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First Reading: Numbers Chapter 19 and 20
Numbers 19
19:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 2 "This is a requirement of the
law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer
without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to
Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his
presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger
and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. 5 While
he watches, the heifer is to be burned — its hide, flesh, blood and offal.
6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them
onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and
bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially
unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and
bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9 "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them
in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite
community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.
10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes,
and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both
for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.
11 "Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.
12 He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh
day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and
seventh days, he will not be clean. 13 Whoever touches the dead body of anyone
and fails to purify himself defiles the LORD's tabernacle. That person must
be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled
on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.
14 "This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who
enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and
every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16 "Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with
a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human
bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 "For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification
offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially
clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and
all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone
who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone
who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean
person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify
him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and
that evening he will be clean. 20 But if a person who is unclean does not purify
himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary
of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is
unclean. 21 This is a lasting ordinance for them.
"The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes,
and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.
22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches
it becomes unclean till evening."
Numbers 20
20:1 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert
of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition
to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had
died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! 4 Why did you bring the LORD's
community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why
did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or
figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting
and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said
to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the
assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out
its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and
their livestock can drink."
9 So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him.
10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses
said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this
rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his
staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in
me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring
this community into the land I give them."
13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the
LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.
14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:
"This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships
that have come upon us. 15 Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived
there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, 16 but when we
cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out
of Egypt."Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.
17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field
or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway
and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory."
18 But Edom answered:
"You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack
you with the sword."
19 The Israelites replied:
"We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of
your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot —
nothing else."
20 Again they answered:
"You may not pass through."
Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. 21 Since Edom
refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.
22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.
23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
24 "Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I
give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the
waters of Meribah. 25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.
26 Remove Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be
gathered to his people; he will die there."
27 Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the
whole community. 28 Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar.
And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down
from the mountain, 29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died,
the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.
Romans 8
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from
the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it
was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4
in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us,
who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what
that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their
minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but
the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile
to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled
by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if
the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead
because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if
the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,
who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature,
to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature,
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,
you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of
God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with
Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share
in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for
the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration,
not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and
brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth
right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption
as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But
hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But
if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what
we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that
words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the
Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's
will.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he
also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called;
those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be
against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how
will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will
bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised
to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to
be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
WHO ARE THE JEWS?
Part 4 of 6
Isaiah 43 tells us that Israel (the Jews) will be God's witnesses. How will this be? According to Deuteronomy 18, the test of a true prophet of God is whether that prophet's prophecy is fulfilled. The truth that God exists is also witnessed to when what God has said will happen does happen. God has said in the Bible that certain things would happen to the Jewish nation. Have those things happened?
In Deuteronomy the Israelites were given two choices. In Chapter 28 they are told that if they fully obey then wonderful blessings would be theirs:
If they disobeyed then the following would happen:
Either way, the choice to obey or disobey, the result would be the same: the prophecy would be fulfilled. They would either be a nation revered by all nations or scorned by all nations.
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