Malcontents

Tags: complaints, critical spirit, evil speech, grumbling, murmuring, tongue

Thought for the Week:

"Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD." (Numbers 11:1) God is slow to anger—usually. Complaining can incite His swift wrath. The book of Numbers contains several stories of Israel's discontent in the wilderness. In each story, the Israelites complain about something and God punishes them for complaining.

Commentary:

The generation in the wilderness were not worse complainers than any other collection of human beings. Every congregation of believers I have ever been a part of has been vexed by the ceaseless grumbling of the members.

Human beings are prone to complain. It often seems that people are not happy unless they find something to be unhappy about. Nothing seems to please us more than complaining about what we don't like and what things do not meet our approval. We are malcontents.

A person of faith is duty bound to rise above the natural human instinct to complain and criticize.

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Parasha: Nasso

Confession, Repentance, Restitution

Tags: atonement, confession, damage, forgiveness, repentance, restitution, sin

And he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the LORD for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for...
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Parasha: Bamidbar

The Hosts Above and the Hosts Below

Tags: bride of Messiah, census, Messianic Age, redeemer, righteous, shepherd, Tabernacle

From twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies. (Numbers 1:3) That which is in heaven is reflected on earth. Traditional Jewish teaching and the book of Hebrews both teach us that the Tabernacle on earth is a copy of the true heavenly Tabernacle above—the eternal dwelling place of the living God. The book...
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Parasha: Behar-Bechukotai

Calculating the End

Tags: Mount Sinai

In proportion to the extent of the years … (Leviticus 25:16) In the Torah, the year of Jubilee is the set time for redemption. Therefore it can be compared to the coming of the Messiah. Unlike the Jubilee, however, we cannot count down the years until Messiah. No one knows the day and hour, and every man who has ever calculated His arrival has been proven wrong. It might seem...
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Parasha: Emor

Keeping the Festivals

Tags: festivals, omer, Pentecost, Pesach, shadows, unleavened, unleavened bread

It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. (Leviticus 23:21) Imagine being one of those early believers keeping the festivals. Imagine being among the disciples when they kept the feast of Passover one year after the death and resurrection. Think of what that must have been like-to keep the Passover in remembrance of Messiah. The Master's death and resurrection imbued all the rituals...
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Parasha: Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

Face to Face

Tags: ark of the covenant, atonement, face to face, holy of holies, incense, religious arrogance, sanctuary, veil, Yom Kippur

He shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die. (Leviticus 16:13) The Day of Atonement is a day for coming face to face with God. In a spiritual sense, we are to regard ourselves on that day as if we are standing in the Holy of...
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Parasha: Tazria-Metzorah

Wellspring of Evil

Tags: blessing, cursing, evil speech, leprosy, speech, tongue

This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. Now he shall be brought to the priest. (Leviticus 14:2) As we enter Leviticus this week, the Torah is still worried about tumors, scabs, spots and rashes. The portion of Tazria describes in great detail the laws for diagnosing and quarantining lepers. The portion that is called metzora (מצורע), which means "leper," continues with the ritual...
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