Numbers 16:12-19 - Do not respect their offering

16:12-15

While Om was mentioned at the start of the chapter, that is his only mention, and Korah, Dathan and Abiram are the main instigators. They are in absolute rebellion, even refusing to come to speak with Moses. We then get their reasons. They “blame” Moses for bringing them up out of Egypt, and even blame him for not taking them into the Promised Land. They neglect to remember that the reason they are not in the Promised Land is because they refused to enter! It was literally a case of “you take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”. We need to realise that the arguments of rebels will never be logically consistent. Moses was very angry and called on God not to receive any of their offerings.

16:16-19

Despite their refusal to come, Moses sets a time for them to come and stand before the Tent of Meeting with Aaron and himself. Moses is entrusting the matter to God. They were to bring their censers with them, so that offerings could be made to the Lord, and the Lord could judge the matter. Korah appeared at the Tent, along with the rebels he had amassed. “And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation”. It would seem that virtually all of Israel was onside with the rebellion. The kingdom is not run on democratic lines!

Romans 15:26-33 - May the God of peace be with you

15:26-29

Paul mentions the contribution made by the Macedonians towards the poor in Jerusalem. He mentions this because it shows other Christians supporting the Jewish Christians in a practical way. Paul knows, and is keen to stress, the heritage that all Christians have inherited from the Jews. After taking the gift to Jerusalem Paul would visit Rome and then Spain. As we know from Acts, things proved to be much more complicated, though Paul did get to Rome eventually. None of us, not even Paul, know everything that is going to happen!

15:30-33

Paul then urges the Roman Christians to pray for him, to join him in his struggle. Spreading the gospel and building up the church is a battle. Paul knew that he would face opposition from unbelievers in Jerusalem, and this proved to be the case. 15:33 sort of marks a conclusion of the letter, though it is followed by a whole list of greetings.

Numbers 16:3-11 - They came as a group to oppose Moses

16:3

They were jealous of Moses and Aaron, they accused Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves above the rest of the Israelites. They also claimed that all Israel was holy. Now, let’s look at this more closely. All Israel was holy, in that the sacrifices applied to all of them and God was leading all of them into the Promised Land. However, we know that many of their actions were anything but holy. Now Aaron and Moses had not exalted themselves, but God had placed them in position over all of Israel. In the kingdom of God positions of leadership are not positions of privilege in a worldly sense. They are positions of servanthood, as Jesus demonstrated so clearly. Also, when we see others exalted to higher positions than ourselves we must not be envious. We are indeed all holy. We are to delight in the Lord and to do whatever God gives us to do.

16:4-11

As when the Israelites refused to go into the Promised Land, Moses fell on his face, presumably seeking the Lord. He then answered the rebels with authority and confidence, so he must have received strength from the Lord. He tells Korah that the Lord would demonstrate to all of them whom He has chosen. Moses is putting his trust in the Lord. Moses is also angry with the rebels. The rebels were actually Levites, so they had been set apart, and given a position of leadership and responsibility. We all need to guard ourselves against grumbling and dissatisfaction.

Romans 15:20-25 - Those who have never heard will understand

15:20,21

Paul’s ambition was to preach the gospel to those who have not heard it. He did not wish to build upon “someone else’s foundation”. Paul then quotes from Is 52:15. God’s plan and purpose is that those who have not known will see and understand. In the West we live in an increasingly godless age. We need God to open our eyes to see that the harvest field is ready. 

15:22-25

Paul will now go on to explain about his travel plans and why he hasn’t visited Rome beforehand. Previously Paul had been working in the regions east of Rome, but this work was now complete. So Paul planned to go to Spain after visiting Jerusalem, and he would stop off at Rome on the way. Of course, Paul never got to Spain as far as we know. There is actually a reference from Clement that implies he might have reached Spain. At present he was on his way to Jerusalem “in the service of the Lord’s people there”. Paul’s life is mission oriented, all geared towards fulfilling the Lord’s plans.

Numbers 15:37-16:2 - Rose up against Moses

15:37-41

The Jews are commanded to tie tassels to their garments to remind them of the word of the Lord. The intention is that then they would live according to the word of the Lord. Their (and our) natural inclination would be to follow after their own heart, to live according to their own reasoning, and also to be led by what they saw. The ways of the world lead to death, the ways of the Lord lead to life. Now this does not mean we do not use reasoning, but that everything should be done in the light of the word of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

16:1,2

We now get a third rebellion, this time led by Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On. Korah was a Levite, but not a priest. They seem to have gathered 250 chiefs of the congregation. Rebels always seem able to gather some people around them. We all need to watch that we do not become rebels ourselves, and that we do not become deceived by rebels into following them. 

