Numbers 15 (résumé):Supplementary Offerings

Much of this chapter has a number of supplementary offering instructions similar to those found in Leviticus. When a burnt offering was made for a special vow, a fellowship/peace offering, free-will offering, or on a special feast day, then the offering was to be accompanied by fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering plus an offering of wine as a drink offering. The amount of flour and wine required increased from lamb to ram to bull sacrificed. It was stated that these rules applied to foreigners as much as to Israelites. God also said that the Israelites were to make an annual offering of the first of their dough from their grain harvest.

Then the chapter went on to discuss offerings for unintentional sins. If they were community sins then a bull was to be slaughtered as a burnt sacrifice and a male goat as a sin offering, but if they were individual unintentional sins then a female goat was to be offered as a sin offering. If however somebody sinned defiantly they were to be excommunicated. 

A man was caught gathering wood on the sabbath and he was stoned to death as divine punishment. God also made the people put blue tassels on their clothes to serve as a constant reminder of God's commandments.

Poisoning

A terrible case of poisoning occurred in the northeastern state of Piaui on New Year's Day with 4 people from the same family killed after eating a plate of poisoned beans and rice. 5 others from the same family were taken to hospital and 4 of these have recovered. Police have detected the type of poison used and have arrested the step-father for murder.

I have had a lovely surprise visit from Joca who I hadn't seen for 40 years! He used to be a member of our church in Patos, but he has re-married and lives in Imaculada. He used to play for the church football team and scored an historic winning goal against the Presbyterian church in 1973!

Liz and I had an excellent meeting with our youth leaders Rayla, Murilo and Ray planning for the first half of 2025 with evangelistic outreach in town squares, youth rally, youth outing at Green Pastures and youth conference at Green Pastures too. Please pray for our youth!

Liz has just taken a cot to a little family that is expecting twins shortly. The cot was donated by a teacher from our daughters' English school. Liz has also brought a whole load of roll-up mattresses to lend to our team going to the special 10-day evangelistic outreach at Itaporanga, as everyone will sleep on the floor whilst there.

2 lorries have turned over this week on the Teixeira Mountain road (just south of Patos), which is very steep and has very sharp bends. One was laden with dried milk and the other with maize and soya beans, and their brakes couldn't cope. The problem is usually trying to come down the mountain too fast. I have driven up and down this steep road so many times over the years and I know what it's like.

Numbers 14 (résumé): The people rebel

The people remained rattled by the largely negative report on Canaan's Land and appeared to be scared to die in battle for the land, so they talked about returning to Egypt and choosing a new leader to that end. The 2 spies, Caleb and Joshua, who were positive about Canaan, tried to convince the people that the land was good and that they should trust God, but they were unsuccessful and ended up being threatened with stoning by the people.

Then God intervened with great fury and decided to annihilate much of the Israelites, but Moses interceded on their behalf and God rescinded the threat, substituting it with the punishment that none of them would enter Canaan except Joshua and Caleb. For all the older generation would die wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. God also killed the 10 spies that incited the rebellion with a plague. The Israelites were gutted about their own punishment.

God told the Israelites to then use an alternative route on their journey so as to avoid confrontation with the Amalekites and Canaanites at this stage, but the Israelites thought they knew better and were defeated in battle.

Walk of Witness

On Sunday afternoon about a hundred from our Patos church went on a walk of witness around the central streets of Patos with a big banner up front saying 'Happy New Year with Christ!' We had a loudspeaker vehicle playing Christian songs, everyone had white balloons and we distributed Gospel tracts as we passed people in their homes. The whole event went off wonderfully well. When we got back to the church we had a good time of prayer together praying for those reached by our walk of witness.

After a short break we started our communion service which I led and which went very well with Pastor Rafael preaching an excellent sermon on Joshua 1:9.

Yesterday afternoon/evening Brazilian TV had the wonderful idea of showing the QPR match at home to Luton - no doubt to get ideas for the Brazilian national side! QPR won heroically 2 x 1 with goals by Frey and Fox. Well done QPR!! QPR are now up to 13th in the Championship and only 8 points away from the play-offs! 😃

Last night's youth prayer meeting had 12 in it and Bianca (grandson Arthur's lovely girlfriend) brought a word to the group from Matthew 14. PTL! 11 were in the adult prayer meeting.

