FBC Daily Devotional – May 24, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, a good Monday to you. We're entering the last full week of the month of May, and the week from today is going to be a holiday, and that'll be the end of it, and May will be behind us and getting into the summer months.

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I enjoy the warmer weather, hope you do as well, and looking forward to what the

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Lord has in store for us through these late spring and summer months ahead. Well, today we're reading in Numbers chapters 19 and 20, and chapter 19,

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I mean, if you're reading it and thinking about it, you've got to be kind of puzzled.

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Why all of these purification rituals for somebody who touches a dead body?

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I mean, how does that, you know, why does that render somebody unclean, ceremonially unclean, and for a week, for a week?

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And then, you know, they have to go through, after this week period goes by, they go through this process of ritual cleansing and so forth, and this is so foreign to us.

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I mean, after all, you know, I've done many funerals and participated in them and, you know, had to be involved in my own parents' funerals and so forth, and there was never any ritual to deal with uncleanness after the fact.

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So why is this part of the Old Testament code? And I think the answer to that is in the fact that death is the ultimate unnatural thing, and it's the ultimate consequence of sin.

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You can think of it like this. The sting of death is sin, right? The strength of sin is the law.

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We are guilty. We know we're guilty because, you know, God's law, and, you know,

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God said, laid down the law to Adam and Eve. The day you eat of it, you will what?

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You will die. So death is the most profound consequence of sin, and so there's a strong correlation and connection between death and sin.

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So we might ask then, well, how come we don't have to practice these kind of rituals any longer?

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I mean, death is still around. It's still a consequence of sin. So how come when, you know, we go to a funeral, we don't have to be unclean for a week?

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Or, you know, you go to a deceased loved one's casket at the funeral and the visitation, and you tap on the hand that's folded over the chesters.

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I mean, I did that. You know, why are we not then unclean for a week and then go through these ritual practices?

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Well, I think the answer to that question is the New Testament reality of Jesus and what

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Jesus did on the cross. Because remember, 1 John 1 7 tells us, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

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So not only has he removed the curse of sin by his own death on the cross, he has, by his blood, cleansed us from all sin.

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So the cleansing is already taken care of for the believer in Christ. No need for ritual cleansing after going to a funeral.

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Well, the other thing that came to my mind as I read in chapter 20, and this is kind of fresh in my mind, because my wife and I were recently able to visit the

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Southwest. We went to Zion National Park and went into Nevada.

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There's a state park, the Valley of Fire State Park, and another national monument, the

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Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument. Well, we were doing some hiking in those places, and I particularly remember when we were in Zion, we did about a day that was involved about an eight -mile hike, and a good portion of that hiking, like within a mile and a half, mile and three quarters, it involved like a 1 ,100, almost 1 ,200 foot elevation gain.

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That's pretty significant, especially for an old guy. And it's very dry.

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Zion is a high desert area. The air is dry, you know, 10, 15, 20 % humidity at the very most.

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And it was warm. It wasn't hot, but it was warm, probably mid -70s.

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And we're hiking along these very dusty, sandy, dusty trails.

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We had water with us, but it seemed like the water just wouldn't satisfy.

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You'd drink and hike a little further, and you'd want to drink again. And I remember my wife leaning over to me at one point and said, my mouth is just parched.

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I just can't get enough water. So I think of that experience, and that was just one day, and for a few hours of the day, and we actually had water with us.

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And I think about that experience in light of what we read in Numbers chapter 20, where it says in verse two, there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.

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And remember where the people are. They're out in the wilderness. They're wandering in the wilderness, and they've run out of water.

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And they're looking around, and they don't see any water source. And they're parched. They're thirsty.

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You know, we can be pretty critical of the wanderers in the wilderness, can't we?

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I say, well, you know, they should have had enough faith. They should have just trusted the Lord to provide their needs, and all would be well, and so on and so forth.

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And they shouldn't have been grumbling, and they shouldn't have been complaining. But come on, would you be any different?

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Would I be any different? I don't think so. I don't believe so. I think

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I'd be grumbling too. And the reason I say that is because I've been there. I've been in a hot, dry situation where the water resource was low, and it wasn't quenching the thirst, and there is a tendency to complain.

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How much more so if I have run out of water, and I don't see a source anywhere?

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So we need to cut them some slack. But in the end, notice

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God is gracious, and he provides what the people need. He provides the water for a thirsty people.

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Now think about that and apply it to your soul. Is your soul thirsty? Well, the Lord is gracious, and he once again provides, he supplies, and that water is the water of the

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Word, and the water that the Holy Spirit provides through the

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Word to quench your thirsting soul. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,

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Jesus said. They will be filled. All right. Heavenly Father, we do thank you this day that you do quench the thirst of a longing soul.

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Lord, it is certainly our tendency to complain and so forth when we don't have what we think we need or we want, and I pray that you'd forgive us for that.

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But I pray that from even today's reading, we would learn the truth that you are gracious, and you will provide for the needs of your people.

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So help us, Father. Give us grace to trust you more. This we pray in Jesus' name.

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Amen. All right. Well, have a good rest of your Monday. Hope your week gets off to a good start.