Numbers 16:1

Numbers 16:1 says, Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:  Verse two adds, And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:  Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On rose up against Moses with two hundred and fifty princes who were famous in the congregation of Israel.  No matter how well known a person is in the church today, nor how many people join them, they should never do anything that is against God's will.  Verse three continues, And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?  They went to Moses and Aaron and told them that they were no better than the rest of the people of Israel and asked them why they lifted themselves up above the rest.  They were basically asking who put Moses and Aaron in charge, and the answer was that God did.  No Christian is more powerful than any other Christian, but we have different roles in the church, so we should never go against those that God has placed in a position of leadership, as long as they are faithful to God.  Moses and Aaron were where God called them to be.  Verse four states,  And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:  Moses did not stand up and say I am in charge, so get used to it, but fell on his face instead.  We do not need to fight with other Christians who may question what we are doing in the church but simply need to humble ourselves before God.  Verse five adds, And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. Moses told Korsth that tomorrow God would show him who was holy and who could come near Him.  We need to simply let God show us who He has called into particular areas of service.  Verse six says, This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;  Verse seven adds, And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.  Moses told them to take their censers and put incense in them and bring them before the LORD and that the LORD would show them who He had chosen to lead the people.  We should never be jealous of those who are serving God in a capacity that we feel makes them somehow better than us.  Verse eight states, And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:  Moses asked Korah and the sons of Levi to listen to him.  They had already been set aside to serve God.  Verse nine adds, Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?  Moses then asked Korah if he thought it was a small thing that God had set the Levites apart from the rest of the nation to do service in the tabernacle.  If we are doing what God has called us to do, we must never view it as a small or unworthy calling.  Verse ten continues, And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?  Moses said God had brought the Levites near Him, and did they want to be a part of the priesthood as well.  Of course, as followers of Christ today, we are already a part of the priesthood of believers, and we should never aspire to be something that God has not called us to be.  Verse eleven concludes, For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him.  Moses then asked Korah and those gathered with him against the LORD what Aaron had done to cause them to murmur against him.  If we murmur against those that God has put in a position of leadership in the church today, we need to ask under the leadership of the Holy Spirit what they have done to cause us to do so.

Numbers 15:32

Numbers 15:32 says, And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.  While in the wilderness, the people of Israel found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, which would have been considered unnecessary work.  Matthew Henry says this was done presumptuously as an affront to both the law and the Lawmaker.  Verse thirty-three adds, And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.  Those who found the man gathering sticks brought him to Moses and the congregation.  We are told as followers of Christ if we find someone who professes to be a fellow believer openly sinning that we are to bring them before the congregation to give them an opportunity to repent.  Verse thirty-four continues, And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.  They put him in the midst of the congregation because they weren't sure about what was to be done to him.  Matthew Henry says it is unclear whether they didn't know whether or not what the man did was a clear violation of the law of the Sabbath or whether or not they were unclear of his punishment.  We need to know what God's law says, and we also need to acknowledge that the penalty of breaking His law, which is what sin is, is death.  Verse thirty-five states, And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.  Verse thirty-six adds, And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.  God told Moses that the man should certainly be put to death, and the congregation stoned him to death.  All sin brings a death penalty, but deliberate, willful sin in the congregation of believers in Christ I believe is especially offensive to God, especially when it carried out for all to see.  Verse thirty-seven says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse thirty-eight adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:  God then told Moses to instruct the people of Israel to put fringes on their garments and put a blue ribbon on the fringes.  This was done to remind them that they were a peculiar people who belonged to God and also so that they would be easily identified by the rest of the world, who would know if they were disobeying God.  They were to do this throughout all the coming generations.  We don't have any particular garment that identifies us as Christians, but our words and actions should.  Verse thirty-nine continues, And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:  God said this fringe was to be a reminder to the people that they were to remember God's law and not go chasing after the things of this world instead.   We have an even greater reminder, and that is the Holy Spirit living in us.  Verse forty concludes, That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.  This fringe on their garment was to also remind them that they were holy, or set apart, from the rest of the world, and because of that they were to keep God's law.  As Christians, we are holy, set apart from the world, and even though we cannot be saved by God's law, it still applies.   Verse forty-one declares, I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.  God said they were to do these things because He was the LORD their God, Who had delivered them out of Egypt.  We must acknowledge God as the lord of our life today as followers of Christ because He has delivered us from the bondage of sin and set us free from its penalty forever.

