Numbers and Names

Nothing is chance

In my morning time with God, I expressed some disappointment, sharing with Him a sense of limitations. Being separated from the populace, the masses, can give one a  feeling of desires that are impossible to fulfill. 

After my confession, I asked Him where He wanted me to go in the Bible. He and I have a great way of communicating. I ask, and He is kind to me, selecting my path and directing my steps. It just so happens I opened the good book to Exodus, a book I had been studying and have put down for a bit. It also opened to a page with my favourite number in it, 125. When I looked down at the chapter, there was 25 ... it could all be coincidental, or not. The way I see God, nothing is chance, He is always purposeful.

Part 1

Willing of heart

The chapter opens with God instructing Moses. God wants Moses to speak to the children of Israel:

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering (Exodus 25:2)

God is very specific with His requests. He wants the willing of heart to bring gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, and scarlet fine linen, goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, badgers' skins and acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and sweet incense, onyx and other stones. Where oh where, were they to get these precious items, out in the wilderness, a dry and barren desert? 

We must travel back in time, to Exodus 3:21-22

And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty. But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

Let us look again at God's instruction to Moses

Speak unto the children of Israel

That they bring me an offering

Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart

Ye shall take my offering

God did for the Israelites what He does for me. He heard them cry out, He selected a path for them to travel, and directed their steps. He gave them treasures for their travels, but He also gave them choice, when it came time to give an offering from the abundance He had provided. All were asked to make an offering; it is the heart of the willing that would contribute to the arraying of the sanctuary, the mobile temple that God commanded Moses to build in the wilderness. 

The precious items the Egyptians willingly handed over to the Hebrews before their departure, were not only decorative, they were representative. Do we, as the willing hearted Israelites, glorify God with the gifts He bestows, those that He has planned in advance to bless us with? Do the items become idealized, or do we utilize them in service of the living amongst us God? 

God doesn't need silver, gold, brass etc. He is God for goodness sakes. What He asks for and wants, is willing hearts. He works with us, with what He provides, and is suggestive, pointed, direct, subtle, forthright, forward ... He uses every possible way to communicate with us, that He wants our devotion and gratitude, as our providential loving Father. 

Do you, dear reader, offer to God with a willing heart, 

what is most precious to you? 

Or do you cling to it, as though it is your lifeline?

Part 2

Details 

The chapter continues with specific instructions for Moses regarding the construction of the tabernacle, and the instruments that would be required for future use. Of course, I highly recommend you go to Exodus and read the entire chapter. For brevities sake, I am jumping ahead to what struck me as stunning, things I had not taken the time to notice previously (I confess that I sometimes quickly scan with my eyes when reading details, trying to get to the "good stuff", but this is not a good practice with the word of God, because no detail is irrelevant). 

And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel (Exodus 25:17-22)

Dear reader, the golden cherubims were looking at one another, wings stretched forth on high. This is wonderful to me, because this is how I feel when I am in the presence of those that love the Lord. I feel as though I am sprouting wings, stretching them broadly and holding them high, as I gain strength from looking into the eyes of those that love, honour, adore and glorify the most High God! But, dear reader, this is only part of the story ~ those cherubims saw only GOD, when He was present above the mercy seat, meeting and communing with Moses! All eyes were on GOD! The wilderness story is about God and whom, amongst His children, had willing hearts to look to Him for their everything. A grateful heart is always noticed by the Father.  

Part 3

Branches, buds and blossoms

I skip ahead once more, to the crafting of a candlestick made of pure gold. In this section, we can appreciate God's magnificent creative powers displayed in nature, and replicated by skillful human hands. 

And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. And six branches of shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. (Exodus 25:31-34)

Branches, knops, blossoms, and almonds. Dear reader, a knop is a bud that sprouts from a branch, blooms, and then produces fruit. God's light shining forth from a tree like candlestick that produces good to eat almonds, is thematic throughout scripture. He is the tree of life, and we are knops, then blossoms, then hopefully, the good fruit that grows from His nourishment. Now I could leave this all here for you to ponder, to consider valid or a bit of a stretch of my imagination, but I will not. Let us explore yet another part to this epic story. 

