Never Forget

January 2, 2024 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ²“Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. ³On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” ⁴So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. ⁵And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. ⁶And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” ⁸And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”

⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. ¹¹In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹²They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. ¹³But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. ¹⁴And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.” – Numbers 9:1-14 ESV

The first 14 verses of chapter 9 record God’s call for Israel to celebrate the second annual Passover. A year had passed since He had instituted the original Passover meal that had resulted in the deliverance of the people of Israel from the divine judgment meted out by the Death Angel. Any home where the blood of an unblemished lamb had been spread on the doorpost and lintel had been spared the death of the firstborn (Exodus 12). The sacrifice of the innocent lambs provided protection from the wrath of God. Their lives were offered up in place of the firstborn sons of the Israelites.

God graciously reminded His people to keep this annual festival, knowing that they would naturally tend to forget. Much had transpired since they left Egypt a year earlier and the celebration of that long-forgotten night would have been the last thing on their minds. Yet, God had commanded them to commemorate the Passover every year on the same day from generation to generation.

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.” – Exodus 12:14 ESV

The second-annual Passover was to occur in the first month of the second year after the Exodus. This means it took place a month earlier than the census recorded in chapter 1, which God had instituted “on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt” (Numbers 1:1 ESV). This tells us that the events recorded in Numbers are not necessarily in chronological order.

As per God’s command, the Passover was to be kept “at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules” (Numbers 9:3 ESV). Nothing was left to chance. They couldn’t skip it or make any changes to it. Everything had to be done in keeping with the requirements spelled out by God on the evening of the first Passover.

“Every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. …Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.” – Exodus 12:3, 5-6 ESV

As part of the celebration, the people of Israel were required to reenact all the requirements that God had handed down regarding the Passover, including the sacrifice of the lamb.

“…take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.” – Exodus 12:7 ESV

While they were living in Egypt, the Israelites had been shepherds (Exodus 9:1-7), so they had ready access to the lambs necessary for obeying God’s commands. Even when they departed Egypt, they did so with “great flocks and herds of livestock” (Exodus 12:38 NLT). So, they had plenty of resources to obey God’s command and commemorate this annual festival.

Once again, they were not free to twist the rules or skimp on the requirements. The lambs must be without blemish. They couldn’t cut corners by offering a flawed or disfigured animal. That would have made the sacrifice unacceptable to God. Every detail concerning the celebration of the original Passover had been critical and non-negotiable. If they wanted to experience God’s deliverance, the people would have to do everything according to His exacting standards. As the years passed and each successive generation asked, “What does this ceremony mean?,” their parents were to answer, “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families” (Exodus 12:25-27 NLT).

God had graciously spared the Israelites, but they had been required to do everything according to plan. Their obedience was non-optional and non-negotiable and, a year later, that fact remained unchanged.

The Passover was all about God’s mercy and grace. When the Death Angel passed through the land of Canaan, all the firstborns of the flocks and herds were to die, as well as the firstborns of all the households in Egypt. That would have included the Israelites – unless they obeyed God’s command and purified their homes with the blood of the unblemished lamb.

The Passover meal had been ordained for the Israelites alone. God had made it perfectly clear that “no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal” (Exodus 12:48 NLT). Any foreigner wishing to celebrate that Passover and escape the wrath of God was required to undergo the right of circumcision.

“If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover with you like any native-born Israelite.” – Exodus 12:48 NLT

And a year later, another provision was made for those who were ceremonially unclean.

…some of the men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, so they could not celebrate the Passover that day. – Numbers 9:6 NLT

Having come into contact with a corpse, they had become defiled and ceremonially impure. As a result, they were unable to celebrate the Passover meal or take part in the rest of the events associated with the festival. So, they made an appeal to Moses.

“We have become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead body. But why should we be prevented from presenting the Lord’s offering at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites?” – Numbers 9:7 NLT

Unsure as to what to do about this unexpected conundrum, Moses sought direction from God, and He responded.