Numbers 15:22

Numbers 15:22 says, And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses,  There was then a warning to people who had not observed the commandments of the LORD.  Verse twenty-three adds, Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;  This warning applied to the commands of God made through Moses and applied to all generations of the people of Israel to come.  Verse twenty-four continues, Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.  There was a specification about what must be sacrificed if the law was transgressed in ignorance without knowledge of the congregation.  Fortunately for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, all our sins are forgiven, even those that we may accidentally commit.  Verse twenty-five states, And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance:  Even sins committed in ignorance could not just be overlooked, because all sin brings the penalty of death with it.  The priest was to make atonement for the congregation after they brought their offerings and sin sacrices.  Jesus Christ is our sin sacrifice, and He is the only One Who can make atonement for them.  Verse twenty-six adds, And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.  All the people of Israel and any stranger living there would then be forgiven for sins committed in ignorance.  We may not know all of God's law and may commit a sin without realizing it, but as already stated, if we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, all of our sins are forgiven.   Verse twenty-seven says, And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.  Bringing the wrong animal for a sacrificial offering through ignorance would be forgiven once the priest made atonement for the sin.  This was different than knowing what was required and not doing it.  Verse twenty-nine states, Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.  The same law, the only one, was to apply to all who sinned through ignorance, both the children of Israel and the stranger living with them.  Verse thirty adds, But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.  Those who deliberately sinned, whether a person of the children of Israel or a stranger, were to be cut off from among the people of Israel.   Deliberate sin will always be worse than accidentally sin.  Verse thirty-one continues, Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.  Those who despised the word of the LORD and deliberately sinned would be cut off from the people of Israel.  Those who despise the word of God today and reject the Living Word, Jesus Christ, will be forever cut off from God's kingdom. 

Numbers 15:13

Numbers 15:13 says, All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. All those born in the nation of Israel were to follow the rules for the sacrificial system.  Though Jesus Christ became the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins, those who are reborn into the kingdom of God through putting their faith in Him are still expected to follow God's laws today.  Verse fourteen adds, And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; as ye do, so he shall do.  God said those who lived in or visited the land of Israel once they were established there who wanted to offer a sacrifice to Him could do so.  God never intended for those physically born into the nation of Israel to be the only ones who could be a part of His kingdom.  Salvation is still not limited to those born in a certain place or into a certain family.  Verse fifteen continues, One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.  God said there would be no difference in His laws between those born into the nation of Israel and those who came to live there from other nations, and there still isn't.  Verse sixteen concludes, One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.. God repeated the fact that there was but one Law for all who would follow Him.  The only way to salvation is through putting ones faith in Jesus Christ as ones personal Savior and Lord, and it doesn't matter where a person is born.  Then, those who accept Him are all under the authority of God's law.  Verse seventeen states, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse eighteen adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you,  God then told Moses that He had instructions for the people of Israel once they came into the Promised Land.   We as Christians are looking forward to Hewven, our Promised Land, yet when we get there, we will certainly be under the authority of God, so why do we often not like to be today?  Verse nineteen continues, Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the LORD. God told Moses to tell the people of Israel and all the strangers who chose to live with them there in the Promised Land when they ate bread that God had provided for them by giving them the land were to offer up an offering to Him.  As followers of Christ, God has promised us that He will always provide for our needs as long as we follow Christ faithfully, and we should offer up ourself as a sacrifice to God daily.  Verse twenty says, Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it.  Verse twenty-one adds, Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering in your generations.  The heave offering that they were to offer was to come from the first of their dough, and not the last or leftovers.  W need to give to God first out of what He blesses us with, no matter how little we may feel that to be.  Obeying  God must always be our first priority as followers of Christ. 

