Waves of Life

Numbers 20

Does it ever seem to you but when bad things happen like someone you know got really sick or a loved one passed away that they come in waves? Like nothing wrong can happen for a little while and then everything comes at once or at least it feels like that. In this particular chapter we deal with death and disappointment but there is light in spite of it all.  

Death of Moses’ brother and sister

The chapter starts Miriam, Moses sister passing away. Not much is said about her after the little incident a few chapter back about her and the leprosy. The chapter ends with Aaron about to die and his son takes on the role as high priest. He dies and the whole congregation mourns for 30 days.

The Hard Lesson

Right after the death of Miriam, the people come against Moses and Aaron again about lack of water and Moses starts out by doing what is right. He goes before the Lord and asked what he shall do and God told him to talk to the rock and it will bring forth water. Instead we see Moses striking the rock twice and saying that the people are rebels. The result of this lack of faith was he will not be allowed to enter into the promise land. At first that can seem kind of harsh, you may ask, “What was the big deal?” He just struck a little rock but there is more to it. Moses was turning the power of God onto himself as he made it seem like he did it. It also shows his lack of faith at that moment as he struck it instead of speaking to it and struck again. Moses knew what he did was wrong and the result was not entering into the promise land. This was probably one of the hardest points in his life as he not only lost his family but lost his privilege of entering into the place he was leading everyone to. May we be reminded that temptation will come, problems will come, people will complain about you, but how do we respond as God’s people and light to this world?  

The Rebellion- Death Around

Numbers 16

Have you ever known someone at your school that was the rebel? They would be the one that would never listen to the authority and would always come against it. I remember this one guy who would disagree with the teachers and try to have the whole class come on his side. It was like a class rebellion against science or something. It really did not go anywhere and I think the guy was sent to the principles office and I never saw him again (I still think they ate him). 

In this chapter a man named Korah starts a rebellion with 250 chiefs of the congregation of Israel.  He was wondering why God would only speak to Moses and not let any of them lead. He felt that Moses brought them out of Egypt and the Promise Land is right there but now they cannot go into it. He was going to do his own thing. Moses is described as being meek. He handled himself well but this time it says in verse 15 that he was very angry with them. He did nothing against them and took nothing from these people and look how they are treating him. God was going to show them who he and that he allowed Moses to be in charge. God appeared as the cloud descended on the tabernacle.

Can you imagine what this must have been like for Moses. Being surprised with 250 plus men would be very scary. These men were not encouraging Moses with his leadership; they were telling him how he was in the wrong. Korah thought he could do a better job. 

The Result of Rebellion from God

Moses told everyone to seperate themselves from Korah and from the other men and their families. He said if God is not with me then you will die a natural death but if God is with me then the earth will swallow you up and your family and your possessions. Guess what? The earth opened up and swallowed them and their families. Then fire came and consumed the 250 chiefs of the congregation.

 After this tragedy you think the congregation would realize that God is in control but instead the rebellion of Korah had spread into the congregation. The people now came up against Moses and Aaron and blamed them for killing these 250 men. Man, I don’t know about you, but I would want to throw in the towel of being their leader. Picture this angry mob coming against these two men and being backed up to the Tabernacle and then God descends and tells Moses to get away from these people because he was going to teach them something. All of a sudden a plague breaks out among the people. Moses told Aaron to grab a censer and put incense in it so you can make atonement for the people. Despite these people coming against him, Moses still wants to help them understand who God is and that He is in control. In verse 48 it shows that Aaron was between the living and the dead and the plague had claimed 14,700 lives that day.  

The Living and the Dead

Just as Aaron stood between the living and the dead because of the plague which was the result of their sinful hearts Jesus stands as the mediator between the living God and the us the sinful dead humans. He came and made atonement for us (Romans 3:15). Jesus stands between the gap of us and God and you know even when we can become the angry mob against God he works on our behalf. We can be so quick and look the people of Israel and shake our heads in shame but we need to first look at ourselves. When we do we realize that we are no better than them and we should be so thankful that Jesus stands in the gap for us. Jesus had died and conquered death and sin for us. May we get the rebellion out of our hearts and start realizing that God is our leader and we must follow after him. 

A New Creation

Numbers 15

There was this one time that I remember getting into trouble the day before because I did something I was told not to do. I woke up and my mom wanted to change the pace of the day by telling me she loves me even when I blow it. It was a radical thing to hear because I remember going to bed miserable and expected everything to carry on to the next day but instead my mom was willing to work past it.

