Who do you want to be with you when you pass from this life into the next? Maybe I’m a bit weird about the idea of dying alone, but I’ve always thought it would be comforting to have someone who has loved you and “put up” with you for many years to be with you when you take your final breath in this world. My older brother and I were with our mom when she transitioned from this life into the presence of Jesus in 2008, and that was a […]
Moses was a remarkable leader, a great man who did not allow his great sin to sideline him from the job God had called him to do. I will illustrate this as we look at Numbers 27:12-23, the text for today’s blog. To emphasize why I believe Moses was such a great man, let’s review the great sin that cost him the privilege of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. https://www.cosdavis.com/moses-at-mirabah-continued/. Moses didn’t argue with God about the punishment. He continued to lead the people and do what the […]
Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the 5 daughters of Zelophehad. Ever heard of any of them or their father before? I’m sure I probably skimmed over their names before in one of my attempts to read through the entire Bible, but I never stopped to think about their story or why God chose to include it in Scripture. That is, not until the other day when I was considering what I would share with you about God’s promise to the Israelite people. I almost overlooked it in my […]
God’s plan for us may be deterred or delayed, but it is not defeated! Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:35, 37-39: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be […]
Last week’s blog about King Balak’s attempt to get the “seer” Baalam to put a curse on the Israelites backfired because Yahweh, the God above all gods, had chosen to bless them. https://www.cosdavis.com/the-god-above-all-gods/ . God was fully aware that his chosen people would be confronted with pagan cultures and gods on their trek to the Promised Land. When He made the covenant with them, He specified that He alone was to be their God: “You shall have no other gods before you.” Exodus 20:3. That was the first commandment and the […]
What happened after God told Moses and Aaron they had forfeited the privilege of leading the people into the Promised Land? Numbers 20:12. The Lord told Moses to take Aaron to Mount Hor and “strip” him of his priestly garments and put them on Eleazer, making him the new priest of Israel. Aaron died on Mount Hor at the age of 123. Numbers 21 details another rebellion of the Israelites, a meandering route, and battles of the Israelites as they came to the plains of Moab, just across from Jericho […]
“Sinful attitudes result in sinful actions.” That was the essence of my comment at the end of last week’s blog concerning Moses’ failure to obey God, his only deliberate act of defiance I am aware of. Review https://www.cosdavis.com/moses-at-meribah/ to set the context for how God dealt with Moses’ disobedience and a brief discussion of why the penalty was so severe. The focus last week was on Numbers 20:1-11. Today, we will revisit that text to understand what Moses did and why God responded as He did in Numbers 20:12-13. Do […]
Last week’s blog emphasized two things about God’s character we need to take seriously. https://www.cosdavis.com/gods-response-to-faith-and-faithlessness/. Trust in God brings His pleasure and blessings, which Joshua and Caleb experienced, while the rebellious older generation of Israelites would never inherit the Promised Land. Numbers 14. As we resume the story in Numbers 20, the penalty-laden forty years of wandering in the wilderness are nearing a close. Moses, their faithful leader, is 120 years old. They have settled in Kadesh, close to the Promised Land. Moses has led this unruly gaggle of obstinate […]
Last week, we took a break from the weekly blogs to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday. Today, we return to what was going on with Israel as recorded in the fourteenth chapter of Numbers. Many of the Israelite leaders have crossed a forbidden line with God and sealed their fate concerning ever being able to enter the Promised Land. https://www.cosdavis.com/the-danger-of-forfeiting-gods-promises/ will refresh your memory of the tragedy they have brought upon themselves. Today, I want to remind each of us of the importance of faith and how God responds to our […]
We are just two days away from our country’s two hundred and fiftieth birthday, but the celebrating has been going on for some time. Although we are quite young compared to many countries, this is a big deal! It’s a big deal because, like no other nation, it was founded on biblical principles and a system of government that had never been tried before. Our constitutional republic democracy has survived wars, disasters, internal strife, and many politicians and others who have unwittingly or deliberately worked to destroy what our founders […]