Numbers 15:1

Numbers 15:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,  God instructed Moses to talk to the people of Israel about what they were to do when they came to live in the land that God had given them.  Even though their entrance was to be delayed and a generation would not be allowed in, God was still keeping His promise to give them this land flowing with milk and honey.  If we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will one day reach our heavenly home, no matter how many generations pass before that happens.  Verse three continues, And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock:  God gave Moses instructions for how sacrifices for vows and burnt offerings were to be presented.  When we bring sacrifices and offerings to God today, I believe it should still be under His direction.  Verse four states, Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the LORD bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil.  Verse five adds, And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.  Meat offerings, to provide for God's table, were to be brought with their other sacrifices and offerings, and God instructed them on what to bring with specific offerings.  Verse six continues, Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil. Verse seven concludes. And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.  This concerned the meat offering for a ram or lamb.  They were also to bring drink offerings, which were a sweet savor unto the LORD.  I believe that it was their obedience in doing these things that pleased God, and not the actual sacrifices and offerings themselves.  Whatever we faithfully give to God will please Him, not because He needs it, but because it shows our faithfulness to Him.  Verse eight says, And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the LORD:  Verse nine adds, Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil.  Verse ten continues, And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.  These were the instructions for the meat and drink offerings to accompany the sacrifice of a bull.  Verse eleven states, Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid.  Though not all sacrifices were the same, whether they were individual or congregational sacrifices and offerings, they were to be presented in accordance with God's instructions.  As already stated,whatever we give to God today should be in accordance with His will.  Verse twelve adds, According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number.  No matter how many people were involved in offering the sscrice, it was to be presented according to God's instructions. 

Numbersx 14:36

Numbers 14:36 says, And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,  The ten spies who gave a negative report against the land, causing the people to murmur against God are singled out once more.  They had first been singled out to go and serve God by checking out the land, a very honorable thing.  Verse thirty-seven adds, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.  These men did not enter the Promised Land nor wander in the wilderness, but died of the plague before the LORD.  The rest of the people were guilty of murmuring against God, but these ten were  responsible for leading them to do so.  It is terrible to not put ones faith in God, but it is even worse to lead others not to.  Verse thirty-eight continues, But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.  Joshua and Caleb were the faithful spies, putting their faith in God, so they lived.  If we want to have everlasting life, we must put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and we certainly should never be guilty of leading others away from Him.  Verse thirty-nine states, And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.  When Moses told the people what God said, they mourned greatly.   Their murmuring turned to mourning, because they were being punished for their lack of faith in God.  When God's judgment comes, all those who have failed to put their faith in Him and murmured against Him instead will find themselves mourning forever.  Verse forty adds, And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.  The people of Israel then got up early in the morning and went up into the mountain and declared that they would go into the Promised Land, but it wasn't up to them.  They still were not really putting their faith in God, but were simply trying to avoid the punishment of their sin.  Some people today would put their faith in Jesus Christ to avoid the everlasting punishment of sin if they didn't also have to follow Him by faith.  We cannot accept Jesus Christ as our Savior if we are unwilling to allow Him to be the Lord of our life.  Verse forty-one says, And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.  Moses asked how they thought transgressing the commandment of the LORD would help them.  Moses then told them that this would not profit them.  We must respond to Jesus when He calls us and cannot simply decide that we will come to Him on our own terms and in our own time.  Verse forty-two adds, Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.  Moses told them to not go into the Promised Land, because God wasn't with them.  We cannot get into Heaven, God's Promised Land to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ, by our own power or plan.  Faith in Jesus Christ as ones Savior and Lord is the only way to Heaven.  Verse forty-three continues, For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.  Moses said since the people were now attempting to go by their own power instead of by the power of God that they would fail.  Even as followers of Christ, if we attempt to overcome this sinful world on our own and not under the power of the Holy Spirit, we will fail.  There should never be a time when we as Christians look at the world and feel that it is more than we can overcome by faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse forty-four states, But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.  The people still presumed that they could dictate to God and went up the hill, but the ark of the covenant did not move.  We cannot force God to go where we want to go, but must instead go where He leads us.  Verse forty-five adds, Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.  Without God empowering them, the people who were going ahead in defiance of God's word were killed by the Amalekites and Canaanites.  Without God's power in our life, especially if we are going against His word, we are going to fail ultimately. 

