Numbers 3

 

Since God had spared the firstborn of Israel in Egypt, God claimed the rights of ownership. God is saying that they would have been dead if not for me, therefore they are mine. They are God's first fruits. We see this carried into the New Testament. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." James 1:18 "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." Unlike the Old Testament where the Levites took the place of the firstborn (firstfruits), we are God's priests and we are the sanctified ones (Rev. 5:10; 1 Peter 2:1, 9; 2 Timothy 2:12, 21; Romans 8:29). Here God is beginning to give a picture of what he will do in His people. 

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Mark 5

 Mark 5:1-20   They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.  When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.  Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

A Different Ministry

Mark 5

As we look at it, Jesus is visiting the area of the Gadarenes. This area was lived primarily by the people of the tribe of Gad. When they returned they added pagan rituals into their lives in order to reach God and receive protection. The towns were settled in the middle of hills and often the inhabitants would surround their city with the tomes of the dead. The hope was that the spirits of their dead relatives would protect them.  

 

The Gadarenes were part of Israel but they were not living like Israel.

 

If the Pharisees looked down on Galilee area this place was even worse. We will notice that they even keep pigs.

 

The towns surrounded by the dead, pigs kept, for the people at the time especially the religious leaders this place was unclean.

Yet Jesus went here.

 

We see that a demoniac ran to Jesus crying out who Jesus was.

 

The demons these unclean spirits aren’t trying to help Jesus they are trying to cause a stir.

 

Translation: evil/unclean spirit but Jesus isn’t made unclean by this spirit.

 

Looking at this man:

1.   Lived in the tombs

2.   Couldn’t be bound

3.   Cried out

4.   Self-mutilation

 

 

 

Jesus cast out the demon, but it seems not to work.

 

It worked but the problem there were a lot of demons.

 

ILLUSTRATION: If you see a mouse in the daytime and then catch a mouse. You haven’t taken care of the problem because there are a bunch there.

 

Jesus was showing the disciples why it seemed not to work by asking the name. Jesus never addresses the man as Legion.

 

The demons didn’t want to leave this area.

What does it say if the demons don’t want to leave?

 

The demons beg Jesus to let them go into the pigs and he let them.

 

WHY?

  

Pigs were unclean animals by allowing the pigs to go there Jesus in a very real way cleansed the area of two problems; the demonic and the pigs.

 

Early Church Father Chrysostom: pointed out that Jesus “did this so that you might know that the demons would have done the same to the human beings and would have drowned then if God had allowed them to do so.”

Even here we see the mercy of God.

The crowds came at the destruction of the pigs but were afraid when they saw the demon-possessed man made whole.

1.   Clothed

2.   In his right mind

What do you do with the man who can cleanse the land and cleanse the demon-possessed? What do you do with someone of this power and authority?

Ask him to leave!

They were more comfortable with the pigs and the demon-possessed man than with Jesus.

Romans 6:12-23: Do not let sin control your life, and do not give in to sinful desires.

Hebrews 11:24-27: Moses chose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

If you are more comfortable with you sin than with Jesus. If you again and again push Jesus aside then eventually, Jesus will leave.

But that doesn’t mean that Jesus is giving up on you. He may use another voice. We will see that in a different ministry that Jesus gives to the man-made free.

 

I like the way Gregory the Great said it, “A legion of demons had been as I believe cast out of me. I would prefer merely to forget all of this that I have known and simply rest at the feet of the Savior but lo it is said to so strongly as to compel me against my will, “go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”

The man wants to go with Jesus (very commendable) but Jesus tells him to stay. Jesus gives him specific yet different instructions just as he did man cleansed of Leprosy.

Leper:

1.   Tell no one

2.   Show yourself to priest

3.   Offer the correct sacrifice

Demon possessed man

1.   Go home to your family

2.   Tell your family

a.   How much the LORD has done for you

b.   The Mercy the LORD has shown

What did he do?

1.   Went to Decapolis (ten cities)

2.   Told what Jesus did for him.

 

What does this show us?

1.   We need to be more uncomfortable with sin than Jesus

2.   We need to do the ministry He gives us(not our ministry)

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Psalm 45

 

This Psalm is a wedding song and could be easily set aside as something we need not concern ourselves with. However, the beauty described here is often felt in every wedding if not seen. For our spiritual lives, if marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, then we who are joining to Christ should forget the family we came from to embrace the one we are joining. Often for a woman at this time, her father's family was the place that gave her safety, identity, and provision. Now all the things her previous family did will be done by her new husband. As Christians, we should look to Christ for our safety, identity, and provision. 

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Numbers 2

 

This might seem to be a strange thing to point out but here at this time, Israel got it right. They did just as God had commanded. Each group settled under the standard and with their clan and family. This was not just a way of setting up tents but each group sitting under the authority that God had given them and in this world and at this time it was under the directions of their clans and their clan leaders. This was an organization of how things were to be settled in disputes. It let everyone know they had a group they were both responsible for but also under the authority of. 

When we come into the New Testament, the first authority is Jesus and His word, followed by those set in our midst by God to lead us. I fear that the ideas of the protestant reformation taken to an extreme and the secular idea that we are our own boss is in the church today. We don't like the idea of submission or listening. We cringe at the Church Fathers when they say we need to submit to the Bishop. We rebel when a pastor preaches parts of the Bible we don't like. Why do we do this? Because we aren't willing to be under authority and we want to be our own judge as to what is right and wrong. 

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Numbers 1

 When we come to the end of chapter one we see that the Levities were not to be counted. These men were not considered men of war or in the count of the strength of the nation. One thing that stands out to me is that they were to set themselves around the tabernacle. They were the closest. This wasn't a gift though it might have made it easier to get to work at the tabernacle. The reason was, that they were supposed to serve as a buffer between the wrath of God and the rest of the community. In other words, it would hit the Levities first. To say it another way the Levities were supposed to be the mediator between Israel and God. This is a great image because Jesus is our mediator and he took the punishment of God so we wouldn't have to. 

Side note: For those that talk about the missing 13 tribes of Israel, it isn't missing. It was Levi, they had no land grant of their own. They weren't counted with the others. They however aren't missing. There isn't a missing tribe. Yes, some tribes have lost their identity over the years, but they aren't missing. 

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Isaiah 55

 Today I can't write about this chapter because its promises are just so real today. Nothing has changed in my life things are just as chaotic and my family is just as sick, yet God. God has promised so much and today I read this and know, He's got me and it's going to be okay. 

Consider these words:

1“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and you will delight in the richest of fare.

3Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a ruler and commander of the peoples.

5Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations you do not know will come running to you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor.”

6Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

13Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord’s renown,

for an everlasting sign,

that will endure forever.”

Leviticus 27

 Every value was to be set by the Sanctuary Shekel according to verse 25. This may seem to be a little side note without much difference but it was. Years ago, companies would sometimes run company stores. These stores took credit and script. Script was paid to the employees who could exchange it for things at the company store. The problem was the value of script was never as high as cash and therefore kept the employees in debt to the company store. The practice was finally made illegal in the United States in 1938. God never wanted anything like this every value was set by the one standard, His. 

Side note, Tennesse Ernie Ford sang an interesting song about it. This link gives a history. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/tennessee-ernie-ford/sixteen-tons 

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