THE SNAKE THAT HEALS? Numbers 21

The story, too, too familiar in its description of the people of Israel, encompasses a mere 6 verses.  But these 6 verses aren’t all God has to say on the subject!  Prepare yourself for the unraveling of one of God’s mysteries!

The people of Israel have continued their trek through the desert, drawing ever closer to the land of promise – but they’re still not satisfied!

Numbers 21, verse 4:  “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom (the Edomites, descendants of Esau, and therefore “brothers” of Israel, had refused to let them travel through their land).  

BUT (Get ready for it!) the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert?  There is no bread!  There is no water!  And we detest this miserable food!’  (Yep, that would be the manna the Lord has been providing for 40 years!).

They seem never to learn, even when the Lord lets them have it.  Ever been there?

Verse 6 and following: 

Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you.   Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.’  So Moses prayed for the people.

A pause, please, and maybe a drum roll.  This is such a monumental moment that we can’t rush right by.  Did you see it???  The people have confessed their sin and admitted that they didn’t JUST sin against Moses, they sinned against God!  Wow!  Maybe they HAVE learned something!

Next scene.  God's abundant grace.

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole.  Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.”

Maybe you’re thinking, that’s weird.  Back when the Israelites had just left Egypt and Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s law, the Israelites made a golden calf.  God heard the ruckus down below and sent Moses back down the mountain to confront the people.  And God dealt harshly with them there so that many lost their lives that day.

So, isn’t this bronze snake the same thing?  Good question.  No, it isn’t.  

First of all this is GOD’S idea.  Telling people to look at the snake IN WORSHIP, so that they might live would never be something God would do.   He describes Himself as a jealous god who will not tolerate the worship of other “gods” of man’s making.   He even made it a commandment. As a matter of fact He was giving that commandment to Moses at the same time the people were breaking it by worshiping the golden calf!  It’s called, the FIRST commandment and it says this:

Exodus 20:2-6  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”

Telling His people to WORSHIP a bronze snake is inconsistent with God’s character.

So, what IS the deal about the snake then?  If it isn’t an article of worship, then what was the point of it?  Why didn’t the Lord just remove the snakes as the people asked Moses to pray?  Why didn’t He just speak a word and heal everyone who had been bitten?  Ah, good questions!  But we’re not going to find those answers here in Numbers 21.

I once heard a Bible teacher say that the Bible is its own commentary.  In other words, one passage in the Bible often explains or adds understanding to another passage.   So, in order to understand why this account is in here and what the deal WAS with that bronze snake, we need to go over to the New Testament book of John and something Jesus said to have this mystery solved.

One more thing before we get there.  Another great thing I’ve heard is this:  “The New (Testament) is concealed in the Old (Testament); and the Old (Testament) is revealed in the New(Testament).”

The truth, once concealed in this Old Testament account of the bronze snake, has now been revealed, in the words of Jesus in the New Testament.  The people of Israel didn’t see it then, but we can see it now!

John’s gospel, chapter 3.  Jesus is approached at night by one of the Pharisees, a man named Nicodemus, wanting to know more about Him.  The fact that Nicodemus addresses Jesus as “Rabbi” and one who “comes from God” indicates that he has some understanding of Jesus’ identity.  He supports this by adding, “no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”  

So far, Nicodemus is right on target!  Jesus certainly could be called, “Rabbi”, or teacher, for that is what he is.  And he nailed it as well when he described Jesus as one who “comes from God” because of the miracles He’s done.   But it’s not what he KNOWS that prompts Nicodemus to come to Jesus at night when he’s less likely to be seen by his peers.   It’s what he doesn’t know, but suspects.  What Nicodemus really wants to know is this:  Is Jesus Israel’s long awaited Messiah, the One God promised would save His people?  

Jesus doesn’t make it easy for him.  Over in chapter 4 of John’s gospel, Jesus will engage in conversation with a Samaritan woman and say straight out that He IS the Messiah, but not to this man, well versed in the Scriptures who should have recognized Him already!  What Jesus does do is get Nicodemus to think about what he already knows and let the truth speak for itself.

Jesus tells Nicodemus of his need to be born again if he wants to understand kingdom things.  Nicodemus, still not getting it, thinks only in terms of a physical rebirth – clearly an impossibility.

Jesus goes on to explain the importance of a spiritual cleansing from sin and a new birth, not by water as man’s first birth is, but by the Holy Spirit.  

When an incredulous Nicodemus still says, “How can this be?”, Jesus reminds him of this very passage from Numbers 21, a passage this Pharisee would know well.

