Notes on Numbers 33-36

Posted on by Alex

Numbers 33 is a step by step guide of each location the children of Israel stayed in during their exodus from Egypt to the borders of Canaan; the Promised Land. God gave specific instructions in verses 52-56. They were to “drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places” (v. 52).

If they did not remove the inhabitants completely, “those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them” (v. 55-56).

This is an incredible verse. We will find out later that the Israelites did, in fact, allow some of the Palestinians and Canaanites to remain. Fast forward 3500 years and those who are NOT supposed to be in Israel are not only still there, but are absolutely thorns in the sides of the Jews.

The destruction of the pictures, molten images, and high places is a reference to the gods of the Canaanites. The LORD “executed judgments” (Num. 33:4) against the gods in Egypt (see my Notes on Exodus 7-12). Now, he wants any remnant of false gods eradicated.

Numbers 34 contains the geographic information for God’s intended borders for what would become Israel. It is much larger than the state that exists today. Those who are in the lands named in this chapter are trespassing, but the Israelites are the ones who allowed them to stay. They have been paying the price for centuries.

Chapters 35-36 are more rules concerning the punishment for murder and manslaughter, as well as the rights of inheritance for the tribes. There is an interesting “type” of Christ in Num. 35:25.

When a person commits murder, their punishment is for the victim’s revenger to come kill them. When a person commits manslaughter, however, they are given the chance to flee into a different city. If they leave, they are on their own and the revenger can kill them. If they stay, they must remain until the death of the high priest.

Before Christ’s death, those who died were sent to “Abraham’s Bosom,” not Heaven. The “Old Testament Saints” were given refuge from torment in Hades or Hell. It was not until Jesus Christ, the High Priest died, that they were free to enter heaven when Christ ascended after his resurrection (Eph. 4:8).

Salvation for us is not the same as it was for the Old Testament Israelites. Theirs was a system of grace AND works. Ours is grace only. We only need to repent of our sins, believe that Christ died for our sins, and accept his free and easy gift of grace to be saved. Just ask Christ to come into your heart and declare him your savior and you shall be saved.

It is so easy to do, though living like a Christian should is incredibly difficult. Our standard is sinless perfection; and we can never attain it. The world sees us as unintelligent rubes who are suckers for a good trick, or that we are lunatics for believing in a magical sky God with supernatural powers. We pay the price every day as we are mocked or murdered.

In the end, our side wins. My God defeated death when he rose from the dead. My God will defeat Satan and his armies at Armageddon, and we will join Peter, Paul, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, David, and Jesus Christ himself in paradise for all eternity.

Faith is not an easy choice, but we find ourselves taking leaps of faith every day. We have faith that we will wake up tomorrow. We have faith that our friends will be there when we need them. We have faith that science is a proper tool for acquiring knowledge of our world. All those faiths will let us down, but we still hold onto them.

Faith in Christ will never let you down. Seek and you will find. Believe and you will be blessed.

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Notes on Numbers 31-32

Posted on by Alex

The children of Israel went to war against the Midianites and achieved near total destruction. The battle was so one sided that not one Israelite soldier was killed (Num. 31:49). Though they were commanded to slaughter everyone, the Israelites kept the women and children alive, and were punished with a plague (Num. 31:16).

What would certainly be a controversial order was then given by God. He wanted all the adult women and male children to be executed as well. The reason for this is given in Lev. 18:21-30. The Midianites, like their Moabite friends, were worshipers of Molech (Nimrod). They were people who threw babies into a fire as a tribute their wicked false god. No mercy was to be taken on such an evil people.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad decided that they did not want to go into the Promised Land with the rest of their brethren. They asked for land on the other side of the Jordan river. With some prodding from Moses, they agreed to fight with the rest of the Israelites and conquer the inhabitants of the Promised Land, so long as they could return to the land east of the Jordan. The LORD agreed to this arrangement.

Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) took this land of Gilead, also known as Transjordan, and gave it to the Muslims under the very controversial “Sykes-Picot Agreement” who occupy the region today.

Most of us are familiar with the famous “West Bank” territory that is currently occupied by Israel, but the United Nations believes the land should belong to the illegitimate Palestinians. God does not care what the U.N. wants, this territory was meant for the Israelites.

The Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916 that officially gave the region to the wrong people is a controversial arrangement that many people are unaware of. This agreement broke up the Ottoman Empire and created false borders of the Middle-Eastern countries we know today, under the ruse that the British and French would later agree to the instillation of a new caliphate called Greater Syria. We know that this did not happen.

What has happened, however, is that about 100 years later, a group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) began to wage war in the area that should have become Greater Syria. One of their stated goals is to eradicate Sykes-Picot and form the Islamic caliphate that they were promised.