Numbers 13 (résumé): A Survey of Canaan

God told Moses to organize a team of 12 (one leader from each tribe of Israel which included Caleb and Joshua) to go and conduct a survey of the Promised Land. They were to observe if the people were weak or strong, whether the land was good or bad, whether the towns were unwalled or fortified, whether the soil was fertile or poor etc. It is interesting to note that the Israelites did their homework and didn't just rely on God's promise. 

The team did the survey and gathered grapes, pomegranates and figs as evidence of the produce of the land. After 40 days the team returned to report to Moses, Aaron and the general assembly of the Israelites, and presented the fruit as evidence that Canaan was flowing with milk and honey. Caleb was very positive in his feedback of the trip and said they should go up and take the land as they could conquer it. However most of the team of spies were negative, focusing on the gigantic size of the people (referring back to the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4) and saying they felt like grasshoppers in comparison with them!

Numbers 12 (résumé): Family disagreement

This chapter tells the sad story of inter-family strife between the 3 siblings Moses, Aaron and Miriam. For Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses for having married a Cushite woman and they also challenged his leadership saying that God spoke through them too. Moses remained humble throughout this.

Then God called the 3 of them to the Tabernacle and made it quite clear that his relationship with Moses was very close and unique, so he questioned angrily how Aaron and Miriam dare speak against Moses? Then God withdrew leaving Miriam full of leprosy, but Moses cried to God for her healing. God healed her after 7 days of punishment in confinement outside the camp. Following this the Israelites moved on to the Desert of Paran. 

(It is strange that only Miriam was punished in this way for her sin. Doubtless this is culturally explained.)

Boa Constrictor

A 2-metre long Boa Constrictor snake was active today at Green Pastures on the Pereiro tree next to our cook's room. It is funny because her room (she doesn't think it's funny!) always attracts most snakes and we have found up to 6 there at a time! I also saw the following birds: Campo Troupial (bright orange), Eared Doves and a Burrowing Owl (sitting on a fence ignoring me as I went by).

On Friday night both Liz and I were involved in separate sessions of counselling.

2024 was the hottest recorded in Brazilian history with an average temperature of 25.02 degrees centigrade. In 2023 the average temperature was 24.92. This average includes the whole of this vast country of Brazil. The average temperature in Patos in northeast Brazil where we live is 28.5.

Last night I took the service at Green Pastures and there were 28 present in a lovely communion service. Many took part, Nega led the praise and Bible College graduate Murilo preached on 1 Corinthians 15:1-2.

Numbers 11 (résumé): Fire & Quail from the Lord

The events of this chapter occurred at Kibroth Hattaavah. The people hadn't been on the move for long and they were complaining about how hard things were! God was angered by this and sent fire to burn parts of the outskirts of the camp, but thanks to the intercession of Moses this was halted.

Next came complaints about the boring food provided by God with manna provided 6 days a week. The Israelites said that the diet was more varied in Egypt and they wanted meat! So God enabled 70 leaders to share the work load with Moses and anointed them with the spirit as was upon Moses and they prophesied.

Then God sent a strong wind which drove quail from the sea leaving them a metre deep on the ground, until the people had quail coming out of their noses! But God's anger was still ablaze and he killed some complainers with a plague.

Numbers 10 (résumé): Trumpets & leaving Sinai

Here God told Moses to make 2 silver trumpets to serve as a sort of loudspeaker to give instructions to the people. When the 2 trumpets sounded together all the people were to gather in front of the Tabernacle. If only 1 trumpet sounded it was to herald a meeting just of the leaders. So different trumpet signals signified different things such as going to battle, offering burnt and fellowship/peace offerings, joyful occasions, feasts and starting a new month. Thus God's presence was symbolized through the trumpet's sound in every aspect of Israelite life.

Then on the 20th day of the second month of the second year the cloud lifted above the Tabernacle and so the Israelites finally set out from the Sinai Desert to the Desert of Paran. The Levite families transported the Tabernacle as had been previously planned and Moses managed to convince his brother-in-law Hobab to go with them as he knew the area well and would be a real help. The journey to Paran took 3 days.