In verse 14, Jesus says:  “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man (a name Jesus often used to refer to Himself) must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Ah, do you see it now?  The bronze snake was a reference to Jesus!  Who knew?  No one back in Nicodemus’ day – so Jesus explains – commenting on what had been concealed in that Old Testament passage to reveal its New Testament meaning.  Makes me wonder what is going on in the mind of Nicodemus!  I can see him scratching his head now!

Want to know what Nicodemus at that moment still didn’t?  Here’s how the two passages relate to each other.

Just as the Israelites were healed from the sickness caused by their snake bites by looking at the snake on the pole, all, whether in Nicodemus’ day or our own, can be saved from the sickness of sin by looking to Jesus who was lifted up to die on the cross.

It wasn’t the snake that healed the people.  It was their belief that GOD could heal them when they looked at it.  Their belief was demonstrated by their obedience to God’s instructions.  

In the same way, it isn’t just wearing the cross, or bowing before the cross, or revering the cross that heals us from sin.  It’s looking to Jesus and His death for us on the cross that heals us.  

In my “Life Application Bible”, there is a little chart that summarizes the Old and New Testament passages and might help us see the implications:

Israelites                 
                                                    

Bitten by snakes                                                          

Little initial pain, then intense suffering                   

Physical death from snakes’ poison                            

Bronze snake lifted up in the desert                          

Looking to snake spared one’s life                           
 
Christians 

Bitten by sin 
Little initial pain, then intense suffering
Spiritual death from sin's poison
Jesus lifted up on the cross
Looking to Jesus saves from eternal death

Cool, huh?

So, we’ve ALL been bitten by sin, there’s no escaping it!  We’ve inherited those sin “genes” from Adam.  What to do, what to do???  

There is a cure!  Jesus is it!  Looking to Him and believing that His death makes my life possible is all that’s required.

I think that when Jesus died on the cross Nicodemus just might have put two and two together - and rejoiced!

Don’t you LOVE it when mysteries are solved!

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD – Walking by Faith – Numbers 20

We never see it coming.  Moses, who has been the long suffering, faithful servant to an impatient, faithless, and continually complaining people, faces one of his last tests of faith, and fails.

We read about it in Numbers 20.  It’s the first month of the 40^th year Israel has spent in the desert.  Nearly everyone who was living when the 10 spies sent to scout out the land of promise returned with a bad, fear generating report, has died.  

It’s sad to read how little the next generation learned about walking by faith.  Numbers 20, verse 2 begins:  “Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.  They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD!  Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here?  Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?  It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.  And there is no water to drink!”

Forty years later and Moses is STILL hearing it, “Why did YOU bring us here?” !   He had been so much the tender shepherd before, pleading with the Lord on behalf of the people.  Always he had been concerned about the Lord’s reputation among the surrounding nations if the Lord withdrew His promises to Israel.

Over in Exodus 32 when the people were found to be worshiping a golden calf and the Lord threatened to destroy them and start over with Moses, we read this, beginning in verse 11: “But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God.  ‘O Lord, why should your anger burn against your people, who you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?   Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’?  Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.  Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’  Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”

This time his faith fails him.  Why?   Has the people’s lack of faith finally rubbed off?  Has Moses become tired of all the blame leveled at him?  Did the temper that led to his killing an Egyptian back when he was a prince in Egypt rear its ugly head again?  Had he forgotten the long suffering, faithful provision of God all these 40 years?  We can’t be positive, but we can learn something from Moses response to the people’s complaining and God’s reaction.

The Lord gives instructions for Moses to take his staff and, along with Aaron, gather the assembly together, stand before a rock the Lord has indicated, and SPEAK to it, so that it will bring forth water.  

Beginning with verse 9 we read:  “So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.  He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them:  ‘Listen you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?’  Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.  Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.”

Can you HEAR the tone of Moses voice?  Where is the long suffering nature he exhibited in the past when Israel complained?  Now he calls them “rebels”.

Where is his reliance on the Lord, the source of the water?  Now he says, “must WE bring you water?”

And where is the exact obedience we’ve seen so many times before?  The people were often disobedient, but never Moses, until now.  Now Moses does not simply speak to the rock, he strikes it, not once, but twice.

It is a indication of the grace of God toward His people that Moses’ disobedience and arrogant attitude did not result in God’s withholding water.   He provided the water – but He wasn’t finished with Moses.

Beginning in verse 12 we read:  “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’ ”

Oh no, what a terrible outcome!  After all those years of leading this people and NOT giving in to anger, with one failure, Moses will be kept out of the land.

Why did the Lord come down so hard on Moses when he had been so faithful all those 40 years previously?   

 The reason He did is a serious wake-up call for those whom God calls to a position of leadership over His people.  Leaders are held to a very high standard because others are watching.  God saw Moses’ actions not just as disobedient and angry, He saw them as an affront to His holiness, something a spiritual leader should not be guilty of!

