Promise 14 from Numbers 12:13

Numbers 12:13 - "Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, 'O God, heal her, I pray!' But the Lord said to Moses, 'If her father had spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterwards she may be received again.'" - Miriam sinned by complaining against Moses, his wife and God, so now she is being punished. Traditionally, I would say the western church does not do church discipline well. We are so eager to "not offend" people out of fear that they'll leave the church, that discipline just isn't addressed. However, the Heavenly Father gives us a great example of what it should look like. I love that He used the example of father to daughter when He was speaking to Moses. "If her father were to spit in her face..." The Heavenly Father is disciplining her as a father should, to give consequences, yet it is only temporary. He says that after the seven days outside the camp, she will be welcomed back or received again. Maybe that is why our churches don't do well with discipline, its because they don't know how to receive people back, or welcome them back to the fold. They allow the offenders to be marked for life. There is a no grace extended for the "leprosy" to be healed. Its such a shame. The promise to us is, that God in His love will discipline us and He will always receive us back, totally forgiven, with no blemishes. Thank you Lord!

Promise 13 from Numbers 12:6-9

Numbers 12:6-9 - "He said, 'Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household' With him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?' So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed."

Miriam and Aaron were complaining about Moses' choices of wife and God heard them. So He called the two and Moses to join Him for a sit down at the tent of meeting. God is showing them who His favourite is, He says, 'If I were to speak to you guys, I would speak through you as a prophet by way of vision and dreams of Myself, but not my buddy Moses, we have face to face chats, I let Him see Me." Then He says, "So how do you even have the gall to raise a complaint against My buddy, My favourite one?" Its like He is saying, "Do you not realise who you are complaining against? You are complaining against your Creator's best friend." And He shows His anger and punishes Miriam by putting leprosy on her, just long enough to scare her and Aaron. God goes to bat for His friends. He sticks up for Moses, affirms Him and does not allow the complaint to go any further than what was spoken out. But He also takes the complaint personally. When a complaint rises against His humble servants (see vv.3), then it rises against Him as well. The complainers demonstrate a lack of respect for the actions or decisions the complainee made, therefore they complain against God's role in leading that decision, thereby showing a lack of respect for God. God is not going to allow leaders of people to follow through and lead others into a lack of respect for Him and His ways. He also is not going to let them lead others into a lack of respect for His chosen servants, His friends. He will bring justice and righteousness into the situation and snuff out the complaint.

Promise 12 from Numbers 11:26-29

Numbers 11:26-29 - "But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses and said, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, 'Moses, my lord, restrain them.' But Moses said to him, 'Are you jealous from my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!'" - I love this story! Here the Spirit had fallen on the 70 elders and they prophesied but it was a only a one-off thing and they didn't do it anymore. While they were still away from the camp, these other two guys who didn't go with the rest of the elders, stayed back at the camp and the Spirit fell on them. Even though they weren't with the larger group of elders, and they prophesied too, but they didn't stop. God can work both at the Tabernacle and in the camp. He can work in the church and out of it too. He can pour out His Spirit on anyone He chooses. You can be sharing the Gospel with someone on the street and His Spirit can fall on them. God does not limit Himself to a location and He doesn't limit Himself to who He wants to use. He will give the gift of prophesy to whomever He chooses. I love that Moses recognised it would be greater if all God's people were prophets. Then all would be able to speak to others using kingdom eyes and ears.

Promise 11 from Numbers 11:25

Numbers 11:25 - "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again." - I love the intimacy and intentionality of God. He came down to Moses to speak to him. He didn't stay up high to have this booming voice come out of nowhere speak at him. He came down to Moses to speak to him face to face. Moses was hurting, tired and depressed at the time, so God met him where he needed to be, close and intimate. Then God took some of that, which is from the Spirit, off of him and put it on the seventy. But it is interesting that the scripture says He put Him on the seventy. It was Spirit residue that He took off Moses and pasted on the them but it was like He passed the Spirit onto the others while He still remained in Moses. I must ask myself, "Am I positioning myself close enough to others that God can share the Spirit that is in Me with others?" It is interesting in this passage too that a sign that His Spirit was on these elders was that they prophesied. When the Spirit entered them, they got a glimpse of kingdom eyes. It was just a glimpse however, because they didn't prophesy again. God chooses when to give the gifts and when to withhold them. I certainly would be interested in knowing why it was only for that one time. Was it just to encourage Moses by giving him a physical sign that God did what He told Him He would do by filling the leaders with His Spirit so Moses knew he had helpers, supporters and was not going carry the load alone again? It would be a good question to ask later on. The promise here is that God comes and meets us where we are, face to face. He brings others to share our burdens and He pours out His Spirit on those He chooses. Those whom have the Spirit of God on them have kingdom eyes to prophesy those things that God sees. Thank you Lord!

