey refused to pass, in spite of Balaam’s increasingly insistent urgings. The first time, the donkey turned off the road, and Balaam beat her to get her back on track (v. 23). The second time, the angel barred the way on a narrow path between two walls. In order to avoid the angel, the donkey pressed up against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot, causing him to beat her again (v. 25). On the third occasion, there was no way past the angel; so the donkey simply lay down in the road, refusing to stir even when he beat her with a stick (vv. 26, 27).

At this point the Lord opened the long-suffering animal’s mouth, enabling it to confront Balaam. She said, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” (v. 28). Balaam responded, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” Then the donkey replied, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?”
Let’s pause at this point and consider what is remarkable about this scene. It is not so much the fact that a donkey speaks: God created all of the animals, and he can cause any of them to do his bidding in any way he chooses. What is remarkable about this scene is Balaam’s blindness and impotence. Here is a man who is a professional seer, the kind of person who makes a living discerning messages from God in places where other people see only random tea leaves and miscellaneous flights of birds; yet he cannot see the angel of the Lord when he stands there in plain sight in front of him! His donkey can see the Lord’s messenger, but Balaam cannot. Moreover, here is a man who has been hired to travel some distance in order to harm an entire nation—Israel—with the mere power of his spoken word; yet when a simple donkey makes a fool out of him, he is reduced to beating her with a stick and uttering empty threats. He has no power to curse her by turning her into a frog or a pumpkin! The world famous super-prophet is both spiritually blind and unable to inflict harm, while a mere donkey whose mouth has been opened by the Lord is able to see the truth clearly and speak it out in a way that delivers from death. The scene forms a wonderfully humorous picture.

It was at this point that the Lord finally opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel of the Lord standing in front of him with drawn sword (v. 31). The angel rebuked him for beating his donkey, whose actions had actually saved his life. Balaam’s reckless path in pursuing Balak’s gold instead of telling him the truth about the Lord’s purposes for Israel had put his own life in danger. Ironically, at the very same time that Balaam was threatening his donkey with death if he only had a sword in his hand, his own master had been standing over him with a drawn sword. Only the donkey’s faithfulness had saved him from death.

Now Balaam’s eyes were opened to see the folly of his ways. If he thought that his hitherto faithful donkey deserved death for its apparent perverseness in disregarding his commands, how much more must he himself deserve death for his own perverse pursuit of profit? After all, the donkey disobeyed him out of obedience to a higher authority, while his own disobedience was in pursuit of mere money. He stood condemned out of his own mouth. Balaam then confessed that he had sinned by going with the envoys of Balak, for he did not realize that the Lord was standing in the road to block his path. More precisely, the Hebrew says, “I did not realize you had taken a stand to summon me on the way” (v. 34). The verb used (qr’) is different from that used to describe the Lord’s purpose in verses 22 and 32, but it is the same verb that the Lord used in verse 20: “If the men have come to call you …” In other words, Balaam recognized at last that the issue here was precisely that of whose bidding Balaam was to do. In going to Moab, he had thought to obey the summons of Balak, but through the incident with the donkey, the Lord confronted him afresh with the reality of whose summons he had to obey. Like a mere donkey, Balaam’s part was not to be creative and pioneer his own path: rather, he was simply required to be an obedient medium for the Lord’s message.

Having made that point comprehensively to Balaam, there was now no need to turn him around and send him home. He could safely be sent on with his companions to Moab, with the injunction of the night vision once again ringing in his ears: “speak only the word that I tell you” (v. 35; see v. 20). It is striking that it was at this point in the story, after he arrived in Moab humbled after the incident with the donkey and reminded that he was not an independent agent, Balaam finally said the words to Balak that he earlier failed to say to his envoys. When Balak asked him why he did not come when the king summoned him (v. 37; the same Hebrew word as before) and said, “Am I not able to honor you?” Balaam replied, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak” (v. 38). By this point Balaam had, however reluctantly, learned his lesson. Balak had neither the authority to summon him nor the ability to reward him sufficiently to achieve what he wanted. Balaam may not have been happy about this turn of events, as the terseness of his reply to Balak perhaps makes evident, but he recognized that he was not a free agent in this matter. He could only say the words the Lord commanded him to say.

THE LORD’S DETERMINATION TO BLESS

The central lesson behind the story of Balaam is the Lord’s determination to bless his people. No hotshot prophet will be permitted to curse God’s people, no matter how much he wants to, because the Lord has declared them blessed. Instead, his very attempt to curse Israel will itself be turned into another blessing. Israel was most likely unaware of this whole episode at the time when it happened. This is probably just as well, since the news that an international wizard was on his way to place them under a curse might well have sent them into yet another frenzy of worry and grumbling. Yet even had they been aware of it, they need not have worried. The Lord would turn the curse that they feared into a blessing.

Isn’t that a lesson we need to internalize as well? There are many dangers in life of which we are not even aware because the Lord extracts their sting before they even reach us. In other cases, though, we become aware of the rise of threatening thunderclouds, triggering panic in our hearts. Something or someone seems poised to ruin our lives once and for all. We need not be so easily afraid. As William Cowper put it in his great hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”:

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

If the Lord has decreed our blessing, then nothing and no one can turn our blessing into a curse.

This reality is the answer to our sinful worries. Why do we fret about so many of life’s problems? As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, the reason we worry is because we have given in to the belief that God loves us less than he loves the birds of the air or the lilies of the field. They do not fret, yet they are constantly fed and clothed by the Lord (Matthew 6:26, 28)! Since we have far greater assurances of God’s care for us than any flower or bird ever received, why should we be so concerned about these things? Our worry reveals the fact that we are believing a lie about God, and the answer to our worry is therefore to remind ourselves afresh of the truth about his care for us.

This reality is also the answer to the various idols of our hearts that are continually pulling our strings. Why is it that we are driven by money or the prospect of power and fame? It is because we have begun to seek our blessing in these things. Why is it that we fear people and are so desperately afraid of being excluded from the in-crowd? It is because we are afraid of the curse with which they threaten us. Why is it that the desire for physical attractiveness or intellectual achievement or the need to have a perfect family holds us in its spell? It is because we have come to believe these idols hold sway over our destiny. We have started to believe that real meaning and significance in life is in the hand of our idol to give or to withhold. That is why we are so fearful and depressed, as well as why we are so driven and anxious. If you and I could learn to look to the Lord alone for our blessing and to find our confidence in his settled purpose to bless us, that would cut the strings that bind us under the power of all manner of other things. What peace and assurance would then be ours! If we could only be convinced of the Lord’s power and his purpose to bless us, the engine of our idolatry that drives us constantly into a variety of actual sins would be starved of its fuel.

AN ANCHOR FOR YOUR SOUL

How can we know for sure that the Lord is determined to bless us and not to curse us? Like Balaam, we too have gone astray perversely, wandering after all kinds of other gods. Why shouldn’t the angel of the Lord be standing in front of us even now with drawn sword in hand, waiting to cut us down? It would certainly be nothing more than we deserve. After all, even our best deeds—our most unselfish actions and kindly words—are often simply offerings to our idols, not acts of obedience to the living God. What shall I say then of my darkest thoughts and deeds? How shall I escape judgment for them? The answer is that if we are Christians, Jesus Christ has taken the curse that was aimed at us for our sin. The angel’s sword has already been plunged into his heart instead of ours. Our perversity earned us death, but Jesus died in our place. Our idolatry earned us permanent separation from God, but Jesus was cut off from the Father for us on the cross. Our sins placed us justly under the Lord’s judgment and curse, but in Christ we receive the blessing that the Lord has promised to all of the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The cross is the surety of the Lord’s unshakable will to bless his people. As Paul put it, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). For Jesus’ sake, the Lord is determined to bless us, and no one and nothing can ever turn that blessing into a curse.

Sadly, Balaam remained blind to the truth of the Lord’s goodness and grace. Even after his eyes were opened to see the angel of the Lord and he confessed with his lips, “I have sinned” (v. 34), Balaam’s heart was still a long way from true repentance, as his future behavior demonstrated. His words and his actions did not ultimately agree. He had chosen whom he would serve: Balak’s silver and gold, not the Lord. His heart was still captive to his idolatry, and even a face-to-face encounter with the Angel of the Lord did not free him from its chains. At the end of the day his donkey saw the Lord more clearly than he did; the brute beast understood more of God than the professional theologian. As a result, even though the Lord used him to deliver a blessing to his people Israel, Balaam’s own destiny was not ultimately changed from curse to blessing. All that happened was that his appointment with the sword of the Lord’s judgment was delayed. In the end he was killed by the Israelites when they took vengeance on the Midianites for leading them into sin (31:8).

It is still often the case that the Lord reveals himself to the weak and foolish, while remaining hidden from those who possess the wisdom of this world. Those who were blind receive sight, while those who claim to see are left in the dark. As an Old Testament scholar, I regularly meet and listen to men and women whose knowledge of the Bible and the Hebrew language is far in excess of anything I could ever attain. In academic terms they are racehorses, while I am merely a plodding donkey. When I hear their lectures and read their books, I learn many true and insightful things about the Bible; yet when it comes to the gospel they are utterly blind. They cannot see on the pages of Scripture the simplest truths about God. Many five-year-olds have more true Biblical insight into the gospel than they do, because spiritual truths are spiritually discerned, and for all their “wisdom” these people do not have the Holy Spirit to open up their stubborn hearts and blind eyes so they can see the truth that is right in front of them (see 1 Corinthians 2:14).

Could anything more clearly display God’s sovereignty than that? The supreme blessing in this world is coming to recognize who God is and how to find salvation in his Son. It comes as a free gift to those whose eyes he opens and whose hearts he touches with his grace. The work of his Spirit brings one to faith while another is left in unbelief, not because the one has greater merit than the other, but simply out of unconditional sovereign grace. The Lord chose Israel to be his people and left Balaam to his preferred darkness, though neither had any claim on him. Donkeys like us get to see and know the Lord, while professional prophets remain blind.

What is more, the future of those whom the Lord calls to himself is sure, settled by the unchangeable One and sealed in his blood. God cannot lie, and he cannot change his mind, as Balaam himself would declare (23:19). God has settled his inheritance on us with an oath, so that we may have the certainty of an irrevocable inheritance (Hebrews 6:17–19). Nothing and no one can separate us from that blessing, either now or in the age to come. Such a hope is a sure anchor for our souls and spiritual food for our hearts.

How then shall we respond? Surely we must burst forth with praise and adoration. Let us give thanks to the Lord for this inexpressible hope! May we rejoice in his favor shown to us! Let us rest in his love and bask in his settled attitude of blessing toward us, for as the psalmist repeatedly reminds us, “His steadfast love endures forever” (for example, Psalm 136).

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 269–281). Crossway Books.

A New Beginning

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 02:00:00 +0000

Watching your children grow up is an odd experience. In some ways they are so like their parents. Yet, in other ways they couldn’t be more different. One of your children looks just like you perhaps, yet has a mellow temperament that is the opposite of yours. Another child has looks that must be a throwback from several generations ago, yet loves the same music that you do. A third shares your sense of humor but leaves you wondering, “Where did her artistic genes come from?” Moreover, however much our children are like us, they all speak a different language and, in some respects at least, inhabit a different culture from the one in which we grew up. The next generation is both like and unlike their parents.

The same was true of Israel in the book of Numbers. We have pointed out several times already that this book is essentially the story of two generations: the first generation who rebelled against the Lord and ended up dead in the desert, and the second generation who will stand on the brink of entry into the Promised Land at the end of the book. In many respects Numbers 20 was the end of the line for the first generation: it shows us the events of the fortieth year of wilderness wandering, bracketed by the deaths of Miriam and Aaron. Now in Numbers 21 we begin to read the story of the second generation.1 As in real life, such transitions are not hard and fast. The remnant of the first generation is still present until chapter 26, when the complete transfer is marked by a new census. Nevertheless, in some ways the story of the new generation starts here in Numbers 21. What will they be like? How will they be similar to and different from their parents? What this chapter shows us is that in this generation there is something different and something still the same, along with some other things that never change, whatever generation you find yourself living in.

A NEW VICTORY

The story begins with something completely different: victory over the Canaanites (vv. 1–3). It is a brief snippet within the overall narrative but one that is full of significance. The Canaanites initiated the conflict, attacking the Israelites and capturing some of them (v. 1). In the past this kind of reverse at the hands of their enemies could easily have been enough to send Israel into a catastrophic tailspin of despair and grumbling, but the new generation took the challenge in their stride. They went to the Lord and vowed that if the Lord gave them success, they would devote to destruction all of the Canaanite cities (v. 2). The Lord gave them the victory, and they obediently fulfilled the terms of their vow, completely destroying the Canaanites and their towns. This victory was a kind of firstfruits of the conquest of the Promised Land, a paradigm example of how to take on and defeat the Lord’s enemies through trust in him.

