All Articles For Numbers

“Now Korah…with Dathan and Abiram…took men and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel…men of renown, and they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron…” Numbers 16:1-3 Vox Dei! The voice of Jehovah, the God of Israel….

“Now Korah,….Dathan and Abiram…rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel: And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? Numbers 16:1-3 During the wilderness journey, there were many in Israel who were children of God in name but not at heart. This became ever increasingly evident. Through the months and years the great and marvelous works of...

Rev. Brummel is home missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches, stationed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The work in Sioux Falls, South Dakota has its origin in the early 1980s, when the Reformed Witness Committee (RWC) of the area Protestant Reformed churches in Northwest Iowa and Southwest Minnesota began working toward the goal of a Protestant Reformed witness in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls was a growing city offering many vocation opportunities for young people. In May of 1981 the RWC decided to take up labors in Sioux Falls, SD. The committee held Bible studies and lectures and discussed ways to...

Rev. VanderWal is pastor of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Wyckoff, NJ. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Surely, everyone who has ever memorized the beatitudes remembers the first of them all. This is well, for indeed this beatitude is first not only as a matter of order, in the sense that it stands at the beginning or head of the list, but in the sense that it defines the entire sermon of Christ on the kingdom of heaven. These opening verses of the sermon describe for us the citizens of the kingdom...

Rev. Hanko is minister in the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. We have seen in the previous article that the book of Haggai contains four prophecies, each introduced by the date on which it was delivered. The first prophecy is a call to be busy with the work of building the temple, accompanied by a warning against further neglect of the work. In that warning God points out the sins of His people and shows them how He was punishing them for those sins. Though they did not recognize the fact, many of the troubles they were suffering in...

Rev. Haak is pastor of Bethel Protestant Reformed Church in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The time in which this great miracle of our Lord took place is important for us to note. From the other gospel narratives we gather that it happened during the third year of His ministry and at a time when many things were coming together. The twelve had just returned from their mission of preaching to the lost sheep of Israel (Mark 6:30). Herod had beheaded John the Baptist and was eager to see Jesus, believing that Christ was John risen from the dead (Luke 9:7-9)....

Mr. Brands is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. It is in keeping with our theme, “Shepherding God’s Flock,” that we now consider the involvement of the elders and deacons in the labors of pastoral care. I take it for granted that you are all agreed that the elders and deacons have a definite responsibility in regard to pastoral care. What we must determine is to what extent we are to be involved in this work, and what is the precise character of our work. Although our ministers especially have been given the title of pastors,...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. Has the emphasis on pastoral counseling gone too far? Has the emphasis on pastoral counseling gone too far in our churches and among our ministers? My answer to that question is that I firmly believe that it has. I firmly believe that we have been so influenced by the “counseling revolution” that pastoral counseling has lost its proper but limited place in the work of many of our ministers. I am personally convinced that, for many of us, the work of pastoral counseling has begun to take up...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. Salt. Sodium Chloride. A combination of two elements which separately are explosive and poisonous, but as a compound are taken harmlessly into the body every day. Salt is found in many parts of the world in massive deposits and in a pure state. In Palestine, however, it is often mixed with impurities such as alkali and gypsum; this salt has lost its saltiness or savor. For many centuries salt has been used both as a preservative and as a spice which renders food tasty and palatable. The...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Part 1—The Texts of the Psalter A comparison of the texts of The Psalter with the texts of the Psalms in the KJV reveals not only that our versification of the Psalms are loose but also that the theology of the authors was not in all respects soundly Biblical. I do not mean to say that a significant portion of the words of The Psalter is objectionable. There is little that is. Rather I mean to say that the approach to psalm singing taken by the authors, and that therefore the underlying, rather...