Romans 15:18,19 - By the power of signs and wonders

15:18

“I will not venture to speak of anything except that which Christ has accomplished through me...”  The only things worth boasting about are what Christ has done through us. What we do in our own strength, whatever is the product purely of our own imaginations soon turns to dust. It is what Christ does in us and through us that is of lasting value. The verse then goes on “to bring the Gentiles to obedience - by word and deed”. In the Great Commission (Matt 28:19,20) Christ told us to teach people to obey all that He commanded. Bringing people into obedience to Christ is our task, and this, of course, starts with ourselves. It is also why that those who think they are preaching the love of Christ when they “affirm” lifestyles and identities explicitly forbidden in Scripture are utterly deluded.

15:19

Paul’s ministry was fulfilled through both word and deed, by what he preached, and by what he did. And what he did was done “by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God”. In the West we find it so hard to believe these words, even in charismatic churches. We will seek to replace these works with “good works”. Now “good works” are good, but “the power of signs and wonders” should be part of the church’s armoury, and they must go together with the word of God. We need God to teach us anew in this area. Charismatic churches need teaching, reformed churches need teaching, we all need to learn from Him.

Numbers 15:22-36 - Unintentional sins

15:22-31

We now come to offerings for unintentional sins. In some ways unintentional sins are the hardest to deal with. If we sin intentionally the “solution” is straightforward, we need to repent, and we receive forgiveness. With unintentional sins we did not mean to do any harm to anyone, so we cannot repent in the same way, for we had no intention of doing wrong. Yet our actions have still had a harmful effect. The cross deals with all our sins, the deliberate ones, and the unintentional ones.

There are instructions here both for the case where the people as a whole have sinned, and for the case where an individual has sinned. Again, the law applies both to the Hebrew and to the sojourner. 

The person who wilfully sins is dealt with more severely. Our tendency for deliberate sin needs to be cast out. In New Testament terms we need to be sanctified.

15:32-36

Along with giving of our first fruits, the Sabbath was an important reminder and demonstration of our complete dependency upon the Lord. Here we have an extreme example. A man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. The Lord instructed the people to stone the man, and this they did. The harsh lesson is that unless we are totally dependent upon the Lord we cannot succeed.

Romans 15:14-17 - I have written to you very boldly

15:14

Paul has given a lot of teaching to the Roman Christians. Here he reassures them that he has a positive attitude towards them. He believes that they are “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another”. These words tend to count against the view that Paul was writing to address a serious situation of disunity that had broken out between Jewish and Gentile believers.

15:15-17

Paul acknowledges that he has written to them “very boldly”. It is better to give strong teaching before an issue arises, than having to do it in the midst of an issue that has come to a head. We may be tempted to relax when everything seems to be ticking along nicely. This is not a wise course to take. Paul does so “because of the grace given me by God”. Most of us are naturally reluctant to address thorny issues, but there are times when we need to do so, and we can only do so effectively by the grace of God. Paul said these things to the church in Rome because he had been appointed as an apostle to the Gentiles, to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

Numbers 15:1-21 - After you enter the land

15:1-16

“When you come into the land I am giving you ...”  Although the people have rebelled and God has punished them, the plan remains the same. So we see two things. First, sin matters and has consequences; secondly, man’s sin cannot thwart God’s plans. So here we see God continuing to prepare Israel for entering the Promised Land, giving more instructions on sacrifices. Some of the commands would have been irrelevant if they had stayed in the wilderness forever, such as the treatment of strangers or sojourners. The instructions for sojourners are very important, if they wanted to offer a sacrifice they were to be allowed to do so. And there was one rule for all, whether Hebrew or stranger. This is all very relevant for the gospel bringing Jews and Gentiles into the kingdom on exactly the same basis.

15:17-21

There is another instruction about offering the first fruits to the Lord, in this case applied to bread and dough. This principle is still important today. It is the Lord who supplies all our needs. This does not mean that we do not have to work, but the fruitfulness of our work depends upon the Lord (Ps 127:1). Our giving the firstfruits to the Lord is a reminder and a demonstration of this fact.

Romans 15:10-13 - Rejoice, O Gentiles with His people

15:10-12

The quote in 15:10 comes from the Song of Moses, Deut 32:43. 15:11 comes from Ps 117:1. 15:12 combines Is 11:1 and 11:10. So  what has Paul been doing? It seems something of a sudden jump to go from talking about attitudes to eating different foods to the whole plan of salvation. So is it a completely different section from 15:8 onwards? I think not. In the sections directly on the matter of eating or not eating meat Paul’s concern was not so much the issue itself, but the attitude people had. Then in 15:8 he talks about the attitude that Christ had, that of servanthood. In these three verses Paul states that it is God’s will that the Gentiles rejoice with the Jews, and that all of us praise the Lord. This is perhaps a continuation of what Paul has been saying in Romans 9-11. In Eph 2:11-22 Paul majors on the fact that God is creating one people in Christ, with no barriers between Jews and Gentiles.