“They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month later, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month.” – Numbers 9:11 NLT

This act of leniency would not have been possible a year earlier. Passover took place the very night on which the Death Angel passed through the land. A month’s delay would have resulted in death. But God had already delivered His people and they had escaped His judgment. Now, a year later, He could extend them grace by allowing them to delay their eating of the meal for 30 days; just enough time for them to undergo ceremonial purification and restoration. Once the month-long delay was complete, they were to keep every aspect of God’s command down to the last detail.

“They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover.” – Numbers 9:12 NLT

God was gracious and came up with a provision for their defilement. But anyone who simply neglected to keep the Passover could not expect to enjoy the mercy of God.

“But those who neglect to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, even though they are ceremonially clean and not away on a trip, will be cut off from the community of Israel. If they fail to present the Lord’s offering at the proper time, they will suffer the consequences of their guilt.” – Numbers 9:13 NLT

These individuals were to be treated as ceremonially unclean and cut off from the faith community. Their failure to obey God’s commands concerning the Passover would result in their banishment. There would be no Death Angel passing through the midst of the camp, but they would suffer relational death – a painful removal from their family and friends and, worse yet, from the presence of God.

And God held everyone within the Israelite community to the same exacting standards, whether they were Jews or Gentile converts to Judaism.

“…if foreigners living among you want to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, they must follow these same decrees and regulations. The same laws apply both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.” – Numbers 9:14 NLT

Some biblical scholars believe the reference to being “cut off” from the faith community is really a reference to physical death. One of the verses they use to support this interpretation is found in the book of Leviticus.

“All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day.” – Leviticus 23:29-30 NLT

God commanded that the annual Day of Atonement be treated as a Sabbath day of rest. The people of Israel were prohibited from doing any work from sundown of one day to sundown of the next. If they did, they were to be cut off or destroyed. And those who failed to keep the Passover were also to be “cut off” so that they might “suffer the consequences of their guilt” (Numbers 9:13 NLT).

Whether the separation was merely physical, in terms of removal from the fellowship, or of a more permanent nature, due to death, it is clear that God considered obedience to His commands to be mandatory. His people were to keep His word or face the consequences. God had established the Passover as a memorial, an annual event designed to remind each successive generation of His gracious deliverance. He had protected His chosen people from certain death by providing them with a sacrificial substitute, an unblemished lamb whose life and blood served as a means of atonement. And the annual commemoration of this event was meant to remind them of God’s deliverance. When their children asked for an explanation for this bizarre ritual, the parents were to respond: “It is the sacrifice of the Lord‘s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.” (Exodus 12:27 ESV).

For us, the Passover serves as a reminder of the greater sacrifice that God offered on our behalf. He sent His Son to serve as the ultimate Passover Lamb whose blood would deliver from death and provide eternal life. The apostle Paul would remind the believers in Corinth, “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7 NLT). John the Baptist would describe Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NLT). According to the apostle Peter, this spotless Lamb of God served as God’s gracious ransom for mankind’s sin debt.

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. – 1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Will Love Them No More

June 12, 2021 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁵Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal;
    there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
    I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
    all their princes are rebels.

¹⁶Ephraim is stricken;
    their root is dried up;
    they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
    I will put their beloved children to death.
¹⁷My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    they shall be wanderers among the nations. – Hosea 9:15-17 ESV

For the second time, Hosea mentions the city of Gilgal. It was located just north of Jericho on the western side of the Jordan River. Back in chapter 4, Hosea warns the southern kingdom of Judah about emulating the sinful behavior of its northern neighbor, Israel.

Though you play the whore, O Israel,
    let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
    nor go up to Beth-aven,
    and swear not, “As the Lord lives.” – Hosea 9:4 ESV

Hosea will bring up the city of Gilgal one more time before closing out his book.