The New Testament has a few things to say about the honorable position of leaders and their need to set a godly example.

I Timothy 5:17 “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”

Titus 1:5 “An elder must be blameless”; verse 7 “Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless. . . not quick tempered.”

James 3:1 “not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

As the leader of the people of Israel, God held Moses to a higher standard of faith and living because his faith, or lack thereof, would rub off on those whom he led.   What impact do you think it would have had on the people of Israel if Moses, the long standing model of faithfulness to God, got off lightly with this breach of obedience?   

We may think the punishment was too harsh for the crime – but the Lord did not.  Yet, the Lord had not cast away His faithful servant Moses.   

At the end of Moses’ life, recorded in Deuteronomy 34, Moses climbed to the top of Mount Nebo.  Beginning at verse 1 we read:  “There the Lord showed Moses the whole land. . and said: ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants’.  I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

Oh, Moses, where was your faith at that critical testing?

Reading this today made me think of our church.  Just a few weeks ago, one, then the other of our youth leaders, announced that they would be moving on to new opportunities.  We are VERY happy for them and very sad for us because we loved and appreciated them and their ministries to the junior and senior high kids of our church.

In light of this passage from Numbers 20, I’m thinking this is our churches’ “Moses” opportunity.  How will we respond to this challenge to our faith?  I can think of some possibilities.

We could follow in the footsteps of the Israelites and complain.  We can blame the youth leaders for what we might see as their untimely departure.  We can blame the elders for not moving fast enough to find someone to replace them.  We can blame the volunteers who will fill in in the absence of a youth director because they aren’t “trained”.

Another possibility.  We can give in to fear that, unlike all those other times, THIS time, God won’t come through.  Or that without a youth leader our kids will leave youth group in droves, our church family will depart for other churches, and we’ll have to close our doors.  Really?

What kind of example of faith and spiritual leadership does this demonstrate to our kids?   

How about:  God can’t be trusted this time around.  Or, God’s promises were for Bible people, not us in the 21^st century.  Or, the success of youth group depends on ONE person and we MUST find that person, preferably YESTERDAY!    

How easy it would be to give in to fear and discouragement, to pull a “Moses” and forget the faithfulness and power of the God we serve!

But church!  This is NOT the time to give in to discouragement, fear, and “what ifs”.   This is the time to LOOK BACK at God’s past faithfulness, and WALK FORWARD by faith in who God is!  

And THIS is the time to MODEL THAT FAITH before our kids.

This, my MEFC friends, is where the FAITH rubber meets the road of life!  

Let’s refuse to give in to fear or discouragement.  Let’s refuse to stir up those emotions in others by continually talking about it.  Look what happened to the 2nd generation of Israelites whose parents died in the wilderness!  They followed their example of complaining and grumbling against God. 

Let's choose instead to set an example of TALKING and WALKING by faith and encourage our young people to do the same - because they’re watching!  Let's not let this faith opportunity go by!

And let’s keep our eyes on Jesus, the “Author and Perfector of our faith”, because He’s got this WELL in hand!

SO, WHO'S FEEDING YOU? A recipe for feeding yourself from God's Word.

I LOVE going out to eat!  When my husband asks, “So what are you making for dinner?”, I would much rather say, “RESERVATIONS”, than “meatloaf”.   After years of fixing 6 course holiday feasts and feeding my family thousands of everyday meals, I much prefer to go to a restaurant where someone else feeds ME!  I’m happy to let the restaurant professionals do the planning, the shopping, the preparation, the serving, and the clean up.  Let’s hear it ladies!   Who’s with me???

When it comes to spiritual food, sometimes I also prefer to let someone else feed me.  Pressed for time, or energy, or motivation, I prefer a leisurely spiritual sampling from a “meal” prepared by someone else.  I’m content to let my pastor, or a devotional writer, or a television preacher, or a Bible teacher put in the prayer, and preparation, and study, so I can fill up on what the Lord has taught them.  I’ve come to learn however, that there is much to be learned, as well as joy and satisfaction to be had, when I’m the one doing the praying, and preparing in order to feed myself. 

Don’t get me wrong!  There’s nothing wrong with letting someone else feed us.   But if that is our ONLY source of feeding, we don’t know what we’re missing by letting someone else do all the preparation!   

While on a mission’s trip to Nassau this summer with the senior high students from our church I had a conversation with a young woman from another group there at the same time.  She was a brand new believer in Jesus, flush with all the passion and excitement a newly begun relationship with Jesus brings.  She loved listening to her pastor and hearing messages on the internet, but when it came to reading the Bible and discerning it’s truths for herself, she was clueless, which is not at all surprising from someone so new to Bible study.

