Numbers = Wilderness.
It records the journey of Israelites in the wilderness which also describes our journey in the wilderness of life.

The presence of God sets us apart
Hence, we need to encamp our lives around the presence of God.
By those who come near to God, God must be recorded as holy.
We must be consecrated unto the Lord.
Anointing and consecration come hand in hand.

The Levites had 3 clans.
At the east, Moses+Aaron+the priests.
At the south, the clan of Kohath.
At the west, the clan of Gershon.
At the north, the clan of Merari
Kohath was the second son, yet they occupied the second best place (south)

1 Cor 1:27-29
No matter what position we are in, even when we are foolish, God can use us.

Number 4:1-4
Kohath was charged with the task of carrying the most holy things.
v5,15,20
First, Aaron and his sons the priests will pack the furniture.
Then, Kohathites came and carried the stuff.
They were not allowed to watch or touch the holy things, lest they die.
They had to obey the instruction from the priests

Lesson: the closer we get to God, a greater degree of holiness is required.

Kohath received 20 verses of instruction. Gershon 8 verses. Merari 5 verses.
Gershon and Merari carried less holy things. Hence, they received less instruction.

The world’s religions have transcendent god (distant and uninvolved god) or immanent god (present, living amongst us, humanlike).
The Bible presents to us God who is both transcendent and immanent.
Isa 57:15
God inhabits eternity. And yet, He dwells with the humble and contrite.
He is holy and He wants to dwell with His people.
The Holy stayed in tent called The Tabernacle. And yet, His Tent was surrounded with mysteries.

He wants us to draw near to Him.

Some approach God carelessly, thinking God is cool even when they are careless.
However, the book of Number teaches us that God is holy.

Numbers 4:17-19
God gave instruction that they may live and not die.

Deut 5:32-33
The objective is for us to live long and live well.
However, there is a problem with human obedience as we are not perfect.
Gal 3:10
Cursed is everyone who does not continue to obey Him.

God loves us and wants to dwell amongst us.
Hosea 11:8-9
When we fail, by right we will drop dead.
God is holy.
Heb 12:14

The solution is Lord Jesus.
He dwelt in eternity but He dwelt with humans.
The 12 disciples should have been struck dead.
But Lord Jesus did not punish them.
Not because the disciples were perfect
Not because Lord Jesus was sinful.
Gal 3:13
It is because He took the curse on our behalf

Heb 10:19-22
John 8:10-11
How should we live our lives?
The Pharisees brought a lady who was caught in adultery. They demanded her death.
Lord Jesus wrote on the ground and the Pharisees left.
In front of the Creator of the whole universe, the sinful woman waited in silence.
Lord Jesus told her: neither do I condemn you (immanemt God). Go and sin no more (transcendent God).

You can purchase his sermon here:
Numbers 4 – Ministry Of The Levites (12 Aug 2017), MP3, English

 

 

Awesome manga! Bokutachi wa Benkyou Ga Dekinai!!
Learned a number of study methods from this manga.
Of course, I can adopt the same method for my students.

How to memorize?

How to understand literature?

 

 

And finally, how to solve mathematics questions?

 

Enjoy reading the manga here:
http://www.mangatown.com/manga/bokutachi_wa_benkyou_ga_dekinai/

Cute babies everywhere!! Having many kids seems fun!
This is one way to grow the kingdom of God :D

Awesome video!! Exactly what I need when I attend a Japanese gathering!!

Awesome video and pure talents!!!
Check them out!!

 

 

If we forget our history, we will have to relearn the painful lessons.

Pain prepares us for our purpose.
It is only when we have learned, then we can improve.

The law of pain
Good management of bad experiences leads to great growth.
Conversely, bad management of bad experiences leads to repeat crisis and decline
Proverb 12:1

Mark 6:34-38
When the disciples found a problem, they deflected the issue.
However, it did not solve the problem.
Nevertheless, Lord Jesus wanted to involve them in solving the problem.
While we pray to remove the problem, God says, “You can solve it.”
There were only 12 disciples and at least 5000 men. So, there was logistics issue.
In the end, Lord Jesus did the miracle.
Sadly, they ate and were full and learned nothing from this miracle.

An experience does not teach anything.
Only an evaluated experience yields wisdom.

When we encounter crisis, we pray.
After God does a miracle for us, we are happy, we share testimony.
However, we must not stop at the testimony.
We must learn something.
Miracle serves to us not just as a testimony but as a tutor.

Miracle equips us to face the next problem.
In fact, we must not use miracle to justify foolish action.

The disciples failed the test in Mark 6 (5 loaves and 2 fish).
So, Lord Jesus repeated the test.
Mark 8:1-10
The same problem.
However, the disciples failed the test.
Lord Jesus then multiplied the food from 7 loaves and few fish.

What lesson did Lord Jesus want them to learn?
God always produces more with less.
When we deal with a crisis, we must deal with the renewed mind, not just realistic mind.
When we face a problem, we should pray for perspective and protection.

Mark 8:13-15
The disciples quarreled over one bread since they had forgotten to bring more bread.
Eventually Lord Jesus confronted them, “Do you get it? How is it you do not understand?”

A lot of Christians can rehearse and recite the miracles.
But, not many understand the lesson behind a miracle.

When we are in crisis, we may not be able to see or think clearly.
We may have difficulty seeing Jesus or hearing from Jesus.
Nevertheless, we can remember the lesson from the previous miracle.

John 14:26
The Holy Spirit teaches the lesson behind the miracle and He reminds us too.

Psalm 25:4
Don’t just stop at the miracle.
We should also learn the lesson and His ways.

(Photo courtesy of An Xian)

Awesome dinner with the guildmates on Monday!!
Tried durian pizza, spaghetti, smoked chicken and many more.
Some of us could not enjoy the spaghetti as it was out of stock :p

Explained the situation of the guild to the newer members.
One of us is currently looking for a job.
So, let me try to find a vacancy out there.
At the end, we chose the next place to have the next guild dinner~~~

Stay tuned for more info~~