Scripture says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It must be true because the same themes appear over and over through both the Old and the New Testament. God genuinely wants to sink these themes deep in our hearts, so that they ooze out of us, whatever we may be doing. Today’s reading seems to focus on purity and speech.
Purification is a process. It does not happen overnight. And it involves more than one to make it happen.
And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel. A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead or a grave. The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and at evening he shall be clean.
But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. (Numbers 19: 17-20 NKJV)
I just recently heard that holiness does not mean perfect but set apart for God’s use. I am going to add purity along with it. God wants His “church” or people to be pure. And He made a way for me to be pure before Him, so that I can come into His presence. His name for me is Jesus, but for the Israelites it involved sprinkling of purification water for each time they became unclean. But in either case it involves action. Admitting you need to be clean, and then following through with the process.
If one should choose to remain unclean, he will be cut off from the sanctuary.
I looked up the meaning of sanctuary and it said:
A sacred place, set apart from the profane, ordinary world. Originally, sanctuaries were natural locations, such as groves or hills where the divine or sacred was believed to be especially present.
Based on 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17, if I want the Lord to prepare me to be a sanctuary I must remember that God’s temple is holy, and because I am an extension of God’s temple, I am to strive for holiness as well.
My speech, and the children of Israel’s speech, matters. It causes things to be set into action, both good and bad.
When there was no water, the children of Israel said: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink” (Numbers 20:3b-5 NKJV)
Is that what they truly wanted– to die? Or did they just want water? Moses and Aaron took their complaint before the Lord.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. (Numbers 20:10-11 NKJV)
Unfortunately, their words made Moses angry. Moses did not follow God’s instructions to speak to the rock but struck it with his rod instead. Because of his choices, Moses was not allowed to go to the promised land.
I used to think that God was a little harsh on Moses, but today I see that Moses pretended that it was him bringing the water forth, not God. He did not honor God, and God deserves to be honored. No one should never take credit for anything that God does.
Later, the children of Israel complained again against God and Moses. Even after he had given them victory over some battles along their journey. This time they said:
“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness: For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”
So the Lord send fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:5b-6 NKJV)
The children of Israel always complained against God, but this time they went too far. They called the blessing of God worthless.
When I am focusing of the negative, or am impatient with God, or any relationship for that matter, it can cause two things to happen. First, it keeps my focus on the wrong thing. I only see what is going wrong. I do not see all the good things I have been given. Everything around me becomes negative. Even the good things that I need to survive, like the manna.
Second, it can prevent me from moving forward. When I am focusing on the negative, I get stuck. And I stand still in my mess instead of looking beyond it and moving toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
It is a good thing that God and Moses were forgiving. Moses prayed and God provided a serpent on a pole to heal those who got bit.
Then the people moved forward and had victory over the Amorites and took possession of their land.
God was always faithful towards the children of Israel, from the Red Sea to the victory over those who would not let them cross through their land. I wonder why when things start to get hard, that they cannot remember all the good God has done for them, why they always go back to Egypt and wish they were still there. They forget they were grumbling because they had to gather their own straw. They only remember that they had delicious food. God was leading them towards the promise land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Why wasn’t that enough?
Am I like that too?
Speech matters. I should watch what I say, what I complain about. God gives the rain. I need it for many things in my life, to cook, bathe, wash clothes, but especially to drink. Rain is kind of like their manna. Have I ever complained against rain? What if I complained and God took it away? I need to keep watch over my words.
Paul said:
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving, meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, For which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt; that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4: 2-6 NKJV)
I should make my words matter. If I constantly choose the right words and right thoughts, and right actions over and over, even if they do not change anything, the first time through. It is the constantly choosing and praying that will help me to overcomes obstacles in my path. And, it will help to keep me close to God, and will cause breakthrough to come when I least expect it. Therefore, it is important where my thoughts and speech and actions are. They should not be complaining about anything going on around me, but focused on pure things. And to do that I need God’s wisdom and guidance. But I find that when I focus on kingdom things, good things rain down in my life.
Dear God, thank you for the rain in my life. The good and the bad. For when it rains, that is where I turn my focus to you for help or to give thanks. Staying close to You helps me to live a life of purity, set apart for your use. Also, it helps me to control what comes out of my mouth, or the thoughts in my mind. Help me to use them for good. This is a never-ending battle for me, please give me victory day by day. Holy Spirit thank you for your guidance and helping me to notice when I need to stop speaking or change what I am saying. Thank you for your patience with me from now to eternity. I cannot do this life without you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!
Carol (carolvorwe)
Sixty-six books in a year 