Beloved of God

Click the link below to learn of the Old Covenant vs the New Covenant:

The Fourth Book of Moses Called Numbers
Chapter 15

Who is the Beloved of God
The Old Covenant Vs New Covenant Rules

We're pleased to have you back with us once again for more Daily Bread. In our last story, the children of Israel changed their minds about going into the Promised Land when they heard what the Lord planned to do about their murmurings. Moses warned them not to go because they wouldn't have the hand of the Lord protecting them, but they insisted and those who went were killed by the Canaanites and the Amalekites.

Chapter 15 is made up of three different topics that don't seem to go together as one story, but that's pretty much how life usually is day by day. It doesn't usually just all flow smoothly like a story that happens in perfect sequence every day, it's full of twists and turns and things come up that don't have anything to do with our plans. Surely Moses experienced days like this while he was writing these books that we're studying and this is a great example.

We start off with the Lord explaining to Moses the offerings that the people should make when they get to the Promised Land and some laws to abide by. If you'd like to study these offerings and laws, you'll find them in Numbers 15:1-31.

The Beloved of God Truth
The Old Covenant Vs New Covenant Punishments

Then there's a little story in the middle of the chapter, and it goes like this. While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they caught a man who was gathering sticks on the Sabbath. The people that found him brought him in front of Moses and Aaron and the congregation.

He was kept guarded because it wasn't clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord told Moses, The man will be put to death. The whole congregation will stone him with stones outside the camp. So they did what the Lord commanded and the man died.

Many of us are probably sighing with relief and prayerfully thanking our loving and merciful God for the New Covenant each time we read about something like what we just read. We think of the Sabbath as a day of rest and prayer. We know that it was the day that the Lord blessed because He rested on that day from all His work that He created.

The Beloved of God Insight
The Old Covenant Vs New Covenant Blessing

But, what about now? We think of ourselves first, but what if it's also a day where, because we should be resting and praying, it gives God a break from the millions of things that He takes care of for us the rest of the week? It's certainly a thought to consider. Jesus told us that Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (day of rest) in Mark 2:27. You can read more about what Jesus said about the Sabbath in Matthew 12:1-8, 10-13.

This should give you a better idea of what you should do on the Sabbath. What is considered work to one person, may not be considered work to another. The best thing to do would be to pray to the Lord for guidance about it, because what He thinks is what counts.

Last but not least, the final topic of the chapter is an interesting one as well. Every once in a while you learn something that you didn't know, and it makes you change how you think about something for the rest of your life. The Lord told Moses to tell the children of Israel to make fringes on the edges of their clothes throughout all their generations and on the fringe to put a cord of blue. The purpose of it was so that whenever they would look at it, they would remember all the Lord's commandments and obey them and not to turn away from Him, but be holy. Who knew that fringe was more than a decoration? Well, now that you know, whenever you see fringe, you have something really awesome to remember!

You Are the Beloved of God
The Old Covenant Vs New Covenant Summary

Christians have been so very blessed with the absolutely awesome fringe benefit of being born under the New Covenant because it is truly a much better Covenant than the Old Covenant and it's rules and regulations. We sincerely thank you God. Thank you Jesus and thank you Holy Spirit.

In our next story, we'll learn about what happened when Korah, Levi's great-grandson had a dispute with Moses. It's sure to be a story that you won't want to miss, and you'll find it here, at your Daily Bread.