Under the Cloud

You know there is a lot of prejudice in this world and conflict between different people groups, but not everyone resists relationship with those who are of a different nationality.  In fact, my family and many in my community regularly welcome international students into our homes; some for the year and some for a week.  Either way, we get to appreciate each others' culture and learn new perspectives. As we continue in our lessons from Numbers Chapter 9, we come to the issue of foreigners living among the Israelites in the desert.  These people fled Egypt with them because they saw the Lord was with them. The Lord continues in Numbers 9:14: “A foreigner residing among you is also to celebrate the Lord’s Passover in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for both the foreigner and the native-born.” In Exodus, at the establishing of the Passover, God said no foreigner was to eat it. ( Exodus 12:43 ) God also goes on to say that a...

We all have different levels of dirt tolerance.  I like things clean, but I will let things go a bit longer than some can tolerate if a project or situation takes me away from the house often.  Just like we may like a clean house, God wants our lives to be clean to approach Him.  Psalm 24 says we must have clean hands and a pure heart to ascend God's holy hill. In Moses' account of the desert wanderings, Numbers Chapter 9 some men were unclean and therefore unable to join in the second Passover celebration.  These men seeking advice were acknowledging that God cannot be approached in uncleanness. Being clean is being free from sin.  If we confess our sin, the blood of Jesus cleanses us, according to 1 John 1:9 . If we are convicted of sin by the Spirit within us, we can be cleansed by spending time in confession to God which then frees us to worship God.  Even if we think our conscience is clear, there could be something that we need to address in our...

Here we are at our third lesson from Numbers Chapter 9: Eagerly Participate in Spiritual Community. “Why should we be kept from presenting the Lord’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” the unclean brothers asked. They saw the Passover offering as the privilege that it was. They valued community. How does your life reflect the degree to which you value community? Today, many worship alone. The value of the community has been reduced over time. But the epistles were written to churches. We are to serve each other with our gifts. God called us to be part of His body. Jesus established community by His life, death and ascension. We need to be a part of a local church to function as a part of the body of Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 12 ) It is a right, privilege and responsibility to be a part of the body. It is not always easy; there are issues that will need to be worked out. But serving in the local church alongside other believers is how we grow spiritually, ...