The counterpart in our ecclesial life is that our marriages should not upset the equilibrium of the ecclesia. So marriages to the unbeliever, for example, are totally unacceptable.

OBEDIENCE
Sometimes situations arise when we are vexed by a question and we don’t know what to do. Often the answer is found in the word of God.  At other times our situation is not covered by what is in the Bible and neither is it a matter of conscience. At those times we can either make a decision ourselves based on our own knowledge and understanding, or we can ask God for help in our decision making.

The tribe of Manessah had one of these problems so they decided to ask the LORD through Moses for the solution. God gave the tribe the answer they came for concerning the daughters of Zelophehad. In many ways it could have been quite a harsh answer to their question. They were to marry only within their clan so that their inheritance would not pass out of the tribe in the year of Jubilee.

But what if there were no suitable men in their tribe? What if they were in love with someone from another tribe? We do not know what their personal circumstances were at the time, but we do know what the Bible says about them. "So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the LORD commanded Moses." (Num 36:10)   Whether it was convenient or whether they wanted to or not, they did what the LORD commanded them to do.

Sometimes the answers we get are not always what we would like to hear, but even then, let us do as Zelophehad’s did, doing as the LORD commands us.

V,13 The Israelitish encampment was on an extensive plateau north of the Arnon, which taken from the Moabites by Sihon and Og, still retained the name of its original possessors. This particular site "Jordan near Jericho", is now called El-Koura,a large plain lying not far from Nebo, between the Arnon and a small stream, the Weal.

36:7      The provision of the law of Moses that the land remained within the tribe to which it was given by inheritance had the effect of removing the possibility, if it was observed, of individuals becoming ‘land barons’ by acquisition.  The flesh always seeks more. God gives what is necessary.

36:2 The mater of the inheritance and the daughters of Zelophehad has already been dealt with in detail in Num 27:1-2. This highlights the importance of the mater of dealing with inheritance and the fact that it should stay within the tribe.

36:9  It is common in wealthy families to inter marry to preserve or increase wealth and power. This was not to be in Israel. Hence this provision was made that the inheritance remained with the tribe. It is not that the ownership of the land is the important point. It is important to realise that men should not try to take away that which God has given.

36:11 The case of the daughters of Zelophehad is singled out here at the end of the wilderness journey. However doubtless there were many other families with no sons at that time and in later times. So this laying out the principle for one family set a precedent for all Israel.

V.6 Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss (Luke 22:47,48).
 
V.18 The fig tree was a symbol of Israel. However, Israel had not kept the faith and rejected its master.  Therefore, it was cursed (Matt 21:19,20).
 

James tells us the same as Solomon. James 4:13-17 says that we should say that God Willing we shall live and so be able to do this or that. Prov 27:1 says in a very similar vein that we should not boast about tomorrow. We mustn’t presume that we shall be able to do anything, tomorrow.

27:22 So the fool is not susceptible to chastening. Are we? Or are we fools? It only those who are exercised – Heb 12:11 - who benefit from chastening.

27:10 Family are valuable, however a neighbour who understands Lev 19:18 will be more use in calamity. It is the nearness of the neighbour that provides the particular support. This means that when we see a brother in need we should not leave the relieving of the problem to others. We should attend to his need as he is our neighbour. It is all to easy to leave things to others thinking that ‘it is not our problem.’ In reality our brother’s need is indeed our problem if we truly appreciate Lev 19:18

27:18 It is an accepted fact that diligence does secure a reward (John 8:12).                    

27:21 Praise is a test of character for all. Praise is handled differently by men. The vain man seeks it; the weak man is inflated by it; the wise man disregards it. 

27:18 Jesus – John 12:26 – applies the principle of this verse to those who would be his servants.

27:7 Solomon is not simply speaking about how we react to food. He is speaking about our attitude to Scripture. It we are satisfied with the things of this life the ;bitter’ things of the word of God will be abhorrent to us. But if we hunger for the word as if we cannot get enough of it then even the ‘bitter’ things – the constraints that it lays upon us – will be seen to be good and wholesome

V.1 relates to Matt 6:34.

27:1 The exhortation not to speak as if we know what tomorrow will bring is given a very practical application – James 4:12 – by the apostle James. We must realise that God, not we, is in control of our lives.

9:14 We doubtless are aware that Jesus healed on the Sabbath much to the annoyance of the religious leaders. Here is a list of the occasions where the Sabbath day is recorded as the day when Jesus healed or taught. Matthew 12:1 Mark 1:21 2:23 3:2 6:2 Luke 4:16 31 6:1 6 7 13:10 14 14:3 John 5:9 here

10 The story about the sheepfold is actually a parable [10:6] We should not confuse the fact that we understand what Jesus was talking abut with the inability of Jesus' audience to understand. This was typical of his parables which were designed to make his audience think abut the message.

Notice the three fold, developing, acknowledgement that the man born blind had of Jesus
9:1 A man that is called Jesus
9:17 He is a prophet
9:33 If this man were not of God he could do nothing.

