Week 11 Summary

OT

This week we cover the last section of Numbers and we enter into the very beginning of Deuteronomy. As Moses and his people travel through the desert, the last few chapters of Numbers document their experiences and preparation before they enter the promise land.

Throughout the Book of Numbers it seems like it is this repeating story:

1. Moses and/or the people chose to sin
2. the Lord’s consequences are harsh
3. the Lord shows His mercy

Numbers 25 is the perfect example:

1.     The people of Moab, the area they were currently passing through, invited Moses’ people to commit harlotry (prostitution) and worship their own gods. They accepted and joined in.

2.     Clearly the Lord did not approve, but the consequences were almost beyond belief… a plague struck down and killed 24,000 people AND the Lord instructed Moses to take all the leaders who caused this and hang them publicly. I had to read this section several times as well as research it to make sure I was reading that correctly.

3.     Thankfully the wrath of the Lord ended when one of the sons of the priest Aaron stopped an act of sin near the tabernacle – then the story completely shifts and God’s mercy over. Now the Lord instructs Moses to take a new census (count the people and prepare for battles), win a bunch of battles over enemies, distributed land to each tribe and allow some tribes begin to settle.

While researching the ending to the Book of Numbers, I stumbled on a quote that seemed to sum everything up: “The Book of Numbers is a warning. God is faithful to His promises, but He will also let his people walk away and face the consequences.” This book really is a warning and a reality check. As humans, we regularly exercise our free will to sin, walk away from the Lord, and deal with the consequences of that sin (small or large).

Despite all of this, I do not want anyone to walk away thinking free will only leads us to sin. I’ll explain more of this at the end.

NT

Mark 12 – 14 covers a lot of major events towards the end of the life of Jesus. It takes us from Jesus’ debates with the leaders of Jerusalem in the temple all the way through the last supper. Throughout each of these events, it was clear that Jesus was trying to prepare the disciples for what was to come.

Both the OT and NT sections this week seemed to have overlap on one major theme: free will. Moses and his people freely chose to sin, but then freely chose to convert and enter into a the Lord’s mercy and love. Jesus prepares to freely and willingly die on a cross for our sins – the ultimate act of love. Far too often do we forget about the beauty and the importance of free will, so I’m about to do my best to explain it.

This may seem like a silly parallel but stick with me here… In Beauty and the Beast you can tell that Belle and the Beast have feelings for each other, but Belle cannot truly love him because she is a prisoner. She does not have free will. After the Beast lets her go back to her family, she regains her free will and is able to whole heartily love him. True love requires choice.

God gave you free will so that you could enter into true mutual love with Him. Love in its truest form is never forced. You and I are given the opportunity to accept His love and freely chose to love Him back. The gift of free will allows us to enter into that real, intimate, and mutual love with God. How beautiful is that?

-Stephanie