DAY 66    Read Numbers 35 and 36.

Today's reading gives instructions for providing forty-eight cities for the Levites, six of them cities of refuge.  We also read the conclusion to the interesting story about five unmarried girls and their father's inheritance.

Memory gem:  "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;...he is my...refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence"  (2 Samuel 22:3).

Thought for today:
We read the story of the cities of refuge in three chapters of the Bible--Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19, and Joshua 20.  These cities were necessary because of the ancient custom of private vengeance, by which the nearest relative of a slain person took the responsibility of punishing the murderer.  The original law, found in Genesis 9:6, decreed that "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed"; and it was considered in ancient times in the East, and in some places even to this day, that the nearest kin should avenge the deceased.  As many rash executions of this law might take place in the heat of anger, and because a careful distinction between intentional and unintentional killing was not always made, these cities of refuge were instituted to provide for the proper administration of justice.

The cities of refuge were so located as to be within half a day's journey from every part of the land.  That is, no one lived more than a half-day's journey from at least one of them.  There were six cities of refuge--three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west side.  Open roads leading to them were always kept in repair and were posted with signs bearing in plain, bold letters the one word "REFUGE" so that a man fleeing for his life would not miss the way nor be delayed for even a moment.

Brother man, flee now to Jesus, the City of Refuge; for the avenger of blood seeks your soul.  Don't walk--run, flee, seek refuge now.  As the old spiritual puts it, "You better run, you better run to the city of refuge."

DAY 65    Read Numbers 33 and 34.

Today's reading gives a stage-by-stage account of the Israelite campsites during their wanderings.  Unfortunately, most of the locations cannot now be identified.

Memory gem:  "We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness"  (2 Peter 3:13).

Thought for today:
As we go on our pilgrimage in this earth just as God's children of old, we know that someday it will belong to His people.  Someday they will enjoy it; someday it will be purified and redeemed; someday it will be restored to its Edenic beauty.  We are told in plain words of Scripture that this earth, renewed by the hand of God, will be pure and holy.  We are told that He Himself will be their God.  We also read that "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away"  (Revelation 21:4).

This is something to look forward to, isn't it?  This is the end of our pilgrimage, the land where dreams come true.  And the Holy City, the New Jerusalem which comes down from God out of heaven, will be the capital of the redeemed world--the real, actual, deathless, sinless, immortal world!

Friend, soon the present weary land will be past, our desert wanderings will be over, and all the pilgrims of earth will be home, safe at last.

DAY 64  Read Numbers 31 and 32.

Today's reading demonstrates the sad results of the persisting in an evil course.  Another episode shows how easy it is to misjudge motives.

Memory gem:  "As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do"  (Numbers 32:31).

Thought for today:
"God had sent judgments upon Israel for yielding to the enticements of the Midianites; but the tempters were not to escape the wrath of divine justice.  The Amalekites, who had attacked Israel at Rephidim, falling upon those who were faint and weary behind the host, were not punished till long after; but the Midianites who seduced them into sin were speedily made to feel God's judgments, as being more dangerous enemies.  'Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites' (Numbers 31:2), was the command of God to Moses; 'afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.'  This mandate was immediately obeyed.  One thousand men were chosen from each of the tribes and sent out under the leadership of Phinehas.  'And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses.....And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain;...five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.'  Verses 7, 8.  The women also, who had been made captives by the attacking army, were put to death at the command of Moses, as the most guilty and most dangerous of the foes of Israel.

"Such was the end of them that devised mischief against God's people.  Says the psalmist: 'The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.'  Psalm 9:15.  'For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.  But judgment shall return unto righteousness.'  When men 'gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,' the Lord 'shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness.'  Psalm 94:14, 25, 21, 23."--Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 456.

DAY 63    Read Numbers 28 through 30.

Today's reading returns to the theme of prescribed sacrifices in the ceremonial services.  Let us remember that all this shed blood symbolized and pointed forward to that of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Memory gem:  "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins"  (Matthew 26:28).

Thought for today:
Christ is our High Priest now in the presence of God for us, not in "the holy places made with hands,...but into heaven itself"  (Hebrews 9:24), where He still pleads His blood in our behalf.  Some people do not like to hear about the blood of Christ.  They resent it.  They do not want anyone to die for them.  They want to work their own way to heaven; they want to make themselves good enough to be there; they want to make themselves moral enough to be saved.  But there is the word of God in Hebrews 9:12: "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Jesus is our High Priest of good things to come.  My friend, do you not wish to share these good things--cleansing from your sins, the blotting out of your sins, a part in the full atoning sacrifice of the cross, peace which passeth understanding, the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection from the dead, a place with Christ forever?  The apsotolic writer tells us that if the blood of the animal sacrifice in the temple of old sanctified to the purifying of the flesh in the symbolic service, "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  (Hebrews 9:14).