10:22 By telling us that we are now at the feast of dedication which is around December time we know that we are now only a few months - about 4 - from the crucifixion of Jesus.

9:1 Notice the thematic link between 'passed by' and 8:59 'passed by. The healing of the blind man contrasts with the Jewish leaders who were 'blind' and not healed in the previous chapter.

10:33 Both here and 5:18 show that the Jewish leaders understood that Jesus came 'from God' but they misrepresented his claims. Rather than seeing him as 'that prophet' (Deuteronomy 18:15) speaking the words that He gave him they chose to portray Jesus as claiming equality - which he did not (Philippians 2:6-7)

9:27 We may well understand the annoyance of the Pharisees when the man who had been born blind asks 'will ye also be his disciples?' when we understand that the word 'disciple' means 'learner'. These were the learned men in Israel and now it is being suggested that they might learn from the carpenter's son!

10:41 Here is incidental proof that John preached rather than performed miracles. It is, therefore, the more astounding that his message was heeded by the people.

9:3       ‘neither hath this man sinned’ highlights that there is not a principle which dictates that  illness  is a direct consequence of sin. That some illnesses and conditions are a direct result of sin should not deceive us into thinking that if a person is ill then they have sinned.  With the increase of AIDS in society the point we learn here should warn us against jumping to snap conclusions.

9:1-7,33-38 - perhaps we have a man not being singled out for sinning but nevertheless born into sin (everyone is born into sin including the Pharisees who accused him of such v34) who had physical and spiritual blindness. Christ took advantage of a window of opportunity (just as current believers while still alive can share God's Word) to save his physical and more importantly spiritual blindness by intervening as he "spat" [Grk. "ptuo" (4429) means "to spit"] on the ground  and made clay (Rom 9:21 uses the same Grk word for clay and the inference is it represents our flesh being molded) of the spittle and then sent him to wash in the Pool of Siloam (Siloam means sent) so the man did so indicating faith on his part and perhaps suggesting baptism. After washing he could see so perhaps this represents the spiritual vision of hope beginning with belief and baptism in Christ. V35 we find he was thrown out of the synagogue (he was no longer under the inferior Law which Christ fulfilled Matt 5:17) and when asked if he believed in the Son of Man he sought to know more and then Christ encouraged him and made his vision even more complete v37-38. This Grk word "ptuo" (4429) "spit" is used two other times, always for healing, in Mark 7:33; 8:23. Another word for "spit" is the Grk. "emptuo" (1716) meaning "to spit in or on" and it is always used to show contempt Matt 26:67; 27:30; Mark 10:34; 14:65; 15:19; Luke 18:32.

9:2-3Who did sin this man or his parents shows the way that Israel – and to a lesser extent we – view suffering. It is easy to look for a cause and effect relationship between suffering and sin. We know that there is not a direct relationship as did Jesus. However Jesus, rather than explaining the error of the disciples thinking moves straight into a more important issue. The event is for the glorification of God. We would do well to always focus on the big issue rather than the trivia we often consider.

10:5    The ‘stranger’ whose voice is not recognized is the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees. Of course the ‘seep’ would have to already know the voice of the shepherd to be able to realise that the new voice being heard was not that of the shepherd. In like manner we cannot discern the voice of God or His son unless we are familiar with their voices. This will only come from being familiar with their words – that is by reading and reflecting on Scripture.

Blind people rely more on audible information. But only those who admit to being blind. Those who do not, grope around in the dark because of pride (9:41). Notice that Jesus is speaking of the same thing in the next chapter, but disguises it by referring to sheep, not people (10:2-6) who follow only by hearing.

9:4 Jesus returns to the theme of walking and working in the ‘day’ in John 11:9 highlighting the need for activity when there is opportunity and it is appropriate to ‘walk’ – that is do God’s work.

The true followers of Jesus are those who hear him (10:3-4, 27-28). Pure and simple.

Do you remember science lessons at school? The teacher would explain the method for an experiment, write it out on the blackboard, or give you a book with it written down. All you needed to do was follow it, then you would do the experiment correctly. Simple. But how many times were your experiments a disaster?

The human temptation when listening is to add a little here, take a little away there, modify, bend, twist, and shake what we hear into what we want it to be.

I know someone who always complains about her oven. Cakes never come out right. They always sink or flop. But on closer inspection of her methods, I found she always reduced the sugar content, didn't preheat the oven, maybe modified the temperature setting and timing, put in less or more fruit, or used a different flour to the recipe. Recipes are meant to be followed, yet she would always say she'd followed the recipe. After a while she changed that oven but the cake still came out wrong!

So when following Jesus we need to resist the temptation to modify what he said, ignore the bits we don't like, or add ingredients. A recipe is written to be followed. If we do this, we can follow him to green pastures like the sheep in John 10:9.

9:7 In the days of the Assyrian invasion Israel ‘refused the waters of Shiloah’ – 8:6– and now Jesus is telling the man to accept those same waters. It was God’s even though using it might have seemed to be rather futile. In the days of the prophet one might have thought there was more need of an army than water. For the man in Jesus’ day washing in water would not be seen as the obvious solution of a physical problem.