The practice of total destruction of the cities of their enemies (ḥerem) was not a regular part of Israel’s warfare throughout the ages. On the contrary, it was for the most part a unique and temporary feature particularly associated with the conquest of the land of Canaan. Just as the possession of the land of Canaan by the Lord’s people foreshadowed their heavenly inheritance, so too the slaughter of the present inhabitants was a foreshadowing of the final judgment of sinners by God. At the end of all things, there will be a judgment for sin that will encompass all men, women, and children and will result in a final separation of humanity into two groups. According to the Bible, all those who are outside of Christ will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11–15), while those who by God’s grace are the Lord’s people will enter into their heavenly rest (Revelation 21). What happened in the conquest of Canaan was a visual depiction in time of that ultimate reality. The Lord had declared that when the sins of the Amorites were full, they were to be exterminated as a judgment from the Lord (see Genesis 15:16). In that judgment, Israel served as the human equivalent of the fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24, 25) or the flood that destroyed the wicked in Noah’s time (Gen. 6–8).

This comprehensive judgment also served important purposes in Israel’s conquest campaign. In the first place, it marked out the battle as the Lord’s by dedicating the spoils of victory to him. Since the Lord won the victory, it was only fitting that he should receive the spoils of the war. Israel was not fighting merely to acquire territory or wealth for themselves. Rather, their battle was for the Lord: they fought for his glory and at his direction. That is why failure to observe the rules of ḥerem, as when Achan took some of the spoil from Jericho for himself (Joshua 7:1), was such a serious offense. It was stealing from the Lord, and it resulted in the Lord’s fighting against Israel instead of for them. In addition, the practice of total destruction of the Canaanites also removed the practical temptation for Israel to assimilate the ways of the inhabitants of the land, intermarrying with them and being drawn into the worship of their gods (see Deuteronomy 7:3, 4). A little later in the book of Numbers we will see just how serious that temptation to assimilate was, when we see the Israelites drawn into sexual immorality and idolatry through their contacts with Moabite women (25). Obviously, ḥerem warfare removed that potential temptation at the source.

Israel’s victory here in Numbers 21 marked their very first success against the Canaanites, and it was all the sweeter because it occurred at Hormah. Hormah was the site of the first generation’s defeat by the Canaanites back in Numbers 14, when they tried to enter the Promised Land in their own strength (v. 45). Now, though, it earned its enduring name of Hormah (derived from ḥerem) as the new generation demonstrated their faith in the same location where their forefathers had demonstrated unbelief. As a result, they saw the Lord grant them the firstfruits of the conquest.

MORE VICTORIES

Nor was this first success a solitary victory. Much of the chapter is taken up with the defeat of Sihon and Og, two kings of the Amorites. Israel at first sought to pass through Sihon’s territory peacefully (v. 22), just as they had asked the King of Edom for passage in the previous chapter (20:14–21). Just like the King of Edom, Sihon refused to let them pass and marched out against them with a sizable army. Here, though, the story line diverges from the preceding incident. Unlike the previous generation, the new generation was not so easily intimidated by a show of force. When Sihon fought against them, they put him to the sword and occupied his territory (vv. 23–25).

They then moved on to Jazer, where Moses sent out spies to survey the territory (v. 32). This kind of maneuver makes you nervous, in view of what happened after the last scouting trip (13, 14). Yet this time the story moves straight on from the scouting trip to the capture of Jazer and its surrounding settlements. It is once again clear that this new generation is not like their fathers, and it shows what could have happened earlier, if the people had only had faith in the Lord. Finally, they met Og, King of Bashan, and his mighty army (v. 33). The Lord reminded Moses not to be afraid of him, for the Lord had handed him over to the Israelites (v. 34). Once again, the result was a comprehensive victory for Israel and the total destruction of their enemies (v. 35; see also Deuteronomy 2:26–3:7). Israel then took possession of his land as well. The new generation was clearly new in more than just name: they were a generation who by faith were winning the battles that their parents never dared to attempt.

THE SAME OLD GRUMBLING

Yet in other ways the new generation was not so radically different from their forefathers. We can see that from the incident with the bronze serpent, which took place right after their initial victory over their enemies. Having defeated the Canaanites, the Israelites headed south once again to go around the territory of Edom, back toward the Red Sea (v. 4). Perhaps heading toward the Red Sea at this point felt altogether too much like going back to the starting point of the whole exodus. After forty years, the victory at Hormah notwithstanding, were they still just going in circles? Would they ever see the full harvest of victory over the Canaanites? Whatever the cause, the new generation found themselves in the same cycle of grumbling as their fathers had, over exactly the same things. They grumbled against God and Moses, suggesting they had brought them into the wilderness to die there (v. 5; compare 14:3; 16:13; 20:5). They complained about the lack of food and the monotony of the manna (v. 5; compare 11:6). They even moaned about the lack of water (v. 5), just as the older generation had in the previous chapter (20:5). It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The aftermath of this grumbling was no different for the new generation than it had been for the old generation. The Lord sent judgment upon his grumbling people in the shape of fiery serpents,5 whose bite was fatal (v. 6). The wages of sin and unbelief continued to be death for the new generation as it had been for the old. Yet once again Moses was there to intercede for the people when they repented. In response to his intercession, the Lord commanded him to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole, so that anyone who had been bitten could look at the serpent and live (v. 8).

To understand what is going on here, it is important to recognize that neither the judgment nor the remedy was a random phenomenon. It is not as if the Lord saw his people sinning and then said to himself, “Now what shall I afflict them with today? I think I’ll send snakes! I haven’t tried that punishment before.” Nor was the form of the judgment simply due to the fact that snakes were a convenient commodity with which to afflict people in that part of the desert. Rather, it was a sign that was full of meaning for the Israelites, who had only a few years earlier emerged from Egypt and were therefore well-versed in Egyptian symbolism. These serpents were a potent representation of the power of Egypt, to which they were apparently so eager to return. Snakes were well-known symbols of power and sovereignty in ancient Egypt, as the familiar image of a cobra on Pharaoh’s crown reminds us.6 Having once been freed from Pharaoh, did they really want to be subject to the power of the serpent all over again?

Even more profoundly, though, the serpent (nāḥāš) is a symbol of the ultimate enemy of mankind, Satan himself. It was in the form of a serpent (nāḥāš) that Satan deceived our first ancestors and brought about the sin that caused us to be cast out of the garden into the desert of this fallen world. It was not the Lord who had brought them into the wilderness to die, as they alleged (v. 5). Their death was not due to his power failing to give them that which he had promised. On the contrary, death in the wilderness was the result of their own sin and that of their forefather, Adam. It was their refusal to submit to the Lord that led to bondage to Satan, who is the real hard taskmaster.

Nor was the standard on which the serpent was to be transfixed merely a convenient means of lifting the serpent up where everyone could see it. In Egypt, such a pole or standard was a recognized symbol of the deity’s power. Here it served to demonstrate that the Lord’s power was present in the midst of the camp, granting life to those whose sins had condemned them to death through the serpent’s bite. The transfixed serpent on the standard thus demonstrated in visual terms the defeat of Israel’s mortal enemies, Egypt and Satan, overcome by the power of the Lord. When the people felt afresh the bitter pain of their sinful rebellion, they were given a sign to show them the life-giving power of the Lord that was constantly available to heal them.

The serpent on the pole was not a magical cure for snakebite, however. On the contrary, it was a sign that worked by taking the Lord at his word through faith. The people were to look intently at the bronze serpent, putting their trust in the power of the Lord’s victory over evil, and then they would be healed. It is not coincidental that the Lord chose this means of healing the people, for faith is the key marker of those who would enter the Promised Land. The unbelieving generation of their parents, including Moses and Aaron, were excluded from the land because of their unbelief (see 14:11; 20:12). The judgment by the fiery serpents would similarly eliminate any from the new generation who were lacking in faith, for those who refused to look to the Lord through the bronze serpent would die. Only those who believed could enter the land, for only those who believed would live.

CAMPING AND MOVING ON

Grumbling was not the only experience that the new generation shared with their forefathers. They also experienced their fair share of camping and moving on, as verses 10–20 show us. This lengthy travel itinerary may seem at first sight a waste of our time as well as theirs. Who really knows where “Waheb in Suphah” was (v. 14)? The commentators can only guess. More pertinently, why would anyone really care? Yet the travelogue of desert camps heightens our awareness of the experience of the new generation of traveling on and on while apparently going nowhere. That is the precise point of its inclusion. It shows us that the new generation proceeded onward through a succession of nowhere places in the wilderness around Moab just as their fathers had; yet it was precisely in these places that they learned of God’s continuing faithfulness. There, in the middle of nowhere, they experienced the Lord’s faithfulness in providing a well (vv. 16, 17), contradicting their earlier complaint that there was no water in the wilderness (v. 5). There in the middle of nowhere they also experienced the Lord’s faithfulness in giving them victory in battle, as demonstrated in the reference to “the Book of the Wars of the LORD” (v. 14), along with the defeat of Sihon and Og, two of Israel’s most archetypal enemies. These victories disproved their earlier claim that the Lord had brought them into the wilderness to die (v. 5).

What is more, it was there in the middle of nowhere that the people started to sing. The first generation had entered the wilderness with a song on their lips (Exodus 15), but that song soon died away, overwhelmed by the harsh realities of life and the growing unbelief of the people. Grumbling is irreconcilable with singing. Grumbling feels sorry for itself, while singing delights in what God has given and what he has promised to give. It is therefore not coincidental that with the rise of the new generation and their healing for their sin, we see a new burst of song, which was the outward expression of their faith.8 When God’s people sing, they confess that life is not merely an endless cycle of one barren campground after another, as it sometimes appears to be. Rather, they proclaim that God is faithful in the present to provide provision along the way and that he can be trusted to give ultimate victory. Singing is always an index marker of faith in the greater realities to come.

FAITH NEEDED AND REWARDED

The bronze serpent was itself a sign of a greater reality to come. When Jesus met with the Jewish leader Nicodemus, he said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15).

In other words, just as the bronze serpent was a sign calling for faith to which people could look and be delivered from death, so Christ’s crucifixion would have the same effect. God was going to provide a means of dealing with the wages of sin through Jesus Christ being lifted up on the cross.

Yet, if you think about the symbolism of the original sign, the fulfillment is richer than merely a superficial parallel. For it was precisely on the cross that Jesus won his victory over the ancient serpent, Satan himself, fulfilling the original gospel promise of God: “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). At the cross, Jesus broke the serpent’s power, just as in the wilderness the serpent was transfixed on the symbol of God’s power. Yet in the fulfillment of the sign, Jesus took upon himself the curse when he was lifted up on the cross. At that moment Satan seemed to have triumphed, killing God’s chosen one and extinguishing the light of the world. It seemed as if God himself had been transfixed by Satan’s power rather than vice versa. Death could not hold Jesus though: the resurrection showed that Satan had, after all, only struck Jesus’ heel. God’s power had indeed triumphed through that incredible substitution. Jesus bore in his body the covenant curse of God, so that through his death Adam’s offspring might be freed from that judgment. By his suffering we were healed. All we have to do to receive the blessing of eternal life in God’s presence is to believe in Jesus Christ and look intently to his death on the cross as the source and guarantee of our salvation.

The challenge that this passage presents to each one of us is therefore the question, to which generation do we belong? Are we part of the old, unbelieving generation that perishes in the wilderness, or part of the new, believing generation that is saved from its sin and grumbling by faith in the sign of God’s awesome victory over the evil one? If you have not yet placed your faith in Christ, now is the time to do so. The good news of the gospel is that those who were once part of the old, unbelieving generation, under sentence of death for their sin and already experiencing its effects, can become part of the new generation destined for life. Faith is the doorway to a whole new life. Whether you are young or old, all you need to do is look to Jesus Christ and confess him who was crucified for your sins and raised for your justification. In that simple confession of faith is the gift of eternal life. Just as Jesus told Nicodemus, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

LIVING BY FAITH: SIMUL CANTOR ET PECCATOR

Faith is not merely the first step in our journey with God, however. We do not begin with faith and then move on to trusting in ourselves and our own efforts. Faith is the stuff of life in the wilderness, unleashing the power of God by which Satan is overcome. What, then, are the marks of those who are living by faith.

First, those who live by faith are committed to a life of repentance. Repentance is the reflex of the faith that brought you into the kingdom, for looking to Christ means at the same time turning away from all other means of salvation. You couldn’t look intently at the bronze serpent and at something else as well. What is more, repentance continues to be the reflex of faith throughout our earthly pilgrimage. We are constantly being bitten by sin, as it were—feeling the painful effects of failure in our ongoing struggle against our sinful nature. Just as we daily see those bitter fruits of sin, so too we are daily to take those sins and nail them afresh to the cross.