Part 4

Rebellion in the camp

Humans are wanton and self-absorbed at the best of times. They are wildly disobedient and rebellious at the worst of times. No matter the circumstances or situations we find ourselves in, we will always be true to our nature, and eventually, everyone else will see it too. The children of God were no different. We see this in Part 1, with God acknowledging in His statement of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart. He knew who would, and who would not, give willingly with his heart; He knows now too ... we cannot hide from the One that made us. 

We advance again through the pages of Israelite history, to Numbers. Tribal leaders had become arrogant and questioning of God's men, Moses and his older brother Aaron. They did not like being ruled over, and hate had begun to fester in their hearts, against these men of God but really, against God indirectly. God wants to destroy them:

Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces (Numbers 16:45) 

Moses quickly acts, knowing that God means what He says and says what He means. The fallout for rebellion was great, have a look with your imagination:

And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood among the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. (Numbers 16:46-48)

Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed (Numbers 16:49-50)

Let's digest this for a moment, shall we?

• God wants to consume the rebellious
• Moses and Aaron fall face first at this pronouncement
• The two brothers intervene, acting quickly in an attempt to appease God by atoning for the wickedness of the people
• The LORD's wrath had already gone out
• A plague had begin: NOTE: wrath is in the plague ... God's WRATH is in the PLAGUE
• Aaron does as commanded, running in the midst of the people with incense from the altar, atoning for the people

This part is stunning ... 

And he stood among the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed

• God's people stand in the gap, between the dead and the living 
• God's men and women, run in the midst of the people, trying to atone for their disobedience, their rebellion against the LORD
• God's people, know that once a person dies as a result of deserved wrath, there are no more opportunities to reconcile with Him
• Moses and Aaron knew the severity of the situation, and so do God's people of today
• The hope, is the stay of the plague ... the plague filled with His wrath

Fourteen thousand seven hundred died from plague, prior to the intervention of Moses and Aaron ... think on this a moment ... do you see, dear one, how very near this is, as a representation of our current circumstances? God is not to be toyed with. He is long-suffering: He is also just. 

Part 5

God's men

We continue in Numbers, to close the circle with a return to branches, knops, blossoms, and almonds. Really, we are returning to a re-establishment of order, leadership, and a clear reminder to the rebellious that survived, that God chooses leaders, His authority will not be usurped, nor will disobedient rebellion go unpunished.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi; for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you (Numbers 17:1-6)

To summarize:

• Each tribal head was to bring his rod/staff, and his name would be written upon it
• There were twelve tribes
• Aaron represented the house of Levi, his forefather 
• The rods were then to be placed in the tabernacle
• God will meet Moses there
• God will choose His man, and the rod would blossom
• The rod would be identifiable, because names had been written on each one
• God will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you

God was putting a stop to the nonsense He had had enough of. There is much grace in this story, because there is a reprieve for those that accept the redirection that God grants; those that turn from their wicked ways, and the vileness of their wicked leaders/ancestors too! Let us finish our time together, as we witness the miracle of a rod, sprouting and producing fruit, without physically being attached to a tree.

And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their father's houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budding, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before  the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not (Numbers 17:6-10)

I would love to report that the rebels learned their lesson, but alas, I simply cannot. This is the state we are currently in, dear one. The rebels just can not seem to help themselves. They seem literally hell bent, on their wayward, rebellious, self and other, destructive ways. 

This said, I am delighted to add, that those that belong to the LORD, have His name written upon their hearts! We are known for our budding knops, our beautiful blossoms, and the luscious fruit that we produce with God's love pouring from our very souls! In the wilderness of life, we have God as our sustenance!

Dear reader, what, I ask you, could possibly be better?