The king said, "Not on Your Life!" - Numbers 18 - 20

Moses sent emissaries from Kadesh to the king of Edom with this message: "A message from your brother Israel: You are familiar with all the trouble we've run into. Our ancestors went down to Egypt and lived there a long time. The Egyptians viciously abused both us and our ancestors. But when we cried out for help to God, he heard our cry. He sent an angel and got us out of Egypt. And now here we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your land.

"Will you give us permission to cut across your land? We won't trespass through your fields or orchards and we won't drink out of your wells; we'll keep to the main road, the King's Road, straying neither right nor left until we've crossed your border."
The king of Edom answered, "Not on your life. If you so much as set a foot on my land, I'll kill you."

The People of Israel said, "Look, we'll stay on the main road. If we or our animals drink any water, we'll pay you for it. We're harmless—just a company of footsore travelers."

He answered again: "No. You may not come through." And Edom came out and blocked the way with a crowd of people brandishing weapons. Edom refused to let them cross through his land. So Israel had to detour around him. Numbers 20: 14 - 21 The Message

I realize my thoughts today aren't deep or necessarily meaningful but it is what came to mind as I read today's passage. When I was a child I couldn't comprehend numbers. Well, today I have a better grasp on them. Reading the book of Numbers and the 600,000 plus men that were counted did not take into account the total number of people such as women, children, cattle, goats, sheep and personal possessions. As I read, I realized that a million plus people were moving from Egypt toward the Promised Land (per Crabb's book it was over 2 million people). Wow!

In September 2005, Hurricane Rita was the 4th most instense hurricane on record and its target destination at the time was Houston. Because of what happened a month earlier in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina, a mass exodous of people from the Gulf Coast cities started evacuating. It made national news. If you remember the mass of cars stuck on the highways trying to get away. My family was one of them.

As we traveled along, restaurants had run out of food, gas stations had no fuel, and the traffic moved only inches per hour. Because places had run out of food and supplies, they just closed. I remember our family needing a bathroom break. We walked over to a hotel and the lobby doors were locked. We knocked as asked if we could please use the restroom. The lady said she wasn't supposed to, but did let us in and locked the door behind her. As we came out of the restrooms, there were others at the door wanting in and the lady told them, "no." Unfortunately, I think their "no" was because of their skin color. We were all just "footsore travelers" very weary trying to move our families to a safer place.

The Bible does not tell us why the king said no to Moses; but, I can most certainly imagine why! Even though Moses said they would stick to the road to pass through, I imagine the king was concerned for the mass number of people and what it might do to his city. Think of the gridlock created as a million plus people moved through his town. Moses tried to plea with the king about what had happened to his people as they were fleeing from Egypt. I was pleaing with a hotel clerk just to let our family use a bathroom as we were fleeing the storm.

Hurricane Katrina and Rita forever changed how we look at things. My hometown has changed significantly because of the large influx of people from New Orleans that has taken up a permanent residence in my town. In the past, I may not have understood the impact of the Israelites traveling through the wilderness but have a little more understanding of the hardship they may have encountered along the way.

Lord, I do not always understand the thoughts that come to mind while I am reading through Your word. It doesn't seem all that significant. Thank you for a little more understanding and perspective.

--michele

Get off Your High Horse: Numbers 16 - 17

Getting on his high horse one day, Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, along with a few Reubenites — Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth — rebelled against Moses. He had with him 250 leaders of the congregation of Israel, prominent men with positions in the Council. They came as a group and confronted Moses and Aaron, saying, "You've overstepped yourself. This entire community is holy and GOD is in their midst. So why do you act like you're running the whole show?" Numbers 16:1-3 THE MESSAGE

Have you ever been mift about something or gotten on your "high horse" to let someone know you weren't very happy about something that was going on in your life? I can imagine Moses and Aaron are standing on the ground when this group approaches on horseback to complain how Moses is handling his job. The men were sitting above them to demonstrate their strength or position. Moses' and Aaron's response was to throw themselves to the ground and call on God.

