What Do We Make of Numbers?

A couple of weeks age I posed a question on Facebook. If you were a Jew in 1st Century Judaea, would you have sided with Jesus or the Pharisees?

Numbers 1-14

Seeing him at work strengthens my faith but miracles aren’t the foundation.

Jesus was radically different to what the religious teachers taught. I’m not confident I would have sided with Jesus. As a 1st Century Jew I would have been immersed in the teaching of the Torah from birth. Jesus associated with prostitutes, tax collectors, and other sinners. He even went to their parties. The mayhem he caused in the temple couldn’t have been from God, could it?

A couple of people replied pointing to the miracles. The thing is that the miracles aren’t the clincher people think they are. Read the account of the man healed at the Pool of Bethesda. I don’t get the sense that he became a follower. He dobbed Jesus in to the Pharisees. Then there were the 10 lepers Jesus healed. Only one returned to give thanks.

In today’s message we will be looking at the book of Numbers. The Hebrews had been miraculously freed from slavery in Egypt. They saw the power of God in ways no other generation in history has ever seen. God provided them with food and water in the desert. Yet, when they arrive at the border of the promised land, they don’t have the faith to enter. Only Caleb and Joshua encourage the people to trust God.

Surely the evidence of God’s provision and power is still fresh in their minds. But they grumble and lack faith. Of course we would have been different. Not. I’m well aware of my own doubts and failings. It’s my relationship with Him that makes the difference. Seeing him at work strengthens my faith but miracles aren’t the foundation.

Pastor Andy