Tag Numbers

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

Todd R Leave a comment

According to Wikipedia, “”Quizás, quizás, quizás”, sometimes known simply as “Quizás”…is a popular song by the Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés.”[1] Translated to English, the song title is “Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps” and the song has been covered by many artists over the years in both English and Spanish since it originally became a Spanish hit in 1947.  The artists covering it are diverse, from Doris Day to Cake.  The song is about someone trying to figure out whether someone else loves them, but they only answer “perhaps, perhaps, perhaps,” leaving the person perpetually wondering.  Being in such a position can be frustrating, but sometimes we can do no better, as the song suggests.  And when we can do no better, maybe we should stop trying.

What’s this doing on a Christian blog?  Well, in a lot of sermons, discussions, and elsewhere, we can find many instances of “perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.”  Or “maybe.”  Or “most likely.”  I see it regularly when I read study Bible notes.  I also find that if I’m not careful, I take something that is “perhaps” true and treat it as Gospel truth.  I base a doctrine on it.  I base an action on it.  I build more “perhaps” thoughts around it.  One unlikely thing grows into more even less likely things.

The temptation to do this comes up more often when reading passages of the Bible we don’t understand.  For example, in Numbers 29, there is a long list of daily offerings to be made during the Feast of Booths.  There are sacrifices of bulls, rams, and lambs.  The number of rams and lambs doesn’t change over the 7 days of the Feast, but the number of bulls decreases by one each day until it gets to 7.  Why?  The Bible doesn’t tell us, but that doesn’t mean people don’t have theories.  In such situations, I think the best approach comes from John Calvin in his commentaries: “why the distribution was so unequal, I confess, is not clear to me, and it is better to confess my ignorance than by too subtle speculations to vanish into mere smoke.”

How to avoid speculation?  Consider these two quotes from each end of the Scriptures:

Deuteronomy 12:32 – “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”

Revelation 22:18-19 – “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Photo by D koi on Unsplash

While the first is referring specifically to the law and the second to the prophecy of the book of Revelation, the principle is consistent: don’t add to God’s words or take away from God’s words.  Anything he wanted to say, He would have said it, and anything He said He wants us to take seriously.  Beyond God’s own words, I find “it is better to confess my ignorance than by too subtle speculations to vanish into mere smoke.”

The song “Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps” ends without a resolution.  The singer still doesn’t know the other person’s feelings toward them.  Likewise, there are a lot of unresolved, unexplained things in the Bible, but unlike the song that doesn’t mean we don’t know that God loves us.  God has given us everything we need to know, but He also doesn’t expect us to understand everything.

Therefore, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”  Don’t be overly concerned if you can’t explain everything in the Bible.  This doesn’t mean to just give up and stop trying to wrestle with God’s word, but to insist on answers sometimes can lead us to conclusions we should have never jumped to.  When we read or hear “perhaps” or “maybe,” realize we just might be on shaky ground.  The Bible doesn’t exist to satisfy all of our intellectual curiosity, but it does exist to point us to our Lord and Savior.  When I cling tightly to what I do know about God, what doesn’t come with a “perhaps,” I find everything I need to trust God, yet also everything I need to know that I am far from perfect and have plenty of work to do.  Perhaps I should focus on that.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” – Deuteronomy 29:29

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiz%C3%A1s%2C_Quiz%C3%A1s%2C_Quiz%C3%A1s

Lessons from an Unlikely Idol

Todd R Leave a comment

The history of the kings of Judah can read like a back-and-forth between construction of idols by bad kings and the destruction of idols by good kings.  Hezekiah was one of the few good kings, and one reason is recorded in 2 Kings 18:4, which says:

“[Hezekiah] removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).”

Judah was meant to have only one God, the true God Yahweh, and to destroy anything that would lead them to idolatry.  Unfortunately, worshipping other gods in high places was not uncommon, and neither was worship of Asherah.  What’s interesting about this verse is the mention of this “Nehushtan.”  The origin of this bronze snake that Moses made comes from a story in the book of Numbers.

Photo by Michael Jerrard on Unsplash

As often happened while they wandered the wilderness, the people of Israel complained to God and Moses that they would have been better off if still in Egypt.  They hated the food God was providing and accused Him of leading them into the wilderness to die.  As discipline for this grumbling, “the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.”[1]  The people repented and asked for the serpents to be removed, and Moses prayed for them.