15:13

So we are to get rid of self-centred attitudes. God’s plans are not fulfilled that way. Neither do they do us any good! Instead we are to have a Christ-centred attitude, then we are open to being filled with joy and peace, and abounding in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is difficult to have a good attitude all the time, even most of the time. There are many things in society which mitigate against it. There are many things within us that mitigate against it. So we cannot achieve this right attitude, this hope-filled attitude by our own efforts, but through the power of the Holy Spirit it is possible.

Numbers 14:36-45 - Do not go up

14:36-38

The spies who brought a bad report all died of the plague. This happened because by their report they made all the people grumble against the Lord. Some may think this was harsh, but look at the consequences of their faithlessness. The people could have entered the Promised Land, instead they wandered around the desert and died. The actions of God here are exactly consistent with the word of Jesus in Lk 17:1,2 where He says people will always sin, but woe to those who cause others to sin. The people were responsible for their own sin, but the spies were also responsible. Joshua and Caleb were spared.

14:39-45

The people heard the words of the Lord. They thought that they could avoid the worst of the judgement by now being willing to go up into the land, but they were mistaken. There was no true repentance on their part. Moses warned them that they would not succeed, for the Lord was not with them. The Lord’s plan was now for them to wander in the wilderness and that is what they had to do. The people would not listen and went up to do battle, but they were defeated, as Moses had warned them.

Romans 15:8,9- Christ became a servant

15:8

Paul now broadens the matter out, referring to the Jews and the Gentiles. Perhaps he is continuing the thoughts expressed in chapters 9-11. Or maybe he fears that if divisions over food were allowed to fester, then it would not be long before it led to divisions between Jews and Gentiles. Anyway, Christ became “a servant to the circumcised”. He did this to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs. God’s plans are not fulfilled through people becoming proud and boastful. So if we are tempted to be proud and boastful we must reject the temptation, for that is not how God’s plans are fulfilled. They were fulfilled in Christ through His humble servanthood. Jesus served those who rejected Him.

15:9

“In order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy”. This could be taken in two ways. It could mean that the Gentiles would praise God for His mercy towards the Jews, or it could mean that Christ’s servanthood also led to God’s mercy being given to the Gentiles as well. Both are true and consistent with Paul’s teaching in Romans. The key point is that God’s plans are fulfilled through humble obedience. Paul then quotes from Ps 18:49. It was always God’s plan that His Name be praised among the Gentiles. We need to look at the bigger picture.

Numbers 14:26-35 - I have heard the grumblings of the people

14:26-29

Outwardly the people had grumbled against Moses, but in reality they were grumbling against God. The people had said that God had brought them out of Egypt in order to die, and because of their rebellion that is what would happen to them. This is a very sombre passage, but we need to take on board the severity of God. Everyone over twenty years of age would die in the wilderness. These are the ones who had been enrolled to fight, but had refused to do so.

14:30-35

Caleb and Joshua would be the exceptions. Also the little ones would enter the land. The people’s words about the little ones would prove to be the nonsense that they were. All the people (twenty and over) would die in the wilderness, and their children would suffer in the wilderness because of their parent’s disobedience. They would wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each of the days that they spied out the Promised Land.

Romans 15:5-7 - May the God of endurance and encouragement

15:5

Earlier (Rom 12:16) Paul had commanded them to live in harmony with each other. Now he prays to God for them to live in harmony. He asks God to give them “endurance and encouragement” to enable them to do this. Living in harmony isn’t easy! We need to stick at it, and there will be times when doing the opposite seems much easier, even the right thing to do. It may seem that living in harmony is impossible. So we need strength to persist, and encouragement that it will all be worth it in the end. “In accord with Jesus Christ”. This could mean following Christ’s example, it may also mean that we live in harmony when we are following Christ. If someone, or a branch of the church, is clearly disobeying Christ or the gospel, then we cannot and should not live in harmony with them.

15:6,7

The goal is that we may glorify “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Our goal is God’s glory, not our glory. So we are to welcome one another as Christ welcomed us. Jesus accepted us without looking for all the faults, without looking for a reason to reject us. He dealt with all those reasons on the cross! So if we came in repentance, faith and humility He welcomed us. So if a brother is following Christin faith and humility we should welcome them without question. All this is for the glory of God. 

Numbers 14:20-25 - They have not obeyed my voice

14:20-23

God agrees to pardon the people, but stresses that “the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord”. Man’s sin does not stop God’s purposes being fulfilled. Man’s sin matters. The people were not trusting in God, they were living out of the flesh. Today we see a world in rebellion, things will not stay this way forever. The people who sinned would receive the consequences, none of them would enter the Promised Land, for they had never heeded God’s word.

