Numbers – JumpstartCPC.com

September 28, 2020

Today you should read: Numbers 36

Today as we close out the book of Numbers, I want to remind us of one of the main themes of the book: the importance of responding rightly to the commands of God. This can be summarized in by the last verse of the book:

These are the commandments and the rules that the LORD commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. (v. 30)

All throughout the book of Numbers (and the Old Testament in general), we see over and over again the importance of obedience. This is not just an Old Testament idea, it is a Biblical one. Allow these verses to encourage you today as you seek to be obedient to the Lord with a pure heart.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. Psalm 119:30

Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1 John 3:24

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:22-25

All0w the words of God increase your desire to live out the gospel through obedience. We obey not out of a heart of wanting to earn God’s love or approval, but to honor and glorify God above all things.

By: Graham Withers — Associate Pastor

God is honored when we intentionally seek Him in prayer. As a church, we want dependent prayer to be something that marks us. Use the comment section to post prayer requests and experiences of how God has answered prayer and/or changed you through prayer! If you would like to be enrolled to get weekly prayer reminders, text @cpclex to 81010.

September 26, 2020

Today you should read: Numbers 35

The two verses I want to focus on are verses 33-34. These two verses are so key because God is establishing the reason as to why He is commanding these things. He does not want the Promise Land to be polluted or filled with wickedness. The reason Israel is about to take this land is because (1) God promised it to Abraham and (2) the people living in it were acting wickedly. God is about to punish the Canaanites because of their constant disobedience, and He is going to use Israel as His means.

But here is the thing: God is giving these commands because He is trying to keep His people holy and righteous. God does not establish rules to be mean, instead, He is trying to protect His people. God wants them to live holy and upright, and His commandments are the way to judge if they are. And this is not to support legalism either, because a relationship must come before the commandments. A relationship does not come from keeping the commandments.

And we need to understand this too. The basis for your relationship with God is always Jesus. It is not because you keep some rules. Instead, God put the rules in place so that we can be more like Jesus. We can know how to walk holy and blameless lives. Now, we all struggle to live each day blameless. But God is gracious in giving us commandments because they teach us how to live.

What commandments or teachings has God shown you lately? Are you following them because you “have to” or are you following them because you love God and want to be more like Jesus?

By: Brice Stockton — Student Ministry Associate

September 25, 2020

Today you should read: Numbers 34

Yesterday we read Numbers 33:50–56, how the Israelites were to drive out the inhabitants of the Land that was promised by God. In verse 53, the Lord said, “I have given the land to you to possess it.” If, however, the Israelites did not drive out the inhabitants, God gave a dire warning, “those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides.”

In today’s passage we read the boundary of the Land they were supposed to clear out. The map below shows approximately where the boundary should have been.

Unfortunately for Israel, they never came close to clearing out the Land to that extent until the time of Solomon. Even then, it was imperfectly conquered as much of their western boarder remained under non-Israelite control and pockets of pagans remained in the Land.

This last Summer, I was able to lead a Summer Study with Josh “The Man” Osterfeld on the book of Judges. Judges records the fact that the Israelites failed to trust God enough to clear out the Land of its inhabitants. Likewise, God’s warning came true as Judges vividly illustrated the consequences—the pagan remnant was certainly barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides.

As I think about how we might apply this text, at the risk of allegorizing it too much, have you taken control of the boundaries in your life? What I mean is that Israel had a promise from the Lord. They failed to live up to the promise for a variety of reasons. As such, they never actually had control within their own divinely promised boarders.

One reason that I think Israel failed to live up to their promise was that they didn’t take God at His Word. We are the recipients of a great many promises in Scripture. However, because we fail to take God at His Word, we aren’t active in the places he has for us. Judges records how the Israelites were afraid of the chariots and military might of some of their enemies. I think sometimes we get afraid too. We’re afraid of the repercussions of sharing our faith at work. We’re afraid of making things awkward at the Thanksgiving table by calling sin “sin” to our family. We fail to shine the light of God’s glory in the spaces He’s given us because we’re more afraid of people than taking God at His Word.

Another (related) reason I think Israel failed to live up to their promise was that they decided their way was better than God’s way. Sin and idolatry permeated Israel and hindered them from claiming the boundary of the Land God had promised. Sin holds us back—it’s was as true then as it is today. You wonder why your boundary (your influence, your finances, your relationships, your work, etc.) hasn’t expanded? The area to which our boundary can safely expand is directly related to the faithfulness and purity with which we manage what God has already given us. You’ve heard it said, a blessing at the wrong time is a curse—a winning lotto ticket for someone who has no clue about stewardship (like spending your milk money on lotto tickets) is for sure a blessing that quickly becomes a curse.

The locations in Numbers 34 doesn’t just represent dots on a map. To a greater degree it represents an opportunity to see God work through people to expand His Kingdom on Earth. Live inside God’s Promise and expand His Kingdom today.

By: Tyler Short — Connections Ministry Associate

September 24, 2020

Today you should read: Numbers 33

What an amazing testimony of God’s faithfulness and redemption to have a complete summary of Israel’s miraculous, slave-freeing journey from Egypt to Cannaan. Each one of these specific steps are the only part of the book that’s written by Moses where all other accounts are given to Moses by God. Can you imagine Moses writing this account thinking of how good God is, even in the hard times and places he’s recording a historical account over.

I’m reminded of how edifying and beneficial it is for us as believers to retrace and write down the miraculous journeys and experiences that God gives us. From mission trips to discipleship relationships; gospel opportunities to family movements. Like Moses’s account, it would serve us well to write and think of how good God is as He is just as sovereign and present today as He was in those previous times.

By: Erik Koliser — West Campus Pastor