Will you today accept this blood-bought salvation?

DAY 62    Read Numbers 26 and 27.

Today's reading includes the appointment of a new leader for God's people.  He was a man who had proved his worth and received the reward for faithful service.

Memory gem:  "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much"  (Luke 16:10).

Thought for today:
One day while Napoleon Bonaparte was riding before his troops in grand review, his horse suddenly reared, pitched, and charged.  He was about to lose control of his steed when a burly private leaped out from the lines, ran up, grabbed the horse's reins near his mouth, and stopped him in his mad dash.

The emperor showed hearty appreciation of this heroism by saluting and saying, "Thank you, captain!"

The private was quick in response.  He returned the salute and inquired simply, "Of what company sir?"

The emperor, highly pleased with this full faith and sincerity, resaluted and said, "Of my bodyguard."

The newly made captain walked over in the uniform of a private to the officers of the bodyguard and said as he saluted, "Your captain!"

The officers in charge returned the salute and asked, "By whose authority?"

Pointing to the emperor, the young captain answered, "By his--he said it."

The event was then closed.  The whole transaction hinged upon faith in a man's word, and see what a change resulted.  But, friend, it was not nearly so great a change as that which comes to our lives when we simply, sweetly trust our Prince, our Captain, our General, our divine Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not how we feel, but what He says.

DAY 61    Read Numbers 23 through 25.

Today's reading continues the remarkable story of a man who professed to be a prophet of God while he stubbornly tried to work against God's will.  Such a course could lead only to a tragic end.

Memory gem:  "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them"  (Numbers 23:21).

Thought for today:
Think of Balaam the compromising prophet.  He prophesied for God and the people who worshiped Him, but he was not ready to become an out-and-out supporter either of the man who hired him or of the Lord who warned him.  He tried to combine the ways of the heathen with the ways of the Lord.  He was a fence walker, a balancer.  He wanted the best part of both--the good and the evil.

Balaam symbolizes the so-called broad-minded--yes, the very broad-minded.  Philosophically he was a syncretist.  He tried to mix everything up together and make it look good.  But such a thing would have meant the end of the faith of Israel, and it will mean the end of Christianity today.  As someone has said, "The modern follower of Balaam has an air of urbanity."  He looks very modern, very sophisticated.  He is the cosmopolitan who become spiritually a jellyfish.  In it all "he betrays the integrity of his own soul and the integrity of" the Christianity "religion"--Interpreter's Bible, vol. 12, p. 386.

What multitudes of people need to hear today is the call of Joshua, who said to the people of his time: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"  (Joshua 24:15).

DAY 59    Read numbers 17 through 19.

Today's reading points up the importance of following God's will in every detail.  The influence we exert may lead another person to decide for or against the right.

Memory gem:  "With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments"  (Psalm 119:10).

Thought for today:
At a large evangelistic meeting, a well-known preacher made an earnest appeal for men and women and young people to surrender to Christ.  A number came, and among them a girl of fourteen or fifteen years.  But as she came, she kept looking back to someone still in the audience.

When the group arrived at the front seats, the minister asked them to remain standing a moment while he made a last appeal for still others to come forward.  While waiting there, this young girl kept looking back, so pitifully--and suddenly she could wait no longer.  She turned and went back up the aisle and sat down by the side of a man who, the minister later learned, was her father.  The minister waited, not knowing what it meant.  She put her arms about her father's neck, and one sitting just behind heard her say, "Papa, you and I promised we would meet her in a better world, when she left us last year, and I want to keep that promise.  I went forward that they might pray for me--I thought you would come.  We have stayed together since Mother died, and I could not stay down there without you.  I want to surrender to Christ tonight, but I cannot go without you.  Won't you go with me there where the others are--and, with me, surrender to Christ?"

And this big, strong man trembled.  He was one of the judges of one of the high courts of the state, and he said, "Little girl, Papa will go with you. You are right."

And together they came and knelt down.  And when the prayer was over, the minister said, "Who has given his heart to Christ?"  And the judge stretched out his hand and said, "I have."  And the girl said, "So have I, Papa!"  And she kissed him again and again.

What if he had not come?  Oh friend, wait not for somebody else, because somebody else may be waiting for you!  Your influence on the wrong side might mean eternal loss to someone.

DAY 58    Read numbers 15 and 16.