Repentance is not simply a matter of recognizing and bemoaning what great sinners we are. As long as we are doing that, our eyes are still fixed on ourselves. Repentance is turning our heart to Christ in the midst of recognizing our own sin and fixing our eyes once again on the remedy for that sin, offered to us in the gospel. Repentance is catching ourselves when we have grumbled over some challenge to our comfort or our sense of being in control of our lives or our acceptance by the in-crowd and deliberately turning our face afresh toward Jesus. Repentance is picking ourselves up after we have sought comfort in some earthly substitute for God, whether food or lustful thoughts or shopping or gossip or an angry outburst, and saying to ourselves, “This is not my comfort. My only refuge is Jesus.” The life of faith is a life of repentance that is constantly turning away from sin and turning toward Jesus.

Second, those who live by faith persevere by faith. The road through life is long and hard, and our progress is often slow and hard to measure. Sometimes it seems in our lives as if we are faced once again toward the Red Sea, going backward rather than forward. In those moments, faith remembers that our arrival at the promised destination depends on God’s faithfulness, not ours, and endures the difficulty. With the psalmist we may cry out, “How long, O Lord?”—the spiritual equivalent of the child’s “Are we almost there yet?” However, as long as we are gazing at Christ, we need never wonder whether we will get there. The crucified and resurrected Lord is himself the guarantee that all those whom the Father has given him will reach their destination. There are many wars and multiple campsites for us to traverse along the way, but his faithfulness will never leave us or forsake us.

Third, those who live by faith sing songs of praise. The gospel transforms us from sinners to singers. To be sure, that is often a gradual process. Throughout our lives, we will continue to be simul cantor et peccator (“at the same time a singer and a sinner,” to paraphrase Luther’s famous expression). However, as we near our destination, the songs should gradually increase in intensity. Those whose eyes are fixed on Jesus should be increasingly hungry for worship. They love to join the angels in singing praise to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, reminding themselves of the good news and declaring the gospel to all creation. They love to celebrate the faithfulness of the Lord in the present and the sure expectation of final deliverance from the Lord in the future.

Fourth, those who live by faith partake joyfully in the sign of the Lord’s victory over Satan. Israel was given a visible symbol to look at: a bronze serpent. We have been given a visible and tangible sign of God’s victory in the Lord’s Supper. As we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are pointed afresh to the Lord’s victory: we look backward and proclaim his death on the cross, and we look forward and proclaim his certain return. The Lord’s Supper too is a sign that works by faith, feeding and spiritually strengthening and healing those who discern the Lord’s body and blood, while those who partake without faith receive no benefits from it. It is spiritual food that sustains us in the wilderness and assures us of the reality of Heaven and the certainty of God’s faithfulness to us personally.

Faith gazes steadfastly and intently at the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross is the place where our salvation was accomplished. The cross is the guarantee of God’s present love for us, which is so great that he sent his only begotten Son to die so that we might live. The cross is the surety of the eternal rest that awaits us when our traveling and warring days are done. What could be sweeter, then, than to sing of the cross? In the words of the classic hymn by Isaac Watts:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 259–267). Crossway Books.

Repeating the Mistakes of the Past

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 03:00:00 +0000

An old saying tells us, “Those who don’t remember the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.” Along similar lines some define expert as someone who recognizes his mistakes when he makes them again. Many of us can relate to this concept: we don’t remember the mistakes of our past well enough to avoid making them again, but they certainly begin to look familiar after we have made them for the second or third or umpteenth time. Whether it is failing to measure the materials accurately before we cut them for a hobby project or failing to be consistent in disciplining our children, we all have areas in our lives where we live out the adage, “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history” (Hegel). In that experience we have a great deal in common with ancient Israel. They too consistently failed to learn from their experience.

By Numbers 20 we have nearly reached the end of the wilderness wanderings: the events recorded here took place in the fortieth year after the Israelites started out (see 33:38). So what had they learned in the course of those forty years? The sad answer, at least for the older generation, was, virtually nothing. If there had been an exit exam for leaving the wilderness, as there is in California for leaving high school, these people would have been doomed to wander there forever.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

This failure to learn is highlighted by the fact that the primary event recorded in Numbers 20, the miraculous provision of water from the rock, was a mirror image of a similar event that had taken place in the very first year of their wandering (Exodus 17). That previous event is one of several backdrops against which we need to see this passage. At that first occasion in the wilderness of Sin (a similar sounding, yet different location from that in 20:1), the people quarreled with Moses and put the Lord to the test because there was no water for them to drink (Exodus 17:2, 3). They charged Moses with bringing the people out of Egypt simply to make them die of thirst in the wilderness (v. 3). However, on that occasion the Lord instructed Moses to bring the people to the rock at Horeb and to strike the rock there; water would flow from the rock for the people to drink (Exodus 17:6). In that first test Moses did exactly what the Lord told him to do, and the needs of the people were graciously met (Exodus 17:6).

That brief recap enables us to see what was still the same and what was new forty years later. The people’s quarrel with Moses was the same on the surface, but now it was amplified by the resuscitation of all of their intervening grumbles. Though the presenting problem for the people was once again the lack of water, their complaint was far more wide-ranging than that. In counseling terminology this is called gunnysacking. Perhaps a husband offends his spouse by failing to pick up his socks, which she has legitimately asked him to do every other week for the past ten years or so. Or perhaps the wife forgot to pick up her husband’s favorite suit from the dry cleaners as she had promised. Once the argument ensues, though, instead of focusing on the specific issue under dispute, all kinds of unresolved grievances emerge. One spouse inundates the other with every single one of his or her failings that he or she has carefully been saving up over the last six months, from the time she ran over the neighborcat to his habit of failing to put the lid back on the milk. The result is that instead of a limited argument over a minor issue, the couple ends up with a full-scale war because now they are dealing with six months’ worth of issues all at once.

In the same way, in this case the Israelites’ real problem was that they had nothing to drink, but once the Complaints Department was open for business, everything and anything was fair game. They repeated the complaint they had made when Moses had first brought them and their livestock into the wilderness—that he had led them there to die (Exodus 17:3), but now with an added edge. Now it was directed at Moses and Aaron together: “Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?” (20:4, 5). That complaint has a familiar ring to it because it combines the charge made against Moses and Aaron by Dathan and Abiram in 16:13 (“Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness?”) with that of the people as a whole in 16:41 (“You have killed the people of the LORD”). In fact, the people now identified themselves explicitly as kindred spirits with Dathan and Abiram and the other rebels when they said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!” (20:3).3 In spite of the Lord’s grace to them as seen in the last three chapters, they declared that they would rather have died with those who had rebelled against the Lord.

Nor was it simply the sin of Numbers 16, 17 that was being recapitulated. The people also blamed Moses and Aaron quite unfairly for the consequences of their own choices. In chapter 14 they chose to believe the spies’ “bad” or “evil” (rāʿâ) report concerning the Promised Land (v. 37) and so refused to enter it, in spite of the positive evidence that the spies had brought back of its fruitfulness in the shape of grapes, pomegranates, and figs (13:23). Now, however, they charged Moses and Aaron with bringing them out of Egypt to an “evil” (rā) place (v. 5), the same word that the spies had used to characterize the Promised Land. They were frustrated because the wilderness had no grain or vines or fig trees or pomegranates—the very fruit the spies brought back with them from Canaan (13:23). In other words, the people were blaming Moses and Aaron because the wilderness was not like the Promised Land that the people themselves had refused to enter!

Two familiar patterns of sin in their complaint are problems for us as well: catastrophizing and blame-shifting. Catastrophizing means that we paint our situation in far darker colors than is really warranted. Was their situation in the wilderness really a fate worse than death by fire (v. 3)? They may have been thirsty and missing some of their favorite foods, but the Lord had supplied those needs before, and he could do it again. They weren’t really as bad off as they alleged—and often neither are we. Isn’t it amazing how full of woe we can be while we are still healthy, surrounded by a family that loves us, with a roof over our heads? If we lack anything, is it too hard for the Lord to supply what we need? Instead of catastrophizing and anticipating the worst, we need to take our concerns to the Lord and trust in his goodness and power to provide for us in the situation.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES

Yet if the Lord is able to provide for our need, why doesn’t he keep us out of difficulty in the first place? One answer that we often do not want to face up to is that we may be there as a result of our own wrong choices. God is sovereign over all things, even over my sinful choices, and sometimes he chooses to let me suffer the consequences of my sinfulness so that I may learn something of their true impact. When that happens, though, instead of repenting and accepting responsibility for my actions, I often exhibit the fact that my heart has a blame-retardant coating. Never mind what I did, this problem must surely be someone else’s fault. I cry, “Lord, how could you let me end up in this terrible situation?” even though “this situation” is exactly where my own decisions and actions have logically brought me.

This is a trend that started all the way back in the Garden of Eden, with the woman blaming the serpent and the man blaming the woman and also God for giving her to him (Genesis 3:12, 13). Instead of blame-shifting, we need to take responsibility for our own actions and recognize that whatever our present situation, the Lord has always been far more gracious and merciful to us than we could possibly deserve. He never allows us to suffer in full measure the fate we truly deserve, and he always has good purposes for us in our trials, whatever our present difficulties may be.

THE RESPONSE OF MOSES AND AARON

However, unlike Exodus 17, the main focus of Numbers 20 is not the sin of the people in grumbling against the Lord, serious though that is. The main focus here is the response of Moses and Aaron to that complaint. They started out well enough, falling down before the Lord and receiving his instructions (v. 6), just as they had with the people’s previous complaints (16:4, 45). In response to their intercession, the Lord said to them:

Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. (v. 8)

These instructions are clear enough, and the first two steps were carried out correctly: Moses took the staff from before the Lord, and he and Aaron gathered the people together, just as the Lord had commanded him (vv. 9, 10). However, this is where the obedience stops.4 Instead of bringing water from the rock by the simple expedient of speaking to it, as he had been commanded, Moses launched into an impromptu speech to the people and then struck the rock, not once but twice (vv. 10, 11). Both of these acts were problematic, and together they show us that Moses too had been caught up in the people’s sinful mind-set, even while he was ostensibly doing what the Lord told him to do.

First, there was his speech: “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” (v. 10). There were two problems in this brief sentence. On the one hand, he termed the people “rebels.” You might say, “Well, that is what they were.” That is true. However, the problem is that Moses was putting himself in the place of judge to make that declaration though the Lord had not authorized him to do so. The Lord told him to extend his mercy and grace to the people in giving them water in a way that demonstrated unequivocally that the source was God; instead, Moses set himself up as their judge.

Not only did Moses set himself up as the people’s judge, he also set himself (and Aaron) up as their deliverers. He said, “shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” (v. 10). Then he struck the rock twice, as if it were his action that brought forth the water. Who provided water from the rock for the people? It was the Lord, of course. In his frustration with the people, Moses was drawn into the same mind-set they had, forgetting the Lord’s presence and power and acting as if everything were up to him. Moses presented himself as if he were a pagan magician with the ability to manipulate the gods to do his bidding.

There is more to Moses’ sin than mere self-exaltation though. In the first encounter with the rock in Exodus 17, it was clear that the rock represented God himself (compare Genesis 49:24; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 78:35). There the Lord allowed himself to be put on trial, standing before Israel, instead of putting them on trial for their complaining. In that awesome picture of grace, the Lord was willing to be struck himself instead of his rebellious people, so that they might receive life-giving water. It is one thing to strike God when he instructs you to do so; it is quite another to smite him (twice!) on your own authority. Moses’ act was thus nothing short of a direct assault on God himself.

In setting himself up as judge and deliverer of the people, Moses was demonstrating that he too had failed to learn from the past. That same self-exalting attitude was exactly what he had demonstrated when he first recognized the plight of his people when he was living as a prince in Pharaoh’s court. At that time, Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite, and he intervened and killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11, 12). The next day he saw two of his fellow Israelites fighting and tried to rebuke the one who was in the wrong. The man’s response was, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14). In other words, as a youth in Egypt Moses had been trying to judge and deliver his people in his own strength without a commission from the Lord. That attempt had ended in abject failure. Now, many years later, Moses had reverted once again to that old pattern of self-trust, judging the people in his own wisdom and trying to deliver them through his own acts, with similar results.

BEATING THE SHEEP

Certainly Moses is not the only one who has ever been guilty of judging people or trying to deliver them on his own. It is a common temptation for those in leadership in the church to become frustrated when the sheep don’t want to follow their shepherds. It is easy for us to judge them, whether privately in our own hearts or publicly in our sermons, berating them for their lack of vision. Sometimes the problem is that we, the shepherds, are trying to make them jump through the hoops of the latest ministry fashion or leadership fad, which the sheep have far too much sense to be caught up in. At other times we are seeking to lead them in good directions, challenging their comfortable inertia and urging them to move out in fresh obedience, and the sheep are simply being stubborn in their refusal to follow our lead. Either way, though, we can easily end up substituting law for grace and guilt for gratitude as the motivation for their obedience.

