Numbers 12:3. How could a humble man have penned verse 3?
What if this is a confession, and not a commendation? Meekness is considered weakness by much of the world. Moses said nothing in response to the allegations of his family members because he simply didn’t know what to say. He was lowly, self-deprecating. He had no self-image of grandeur, though he reigned over millions. He knew his beginnings. He knew his arguments with God about this whole encounter. He was not too excited about Moses. Far from being the words of a braggart, I believe these are the confessions of a broken man.
Numbers 12:10. Why do you think Aaron was not punished?
Miriam is mentioned first here, and linguists tell us that the verb form used is in a feminine form. She was the leader of the rebellion. And besides, she would need an intercessor, a role played well by Aaron.
Numbers 13: 1 ff. Why spies, instead of simple trust in the Lord?
See number one above. God partners with us and does the things we cannot do… He is the Master of intervention, but the plan is given to us to carry out.
Numbers 14:1. Which of the spies would you have followed?
I have been a fearful man much of my life. Nervous. Worried. Oh how I love to think I would have been a Joshua or Caleb. But I wonder. It is important to answer this question, for opportunities to be courageous confront us regularly.
Numbers 14:12. Here and elsewhere God offers Moses great things if he will just give up on Israel. Moses rejects and pleads with God to “change His mind.” What does all this tell you of the relationship between God and His prophet?
God knows what Moses’ response will be, of course. And Moses probably knows he is being tested. Yet, there is a genuineness about the interchange that we should not overlook. And God shows us that our feelings of frustration with unrighteous, unbelieving behavior from those whom we love, are reflections of His own nature.
Numbers 19:2. Why the ashes of a red heifer? And what of the red heifer in our own day?
Red to typify the sin with which it dealt? Or red to show the color of the red earth from which man came? A heifer instead of a bullock to counter the prominence of the heifer in Egyptian worship? Or a heifer to symbolize the weakness and fragility Christ would manifest in His own sacrifice?
God had a purpose for the color red, and the gender of the animal, too. We may not know what it is, but certain Jews are insistent that they must have such an animal if the end time Temple is to rise. Have they found it?
Nowtheendbegins.com website reports : (2014) “For the entire time that the Temple stood in Israel, a total of nine red heifers were used. Jews believe that the appearance of a perfect red heifer would usher in the appearance of the long-awaited Messiah. The 10th red heifer has been found in America, and preparations are now underway to bring the animal to Israel.”
Numbers 20:12. What is the spiritual significance of Moses not going to the Promised Land?
It signals to us that the Law cannot save us. That near-perfect obedience is not enough to get to Heaven. That we need Jesus’ constant forgiveness.
Numbers 22:29. Why was Balaam not shocked to hear his donkey talk? It says that the Lord opened his mouth, after all.
Some say he was so obsessed with making money, that the “madness of the prophet” spoken of in 2 Peter, quite covered the irrational situation.
I like better the observation that Balaam, after all, was not a prophet of God, but a prophet of any spirit that would converse with him. It could well be that he was in regular communication with demon spirits, and considered this to be one. Besides, we have no indication that he was not surprised. We cannot see the long pause and the startled eyes that must have been present just before this speech. We cannot experience the quickening of the pulse and the shaking hand pointing in defiance to his animal. All we have is the words. The rest is speculation.
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