Moses continued to address the community: "This is how you'll know that it was GOD who sent me to do all these things and that it wasn't anything I cooked up on my own. If these men die a natural death like all the rest of us, you'll know that it wasn't GOD who sent me. But if GOD does something unprecedented — if the ground opens up and swallows the lot of them and they are pitched alive into Sheol — then you'll know that these men have been insolent with GOD." The words were hardly out of his mouth when the Earth split open. Earth opened its mouth and in one gulp swallowed them down, the men and their families, all the human beings connected with Korah, along with everything they owned. And that was the end of them, pitched alive into Sheol. The Earth closed up over them and that was the last the community heard of them. At the sound of their cries everyone around ran for dear life, shouting, "We're about to be swallowed up alive!" Numbers 16:28-34 THE MESSAGE

Grumbling broke out the next day . . . Numbers 16:41 THE MESSAGE

Unbelievable. After the people witnessed what had occurred, they began to grumble, again.

Have you ever after leaving a worship service, or quiet time, find yourself struggling with this very thing of grumbling? I have just spent time with our Father and immediately turn my thoughts to how I wish things were different. Reading 66 Love Letters and The Message is changing how I look at current circumstances. It turns my thoughts to wonder at what the Lord is doing and preparing to do in my life and those around me.

Lord, thank You for what You are doing in my heart and life. Thank You for Your word and Your personal love story.

--michele

The Whole Community was in an Uproar

Numbers 14 - 15

The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long. All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: "Why didn't we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness? Why has GOD brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don't we just head back to Egypt? And right now!" Numbers 14:1-3 THE MESSAGE

The Israelites memories are so very short. In today's society of instant information and so much technology, I feel our memories are very, very short. We expect change to happen as quickly as hitting "enter" on our keyboards. The Israelites should have had the mindset that since God had helped us in Egypt, since He has guided us in the wilderness and since provided for us, Our God would not have brought us this far to kill us. God must have something mighty in store! Caleb had that kind of vision. I like what The Message says about Caleb:

"But my servant Caleb — this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I'll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it." Numbers 14:24 THE MESSAGE


Lord, I am presently in that place where I can't see what is ahead. I don't want to be guilty of complaining about my current circumstances. Help me to see that since You have been faithful in Your word, since You have been faithful in the lives of others around me, since You have been faithful in my past, that I will have a "different spirit and follow you passionately." You have something mighty in store!

--michele

Is there a Caleb among Us?

Numbers 11 - 13

The people fell to grumbling over their hard life. GOD heard. When he heard his anger flared; then fire blazed up and burned the outer boundaries of the camp. The people cried out for help to Moses; Moses prayed to GOD and the fire died down. They named the place Taberah (Blaze) because fire from GOD had blazed up against them. Numbers 11:1-3 THE MESSAGE

I remember in our earlier readings that when we complain, we are really complaining against God. The last few days have been really difficult and felt inwardly the struggle to complain versus the message the Lord may have for me to shape me to be more like Him. Reading through the Bible as a personal love letter is changing my perspective and the events that life bring my way. I have to stop and pause and see what God may be doing in me and my heart.

GOD answered Moses, "So, do you think I can't take care of you? You'll see soon enough whether what I say happens for you or not." Numbers 11:23 THE MESSAGE

I was reminded again that God does take care of me even in the difficult times. God IS faithful!

Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses behind his back because of his Cushite wife (he had married a Cushite woman). They said, "Is it only through Moses that GOD speaks? Doesn't he also speak through us?"

GOD overheard their talk.

Now the man Moses was a quietly humble man, more so than anyone living on Earth. GOD broke in suddenly on Moses and Aaron and Miriam saying, "Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting." The three went out. GOD descended in a Pillar of Cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam to him. When they stepped out, he said,

Listen carefully to what I'm telling you.
If there is a prophet of GOD among you,
I make myself known to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
But I don't do it that way with my servant Moses;
he has the run of my entire house;
I speak to him intimately, in person,
in plain talk without riddles:
He ponders the very form of GOD.
So why did you show no reverence or respect
in speaking against my servant, against Moses?

The anger of GOD blazed out against them. And then he left. Numbers 12:1-9 THE MESSAGE

I have been guilty of this, maybe not outwardly, but within my thought life. I have wondered why someone has been put into leadership or given an opportunity to do something. When I examine my heart through the lens of Scripture, I am like Miriam. Ouch! That stings!

Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, "Let's go up and take the land — now. We can do it." Numbers 13:30 THE MESSAGE

I just love it when there is a "Caleb" among us! Who are the Calebs in your life?

Lord, it has been some difficult days. I trust in You. You are faithful to do what You say! Help me not to complain! Thank you for the Calebs you have put in my life that generate excitement that can see through Your eyes what is in store!

--michele

Numbers 7 - 10

Numbers 7 - 10

http://covertocoverchronologically.blogspot.com/2010/02/february-15-numbers-8-10-leave-me-alone.html

--michele

Numbers 5 - 6

GOD spoke to Moses: "Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them,

GOD bless you and keep you,

GOD smile on you and gift you,

GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.

In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel —

I will confirm it by blessing them." Numbers 6:22-27 THE MESSAGE

Lord, place Your name on me.

--michele

http://covertocoverchronologically.blogspot.com/2010/02/january-13-numbers-5-6-shalompeace-in.html

Numbers 3 - 4

And that's the story of their numbering, as God commanded Moses. Numbers 4: 49

http://covertocoverchronologically.blogspot.com/2010/02/february-12-numbers-3-4-something-wrong.html

Lord, you know what is before me. Thank you for your faithfulness and strength.

--michele

Numbers 1 - 2

The People of Israel did everything that God commanded Moses. They did it all. Numbers 1: 54

Leviticus 26 - 27

"I'll set up my residence in your neighborhood; I won't avoid or shun you; I'll stroll through your streets. I'll be your God; you'll be my people. I am God, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely." Leviticus 26: 11-13 The Message

In my first blog, I wrote that I had not read the entire Bible through from cover to cover. I have read a lot of the Bible but not in its entirety. Leviticus is one of the books that I have read very little. It was tedious at times. Some random thoughts that I had as we finished the "third" love letter is:

• God is a holy God. I have been convicted that we (I) too often approach God casually. I have an ongoing struggle in my heart regarding this. Personally I don't want to treat God as common and ordinary. I question how we as a church, the Bride of Christ, are to approach God in our corporate worship and study of His word. I question what to do with the messages God is laying on my heart. I know I have to work on my own short comings in this area but what about the church as a whole?


• I liked the above verse that says, "I am God, your personal God." I am frequently amazed that the KING of all kings and LORD of all lords, desires to fellowship and have a personal relationship with me. I was watching a gold finch outside my office window this morning flit and float from branch to branch and was reminded that God knows when a "sparrow falls" so how much more He cares for you and for me! Wow!


• I thought about my father this morning. Today would have been his birthday. I have missed him greatly in the last couple of years wishing he were here so I could talk with him about the struggles that I have been experiencing and get his wisdom and insight. The Holy Spirit nudged me that God alone is enough. It is okay to miss my dad, but the Lord hears me and has all wisdom to meet my needs. God is a personal God. Sometimes it is hard that the Lord is not present with us in a physical body. He left us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. I guess it is a struggle I'll continue to have on this earthly side. Sometimes I just need a real hug.

Lord, thank You for Your love letters to us. Open my eyes and heart as I continue to read Your personal message to us.

--michele

Leviticus 24 - 24

Sound the ram's horn all over the land. Sanctify the fiftieth year; make it a holy year. Proclaim freedom all over the land to everyone who lives in it—a Jubilee for you. Leviticus 25: 9

Leviticus 22 - 23

". . .consecrate to me with reverence so they won't desecrate my holy name. I am God." Leviticus 22: 2

"I am God who makes them holy." Leviticus 22: 9

"I am God who makes them holy." Leviticus 22: 16

"Do what I tell you; live what I tell you. I am God."
"Don't desecrate my holy name. I insist on being treated with holy reverence among the People of Israel. I am God who makes you holy and brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am God." Leviticus 22: 31-33

Again, it is the Lord who makes us holy.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12: 28-29

Lord, consume the things in my life that do not bring reverence and awe to You. Please find my worship acceptable and pleasing in Your sight. You are God!