We can even do the same thing with ourselves. When we respond to our own sin by beating ourselves and judging ourselves as worthless people, we are acting as if we are our own judges. When we despair of ourselves in our ongoing struggle with sin, we are acting as if we are our own deliverers. What matters, however, is not how we judge ourselves but how God the Father judges us—and he declares us “Not guilty,” for Jesus’ sake. In spite of our sin, he calls us “saint” and “my child,” because he sees us through Jesus and has committed himself to deliver us to himself holy and pure on the last day. It is his verdict that counts, not our own, and he is our gracious judge and faithful deliverer.

It is worth noticing that in Numbers 20, even though the people were clearly at fault in their complaining, the Lord viewed the sin of Moses and Aaron in judging them as a far more serious infraction. In other words, even when the sheep are simply being stubborn and recalcitrant in not following our leadership, we are not called to beat and berate them, even in our own minds. Instead, we are to love them and keep on urging them forward, gently and persistently pointing them to the cross.

In truth, much of our frustration in ministry comes from the fact that we have begun to see ourselves as the functional saviors of ourselves and our people. Remembering that it is the sovereign Lord who is saving and sanctifying us, and not we ourselves, will deliver us from much of our frustration. The Holy Spirit is the one who is responsible for transforming his sheep, and he will do so according to his agenda, not ours. We want ourselves and our people to be “fixed” right now, in part because it would give us a sense of personal satisfaction and achievement. We would then be able to bask in the glory of our renovation, feeding our pride and sense of self-worth. The Holy Spirit, however, is not eager to share his glory. He bears his fruit in the lives of his people in his season, not ours, so that it may be clearly seen that the work is entirely of him.

REBELLING AGAINST THE LORD

The irony is that in judging the people and seeking to deliver them on their own, Moses and Aaron became exactly what they accused the people of being: rebels against the Lord. When it was time for Aaron’s death at the end of the chapter, the Lord recalled their actions at Meribah and said, “Both of you rebelled against my command” (v. 24, NIV). The same was true when it came time for Moses to pass on the leadership of Israel to Joshua (27:14). In setting themselves forward as the people’s judges and deliverers, Moses and Aaron publicly displayed their own failure to believe in and fear the Lord as a holy God (v. 12). Because of this lack of faith, they too were now excluded from entry into the Promised Land. Like the rest of the first generation, Moses and Aaron would die in the desert, yet more object lessons of the holiness of Israel’s God

The sin of Moses and Aaron was thus itself a recapitulation of the sin of the people in Numbers 13, 14 when they refused to enter the Promised Land. What Joshua had warned the people not to do (“Do not rebel against the LORD,” 14:9) was exactly what Moses and Aaron now did (v. 24). The Lord’s complaint about the people then would fit Moses and Aaron as well: “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” (14:11). Little wonder, then, that their punishment was the same as that entire generation: those who rebelled against the Lord through a lack of faith would never enter the land, no matter who they were.

In essence, most of our sins boil down to a functional failure to believe God. In theory, we believe that God is our rock and our refuge; in practice, however, we often act as if God doesn’t even exist. Why do we judge people and write them off as hopeless? It is because in practice we do not really believe that God can rescue and redeem them. Why do we get so angry and frustrated when our spouses and our families disappoint us? It is because we don’t really believe that God is their judge, and we aren’t willing to let their sanctification rest in the Lord’s hands. Why are we so fearful for our own future? It is because we don’t really believe that the Lord will deliver us at the critical moment. Why are we so angry with God at the way our lives have turned out? It is because we don’t believe he has our best interests at heart or that there is more to life than what we see around us in this world. We are condemned by our failure to believe in the Lord as rebels against his goodness, just like Moses and Aaron and an entire generation of the ancient Israelites.

THE ENCOUNTER WITH EDOM

The parallels between Moses’ and Aaron’s failure to believe in the Lord and the failure of the people to do the same thing in Numbers 13, 14 help us see the significance of the enigmatic encounter with Edom that follows the events at Meribah (vv. 14–21). Moses sought to travel east from Kadesh, through the territory of the Edomites, but his request for passage was opposed by force and ended up in retreat. What we see here seems to be Moses doing exactly the same thing that the people did when they heard the Lord’s judgment upon them: refusing to accept that judgment and attempting to force their way into the land in their own strength (see 14:39–45).

Notice that the Lord did not instruct Moses to take this route, nor is the Lord’s name mentioned in the account, except in passing (v. 16). This is in dramatic contrast with the conflict that we will see at the beginning of the next chapter (21:1–3), when the people sought the Lord before going into battle and received victory from the Lord. When Israel’s first request was rebuffed by Edom, they sought to resolve the matter through political negotiations rather than through prayer. If the Lord had been with Moses and the people in this endeavor, it would not have mattered that Edom came out against them with a large army; but without the Lord’s presence they had no power to prevail over those who opposed them (vv. 20, 21). Like the earlier abortive campaign of the people, Moses’ attempt to find a shortcut into blessing ended up in a blind alley.

THE WAGES OF REBELLION

Numbers 20 thus shows us the judgment of the Lord on the wilderness generation reaching its climax in judgment on their leaders. Moses and Aaron joined the rebels in their sin and paid the same price as they did—exclusion from the land. The fact that the wages of rebellion is death for leaders as well as for followers is highlighted by the deaths that bracket the chapter: it began with the death of Miriam at Kadesh (v. 1) and ended with the death of Aaron (vv. 22–29). It was actually unbelief and rebellion that threatened death in the wilderness, not a lack of water.

Aaron’s death was announced ahead of time by the Lord: he was to go up Mount Hor with his brother Moses and his son Eleazar, where he would die (vv. 25, 26). There he was to be stripped of his robes of office, which were then to be transferred to his son (v. 26). This was more than a mere rite of transfer from father to son. The language of stripping implies that a measure of degradation was involved. To go along with the judgment of not being allowed to enter the Promised Land, Aaron was being stripped of his office as high priest, which from now on would be his son’s responsibility.

This time we are told that Moses did exactly as the Lord commanded him. The earlier disobedience that took place in the sight of the whole community (v. 12) was at last replaced by obedience in the sight of the whole community (v. 27). The high-priestly baton was transferred from one generation to the next, and the whole congregation mourned Aaron’s passing (v. 29). The old generation was fading away, their epitaph the words of Psalm 90, the only psalm written by Moses:

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh. (vv. 5–9)

SIGNS OF GRACE

In the midst of the death and disgrace that so dominate Numbers 20, it would be easy to overlook the positive signs of the Lord’s grace that it contains. Even though Moses and Aaron sinned in carrying out the Lord’s command and received a curse, the Lord nonetheless granted his rebellious people the flow of water that they needed. Even though Moses would not lead the people into the land, yet the Lord’s promise to grant the land to them still stood, and he would raise up Joshua to take Moses’ place. Even though Aaron was now dead, the next generation was ready to take up his priestly work through his son, Eleazar. In fact, the deaths of Miriam and Aaron in this chapter in some ways mark the beginning of a generational transition. Even though the definitive turning point of the census of the next generation is still six chapters away, from the beginning of Numbers 21 things started to look up for Israel. The Lord is not only far more gracious than we believe him to be—he is far more gracious than we deserve.

On what is your trust for the present and your hope for the future built? You might think that a leadership team of Moses, Miriam, and Aaron would be a tough combination to improve upon, but by the end of this chapter their story is effectively over: they are dying, dead, and dead. We need a better leader than Moses, someone who will not get frustrated with his people and judge them. We need someone who will show his people grace and effectively deliver them in their hour of need. The good news of the gospel is that a leader who is better than Moses has come in the person of Jesus. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus Christ was actually part of this story in Numbers 20: he was the spiritual rock that accompanied his people through the wilderness and from which they drank (1 Corinthians 10:4). In Jesus Christ, God himself took the blows that we deserved for our rebellion. He is the righteous High Priest who was stripped not because of any failure on his part but to enable him to take our place on the cross under God’s curse. From him flows the living water that we need to slake our thirsty souls and to transform our lives increasingly into his image.

The wages of sin is death. This chapter demonstrates clearly the fact that this was true for Miriam, for Aaron, and ultimately for Moses as well. This is equally true for us all: we all have our own besetting sins to which we return, which are simply the outward overflow of our inner unbelief. It may be an uncontrolled temper or a sharp tongue or a lustful heart. It may be a complaining attitude or judgmental pride. Whatever it is, such sin marks us out as rebels against God. Like Moses and Aaron, we are all rebels who deserve death. Yet in Christ there is an answer for our rebellion. In Christ we have someone who has taken the death that we deserved and has paid fully for our sins. His perfect obedience is now credited to our account, exactly as if it were our own. In him we are justified freely right now, sinners though we are. In that reality lies our hope, our peace, and our comfort in the weary wilderness.

How long, then, will you and I refuse to believe in this God who has so wonderfully demonstrated his love for us in so many ways? How long will we trust in ourselves and judge others? How long will we become angry and frustrated over our own lack of sanctification and the failures of others? We must look to the Lord and submit our hearts to him, trusting in his goodness and mercy, believing that his timing is perfect, being filled with thankfulness for his death and resurrection. We must ask God to teach us wisdom and patience, grace and gentleness, and, above all, love. The day will come when our earthly struggles and rebellions will be over, and the Lord will welcome us into his presence; then all our frustrations will finally be over. Until then, the good news of his gospel of grace will faithfully sustain our thirsty souls step by step along the way.

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 249–258). Crossway Books.

True Cleanliness

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 02:00:00 +0000

When his wife was away from home, the novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote:

The washing of dishes does seem to me the most absurd and unsatisfactory business that I ever undertook. If, when once washed, they would remain clean for ever and ever (which they ought in all reason to do, considering how much trouble it is), there would be less occasion to grumble; but no sooner is it done, than it requires to be done again. On the whole, I have come to the resolution not to use more than one dish at each meal.

We can all surely identify with that quote. Even in these days of dishwashers, it seems that we are no sooner finished loading it with the dishes of one meal and putting away the clean plates before we start the same cycle all over again. The same is true of laundry and vacuuming. Can we ever say that these jobs are really done? In our experience, cleanliness is not so much next to godliness as it is next to impossible to maintain, at least without an interminable effort. If someone were to invent a plate that once washed remained clean forever and ever or a suit of clothes that self-cleaned while hanging in your closet, his fortune would be assured. The same is true in the spiritual realm. Spiritual dirt—sin—accumulates constantly without any significant effort on our part. Spiritual cleanliness seems impossible for us to maintain.

DEALING WITH DIRT

How do we deal with that reality in the realm of physical dirt? Well, one way to approach the issue is to redefine the nature of dirt. Does that pair of jeans really need washing, or can it be worn another day? How many dust bunnies does it take to form a quorum sufficiently large to require vacuuming? If we are able to define the acceptable level of dirt upward, then maybe our task in combating it will become manageable. Alternatively, we can try to limit the sources of contamination. Use only one dish per meal, as Hawthorne suggested; tell your children they can only play with one toy car or doll at a time; make everyone take off their shoes before they come into the house. Maybe that will make the impossible job of keeping the house clean and tidy achievable.

Essentially, people tend to adopt the same kinds of strategies when it comes to dealing with spiritual dirt. Many people try to redefine the nature of sin, thereby making obedience more manageable. I know I have to love my neighbor, but if I limit the extent of who my neighbor is, then obedience to the Law seems more achievable. If righteousness is defined merely in terms of external obedience to a set of rules and regulations, then perhaps I can manage to achieve it by carefully writing in enough loophole clauses and exceptions. Alternatively, others try to achieve spiritual cleanliness by limiting the potential sources of contamination. They huddle in their own family and religious group so the world cannot soil them. They don’t watch movies—not even The Sound of Music—or listen to the radio or read secular books for fear of defilement. They try to separate themselves completely from anything and everything that might be a source of impurity.

Neither of these is a Biblical approach to the problem of the pervasiveness of spiritual dirt in our lives. On the one hand, the Bible works very hard to show the searching nature of God’s definition of sin. Just as the Marine Corps drill sergeant performing an inspection is not impressed by attempts to persuade him that a blotch of ketchup does not make your uniform dirty, the Lord is not impressed by our attempts to redefine sin. In fact, the Scriptures are far more searching than any other religious code in their definition of sin. In the Bible, sin is not just failing to keep an external code of rules—it is having a heart that is not right with the Lord. Sometimes I meet people who insist that they keep the Ten Commandments. Immediately I am tempted to ask how they are doing on the first one—“I am the LORD your God.… You shall have no other gods besides me” (Exodus 20:2, 3). Are they really loving the Lord, the God of the Bible, with all of their heart and soul and mind and strength? Are they putting him first in their use of time and money? Do they truly wake up each morning with adoration in their heart toward the Lord and go to sleep with his name on their lips? If they are really achieving this, then I’d like to know how they do it, for I know that I’m not like that. However, if they are not loving the Lord wholeheartedly moment by moment, then they are daily breaking the most fundamental part of God’s Law.

