The Real Thing

Published February 13, 2026

Numbers 28-32

Friday, February 13, 2026 | Beth Grace

John Owen said, “Kill sin or it will be killing you.” It sounds drastic, but in this passage, that is exactly what God instructs Moses to do. The Israelites had strayed from God with the help of the Midianites, and judgment was necessary to keep the sin from repeating. Yet instead of fully obeying, they spared the very women who had led them away from the Lord, forcing Moses to intervene again. Only the Midianite virgins were spared and eventually welcomed into the Israelite family.

Never forget that the devil is a predator who will use whatever he can to pull us away from our Father. God wants to safeguard me from me. As Tim Keller said, “Satan doesn’t control us with fang marks on the flesh but with lies in the heart.” Peter warns us to be sober-minded and watchful, because our adversary prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

I don’t always understand why God directs me in certain ways, but I do know He has never let me down. I can rest in His character, trusting that He is incapable of being anything but good.

That idea of rest brings us back to the beginning of the passage.

The feasts and sacrifices were invitations to slow down and be with the Lord.

Bank tellers learn to spot counterfeit money not by studying fakes, but by becoming deeply familiar with the real thing. I want to know my Lord that way—so well that the devil can’t compete with the real thing.

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