The reason why some say ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and some say ISIL, is because the “Levant” includes Israel. Those who oppose a caliphate usurping Israel say “ISIS.” Using “ISIL” legitimates the claims made by a terrorist group.

ISIS, the United Nations, the entire Middle-East, and the United States (at least over the past 25 years or so) are all attempting to shrink the Promised Land. There is a strong legal defense that Israel should be allowed to expand settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There is also a decree from the LORD of all that the borders of Israel as it stands right now are too narrow.

Therefore, all negotiations to strip land away from Israel leads to disasters here in America (see my Notes on Numbers 23-25 for a list of natural disasters). The U.S. and U.N. constantly undermine the will of God Almighty. The West Bank, and additional territory currently known as the “Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan,” should belong to Israel.

Notes on Numbers 23-25

Posted on by Alex

Once Balaam had a direct run in with the Angel of the LORD (Jesus Christ), he turned from his lying ways (Numbers 22) and began to tell Balak exactly what God told him to. These passages given as instruction to an outside nation about Israel ring true today, 3500 years later. These concepts should be learned by 21st century American Christians, but our government is becoming increasingly anti-Israel.

Observe Numbers 23:9 which tells us “the people [Israel] shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Here we are, 3500 years later, and the United Nations constantly rules against Israel. There is only one country on the planet who has historically stood beside Israel, and the United States has spent the last couple of decades trying to give the West Bank to Palestine, stop the building of new homes, and refusing to acknowledge that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

With friends like these…right?

Israel dwells alone, just like this verse says. The nations will not reckon with Israel, just like this verse says.

Numbers 24:9 says of Israel, “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.” This is a dire warning to the United Nations and United States of America.

Some of the worst disasters to ever hit the United States occurred within a few weeks of our nation going against Israel. Here are just a few examples:

  1. We refused to veto an anti-Israel resolution in the UN in 1979. Two days later, Three Mile Island become one of the worst nuclear power plant meltdowns.
  2. George H.W. Bush tried to convince Israel to give up territory to Palestine in 1991. The next day “The Perfect Storm” (so “perfect” that they made a movie out of it) actually slammed into the Bush home in Maine.
  3. The anti-Semitic Madrid Peace Conference moved to Washington D.C. in 1992. The next day Hurricane Andrew caused record setting damage in Florida.
  4. In 1994, Clinton met with Assad to try to leverage Israel into giving up the Golan Heights. The next day, the second worst disaster in American history, the Northridge earthquake, hit southern California.
  5. For almost two months in 1997, massive tornadoes ravaged Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Storms in the Dakotas cause the worst flooding of the century. Other storms rage through the Midwest. These disasters began the moment Yasser Arafat landed in the United States and stopped the moment he left.
  6. On January 21, 1998, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. and Clinton and Sec. of State Albright refuse to have lunch with him. The same day, the Lewinski story broke.
  7. September 1998, Albright attempts to get Israel to give up 13% of its Yesha territory (Judea and Samaria). The same day Hurricane George hits the Gulf Coast and stays in one place.
  8. The next day, Arafat again leaves the U.S. and Georges dissipates after causing $1 billion in damage.
  9. When those same talks resume in October 1998, storms and tornadoes destroy 25% of Texas and do another $1 billion in damage. The talks lasted from Oct. 15-23, and the storms lasted from Oct. 17-22.
  10. The same day that Arafat was scheduled to declare an official Palestinian state with the backing of Clinton in 1999, the most powerful storm system in U.S. history devastated Kansas and Oklahoma setting the record for fastest wind speed at 316 mph.
  11. On April 30th (my birthday!), 2003, George W. Bush presented “the Road Map to Peace” to P.M. Sharon. The next week saw the largest tornado cluster ever recorded up to that time as 412 storms hit the U.S.
  12. In 2005, George W. Bush attempted to convince Israel to remove its settlements from Gaza and give the entire Gaza Strip to Palestine. As the last settlers were evacuated on August 23rd, Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas and almost one week later would become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, flooding the entire city of New Orleans.
  13. Three days after Barack Obama told Israel to return to the smaller pre-1967 borders in 2011, a half-mile wide EF-5 multiple-vortex tornado destroyed Joplin, MO and became the single costliest tornado in U.S. history.
  14. Most recently was the Obama’s refusal to veto another anti-Israel resolution in the U.N. in late December 2016. In early January, the U.S. saw one of the largest ice storms in our nation’s history that affected 16 states (N. Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado, and Oklahoma) causing power outages and fatalities. In mid-January ANOTHER major winter storm came and hit Oregon, California, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas.

I am sure these are all just coincidences, right? It is by pure chance that legendary storms, tornados, nuclear disasters, and record setting damages all happen to occur within a few days or weeks after the United States “curses” Israel.

“Cursed is he who curseth thee.”

