DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

Insight  The divine unpredictability described in Numbers 9:15–23 adds repetition and emphasis to the last words of Exodus ( 40:36–38 ). Both describe how the God of the exodus used a mysterious cloud, a portable tent of symbols ( 25:8–9 ), and a terrifying desert to show the urgency of learning to rely on Him . Because of the Israelites’ failure to trust God when the twelve spies surveyed their new homeland flowing with milk and honey ( Numbers 13 ; Deuteronomy 1 ), it took forty years and the death of a generation to help them trust Him more than their own eyes or fears. By:  Mart DeHaan

Insight  Scholars disagree about who is speaking in John 3:31–34 . Does it continue John the Baptist’s endorsement of Jesus, or is it John the apostle adding his postscript to that endorsement? Since quotation marks were not used in ancient Greek, it’s open to interpretation. What is certain, however, is that the repeated phrase describes the nature of Christ — He is “above all” ( v. 31 ). By:  Bill Crowder