In this chapter God shows his love by repeating the rules about the sacrifices. This was God saying, even though you blew it and rebelled, I still love you and want to have fellowship with you. In verses 1 through 21 were about restoring a relationship with God. This shows God’s grace and how he works in spite of our rebellion.

Unintentional and Intentional

God breaks down two different types of sin, the unintentional sin, like high I messed up but I did not plan on this happening, it just did and the intentional, which is, I am doing this even though I know it is wrong and I don’t care. The fact about this is that everyone sins, there are those that sin and don’t even know when they are in sin and those who know exactly what is sin and choose to rebel against God on purpose.

A story is given on how someone who sins unintentional can go back into fellowship and how those who sin intentionally need to be broken of their rebellion to come back into fellowship. In the story a man is gathering sticks on the Sabbath in which he then was put to death by the whole congregation. In verses 32 through 36 we can read this and realize how harsh for just gathering a few sticks. In reality this man was defying what was commanded by God. Not only was he in sin for gathering sticks which was considered work but he also was going to start a fire with that wood which was another no no. This story serves as the example of someone who intentionally wanted to sin.

Garments for the Lord

In verses 37 through 41 we read about God giving the people of Israel a command with their clothes. They were to add tassels to their garments and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner of the garment.                                                   The reason God wanted them to do this was so they could be reminded of the commands of the Lord and not follow after their own thoughts. This command was Israel would remember God’s faithfulness. The tassel in the ancient world was considered and extension of that person. This now would be Israel’s identity, who they are, God’s people. The blue dye would be expensive to do but also this color was the most sacred color in the tabernacle (4:6-7). This single thread would symbolize the identity of Israel as the royal priesthood. The tassels served two purposes. One, that they would know that they were God’s by his grace. Two, they were redeemed from Egypt to be a holy nation to all the surrounding nations.

Our tassels

I went to a private school that decided to have us wear uniforms. The uniforms served to keep the students from wearing anything inappropriate but also that we represented what school we went to. We had to wear the uniforms and I know for me, there was not really any pride in wearing them, it turned to be more of an obligation.

We as followers of Christ are not held to the same things Jews are held to. We do not have to wear tassels on our garments. We though do have an identity and that is an invisible and visible image. The invisible mark that we have is that Christ came and made us a new creation (2nd Corinthians 5:17). The visible mark that we have is by our lives. We should constantly be showing this world that we are followers of Christ. That means making a stand against what is evil. Walking out from things that this world says is ok, but we know it is against what Christ did for us. Is there a visible showing of the inward change? I challenge you not to be fake and act one way that is not true of the heart but act accordingly to what Christ has done for you. You are a new creation! Some people look at being a Christian as a “Now the fun stops” kind of thing. How sad, I have had more fun in being a Christian than when I wasn’t.

A Hard Lesson

Numbers 14

Remember yesterday we ready chapter 13. That was about the report the 12 spies brought back. Everyone except Caleb and Joshua said a negative report and said how there was giants that occupied the land. There was not hope for them to enter in and the whole things was lost. In this chapter we see the peoples reaction to the spies. They start crying and complaining against Moses and Aaron. They were even questioning the Lord and wondering why he would bring them to this land so they could fall by the sword. Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua tried to plead with the people and said that the land was good and that the Lord delights in his people and he would not allow them to fall by the hands of these people. The whole congregation almost started a rebellion because they even were thinking about stoning these four men with stones. God intervened and asked Moses, “How much longer will these people despise me?” God has been very patient with Israel. Of course Moses intercedes for these people and God does not forsake them but there are consequences for their lack of faith.

The consequences

God tells Moses that he will not abandon the people but all those that saw what he did in Egypt will not be able to enter in the Promise Land. Man, all that work and yet they blow it just like that. It is true though that they were not ready for the Promise Land because they were not willing to have faith and fight for what God had promised. Because of this, they were told to return back to the way of the wilderness and they will wonder around for over 38 years. What a huge price they will pay for their sin. The sad thing is that the people did not listen to the Lord and they decided to go into the land and try to take it now. Moses warned them and said, “It is too late now.” God is not going to be with you because you are now realizing your fault.