14:24,25

There would be an exception to this, for Caleb had followed God faithfully. He was looking at things  with the eyes of faith, of trust in the Lord. It is always worth trusting God, even when almost everyone else isn’t. So instead of entering the land, God leads the people away into the wilderness. The people got what they wanted, which is usually the worst thing that can happen.

Romans 15:3,4 - For Christ did not please Himself

15:3

Paul then cites Jesus as an example to follow. Christ is infinitely more than an example. If He was only an example then He would not be our saviour, for our sin would remain. However, He is our saviour, and He is also an example.  Christ did not live to please Himself, instead He took upon Himself all our sins. He took upon Himself the reproach that should have been ours. Paul is quoting from the latter part of Ps 69:9. So if Christ was prepared to do that, we should be prepared to help the “weaker brother”.

15:4

Paul then makes the general observation that the Old Testament (“whatever was written in former days”) was “written for our instruction”. There are some who see the Old Testament as less important than the New. This is not so. It is true that we should read it in the light of the New Testament, but it is part of God’s word. We develop hope through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures. We generally aren’t keen on “endurance” for it means going through a tough time for a significant period of time, and that is hard. But we are to go through these times with the encouragement of the Scriptures. So when we are in a battle we should look to the Scriptures for encouragement, wisdom and strength.

Numbers 14:10-19 - How long will this people despise me?

14:10-12

The people did not listen, instead they sought to stone Joshua and Caleb. We don’t have physical stoning today in this country, but people react with verbal attacks against people who stand up for God’s word. However, the people who were rebelling had forgotten about the Lord, and the Lord intervenes as His glory appears before them at the tent of meeting. Today’s rebels have forgotten about the Lord, at some point He will act. The Lord speaks to Moses, and threatens to do away with the rebellious people and to make Moses into a great nation.

14:13-19

Moses speaks to God and tells Him not to do away with the people, and he frames his argument in terms of the Lord’s glory. If God did away with the people Egypt and the other nations would hear of it and think that God cannot do what He set out to do. Moses reminds God of His character in being slow to anger and abounding in love. He urges Him to show mercy to the people. God knew that Moses would react like this, and Moses is a type of Christ, a forerunner if you like. We deserve judgement, but Jesus speaks on our behalf. God is determined to save us.

Romans 15:1,2 - Not to please ourselves

15:1

We continue with the “weak” and “strong”. Here Paul addresses the “strong” directly. He also identifies himself as one of the “strong”, in the previous chapter he declared that no food is unclean in itself. This first verse expresses the fundamental principle, we are not to please ourselves. Self-centeredness is a fruit of our rebellion against God. Instead we “have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak”. Garland states that “failings” is a misleading translation here. Indeed, it would be at odds with the one of the previous chapter. The attitude we are to have is one of helping each other.

15:2

So instead of living for ourselves, or to please ourselves, or to prove how right or clever we are, we are to “please his neighbour for his good, to build him up”. We are to live for others. So we should seek to build the “weaker” brother up. In the situation in Rome this would mean not getting bogged down in matters of eating, nor trying to persuade the “weaker brother” that eating meat is OK. Instead they should focus on righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). The brother may at some point decide that eating meat is OK, but whether he does or not doesn't matter.

Numbers 14:1-9 - The people grumbled against Moses and Aaron

14:1-4

Now all the people rebel. Indeed, rebellion is a key feature of Numbers. Earlier we had Miriam and Aaron rebelling against Moses. Now all the people rebel, after this there will be another rebellion, and later Moses himself will rebel. What is the nature of the rebellion? First the people have chosen to believe the report of the ten spies, rather than of Joshua and Caleb. They have chosen to believe a godless report (for the report paid no attention to the promise of the Lord). Then they get all agitated. Today we can see a similar phenomenon with abortion and LGBTQ stuff. People choose to believe the report that abortion and LGBTQ is good, they then get all agitated about it. People demand the right to kill life in the womb. They then start fearing things that will not happen. “Our wives and our little ones will become prey”. They wouldn’t have done, but believing the bad (and false) report leads them to become filled with fear. Their solution to this is to wan to go back to Egypt, where their women and children would indeed become prey!

14:5-9

Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the people. It isn’t clear why they are doing this. Are they prostrating themselves before the Lord, or before the people? However, Joshua and Caleb’s actions are clear. They urge the people to put their faith in God. They put God first, saying He can give the land into their hands. Thinking that omits God is inevitably wrong thinking. They make it clear that the people would be rebelling against the Lord, and that if they do trust the Lord then they have no need to fear.

