Doyle Smith Daily

Numbers 15:32-33 (ESV) Originally published 09/09/2015 "While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. And the LORD said to Moses, 'The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp'" Numbers 15:32-35 (ESV).   Sometimes there are stories in the Bible that seem cruel and wrong to me. But I know God to be loving, and just, so I give him the benefit of the doubt and think there is a good reason behind the story. Like if someone told me that my wife pushed a child and he fell down and was hurt. I know my wife would not do that unless there  were a reason. When I ask her what happened she tells me she pushed the child to keep him from being hit by a car and saved his life. I don't...

Numbers 15:30-31 (ESV) Originally published 09/03/2015 The people of Israel were in Egypt hundreds of years and had no formal relationship with God. God wanted to show the world what human life was like when people lived as God made them to live. To do this the people had to live in submission to everything God told them to do. A high hand describes someone who is defiant, and we might say he shakes his fist at God and openly refuses to obey. God could not build a godly people with those who would do that. "But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is a native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him" Numbers 15:30-31 (ESV). Often people tell me they believe in God, but they consciously refuse to live like God tells them to live. God's response to them is to refu...

Numbers 15:22-25 (ESV) Originally published 09/02/2015 God knows the difference between rebellion and mistakes. "But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave the commandment, and onward throughout your generations, then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD with its grain offering and its drink offering, and according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake,..." Numbers 15:22-25 (ESV). Mistakes reveal a lack of knowledge, inattention, or immaturity, while rebellion shows defiance and rejection of authority. It is the difference between accidentally hitting a car and ramming a car on purp...

Numbers 15:20-21 (ESV) Originally published 09/01/2015 "Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution, like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generation" Numbers 15:20-21 (ESV). God demanded that the Israelites give the first of the crops and first of the dough as an act of faith. God promises his people he will provide for them, and they are to give the first of crops and dough without knowing if the rest of the harvest will be successful or not or if there will be enough  bread for everyone in the family to eat. Lord, I want to do what I know each day you want me to do first, even though I might not have time for the things I enjoy doing or need to do, and when I write checks, I will give what you want me to give without checking to make sure I have enough to pay all the bills. Teach me to trust you with all of my life.

Numbers 15 :1-3 (ESV) Originally published 08/31/2015 "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, and you offer to the LORD from the herd, or from the flock, a food offering or burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feast, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD,...'" Numbers 15:1-3 (ESV). God certainly did not benefit from the animal being burnt, but it pleased him that people gave something of value to him.  Lord, I never thought of giving money to you or time to serve you as bringing pleasure to you. Remind me when I give money to you that you are pleased, and when I give time to listen to you or serve you, that you are touched by that. I haven't thought before how my sacrifices might impact you.

Numbers 14:42-45(ESV) Originally published 08/29/2015 The people of Israel didn't accept God's authority or trust him enough to enter Canaan when he told them to enter. Then he told them they would never enter the land as their punishment for rejecting his authority. Then they decided to go into Canaan, but Moses told them: "Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor of Moses departed out of the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah" Numbers 14:42-45 (ESV). The Israelites decided to enter Canaan, not because they accepted God...

Numbers 14: 26-30 (ESV) Originally published 08/27/2015 God wanted to give his people the land that he promised, but they did not think that God had the power to give this land to them. They would prefer to die in the wilderness rather  than to die trusting God. God gave them what they wanted instead of what he wanted to give to them. "And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 'How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell'" Numbers 14:26-30 (ESV). God's judgment against our refusal to obey him is certain, and often it is to allow us t...

Numbers 14:21-23 (ESV) Originally published 08/26/2015 This is the worst of tragedies. God wants to give his people the land of promise, and they want the land, but they will not get it. God said: "But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it" Numbers 14:21-23 (ESV).  Lord, expose to me any blindness that I have in my life that keeps me from recognizing the disobedience that does not allow you to fulfill the promises that you have made to your followers. Desiring to please you is not enough. I want to please in every way in every part of my life.

Numbers 14:12 (ESV) Originally published 08/25/2015 "...The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" James 5:16b (ESV). This is an example of how God responds to prayer. God said to Moses: "I will strike them (Israel) with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they" Numbers 14:12 (ESV). Then Moses prayed: "And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generations. Please pardon the inquiry of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.' Then the LORD said, 'I have pardoned, according to your word'" Numbers 14:18-20 (ESV). This praye...

