So the people had to return to life in the wilderness for another forty long years.
Most of them would never live to see The Promised Land.
Because of their own lack of faith they were stuck out in the wilderness.
At least they were no longer slaves.
Thanks a lot – huh Moses?
LEADERS LIVE WITH THEIR PEOPLE THROUGH ALL CIRCUMSTANCES; GOOD OR BAD
Because Moses was their leader; he had to return to the wilderness with them.
He was stuck with them but you don’t hear him complaining.
Moses keeps leading the young and struggling nation of Israel on.
He keeps giving out the hope of entering the promised land; only so that it will be passed on to the next generation who God has promised WILL enter the land.
There must always be something that brings hope for a nation, even if it is hope for the future generations that some will never see.
SIN REQUIRES A SACRIFICE
As they picked up the pieces and began to move on in the life they had been given, Moses (under God’s instructions) sets up and confirms God’s rules for the sacrifices for sin.
Having sinned greatly and seeing the results of their sins; the people began to understand and grasp more about the working of God’s sacrificial system.
Maybe after forty long years of wondering through the wilderness they will GET the fact that God requires a sacrifice for all sins.
This is a universal law that simply can’t be revoked.
I have to stop here and ask myself; what could our nation sacrifice to make up for all of its sinfulness? Can we put away our materialistic, narcissistic ways and turn around? Will we ever be be able to turn back to the ways of God no matter what we have to change in order to do so? Could God’s true Sabbaths be reestablished among the people, and is there any hope of a modern day Ezra or Nehemiah who could interpret the facts correctly for us and take us back within the grace of God?
What do we need to sacrifice today in order to return to God’s ways?
Can we give up our man-made desires and laws in order to come closer to God’s idea of a Promised Land?
All sins require sacrifice, even those that are unintended.
Much of the scripture passages in this section cover what to do in the case of unintentional sins. These things are spelled out in great detail and made available to the people for their good.
MAKING SACRIFICES IS A VITAL PART OF LIFE
The whole sacrificial system was explained by Moses to the people living in the wilderness.
Sacrifices became an important way of life for them from that point forward.
Even the foreigners who were living in the land with the people of Israel were required to bring the same sacrifices under the same sacrificial rules and regulations.
The scriptures go into detail several times beginning with Numbers Chapter 15 with the explanation of all types of sacrifices and the fact that a foreigner is under the same requirements as a native born citizen.
All men are equal in the eyes of God.
This statement has often been twisted for political gain by some in our culture. It has been used to promote the erroneous fact that illegal aliens do not have to keep the same laws as the natural born citizens in our country.
ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL
That isn’t what the scriptures say.
The scriptures say that God sees all men as equal.
In other words, every man has to keep the same rules and regulations. The foreigner must conform to the laws of the land just as the natural born citizen must do.
There are no special privileges given to foreigners living in the nation of Israel.
The requirements of freedom do not allow for exceptions.
Foreigners living in the land must comply with the rules of the land and come into conformance with the laws of the land as well as God’s laws for his people.
God requires sacrifices for sins.
There is no way past this fact.
THERE ARE NO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
All men are treated equal.
No men are more special than others.
All men must comply with the laws of justice and the laws of God, whether native or foreign born.
God was using the people living out in the wilderness by sinful default to teach us how to run a nation.
In a proper nation; all men must make sacrifices; the same sacrifices.
No man is better than another and all men are subject to the very same laws.
No one gets a free ride.
The law dictates a just nation.
The law of God is above all other laws.