Just as Leviticus has at its very heart the idea of “God’s desire to dwell with mankind” … in indescribably sweet communion … so does the Book of Numbers!

And just as Leviticus emphasizes the Priesthood (at its center) … so does the Book of Numbers. (The Priest being the man who helps facilitate that communion, fellowship.)

More particularly, in the “heart” of Leviticus (chapter 10) Aaron’s two sons (one of them potentially in line to be High Priest) sinned egregiously against the Lord God. They offered “strange fire” before God, apparently going (without authorization) into the very Holy of Holies Itself! AND GOD KILLED THEM INSTANTLY!

Why?

Because they had soiled (violated) the God treasured “picture/type/symbol” of Fellowship which God so longs to introduce to Israel! That Holy of Holies contained the very Ark of the Covenant, and the august Mercy Seat … where God lived so as to “be” in Israel’s presence!

That way of APPROACH TO ALMIGHTY GOD must be maintained at all costs! And Nadab and Abihu willfully and blatantly failed in this respect, in drawing near the Lord God.

Don’t you see Leviticus’ emphasis in all this? God with man and man with God, in sweet Harmony! That’s why the priesthood! That’s why the Tabernacle! That’s why those Offerings! That’s why those Laws about purity!

Now we look at the Book of Numbers. At its very heart (chapters 16 and 17) the High Priesthood is again under attack, under question!

We will get more specific in tomorrow’s Lesson, the Lord willing. Looking at Numbers 16 and 17 where THREE situations arise … each challenging (or proving in the face of such challenge) Aaron’s position as High Priest!

Again, this vital Communion (firstly God with man and then consequently man with God) is brought into doubt, placed under suspicion!

First, Numbers 16:1-40 … the rebellion of Korah … directed against Moses AND AARON!

Then Numbers 16:41-50 … nationwide discontent, grumbling, rebellion resulting from the Korah incident … against Moses AND AARON!

Finally Numbers 17:1-13 … God powerfully proving again that AARON AND HIS SONS (the Tribe of Levi) were to be the priests among Israel! Priests (again) to officiate the sweet Communion God desires with man!

Wow!

So … the Book of Numbers does (at its very heart) reemphasize the grand teaching of the Book of Leviticus!

So that some bright day … the Goal of all the Pentateuch (with Leviticus at its center) will be realized … “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:3

More detail tomorrow, Lord willing.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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While vows in the Bible are not required, they are certainly allowed. As an “extra token of dedication,” one might say.

For example, Hannah “gave” her son Samuel to the Lord, fulfilling a vow she had preciously made. Look here at 1st Samuel 1:11 … “And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a MAN CHILD, then I will give HIM unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”

A person could also give an animal to the Lord, or a piece of property. But in every case, caution was advised. Sort of a “count the cost” before you make any such promise to the Lord. Proverbs 20:25 warns: “It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.”

Therefore the bulk of Leviticus chapter 27 instructs the Nation of Israel on how to redeem someone or something vowed to God, should that vow prove to be “too heavy” a load to bear.

Say a man “dedicates” his son to the Lord, to spend the years of his life in service down at the Tabernacle. But wait, the Levites now serve God at the Tabernacle! The man’s son is not needed! Therefore (in lieu of his son serving a lifetime at the Tabernacle or Temple) he could make a payment of “silver” (how much such money per case is the subject of Leviticus 27) unto the Lord … thus “buying back” that lad, and thereby releasing all involved from the vow.

And as I said, land could be redeemed that way as well.

And livestock!

All of which to me show God’s understanding/tolerance/grace regarding our human frailty.

Plus this … we have here another Bible illustration of God’s amazing Concept of REDEMPTION! Jesus redeemed us from a life of sin, Himself paying the affixed Price (His Own Blood) … designed to put us in right standing with His Father!

But … what happened in ancient Israel to all that “money/silver?” It was used to support the Tabernacle, its Priests and Levites and ministrations. In other words, God was not cheated a bit! The vow was still honored, just in a different sway. (He is a God of reason! “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 1:18)

Nowadays, vows are seldom mentioned. But should you make one (a stern promise “to tithe your income,” for example) … you had best “keep” it! Not to do so is a lot like “turning back!” And do remember Luke 9:62 … “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

More next Lesson, the Lord willing … from the Book of Leviticus and its aftermath. Just as we looked at Genesis and Exodus prior to studying Leviticus … we now need to glance at Numbers and Deuteronomy which follow it. And see the beautiful symmetry the Holy Spirit has built into the Pentateuch.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Lest the Book of Leviticus end with a series of stark “curses,” the Holy Spirit has apparently opted to talk about certain rules of “redemption.”