But the people of Gilead are worthless
    because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
    their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
    along the edges of a plowed field. – Hosea 12:11 NLT

Gilgal was a city that should have held special significance to the people of Israel. It was at Gilgal that Joshua built a stone memorial to commemorate the Israelite’s successful crossing of the Jordan River. God had miraculously divided the waters of the river, allowing the Israelites to pass over on dry ground. Joshua had picked one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel and commanded them to pick up one large stone from the middle of the river bed and carry it to the western side. When they arrived safely in Canaan, Joshua built the memorial with those stones. Then he told the people:

“‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” – Joshua 4:7 NLT

Gilgal was intended to be a place of memorial, a site of remembrance. It was there that Yahweh proved Himself powerful and faithful to His chosen people – yet again. And Joshua had instructed the Israelites to pass on the meaning of the stone memorial to the succeeding generations.

Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.” – Joshua 4:21-24 NLT

But the Israelites had turned Gilgal into one more sacred site for the worship of its false gods. They had forgotten all about the powerful, gracious, and loving God who had rescued them from captivity in Egypt, led them across the wilderness, and provided them with the land of Canaan as their inheritance. The miracle of the crossing of the Jordan River had become a distant memory and their commitment to honor God had long ago been replaced by their infatuation with false gods.

Chapter 5 of the book of Joshua records another important aspect of Gilgal’s history that heightens the Israelites disrespectful actions there. It was Gilgal that Joshua commanded that the next generation of Israelite males be circumcised. The people had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, as punishment for their refusal to enter the land when they had first arrived on the shore of the Jordan River.

Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised. The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.– Joshua 5:5-6 NLT

So, before crossing the Jordan River and entering the land of Canaan, Joshua had ordered the circumcision of all the males who had been born during the 40 year period.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. – Joshua 5:9 NLT

By reinstituting the rite of circumcision, Joshua had faithfully obeyed God’s command and set apart the people of Israel as His chosen possession. This ordinance had been given to Abraham by God more than half a millennium earlier.

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant.” – Genesis 17:9-13 NLT

Gilgal should have been a place of memorial. Its very presence should have reminded the people of Israel about their God and the covenant commitment to remain faithful to Him. But they had desecrated this place of remembrance, proving yet again that they had no intentions of honoring their covenant commitments to Yahweh. And God delivers His ultimatum against His chosen people.

“All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
because of their evil actions.” – Hosea 9:15 NLT

Gilgal was to have been a place where the people could go and recover the rich heritage of their history. It was intended to be a visual and tangible reminder of God’s grace and power in their lives. They belonged to Him. He had rescued them out of captivity in Egypt and delivered them to the land He had promised to give to Abraham as his inheritance. God had helped them cross the Red Sea on dry ground, so they could leave the land of Egypt. Then He had repeated the very same miracle so they could enter the land of Canaan. He had given them victories over their enemies, including the nearby city of Jericho. He had provided them with kings and prophets, the sacrificial system, and His holy law. It was at Gilgal that they had celebrated their first Passover in the land of promise.

While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. – Joshua 5:11 NLT

And from that point forward, the people never had to eat manna again.

The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan. – Joshua 5:11-12 NLT

Yet, the people of Israel had failed to appreciate all that God had done for them. Now, God was warning them that His patience had run out, and He described His change of relationship in startling terms.

“I will love them no more…” – Hosea 9:15 NLT

These words do not indicate that God no longer loved the people of Israel. That would require a change in His character, which is immutable and unchanging. But it does indicate that God was no longer going to express His love for them in tangible ways. They would receive no more blessings from His hand. They would enjoy no more of His bounty and provision. He would remove His protection and provision. If they wanted to live as if God did not exist, they would experience exactly what it was like to no longer enjoy His many blessings.

They would learn the painful lesson of what it feels like to live without God in their lives. They would be struck down, dried up, fruitless, and bereaved of their children. The one who had redeemed them would now reject them. Rather than living in the land of promise, they would become homeless wanderers. And all because they had refused to obey their loving, compassionate, and covenant-keeping God.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Stones of Remembrance.

