Numbers

Numbers 15: God calls His people to holiness

Begin in prayer

Before reading the reminders God gave Israel, please ask Him to make His Word precious to us. Pray that we will hear His warning, remember His care and seek mercy in Jesus.

Fulfill your promise to your servant, that you may be feared.

Psalm 119:38

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us remember Your commands, and show us why we need the mercy and perfect obedience of Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

God gives Israel instructions for worship when they enter the land He is giving them. Grain, oil and wine accompany their animal offerings, and the first of their dough is offered to Him. One law governs native and foreigner, including the sacrifices for sins done without knowing. A person who acts with a high hand despises God’s word and must be utterly cut off. When a man gathers sticks on the Sabbath, God commands the congregation to stone him to death outside the camp. God then gives blue cords on garment fringes to remind Israel to obey Him and be holy.

As you read Numbers 15, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God provides for His people’s worship and commands them to remember His word.

God speaks of the land He will give Israel even after the people have refused to enter. Their children will worship there with the grain, oil and wine He provides. Gifts from the first dough acknowledge that their food belongs to the Lord who brought them there. Native and foreigner must come by the same law, because God’s holiness does not change with a person’s origin. He provides atonement for sins done unwittingly, yet deliberate defiance treats His word with contempt. The man who gathers sticks on the Sabbath is put to death at God’s command. Blue cords on their garments remind them to obey the Lord instead of following their own hearts and eyes.

How does Numbers 15 show us that God provides for His people’s worship and commands them to remember His word?

God prepares His people to worship in the land He will give.

The grain, oil and wine will come from the land God has promised. Offering some of the first dough acknowledges His care before the people eat their bread. God will feed the generation He brings into the land, so their table must remind them of His faithfulness.

God provides atonement for error and judges proud rebellion.

A person or congregation that sins unwittingly must bring the sacrifice God appoints. The priest makes atonement, and God promises forgiveness. The person who acts with a high hand despises His word and must be utterly cut off, bearing that guilt. The same atonement is provided for natives and foreigners who have sinned unwittingly.

God gives reminders so His people will obey Him.

The congregation stones the Sabbath breaker to death after God declares His judgment. The blue cord on the fringe then gives Israel a daily reminder of His commands. They must follow the Lord who rescued them, instead of their own wandering hearts and eyes.

Memorise

I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God.”

Numbers 15:41

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, where do I follow my own desires instead of coming to Jesus for help?

God tells Israel to “remember and do all my commandments”. The blue cord on their clothing is there to call them back to His Word. The Lord who brought them out of Egypt claims their whole life.

We have followed our own hearts and despised His commands. Jesus kept His Father’s will perfectly, then bore the sin of His people at the cross. He endured judgment for them and rose to life. His saving work is complete, and nothing is left unpaid for the sins He carried.

Turn from the desires that lead you away from God, and trust Jesus. Forgiveness belongs to those who receive Him by faith. Please ask Him for a heart that remembers His Word and loves to obey. The Lord’s commands show our need, and His Son supplies the mercy sinners need to come near.

Parent's note

Tell your children that deliberate rebellion is serious before God, and Jesus saves those who repent and trust His completed sacrifice. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for providing worship and reminders of His holy commands, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

John 14:24

Father, thank You for making Your will known and for the rescue You give through Jesus. Please forgive our deliberate disobedience and the sins we fail to notice. Turn each of us to trust Christ. Help us remember Your Word and obey it from a willing heart this week. Amen.