DoctriVotional Series I, Volume III

By Natasha Gogue

Volume III is the continuation of this series. DoctriVotional is a series where doctrine meets devotion, for living application of God's Living Word. This series of application is taken from the Word of God, considering 1) the meaning of the words; 2) the times when the Word was spoken for application; 3) the parallel of the times from then to now; 4) for the application of the Word now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Natasha Gogue
• Release date: Feb 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301561032

Book preview

Introduction

DoctriVotional is a collection of doctrine for application. This series of application is taken from the Word of God, considering 1) the meaning of the words; 2) the times when the Word was spoken for application; 3) the parallel of the times from then to now; 4) for the application of the Word now.

God's Word is a Living Word. It is as applicable today as when it was written, as it was before it was written, when God's Spirit bore witness of the Word to be made canon. The Christian life depends on doctrine and experience of doctrine. DoctriVotional gives you the doctrine, and the ways of application, for the experience of doctrine. This series is dedicated to knowing the Word for the purpose to experience the Word, through proper application. It is where doctrine meets devotional—where the Word meets individuals fully devoted to living God's Word, living by the Living Word.

The series can be read alone, or alongside a chronological Bible-in-a-year program (included). The chronological plan is based upon historical research of when the events in the Bible took place, upon popular belief. This plan was chosen for the understanding of application of God's Word as it was given, and the mirroring of how it can be applied for the reader today. For this cause, the series is best to be read as chronologically written, consecutively; though it does not require daily consecutive reading, nor reading alongside the calendar month, but is flexible for any chosen time to begin reading the Bible. The series contains 365 days of applications, released in numerous volumes.

This volume will take you through the remainder of Numbers, all of Deuteronomy and Joshua, and partial Judges. All Scripture is taken from the King James Version, also known as the Authorized Version, unless otherwise noted.

The Book of NUMBERS

Numbers is the fourth book of Moses in the Pentateuch. It is so named due to occasions of Israel being numbered. The numbering was commanded for various reasons, such you will explore with careful study in this book. In the Hebrew (according to Hebrew titles, after the first word/words in each book), it is titled to mean in the wilderness. You will find most of Israel's forty years of wilderness wanderings are recorded in this book. Thus, the book not only covers the very important reasons for certain censuses taken, but records the struggle of God's people while in the wilderness. They struggle with His faithfulness to promise while in the wilderness. You may find that is one very precise reason why they were so numbered: as a part of the covenant, an increase of the people were promised. Faithful is He to His promises in a portion of the covenant (increase of the seed), so faithful will He be to the other promises of the covenant and deliver them to its completion, regardless of any amounts of wilderness it takes to get there. Even as the people struggle with believing God in the wilderness, so do we.

Within this book, you will find that Israel's wilderness wanderings resulted from two different reasons. The wilderness wandering, and its two reasons, is where we will draw our devotional theme: 1) The God-given wilderness wanderings of our walk to the completion of God's purpose and covenant with us; 2) The rebellion-resulted wilderness wanderings of our walk, due to our disobedience. Noting God's faithfulness to promises already fulfilled us-ward, let believe His faithfulness to His promises yet fulfilled, regardless of any amounts of God-given, and purposeful, wilderness it takes to see the fulfillments...that we may not find ourselves in the wilderness of rebellion beyond the God-given appointed times and purposes for the wilderness. God meant and purposed the wilderness (for reasons we will explore), but the additional thirty-eight plus years was due to rebellion. Let us not find ourselves in an extended visit of the wilderness due to rebellion of rooted disbelief.

This volume will deal with the God-given wilderness, an application of [some of] its purposes.

Day 62

Chronological Bible-in-a-year Reading:

Numbers 18-20

Application Reading:

Numbers 20:7-12:

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

In Volume II, we left off at a very important shift of events. The children of Israel are no longer wandering the wilderness for the God-given purposes, but are now wandering for their unbelief in the LORD's word. His word was that He would surely give them the land, including conquering anything along the way (Numbers 14). In this, they held unbelief, fueled by their surroundings. They saw the surroundings of the land of Canaan (the people that dwelt there) and were left in unbelief that these people would be conquered. In a nutshell, they were left in unbelief in the LORD's ability, and even His word, due to surroundings. Now, because of unbelief, they have placed their own selves in the continued wilderness wandering, in their refusal to move forward to God's purpose of entering the land.

In the above passage, Moses, in unbelief, smites the rock for water. In fact, he smites it twice. God said to simply speak to it and it would supply the water needed; yea, even enough for the beasts. Moses' unbelief, and actions from the pressure of the surrounding Israelites, was His rebellion—just as Israel's unbelief, fueled by their surroundings, fueling their refusal to move forward with God's purpose, was their rebellion. The result of the each rebellion?—the wilderness. That rebelling generation of Israel must stay in the wilderness for their rebellion; Moses loses an opportunity, and remains in the wilderness, for his rebellion. This is not impossible for us to apply. Many times, like Israel, we find ourselves refusing to move forward. It is not that we don't want to obey God, but it is, like Israel, because we allow surroundings to fuel an unbelief of who He is. When we do this, we sorely err. Just as Israel missed a blessing (a land flowing with milk and honey) by refusing to move ahead, so do we lose blessings in our refusals, fueled by an unbelief, fueled by our surroundings. We not only lose blessings, but gain an extended wilderness wandering. So we may also apply Moses' unbelief: when we rebel due to unbelief, or due to the surroundings that pressure us, we lose opportunities. Moses lost the opportunity to enter the promised land because of 1) his unbelief, as God called it (Numbers 20:12); and 2) the pressure of his surroundings, as the children of Israel pressured his actions in their complaining (Numbers 20:10). Many times we may find ourselves missing blessings and opportunities in the errs we make by acting according to pressure in our surroundings (Moses' rebellion), looking at our surroundings instead of looking at God (Israel's rebellion), unbelief (Moses and Israel's rebellion), and refusal to move forward (Israel's rebellion). However, we don't just give up a blessing and opportunity, but we gain a wilderness.

If you have found yourself missing opportunities and blessings for the above reasons that Moses and Israel did, what do