May 21, 2018June 6, 2018 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ²“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

⁸And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. ⁹And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. ¹⁰For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

The people passed over in haste. ¹¹And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. ¹²The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. ¹³About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. – Joshua 4:1-14 ESV

centered-stones-large God’s people have a tendency to forget, and nobody seems to know that better than God Himself. Their collective ability to recall and rejoice in His wondrous acts was spotty, at best. So, God was constantly reminding His people to remember. He knew their particular tendency toward forgetfulness and the human proclivity to take credit for their own accomplishments.

Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. – Deuteronomy 4:23 ESV

¹⁰“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, ¹¹and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, ¹²then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. – Deuteronomy 6:10-12 ESV

¹¹“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, ¹²lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery… – Deuteronomy 8:11-14 ESV

Their entrance into the land of promise was a memorable experience. As soon as the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant entered the Jordan River, the water ceased to flow. Somewhere up river, a wall of water formed, preventing any further water from reaching the spot where the Israelites would pass over. One minute the river was there. The next, it was gone. And the priests found themselves standing on dry ground. Joshua commanded the 12 men he had chosen earlier to each take one stone from the river bed and carry it to the other side. Those 12 stones would become a memorial, a permanent reminder for the people of Israel, recalling the miraculous provision of God. The stones were to provide a visual history lesson, prompting their children, yet born, to ask for an explanation as to the meaning behind the stones. And the answer was simple: “you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off” (Joshua 4:7 ESV). Notice that the answer doesn’t mention God. It’s almost as if the question elicits a response which is intended to create even greater curiosity on the part of the child asking the question. “How were the waters cut off?” “What made this happen?” And the answer to those questions was, “God.” The miracle had a source. The action had an agent behind it.

But remembering can be difficult work, and forgetfulness comes easy. As amazing as this particular event was, the day would come when the people would fail to remember what God had done for them. The stones would be neglected. The memory of crossing over the Jordan would be replaced by the more pressing concerns of taking over the land. The attitude of that-was-then, this-is-now would take over. The people of Israel would learn to live in the moment, rather than in the memory. But failing to look back and recall what God has done, will dramatically weaken our ability to look ahead and trust God for what He can do. Our recollection of God’s past provision is the fuel for our future faithfulness. When we fail to remember what He has done, we tend to doubt what it is He can do. He becomes out of sight, out of mind. And that is exactly what eventually happened to the people of Israel. If we fast forward to the book of Judges, it opens up with the news of the death of Joshua. It also tells us that the people were still trying to possess the land God had given them. But they had been less-than-successful because they had been far from obedient. They had failed to do things God’s way. And then, we read these sad words:

¹⁰And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

¹¹And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹²And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. – Judges 2:10-12 ESV

Not only had they forgotten what God had done for them, they forgot God. They abandoned Him. The one who had delivered them from captivity in Egypt, who had led them through the wilderness and who had miraculously made a way for them to cross the Jordan River on dry ground, had been forgotten and forsaken. How in the world do you forget God? You simply fail to remember what He has done for you. Memorials are memory pegs that provide a solid foundation for our faith. One of the reasons we take the Lord’s Table is to remind us of what God has done for us. It is to stir in us the memory of Christ’s sacrificial death and atoning work on our behalf.

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” – Luke 22:19 NLT

When we remember what He has done, we are far better prepared to trust Him for what we need Him to do. But time has a way of fogging our memories and causing us to forget God’s past acts of mercy. Immediately after crossing the Jordan, the people of Israel were enthusiastic and filled with faith. They even afforded Joshua the same respect they had shown to Moses.

On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. – Joshua 4:14 ESV

But would it last? Would their excitement linger and their faith hold? The stones of remembrance would still be wet from the waters of the Jordan. The memory of crossing over on dry ground would be fresh. But in time, that memory would fade, the stones would be forgotten, and the goodness of God would become overshadowed by the next pressing issue of the day.

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

memorial

Never Forget

I Will Love Them No More

Stones of Remembrance.