Equally, though, the solution to the pervasiveness of spiritual dirt is not for individuals to hide themselves away from the world. The Bible reminds us that sin comes not simply from outside human beings but from within. Like the Pharisees, such people are putting all of their attention on external sources of defilement when the reality is that sin comes from within. Figuratively speaking, they are carefully removing every speck of dirt from the dish before filling it with sewage-contaminated food and then wondering why they still become ill (see Matthew 15:1–20). The truth is that even if we were stranded on a desert island, we wouldn’t lack for opportunities to sin. The reason is simple: our sinful nature would be right there with us. Sometimes when we are caught in some sin, we blurt out, “I don’t know what happened. It’s not like me to do that!” The sad reality, though, is that sin is exactly like us. We bear the seeds of every possible sin within our hearts; all it takes is the right external environment to bring it out. As the book of James reminds us, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14, 15).

In the absence of a suitable external encouragement, the depth of our sinfulness may remain concealed, even to ourselves, but it nonetheless remains present.

THE NEED FOR CLEANSING

If what the Bible says is true, and we are deeply sinful people at the core level of our existence, then what we need is a comprehensive and regular cleaning. Just as we have a plan for removing physical dirt from our homes on a regular basis, so also we need regular provision for our spiritual dirt to be removed and our hearts cleansed. This is not something we can do for ourselves, any more than Lady Macbeth could cleanse her own hands through repeated washings. It is something that the Lord needs to do for us.

This concept of spiritual dirt and the need for regular cleansing is the principle that underlies Numbers 19. The ritual system of Israel was not an arbitrary set of rules and regulations that would have provided them a means of earning righteousness before God. Rather, it reflected in a profound way the values that the Lord was laying down for Israelite society. It was a simplified model of reality designed to help Israel understand the nature of the world in which she lived and the relationship she was required to have with the Lord. In that model, impurity could be contracted in a number of ways in ancient Israel, as we saw in an earlier study (see Numbers 5, considered in Chapter 6 of this book). Essentially, however, these diverse sources of contamination all reflected one central cause: contact with the realm of death. The purpose of the prohibition of touching a corpse in Numbers 19 was not mere superstition or the fear of contracting disease. Rather, it flowed out of the close connection between death and sin. The Lord is the God of life, and those who would approach him need to reflect that life. The Israelites were being taught that death has no place in his presence, nor does anyone who has had contact with the realm of death. Like matter and antimatter, the Lord and death cannot peaceably coexist: the Lord will ultimately vanquish death (1 Corinthians 15:26), and thus even traces of death adhering to a person made him or her unfit to enter the Lord’s presence.

The sharp separation that the Lord imposed between his people and death was designed to impress on the Israelites the defiling power of sin, which similarly contaminates us and makes us unfit for the Lord’s presence, even in the least quantities. Yet the commandment to remain separate from death and sin could never be enough by itself. In their present context the entire community had recently come into contact with death because of Korah’s rebellion and its aftermath. As a result, no one was free from death’s contamination, and all needed to be made clean. Numbers 19 thus fittingly concludes the central portion of the book (11–19), where death has been such a prominent feature. Everyone needed the cleansing that the Lord provided for them in this chapter, which itself was a profound picture of the ultimate cleansing the Lord would provide for the sins of his people. Through the regular application of the water of cleansing, the Lord promised to purify all those who had become contaminated by contact with death.

THE PROVISION OF CLEANSING

How was this powerful cleansing detergent that would wash away their contamination to be made? First, the priest was to take a perfect, red cow5 that had never been worked (19:2). The red-brown color highlighted the importance of blood as the key cleansing element. Two of the other key ingredients involved in the sacrifice, cedar and scarlet wool (v. 6), also share a reddish hue with the cow. The answer to the scarlet stain of our sin is thus a blood-colored sacrifice.

Once selected, the cow was to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered (v. 3). Some of its blood was then sprinkled seven times toward the entrance to the tent of meeting (v. 4). This ritual is reminiscent of the normal procedure for a purification offering (often called a sin offering), with the appropriate modifications necessary due to the fact that the slaughter was taking place outside the camp (see Leviticus 4:6). After the sprinkling, the entire animal was burned, including the blood (v. 5). This was the only sacrifice in the Old Testament where the blood was burned rather than poured out at the base of the altar. The reason for this change is simple. Since the cleansing power of this sacrifice resided in the blood, the blood too had to be rendered into ashes. The other ingredient put into the fire, along with the cow, the cedar, and the scarlet wool, was hyssop (v. 6), an herb traditionally used to sprinkle the cleansing blood on objects and people. Everything in this procedure thus focuses our attention on the blood.

After the sacrificial heifer and the other ingredients had been burned completely, the ashes were to be gathered up and stored in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp until they were required (v. 9). The ashes were thus, if you like, a kind of “instant purification offering.” Just as we have instant tea or instant soup, to which we simply add water and they are ready to serve, so these ashes were reconstituted by the addition of water to make them ready for cleansing use (v. 17).

In addition to the centrality of blood in this ritual, the other remarkable, even paradoxical feature of this sacrifice was its power to defile the ones preparing and administering it. At the same time as the ashes made the defiled person clean, they also made the ceremonially clean person defiled.8 From the priest who administered the ritual (v. 7), to the man who burned the animal (v. 8), to the man who gathered the ashes (vv. 9, 10), to the man who sprinkled the water (v. 21), every clean person who touched the ashes was defiled by them. Whoever or whatever they touched in the cleansing process became unclean because of the contagious power of defilement (v. 22). The ashes had to be stored outside the camp so they would not defile the camp by their very presence. It is as if the ashes were a kind of ritual detergent that cleansed the impure person by absorbing their impurity. In the process, though, they themselves became both defiled and defiling.

This is not a hard concept for us to grasp in the modern world. When I worked in the oil industry, we had a number of electrical transformers filled with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). As part of the regular maintenance procedures, we wanted to change the oil in these transformers, but because PCBs are hazardous to the environment, we couldn’t simply replace the old oil with new oil. Instead we contracted with a company to fill the transformers with fresh insulating oil, knowing that it would immediately become contaminated itself by the residue of PCBs. Then they removed this newly contaminated oil, along with the PCBs it now contained, leaving a cleansed transformer that could once again be returned to service. The cleansing process required the contamination of the clean as a condition for the cleansing of the contaminated.

Through the sacrifice of the red cow, cleansing was made easily available to all in the community, both native-born and alien alike (v. 10). The cost of the cleansing was kept low to the ones being cleansed. Yet the cost for the ones who made the offering on their behalf was substantial. It was not simply that the community had to bear the financial cost of sacrificing the cow. The one making the offering also had to temporarily sacrifice his own state of ritual cleanliness in order to let those who had become defiled enter in.

Once made, the ashes of cleansing had to be applied. As long as they remained stored away in a jar, they were of no benefit to anyone. The ashes had to be mixed with fresh (literally, “living”) water (v. 17). Then hyssop was dipped into the mixture and was sprinkled on anyone and anything that had been contaminated by contact with death. This sprinkling was not an instantaneous cure, however. It was not a magic ritual that removed the need for the normal cleansing process, as if contamination could be simply removed with a wish and a pinch of magic dust. The water and ashes needed to be applied twice, on the third and the seventh day of defilement, and the person also needed to wash himself and his clothes (v. 19). Only then would the purification process be complete. Anyone who failed to follow this procedure remained defiled and would be a cause of defilement to the whole camp. Such a person would necessarily be cut off from the community (v. 20).

OUR MODERN NEED FOR CLEANSING

What does all this have to do with us and our deep need of cleansing? The answer is that this comprehensive ritual shows us both our need of cleansing and God’s answer for it. In the first place, the ritual shows us our need of cleansing. Like the ancient Israelites, we are inevitably contaminated in our daily walk through this world. Just as they inevitably came into contact with death in their culture, so too we inevitably come into contact with sin. Some of their contact with death was deliberate, while other encounters were accidental, but it was virtually impossible for them perpetually to avoid such contact. They didn’t have mortuaries and funeral directors and all of the means that we have developed in our society to avoid facing the ugly reality of death. Sometimes, therefore, they had no choice but to come into contact with death. At other times their contact with death was the result of carelessness or thoughtlessness. Either way, contact with death defiled them.

So too for us. Some of our sins are deliberate, while others are the result of carelessness and thoughtlessness on our part. Some sin, such as failing to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and all our souls as we should, is virtually inevitable due to our weakness as fallen human beings. We are pervasively contaminated people on every level of our beings. Instead of redefining sin so that it no longer covers the things that we do, or pretending that sin doesn’t exist in our carefully sheltered world, it is far better to recognize the inevitable reality of our contact with sin and let that realization drive us back to God and to the cleansing he has provided.

In our society some churches are reluctant even to use the word sin anymore. They feel it is a negative word that will keep seekers away from God. Unfortunately, that refusal short-circuits the whole cleansing process: refusing to talk about sin is actually what keeps seekers away from God and not vice versa. Our natural tendency is to try to wash ourselves, substituting our own cleaning fluid for the living water and ashes. Just as ancient Israel insisted repeatedly on drinking from her own cracked and broken cisterns instead of looking to the Lord for living water (Jeremiah 2:13), so too we often substitute moral reformation—turning over a new leaf—for the Lord’s cleansing water. We are easily persuaded that going to church, developing healthy relationships, and a good self-image are sufficient to pass muster with God. We will never be cleansed by the waters of cleansing, however, unless we first recognize the depth of our need and name it as what it is, sin. Until we recognize the hand of death in our lives in the form of sin, we cannot bring it to the Lord and receive the cleansing that he has provided for us.

ONGOING CLEANSING

Moreover, the cleansing that we need is not simply a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Now, there is a once-in-a-lifetime experience of cleansing from sin, symbolized by baptism. That sacrament cannot be repeated, for it represents and communicates the completeness and sufficiency of our cleansing in Christ. What Jesus did on the cross is a once-and-for-all event that cannot be, and does not need to be, repeated. When we come to Christ by faith, at that moment our sins are washed away once and for all. Yet having been baptized does not in and of itself do away with our need for ongoing cleansing. Jesus pointed that out when he washed the disciples’ feet. Peter (typically!) wanted not simply his feet washed but his whole body (John 13:9). Yet Jesus responded, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet” (v. 10). In other words, there is a once-and-for-all washing that does not need to be repeated, but there is also an ongoing, repeated washing.9 As Christians, there are specific sins that we are conscious of having committed, along with the general grime that we acquire in the regular course of living in this fallen world. Both of these things need to be regularly washed away.

This is why the practice of confessing our sins to one another is so important. John reminds his hearers in 1 John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” To refuse to recognize our sins puts us in the category of the person who refused the cleansing waters in Numbers 19. Such a person must be cut off from the community of faith because he or she has refused the means that the Lord has provided to deal with his or her defilement. Being a Christian doesn’t mean never having to talk about sin, any more than being in love means never having to say, “Sorry!” On the contrary, the reality is that it is those who are truly in love who are most likely to be found saying, “Sorry.” For the same reason, true Christians are the most likely to be saying, “I have sinned.” They don’t live in denial, proudly pretending there is nothing amiss in their life. Rather, they recognize that when they sin they have offended someone they love deeply, and they are confident that the Lord will extend his mercy and forgiveness to wash them clean.

In our church we regularly confess our sins to the Lord as part of our worship service precisely as an encouragement to each of us to be honest about who we are and how much we still need the gospel, even as believers in Christ. It is an opportunity to go before Almighty God and recognize publicly that we all individually need the waters of cleansing applied to our hearts and lives. After we confess our sins, the minister then announces afresh to us from the Scriptures the assurance of the gospel, that in Christ there is cleansing and forgiveness for all who come to God by faith in him. We say to God, “Lord, I’m filthy inside and out. I’m sorry. This is who I am by nature.” God in turn responds, “Here is the living water of cleansing that flows from the cross. Jesus died to make you acceptable to me just as you are, and I have sent my Holy Spirit to indwell you, to remake you ultimately as a new person.”

What stands in the way of confessing our sins to God and to one another? Surely it is our pride. I know that to be the case for myself. It is because I am such a proud and hard-hearted person that I find confession of sin really difficult. It is so much easier for me to excuse my sin or to deny my sin. Yet when I do confess my sin, my pride is placed on the anvil and delivered another shattering blow. My eyes are opened afresh to the depth of my need for the gospel, and I am made thankful afresh for the cleansing waters that flow from the cross.