The answer was that “Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”[2]  This serpent being lifted up was later identified in John 3:14 as a prelude to Jesus being lifted up on the cross, but in Hezekiah’s day it had become an idol, an object that took people away from worship of the true God and the then-future Christ.  Instead of being a symbol of salvation, the bronze serpent became a symbol of idolatry, which leads to damnation.

The story of the serpents ends there, and there is no mention that God told the people to keep this bronze serpent, or that God told them to give it a name.  This was probably the beginning of the problem, that Israel added to God’s intentions for it.

So, what are the lessons for us?

Nehushtan, the bronze serpent, was created at God’s command to be an aid to worship, a device for reminding His people of His provision for them, from above.  Instead, it became an idol.  What this tells us is that anything, even something once (or currently) used in worship, can become an idol.  Even things like private Bible study or public singing of hymns can be idols if we use them as ends in themselves and not as a way to worship our only God.  A thing can be an idol not because of what it is, but because of our attitude toward it.

Also, something that is an idol to one person might not be an idol to another.  The bronze serpent was not an idol to Moses, but it was to people in Hezekiah’s time.  So, if we know that something tempts us, that thing might not be a temptation for others, and vice versa.  Therefore, we should not be quick to judge others for doing things that bother us, but may not be a problem for them, and are not specifically prohibited in the Bible.

When Christ was raised up on the cross like the bronze serpent and was raised from the dead like those who survived the bites of serpents, He identified Himself as the only God and the only one worthy of our worship, but He also identified Himself as the merciful one who desires that we be merciful to each other.

Like ancient Israel, we all have Nehushtans in our lives that corrupt our worship, and like the good king Hezekiah, we must remove them from our lives to reform our worship.

[1] Numbers 21:6
[2] Numbers 21:9

Barbs in Our Eyes

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As Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land of Canaan after wandering in the wilderness, God gave them many instructions through Moses about how they were to live when they got there.  One of the instructions was to eliminate all of Canaan’s inhabitants.  Part of the warning not to ignore this comes in Numbers 33:55, which says:

“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.”

What this is communicating is the urgency of getting rid of anything that could influence us to sin, and this applies as much to us as to ancient Israel.  In Israel’s case, the nations they were to remove from Canaan were under God’s judgement for centuries of worship of false gods, which included practices like ritual prostitution and child sacrifice.  God knew that His people would be tempted by these foreign gods and practices unless all trace of them was eliminated.

For us, God also wants to protect us from false gods and harmful practices and habits, and the phrase “barbs in your eyes” is a picture of the urgency for us to get rid of anything that would tempt us.  Think about it: If I had a thorn in my eye, I would drop everything and not be able to do anything else until I got it out.  Until the thorn was gone, it would be my one and only priority.  In modern times, God doesn’t tell His people to attack other nations in judgement, but He does want His people to attack sin with the same zeal.

So when I read “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell” it leads me to ask the question:

Do we remove sources of sin from our lives as urgently as we would a barb in our eye?

God Knows Where the Grass is Greenest

Todd R 1 Comment

The Old Testament book of Numbers has a story about Balak, the king of Moab.  Scared of Israel after seeing their military success, he was desperate to find a way to avoid defeat himself.  Balak sought out Balaam, known as a prophet who spoke oracles, to curse Israel for him. After repeatedly paying Balaam and making many sacrifices, Balaam refused to curse Israel because God told him to bless Israel, not curse them.  Balak would not give up, and before a third try, “Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.’” (Numbers 23:27)

Where did Balak get the idea that changing location would get God on his side?  That changing location would change God’s mind or bring God’s blessing to Balak (in the form of a curse on Israel)?  Doesn’t it seem naïve?  God’s character doesn’t change with location, or any other circumstances.

However, how often do we think a change in circumstances will bring God’s blessing?  How often do we pray that God change our situation because we think the grass is greener somewhere else?  Maybe if I lived in a different place, God would bless me.  Maybe if I got a better job, would it be a blessing?  Maybe if I went to a different church?  Maybe if I was in a different relationship?   Maybe if God would put us where we want to be, that He will bless us then?  Are we saying “come with us God to another place, and perhaps it will please You to bless us there” in another way?