I can remember when I was there.  Even after I knew Jesus by faith, I could only articulate the obvious from my Bible reading.  I could easily answer the “who, what, when, where, how and why” questions, but the lessons and truths hidden in the Bible’s pages were a mystery to me.  

Then came many years of participation in the ministry of Bible Study Fellowship International where I was required not only to answer the obvious questions about the text, but to think about what I’d learned that wasn’t so obvious.  It was SO hard at first! I puzzled at how others managed to see things that totally escaped me!  But eventually, empowered by the Holy Spirit, inspired by the challenge to think, and encouraged by those ahead of me who were obviously thriving on the experience of feeding themselves, something changed.  Studying all by myself with only the Holy Spirit to guide me, the truths of God’s Word began to be mine!

So, when I heard this young lady talk about her desire to feed herself from the Bible, I HAD to pass along what I learned about feeding myself!  It is not difficult, so if you are one of those people who wants more than just second hand spiritual food, or you’re someone new to the Bible who wants to get more out of it, I will share a simple, "feed yourself" recipe for Bible study with you.

First, a few helpful hints.  If you have the time to follow all these steps in one sitting, it could take you anywhere from ½ to one hour (or more if you really get going!) to complete them all.  BUT, if you break them up, doing only one step a day from the same passage, it will take less time and you'll get to be in the same passage for a week!  The first and second steps are the least time consuming.

Next, pray that the Holy Spirit will create a desire in you to feed yourself and open your eyes to see what you’ve been missing.

Lastly, this is a very versatile method.  Once you get the hang of it, you can use it at your family devotional time, or for teaching Sunday School, and even for leading others in a study, as well as for your own pleasure.  

So here is the recipe for feeding yourself from God’s Word.

STEP 1  READ THE PASSAGE

STEP 2  THE CONTENT

Read the passage again and answer the “who, what, when, where, how, and why” facts and put them on paper.  Then write ONE sentence (subject and verb please) that summarizes what the passage is about.  This should be relatively easy even for the novice.

STEP 3: THE LESSONS – What do you learn from the passage?

In order to draw out the important lessons that lie within the passage, but may not be immediately obvious, ask the following (not all will apply):

What do I learn about God from the passage?  What pleases/displeases Him?  What is HE like?  

Are there any warnings or commands to take heed of, or promises to appropriate?

Are there any good examples you want to follow?  Or bad ones you want to avoid?

Of all God could have included in His Word, why do you think He included this particular passage?

Are there any specific things for which to pray?

What new thoughts do you have from the passage?

WRITE DOWN any conclusions you may have reached in answer to the questions.

STEP 4:  APPLICATION – Where in my life does this lesson apply?

What situation or circumstance (job, relationships, spiritual life, family, etc.) is going on in your life right now to which this lesson applies?

STEP 5 – ACTION STEP – What step can you take today to begin putting this lesson into practice in your situation?  Begin doing what you said.

Let me give you an example of what this can look like from Luke’s gospel, chapter 6, verses 12-16.

STEP 1:  READ THE PASSAGE

STEP 2:  CONTENT - After answering the “who, what, when, where, how and why” questions, the content sentence I wrote was:  After a night in prayer, Jesus chose 12 of His disciples to be apostles.

STEP 3: LESSON - Although it was possible to draw other lessons from the passage, the one I chose to focus on because it spoke directly to me was this one:  Although Jesus had perfect communion with the Father, He still chose to go away by Himself and spend an entire night praying.

 

STEP 4:  APPLICATION  The situation in my life that this lesson spoke to was a summer of an inconsistent, hurried, and shallow prayer life.  

STEP 5: ACTION STEP – Beginning tomorrow, instead of getting up and watching the news first thing, I’m going to get my coffee and sit out on the porch to read my Bible and spend time praying.

Get the idea?

There are some verses that have challenged me in the need to learn to feed myself.  One is from the words of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2, verse 2 where he says:  “like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”

When we are newborn, baby believers, we do CRAVE spiritual milk and at first, we need need someone else to feed it to us so that we may begin to grow to spiritual maturity, but we can’t keep on growing on a diet of milk alone.  The milk we once craved, we need to replace with meat, and we have to move beyond having someone else provide it.

The writer to the Hebrews says this in chapter 5, verse 14, “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained THEMSELVES to distinguish good from evil.”

So, if you and I are still surviving only on food provided by others, it might be time to grow up and train ourselves to feed ourselves!   

Tomorrow when you find yourself hungry for God’s Word, where will you go?  You can always go to your devotional, or to the internet, or to a tape of your pastor’s last sermon – nothing wrong with that!  

But maybe it just might be time to start experiencing the joys of discovering God’s truths all by yourself with only the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Maybe now that you have a “recipe”, you'll get cooking! 