--michele

Leviticus 16-21

"Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am GOD, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the GOD who makes you holy." Leviticus 20:7-8 The Message

It is the Lord God who makes us holy:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name

When darkness veils his loving face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

Leviticus 14 - 15

GOD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "When you enter the land of Canaan, which I'm giving to you as a possession, and I put a serious fungus in a house in the land of your possession, the householder is to go and tell the priest, 'I have some kind of fungus in my house.' The priest is to order the house vacated until he can come to examine the fungus, so that nothing in the house is declared unclean. When the priest comes and examines the house, if the fungus on the walls of the house has greenish or rusty swelling that appears to go deeper than the surface of the wall, the priest is to walk out the door and shut the house up for seven days. On the seventh day he is to come back and conduct another examination; if the fungus has spread in the walls of the house, he is to order that the stones affected by the fungus be torn out and thrown in a garbage dump outside the city. He is to make sure the entire inside of the house is scraped and the plaster that is removed be taken away to the garbage dump outside the city. Then he is to replace the stones and replaster the house. Leviticus 14:33-42 THE MESSAGE

I can't say that reading these last two chapters were easy. I can't say I completely understand its purpose. So how do I apply this to my life? I can honestly say that I feel my heart is the house in which it has this ugly fungus or sin that goes "deeper than the surface." As the Lord has brought in the light of His Word, it has illuminated the dark places of my heart. As we work to tear out and throw in the dump the affected areas of my heart, upon reinspection, there is evidence of my fungus so that we have to scrap the entire inside of my heart and replaster it. It is a work in progress and it doesn't feel good and the work is hard.

Lord, this very day I need you to continue to replaster my heart. In the midst of this reconstruction, I feel vulnernable to discouragement. I need to feel Your presence and peace.

--michele

Leviticus 11 - 13

"Make yourselves holy for I am holy." Leviticus 11: 44 THE MESSAGE

Some days are just harder than others. I don't feel very holy. Thank you for the Lord Jesus and His righteousness!

--michele

Leviticus 8 - 10

Aaron's sons, took their censers, put hot coals and incense in them, and offered "strange" fire to God—something God had not commanded. Fire blazed out from God and consumed them—they died in God's presence.

Moses said to Aaron, "This is what God meant when he said,

To the one who comes near me, I will show myself holy;
Before all the people, I will show my glory."

Aaron was silent. Leviticus 10:1-2

Distinguish between the holy and the common . . . Leviticus 10: 10

I know others may read this passage and draw other conclusions or thoughts about its meaning; but, because of the events that have recently occurred in my life this is what stuck out at me.

Something has bothered me greatly at the church where I was attending. It is the frequent use of common slang words from the pulpit. I discussed my concerns with the pastor via several emails sent back and forth. Ultimately, we are agreed to disagree. My teenage daughter was also having great difficulty with it that she felt led to speak with him in person. She was very brave and lovingly shared her thoughts and feelings on the matter. I am grateful that she is being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and followed her convictions.

My concern for his use of language is about protecting the Bride of Christ. God is a Holy God. I'm afraid in our attempt to be "seeker-sensitive" that we are making the things of God common and ordinary. Have we gotten so casual in our approach that we think we can use any words for the cause of Christ? Can we have a casual relationship with a Holy God? God help us!

The irony is that the message given was on grace. It is not my heart's desire to be legalistic but to remember that God IS Holy! How do we "distinguish between the holy and the common?"

Lord, help me not to approach You casually in my attitudes and spirit. I love You, Lord.

--michele

Leviticus 5 - 7

When you are guilty, immediately confess the sin that you've committed . . . Leviticus 5: 6

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1: 9

The priest will make atonement for you and any of these sins you've committed and you're forgiven. Leviticus 5: 13

(Jesus) And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest. Hebrews 5: 9-10

If anyone sins by breaking any of the commandments of God which must not be broken, but without being aware of it at the time, the moment he does realize his guilt he is held responsible. Leviticus 5: 17

Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7: 25

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
Amazing Love, now flowing down
From hands and feet
That were nailed to the tree.
His grace flows down and covers me.

And covers me.
And covers me.
And covers me.

Grace, grace.
God's grace.
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.

Grace, grace.
God's grace.
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Leviticus 1 - 4

"In this way, the priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he's forgiven." Leviticus 4:35 THE MESSAGE

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:11-12 NASB

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14 NASB