Today's reading recounts the tragic results of harboring a spirit of envy.  In this case envy ripened into open revolt, and only divine intervention prevented a coup.

Memory gem:  "He [Aaron] stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed"  (Numbers 16:48).

Thought for today:
One snare that the evil one uses is found in Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;...Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Envy has been the downfall and the defeat of many individuals, saints included.  The brothers of Joseph envied him so much that they sold him into bondage (see Genesis 37).

It was because Korah, Datham, and Abiram "envied Moses also in the camp" (Psalm 106:16-18) that they were swallowed up as the earth opened and a fire was kindled in their company.

It was because "the Jews which believed not [were] moved with envy" (Acts 17:85) that they tried to kill Paul.  It is often because of envy that mankind gets into trouble.  James tells us: "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work"  (James 3:16).

No man is safe from this sin until he has learned to rejoice in the success of others.  The musician who cannot bear to hear or see another musician praised is of small caliber.  The scientist who is unliberal in his estimate of the accomplishments of other scientists is unworthy of the name.  The preacher who is jealous of the success of other preachers and fails to give them due credit had better watch his own Christianity.

In Canterbury Tales envy is represented as of two species: "Sorrow at othermen's weal [happiness] and joy at other men's harm"

DAY 57    Read Leviticus 26 and 27.

Today's reading brings us to the end of Leviticus with its many ceremonial regulations.  Perhaps it is significant that the last instruction concerns tithing.

Memory gem:  "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord"  (Leviticus 27:30).

Thought for today:
"God as the Giver of all our benefits, has a claim upon them all; that His claim should be our first consideration: and that a special blessing will attend all who honor this claim.

"Herein is set forth a principle that is seen in all God's dealings with men.  The Lord placed our first parents in the Garden of Eden.  He surrounded them with everything that could minister to their happiness, and He bade them acknowledge Him as the possessor of all things.  In the garden He caused to grow every tree that was pleasant to the eye or good for food; but among them He made one reserve.  Of all else, Adam and Eve might freely eat; but of this one tree God said, 'Thou shalt not eat of it.'  Here was the test of their gratitude and loyalty to God.

"So the Lord has imparted to us heaven's richest treasure in giving us Jesus.  With Him He has given us all things richly to enjoy.  The productions of the earth, the bountiful harvest, the treasures of gold and silver, are His gifts.  Houses and lands, food and clothing, He has placed in the possession of men.  He asks us to acknowledge Him as the Giver of all things; and for this reason He says, Of all your possessions I reserve a tenth for Myself....This is the provision God has made for carrying forward the work of the gospel."

"The,,,system of tithing was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God.  This system of tithing was a blessing to the Jews, else God would not have given it them.  So also will it be a blessing to those who carry it out to the end of time.  Our heavenly Father did not originate the plan...to enrich Himself, but to be a great blessing to man.  He saw that this system...was just what man needed."--Counsels on Stewardship, pp. 65, 67, 68.

DAY 56    Read Leviticus 24 and 25.

Today's reading tells of a time in ancient Israel when everything was to be made right, a time for freeing slaves and restoring property--a year of jubilee.

Memory gem:  "Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God"  (Leviticus 25:17).

Thought for today:
It was for liberty of conscience that God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, where Pharaoh himself had said, "Who is the Lord?...I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go"  (Exodus 5:2).

It was from a godless tyranny that a nation of slaves was delivered "through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm" (Deuteronomy 5:15).  No wonder God instructed their leader, Moses that when they reached the Promised Land, they must continually revive the knowledge and the fact of freedom.  A least once every fifty years there was to be a national rejoicing because of these great principles, and a rededication to them.

It is significant that the famous Liberty Bell--which rang for the inauguration of American civil and religious liberty, but was cast in Britain years before--has inscribed upon it the command given to Israel over 3000 years ago: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof"  (Leviticus 25:10).

Certainly every Christian should proclaim liberty, religious liberty.  So should every ruler of the people all over the earth.

Some people are ready to proclaim liberty for themselves, but not for others.  Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick reminds us that there was once a famous actress, Charlotte Cushman, who used to greet her friends at her Newport villa by saying: "This is Liberty Hall.  Everyone does as I please."

There were some people who came to America when it was a wilderness to seek religious liberty for themselves, but not for others.  Someone has facetiously said that when they landed on the shores of Massachusetts, they first fell on their knees and then fell on the aborigines.  They found freedom for themselves in the wilderness, but when Quakers, Baptists, and others came to preach and practice the truth as they saw it, they were persecuted.  True religious liberty is a religious liberty for all.