Numbers 9 (résumé): The second Passover

This chapter tells of the second celebration of the Passover in the wilderness, on the 14th day of the first month at twilight, following all the instructions God had given them previously.

However some people missed the Passover because they were ceremonially unclean owing to having been in contact with a dead body at the time, so they asked Moses and Aaron if there was any round this. God permitted them to celebrate the Passover on the 14th day of the second month instead. For it was essential that everyone should celebrate the Passover as failing to do so would involve excommunication. 

God's presence continued to guide the Israelites through a cloud of smoke and fire above the Tabernacle and when the cloud moved the people followed. 

Numbers 8 (résumé): The Lampstand & the Levites

In this chapter God instructed Moses to set up the golden lampstand in the Tabernacle with the lamps facing forward.

There then took place a ceremony of purification and setting apart of the Levites for the service of God in the Tabernacle. The Levites had to be sprinkled with water and shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. Then the Israelites were to lay their hands on the Levites as a wave offering before God. After this 2 bulls were sacrificed with one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, plus a grain offering.

God then said that men between 25 and 50 (it had been 30 to 50 in chapter 4) would serve in the Tabernacle under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. Retirement for the Levites was set at 50. 

10-day Outreach

 3 things come to mind for prayer in 2025. First of all please pray for the 10-day evangelistic outreach at Itaporanga, which is about one and a half hour's drive west of Patos, where Oseias is the pastor. Please pray for the 92 strong team as they do door-to-door evangelism and street services. I will be preaching at one of the services.

Then please pray for our Carnival Camp from the 1st to the 5th of March which I will be leading and we will have Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice as visiting speakers, plus Missionary Betânia and Pastor Lindon Carlos also speaking. The camp will be held at Green Pastures and the theme of the 7 services will be revival.

Please especially pray for our proposed visit to the UK from late August to early November 2025. Churches that would like a ministry visit from us please email us so that we can organize our itinerary. It will be lovely to see you all again, especially now that I am back in good health and not struggling like I was on my last UK visit in 2022. Please pray for us as we organize everything and please contribute towards the airfares if you can. 

QPR started 2025 very well with a 3 x 1 victory at home to Watford. I hope to go and watch a match in the autumn by which time we'll probably be in the Premier League! 😀

Numbers 7 (résumé): Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle

This is a long chapter with 89 verses relating the 12 days of offerings at the dedication of the Tabernacle. Initially the tribal leaders gave 6 covered carts and 12 oxen for the use of transporting the Tabernacle, and Moses gave 2 carts and 4 oxen to the Gershonites, and he gave the rest to the Merarites. None of these went to the Kohathites as they were to carry the holy things on their shoulders and didn't need carts.

Over a period of 12 days the tribal leaders brought identical gifts and offerings with one tribe per day. They brought each day a silver plate and a silver sprinkling bowl - with both filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering. Then too a gold ladle filled with incense was given plus a young bull, a ram and a male lamb as a burnt offering, 1 male goat for a sin offering, 2 oxen, 5 rams, 5 male goats and 5 male lambs as a fellowship/peace offering. For 12 days this was repeated.

And at the end of it all God spoke with Moses in the Holy of Holies and Moses heard his voice and spoke with the Lord.

Numbers 6 (summary): The Nazarite Vow

This chapter lays out the rules for a Nazarite Vow which was a voluntary commitment to dedicate oneself to God for a stipulated period of time. During the period of the Nazarite Vow the person could not drink wine which was normally drunk by all Israelites. In fact the person could not consume anything at all with grape in it. Nor could the person cut his hair during the vow, and could not go near a dead body even if one of their close relatives died. If a person died suddenly near a Nazarite then they had to shave the head and start the vow again, giving 2 doves or young pigeons as offerings. When the period of the vow was completed the Nazarite would offer to God a male lamb, a female lamb, a ram, loaves of unleavened bread, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, a grain offering and a drink offering. Then the Nazarite was to shave his or her hair and burn it on the altar before offering a wave offering of a ram's thigh and a loaf and a wafer of bread. Thus the Nazarite vow was completed and the person could resume drinking wine normally.

The chapter ends with the priestly blessing which has special significance after the Covid pandemic: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.