Romans 14:19-23 - Make every effort

14:19

Paul now urges them to focus on what really matters. So instead of being puffed up with their own ideas and righteousness, which usually leads to doing others down, they are to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. When we put ourselves at the centre peace does not ensue, and we are only concerned with our own edification.

14:20,21

Getting things out of proportion, such as the importance of which foods we should and shouldn't eat can destroy the work of God. Look at it like this, God went to the trouble of sending His Son to the cross to die for a person, but you are going to write them off because they do or don’t eat a certain food? Paul is quite clear that all food is clean. So it isn’t actually wrong to eat a certain food, but it is wrong if doing so causes harm to another brother. In such a case it is better to forego our right for the benefit of our brother. 

Now, in all these things wisdom is needed. Paul is not laying down a rule but a principle. It could happen that some people are touchy about almost anything, and not offending them would be almost impossible. Moreover, Paul’s injunction to make every effort to do what leads to peace does not mean we never take a stand on anything. In Paul’s letters there are times when he most definitely does take a stand on issues, Galatians is perhaps the best example.

14:22,23

So, instead of mouthing off every opinion that we have, there are times to keep quiet, just to keep them to ourselves. For the wrong use of opinions can lead to us being condemned. Conversely, if someone does think eating a particular food is wrong, then it would indeed be wrong for them to eat that food. They would not be acting in faith, they would be eating it simple because someone else had told them to. “Everything that does not come from faith is sin”.

Numbers 13:25-33 - Let us go up at once

13:25-29

The spies were in the land for forty days. They reported to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of Israel “in the wilderness”. The Israelites were in a “bad place” (materially, i.e. in the wilderness, not spiritually, though as we shall soon see, they were indeed in a bad place spiritually). Their report had two essential aspects. The first was that the land was very fruitful, it was indeed flowing with milk and honey. The second aspect was that the cities were heavily fortified and it was occupied by powerful people. 

13:30-33

So the situation was that the land was fruitful, but there were many obstacles to be overcome. This is true of the Christian life, of gospel freedom. We are in a wilderness, but God wants to take us to a different place, to eternal life, to kingdom life. Kingdom life is indeed fruitful and is true life, but there are many obstacles. The driving factor in our life needs to be that it is God who has promised salvation. If we let our own weaknesses, or the circumstances dominate our thinking then we will be mistaken. We don’t ignore the circumstances, nor our own weaknesses and failings, but Christ is the dominant factor in our thinking. Caleb took this correct approach. He urged them to go up and take the land, but ten of the other men took the wrong approach. They let the circumstances dominate their thinking. They focused on themselves and the circumstances, totally neglecting God.

Romans 14:16-18 - Not a matter of eating and drinking

14:16

If the “stronger” brother insisted on eating meat in the presence of “weaker” brothers, then some of them might lose their faith, and eating meat would get a bad name. So instead of promoting what was perfectly fine, their eating it would produce the exact opposite effect.

14:17,18

“For the kingdom of heaven is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. We can so easily lose perspective. Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether we eat meat or not. It is our salvation in Christ that is of prime importance. So if someone serves Christ by faith then they are acceptable to Him, and we have no right not to accept them. Indeed, we would be utterly foolish not to accept them, and would be acting against God.

Numbers 13:17-24 - Moses sent them to spy

13:17-20 

Moses gives them instructions on what they were to do. They were to see what the land was like, and whether the current occupants were strong or weak, many or few. And how well fortified the cities were. They were to be “of good courage” and were to bring back some of the fruit of the land. It was the time of year for the first grapes. 

13:21-24 

So the spies went up from the Negeb to Hebron, which is where the patriarchs were buried. The Anakites were known for their height (Num 13:33; Dt 9:2). At the valley of Eschol they cut down a branch with a single (and large) cluster of grapes. Eschol means “cluster”. They also brought back pomegranates and figs.

Romans 14:14,15 - Nothing is unclean in itself

14:14

Paul now comments on the issue itself, rather than how people handle the matter. Paul agrees that “nothing is unclean in itself”. This follows the words of Jesus in Mark 7:18-23. Everything was created by God, so cannot “in itself” be unclean. However, Paul does not say that therefore anyone who considers certain foods to be unclean is wrong. Instead, he says that for that person the food would indeed be unclean. 

14:15

Paul then takes things a step further. Someone might say “alright, it is unclean for them, but not for me, so it is fine for me to eat the food, even in the presence of the ‘weaker’ brother”. This is not so, for your eating may well cause distress, and unnecessary distress, to the other person. This would not be acting in love. In fact it could cause serious problems for the other person, something which Paul expresses most strongly, talking about “destroying” the person. And that person would be someone for whom Christ died. A similar example today would be over the matter of drinking alcohol. One person might think drinking alcohol is absolutely wrong, another is quite happy to drink in moderation. The latter person should still be wary of drinking in the presence of the other.

