Numbers chapter 17 begins with the Israelites still dealing with the aftermath of the rebellion in chapter 16. Israel needs a definitive word from God declaring who is the God-authorized leader of Israel. Upon the Lord's command through Moses, one rod from every leader from their ancestral tribe was placed in the Tent of Meeting and left overnight with their names carefully inscribed on them.
"The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout" (vs 5a). As I was reading this, I had a picture in my mind of how our tree in our front yard is starting to bud, and eventually will develop leaves.
The next day in verse 8 it indicates that Aaron's staff "not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds." Surprise! Not just a small amount of growth....but already yielding almonds. Now that's decisive!
The Lord spoke and provided without question a leader for Israel. I am sure each leader from the different tribes was wondering if it would be them, so they would have been waiting for the results. It caused me to ponder my own life and wonder if I am believing enough that God will provide clear direction for my requests, and am I listening for them?
In Revelation 21, we get a vision about the new heaven and new earth where God is eternally with his people in all His glory! There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and He will wipe away every tear.
"He who overcomes will inherit all this" (vs 7)
Not an easy verse to live up to, but challenge accepted!
One last verse that stood out to me was in vs 27 - "Nothing impure will ever enter into it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."
When we were having our kids, I can recall thinking why are we bringing innocent children into this sinful world? Reading this verse provided me with some hope and reminded me that the world we are living in is only temporary. It's our eternal world (Heaven) that we need to raising our children for!
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage is Numbers 20-22; Revelation 22
2 comments:
All of those verses stood out to me too!
I love the story of Aaron's rod budding almonds overnight. The amount of miracles these people witnessed is astounding. How did that not impact them more than it seemed to?
When you said,
"The Lord spoke and provided without question a leader for Israel. I am sure each leader from the different tribes was wondering if it would be them, so they would have been waiting for the results. It caused me to ponder my own life and wonder if I am believing enough that God will provide clear direction for my requests, and am I listening for them?"
I thought the same for myself as well. Sometimes God's direction doesn't seem as clear as a sprouting almond staff but maybe I'm just not listening.
This stood out for me from Revelation:
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
God will make all things new. How encouraging that is when things seems so bad and broken.
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