But mostly pertaining to vows one might make unto the Lord. (Tomorrow’s Lesson will explain this in further detail.)

But today I’d like to discuss with you the general Old Testament principle of vows. A spiritual discipline not highly emphasized in the New Testament at all.

The first thing I would like to mention is that all Bible vows (best I can find) are completely voluntary. God never requires a person to make such a serious commitment … not in any heavy-handed manner.

Do not misunderstand me. The Lordship of Christ demands our total surrender to the Saviour, but not in the sense of a dozen (an arbitrary number) vows being made in the process.

The second thing I would emphasize is that that IF a person makes a vow to God (serious business) … he or she sure had better keep that thing! Never vow casually, without counting the cost.

Solomon address this: “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. BETTER is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

Wow!

Does God take these vows lightly? Ecclesiastes again: “Suffer not thy mouth (regarding making vows) to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?”

Ignore that vow you’ve made, discontinue keeping it … and you risk angering Almighty God! You are inviting His (by disobedience of an obligation you were not required to undertake in the first place) “destroying the work of your hands!”

Now I am wondering why the New Testament has not a single Paragraph instructing us about vows. I think this: because our very word is to be iron-clad! To say it … means we’re gong to do it! 

James 5:12 explains … “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.”

Wow!

More tomorrow, the Lord willing.

“Be careful, little tongue, what you say!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Yet with all the discipline threatened (and ultimately delivered) to the little nation of Israel … in Leviticus 26 … God ends the Chapter with encouraging words!

“And yet for all that, when they (the Jews) be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.” Verse 44 …“AND YET!”

Oh … the resolute, unconditional Love of God! (I believe Love may be His Crowing Attribute! Especially when blended with His Holiness!)

Even when Israel was in dispersion, and she still is in a lot of ways … God vows “I will NOT cast them away!” He “will NOT utterly destroy them” either!

After all, God resolves: “For I am the Lord their God.”

Talk about faithfulness, actually Faithfulness (with a capital “F”)!

God’s commitment to Israel!

Her (that little Nation) brightest days are yet ahead!

At least according to the Books of Revelation, Isaiah, Zechariah, Micah and … the list goes on and on!

God is this headstrong … in relation to Israel, her continued existence as a people.

Jeremiah 31:35-37 is perhaps the best Summary of God’s Plan for Israel, “Israel Forever,” as the Lesson today is entitled. Read it, every word …

“Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.”

Wow, as long as the sun shines!

Exodus 32:13 more succinctly encapsulizes the great thought. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.”

Those words again … “for ever!”

Yes, even in discipline … one will always find God’s Grace!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

We Gentiles this morning should be shouting “Hallelujah!”

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After a beautiful Paragraph of “blessings” promised for obeying God … Israel was then given a list of “chastisements” promised for disobeying God! Both in this captivating twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus.

Here’s how the Section begins: “But IF ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; and IF ye shall despise my statutes, or IF your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you …” Verses 14-16a, God being the Speaker. (As He is in virtually all of Leviticus!)

And what a “list” this is!

Sampling it, brace youself … “Ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.” Verse 17

And if Israel still does not repent, things worsen … “And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: and your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.” Verses 19-20

However, throughout this litany of curses God (seems to me) often offers the possibility of “turning back” to him, of “renewing Fellowship.” As in Verse 21 … “And if ye walk contrary unto me, AND WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO ME; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.”

“I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.” Verse 22

“And IF ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me,” certainly a Glimmer of Grace, Verse 23. There’s “choice” in this verse, offered to Israel.

Verse 24 … “THEN will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.” Notice the “if” and “then” of verses 23 and 24!

Hunger and famine (crop failure) will become (to the constantly “hardening of their hearts” people) this severe, starvation! “And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.” Wow!

All this because God hates idolatry! He abhors false gods and goddesses! “And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.” Verse 31

Still, if no sign of repentance occurs … “And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.” Verse 33, a displaced people!

One writer I studied earlier this morning suggests there is a parallel, a nexus, between the blessings and the curses of this chapter.

In other words, God “reverses” the blessings He has promised to an obedient people. Like this: from a fruit bearing land to a dry, barren land! From no enemies to powerful, overcoming enemies!And from “God’s Presence” to “God’s Absence!”

I am telling you right now, according to this Text … God is serious about holy living!

Leviticus 11:44 … “And ye shall be holy; for I am holy,” thus says the Lord God Almighty.

Any body listening, reading?

And He is the Same God today as He ever was. A God Who is Spotless, expecting a “sanctified” people.

Paul to his Corinthians converts, the Apostle’s ultimate goal for this difficult Church … “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2, pure and innocent!

Holy, Holy, Holy!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Yet this is the Same God Who will say to Israel … “IF my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; THEN will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Wow!

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