Notes on Numbers 16-17

Posted on by Alex

One fascinating story in the book of Numbers that rarely gets discussed in church is that of Korah leading a rebellion with the sons of Levi. As usual, the children of Israel were murmuring (complaining) about wandering through the desert. They once again longed for the days of being slaves in Egypt. Despite having watched God kill their friends and family with a plague, the Levites decided to take their shot at standing against the LORD.

Moses told Korah and 250 of his followers to light incense before God. Aaron and his followers were told to do the same. Korah managed to wrangle up even more people, but God allowed Moses and Aaron to convince all those extra people to leave.

Moses told them “If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up. . .ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD” (Num. 16:29-30).

The earth did open and swallow Korah and his family before closing in around them. He then sent a fire to burn up the other 250 men. God once again showed his favor for Moses and his intolerance for insubordination.

Immediately following this spectacular spectacle, the children of Israel complained AGAIN, this time blaming Moses and Aaron for the deaths of Korah and his followers.

This is a picture of what happens to us today. When God passes judgment, rather than acknowledge the power of God, skeptics blame human beings for what should otherwise be considered a supernatural event. When an opportunity doesn’t work out, it’s because of “karma” or having negative thoughts.

The power of “positive thinking” can only take us so far, it is GOD who gets us the rest of the way!

As punishment for this murmuring, God sent another plague that killed 14,700 more people.

In chapter 17, God shows the Israelites that Aaron would be the spiritual leader of the people. He was God’s final authority among the tribes. Now that the children of Israel were finally scared for their lives, would they actually begin to show Moses and Aaron some respect? Would they stop murmuring against God who continually judged them by sending miraculous ways of killing anyone who openly opposed him?

I suppose we will see.

Notes on Numbers 11-13

Posted on by Alex

One of the things that always astounds me is the frequency with which the children of Israel take God for granted. They walked across the dry land when the Red Sea parted for them. They literally see the presence of God as a massive cloud and pillar of fire that surrounds their tabernacle every day. They experienced their friends and family be killed by God after worshiping a false idol. Yet they find time to complain once again about their living arrangements in Numbers 11:1

This upset God so much that he sent a burning fire into their camp and burned those on the fringes. They cried and began begging for fish (v. 5). They had livestock with them, but they complained that they didn’t have the one meat that they lacked access to.

God was providing plenty of food in the form of manna. This meal fell from Heaven requiring no cultivation at all. The Israelites only had to pick it up. There was nothing to feed, nothing to kill, nothing to sow or reap, yet they were not satisfied.

Is this not what we do? The human condition is consumption. We are never satisfied, no matter how much wealth and success we have. We constantly tell ourselves that if we just get the newest tv, or the latest fashion, then we will be happy. All we have to do is get the hot new car and our lives will be complete. However, once we obtain these things, we want the next model.

Our needs can be completely met, but in our sick, twisted minds, we are suffering some sort of loss.

Moses started going a little insane with having to deal with all the crying. He asked God “have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?” (v. 11). He could not handle the burden, so he asked for help.

God decided that he would provide so much meat that the Israelites would get sick of eating it . He said they would eat “until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you:” (v. 20).

He sent dozens of quails to the children of Israel. The ones who lusted for meat and complained were given a plague from the quails and died.

Be careful what you wish for, Christian. When you go to God with a heart of lust and ask for something you desire, you may receive so much that you may lose your life.

The children of Israel finally arrived near Canaan in chapter 13. Spies were sent out into the land to investigate the situation. What they found was a fertile land filled with grapes, milk, and honey; and giants.

Remember the Law of First Mention. Giants in Genesis 6 were the half-human offspring of fallen angels, therefore, these giants were more than likely of the same ilk. These beings were, in my opinion, some of the descendants of Nimrod who were worshiped as gods in many ancient cultures.

Notes on Numbers 5-6

Posted on by Alex

CHAPTER 5

God, whose name is Jealous (Exodus 34:14), has some pretty strong laws against adultery. If a man becomes jealous of his wife (as God is jealous when we go astray), he should take her before the priest and make an offering.

The priest is to take an “earthen vessel” and fill it with a mixture of holy water and dirt from the tabernacle floor. The woman must drink the bitter water. If she is innocent, then she is free. If she is guilty of cheating on her husband, then she will be cursed by God causing “thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell. And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen” (Numbers 5:21-22).

This is a brutal punishment that leads to major pain, suffering, and death.

The message that I get from this is a picture of our relationship with Christ. Christians are the “bride of Christ” so we are represented by the woman in this passage. Christ, or God, is jealous of our love. This is why the first commandment is to have no other gods.

When we defile the relationship we have with Christ, God’s jealous nature arises and we earn this curse. However, the blood of Jesus Christ washes us of our sins. We SHOULD have our bellies rot when we choose to worship Facebook or sports over God, but Christ saved us from such a punishment. Hallelujah!

