Key Verse: John 19:30
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

For readers who’ve been with me since we began the third time around on June 2nd, you know that we’ve completed the first three books of the Bible and that we...

Key Verse: John 20:19
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus speaks “peace” three times to His disciples h...

Key Verse: Numbers 1:50
…but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle.

Here we are in Num...

Key Verse: Numbers 2:17
And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their standards.

What could’ve been a two-week journey became a forty-year time of testing, learning, r...

Key Verse: Numbers 3:12
Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine.

Moses was a descendant of Levi, one of the sons of Jacob. Here, God commands M...

Key Verse: Numbers 4:49
According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

God has a job for everyone, the willing workers, and even those who a...

Key Verse: Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Quarantine for communicable disease is an example of the care God had for His people. God gave instructions...

Key Verse: Numbers 7:1-3
Now it came to pass, when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, that he anointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; so he anointed them and consecrated them. Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ ho...

Key Verse: Numbers 9:15
Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire.

Our reading begins with the arrangement of the lamps so that they give max...

Key Verse: Numbers 11:14
I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now — if I have found favor in Your sight — and do not let me see my wretchedness!

Imagine how excited all the people were as…”They...

Key Verse: Numbers 13:30
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

In Chapter 12, a very difficult lesson was learned by Moses’ brother Aaron and sister Miriam. God reaffirmed Moses’ leadership in no ...

Key Verse: Numbers 14:19
Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

How strange! The majority wanted to go back to Egypt. This, in spite of the Red Sea miracle, the water from the rock...

Key Verse: Numbers 15:41
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

Religion vs. relationship!! There is a very big difference. Jesus brought us into a living and loving connection with God. The Pharisees, one of the denominations...

Key Verse: Numbers 16:9a, 10
Is it a small thing to you…that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?

Twice in our reading, Moses fell on his face before God (verses 4 & 45) in intercession for the peopl...

Key Verse: Numbers 17:10
And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.

King David wrote, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4b). The “rod” was ...

Key Verse: Numbers 20:6
So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

The charge against Moses and Aaron was cruel and unjust (20:3-5). They turned in silence in the...

Key Verse: Numbers 21:9
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

The serpent of bronze holds a prominent place in human history, primarily because of the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemu...

Key Verse: Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Schindler saved the lives of many Jewish people during the Second World War. He was buried in a Gentile grav...

Key Verse: Numbers 25:3
So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

Just across the salt deposits pictured above was Moab. The Israelite men committed adultery with Moabite women. The idea was simple. If Balaam could not curse Israel, then the plan...

Key Verse: Numbers 27:22-23
So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. And he laid his hands on him and inaugurated him, just as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

Our reading begins with God’s concerns for ...

Key Verse: Numbers 29:39
These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts (besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.

Moses knew that he would not lead the people int...

Key Verse: Numbers 31:6a
Then, Moses sent them to war, one thousand from each tribe.

No wonder this book is called “Numbers.” Our reading is once again filled with numbers. The census taken by our government, attendance at Sunday School and Church services, as well as the amount of the tithes...

Key Verse: Numbers 32:23
But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sins will find you out.

Two messages grip my mind as I read this chapter. The first has to do with a statement my Mother drummed into me when I was a boy. She died when I was 1...

Key Verse: Numbers 33:53b
…for I have given you the land to possess.

Yesterday, Reynold’s photograph was of “The Great Sea,” the Mediterranean. Today it’s of “The Salt Sea,” or the Dead Sea. Both Seas are mentioned twice in today’s reading. “The Sea of Chinneret,” known now as the Sea of Galilee...