𝗕𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗿/ "𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵/𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴"

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝟭:𝟭–𝟰:𝟮𝟬

This week we jump into the Book of Numbers as the LORD spoke to Moses and said to take a 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘴 of the fighting men from each tribe, aged 20 and up. Well from every tribe except that of Levi. The Levites were 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 by the LORD for the work of His Sanctuary. They would be responsible for taking down the Tabernacle and all of its containments, each time Israel was to move out from their current camp into another. Then they would be responsible for setting it up again, and they were the ones to encamp around the Tabernacle once it was erected.

Numbers 1:53 says, "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭. 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘺."

Remember the Levites were 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 for the tasks they were responsible for. And in the above verse we see that consecration acts as a 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳 almost - protecting those who weren't continually required to be ritually clean from being destroyed by the LORD. Isn't it interesting that the closer to the Holy One we become, the greater the amount of consecration is required! Friends, that is 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆! It doesn't take much to read through the Book of Acts and how the Apostles walked in comparison to many churches today, to realize, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨! Maybe, just maybe, its the level of 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Numbers 4:17-20 once more lays out the seriousness of the tasks at hand, "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴: 𝘈𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘦.”

Have we taken the LORDs grace for granted? Do we think our sin, our 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, no longer matters? The Blood of Christ isn't a ticket to sin nor is it a 'get out of hell free card'! Shew. But that isn't really where I wanted to land today.

As I was reading through a commentary on this week's portion, a simple line seemed to pierce right through me. The writer just wanted to point out how the commandments / instructions of the LORD were given to Israel while they were still in the 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. This thought, he stated, showed that Torah was for everyone, not just for those who eventually living in the land of Israel. The reality of that seemed to resound in my Spirit. As I pondered the depths of those simple words, I couldn't help but sense that it is in each of our wildernesses, that we need something / someone, to light the way out. If we are already living in a promise, we may not realize the depths of our need for a Savior. Yet, as we wander around and around our own mountains, in a dry and thirsty land, we long for truth - for light - for life! And it is in that moment that the beauty of Torah can truly be received! The wilderness 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 us! I don't have enough space to put it all here, but take some time and really dig into Psalm 119. Let the weight of how this writer viewed Torah - the Word (Yeshua is the Word made flesh!) truly is how we are 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙, and the more we are, the closer to Him we become. Praise!!

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴; 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. - 2 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘺 3:16-17 When Paul penned these words there was NO 'New Testament' scriptures. There was only the 'Old'. Do we understand the weight of that? I sure do.

As I close this week I want to encourage those who are walking in their own wilderness, to listen for His Voice. The wilderness is where He can get you alone - away from all the noise of the world - from all the pomp and circumstance of Babylon, if you will. It isn't a punishment. It is perhaps a call to a greater consecration, a greater awareness of His Presence, a greater awakening of His truth in your own heart. Press in. I promise it will be worth it! To Him belongs the glory alone, forever and ever! Amen!