Numbers 13:1-16 - Send men to spy out the land

13:1,2

We now come to one of the most well-known sections of Numbers, namely the spies going into the Promised Land. God reminds them that the grounds for Israel receiving this land were that He was giving it to them. It was not in their ability, or inability, to take the land. God’s promises to us are based in Christ, not in us. God tells them to send spies into the land, one from each tribe. The spies were to see what God was giving them.

13:3-16

So Moses sends the spies into the land, one from each tribe, and the spies are all named. Joshua is called Hoshea at this point. Hoshea means “he saves”, while “Joshua means “Yahweh saves”. The names of the chiefs differ from those given in chapters 1 and 2. God told Moses to choose “a chief” of each tribe rather than “the chief”, presumably younger men were chosen for the current task. Moses called Hoshea, Joshua. Joshua is first mentioned in Ex 17, where he overcomes the Amalekite army, and Moses knew that it was because of the Lord that Joshua gained the victory.

Romans 14:12,13 - Each of us will give an account to God

14:12

“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God”. We all need to live in the light of this. When societies or individuals stop doing this evil prospers. We see this happening in the West, where few pay attention to God, and even fewer leaders. If we bear in mind that one day we will have to give an account to God of what we have done, then that will spare us from many evils.

14:13

So we are to stop passing judgement on one another. Instead of doing this we are to ensure that we avoid putting stumbling blocks in each other’s way. We are meant to help one another along the road, not try to trip each other up. For if we persuade someone to do something against their conscience then we make it much more difficult for them to be at peace. And if we condemn someone for doing something that God has not spoken against we pile unwarranted guilt upon them. Neither of these is good.

Numbers 12:5-16 - Miriam was leprous

12:5-9

The Lord appeared in a pillar of cloud. God then makes it clear that Moses is special. God decides who He speaks to, not us. When God spoke to other people it was through dreams and visions, but with Moses He spoke directly. The relationship was special. We should remember that Moses was a type of Christ. With Christ, being the Son of God, there was an even closer relationship. The Lord rebukes Miriam and Aaron for speaking against the Lord’s servant. We see here that God speaks highly of Moses, later on He will severely rebuke Moses.

12:10-16

The Lord was angry with Miriam and Aaron, and after He had departed Miriam was leprous. Aaron appeals to Moses, who, in turn, calls upon the Lord. The Lord says that she will stay like that for seven days. It was important that Miriam and Aaron appreciated the seriousness of what they had done. The incident being over, the people continued on their way.

Romans 14:10,11 - Why do you pass judgement?

14:10

Paul now urges those who judge others to consider the matter carefully. Now we need to draw a distinction between judging actions and judging people. We are quite right to say that certain actions are wrong, and the New Testament is full of examples of this. So when the “do not judge” crowd pipe up saying we shouldn’t judge actions, which is what they are often doing, they should be ignored for they are spouting unbiblical nonsense, they are going against the word of God. The situation here is different. First, the actions are not going against scripture, and we should be very wary of making rules or laws on matters that the Bible has said nothing. Secondly, they were in danger of judging people, saying that the “weaker” or “stronger” brother (depending which side you were on) was a lesser Christian, or maybe not a Christian at all. It is dangerous to treat with contempt someone whom God has accepted in Christ. Moreover, we will all one day stand before the judgement seat.

14:11

Paul quotes from Is 45:23 to backup his argument. These words are applied to Jesus in Phil 2:10,11. It is a fundamental fact of life that ultimately every knee will bow before the Lord acknowledging Him as Lord. We need to live our lives in the light of this truth. Here it is a warning against judging people. More generally it is a warning against giving in to those who oppose the Lord.

Numbers 12:1-4 - Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses

12:1,2

Opposition now comes from Miriam and Aaron. Moses had married a Cushite woman, which he should not have done, but this was used as an excuse for opposing Moses. Their real reason was that they were jealous of Moses’ position. The only wife of Moses explicitly mentioned is Zipporah, so there is uncertainty over who this Cushite wife is. Is she Zipporah, or some other woman? Moses having two wives seems the most likely answer, but we cannot be certain. 12:2 reveals the real reason for Miriam and Aaron opposing Moses, they were jealous of the Lord speaking to Moses. 

12:3,4

We now have the statement that Moses was the humblest man on all the earth, this was probably written by someone other than Moses. It may be that Zipporah had died, and the Cushite woman was his second wife. This would still have been against the Law. God steps into the situation, calling the three of them out.