When we confess our sins weekly in church, we look back to that once-and-for-all event and look forward to anticipate all the more eagerly that final day of cleansing. We come and receive the absolution that Jesus purchased for us through his death in our place. We come asking that his blood be applied to our sins, washing away their stain upon us. We know that because the Lord is faithful and just, he will do it, cleansing us afresh and making us fit to stand in his presence. We come thankful that one day our cleansing will be over and we will be perfectly clean forever.

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO FORGIVE SINS

The Apostle John sets out for us exactly that pattern of confession and assurance. Having reminded his hearers that they are indeed sinners, he goes on to say, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The talk of Christ cleansing us from all unrighteousness resonates exactly with the application of the waters of cleansing, doesn’t it? It is Christ’s blood that washes us clean from our filth. However, the passage also raises the question of how it can be “faithful and just” for God to forgive our sins. We can easily see how it could be “merciful and kind” of God to forgive us, but how can it be “faithful and just” for him to do so?

Once again the sacrificial ritual of the red cow makes it all clear. Remember that this ritual required two things for the cleansing to take place. There had to be a spotless sacrifice who was slaughtered to provide the means necessary for cleansing and a clean person who was willing to give up that state of ritual cleanliness and access to God for the sake of another. Both aspects of the ritual point forward to Jesus, the one who gave us his perfect holiness as our clean substitute and suffered for us as the spotless sacrifice. These two aspects of Jesus taking our place are what theologians call the active and passive obedience of Christ. On the one hand, there is the active obedience of Christ: this is the means by which Jesus became our clean substitute. He is the only human being who has ever been perfectly clean. We could have called a surprise inspection of his life at any moment, but we would never have found a speck of dirt where it didn’t belong. He lived his life in perfect alignment with God’s Law, in perfect tune with God’s harmony. He thus took our place as the law-keeper, the clean one who administers the cleansing sacrifice for us.

But there is more. In addition to his perfect life, there is also his death for you and me—his passive obedience. He has not only taken our place as the law-keeper—he has also taken the place we deserved as law-breakers. He went outside the camp and offered his own blood as the atoning sacrifice: through his death he paid the debt for all of the sins of his people, and he became defiled in the process. As Paul puts it: “[God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Just as in the offering of the red cow, the clean one had to become defiled, so the defiled one could be made clean, Jesus took our sins upon himself. If Jesus has died and made full payment for our sins, however, there is no payment left for us to make on them. God can’t punish two people for the same offense. If Jesus has taken our defilement into himself, there is no stain left upon us. The foul spot has finally been purged away, transmitted to Christ. Therefore, because God is faithful and just, and the penalty for our sin has been paid in full, he must and will forgive all who are followers of Jesus for all of their sins.

PLEADING JESUS

When you stand before God as your judge in the heavenly courtroom, there are therefore only two options as to how you can plead—and innocent isn’t one of them. Nobody will be able to plead innocent before God because of a lack of contamination. The truth of our defilement will be clear to all. We have all disobeyed God and have gone our own way times without number. We are all thoroughly tainted by sin and death. One option is to plead guilty and pay ourselves for what we have done, refusing the water of cleansing that the Lord has provided. Tragically, many people will do that, and they will be separated from God forever as a result. “The wages of sin is death,” says the Bible (Romans 6:23). If we are determined to pay that price ourselves, we will be eternally cut off from God in Hell.

But there is an alternative open to us. We don’t have to plead guilty. We can plead Jesus. We can look to the purification offering that the Lord has established for us. We can say to God, “Lord God, I committed all those sins. They are all mine. The death that they deserve is mine. But your only Son Jesus has paid for every one of them. The payment for them all is death, but he paid it all when he died on the cross. He took my defilement on himself, and so now I am clean before you.”

Do you feel clean in the Lord’s presence today? Some people go through life like Lady Macbeth, scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing their hands with their own cleansing fluid, but they are never quite able to get rid of that foul spot. Perhaps there is some sin that clings to us like a neoprene wetsuit, defying our best efforts to dislodge it. Or perhaps there is some great sin in our past for which we are not sure God has ever really forgiven us. The cleansing that Christ provides for us not only makes us definitively clean when we first trust in him but also encourages us to come daily before him and ask for fresh cleansing in his blood. We must not ever get tired of bringing our sin to God; we have his word that he will never get tired of washing it away. In this fallen world, just as we continually wash our clothes and our dishes, we will continue to have to come to Christ regularly for washing. There is no magic cure that will keep us from further defilement. Praise God for the cleansing blood of Christ that purifies us from all unrighteousness. Praise God for the wonderful news that in Christ even our ongoing indwelling sins are presently covered and will ultimately be removed completely. Praise God that the day will come when we will have a spiritual cleanliness that will endure forever, when we enter into the presence of the Lord.

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 239–248). Crossway Books.

The Fear of the Lord

Sat, 16 Aug 2025 03:00:00 +0000

We live in an age that suffers from a lack of the fear of God. That statement may surprise some of you at first hearing. How can a lack of fear be something bad? Doesn’t the Bible say that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18)? In fact, most churches today go to great lengths to assure people that when they come to church there will be absolutely nothing to be afraid of. For example, one evangelical church advertises their services as follows:

At———you’re free to enjoy yourself.
Enjoy God as you experience Him through the timely message, caring people, and inspiring music. And it’s okay to laugh at church—in fact we encourage it! We’ve got a casual atmosphere where you can enjoy your morning with a cup of Starbucks House Blend, a donut and some new friends.

In such churches, worship services increasingly seem to resemble coffee shops more than encounters with a holy God. While I’m sure that the people at this church mean well, their advertisement is certainly not designed to encourage the fear of God. Rather, they suggest that worshiping God is a casual and non-threatening activity, an enjoyable and fulfilling experience for everyone. They make coming into the presence of Almighty God sound like the spiritual equivalent of a visit to a favorite uncle.

THE PROBLEM OF THE ABSENCE OF FEAR

So what is the problem with an absence of fear in approaching God? Am I just a grumpy old-fashioned preacher, upset because other people seem to be having too much fun? I don’t think so. Even while as a culture we flee from all kinds of fear, we need to recognize that proper fear is essential to healthy living. Wise parents know that a large part of raising children is training their fears in the right direction. Some of our children are filled with irrational fears, and we have to teach them not to be afraid. They don’t need to be afraid of the dark or of terrible monsters hiding under their bed. They don’t need to be afraid of going to the doctor or having a haircut. Other children, however, seem born without fear, and so we spend a great deal of time teaching them to be afraid. Be afraid of touching the stove. Be afraid of climbing forty feet up a tree, especially in your best clothes. Be afraid of strangers who offer you candy or ask for your help looking for a lost puppy. Be afraid of what drugs can do to your brain. In our modern world a child who grows up completely without fear may not live to grow up. Life is not a casual and non-threatening activity, a fun and fulfilling experience for everyone. Some things truly ought to scare us to death. As the popular proverb wisely reminds us, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

For sinners, the prospect of standing in the presence of a holy God should be one of those truly frightening things. As a culture we resist that truth because we have lost our awareness both of God’s transcendence and holiness and of our own sinfulness and unworthiness. This trend was noted by J. Gresham Machen more than half a century ago when he observed, “There are those who tell us that fear ought to be banished from religion; we ought, it is said, no more to hold before men’s eyes the fear of hell; fear, it is said, is an ignoble thing.”

The fruit of that attitude is evident all around us. Somewhere in our church doctrinal statement, we may still confess the desperate danger that faces sinners in the hands of an angry God.2 But even in Christian circles, this note tends to be a subdued element in the contemporary chord. We should hardly wonder, then, that there is so little fear of God in our culture at large. Why should others be afraid of a God in whom they do not believe when we who confess his name stand so little in awe of him? Our churches have been radically infected by the spirit of the southside rebellion (see Numbers 16) that views everyone as by nature essentially holy and able to enter God’s presence without fear.

THE CURE FOR THE ABSENCE OF FEAR

We have seen how God dealt with that spirit in Numbers 16. The Israelites saw with their own eyes the earth open and swallow rebels alive (vv. 32, 33). They saw fire come out from the Lord’s presence and incinerate Korah’s 250 priestly pretenders (v. 35). They saw nearly 15,000 of their fellow Israelites killed by a plague of judgment from the Lord because they grumbled about the earlier deaths (v. 49). Then they saw the Lord confirm through a dramatic sign that only Aaron and the Levites could approach his presence (17:1–11). Little wonder that the Israelites cried out, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” (17:12, 13).

An absence of fear was no longer Israel’s problem at the end of Numbers 17. They had learned through bitter experience to be afraid of the consequences of their sin.

Yet in their panic they missed the gracious aspect of the budding of Aaron’s staff, which through the symbol of the almond blossom spoke powerfully of the Lord’s purpose to bless them. This is typical of our spiritual experience: when we discover that we have made a mistake in one direction, we overcompensate in the opposite one. Until the Israelites understood God’s mercy and grace, they did not fear the Lord properly. The God whom they were called to serve is both the God who “will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” and “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6, 7).

Satan will always try to separate these two aspects of God’s character in our thinking. If he can persuade us that the Lord is all love and mercy and will not judge anyone, he will do so. But the moment it becomes clear to us that there is indeed a reckoning for sin, Satan immediately switches tack and tries to push us in the opposite direction, to make us believe that the Lord is hard and judgmental and that there is no forgiveness to be found with him. As the Puritan Thomas Manton put it:

Satan labors to represent God by halves, only as a consuming fire, as clothed with justice and vengeance. Oh no! It is true he will not suffer his mercy to be abused by contemptuous sinners; he will not clear the guilty, though he waits long on them before he destroys them; but the main of his name is “his mercy and goodness.”

The true fear of the Lord flows out of an understanding of the whole character of God as both holy and merciful.

This is what Numbers 18 is about: the Lord in his grace had taught Israel to fear, and now the Lord was able to retrain and relieve those fears. Yet unless we first learn to identify with them in their fear of God, the remedy for that fear will make no sense to us. There is certainly a place for laughter and fun in church, but there must also be a place for being deadly serious. Unless you see with compelling certainty the fact that sinners cannot approach the Lord without being destroyed by his holiness, you will never understand the remedy that God has provided for our sin, which lies at the heart of Numbers 18.

THE MINISTRY OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES

The remedy to which God drew their attention was the Aaronic priesthood, who together with the Levites were given the task of taking care of and guarding the tabernacle so that wrath would not fall on the Israelites again (18:5). As we saw in the last study, this ministry was implied by the sign of Aaron’s staff. The priests and the Levites, like the lampstand of the tabernacle, were a sign of the Lord’s favor and determination to bless this people. The goal of their ministry was that the people should not die (17:10). So what kind of ministry did the priests and Levites have, and how did it deliver the people from their fear of death?

First, it was a ministry that was ordained by the Lord for the sake of his people. This is a central theme in these chapters of the book of Numbers: the Lord himself chooses those who come close to him and serve him. It was the Lord who chose Aaron and his sons for the priesthood (18:1), and it was the Lord who chose the Levites to assist them (18:6). All roads do not lead safely into God’s presence; that much has been made abundantly clear. Even the Levites could not help with the altar ministry and the work inside the veil of the tabernacle. Yet at the same time, one road does lead safely into the Lord’s presence. The Lord could legitimately have closed off access for Israel into his presence forever, but he chose not to do so. In the Aaronic priesthood, the doorway to Heaven was still open. The ones whom he had chosen could still approach him and serve him safely. The sacrifices they offered would be accepted by the Lord, just as Aaron’s incense offering was in Numbers 16:47. Through this means, the Lord would bless his people. The calling of the Aaronic priesthood by the Lord was thus a sign that his plan for his people is life and fellowship with him.

What is more, this ministry of the priesthood was a gift from God to Aaron and his sons (18:7). It was not something they had earned or deserved; on the contrary, what Levi had earned for his descendants was the sentence of being scattered in Israel. Because he slaughtered the inhabitants of Shechem, along with his brother Simeon (Genesis 34:25–29), Levi was cursed rather than blessed by his father Jacob:

Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5–7)

Yet now there was an eternal covenant between the Lord and Aaron, and his descendants after him (18:19),4 a relationship that involved a number of privileges, most notably that of access into the Lord’s presence. The Levites would still be scattered, just as Jacob had prophesied, but their curse was turned into a blessing for the whole people. This transforming grace in the lives of the Levites was a demonstration in sample form of the Lord’s plan for his people. Even though the sin of Levi had earned his descendants a just punishment, the Lord’s grace was greater than all their sin. So too, the sin of the people did not necessarily mean their death. Even their ultimate scattering among the nations for their sin would be turned by the Lord from a curse into a blessing, as through them the gospel would eventually come to the whole world. God’s grace could redeem them also, just as it had the Levites.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

Yet the ministry of the priesthood was not only a gift to the family of Aaron—it was also a responsibility. This responsibility is the primary focus of the passage here. It was the priests’ responsibility to prevent fools from rushing in where angels fear to tread. Their ministry was to be a ministry of exclusion, protecting the sanctity of the most holy things against encroachment by profane people (18:1). Such encroachment in the last two chapters had very nearly led to the destruction of the whole community, but now the Lord charged the priests with the responsibility of ensuring that such problems didn’t happen again. If there was a similar encroachment in the future, instead of the whole community being held responsible and liable to death, now only the priests would be held responsible. That is what it means when it says that the priests “shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary” (18:1):5 the buck stopped with them. They were now to carry sole liability for protecting the most sacred things.

