Justin Houtz

Numbers 9, Romans 9

DateVersionReading Plan
May 6, 2025ESV (2016)OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027

Numbers 9

Observation & Interpretation

Num. 9:8 – Moses responded to the men who were unclean due to touching a dead body that he would wait to hear what the LORD commanded concerning them. By this, Moses demonstrates a posture of patience, responsiveness and obedience to the LORD.

Num. 9:10 – The LORD → Moses that unclean people were to still keep the Passover.

Num. 9:14 – There was to be one statute for both sojourner and native.

Num. 9:6-14 – Two exceptional cases are presented, one raised by the people and the other raised by the LORD. The first was in regard to an unclean person and the second in regard to someone on a long journey and away from home.

Num. 9:9-14 – Two more clarifications are presented: 1) If anyone is able to celebrate the Passover and does not, this person was to be cut off from the people, 2) allowance for strangers to take part in the Passover.

Num. 9:18, 20, 23 – “[The] phrase [’at the command of the LORD’], often used in the first 9 chapters, now becomes much rarer, reflecting the decline of Israel’s faithful obedience.” (TGCBC)

Application

The decrease in prevalence of the phrase “at the command of the LORD” noted by the TGCBC is telling of the fickle human heart. The people were only a couple of years out from the exodus from Egypt and thus their memory of God’s amazing work of deliverance was still salient. However, as their time wandering in the wilderness continued, the memory would fade and their obedience would wane. How crucial it is to remind ourselves daily of our gracious God who supplies our every need and provides salvation for the saints through the sacrifice of His Son. May the wilting faithfulness of the Israelites catalyze our desire to remain afresh in the glorious truth of the gospel.

Romans 9

Observation

Rom. 9:3:1 – Pauls speaks of his conscience. “Freedom from the conviction of conscience does not make a person right…But exercised ‘in the Holy Spirit’…conscience can keep a believer oriented toward God and compliant with his direction.” (ESVEC).

Rom. 9:3-5 – Paul regarded the Israelites as his kinsmen.

Rom. 9;8 – Those counted as offspring of Abraham are not the children of the flesh but the children of the promise.

Rom. 9:22-23 – Paul makes a contrast between vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy, posing it as a question.

Rom. 9:30-33 – Paul contrasts Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness with Israelites who pursued the law but did not succeed in reaching it. The Israelites did not pursue it by faith but by works

Application & Interpretation

The witness Paul’s conscience bore brings to mind the book I am currently reading, “The Vanishing Conscience” by John MacArthur. Similar to the ESVEC’s comment, MacArthur makes clear that the conscience is not infallible. Even as believers, we still wrestle with a sin nature and this has a deleterious effect on the conscience. It is through our time in God’s Word, the Spirit’s illumination and healthy Christian community that the conscience can be aligned to God’s will and purposes.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the immutable truth of Your gospel and its revelation through Your Word. Father, by Your Spirit, keep me close to You, sustain my hunger to know You, never to lose sight of who You are and what You have done.

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