Numbers 5 (résumé): Laws for maintaining purity & marital fidelity

God commanded that everyone with infectious skin disease, discharges or is ceremonially unclean owing to contact with a dead body should be sent outside the camp of Israel.

If a person sinned against another he or she should make full restitution as well as paying an additional 20% fine.

If a man suspected his wife of adultery, but couldn't prove it, he should take her to the priest with a jealousy offering of Barley flour. There the priest would make her drink holy water mixed with dirt from the Tabernacle floor. If she was innocent there would be no ill effect from the drink, but if she was guilty she would have miscarriages and be barren. 

Numbers 4 (résumé): A further census of the Levites

God told Moses and Aaron to count all the men between 30 and 50 years of age in the Levite branches of the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merarites as it was this age group that was deemed eligible to serve in the Tabernacle. 

The Kohathites totalled 2,750 men and these were responsible for transporting the ark of the covenant, the table, the lampstand, the gold and bronze altars etc. However first of all Aaron and his sons were to cover all these sacred items because the Kohathites were not allowed to touch them or even look at them, and they had to use poles to carry them as if they even just touched them they would surely die. 

The Gershonites totalled 2,630 men and these were responsible for transporting the curtains of the Tabernacle, its coverings, hangings, cords and all the equipment used there.

The Merarites totalled 3,200 men and these were responsible for transporting the frames of the Tabernacle, its cross bar, posts, bases, tent pegs, ropes etc. 

Numbers 3 (résumé): The Levites

This chapter initially reminds us that Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the Tabernacle as the other sons Nadab and Abihu had been killed for offering a sacrifice with unauthorized fire. Now, however, God chose the tribe of Levi to assist Aaron in caring for the Tabernacle and serving God in it. The Levites were set apart from the rest of Israel and dedicated to the work of the Lord, and God counted the Levites in place of the firstborn of Israel. So God told Moses to count the Levites by their families and clans counting every male a month old or more. And the Levites were divided into 3 groups: the Gershonites, the Kohathites and the Merarites. 

The Gershonites totalled 7,500 males and were told to camp on the west side of the Tabernacle and be responsible for the Tabernacle coverings and hangings around the courtyard.

The Kohathites totalled 8,600 males and were told to camp on the south side of the Tabernacle and be responsible for the Ark of the Covenant, the gold table, the lampstand, the altars and all the vessels of the Tabernacle.

The Merarites totalled 6,200 males and were told to camp on the north side of the Tabernacle and be responsible for the frames of the Tabernacle, its cross-bars, posts, bases, posts tent pegs and ropes. 

Moses, Aaron and his sons and their respective families camped on the east side of the Tabernacle.

So God counted the 22,000 Levites as his exclusive servants in the place of the 22,273 firstborn of Israel and the difference was paid @ 5 shekels a head paid by the Israelites to Aaron and his sons. (There are some difficulties with the mathematics of this chapter)

Numbers 2 (résumé): The arrangements of the Tribal Camps

This chapter shows how God is a God of organization. The things of God can't be done any old how. People can't just do their own thing. This chapter also clearly shows that God must be at the centre of all that his people live and do.

The camp of Israel was organized by God as follows: At the centre was God and his Tabernacle surrounded by the Levites who were responsible for caring for, protecting and carrying the Tabernacle as the Israelites travelled. On the north side were the tribes of Naphtali, Asher and Dan totaling 157,600 fighting men. On the south side were the tribes of Gad, Simeon and Reuben totalling 151,450 fighting men. On the east side were the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun totalling 186,400 fighting men. On the west side were the tribes of Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh totalling 108,100 fighting men. 

This was the formation of the Israelites as God had commanded, with 3 tribes on each side, ready to march to Canaan's Land, with God, the Tabernacle and the Levites at the centre. When the Israelites moved it was the eastern tribes that moved first and the southern tribes that moved second. Then came the Levites with the Tabernacle followed by the western tribes and then the northern tribes.

New Year's Eve Service

Our New Year's Eve service was very good and lasted for 2 hours from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. As we normally do on this day the service had a variety of participants with 11 people bringing short words, 2 adolescents doing a dance and 6 people bringing songs.

After the service we had a nice family supper together and saw the New Year in together

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