March 7: Numbers 28-30

March 7, Numbers 28-30

Numbers 28-29. Here God tells Moses some final instructions on laws about public sacrifices. See the attach photo of the requirements. God is looking for obedience from His people and sets up the requirements so that they know what He expects. Granted, this falls under Ceremonial Law and we no longer have to uphold these - but the concept remains, where we are to daily seek Him, give our best to God and place Him first.

Numbers 30. We find a lesson on vows and it seems a bit out of place. But, remember that we learned a while back, we learned about bunker prayers? Well, God is preparing the Israelites to go to war, and He very well may be guarding them against making hasty vows and then not following through with them. In summation: If a man makes a vow, he must keep it regardless. If a woman makes a vow while she is young in her dads home and he doesn't agree with it - she is not required to keep it and is forgiven by God as the dad would forgive here. If she makes a vow while married and her husband doesn't agree with it, she is freed to not keep that vow. She is under the authority of her father when in his home and the husband while in his home. Today, God still has authority set up in the homes similar to this, but some men are either weak leaders or dictators (neither of which are what God asks of men). If you are a man and in charge of your household, run it like Jesus would - considering others greater than yourself and being a humble servant, and then your home will be set up right. If you are a woman, you are to submit to whose authority you have been placed under - since this is how God sets it up. But if your husband is being disobedient to the Lord and not walking with Him, you are still to love him, so you may help in potentially be a part in bringing him to Christ. But your first priority is Christ.

If a widow or divorced woman makes a vow, she must keep it.

To sum it all up:

• We are to obey our God with all our hearts if He has our hearts. If He doesn't have your heart, then you will not want to obey Him. Your life will reflect whether or not you love God. 
• Authority can be a hot topic in our culture as it has been abused historically and not done out of love. If you are leading your family to Christ, then your home will be set up Biblically. There are always exceptions (divorce, abuse, neglect…), which makes this much harder. But think about the underlying tone here - regardless of your home situation, you have a responsibility to obey God and submit to Him. Are there some things in your life that you can let go of or change, so that you can better love Christ?