CHAPTER 6

Samson and John the Baptist are the most famous Nazarites in the Bible, though Samuel was one as well. The vow of a Nazarite consists of not drinking wine or strong drink, not eating grapes of any kind, not cutting his hair, and not touching a dead body. If any of these rules were violated, they were to shave their heads. This was not a lifelong vow, and when the period was over, they were to offer a lamb, ewe, and ram as a burnt offering, as well as shave and burn their hair.

I believe that there is a strong hint that the “forbidden fruit” was not an apple, but a grape. Numbers 6:4 says “vine tree,” not just vine. Thus, grapes grow on a type of tree. Grape juice or wine is also a type of blood (Christ turns water into wine in John 2, and wine becomes a type of his blood at the last supper). Blood is the life of the flesh (Gen. 9:3), and is full of sin. I believe what Dr. Peter Ruckman says about blood; that Adam and Eve were created with a water system that turned to blood when they ate the fruit and sinned for the first time (this would mirror Christ’s first miracle). Thus, it makes sense that the forbidden fruit in Eden is the same fruit that is forbidden to a Nazarite; grapes.

In verses 24-26, we see a picture of the trinity together for the first time.

24: “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:” this is God the Father who blesses us.

25: “The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:” the part of God whose face we can physically see is Jesus Christ. It is by His grace we are saved.

26: “The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” The Holy Spirit gives us peace, and peace is one of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-25).

The “trinity” is not mentioned explicitly in the Bible, though all three parts are referred to throughout. This passages shows us that all three parts are “The LORD,” thus, they are co-equal. All three parts are God, and God is not just one part; just as human beings are body (Christ), soul (Father), and spirit (Holy Spirit). We are clearly more than a mound of flesh and bone, but would not be fully human without a body. We leave this body when we die, but are given a new one in Heaven (1 Cor. 15:35-54).

My physical body breaks down more and more. Each day becomes more painful than the last. I cannot wait to receive my perfect body in Heaven; one that never rots or gets sore. I believe we are less than a decade from the Rapture and the beginning of the tribulation period.

If you are unsaved and reading this, I suggest talking with a Christian you trust or contact me. You need the truth!

Notes on Leviticus 24-25

Posted on by Alex

A mixed-race boy (Semitic and Hamitic) from the tribe of Dan (Antichrist) cursed God and blasphemed in public. His punishment, according to Leviticus 24:14, was to be stoned to death.

Mohammad, in his attempt to usurp the story of Moses for his own, made this idea a foundational doctrine for Islam. Therefore, even drawing an image of Allah results in death. Islam is a perversion of Judaism.

I have had the displeasure of watching videos of people being stoned to death. I wanted to know the true horror of this barbaric technique. It is awful. The stones are quite large, probably about the weight of a cinder block, and there is quite the delay before a kill shot. As bones are broken, the victim has ample opportunity to scream and writhe in pain before a stone to the head or internal bleeding finally kills them.

Those who claim that American capital punishment is inhumane have never seen a stoning.

These punishments are not supposed to be carried out as a personal punishment. This is not a violation of the ten commandments, because this is essentially a function of local government. The tribe, as an enforcer of law, is authorized to seek justice. “Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Lev. 24:20) is fine for governance, not for you and I.

Leviticus 25 begins with the Year of Jubilee that occurs every 50 years. Remember the Feast of Pentecost in Leviticus 23, where 50 represents the ascension of Christ and the beginning of the Church Age. During the Day of Atonement (September 10th) that represents the second coming of Christ, the trumpet will sound and the Israelites “shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family” (Lev. 25:10). Once again, the second coming and Millennial kingdom are linked through a Jewish feast or festival.

This is yet another picture of the end times tucked away in the Old Testament, about 3500 years before Revelation occurs.

Leviticus 25:23 says “The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.” This is an interesting verse that can be taken to mean different things depending on its context.

One is a literal, physical interpretation. The Promised Land belongs to God, and even though the Israelites have not always and will not always dwelt there, it will never belong to anyone else.

The second interpretation is metaphysical. The Earth is God’s and those who follow God are not meant to dwell on the Earth, but in Heaven. This idea is restated in John 17:14, which says “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

The Old Testament Israelites and New Testament Christians are not supposed to be focused on the things of this world. We should not be concerned with jobs, promotions, money, wealth, sexual promiscuity, sports, politics, video games, tv shows, movies, art, music, social media, etc. We are supposed to focus on eternity.

James 4:14 says “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Our lives on this world are temporary. We waste so much time on things that do not matter, while we are afraid to take action on what does matter. Our unsaved friends and family are headed for eternal damnation while we are posting drunken pictures on Instagram. The modern Christian would rather party like Hell than live for Heaven.