Daily Bible Portion (Friday)
Daily Bible Portion – 6 of 7
"TRIBES"
(Weekly Reading>>Numbers 30:1-32:42, Jeremiah 1:1-2:3, Matthew 5:33-37, James 4:1-5:20)
Vengeance on the Midianites
The Midianites are of the seed of Abraham through Keturah who intermarried with the Ishmaelite’s (Abraham’s seed through Hagar). The Midianites also engaged with the Moabites (Incestuous son of Lot, meaning "from" father) to have Balaam curse the Israelites. After being rejected by the Edomites, (descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau) God warned Israel not to take, provoke or retaliate against them as they lived in the territory given to them by God. However, when the Israelites arrived at the land of the Amorites they refused then came out to war against them. The Amorites were the largest of the Canaanite tribes. Their land bordered Ammon’s territory (Lot’s younger grandchild) thus much intermarriage between the two entailed. So intimidated were the Canaanites of Israel that they attacked. They not only fought against Israel but also deceived them by enticing Israel into sin. The sin of Moab coming into the camp threatened the very essence of Israel’s morals and family life. Because of this, Yahweh gave permission for Israel to take vengeance on the Moabites making war against them. In this reprisal Yahweh instructed Israel to kill all the people (Numbers 21:23; 25:1-3).
During the battle, the Israelites succeeded in killing every man, including Balaam. However, the women who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the moral decay in the camp of Israel were captured and brought into the camp along with their children, herds, flocks and plundered goods. When Moses saw how Yahweh’s directives had not been upheld he ordered the killing of all young boys as well as all women who had been with a man while letting only the virgin girls live.
Much impurity and discord come from the Moabite descendants. However, we also see God’s grace at work through these two people groups for out of Moab’s descendants came Ruth who married Boaz and Ammon’s ancestry produced Naamah the wife of Solomon and mother of Rehoboam (Genesis 19:30-38; Ruth 1:4; 1 Kings 14:21).
Purification of the Camp
(Numbers 31:19-24)
During this troubling time where the children of Israel had come in contact with death Moses instructed the people to purify themselves by staying outside the camp seven days. They entered into the baptism /water of cleansing for a status change from the realm of death to the realm of life before returning to the community (Numbers 19). God has us understand that touching the physically dead has a direct correlation to touching the spiritually dead and both bring contamination into our lives. Since the Moabites brought spiritual and physical death into Israel’s camp, there was a spiritual death for those who participated in the spirit of Balaam and the unclean Moabite practices. Therefore, the Israelites needed to separate and cleanse themselves from this disorder to keep the camp clean; hence, the contaminated individuals followed the instructions by applying the water of cleansing (living water) for purification.
Jesus fulfilled the red heifer water cleansing ceremony upon His death. Scripture does not say that by fulfilling this ceremony Jesus eliminated the benefit of the ritual application of it in our day (along with the benefits of Yahweh’s Feasts, the New Moon festival, the Sabbath and all other physical applications of His Word). On the contrary, Torah, filled with the Spirit of Jesus, is to continue to be upheld for the blessings they impart.
Today, when believers uphold the ritual application of cleansing by going into the baptism (water cleansing) in Christ’s Name[Authority, Position, Character, Honor] our status is changed from the realm of death to the realm of life. This we can do as often as we need to. Unfortunately, the early church father’s deemed immersion was only necessary on conversion. But the Scripture is very clear instructing us to apply as often as we need in order to keep our heart clean before Him. The mini form of baptism/mikvah, called rachatz in Hebrew, is the washing of the hands. We see this in James 4:7-8.
We are to apply the Living Water (Jesus) spiritually and physically to our bodies. Fulfilling the physical application is obedience to Christ’s commandments that sanctify and purify our hearts, and change our status from the unclean realm to the clean realm.
As we learned two studies ago, the spirit of Balaam is still with us today (2 Peter 2: 1-22; Jude; Revelation 2:14). Whenever we come in contact with the unclean realm or if we even suspect that we have become contaminated, we are called to spiritually cleanse ourselves with the application of physical water. The water represents the water cleansing, an eternal commandment throughout our generations for those who have sinned (Numbers 19). This water also symbolized Christ’s death and resurrection. Today the application of water is part of the on going process, not for salvation, but of holiness and sanctification as Jesus Christ is our living water that brings LIFE! Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Ezekiel 16:9; Ezekiel 36:25; Zechariah 13:1; John 3:5; Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 13:8; 1 John 5:6).
continues tomorrow...
