AUGUST 1, 2022 Numbers 11:6 “But now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” As I mentioned in the previous devotion, God always gives us what we need but not everything we want, necessarily. In fact, it is my view that most of those times when He gave His people what they […]
JULY 31, 2022 Numbers 11:5 “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.” Can you imagine being thrust into a situation that, as far as the natural eye is concerned, there is no source of food and water? On the other hand, […]
Moses observed that the children of Israel were an innumerable host, like the stars of heaven. This was the fulfillment of a promise God had made to Abraham.
One night Abraham was in his tent when God appeared to him in a vision and said, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great” (Genesis 15:1). Abraham objected that a reward was of little use to him since he had no heir to give it to. Then the LORD took Abraham outside the tent and showed him the myriad stars splayed across the nighttime sky. The LORD said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. … So shall your descendants be” (Genesis 15:5). It was this promise that Abraham believed and God credited to him as righteousness.
In Deuteronomy 1 the promises God made to Abraham in the Negev were about to be fulfilled. The children of Israel had multiplied into a host that Moses likened to “the stars of heaven in number” (Deuteronomy 1:10).
Though the hosts of Israel might seem innumerable as the stars, God knows each person individually. The Psalms say, “He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them” (Psalm 147:4). With God, no person is inconsequential. He knows each of us by name.
When the people of Israel struggled under the bondage of the Assyrian and Babylonian exile, they felt that God not longer saw them. The people said, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God” (Isaiah 40:27). The prophet Isaiah responded by telling the Israelites to look up into the nighttime sky and see the stars:
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)
If God marshals the starry host, shepherding them so that not even one of them escapes His notice, He also watches over and cares for the people who are like the stars of heaven. Not one of them is missing before Him.
Devarim – ×“×‘×¨×™× : “Words” Torah : Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 Haftarah : Isaiah 1:1-27 Gospel : Acts 1-2
JULY 30, 2022 Numbers 11:4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?” In the previous devotion we spoke of the fire that broke out among those who lived in the outskirts of the camp. To be a […]
JULY 29, 2022 Numbers 11:1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. As we begin today, let’s take note of the fact that God hears our conversations; He hears our praise and our grumbling. As to the latter, […]
JULY 28, 2022 Numbers 10:33 So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. When the children of Israel finally left “the mountain of the LORD,” they traveled these […]
JULY 27, 2022 Numbers 10:29 Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.” As is evident in this verse, Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, was also […]
JULY 26, 2022 Numbers 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God. In our local congregation, […]
JULY 25, 2022 Numbers 10:1-2 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.” Distinguished from the shofar, or ram’s horn, these two silver trumpets were used for different functions such as […]
JULY 24, 2022 Numbers 9:18 At the command of the Lord the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. When the tabernacle was raised up, a cloud that had the appearance of fire hovered over the Sanctuary. It served as a […]
