Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Christ – Our City of Refuge

Today’s Passage – Numbers 34 – 36; Proverbs 28

(Second Milers also read – Romans 9 – 12; Revelation 22:17)

“Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.” – (Numbers 35:11)

I must confess, I was not sure if I was going to post anything this week on this website. Our church started a week long “media fast” this week. We have been fasting for the past several weeks: each week the type of fast was different. However, this week, many of us at Jersey Shore Baptist Church are giving up some of our media entertainments for the week. Included are “Facebook”, television, videos and DVD’s, video games, unimportant phone calls and texting, and unnecessary internet usage. I wasn’t sure if this blog qualified as “unnecessary” or not. After some prayer, I have decided that because this is spiritual activity on my part, as well as yours, God would not be displeased with my writing it, and your reading it. You have to decide whether or not it is right for you. By the way, the reason for the fast is that we are praying for God to do a great work in our church in a new series we are starting this Sunday. We are sending out 2500 invitations, and we are expecting God to something big. We have already seen Him work. This past Sunday, we saw 18 first-time visitors come to the church. Praise the Lord. You pray with us that God will continue bless, and if you want to, you can join us as we fast this week.

In our passage this morning in Numbers 35, we read about the Cities of Refuge. These were six cities of the 48 Levitical cities that were strategically placed throughout the land of Israel. I believe there were three on one side of the Jordan River, and three on the other. Anyway, these cities were places that a person could flee to if he were “on the run”. Let’s say that a two men got into a fight, and one of the men unintentionally kills the other man. Even though in this case, this was not considered to be murder, the family of the man killed could legally exact vengeance upon the “slayer”, unless the slayer escaped into one of the six cities of refuge. Inside the city, the man could not be touched.

There is a great example of this in 2 Samuel 3. It is a long story, but in it a man named Joab kills a man named Abner because Abner had killed Joab’s brother in a battle. But in order to to kill him, Joab has to lure him out of the city, because they were in Hebron, which was one of the six cities of refuge. It really is a fascinating story and a great example of how this system worked.

We have a city of refuge today in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we also have an avenger and an accuser coming after us. The devil is seeking our souls, and if he can’t get that he wants to sift our lives like wheat. But Christ offers us refuge. As far as our eternal destiny is concerned, Christ is our city of refuge, and even as far as our earthly lives are concerned, the will of Christ is our place of protection. We are all guilty. We could all be destroyed by the avenger of blood, but praise God, we have a Place to run to, a Person to run to, who not only wants to save us, but also wants to protect and provide for us, and give us a purpose in this life.

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Today’s Passage – Numbers 32 – 33; Proverbs 27

(Second Milers also read – Romans 6 – 8; memorize Revelation 22:17)

Bring Your Cause Before The Lord

Today’s Passage – Numbers 27 – 29; Proverbs 25

(Second Milers also read Acts 28 – Romans 2; memorize Romans 10:9 – 10; 13)

“And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.” – (Numbers 27:5)

In Numbers chapter 27, we have the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. The land of Canaan was about to be divided among all of the tribes of Israel; and within each of the tribes portion, the land would be divided among the families of that tribe. Zelophehad’s family was entitled to a portion of the land, but because he had no sons, there was nobody to give the land to. The five daughters of Zelophehad boldly come to Moses and ask him to authorize that Zelophehad’s portion of land be given them, because their was no son to receive the inheritance. Moses didn’t know what to do. The law up until this point read that only a son could receive the inheritance. There was no previous case to use for precedence in this matter. Moses then goes to God, and asks Him what they should do. God settles the question in favor of the daughters, and establishes new law that would cover unique cases like this.

The point of my thought this morning is not about land distribution, and inheritances, however. I wanted to point out that Moses did not take matters into his own hands: he went to God when he wasn’t sure what to do. This question wasn’t clearly covered in the Bible up until this point; and Moses wanted to be sure that he would give the right answer, God’s answer, to these ladies.

I think there is an important lesson that we can all learn from this. There are many situations in life that will come up today that are not clearly dealt with in the Scripture. There may be Bible principle that deals with it generally, or partially; but often questions arise that are not specifically covered by God in His Word. That’s when we need to do two things: First we need to go to God in prayer, just like Moses did. Second, we need to seek some godly counsel from others who may have dealt with this situation before. Parents can find out from other more experienced Christian parents about what to do in certain situations regarding their children. Young pastors can go to the older pastors. We can benefit from the godly wisdom of others.

