Reading notes - week 13

Numbers 19-32

Some weeks, I find one or perhaps two treasures to share. And other weeks, I find so many it’s hard to choose! This is one of the latter. We could talk about the donkey and Balaam. Or Edom refusing to let Israel pass through their land. Or the glorious Feasts of the Lord! (I do just have to point out Numbers 29:1 - God declared a day of no work but to blow trumpets all day - what a fun party!)

We could focus on any of those and dig in for a most wonderful time. But I decided to explore Numbers 20, where the Israelites faced a “no water” situation again. This was not the first time a lack of drinking water tested their faith. Scripture tells us these stories in Exodus and in Numbers.

It will work best to work backwards this time so let’s look at the two Numbers passages first.  This is where Moses broke the faith by failing to treat God as holy.  And where God told him what the consequences would be.  The people had no water. They grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said they would rather be back in  Egypt. Oh my   God told Moses to take the rod that God had provided earlier (not just any rod- it was what God provided for divine use in the interactions with Pharaoh)  and to SPEAK to the rock.   He did not tell Moses to strike the rock, just to speak to it that it may yield water for them.  Moses was (understandably) angry with the people for being grumbling jerks and in his anger, he acted apart from what God had instructed. Instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it – and not once, but twice!  God, in His mercy, still provided water to the Israelites but He also disciplined Moses.

Numbers 20:11,12 - Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you sha not bring this assembly into the land which have given them.”

Wow.

Later on, we see that God meant what He said…

Deuteronomy 32:50,51 God says “ Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because  you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel.”

Moses. The spokesman of God. The one appointed by God to lead His people out of slavery into freedom. The leader of the Israelites. The faithful, most humble man who ever lived. That man. God was not going to allow him to enter the Promised Land. The place they had been waiting on for decades. He was not going to enjoy the abundance and beauty and rest of that place. Because he hit a rock with a rod?

GULP

So, let’s go to the passages that give us the back story on this verse in Deuteronomy….Numbers 20:8-13 ,27:14, and Exodus 17.

My human reasoning says, come on, Lord!  What’s the big deal?  He still trusted You to provide.  He was just angry and he overreacted. Plus, You told him to strike the rock earlier – what’s the big deal?  Can’t you cut the guy a little slack?  Isn’t this a bit rigid???

For the rest of the story, let’s go to the Exodus passage. Chapter 17:1-7 There we see the first time God provided water for the Israelites. They were grumbling (common theme!)  God told Moses to take the rod and to strike the rock (see v. 6 – isn’t it cool that God says “I will stand before you”?).  When he obeyed and struck the rock, water flowed.

OK so that’s the story – why was it such a big deal that Moses didn’t obey God’s instructions to the letter?

Some thoughts – first, God is HOLY and He takes obedience/disobedience extremely seriously.  When I am tempted to treat God casually,(as in, He is my friend and loves me no matter what and gives me grace and forgiveness, so what if I am still nursing some sin He has told me to repent of, etc), then He reminds me of this truth to sober me up.  Yes, there is forgiveness but SIN HAS CONSEQUENCES.  GULP

Next, this might have been a lesson that the Israelites as a whole missed but I believe Moses knew this.  I’ll show you those passages in just a sec.   These incidents of the Israelites needing water and God providing were a picture of mankind.   Man in need of salvation, of a Savior.  And Jesus as that Savior…He is the ROCK.  The source of our salvation.  Moses striking the rock the first time (and God standing right there as he did ❤) is a picture of Jesus dying for sin and then salvation (water) flowing out.  The rod struck Him…He died…our need was met.

The second time, there was no need to strike the ROCK – but only to speak to it – for the need to be met.  When Moses struck the ROCK, it was as though Jesus was being crucified a second time and there was no need for that.  That was not God’s plan.  Now when His people have a need (for forgiveness, or provision, etc), we need only to SPEAK to  the ROCK and He delivers/provides, etc. Notice in Numbers 20 the emphasis God places on FAITH - v.12 - “because you have not believed Me”. The link between faith and obedience is undeniable - reminds me of Hebrews 11:6 - go look it up :) ) and here Moses, through his disobedience, demonstrates a lack of faith. It is by faith that God’s people were to enter the Promised Land. God’s not being rigid - this is TRUTH.

Why do I say that Moses got this lesson, even if the masses didn’t?  And because he understood that what he had done was so seriously unholy, he could accept the punishment of the Lord.  Look at Deuteronomy 32.  The Song of Moses.  Vs. 3,4 – Moses declares that God is THE ROCK!  He understands!  He knows that God is sending Jesus one day to die for our sin.  He, the ROCK of salvation.  His ways are perfect, just, faithful.  Also vs. 15,18,30.  Moses got it.  He yielded to the ROCK.