THE GRANDSON WHO DIDN’T FOLLOW IN HIS GRANDFATHER’S FOOTSTEPS – Numbers 16

After the Israelites left Egypt, the Lord gave Moses His instructions for building the Tent of Meeting, the place where God would meet with His people in the desert.   God appointed Aaron and his sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, from the tribe of Levi, to serve Him there as priests.  Then He appointed the rest of the Levites with the care, keeping, transport, taking down and setting up of the Tent of Meeting.

Kohath and his sons were given the responsibility for the transport of the sacred articles in the sanctuary.  When the Lord directed the people of Israel to move camp, Aaron and his sons were to pack up the Ark of the Covenant, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the curtains, and everything else related to their use.  When their job was complete, the Kohathites were to carry the sanctuary furnishings to the next place.  The Levites had been set apart by God Himself for this most responsible of tasks.  

Years ago my dad worked for a hardware company run by three brothers.  They loved what they did, they had a great work ethic, and they worked hard to maintain good relationships with their customers.  As the brothers got older though, they hoped their sons would follow in their footsteps – and one of them did – but because he hadn’t worked to build the business, his love for it, and commitment to it, didn’t match that of his father.  

The young man was lazy, often coming in late, and then not doing a full day’s work.  He was impatient and easily irritated if long time customers “took advantage”, as he saw it, of his father’s good nature by asking for small concessions.  Customers began to complain and take their business elsewhere, while resentment built in the other employees because of the son’s poor work ethic.  Before long, my dad began to wonder whether there would be anything left of the company when the father retired and the son took over.  

I wonder if Kohath ever wondered about the future of his clan as he watched his offspring being trained to replace him.  He should have.

Korah was the grandson of Kohath.  We can read his story in the Old Testament book of Numbers, chapter 16.  He, along with two men named Dathan and Abiram, “became insolent and rose up against Moses”.  They managed to gather a following that included 250 others who came as a group to Moses to complain about what they thought was Moses and Aaron’s attitude of superiority over the rest of the Levites because of their God appointed leadership, and Aaron’s position as priest.

Moses replied to Korah’s insolence with this: “Now listen, you Levites!  Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near Himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?. . . . but now you are trying to get the priesthood too (which is what their grumbling against Aaron was all about).  It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together.  Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

What was Korah’s problem?  The text doesn’t spell it out exactly, but we can speculate from Korah’s actions and Moses’ response.   The footnote in my Bible gives some insight as well when it says that the only example of priesthood the Israelites had before this was the one they saw in Egypt.   There, the priesthood was the path to wealth and influence.  Could that have been Korah’s motivation for insolence, envy, and grumbling?  I think there’s a good chance that it was.

Even though Korah had a very responsible and honored position as a member of the tribe designated by God to care for His holy things, it apparently wasn’t enough.  It wasn’t enough to simply CARRY the holy things from the Tent of Meeting to the next camping site.  Moses’ words imply that what Korah wanted was Aaron’s job!  He wanted the more visible, influential – and in his eyes – potentially more lucrative job of priest.  

The Lord didn’t take this rebellion against Himself and His leadership lightly.  We’re told in v. 31 of Numbers 16 that the ground opened up and swallowed Korah, his family and all his possessions.  Pretty serious outcome.

One of the things I love about the Bible is that God doesn’t cover up his people’s faults.  Real, flawed people, people a lot like me, inhabit the pages of God’s Word.  All God’s spiritual “giants” failed.  Abraham lied, Moses murdered someone, David committed adultery, Peter denied the Lord, Paul refused to have Mark accompany him on one of his missionary journeys.  And Korah lusted after Aaron’s job.

This brings me to some questions I need to ask myself, and you:

What kind of work has the Lord gifted you to do in His kingdom?  

In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul says that each person who believes in Jesus is given a spiritual gift to use for the good of the kingdom.  The Holy Spirit gives them as HE determines.  Some gifts are very visible – like pastoring or teaching – or in Aaron’s case in the Old Testament, the priesthood.  Others are behind the scenes kinds of gifts – like taking care of little ones in the nursery or organizing Vacation Bible School – or, in Korah’s case, carrying the sacred articles from one place to another.

Paul says it really doesn’t matter whether we are serving in a visible way or in a behind the scenes way, because each and every gift is important to the whole.  The important thing is that each one faithfully use the gift God has given for serving Him and one another.

So, how do you view the unique gift the Holy Spirit has given you?

What kind of attitude do you have toward the use of your gift?  When someone asks you to serve, do you make excuses, or wait it out for something “better”, or do you say yes willingly?

How do you react when someone else gets a position you wanted for yourself?  Do you consider that it might better suit their gifting, or do you feel resentful?