"TRIBES"
(Weekly Reading>>Numbers 30:1-32:42, Jeremiah 1:1-2:3, Matthew 5:33-37, James 4:1-5:20)
Vengeance on the Midianites
Numbers 31:1-3 “Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.’ So Moses said to the people, ‘Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out Yahweh’s vengeance on them’”
The Midianites are of the seed of Abraham through Keturah who intermarried with the Ishmaelite’s (Abraham’s seed through Hagar). The Midianites also engaged with the Moabites (Incestuous son of Lot, meaning "from" father) to have Balaam curse the Israelites. After being rejected by the Edomites, (descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau) God warned Israel not to take, provoke or retaliate against them as they lived in the territory given to them by God. However, when the Israelites arrived at the land of the Amorites they refused then came out to war against them. The Amorites were the largest of the Canaanite tribes. Their land bordered Ammon’s territory (Lot’s younger grandchild) thus much intermarriage between the two entailed. So intimidated were the Canaanites of Israel that they attacked. They not only fought against Israel but also deceived them by enticing Israel into sin. The sin of Moab coming into the camp threatened the very essence of Israel’s morals and family life. Because of this, Yahweh gave permission for Israel to take vengeance on the Moabites making war against them. In this reprisal Yahweh instructed Israel to kill all the people (Numbers 21:23; 25:1-3).
During the battle, the Israelites succeeded in killing every man, including Balaam. However, the women who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the moral decay in the camp of Israel were captured and brought into the camp along with their children, herds, flocks and plundered goods. When Moses saw how Yahweh’s directives had not been upheld he ordered the killing of all young boys as well as all women who had been with a man while letting only the virgin girls live.
Much impurity and discord come from the Moabite descendants. However, we also see God’s grace at work through these two people groups for out of Moab’s descendants came Ruth who married Boaz and Ammon’s ancestry produced Naamah the wife of Solomon and mother of Rehoboam (Genesis 19:30-38; Ruth 1:4; 1 Kings 14:21).
Purification of the Camp
(Numbers 31:19-24)
During this troubling time where the children of Israel had come in contact with death Moses instructed the people to purify themselves by staying outside the camp seven days. They entered into the baptism /water of cleansing for a status change from the realm of death to the realm of life before returning to the community (Numbers 19). God has us understand that touching the physically dead has a direct correlation to touching the spiritually dead and both bring contamination into our lives. Since the Moabites brought spiritual and physical death into Israel’s camp, there was a spiritual death for those who participated in the spirit of Balaam and the unclean Moabite practices. Therefore, the Israelites needed to separate and cleanse themselves from this disorder to keep the camp clean; hence, the contaminated individuals followed the instructions by applying the water of cleansing (living water) for purification.
Jesus fulfilled the red heifer water cleansing ceremony upon His death. Scripture does not say that by fulfilling this ceremony Jesus eliminated the benefit of the ritual application of it in our day (along with the benefits of Yahweh’s Feasts, the New Moon festival, the Sabbath and all other physical applications of His Word). On the contrary, Torah, filled with the Spirit of Jesus, is to continue to be upheld for the blessings they impart.
Romans 3:31 Paul said, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law [Torah – Christ’s words].”
Today, when believers uphold the ritual application of cleansing by going into the baptism (water cleansing) in Christ’s Name[Authority, Position, Character, Honor] our status is changed from the realm of death to the realm of life. This we can do as often as we need to. Unfortunately, the early church father’s deemed immersion was only necessary on conversion. But the Scripture is very clear instructing us to apply as often as we need in order to keep our heart clean before Him. The mini form of baptism/mikvah, called rachatz in Hebrew, is the washing of the hands. We see this in James 4:7-8.
James 4:7-8 “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil [unclean realm/evil inclination], and he [it] will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands [physical application of water – Strong’s #G2511], you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded ones." (John 2:6)
We are to apply the Living Water (Jesus) spiritually and physically to our bodies. Fulfilling the physical application is obedience to Christ’s commandments that sanctify and purify our hearts, and change our status from the unclean realm to the clean realm.
As we learned two studies ago, the spirit of Balaam is still with us today (2 Peter 2: 1-22; Jude; Revelation 2:14). Whenever we come in contact with the unclean realm or if we even suspect that we have become contaminated, we are called to spiritually cleanse ourselves with the application of physical water. The water represents the water cleansing, an eternal commandment throughout our generations for those who have sinned (Numbers 19). This water also symbolized Christ’s death and resurrection. Today the application of water is part of the on going process, not for salvation, but of holiness and sanctification as Jesus Christ is our living water that brings LIFE! Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Ezekiel 16:9; Ezekiel 36:25; Zechariah 13:1; John 3:5; Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 13:8; 1 John 5:6).
continues tomorrow...