Genesis 12:1-3; Numbers 14:11-12 (ESV)  Originally published 08/24/2015 God made a covenant with Abraham: Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed'" Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV). The people of Israel showed no faith in God by refusing to enter the land God promised Abraham and them: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they'" Numbers 14:11-12 (ESV).  God did not lose his temper and go back on ...

Numbers 14:11-12 (ESV) Originally published 08/21/2015 God heard the pleading of Israel to deliver them from slavery. He fought with Pharaoh to release his people. He miraculously parted a sea for them, rained bread on them every morning, gave water from a rock, and now they refuse to go into the land he was trying to give them. "And the LORD said to Moses, 'How long will this  people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they'" Numbers 14:11-12 (ESV). I don't think of God as being frustrated, but he had every reason to be frustrated with the people of Israel. Lord, I wonder how often you get frustrated with me. I know that I get frustrated with myself. I know that I could be more disciplined and obedient. Forgive me for disappointing you. I don't despise you, but I am weak....

Numbers 14:5-7, 9, 10 (ESV) Originally published 08/20/2015 Moses and Aaron risked their lives to challenge Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt. They put up with complaints and ridicule from the people and now the people refuse to enter the land God had promised them. They wanted to find a new leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt. "Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, 'The land, which we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land.... Only do not rebel against the LORD...' Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel" Numbers 14:5-7,9,10 (ESV). Sacrificial, self-denying service to people in o...

Numbers 14:1-4 (ESV) Originally published 08/19/2013 Israel had traveled over a year through many difficulties, and now they were ready to receive the land God had promised, but they did not believe that God could enable them to defeat the people living there. "Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, ''Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in the wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, 'Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt'" Numbers 14:1-4 (ESV). Israel blamed God and Moses for their problems. The truth was that a wonderful life was just ahead of them, but their disaster was the result of their failure to trust and obey ...

 Numbers 13:30-33 (ESV) Originally published 08/18/2015 The people of Israel were trying to decide whether or not they should try to invade Canaan, which God  promised to give to them. "But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.' Then the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.' So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them'" Numbers 13:30--33 (ESV). There are two kinds of reality, rational reality and spiritual reality. Both reports were true. The mi...

Numbers 13: 28-29 (ESV) Originally published 08/17/2015 When the spies examined the land that God promised to the Israelites, it was everything he had told it would be. But they said: "However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the Jordan" Numbers 13:28-29 (ESV). The promises that God makes to his followers are wonderful, but they are impossible to receive without the help of God. Lord, forgive me for thinking that I can fulfill your plans with my hard work, planning, programs and my skill. I am reminded that if I am faithful and obedient, you will accomplish your purpose through me.

Numbers 13: 23-27 (ESV) Originally published 08/15/2015 God had promised his people a land "flowing with milk and honey." When Israel arrived, they sent 12 leaders into the land to see if it was what was promised. "And they came to the valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the valley of Eshcol because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of 40 days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him. 'We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit'" Numbers 13:23-27 (ESV). What God told them was ...

Numbers 13:20 (ESV) Originally published 08/14/2015 God could have ordered the people oi Israel to go immediately into Canaan, but he wanted them to know exactly what they were getting into and to be unified in obedience to him. He ordered Moses to form a committee of the leader of each of the 12 tribes. "Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them.  'Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land'" Numbers 13:20 (ESV). Lord, you know everything and have all power. It is amazing that you allow humans to participate in what you are doing. I ask that in our home we might kn...

Numbers 12:11-14 (ESV) Originally published 08/15/2015 God chose Moses as the leader of his people, but Miriam demanded that she and her brother Aaron be equal spiritual leaders with Moses. God told her that he chose Moses and no one else. "And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, 'Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he come out of his mother's womb.' And Moses cried to the LORD, 'O God please heal her---please.' But the LORD said to Moses, 'If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again'" Numbers 12:11-14 (ESV). God gave her the death penalty for the most serious spiritual crime that a person can commit, the rejection of God as ruler of the world. Moses should have been angry at his ...