Promise 10 from Numbers 11:23

Numbers 11:23 - "The Lord said to Moses, 'Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.'" - Moses was trying to figure out in his own mind how in the world God was going to provide meat for well over 600,000 people for a month, however he was processing this question out loud and to the Lord. Remembering that Moses was already depressed and overwhelmed, it is no wonder that he didn't have the faith to believe God's word. Most people struggle to believe God's word when they are down, depressed and hopeless. But God snaps him out of his woes and says, "Is there nothing too difficult for Me? Is there any limit to My power? You'll see that I'm good on My word." God's power is not dependent on how we feel. God doesn't limit Himself when we limit Him, from a place of our despair. God's power doesn't change. He promises to be true to His word in spite of our weakness.

Promise 9 from Numbers 11:17

Numbers 11:17 - "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone." - Reading this story in ch. 11 is bringing a revelatory promise specifically for a friend and her missionary team who are at the moment hurt and worn down by a group of believers that has complained the church to literal death. My friend is very gifted and is full of the Holy Spirit, yet like Moses, the complaints and the whining of the people wore her down to a point of deep illness in her spirit. Moses even prayed 'Lord if I have favor in Your sight, just kill me.' I'm sure that thought has probably crossed her mind a few times. However, the Lord saw what Moses couldn't see, a way out. A different solution. So He asked Moses to call together 70 men from the elders (and who knows maybe they were complainers too) and then the promise came. God said He would put the Spirit that was on Moses on those men too, so that they can share the burden with him. Moses didn't recognize the Spirit that was still on him. Just as I don't believe my friend does either, she felt as though she failed and just couldn't see the Holy Spirit that resides in her. It is interesting that God's solution was not the same as men's would be; "God, just make them all shut up by giving them meat!" That would've been the easier solution, but instead He appointed, anointed and filled 70 others up with His Spirit so that they would be able to help bear the burden. Afterwards, God provides meat, even though He knows that giving the meat is not the true solution to the condition of the Israelite's heart. God will not let His chosen ones bear the burden alone. He will bear the burden of fallen man and difficult believers.

Promise 8 from Numbers 10:10

Numbers 10:10 - "Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God." - God says, "After you are attacked, and then saved and in your time of gladness, sound the horn." - Living in a land where people were attacked and then saved it took a long time for gladness to set in. After attacks, people were grieving, worn out, tired and numb. Gladness is not a "natural" feeling that takes place after such traumatic events. Yet God says 'In your gladness' sound the horn. He wants us to make a choice; Be glad! Gladness comes with thanksgiving. It is Him who saves, so with thanksgiving, be glad, look to Him, sound the horn to Him and you will be on His mind. We can't heal our own wounds, so when we look to Him with a thankful heart in gladness we get His attention (that is the promise) and He heals, He restores, He energizes, He comforts, for His is our Lord, our God, our Saviour. Sound your horn today!

Promise 7 from Numbers 10:9

Numbers 10:9 - "When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you maybe remembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies." - In reading this it reminds me that the battle does not belong to us, it is His. It is the Lord Himself giving instruction about making the silver trumpets, that wasn't man's idea. God gave them a tool to use as a physical modality to call on the Lord in times of battle. This verse says, "after you have been attacked (on your own turf), you sound the horn." Basically His is saying "Call Me and I'll be there; don't try to tackle this on your own." He says, "Do this so that you will be remembered by the Lord your God and be saved. Give the battle to Me and I will save you." This is His promise. I know I don't sound the horn near as often as I should. Today is a good day to start! (Written Feb 23, 2012)