Is your service in any way marred by envy or resentment because you view someone else’s gift as more visible or important than yours?

I confess that there have been times when I have thought that I could do a job better than someone else in the church.  Not only was I envious, but I was also guilty of a spirit of resentment.  

Moses was right on target when he said to Korah:  “It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together.”  Korah wasn’t rebelling against Moses and Aaron.  He was rebelling against the Lord who had appointed Aaron for the priesthood and Korah for the task of carrying the sacred articles.  Ditto for me.  When I complain, or harbor envy and resentment against someone else for the task God has given them and not me, I rebel against God, the giver of the gifts.  

In Korah’s day, when Israel was just starting to learn about God and His ways and discover His expectations of them as His people, the Lord reacted swiftly and seriously to quell rebellion and Korah lost his life.  In the New Testament’s record of the early days of the church of Jesus Christ, the Lord did the same with the deception of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts, chapter 5).  He executed swift justice on them and they each died in order that the church would know how seriously God took their sin and to stop their deception from spreading.  

I’m grateful that the Lord is gracious toward me when I act with resentment and envy over the gifts and positions of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but I can’t presume on His grace because He doesn’t strike me dead!  I need to cultivate a heart of gratitude – to the Lord, the dispenser of the gifts – and for my brothers and sisters and the gifts He’s given them as we work TOGETHER to build the church.  And then I need to be careful to be faithful to use the gift He’s given me and encourage my fellow believers in the use of their gifts as well.

I do not want to follow in the footsteps of Korah, do you?

GOT DOUBT? YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE! Numbers 13/Psalm 77

It’s probably one of the more familiar Old Testament stories from the history of the people of Israel.   They stand on the border of the land promised to them by God.  It’s filled with other nations, but God has promised to give it to them, and now it’s time to move ahead on that promise.

God instructs Moses to send one leader from each of the 12 tribes of Israel in to explore the land.   Moses gave them instructions to see what the land was like and size up the condition of the opposition:  are the people weak or strong, few or many?  They are to take note of the kinds of towns they live in and whether or not their cities are fortified.   They’re to bring back a report on the quality of the soil:  is it fertile or poor; are there trees or not?  And they are to try and bring back some of the fruit they find there.   With instructions given and received, the men set off into the land of Canaan.

When they return, carrying a huge cluster of luscious grapes found in the land, and give their report, this is what they say:  

“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!  Here is the fruit.  But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.  We even saw the descendants of Anak there.  The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

In other words:  The land is great BUT, what ARE you thinking, Lord???  It will be an impossible task and we’re not up to it!

The lone dissenter was Caleb.  “Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’”

His confidence was met by the nay sayers with this: “ ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are’.  And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they explored.”  And they won them over as we will see in chapter 14 of Numbers!

When was the last time you felt you had clear direction from the Lord, giving you confidence to move ahead – UNTIL you began to see the obstacles and fear set in?   Well, you’re not alone!  Remember Peter who asked to step out on the water that easily held Jesus?   He was full of confidence until he took his eyes off Jesus and began to notice those waves!  

I’ve certainly been there!  More often than I like to remember, during those years as a teaching leader for Bible Study Fellowship International, I was literally quaking in fear at the responsibility I had for teaching God’s Word – always when I focused on MY inadequacy and not God’s sufficiency.   I can’t tell you how many times I, with knees knocking, cried out to the Lord, “I’m lost!  If you don’t help me, I can’t do this!”  

The Israelites have given in to fear.  The obstacles loomed so large that they forgot all that the Lord had done for them up to this point.  Out the window went God’s promises, and power and faithfulness He possessed to back them up and give the Israelites victory and success.

Asaph, the author of Psalm 77, had doubts of his own.  He says:

“I cried out to God for help. . . When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. . . . I thought about my former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night.  Will the Lord reject forever?  Will He never show His favor again?  Has his unfailing love vanished forever?. . .Has He forgotten to be merciful?  Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”

Ever been there?  Ever think that the Lord has rejected you because He seems so silent?  Ever wonder whether He’ll ever show His favor again, or if He has somehow forgotten to be merciful and compassionate?  Ever wonder whether God’s unfailing love for you alone has been withdrawn?  

What do we do when doubts assail us?  When the confidence we had in the guidance of God meets unforeseen obstacles on the way that loom larger than He does?   What do we do when we wonder whether we heard correctly?  Or whether God sent us only to abandon us there?

What do we do when God seems silent and distant and our circumstances scream so loud we would have trouble even hearing His voice if He spoke?

We do what Caleb does and what the psalmist does.  We REMEMBER God’s past deeds and REHEARSE who God is and what He has promised.