So often we can place our feet in the Israelites shoes as we are faithless to a faithful God. He fights for us and directs our paths and instead of following him, we run in fear and when the plan may get revealed after the fact it can be too late and we must learn our lesson. Are you like Israel? Is there a giant in your life and your are afraid of? Did you know God is on your side? Have you not had faith and you have learned the hard way? Maybe it is time in the wilderness again because you are not ready for the Promise of God? All I know is that I am like these people all too much. I need to be able to make a stand like Caleb or Joshua and stand for the Lord. If he is for me, who can be against me. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes and it becomes a hard lesson, why can’t we just follow the commands of the Lord? Welcome to being human and wretched. In order to follow after the Lord we must follow after Christ everyday and admit that we are sinners and we are in need of a Savior.  

Negativity will be your downfall

Numbers 13

Have you ever been pessimistic about something? This means looking at something as the glass is half empty and not half full. It is thinking the worst in everything. Usually being pessimistic means not having hope. I hate to say it, but I can be a pessimistic person just ask my wife. I can look at the negative in almost any situation and you know what this type of outlook can affect even my wife. She can then start having the same attitude as me. I realize that I set the pace for her. I have learned that I need to look at life as not a negative outlook but positive looking to Christ. 

In this section we see Israel right on the edge of entering the promise land. No more wilderness, it could have been all over. We see that God commanded Moses to send 12 spies into the land. This was a way for God not only to test the people but also the leaders. They spent 40 days in this land taking note of who lived there and what type of food was in it.

The bad report

The 12 spies returned from the adventure and the whole congregation gathered around these 12 men. Can you imagine the fate of the people was in the words of these men? They started to say that the land was full of milk and honey and they had the proof by showing the cluster of grapes, but then they started to share about all the different inhabitants of the land and how they were giants compared to them. They were looking at these people as a hinderance and intimidating. It seemed like all the spies had something negative to say except Caleb (and we find out Joshua did not either) who spoke up and said no come let’s go into the land that GOD has promised us.

Instead the people were overcome by fear and thought they would perish by their hands. They felt like they were grasshoppers in comparison to them. Tomorrow we will read the consequences that Israel will face for their lack of faith.

For us: 

It is sad that these leaders who were to set the pace for the nation and they instilled fear into their hearts. How quickly they forgot that it was God’s hand the released them from Egypt. It was God who controlled the parting of the Red Sea. It was God who led them to where they were. It was God who has provided food and water for them in spite of their complaints. The leaders of Israel should have said, “There may be giants but our God is bigger than all of them put together.” 

How about your problems, your giants in life? Do you think that they are bigger than God? Do you not know that God holds everything in this universe in his hands? God knows everything and knows the future. We need to put our trust in him, we need to have faith that as his words says, “He works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).” In Matthew 6 we see how God cares for us more than the birds of the air and the flowers in the field. He takes care of us when we focus on him. When we focus on God our problems really fail in comparison to a mighty God. God does have our best interest and that was shown through Jesus Christ dying for us. Watch out! Negativity will be your downfall.

It Affects Everyone

Numbers 12

Have you ever been jealous of someone else? Maybe it was because of their position or even they had something that you did not? Maybe all the other people like them more than you? Jealousy is a bad thing that can destroy us. It can take all of us and make us a miserable person. Jealousy can result into bitterness. In this chapter of Numbers Moses is confronted by his two siblings, his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam. They were wondering why God was speaking through Moses and not anyone else. When reading you can sense a little jealousy coming from them. This is the typical example of brothers and sisters not getting along with each other. I know my sister and I have been mad at each other and we would say to our parents why does she or he get to do that. We always said the classic line, “That’s not fair.” They were doing this little argument and we see that the Bible describes Moses as being meek. Meek is being humble and patient and controlling your power in a right way.

God decides to have a meeting with the three of them. Again we see God being patient with all of them and explains to them that he speaks to Moses as if he was speaking face to face with him. God basically told Aaron and Miriam that he uses whom he chooses and Moses is being used. God leaves the meeting but there are some consequences with Miriam’s actions; she became leprous. This obviously got everyone’s attention and Moses cried out to heal her and he said give her 7 days to be away from the camp then she will be healed.

Sin affects Everyone

The last couple of verses of the chapter we see that the whole camp could not move on until Miriam was back into the camp and clean and ready to go. Her sin not only affected her physically but it affected the whole camp. Many times we do not realize that our sin affects other people too. We may think that it only affects us and we can handle the consequences but the truth is our sin affects everyone around us. It affects our family and our friends and can bring even those down who look up to us. Sin is such a selfish thing that we don’t realize that we not only disobey God but it can hurt those around us too. We need to think about our actions before we do anything and always ask, is this pleasing to the Lord? We should also ask, “will this affect other people?”