September 10th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

After all of that obedience in the first 9 books of Numbers, we got a hint that things were about to change when Moses requested that Hobab be their guide through the wilderness in chapter 10. In chapters 11-14, check that safety bar because this roller coaster is about to plummet. Fast.

In Numbers 11:1-3, we find the people complaining. God’s response? Fire consumes the outskirts of the camp.

It’s obvious by the next section of verses that the lesson was not learned.

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; “but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” …Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. (11:4-6, 10)

Result: In the words of my wise mother, “Oooh, someone’s gonna get a such-a-one!” And indeed, more plagues.

And back to Moses (not to be outdone by the people):

So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? “Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? “Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. “If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” (11:11-15)

Not exactly Moses’ shining moment of faithfulness. But, don’t worry – he’s not alone either. Check out the other members of leadership in 12:1-2:

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.

(I would think those last five words should make us tremble just a bit about what we say.)

Result: Miriam is covered with leprosy. Moses intercedes for her and God heals her.

The finale of unfaithfulness, though, is in chapters 13-14. This is too long of a story to quote, so please read it on your own. If you’re familiar with the old “12 men went to spy on Canaan, 10 were bad, 2 were good” song that we grew up singing in Sunday school and at summer camp, that’s what’s happening. 12 spies were sent into the land to see what it was like – they all say that it’s a wonderful place, but 10 of the spies are too focused on the “giants” in the land to believe that their God is big enough to fulfill His promises. Only 2 (Caleb and Joshua) strongly encourage the people that any obstacles are nothing to God. Unfortunately, the people listen to the unbelieving majority instead of the faithful few. And the entire nation refuses to enter the land and claim what God has promised was theirs.

Result: 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, waiting for that entire generation to die out.

Think of the progression of this sin: the outskirts of the camp, every family in every tent, the leadership, the entire nation. Where did it start? What attitude was it that was so contagious through the entire nation and ultimately cost them their lives?

A complaining spirit.

Sometimes I hear people talking about major sin that they found themselves in, and often the phrase, “I don’t know how this happened” ends up in the story. Suddenly, you’re in this giant pit of sin and you have no idea how you got there! Guess what: I can almost guarantee you it wasn’t a one time thing. As Dr. Miller from Cedarville says, “Your soul is not sold in one great auction – it is bartered away in thousands of tiny trades.”

I think that we often dismiss complaining as a “less serious” sin, or perhaps not a sin at all. Everybody complains – about the weather, about your headache, about your husband/ wife, about your pastor, about your kids, about your car, blah, blah, blah.

Think about this: If I truly believe that my God is sovereign, if I truly believe that absolutely nothing is out of His control… my complaints about the big AND small issues of life are tiny symptoms of a deadly cancer: lack of submission to the sovereign will of my Creator, Savior, and Lord. “God, I know that you order all things, but I think you’re doing a lousy job with the weather/ my health/ my family/ my finances/ etc.” And as I begin to adopt complaining as a pattern of life, I am living in constant rebellion to my God, whether it seems that bad or not. I am daily trading my soul, the cancer is spreading, and I am setting myself up for outright, blatant sin and disobedience.

The beginning of Philippians 2 is full of theology about our Lord Jesus. Paul’s one practical application point in this powerful chapter is found in 2:14-15 – Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation…

Complaining IS a big deal. Oh, Lord – open our eyes to see the cancer spreading in our own lives. Satan wants us to be so accustomed to rebellion against you that when truly difficult trials come, our first reaction is to question your authority, character, and will. Teach us to bow our knees each and every day to your sovereignty, recognizing that you work all things together for our good, for our holiness. You are God, we are not. Oh, for grace to trust You more!

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

September 8th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

After a short break, we’re diving back into our Bible study of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament.) We’re ready for Numbers!

If you scan through the first ten chapters, you will see that God is giving practical commands for order as well as commands regarding holiness (a very necessary concern as they learn to live with God in their midst!). Hopefully you will also see a repeated phrase popping out at you.

Just as the Lord commanded Moses, or at the Lord’s command.

This is rather surprising – the people are obeying God to the letter! For 10 whole chapters! Now, I am absolutely positive that they weren’t clean and sinless the whole time. Remember, the law never commanded perfection – from the start it provided a way to deal with sin and uncleanness that was inevitable. No, they’re not sinless, but they’re seeking to obey!

Until…

Check out Numbers 9:15-23. You really need to read this out loud to get the full impact.

“Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. At the command of the Lord the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the Lord they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the Lord they would journey. So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”

Seriously, Moses. We got it. When the cloud moved, you moved. When it stayed, you stayed. Why the incessant repetition?

Answer: Numbers 10:29-31. Moses’ cousin-in-law comes to visit and they have an interesting conversation.

One day Moses said to his brother-in-law, Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, “We are on our way to the Promised Land. Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has given wonderful promises to Israel!”
But Hobab replied, “No, I will not go. I must return to my own land and family.”
“Please don’t leave us,” Moses pleaded. “You know the places in the wilderness where we should camp. Come, be our guide and we will share with you all the good things that the Lord does for us.” (NLT)

Whoa. Now, putting aside any glorified mental image of Moses you may have and thinking back to what we just read from chapter 9… what on earth is Moses doing? He needs Hobab to tell them where to camp in the wilderness?

This is Moses’ first obvious step away from trusting the Lord in the book of Numbers. He and the people have been on a roll – “just as the Lord commanded Moses” has been their theme song! But suddenly, he places more faith in Hobab than in God when it comes to understanding the wilderness and telling them where to camp.

I’m sure we have all had times in life when we failed to follow God’s clear direction. We start to rely more heavily on the input of others. Even very godly, well-informed “others” can be a stumbling block to us if we start second guessing God’s wisdom in favor of a guide with flesh and bones.

As we will see in the next post, this was Israel’s first step toward utter failure to trust God’s leading. And it will cost them dearly. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I wish I could actually see and hear God so I knew what he wanted me to do,” take it from Moses: even in that situation, we could still fall away. The bottom line still is trust and obedience.

Jeremiah 7:23-24
This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Only do as I say, and all will be well!’
“But my people would not listen to me. They kept on doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.