Caleb, along with Joshua, the only other dissenter, is going to go on in faith, urging the Israelites not to be afraid to move into the land because the Lord would be with them.  Asaph stops in his tracks, saying:

“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago (These miracles include leading the Israelites across the Red Sea and into the land because he mentions that incident in v. 16-19).  I will meditate on all your works, and consider all your mighty deeds.” 

Instead of continuing on the path of doubt and discouragement, Asaph decides to focus instead on God’s greatness, evidenced in the mighty deeds He did in Israel’s past.  But remembering God’s past deeds isn’t all he does.

In verses 13 and following, he says:

“Your ways, O God, are holy.  What god is so great as our God?  You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.  With your mighty arm you redeemed your people. . . .You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

He not only remembers what the Lord has DONE, He remembers who the Lord IS.  He’s holy, great, powerful, mighty, redeemer and Shepherd.

In the footnote of my Life Application Bible it says this about Asaph’s prayer:  “As we pray to God, HE shifts our focus from ourselves (and our circumstances) to Him.”

Years ago a friend was dealing with a very difficult issue with her son that could have led to his arrest for drug possession.  It was a long ordeal.  I asked her one day how she was doing and she said:  “Good, under the circumstances.”

As I thought about it I realized that she was doing well because she was refusing to LIVE “UNDER the circumstances”!   Instead, she was choosing to focus on God, and He was enabling her to live ABOVE the circumstances.  

There is a phrase that describes something David did during his difficult years of running from Saul that Asaph and my friend both learned to do as well and it applies here:  they all encouraged THEMSELVES in the Lord.

Got doubts?  Well, you're not the only one!  I have my own moments of doubt and so did the Israelites, and David, and Asaph, and my friend - but we don’t have to STAY there.  We can continue to live under them, or we can encourage ourselves in the Lord.  

How?  

#1 By remembering all the wonderful deeds of God – from His Word – and from His activity in our own lives.   

What are some of the miraculous milestones from God’s dealings with Israel that blow you away?  Write them down and thank the Lord for them.

What are some of the miraculous milestones from God’s dealings with YOU that blow you away?  Write them down and thank God for them.

#2 By remembering Who God is.   Psalm 145 is a great psalm for praising God for who He is.  Start going through the psalm verse by verse, noticing all the things David says about God and then think of the ways that aspect of God’s character and Name have impacted your life.   

Ask questions like:  What does it mean for my life that God is THE KING?  Or that He is powerful, and abundantly good?  Or that He is slow to anger?

There is food for thought and prayer in nearly every line of that psalm.  If we truly give ourselves to worshiping God for all the ways we see Him described there, our hearts will be lifted ABOVE the circumstances which cause us discouragement, or fear, of lack of faith.  And that is what living by faith is all about!

Psalm 145:13-14 “The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.  The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”  That’s YOU and that’s ME.  

Let’s not live “under” our circumstances, but “above” them, by focusing on the greatness of our God.  AS we pray, God will do what we can’t – He’ll take our eyes off our doubts and fill us with praise for Himself. 

ARE YOU AN INGRATE? Numbers 11 and Psalm 75

The people of Israel had been miraculously delivered by God after more than 400 years of slavery in Egypt.  He had been providentially leading them, with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, through desert regions, to the land He promised to give them.  Not unlike us moderns, they quickly forgot all that God HAD done for them, and got stuck on what He HADN’T.

In the Old Testament book of Numbers, chapter 11, we read this:  “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord.”  

In verse 4 we read:  “The rabble with them began to crave other food and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat.  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost – also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.  But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Yep, that’s the same manna, sent from God Himself, that shows up on their doorsteps in sufficient supply to feed their families for the entire day, every day – with double on Saturday so they can rest from collecting it.   No hunting and gathering of animals, no gardens to till necessary, which is a good thing too because they’re in the desert and there are over a million of them.   That’s a lot of hunting and gathering on land that doesn’t produce very much!   No, the Lord has supplied all they need, but for them, it’s not enough.

How short their memories.   The same Egypt that provided all that good food (at no cost ???) cost them (and their parents, and grandparents, and great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents. . . ) plenty!  It cost them their freedom in the hard bondage of slavery.  

So what is Moses doing while the Israelites are busy complaining?  Well, at first, we read in Numbers 11:2, he prayed to the Lord on their behalf – but then, as the complaining continued – he did some complaining of his own, aiming his criticism squarely at the Lord Himself.  

In Numbers 11:11 (and following) we read that Moses was troubled and he asked the Lord:  

“Why have YOU brought trouble on your servant?  What have I done to displease YOU that YOU put the burden of all these people on me?  Did I conceive all these people?  Did I give them birth?  Why do YOU tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land YOU promised?  Where can I get meat for all these people?  They keep wailing to me.  I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.  If this is how YOU are going to treat me, put me to death right now.”