Romans 14:7-9 - None of us lives to himself

14:7

“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.” We live in an “I” society, the kingdom of God is very different, it is a “God” society.  So the one who eats meat does so thanking God, but also not judging others. Likewise, the one who abstains does so not judging others. If we do judge others then we are actually putting the focus on ourselves, saying “Aren’t I good!”. 

14:8

So when we live, i.e. when we enjoy ourselves (which we are allowed to do, the problem arises if our enjoyment becomes an idol), we do so for the Lord, we do it with hearts of gratitude. Likewise, when we die (e.g. abstain from something, or suffer for the sake of Christ and the gospel) we do so for the Lord. The focus in all cases is to be on the Lord, not on ourselves.

14:9

Paul then puts the focus well and truly on Christ. Christ died and lived again. It is always good to remind ourselves of this, this is the centrepiece of our faith, the cross and resurrection. Paul then applies Christ being the Lord of both the living and the dead in a rather unusual way, i.e. to the “living” and “dead” in the sense that he used in 14:8. Christ is Lord of all.

Numbers 11:26-35 - Would the Lord put His Spirit on them

11:26-30

There were two men, who are named, who had not gone out to the tent, but they too received the Holy Spirit. They also began to prophesy. This caused some upset, and a young man ran to tell Moses, and Joshua was rather concerned about it. Moses, however, was not the least concerned. He would be happy if all Israel prophesied. If we are truly filled with the Spirit, or some anointing from the Lord, then we are glad when others receive a similar anointing, rather than being jealous.

11:31-35

Quail are like small partridges, and God caused a load of quail to be blown in beside the camp. A great number of them arrived, so that even those who collected the lease had a large amount. The people seem to have gone mad for the quails, and the Lord struck them with a plague. The people journeyed on, probably regretting their greed.

Romans 14:5,6 - Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind

14:5

Paul now moves on from food to observing special days. The days in questions are probably the Sabbath. So some saw the Sabbath (I suppose it could be either Saturday or Sunday) as special, others saw all days as equally special. Paul’s instruction is that each person should make up his own mind. 

14:6

As long as someone has settled the matter in their own mind and is acting to honour the Lord, then that is fine. We should note that we are not talking about matters where something is clearly forbidden. But in these matters which are not absolute the conscience of the individual is what matters. Whatever we do we are to do it in order to honour the Lord. Paul then goes back to food. The one who eats meat does so with thankfulness to God, the one who abstains does so in honour of the Lord.

Numbers 11:18-25 - Is the Lord's hand shortened?

11:18-23

The Lord then says that He will indeed give the people meat, the meat they craved. However, this would not be the blessing that they imagined it would be. He would give them meat for a whole month, so that they would become sick of it. The people were complaining of eating the manna day after day, now they would become sick of the meat they craved. We need to be careful when we are going through difficult times. We need to be grateful for the Lord’s provision in the midst of those times. We see that Moses was not that great either, he cannot see where all this meat would come from. The Lord rebukes Moses, reminding him that His arm is not too short to do anything.

11:24,25

Moses informs the people of what the Lord had said to him, and then gathers seventy elders. The Lord gave some of the Spirit that was on Moses to the seventy elders. This “giving some of the Spirit” is a strange way of expressing things. It does tend to treat the Spirit here as a force, rather than a person. But then it says “as soon as the Spirit rested on them ...”, which is more consistent with our trinitarian understanding of the Spirit. Then the elders began to prophesy, but they did not continue to do so. In Acts a common sign of someone receiving the Holy Spirit was that they began to prophesy.

Romans 14:3,4 - Who are you to pass judgement

14:3

Both sides of this issue were prone to having a wrong attitude. The happy meat eater may consider the vegetarian to be inferior because he does not realise the freedom we have to eat anything. The vegetarian may look down on the meat eater because he is exposing himself to things contaminated by idol worship. In fact, in this verse it is the latter who gets told that God has welcomed the other.

14:4

“Do not judge” is a favourite phrase of many people, usually utterly misapplied. However, here is one place where it is appropriate. Both the meat eater and the veggie have been accepted by the Lord. So if God is happy to accept the person, then so should we. Moreover, if we try to do down the person we will ultimately lose, for God will enable him to stand. We do not want to be opposing God. The matter of God accepting the person is vital here. For no doubt some would try to use the argumentation here to say we should accept all sorts of things that are explicitly forbidden, usually sexual morals.

Numbers 11:10-17 - Moses heard the people weeping

11:10-15

The people continued to complain, essentially feeling sorry for themselves. Moses was displeased, but the Lord’s anger “blazed hotly”. God was more offended than Moses was. We need to realise that sometimes the Lord’s anger is greater than ours. Moses is actually feeling sorry for himself as well, he is angry that God has given him these people to look after. If we are in positions of leadership, or even positions within our families, there can be times when we are fed up with having to look after the people, because all people are sinners, and at times will act like sinners (as will we). The reason for Moses’ anger is that he feels totally inadequate, unable to meet the people’s demands. Again, this is something we can all identify with.