It’s a hard truth to me.  But I get it.  God is HOLY.  His Word is perfect.  Jesus has paid for my salvation – TRUST it. We must come to Him by faith. And our obedience is the result of faith.

That could be the end of the story. And it would be a glorious, though sober, truth.

But it’s not. :)

But, because God IS so very merciful…..check out Matthew 17.  This I s the passage about the transfiguration.  Before Jesus was crucified, He took Peter, James, and John up to a  high mountain.  He was transfigured before them (miraculously changed from an earthly form to a supernatural one -  garments and countenance gloriously radiating)

Two people from Heaven showed up and were talking with them --- Elijah and Moses!!!!!  Wow!

What is so significant about that?

Well, this happened in the Promised Land – the very land that Moses was not allowed to enter!  Centuries later, God let Moses set foot on that land!  Isn’t that COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Reading notes - week 12

Numbers 12 relates a sobering story. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of his wife. And the consequences are severe. And publicly humiliating for Miriam! Perhaps we are tempted to think God’s response to her sin was too severe. Let’s consider that for a moment.

All through our reading these past many weeks we have seen God’s people complain and complain. God meets their need…and then they complain again. Surely He is tempted to wipe them out! We see Moses interceding for the people in Numbers 14 - he knew the Lord was quite put out with them!

So what is the issue? What’s the problem with complaining? Isn’t it pretty much exercising our First Amendment rights? Why does God respond to it so severely?

Because complaining isn’t just words - it is revealing what is in our hearts! (Matthew 12:34)

In the case of Miriam , check out verses 1,2. Sounds like Miriam was jealous of this woman and of Moses’s place of power. And those attitudes of her heart came out as words of complaint. Those heart issues were what God condemned.

In the case of the Israelites whining in Numbers 14, what we see isn’t just that they weren’t thankful - it’s that that lack of gratitude reveals a lack of faith. They refused to trust the Lord and instead just leaned on their own understanding, looking at what was right in front of them.

Sounds like “complaining” is indeed more than just words - it’s an x-ray glimpse of our hearts.


How do we apply that to everyday living? Is there ever a time to call attention to a problem?


Clearly, there is. Matthew 18:15-18 lays out the way to handle problems - If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector


Go directly and only to the person involved in the problem. And to God for help and grace and wisdom....and to check for any beams that need removing first....Matthew 7:5....


If your fast food order wasn't prepared correctly, humbly, kindly, gently take it back to the cashier and ask for the right sandwich. Don't immediately go on TripAdvisor and blast the company. If your child's teacher can't manage the classroom, perhaps you can volunteer as an aide but don't chew her up and spit her out over coffee with the other Moms in the class. If your best friend is an alcoholic, get professional counsel and seek intervention instead of bringing her problem up every week in Bible study for group prayer.


It seems to me that the bottom line is (as always) a matter of the heart. If my motive is to help move someone out of danger, to restore them to health and wholeness, then I am definitely exhorted to address the problem with them. In gentleness and humility, as Galatians 6:1 explains. And this is to be done privately. Not in a public showdown on social media or at the office's water cooler. Privately. So as to restore. So as to avoid falling into a pit of my own.


If, however, my motive is in some way selfish, if my "rights" have been violated or I want to prove how right I am or to inflict an offense in retaliation, then I think the passage that we look to is Proverbs 19:11 - Good sense makes one slow to anger and it is to his glory to overlook an offense. Overlooking a wrong. Not calling attention to it (complaining) or insisting that it be made right (arguing) - overlooking it. I cannot count the number of times I have been warned by the Holy Spirit to refrain from a comment and just overlook. I also cannot count the number of times I have failed to heed that warning....and oh how I wish I had!


What does it mean to "overlook an offense"?


It doesn't mean to deny an offense has occurred. That's not truth.
Instead, it means forgiveness and grace in place of demanding to receive what has not been delivered. It means valuing the relationship and the other person more than our own personal desires for comfort, pleasure, significance, or joy.


When someone has wronged us, there is a debt. They "owe" us. Christ's example is that we not "make them pay" but rather that we forgive the debt and then pay it ourselves. When someone has failed to treat us as we (think) we deserve, we "get that debt of love paid" by seeking fulfillment from Christ's love instead of trying to extract it from the debtor. And, in Christ's economy, debts we are owed get paid by "spending" love on the one who incurred the debt. It's incredulous but it's true - when someone has wronged us and we are due justice - or at least an apology - Jesus would have us not seek that payment. But instead to make investments of love in others (including the offender).


Investments of love include not complaining or grumbling or airing our offenses. But instead overlooking them through the lens of Christ's love for us on Calvary. Miraculously, our own hearts get filled.

Complaining won't do that. Love will.




Love covers. A multitude of sins.