Assisting them in this task were the Levites, who were to keep guard over the tabernacle as a whole. The priests were to guard the most sacred items and areas, while the Levites kept watch over the outer environs (18:3). Together they were to take responsibility to guard and protect God’s holiness. If they failed in that mission, both they and the one who encroached on the sacred things would be liable to death—but not the entire community. The priests and the Levites were thus assigned a substitutionary ministry, bearing the danger of death for sin on behalf of the people.

This aspect of the job of the priests and Levites is in some ways like the work of Secret Service agents who are charged with protecting the President of the United States. These citizens surround our leader and guard him against anyone who would try to get too close to him. It is a responsibility that must be undertaken with the utmost seriousness, even to the point of being willing to take a bullet in place of their Commander-in-Chief. They are required to bear the danger of death on his behalf. However, unlike the Secret Service men, whose job is to protect an essentially harmless President against potentially dangerous citizens, the purpose of the priestly guard was also to protect the citizens of Israel against a potentially dangerous God. It was not on God’s behalf that they risked death, but on behalf of their people. The goal of their ministry was to keep the people at a safe distance from God so “that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel” (18:5). They freed the people from the fear of death by being willing to substitute for the people in paying the penalty of death should someone sin by trespassing on holy ground.

THE MINISTRY OF EXCLUSION

Who carries a similar responsibility in our situation? We do not have priests in the New Testament church because access into the Lord’s presence is now available to all who come through Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. Yet those who are leaders in Christ’s church—ministers and elders—are still called to a ministry of exclusion as well as inclusion. They are assigned the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, welcoming some people into the fellowship of the church and keeping others out. The Heidelberg Catechism (Q. 83) puts it like this:

What are the keys of the kingdom?
The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.

Ministers and elders are responsible, through preaching and church discipline, for guarding against careless intruders who would encroach on the sanctity of God. That is a serious responsibility, which is why James warns that not many should presume to be teachers because we who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). We need to proclaim clearly the message of God’s fearsome holiness and righteousness, as well as his grace, to those who are presently living careless lives. The task of the church is not to suggest to everyone that they are already “in” when it comes to God; rather, we need to show them that by nature they are excluded from his presence. We need to make it clear to people that they cannot simply approach God casually, with a designer coffee in one hand and a donut in the other, and wave a cheery hello. By nature they are God’s enemies, objects of his wrath (Ephesians 2:1–3).

Thus, when God summoned Adam and Eve into his presence after the fall, they didn’t come eagerly expecting to enjoy a timely message about how to make their marriage better, an inspiring song or two, and great refreshments. They came in fear and trembling, knowing that they had transgressed against the Lord’s power and majesty. They could not but come when God called them, but they came knowing that they deserved nothing but death. Until their desperate need for forgiveness was dealt with, nothing else mattered. This somber reality is part of the message that we have to communicate to our culture. The fact that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) is perhaps not a popular or appealing part of our message, but until this truth is understood, the gospel itself will make no sense. We need to show people the gulf that exists between them as sinners and a holy God for their own sake, lest they be consumed by his wrath. It is not that there is anything necessarily wrong with preaching on marriage or providing great music and offering refreshments. Yet the atmosphere we foster should be one that matches the serious message that we have to deliver to those around us.

THE CENTRALITY OF THE CROSS

The ministry of the Old Testament priesthood was well designed to communicate that serious message because it was built around sacrifice and exclusion. The armed guards who kept the people out of the Lord’s presence communicated vividly their separation from God. The constant shedding of blood and burning of flesh kept the reality of the consequences of sin very much in front of the people. You couldn’t visit the temple without being visibly confronted with both your exclusion from the Lord’s presence and the necessity of death to restore you into a relationship with God.

This is why our ministry must constantly be centered around the cross of Jesus Christ, which is the culmination of all those Old Testament sacrifices. We must be resolved, as the apostle Paul was, to proclaim only “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The cross of Christ shows us the death that is the Lord’s answer to our spiritual exclusion from his presence. There at the cross Jesus Christ himself bore the responsibility for all of our transgressions against God’s holiness. It is not pastors or elders who substitute themselves to death for our sake: it is Jesus Christ. God’s wrath fell on him so that it might not fall on us and crush us forever. He was put to death so that you and I would not have to be put to death. He was cut off from the Lord’s presence so that the door might be opened for us to walk right in.

Does the cross mean no more fear for the believer? Certainly it means no more fear of the wrath of God. Because of the cross there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). As a result, believers in Christ have a peace with God that cannot be challenged. Even the reverses that I may suffer in my ongoing battle with sin cannot cause me to fear the loss of my salvation, for Jesus has undertaken to bear the responsibility for all my offenses. That kind of fear is gone forever. There is now no exclusion for all of us who are in Christ Jesus: precisely because we are in him, we have the right to go where he goes and to stand in God’s presence as he does. Now even when I have sinned, I can run to God without fear of judgment and confess my sin, asking for his cleansing.

FITTING FEAR

Yet the nature of God has not changed, and there is still a fitting fear in the life of the believer. Indeed, the Lord promises such godly fear to believers in Jeremiah 32:40, where he says, “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.” Our God is still a consuming fire, as Hebrews 12:29 reminds us, a God who must be worshiped with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28). It is a solemn truth that many will be excluded from the Lord’s presence on the last day who are much smarter, better-behaved, and more sincerely religious people than we are: it is only God’s grace that allows us to enter in.

What makes the believer’s fear of the Lord distinct is that it is a fear that flows not simply from the prospect of God’s judgment but from a knowledge of God’s mercy. It is one thing to fear the Lord’s judgment, as Adam and Eve did when they heard the Lord walking in the garden. It is something else entirely to fear the God who combines judgment with mercy. Psalm 130:4 makes the connection between mercy and the fear of the Lord explicitly: “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Why should God’s forgiveness lead us to godly fear? The answer comes once again as we contemplate the means of our salvation and inclusion. What was the cost of my sin? Nails piercing the hands and feet of my Savior; a sharp spear penetrating his heart; a crown of thorns adorning his head; a back beaten to a bloody pulp; a Son’s face turned upward desperately seeking his Father and hearing no answer to his cry. Look at Jesus stretched out in agony, and tell me that our sin doesn’t really matter. Contemplate the cross, and sin will never again seem like a light thing to us. Pondering the Lord’s mercy will give us a healthy fear of the Lord and an abhorrence of sin.

After we have stood at the foot of the cross, coming into God’s presence will never again seem like a casual thing either. The Creator of the universe loved us enough to curse his own Son so that we might enter his presence. Giving him the thanks and praise he deserves is therefore no light matter. Coming to church to worship this God is not something to fit into our schedule whenever it suits us. It is not something to be undertaken casually, as we might meet with a few friends at a coffee shop for a stimulating conversation. What in the world could be more precious, more glorious than this? As we gather with other believers, we proclaim Christ crucified, our means of access to God, our way to life, our hope of glory. Worship is an awesome and fearsome event, yet at the same time deeply joyful and profoundly inspiring. For in Christ we now have an access into the Lord’s presence that is even greater than the special access God promised his chosen Aaronic priests. There are no longer any “Keep out” signs, warning us to stay at a safe distance, not even around the Holy of Holies. Dressed in the bloodstained robes of Christ’s holiness, we can draw near to the very presence of God himself and sing our praises to him.

The Lord is ready to receive our worship and praise in the assembly of his people Sunday after Sunday. In Christ the doorway is open, and we may go in. By his Spirit, the Lord is there as we offer our sacrifices of praise and lay our lives on his altar. The elements of the Lord’s Supper are there to communicate to us afresh the profound realities of the gospel of Christ crucified: the body of Christ was broken for us and his blood poured out to establish a new covenant relationship with us. Church is therefore always a place for doing serious business with God—business that is joyful, to be sure, but also serious and solemn. We must come ready to respond with deep gratitude for his gift of a perfect priest, Jesus Christ, who has stood between us and the judgment of God, bearing the responsibility for all our transgressions and sins. Our hearts must be filled with reverent fear as we contemplate the cost of our redemption. We must be touched with fresh wonder at the new and eternal life in God’s presence that was purchased for us. Then we will be prepared to stand in God’s presence and worship him.

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 219–229). Crossway Books.

The End of Grumbling

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 03:00:00 +0000

Some things never seem to end. A Wagnerian opera, for example, seems to go on and on. So does a root canal visit to the dentist, or a losing season for your favorite sports team. To that list of seemingly endless trials, we may add the sin of grumbling. In an earlier study we noticed that grumbling is a contagious sickness that spreads from one person to the next. Here we may add that grumbling is a chronic sickness: it is habit-forming and addictive. Once started, if left to itself, grumbling just goes on and on. In C. S. Lewis’s novel The Great Divorce, he imagines a group of inhabitants from Hell on a coach trip to visit the outskirts of Heaven. One of the memorable characters he describes is a woman who started out as a grumbler and ended up as a mere grumble. Lewis’s guide on the tour, George MacDonald, says of this phenomenon:

It begins with a grumbling mood, and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticizing it. And yourself, in a dark hour may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no more you left to criticise the mood, nor even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.

We all know that to be true from our own experience, don’t we? Grumbling has enormous capacity to capture us in its power. How then can we cure grumbling? How can we finally break its power and emerge from its grip? You might think that simply exposing the truth would do the trick. If so, then you need to think again. In Numbers 16 we saw those who brought a complaint against Moses’ and Aaron’s leadership incinerated by fire from the Lord and swallowed alive by the ground. You would imagine that such a visible demonstration of the Lord’s power in support of Moses and Aaron would bring the issue to an end. Not so. Even though the ringleaders and their families were consumed by God’s judgment, their grumbling spirit lived on after them. Like spores of the anthrax virus, which have the ability to survive fire and flood, lying dormant in the soil for centuries before emerging to do their deadly work, the spores of the grumbling virus survived the dramatic judgment of God.

THE RETURN OF GRUMBLING

It didn’t even take long for the virus of grumbling to reappear. The very next day all of the congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD” (16:41). That short sentence incorporates both aspects of the rebellion of the last chapter. Dathan and Abiram’s complaint against Moses totally denied the existence and relevance of the Lord, charging Moses personally with bringing Israel out of Egypt in order to kill them in the desert (16:13, 14). Now the whole congregation echoed that charge by blaming Moses and Aaron personally for the deaths of the conspirators (16:41).2 Even though these deaths were the result of dramatic judgments from God—fire from Heaven and the earth swallowing people alive—the people acted as if the Lord were not really involved and the deaths were solely the result of the actions of Moses and Aaron.

Similarly, Korah’s complaint against Aaron was that the whole community was equally holy and that the Lord was with them all (16:3). This claim was visibly disproved by God’s removing Korah’s associates from his presence once and for all (16:35). They were rejected and destroyed as unfit to burn incense before a holy God. Yet these same rebels who had died under the Lord’s judgment were now described by the community as “the people of the LORD.” It is as if they were asserting all over again that the whole community (even those who were destroyed for their sin) were really all one holy people. They said to the Lord in effect, “God, you have no business judging sin. Get over your narrow-mindedness and accept all of us just as we are.” Doesn’t that charge against God have a terribly modern ring to it? The spirit of the southside rebellion lives on in our contemporary context.

Once again, although the complaint is directed against Moses and Aaron, the people are not really grumbling against them so much as they are against the Lord. It is no surprise therefore that the Lord himself appears in the cloud over the tabernacle to answer their charge (16:42). Because it is the same rebellious charge as in the previous incident, the Lord responds in exactly the same way to Moses and Aaron: “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment” (16:45; see 16:20). Once again Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the Lord, interceding on behalf of the people.

STANDING BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

It is at this point, however, that the story line diverges from the earlier incident. In this case, apart from Moses and Aaron, there were no innocent bystanders who risked destruction along with the sinners (16:22). The whole assembly had joined in the sin of rebellion, and therefore all had to face the Lord’s judgment. There was no separation between guilty and innocent in the plague that ensued, for all were guilty. However, the community’s survival was still secured because Aaron, the high priest, was an effective mediator to intercede for the sinners. The incense-offering priestly pretenders of Korah’s line had been consumed by the fire of God’s wrath the previous day (16:35). Their mediation could not even save themselves, let alone anyone else. Aaron, however, had been called by the Lord to this task of providing a remedy for sin and was granted the necessary access into God’s presence. Thus when he intervened, offering incense and interceding on behalf of the people, the plague was restrained (16:48). Aaron took up a position between the living and the dead, and by means of the incense that he offered, he drew a line of separation between the two groups. By his faithful ministry, he prevented those who remained alive from joining those already dead.

