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opposition

The Book of Leviticus

Wednesday: Principles Learned from the Offerings: Leviticus 1:1-24:23

July 13, 2022

The last offering was the guilt offering, and it was made for damage that was done to another person or to another person’s property. We mustn’t think, of course, that if you damage somebody’s property either deliberately or by negligence, that all you had to do was go to the temple and present an offering. That would be an easy way to get off the hook. No, Leviticus describes very carefully what you have to do. You have to repay it, and then you have to add twenty percent—a fifth of the value—and then you had to give it to the person whom you had defrauded on the very day you went to present your offering.

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Complaints and Opposition

Monday: The People’s Complaints: Numbers 12:3

August 15, 2022

In the first ten chapters of Numbers, everything seems to be going well. The people are commended for obeying God, and the idea that they did what God commanded them occurs again and again. Yet when we come to the eleventh chapter, the tone is different and the people are complaining. This is a beginning of a series of complaints that’s going to go throughout the whole book.

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Complaints and Opposition

Wednesday: Moses’ Complaint: Numbers 12:3

August 17, 2022

Starting in verses 10 and following of Numbers 11, we come to something that is not a very attractive moment in Moses’ life. Moses gives vent to his frustration in a long, angry prayer. It’s surprising to find it here, because in the very next chapter he is going to be described as the meekest man who ever lived. Meek? Yes, he really was. But here in this prayer he really expresses his frustration as he is complaining bitterly to God:

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Complaints and Opposition

Thursday: Miriam’s Opposition: Numbers 12:3

August 18, 2022

In chapter 12, the story becomes one of opposition, hard hearts, and divisions within the camp. The opposition that Moses is now facing comes from within his own family circle, from his brother Aaron and his sister, Miriam, who seems to be the ringleader. The ground for this attack was the fact that Moses had taken a Cushite wife. Moses’ first wife, Zipporah, was from Midian, and so it seems that she had died and that Moses had taken a second wife who was Ethiopian. If this is correct, then Miriam was saying, “I don’t like this black woman in my family.” So it’s not only sibling rivalry, it’s the worst kind of racial prejudice.

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Complaints and Opposition

Friday: Learning from Moses: Numbers 12:3

August 19, 2022

The story wraps up with two examples of intercession. First, Aaron looks at Miriam and he is aghast at what he sees. He turns to Moses and pleads with him to do something. While he’s interceding with Moses, he confesses his own sin and links himself with Miriam, saying, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed” (v. 11). Maybe he is afraid something is going to happen to him. But he intercedes on behalf of his sister with Moses. Second, Moses intercedes with God, and God answers that He will be gracious and heal her.

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Opposition from Without

Tuesday: Who Is Balaam? Numbers 23:19-20

September 20, 2022

What kind of a person was Balaam? At first glance he seems to be quite a noble character. He uses the name Jehovah, for example. He is being hired to curse Israel, and yet he maintains what we would probably call professional integrity, saying, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God” (Num. 22:18), and “I must speak only what God puts in my mouth” (v. 38). Some scholars have studied this story and said very commendable things about Balaam. Did Balaam intend from the beginning to do what was right?

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Opposition from Without

Wednesday: Balaam’s Donkey: Numbers 23:19-20

September 21, 2022

What is happening in this story of Balaam and the donkey, which we find in Numbers 22:21-35? First, Balaam is pushing the donkey onward until he is brought up short by God’s angel. In exactly the same way Balak, the king of Moab, keeps pushing Balaam onward to curse Israel until he is brought up short by God. Second, just as God opened the donkey’s mouth to speak to Balaam, so God is going to open the prophet’s mouth to speak God’s true words of blessing on Israel. Even though the donkey spoke, she wasn’t a true prophet; so also, Balaam’s speaking doesn’t make Balaam a true prophet, either.

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Opposition from Without

Thursday: A Messianic Prophecy: Numbers 23:19-20

September 22, 2022

The second oracle is given in Numbers 23:13-26. Kings don’t easily give up, and Balak’s not about to give up. So he tries another tactic. He thinks that maybe he has gotten Balaam in the wrong place. He’s at a place where he could see all the mass of the people. Maybe a different site with a different view will produce a different result. So Balak takes him up to the top of Mount Pisgah where, from this vantage point, he only sees a part of the Hebrew people. Just as they did before the first oracle, they again offer sacrifices. But in spite of the change of location, the sacrifices, and the wishful thinking of the king, the result is unchanged.

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No Other Name

Monday: Opposition

March 13, 2023

In the fourth chapter of Acts we have a record of the first persecution. I do not know if, on this occasion, Peter remembered what the Lord Jesus Christ had said about persecution. But it might be that when he was dragged before the Sanhedrin he recalled that Jesus had prophesied persecution for all who followed Him.

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No Other Name

Tuesday: The Apostles’ Teaching

March 14, 2023

In opposition to the early Christians we know that the priests and their families, the police force, and the Sadducees were all part of the opposition. But it is not only these who were involved. In verse 5, Luke lists other people as well, three more categories: 1) “the rulers,” 2) “the elders,” and 3) “the teachers of the law.”

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No Other Name

Wednesday: The World’s Methods

March 15, 2023

It is interesting to notice the methods the authorities used in their offensive against the disciples. They used the world’s methods. That is, they used force or power, because naked power is the only weapon the world really has.

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No Other Name

Friday: Jesus, the Only Way

March 17, 2023

As we have already seen, at Peter’s arrest he did not merely try to defend himself. He used the opportunity to witness to Jesus Christ. There were four points to his sermon. We have already looked in detail at the first two points: 1) their guilt in crucifying Jesus, and 2) the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. In today’s study we continue with the second two.

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