Numbers 14:20

Numbers 14:20 says, And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:  God told Mosses that He had pardoned the people of Israel as Moses had asked Him to do.  Though we should pray for God to forgive others today, I don't believe our prayers alone will bring them forgiveness.  They must confess their sins and accept Jesus Christ a their Savior and Lord in order to be saved, and if they then stray from God's path, they must come to Him in repentance to be restored to a right relationship with God. Verse twenty-one adds, But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.  God said because of His forgiving the people of Israel instead of destroying them that the whole world should be filled with His glory, just as it should be because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of those who put their faith in Him.  Verse twenty-two continues, Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;  Verse twenty-three concludes, Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:   God then said that those who had continually tempted Him would not see the Promised Land.  Jesus Christ died to save everyone, but those who refuse to put their faith in Him will never see heaven, and those who choose to provoke God instead certainly never will.  Verse twenty-four declares, But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.  God said Caleb, who had a different spirit, one of faithfulness, would go into the Promised Land.  Caleb put his faith in God, just as we must put our faith in Jesus Christ, and he was rewarded by gaining access into the Holy Land, though it wasn't immediate, just as our going into heaven is not immediate when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty-five states, (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.  God then told Moses to turn away from the Promised Land, which they stood on the border of, and head back into the wilderness.  Since the people didn't have faith in God to give them victory over their enemies, they never would get to enter the Promised Land, just as we will never get to heaven if we do not put our faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-six adds, And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,  Verse twenty-seven continues,  How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.  God spoke to Moses and Aaron and asked how long should He bear with this evil congregation who murmured against Him.  God may continue to ask us as Christians that question today concerning the return of Jesus Christ in judgment of the world.  Verse twenty-eight says, Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:  God told Moses and Aaron to tell the people there that as they had said when murmuring against Him that He would allow to happen.  By not being faithful to God they had lost their rights to enter the Promised Land, and if we do not accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we give up the right to enter heaven, God's everlasting Promised Land.  Verse twenty-nine adds, Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,  God said that all of those twenty years old and older would die in the wilderness.  They had said they would have been better off to have died there than to go by faith into the Promised Land where they said they would be killed by those who lived there, and God was going to grant their wish.  Just as God would not let unfaithful people enter the Promised Land then, He will not all those who refuse to put their faith in Jesus Christ, no matter how big the problems of this world seem,  to enter heaven.  Verse thirty states, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.  God said only Caleb and Joshua, the faithful spies, of those over twenty would be allowed to enter the Promised Land one day.  Verse thirty-one adds, But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.  God then told the people that the little ones, which would be those under twenty that the people had sai,d would be killed if they went into the Promised Land, would one day go in victorious.  As long as we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord,  we will one day go victorously into heaven.  Verse thirty-two continues, But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.  All those who had murmured against God would die in the wilderness.  Verse thirty-three says, And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.  God said the children of those who murmured against Him would wander in the wilderness with them for forty years till all those over twenty died.  We as followers of Christ will wander in the wilderness of this sinful world today until Jesus Christ returns or we are called home to glory when we die.  Verse thirty-four adds, After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.  It had taken them forty days to search the Promised Land after being delivered from Egypt and getting to the edge of the it, and God said that they would wander one year for each day that they had the spies had  led them to murmur in doubt.  Verse thirty-five continues, I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.  God said that as He had spoken, so it would occur.  We today need to realize and claim this truth as Christians.  Those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will die in the wilderness of sin.