Once again we see the covenantal dimension of salvation. The faithful acts of the one man carrying out the task appointed by God had a life-giving impact on the fate of many. All are not equally holy, equally able to approach God, as Korah had claimed. Only God’s chosen priestly representative for the community, Aaron, could offer the intercession that turned away God’s wrath and halted the spread of the plague (16:48).

There is a challenge here for all of us. Under the new covenant, we have all been given the task of being ambassadors for Christ, bringing the aroma of the gospel to those around us (2 Corinthians 2:14–16). We have all been commissioned to intercede on behalf of our friends and neighbors and to set before them the line between life and death. Aaron could not perform his ministry in the comfortable confines of the tabernacle, however. He had to take the incense offering out to where the people were dying for it to be effective. This was a risky endeavor for a priest, for it carried with it the potential of being contaminated by touching a corpse. Such contact would have rendered Aaron ritually unclean. Yet he took the risk of encountering death for the sake of preserving some alive. Our calling of spreading the aroma of life will similarly require us not to huddle in little circles of believers but to take the risk of going out to where the spiritually dead are. It is our task to release the gospel freely so it can do its work of separating those called to life and those left alone in death. In that way, many may be delivered from God’s judgment upon sin and rebellion. We need to have a sense of the urgency of the gospel task, knowing that our friends and neighbors, our workmates and our fellow students, are quite literally dying for want of hearing the gospel.

THE END OF GRUMBLING

It is one thing to restrain God’s judgment, however, and quite another to bring it completely to an end. The plague may have ceased for now, as a result of Aaron’s intercession, but the threat of its return still remains over the people. In fact, before the book of Numbers is over, the Lord’s judgment of plague will again return to haunt the people (see 25:8, 9). What Israel needed was someone or something that would bring to an end the grumbling and rebellious spirit of the people once and for all. It is this need that is addressed in Numbers 17. On the one hand, it seems like a simple repetition of the lesson of the previous chapter, underscoring the choice of Aaron and the Levites out of all of God’s people to approach and serve him. Yet the goal of this positive sign is more ambitious than simply restricting the effects of the curse. By what this sign signifies, the Lord twice declares that he will bring to an end this constant grumbling by the Israelites (17:5, 10).

The sign itself is simple enough. The leaders of all twelve of the tribes of Israel, plus the tribe of Levi, are to submit their staffs to Moses (17:6).4 These staffs were symbols of authority and may well have been instantly identifiable by their distinctive shape or markings,5 though each man is told to write his name on the staff as well (17:2; compare the similar sign in Ezekiel 37:16, 17). Using their staffs was by no means a random choice of personal possession, since the Hebrew word for “staff” (maṭṭeh) also means “tribe.” These staffs thus self-evidently represented the various tribes of God’s people. The Lord declared that as these staffs were placed overnight before the Lord in the tabernacle, one of these dead sticks would sprout (17:5). In fact, the fulfillment of the sign was even greater than that: Aaron’s staff not only sprouted but budded, blossomed, and produced almonds (17:8). When the staffs were returned to their owners the next day, the evidence was undeniable. The Lord had definitively demonstrated whom he had chosen to serve him and stand in his presence (17:9).6 After the tribal leaders had each reclaimed his staff, the Lord instructed Moses to keep Aaron’s staff as a permanent sign to the rebellious people to put an end to their grumbling, so they would not die (17:10).

Why is God so bothered by grumbling? It seems on the face of it to be a victimless crime: when we grumble, it seems that no one is robbed or hurt. So why is grumbling a sin worthy of death? The answer is because grumbling robs and hurts God. Grumbling assaults God’s glory. John Piper has rightly argued that God is most glorified when his people are most satisfied in him.7 If that is true, though, what happens when his people are most dissatisfied with him? He is robbed of his greatest glory. When God’s people grumble, they miss out on their chief end in life: as long as they are grumbling, they are neither glorifying God nor enjoying him. In addition, grumbling believers give non-Christians little reason to want to join them. When we grumble against the order that God has set in place, we are robbing God of the praise and glory that is his due, holding our hearts closed against him, and distracting others from seeing his greatness. That is why grumbling is such a serious sin.

THE STAFF AND THE LAMPSTAND

How, though, was this simple sign in Numbers 17 supposed to put an end to their grumbling? To answer that question, we need to look at the sign more closely. It is not simply a sign that God had chosen Aaron and the Levites to serve him—it was a sign of his purpose in calling Aaron and the Levites to serve him. If God had wanted simply to indicate that Aaron’s staff was the chosen one, he could have had it emerge and stand upright while the other staffs bowed down to it. What actually happened was that the apparently dead staff showed incredible signs of fruitfulness—sprouting, budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit overnight. Moreover, the fruit that this little tree produced was not just any fruit but specifically almonds.

Where else in Scripture do you find a miniature tree with almond flowers and buds? That is exactly what the lampstand in the tabernacle was (Exodus 25:31–40). It was a stylized tree with symbols of fruitfulness on it. This tree with buds, blossoms, and flowers all at the same time was a static picture of the whole cycle of life under God’s blessing, nothing less than an image of the tree of life.8 The symbolic function of the lampstand was to shine God’s favor forward onto the Table with the twelve loaves of showbread (see the discussion of Numbers 8:1–4 in Chapter 10 of this book), which symbolized God’s favor and blessing resting on all twelve of the tribes of Israel.

The lampstand was not just any fruitful tree—it was specifically an almond tree. The Hebrew word for almond (šāqēd) is related to the verb “to watch” (šāqad), for the almond tree blossoms early and was thus a marker of the onset of spring. Thus in Jeremiah 1:11 the Lord used an almond branch as a visible symbol of the Lord’s watching over his word (in this case of judgment) and bringing it to imminent fulfillment. So too the lampstand as an almond tree was a marker of the certain fulfillment of a greater blessing that was yet to come. The Lord was watching over his people for blessing, both now and in greater measure in the future.

THE BUDDING OF AARON’S STAFF

With that as background, we can return to the budding of Aaron’s staff. The Lord took Aaron’s dead stick and turned it into a miniature lampstand in the midst of the other twelve sticks, a sign of life and future blessing in the midst of the community. This blooming almond branch was a symbol of the certainty that the Lord would fulfill his promise of great blessing for his people through the gift of the priesthood. That is why the sign should have put an end to the grumbling of the rebellious (17:10). It should have reminded them that the Aaronic priesthood was God’s chosen channel of blessing and life for the community in the present and a sign of an even greater blessing to come.

Ironically, the Israelites responded to this demonstration of beauty and life with the fear of death. They said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” (17:12, 13). In one sense they got the message. Their cry was a repudiation of their earlier assertion that all are holy and can safely approach the presence of God. Now they rightly feared approaching God. Yet they failed to see that this holy God whom they could not approach had graciously established a means in the Aaronic priesthood through which sinners could safely approach God and not die (17:10). God’s purpose for his people was resolutely good: his goal for their lives was not death but life. They needed to wake up and smell the sweet scent of almond blossoms: in spite of their rebellion, the Lord was watching over them for blessing.

There is a profound lesson for you and me in the blossoming of Aaron’s staff. In the first place, like the Israelites we need to see that by ourselves we are unfit to stand in the presence of a holy God. We are nothing more than dead sticks, fit only for the fire. Without God’s promise of grace we too would be forced to cry out, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the presence of the Lord will die.” We are not by nature holy or naturally part of the Lord’s people. We are dead in our transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1), without hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). Yet the Lord is able to take dead sticks and bring them to life and make them fruitful under his blessing.

How did he do that? Ultimately it was not through Aaron and his line. Aaron was a great blessing to his people, an intercessor whose incense offering halted God’s judgment in its tracks and made a separation between the living and the dead. Yet Aaron himself was a sinner, ultimately unable to enter the Promised Land. His offspring faithfully served as priests, offering sacrifices on behalf of the people and teaching them God’s Law. Yet all of their ministry was provisional, temporary, until the coming of God’s new covenant in Jesus Christ. Aaron’s blossoming staff pointed beyond himself and his offspring to the Messiah to come. Jesus is the great High Priest who, through his personal holiness and ultimate sacrifice on the cross, enabled the blessing of God’s favor to be poured out on all of his chosen ones.

THROUGH DEATH TO FRUITFULNESS

Yet if Aaron’s staff was distinguished as the chosen one of God’s blessing through the marks of life and fruitfulness, Jesus was distinguished at the end of his earthly ministry as God’s chosen one by the signs of God’s curse.

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:2–5).

Jesus didn’t merely straddle the line between life and death; he himself entered the grip of death to free those who were rightfully death’s captives. He took upon himself Aaron’s curse, the curse deserved by all the rebels for their grumbling. It was not just their curse that he took, however. More importantly, it was my curse. I too am a rebel and a grumbler. I too question the Lord’s wisdom and his ways in choosing some for particular earthly service or blessing that he has not chosen to give to me. I too grumble about the judgments that he chooses to execute (or not to execute) on others. Yet Christ has taken all of those sins of mine and has borne them on the cross, despising their shame, so that I might ultimately taste the blessing that God has in store for his people. In Christ, God testified to his chosen priest with an absence of glory and a cursed death on the cross, so that through that death his unholy people might be made holy. In so doing, he removed the power and sting of death once and for all.

There at the cross we see the true wideness of God’s mercy. He does not admit all into his presence indiscriminately, ignoring their sin. Rather, he welcomes in all kinds of sinners as they trust in Christ and have their sins paid for at the cross. The way of salvation is as wide and as narrow as Christ. There at the cross, fearful rebels find peace with the Lord whom they spurned, in spite of their sin, and are safely drawn into intimate fellowship with him through Christ. Now, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, we are able to do what Old Testament believers could not: we can draw near to God’s presence with boldness. However, the self-righteous who stubbornly refuse to come to God through Jesus find no way into his life-giving presence.

What is more, in the resurrection of Jesus we see the almond branch blossom. Spring is in the air in the empty tomb: in Christ’s rising, the firstfruits of the harvest of eternal life have appeared, and their scent is unmistakable. Death is clearly defeated, its power broken. It is only a matter of time now before the full harvest of God’s blessing is experienced. God is watching over his people to bring them into his presence forever.

Here is the final answer for our grumbling. The Law that says, “Do not grumble” is not ultimately able to transform us and change our hearts. The Law can bring the judgment of death, which can restrain grumbling, but it cannot cure it. It has no power to redeem grumblers and bring their grumbling to a permanent end. Grumbling and rebellion can only be overcome as we contemplate the cross. As we look on the awesome judgment of God that took place there on all unrighteousness, will we still say, “All of God’s people are holy and can enter God’s presence just as they are”? Surely not. The cross demonstrates the necessity of the cleansing that only Jesus Christ can give.

When we think about the way the Lord dealt with his own Son in order to make us holy, will we murmur and rebel against his ways in our lives that have the same design? If he did not spare his own Son but freely gave him up so that we could receive blessing and life, how will he not along with him give us everything we need? When we see that the Lord’s purpose for us is blessing, a purpose that is assured in the resurrection of Jesus, why then do we still doubt his goodness? The Lord will accomplish his purpose to sanctify us, one way or another. Some of those ways are intensely painful, to be sure. Yet as we stand before the cross, are we really able to say to the Father, “No, Lord, this is too painful. I cannot bear this. It is too much”? How can anything be too much when it is compared to the searing loss that the Father endured at the cross to make us holy? As Samuel Rutherford put it, “The weightiest end of the cross of Christ that is laid upon you, lieth upon your strong Saviour.”

We are so blessed in this new-covenant era, for we no longer have a mere sign of God’s commitment to bless us. We have something better than a flowering staff that sits mutely in front of the symbol of God’s presence, the ark of the covenant. That staff spoke eloquently of God’s set purpose to bless his people and transform their grumbling hearts. Yet how much more effective and eloquent is the reality to which the staff pointed. The reality that we have been given to ponder is our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, standing in the heavenly Holy of Holies, interceding for you and me day by day. In the death of Christ, God assures us of his settled purpose for our blessing. In the resurrection of Christ, he assures us that the almond is already in bloom: our final salvation is near. In Christ, the Lord has indeed put an end to our grumbling, and in its place he has given us abundant life in all its fullness. Faced with the reality of the cross and the empty tomb, may we let our grumbling die away, lost in an upswell of wonder, love, and praise.

Duguid, I. M., & Hughes, R. K. (2006). Numbers: God’s presence in the wilderness (pp. 209–217). Crossway Books.