Whenever I’ve been part of a group of people studying the attitudes of the people of Israel at this time in their history, someone inevitably says, “How COULD they complain after all the miracles they saw God do on their behalf?!”   We might say the same about ourselves because we’re really not very different, are we?  How could WE complain about what the Lord hasn’t given us when He’s given us so much?  

Being a “glass half empty” person myself, I’m not so sure that if I had been one of those freed Israelites, I wouldn’t be complaining right along with the rest of them.  And I’m not so sure that if I was Moses, I wouldn’t be throwing myself a pity party too!   What a thankless job!!  It’s not easy to bear with people who continually complain when we’re doing our best at what God has called us to do.   I can hear myself complaining right along with Moses, “Shoot me now, Lord, I’m done with these guys!”

Sounds like Moses also had a lapse of memory when it came to God’s faithfulness to the Israelites – and to him as their leader.

Moses was mad, but he wasn’t the only one.  The same text describes God as being “exceedingly angry” with the Israelites, so much so that He gave them exactly what they wanted – quail in abundance -  every single day for a month!  Enough, the text tells us, “until it (came) out their nostrils and (they) loath(ed) it!”  Be careful what you ask for – and how you ask for it, when you’re talking to the Great Creator of the Universe!

God dealt differently with Moses’ complaints.  With His faithful servant Moses, He was forgiving and gracious – maybe because He was pretty tired of those ungrateful Israelites Himself – because he responded to his complaining, not in anger, but by raising up 70 tribal leaders to help Moses carry the burden of the people.

How tired God must get with all the complaining we do over glasses “half empty”, when He has been so faithful.  

 That’s why I was so glad to read Psalm 75 on the same day.  What a contrast!

Psalm 75 begins:  

“We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.”

There are times in our lives when it’s hard to give thanks - just ask the Israelites, or Moses.   Circumstances often work against thankfulness – cancer, unemployment, a death in the family, a wayward child, mental illness, divorce, abuse, accidents – all these and more can make giving thanks difficult.  We might even blame God for not doing something to prevent, or remedy it.  

When the Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 18 says: “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”, he’s implying that while not all circumstances might evoke gratitude TO God, we can still thank Him IN THE MIDST of our circumstances, the bad as well as the good.

The author of Psalm 75 says we can give God thanks for His Name.  

Names in the Bible had a lot more significance than they do today.  For example, back in Genesis, God changed Abram’s name, which meant “exalted father”, to Abraham, which meant, “father of many”, because God had promised him that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore.    

The first of Abraham’s twin grandsons was called, Esau, which means “red”, apparently a perfect word to describe his appearance at birth.  His younger brother was called Jacob, which literally means, “he grasps the heel”, which is exactly what Jacob was doing to his twin’s foot when he was born.  However, his name takes on much more significance when we look at its figurative meaning.   In that case, Jacob means “he deceives”.  We have only to read Genesis 25 and 27 to see how Jacob lived up to his name in his dealings with his brother Esau.

In the Hebrew, when the word NAME is used to refer to God, its meaning encompasses a lot.  It includes God’s exalted position as sovereign over all things.  It is a mark of His individuality.  It implies honor, authority and character; and includes the idea of God’s fame and renown.   

The psalmist says that God’s Name is NEAR.  And the word NEAR implies that God is not only exalted, He is also nigh, or close (in proximity).

There are many names in the Bible that are used for God, some of them reflect His authoritative, exalted position as God, such as:  God Almighty, Lord of the Heavenly Hosts, Creator of the Universe, or the Sovereign God.  All of these terms, and many others, set God apart from man, making Him a being who is “out there”, beyond us finite beings, a Supreme Being worthy of awe and worship.

But other aspects of God’s person are indicated by names that bring Him near, like:  the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep by name, the God Who Sees, and Emmanuel which means, God with us.  These are names that describe the God who is both close and personal.  

The psalmist, even as he acknowledges that there are those who exalt themselves above God and make life difficult for the godly, gives thanks to this God who is both beyond man and near to His own.  He is not an uncaring, distant, removed God who sees the needs of His people but is either powerless or indifferent to help.  The psalmist chooses, even in the difficulties, to give thanks to this exalted, and also personal God, to tell of His wonderful deeds, and to praise Him forever.  

So, who do YOU want to grow up to be like?

·         the Israelites, who had seen the Lord work miracles in a spectacular demonstration of His power, love, and care, but who quickly forgot what He DID to complain about what He DIDN’T?   

·         or the psalmist, who saw the boasting of the wicked against heaven, but chose to remember the greatness of God’s Name and nearness, thanking Him for His personal love and care?

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.  I Thessalonians 5:18