NUMBERS - DEUTERONOMY

As I start reading this morning, I started at chapter 26 with the re-numbering of the children of Israel.  1) THE RENUMBERING-They were first numbered in chapter one and they had 603,550 men (20 and older, who could go to war) and this number does not include the Levites.  Now, 40 years later, they are numbered and the number is:  601,730 (same details).  They are fewer.  Of this crowd, it states in Num. 26:64 "But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai."  (vs. 27)  "And thee was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun."  2) FIVE LADIES- In Numbers 27, five ladies have the law changed!  Yes, five sisters who were born of a man who died in the wilderness not having any sons went to Moses to say they should not loose their father's land just because their father had no sons.  In verse 7, Moses says they are right!  And now in this chapter, new laws are made so that when this happens, the land stays in the tribe and the daughters get the inheritance.  BUT... In chapter 36, another twist.  The men of the tribe of Manasseh, come to Moses and say... what if the ladies marry outside of our tribe, then the land goes with them outside of our tribe.  What then?  Well, Numbers 36:6 says:  "...Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry."  And this is what they did!  So the land stayed with the daughters and with the tribe of a man who died in the wilderness with only daughters. 3) BE QUIET!  This is essentially what God tells Moses when he keeps asking about going into the promised land.  Deut. 3:26  "Let if suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter."  Be quiet Moses!  After three time Paul asked God about his thorn in the side, didn't God tell him to "be quiet" in so many words?  Sometimes God has to let us know that He has already spoken.  Moses did stop talking on earth, but apparently not in Abraham's bosom, because he did step foot in the promised land on the mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and Elijah in the New Testament.  Good job Moses! 4) THE PURPOSE OF TESTING- Deut. 8:2 says this:  "And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." Well, I have about 20 other things I marked up to talk about, but have run out of time.  One day I will type for hours about what I found just that morning!  God's Word is so rich, so full, I cannot exhaust it.  May God bless you today dear friend.   Pastor Mike Mutchler