Now I want to emphasize again that most of our questions can be answered from the principles found in the Bible; but in those unique situations where there seems to be no Scriptural answer, seek God through prayer; and seek counsel from some godly influences in your life. Remember, in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Look and Live

Today’s Passage – Numbers 19 – 21; Proverbs 22

(Second Milers also read – Acts 19 – 21; Romans 10:9 – 10; 13)

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” – (Numbers 21:8)

I’ve a message from the Lord, hallelujah!
The message unto you I’ll give,
’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”

Look and live, my brother, live!

Look to Jesus now, and live;

’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah!

It is only that you “look and live.”

In today’s passage we read the very wonderful story of the brazen serpent. The people of Israel were tired: tired of travelling, tired of the mannah; and frankly they were tired of Moses. The Bible tells us that they began to speak against Moses, and against God. Bad move. God sent fiery serpents among them, and many were bitten, and some died. The people quickly realized their sin, and they confessed it to God, and asked Moses to pray for God to do something. The last part of verse 7 is one of the sweetest sentences in the Bible. It reads: “And Moses prayed for the people”. How wonderful it is to know that someone is praying for you. Anyway, God tells Moses to make a serpant out of brass and attach it to a pole. Moses was then to lift up the pole and cause the people to look upon it, and whoever looked upon the brasen serpent was healed of the sickness caused by the snake bite.

There is a wonderful parallel to this passage in the New Testament that references this story:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” – (John 3:14-15)

Jesus tells us there that all we have to do in order to be saved is to look to Him. There is nobody else to look to.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” – (Acts 4:12 )

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – (John 14:6)

Faith is simply looking away from everything else, and looking toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is simple. You must first recognize your need. You are a hell-deserving sinner, and you are helpless to save yourelf. Then you must turn to the one who was lifted up on the cross of Calvary for your sin. He offers salvation to you as a free gift. Receive Him today. Look and Live!

For more information on salvation, read the “Are You Saved?” page on this website.

Don’t Move Until God Tells You To

Today’s Reading – Numbers 8 – 10; Proverbs 18

(Second Milers also read Acts 7 – 9; memorize John 3:36)

“At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.” – (Numbers 9:23)

In Numbers 9, the Bible tells us that the children of Israel only moved when God moved. They followed the cloud by day, and the fire by night. If the cloud rested, they stayed in one spot; if the the cloud moved, they followed it. This kept life pretty simple for them. They did not have to make a decision about where they were going to go, they just followed God.

We can do the same thing today when deciding where we are going to go, or what we are going to do. We can simply follow God. Determining the will of God in this time is just as easy as it was then. God guides us through his Word through prayer, and through counsel. Say you are contemplating a move to a new geographic location. You need to check out what the Bible says abou that place. Is there a good, Bible believing church for your family? The Bible says a lot about people moving. Abraham moved into Egypt after being told that Canaan was the place of God’s blessing. He had some problems in his life as a result of this move. There are many other examples and principles in the Bible that will help you to make a decision. One thing is for sure, you do not want to move simply for financial reasons, or because you think the grass will be greener somewhere else. Lot moved because the grass near Sodom looked good, but he ended up losing everything, including most of his family.

Prayer and counsel are also important steps in determining a desicion. All three need to be in agreement, however; and you know what the Bible says about a three-fold chord, right? It’s not easily broken, is it? Pray about your decision, but be aware that God will never reveal in prayer something that goes against the principles found in the Word of God. Then you need to get counsel. Have some people in your life that you can go to for advice. People who will be honest with you. People that won’t tell you just want you want to hear. Don’t “shop” for counsel, either. People often will go from person to person until they find someone who will agree with them. That’s not counsel. Ask your pastor; ask your parents; ask some godly person in your life who will tell you the truth.

When are you going to move; and where? Who are you going to marry; and when? Where will you go to college? Which church will you attend? Where will you work? These are all important decisions. You don’t have to decide these for yourself. Follow God. He will direct you path; He will light the way. I promise if you follow God all the way, you will be pleased with what He does with your life.

Have You Heard His Voice Today?

Today’s Passage – Numbers 7; Proverbs 17

(Second Milers also read Acts 4 – 6; memorize John 3:36)

“And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.” – (Numbers 7:89)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” – (John 10:27)

Chapter 7 of Numbers is certainly a long chapter, and not exactly what I would call great devotional reading. However, as with the rest of the Bible, this is a very important passage. Here we see the heads of the tribes of Israel all presenting to the Lord their offerings at the dedication of the Tabernacle. Each tribe had to offer the same thing which includes some gold and silver; incense and flour; and an assortment of animals. We certainly can see from this passage, and from many other recent chapters that the Israelite were certainly dedicated in the area of giving; but they not only gave what was require, they also gave over and above what was asked of them.

