To Whom it may Concern:

Based on Numbers 14-15, Psalm 33

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;"
Psalms 33:18.

One recent post I did was newspaper format-remember, EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!! But since we've gotten the news, have we accepted, or rejected it? Have we rejoiced because of all that The Lord has done, or have we disregarded it? Each miraculous event documented here is true, because God is Truth! The Israelites saw these things first-hand & still had so many doubts. That's why God gave those who accepted the news of who He is a notice: To Whom it may Concern:

God never wanted to be exclusive; He wants to include everyone is His plan! But what if we openly reject Him? God gave the Israelites so many opportunities to change & obey His Word. But there came a point where He directed His attention to those who would listen, instead of trying to get back those who were lusting. The news no longer concerned them:

"Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it." Numbers 14:22‭-‬24.

God included Joshua in this new chosen group as well. God's promise still stood, but only for those who stood with Him. Caleb, Joshua (the only older ones) & all the younger innocent ones would go forward into the promised land. All the other older experienced ones, who rejected all the great miracles from Egypt which they had seen, would not be able to move forward. God would not kill them, for Moses pleaded for them even still, right before this new covenant was made. So, this was actually another form of mercy on them, even though they did not deserve it!

"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?" Numbers 14:11.

Has the goodness of God concerned us yet? Or are we too fascinated by the world's false promises? Only God provides a promised land. Only HE provides hope & refuge. As much as it may be hard to obey sometimes, it's a lot harder to live without The Lord! Just look what happened when God was no longer with His people who rejected Him:

"For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord , therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah." Numbers 14:43‭-‬45.

Once they realized they were rejected because they believed the negative report of the land over God's promise, the Israelites tried to "fight their way into favor" again to show they were not afraid of the enemy. But it was too late. The people were still not acting on a pure love for God, but on a realization that they missed out on the benefits of God.

Chapter 15 re-states the laws & practices of sacrifices to this new younger generation who would inherit the land. They were the ones "to whom it may concern." They did not enjoy the rich history of miracles their fathers did, but they would be the ones enjoying a rich future of promise. The last part of chapter 15 serves as a literal reminder of who God is:

"And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:" Numbers 15:39.

This generation of Israelites were commanded to put a blue ribbon fringe upon their clothing to remember to goodness of God & the wickedness of the world. We all need a reminder sometimes, but that's only if we have a pure heart toward God and are concerned with the things of God. I pray that we all take God's Word as more than printed words, but a love letter to us, reaching into our soul as our heavenly Father & Savior. The world offers so much rejection, but with God, there's a strong connection!