Numbers 12:6-9 (ESV) Originally published 08/12/2015 Moses’ brother, Aaron, and sister, Miriam, were jealous of Moses’ position of leadership and thought they should be recognized as his equal. In their jealousy they began to criticize Moses. God told them to come to the tent where he met with Moses. "And he said, 'Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision: I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?' And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed" Numbers 12:6-9 (ESV). Moses could not have defended himself; it would have been his opinion against theirs, but there was no argument after God spoke. Lord, what a comfort to know that if I obey you and faithfully do what you tell me to do that...

Numbers 12:1-4 (ESV) Originally published 08/11/2015 God promises those who obey him that he will protect them. "Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, 'Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? 'Has he not spoken through us also?' And the LORD heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.  And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, 'Come out you three to the tent of meeting'" Numbers 12:1-4 (ESV).  When we are faithfully serving God, Satan will find someone who will criticize us. Moses did nothing wrong, and he did not defend himself. He trusted God to defend him. Lord, give me the humility to listen to direction that you are giving me through your people. Give me the faith to believe that you will protect me from Satan inspired attacks that come from people. Most of all, give me the...

Numbers 11:26-29 (ESV) Originally published 08/10/2025 Moses needed help, and God gave him 70 men to help him. God sent his Spirit on them so they could teach the wisdom of God, but it was just for a short time. "Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered (of the 70), but they had not gone out to the tent (as the other 68 did), and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, 'My lord Moses, stop them.' But Moses said to him, 'Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!'" Numbers 11:26-29 (ESV).  Joshua was concerned for Moses position and influence, but Moses, in his humility, was more interested in the people hearing the message of God t...

Numbers 11:18-23 (ESV) Originally published 08/08/2025 The Israelites were freed from slavery and being led to a land that God would give them, but they were complaining that the food God was miraculously providing had no meat. God told Moses: "And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?" But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!' S...

 Numbers 11:16-17 (ESV) Originally published 08/07/2015 Moses told God that the demands of leading the people of Israel by himself was crushing him. "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone'" Numbers 11:16-17 (ESV). Moses’ help was already there and available. All that God was waiting on was for Moses to see his need and ask. Jesus told us to ask and we would receive what we need to do what he asks of us. Lord, I know how Moses felt. Open my eyes to the help that you have provided for me, and give me the humility to ask for it.

Numbers 11:11-15 (ESV) Originally published 08/06/2015 Moses was overwhelmed doing the job God gave him, and he did the right thing. He told God how he felt. "Moses said to the LORD, 'Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me. 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child' to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness" Numbers 11: 11-15 (ESV).   God had given Moses this task, but Moses was trying to do it in his own wisdom and strength. God wanted Moses to re...

Numbers 11:10 (ESV) Originally published 08/05/2015 The people of Israel were upset because God didn't give them meat to eat. "Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased" Numbers 11:10 (ESV). God was offended. He has all knowledge, and wisdom. He was providing for them miraculously, but they think he is not doing his job correctly. It is blaspheming and deadly to think that human wisdom is superior to that of God. God gets angry because of his love for us. He gets angry when he sees people choosing to reject what he tells them are the right choices. We are precious to God. He knows that  when we live contrary to what he has told us is right, we are destroying ourselves and people around us. Then he gets angry because he cares for us. Lord, remind me that everything you tell me to do is in my best interest, even though I might not see how it could be at that time.

Numbers 11:4-6 (ESV) Originally published 08/04/2015 God had rescued the people of Israel from slavery and was going to provide every family with land to farm. He was leading them through unpopulated places so they would not be attacked. Miraculously, he was making it rain enough sweet bread every day for every single person. "Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, 'Oh that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at'” Numbers 11:4-6 (ESV). God was saving their lives, feeding them, giving them a new future, and they were complaining about the menu. Lord, because I have committed my life to you, remind me when things seem bad that you are in the process of giving me life in all of its fullness.

Numbers 11:1-2 (ESV) Originally published 08/03/2015 The Israelites had been set free from slavery for two years: "And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down" Numbers 11: 1-2 (ESV). When we have surrendered our lives to God's control and we complain about what has happened to us, we are insulting God. We are telling God that our judgment is better than his, and it is blasphemy. Lord, I know that you have not promised that everything that happens to me will be good, but you have promised that in all the things that happen if I obey you that you will bring good out of it. This promise always encourages me.