The last verse of this long chapters tells us that after the offering was made, Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with God, and he heard the voice of God coming out from between the cherubims on top of the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to hear the audible voice of God; to actually hear Him speak personally to my physical ears. I can, however, hear the voice of God today as much as I desire to because He speaks to me through His Word. The Bible is God’s voice. He spoke to me this morning about this dedication offering. He also gave me some wisdom from Proverbs 17. And then he motivated me and stirred me as I read about Peter and John and the other apostles and deacons from Acts 4 – 6. By the way, if you also read that passage from Acts you saw that there was a special offering given in that passage as well. Unfortunately, two of the people giving offerings, Annanias and Saphira, decided to lie to God about their offering and as a result were put to death.

I digress. My intention is not to focus on offerings this morning, but talk about God’s voice. God speaks to me in other ways also besides the Bible. This morning as I was walking and praying God spoke to my heart about a few of the things that I was praying about. Now, we have to be careful about these “still small voices” that we hear in our heads and our hearts. We need to be sure that it is God that is talking to us. Sometimes our flesh and even the devil will put thoughts in our heads that are not of God. One way you can tell if it is actually God that is talking is if the thing that He tells you is in agreement with the Word of God. He never goes against His Word. It always disturbs me when people tell them that God had told them to do something that was a complete contradiction to His clear revelation from the Bible.

Have you listened for His voice today? Did you open up your Bible this morning, along with your heart and mind, and hear what God has to say to you? Have you waited on Him today in your prayer closet to hear Him speak to you about specific areas of your life? It is not that God is not still speaking today as much as it is that His children are not listening.

The Lord Truly Wants To Bless You

Today’s Passage – Numbers 5 – 6; Proverbs 16

(Second Milers also read Acts 1 – 3; memorize John 3:36)

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”  (Numbers 6:24-26)

In chapters 5 of the Book of Numbers, God is instructing the children of Israel about what they should do if a man suspects that his wife has been unfaithful to him. The Bible talks about “the spirit of jealousy” that comes upon a man if there is something going on behind his back. I believe the same holds true for the wife. I know that today we don’t often think of jealousy as being a good thing; but interestingly, the Bible records that God is very jealous over his children. I do not think it is wrong either for their to be a healthy dose of jealousy within the marriage either. A man should love his wife to the extent that he cannot bear the thought of her being with anyone else. The same applies to the wife. Jealousy is, I believe, a God-given emotion. Now it must be controlled, just as all of our other emotions; and we cannot let it cause us to sin, but I believe it to be a good thing nonetheless.

Chapter 6 primarily deals with the rules concerning the vow of the Nazarite. When a person took this special vow of consecration in Old Testament days, he would not cut his hair or his beard, and he was not permitted to touch any alcohol, or come near anything (or anybody) that was dead. This vow was a vow of “separation unto the Lord”. The person that took this vow was declaring that his or her life was wholly dedicated to God. Usually, a person would be under this oath of separation for a period of time, not for his entire life. By the way, don’t confuse a Nazarite with a Nazarene, which is a person that comes from the city of Nazareth. Jesus was a Nazarene.

I was captivated this morning by the prayer of blessing found at the end of chapter 6. It seemed almost strange for this beautiful prayer to be place in this particular place. I mean, we have been reading a lot here lately about a bunch of commandments, sacrifices, rules, etc. Here, God tells Aaron that he wants him to pronounce this prayer  of blessing over the people. I think God just wanted to remind the people that he loved them and that He was for them. I think we can learn a couple of lessons from this as well. First, we need to be reminded that God loves us and wants nothing but the best for us. We often will think about God as this angry, cold dictator that is ready to pounce upon us when we do wrong. That is not God. He loves us and He wants to give us the richest blessings, and a life full of abundance.

The second lesson that we should learn from this is that when we are trying to teach our children, we need to remember to let them know often that we love them. Yes, we need to give them all of the rules, commandments, and instructions; and yes we ought to discipline them when they do wrong; but we also need to make sure that they know that we (and especially God) are in their corner, and that we want nothing but the richest blessings for their lives. This would be a good lesson for preachers and other mentors to learn as well. In our zeal to instruct, we sometimes come across as being uncaring and unloving. You have heard the old saying: “People do not care about what you know, until they know that you really care.” Well, we ought to really care, and we ought also to express that love and care often to the people that we are trying to help.