11:16,17

First of all God helps Moses with the burden he is carrying. Now back in Ex 18:13-26 Jethro had advised Moses to appoint capable men to help him. It would seem that Moses had let this slip, so God has to tell him to appoint seventy elders to assist him. It is very easy for us to slip into trying to do everything ourselves. This is not God’s way. The seventy would be given something of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:1,2 - Do not quarrel over opinions

14:1

We now come to a section that deals with similar matters to those dealt with in 1 Cor 8. There are some who posit that Paul was dealing with a division between Gentile and Jewish Christians. The Jews had previously been expelled from Rome, but had now been allowed back. Under this hypothesis the “weaker” Christians are the Jews and the “stronger” Christians are the Gentile believers. However, there are many, such as Gardener, who do not accept this thesis, and I have to say I am persuaded by them. Paul did not personally know the church at Rome, and there is no indication that he is dealing with a specific problem of that type. Rather, the “weak” and “strong” are used on a personal level, rather than an ethnic group level. 

So the weaker brother is to be welcomed, not quarrelled with. We should not have an attitude of wanting to put everyone else “right”.

14:2

The issue arose over eating food. Some were happy to eat anything, others wanted to stick to vegetables. Now this was almost certainly not a matter of being a vegetarian, nor a vegan! There were two reasons why some were reluctant to eat meat. Jews would be concerned that the animal had not been slaughtered in the correct manner. Believers might be concerned that the meat had been connected with idol worship. The latter was the reason for the issue in Corinth.

Numbers 11:4-9 - The rabble had a strong craving

11:4-6

The rabble, notice how they are referred to! They had a strong craving. Complaining people are driven by desires, rather than by submission to the Lord. We then see how deranged their thinking was. They speak of their time in Egypt as though they were staying at a health spa! In reality they were in slavery. We need to recognise how our thinking can so easily get distorted. They also started resenting God’s provision for them, the manna from heaven. We need to watch our attitudes carefully.

11:7-9

We now get a description of the manna, and what the people did with it. It was like coriander seed, and looked like bdellium, which was a pale yellow resin found in desert regions. The people gathered it up, ground it and made cakes out of it. The manna came with the morning dew.

Romans 13:13,14 - Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

13:13

We get more of the practicalities. We are to “walk properly as in the daytime”. We have the light of Christ, we know the truth, so we should live according to it. We then get a series of negatives, things we are not to do. We are not to indulge in orgies or drunkenness, nor in sexual immorality and sensuality. This is what the world does, and it does so because it dwells in darkness.

13:14

Then we get the positive. We are to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”. This involves “making no provision for the flesh”. We do not live out of our natural self. This means not living according to overtly sinful desires, such as those mentioned in the previous verse, nor do we live out of fear. We seek to gratify the Lord, not the desires of the flesh.

Numbers 11:1-3 - His anger was kindled

11:1-3

We have had various instructions and everything seems to be going fine, but now we encounter trouble. The instructions have essentially dealt with the outward form, the heart of the people is far from being holy. The people complained about their “misfortunes”. The Lord heard it and fire consumed some of the outlying parts of the camp. The people then called to Moses for help, and he prayed for them, and the consuming fire died down. There are a number of lessons that can be learnt. One is that the Lord hears when we are complaining. Secondly complaining is not good, or rather complaining about God is not good. Moses, David, Jeremiah, Job and others complained to the Lord, and they were commended by the Lord. When we complain about God, we are placing ourselves as just, as though God owes us something. When we complain to God we open ourselves up to be corrected and changed by God.

Romans 13:11,12 - You know the time

13:11

“Besides this ...” The way we behave is linked to our eschatology, i.e. where everything is ultimately headed. We know that the world was created by God, that we belong to Him, that He is the judge, and that one day He will return to judge the whole earth. It is God who we need to answer to, and it is He who decides our destiny. Most of the world is asleep, it lives in ignorance of how the world really works, in ignorance of God. We need to wake up, we need to live our lives in light of the truth. And our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

13:12

Paul lapses into quite poetic language. “The night is far gone, the day is at hand”. The days of this world order are almost over. Now this has to be looked at in an eternal perspective, for Paul wrote this almost two thousand years ago. Having an eternal perspective is vital if we are to have a proper view of life. This is not pie in the sky when you die, having an eternal perspective affects how we live now. So we are to rid ourselves of the works of darkness, living out of selfishness, out of rebellion. Instead we are to put on the armour of light. We live life God’s way, and this is actually a more powerful way of living.