Heralds Digest

  “Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”” Numbers‬ ‭20:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When the scriptures say  “ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God ”, we can be sure of a degrading implication of hearing by the word of men on believers’ faith.  Believers are called to take responsibility for God’s satisfaction and honour, based on how we respond to words received from the Lord; and not how the world and the expectations of men are pleased by the actions of faith. Using the experience of Moses at the water of Meribah for an example, God didn’t say Moses and Aaron don’t have faith; but that their faith fell short of His expectations for honour before the faithless children of Israel. In the believer’s journey of faith, either at home, offices, and in society, we are constantly surrounded by people...

  “And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.” Numbers‬ ‭16:48‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While the judgement of God against Korah, Dothan, and Abiram revealed the danger of pride in every service stand, the favour of God that followed Aaron’s selfless stand teaches the secret of fruitfulness in believer’s life and ministry. The privilege of service given to the tribe of Levi had just intoxicated the fallen servants and their followers, attracting the wrath of God upon the entire congregation. Whereas, inspired by his obedience to the leadership of Moses, Aaron took the challenge to stand in the gap with an atonement service to the Lord. The fact that the plague was stopped, immediately after this selfless stand, shows that God is mostly and always pleased by every stand that prevents His wrath from falling upon the wicked. Little wonder, Aaron’s services and ministries received the favour of heaven from this time onward. Therefore, if we consistently stand in the gap a...

  “Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭11:29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Excellence breeds excellence, but there is always a break when the spirit of jealousy and suspicion operates with zeal. Joshua was up with this kind of negative energy until he was checked by his mentor, Moses. “ Are you zealous for my sake? ” was the helpful check against the negative spirit of jealousy and suspicion over the manifestation of the work of the Spirit of God in the lives of Medad and Eldad. Oftentimes, we are overzealous to suspect the manifestation of the works of the Spirit of God in the lives of others. Whereas, we should always say to ourselves “ Who am I zealous for in this instance, God or someone else? ”. The danger of zealousness for someone else, other than God alone, is the presentation of our vessel for the infilling of the negative spirit, like jealousy, hatred, anger, deceptio...

  “And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.”” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭10:32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The relationship between Moses and Hobab, his brother-in-law, teaches believers the principle of living for the great commission by an absolute faith in God. There are too much pressure in trying to reveal the goodness of GOD on the account of our own personal goodnesses. While the conception of living by example is a fundamental necessity, it is absolutely insufficient to bring about a genuine conviction in people, without their own personal faith in God. After Moses’ request for Hobab to ‘Come with us, and we will treat you well’ was rejected, he goes ‘if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you ’. This was an invitation for Hobab to step up his own personal trust in God, just as Moses had demonstrated. It turned out that even the children of Israel, that had res...

  “Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.” Numbers‬ ‭9:22-23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If the relevance of the cloud to the children of Israel had been limited to protection and covering from the heat of the sun, the construction of a special canopy would have been initiated. Whereas, cloud camping is intentionally coupled with the commandment of the Lord for double assurance and the presentation of the presence of the Lord. Everyone knows how easy it is for the flesh to settle down at the treatment of comfort and high standard of living. Without the cloud camping initiative, it would have been difficult for Moses to get the children of Israel moving again at every...

  “Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭7:89‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ One of the major concerns of religious services, ceremonial offerings, and fellowship is the difficulty of proving the evidence of acceptance and divine interactions. For example, while people say prayer is a dialogue and not a monologue session; how often do we hear or ever heard from God when we pray? Little wonder, information is readily downloadable from the ‘cloud’ today than listening to “ the voice of One speaking… ” from the cloud. Even in the Old Testament, the scriptures say “ when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him (the Lord) ”…God spoke to him. Nevertheless, it is important to underscore the preceding uniformity of focus on God through a united presentation of sacrifices by the entire congr...

  “When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Given the preparation, arrangement, and the ceremonies that the tabernacle of meeting in the wilderness attracted, it is somehow strange that there would regularly come the morning time “ When the camp prepares to journey ”. Oftentimes, when the heart of man is focussed on extensive and extending life’s projects, it is usual for anyone not to see the light at the end of the tunnels. People would readily make a castle out of life’s situations and circumstances, until a supernatural power is released for breakthrough. Actually, in God’s agenda, there is always a “ When the camp prepares to journey ” phenomenon. Unfortunately, our lack of preparation for this morning meeting often results in the unpleasant delay of divine manifestation. Like it was for Aaron and his sons, there are always responsibilities ...