Warren Wiersbe wrote that “We are prone to think that a change in circumstances is always the answer to a problem. But the problem is usually within us and not around us. The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart.”[1]

Photo by Ochir-Erdene Oyunmedeg on Unsplash

God calls each of us for specific reasons, and the circumstances may be part of the reason.  Referencing whether it is better to be married or single, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:24, “So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.”  In other words, God wants to bless you in, or even through, your present circumstances.  He may change them, but He may not.

In God’s plan, the grass is usually greenest right where we already are. If we can faithfully be the blessing needed in our circumstances, God will be faithful in His time and place.  He will bless His people, only sometimes with better circumstances, but always with spiritual fruit.

God always says: “Come now, I will be with you where you are. It pleases me to bless you in all situations and circumstances.”

The grass is greenest where He is.

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Wise (1 Corinthians) (1982).

Sometimes, Victory Over Giants Takes Time

Todd R 2 Comments

Do you have giant problems?  Problems that seem too big to overcome, and that just won’t go away?  There was a time when Israel had problems with literal giants and that story may encourage us with our own giant problems.

In Deuteronomy, Moses’ re-telling to Israel of their history as they prepared to finally enter the Promised Land, the second verse says, “It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.”  This eleven-day journey took Israel 40 years after being delivered from slavery in Egypt because they had giant problems.

40 years earlier, Moses sent spies into the land promised by God, not to say whether or not they should conquer the land (God has already decided that they should), but only to document what they saw.  These spies reported back after 40 days in the land at Kadesh, the same place Moses was delivering his address in Deuteronomy.  Unfortunately, the spies did more than document what they saw, they also injected their own opinion: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”[1]

Although the spies agreed the land was very desirable – “And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” – they added three objections to the report: “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.”[2]  The people are strong, the cities are strong, and some of the people – the descendants of Anak – are actually literal giants.  The spies probably thought they were doing the right thing by presenting an “accurate” report of Israel’s military chances in Canaan, but in doing so they were opposing God and His promise.  Only two of the twelve spies – Joshua and Caleb – tried to encourage the people to take the land, but the report of the other ten made the people want to stone Joshua and Caleb to death[3] instead of entering Canaan.  So, God punished the people by making them wander in the wilderness until the entire rebellious generation died, for 40 years.

However, over that time God would also show His people in specific ways that they could overcome the spies’ objections so they could enter the land as He had promised.  It would take time, and more experience of God’s power.

Moses tells that during the wilderness wandering, Israel learned of others who had conquered giants.  In Deuteronomy 2:10-11 Moses recounted land taken by the Moabites: “The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.  Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.”  In 2:20, he recalled land taken by the Ammonites: “It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place”.  These “Emim” and “Zamzummim” were like the “descendants of Anak” the spies were afraid of, but those giants were conquered.

Also, in Deuteronomy 3, Moses reminds Israel of their own victories that happened before entering Canaan.  They had defeated Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, object lessons of what God could do, and specifically related to the objections of the spies, who had reported of Canaan that “the cities are fortified and very large.”  Deuteronomy 3:5 reports of the conquered cities of Bashan: “All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages.”

While the spies worried about the giant “descendants of Anak,” Moses reminds Israel that Og, Hesbon’s king, was like one of the giants reported by the spies.  Deuteronomy 3:11 describes him: “(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)”  Therefore, before crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Israel had overcome both fortified cities and giants.  Why should they worry about the discouraging report of the spies, instead of trusting Joshua and Caleb’s testimony about God?

Therefore, if you have giant problems, seek the testimony of others who have conquered giants, and the testimony of your own experience with God, and be encouraged by the words Moses used to close this section of his message: “You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.”[4] But overcoming giant problems might take time because He wants to show us His power in ways we can’t imagine.  Israel took 40 years to make this 11-day journey because that is what God required to prepare them.  Israel was not ready for the Promised Land when they first left Egypt.  Allow God the time to prepare you, and He may also show you His power over your giants.

[1] Numbers 13:31
[2] Numbers 13:27-28
[3] Numbers 14:10
[4] Deuteronomy 3:22