On the Road with Moses
You might think, as I did, that it would be really boring to read the Book of Numbers. Just the title is discouraging to an English Major like myself. Numbers. Yuk, Numbers. And if you actually go so far as to open it up, yup!…there they are! A bunch of lists and numbers. But keep reading. Get past Chapter 2 and into the good stuff. There are some great lessons in there. Lessons about us.
I’ve been praying these last weeks that our merciful God will continue to bless us. I pray He’ll bless us even though we have a vain habit of constantly doing things our own way. Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way” rendition may resonate with a lot of us, but it’s a slur against the Lord. Doing it My Way means, in most cases, that we’re not Doing it His Way.
I've been reading Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and it's positively embarrassing how the Israelites keep complaining and blaming God for all their stupid selfishness. What a pack of whiners. Here God has just delivered them from slavery in Egypt and all they can do is complain! Complain and disobey.
Moses shares a few rules, sure, and many of the people, including his brother, Aaron, still want to do their own thing. One big rule was to not worship any other God but the one true God. And definitely, for pity’s sake, don’t make a false idol of wood or gold or anything.
Moses heads up on the mountain for a mere forty days, a retreat with God, and the whole camp erupts into disbelief and idol worship. It doesn’t take long for them to forget everything they’ve already learned. Here they are snacking on manna, the very bread of heaven, and planning to disobey God at the same time. Oh brother! Aaron has been left in charge but the whiners harass him so much that he gives in and organizes them into making the Golden Calf. Moses is furious…yelling and throwing down the 10 commandment tablets. God is burning mad. You probably know this story. (Check out Exodus 20 if you don’t.)
What I didn’t know from Sunday school, however, was that this type of Disobedience, followed by Discipline, was a pattern that was repeated over and over again. (Kind of like in my house, with my five beautiful children.) Again and again they disobey and are punished. God gets so mad at them!
It's not a one time thing. No, God is forced to strike them down left, right and center...did you know that? In Numbers I read all about it. People were busy singing, “I did it my way” and God responded. Their way cost them their very lives. God sent a plague (twice), sent poisonous snakes to bite them, opened up the ground and swallowed families whole, cremated 1,000 people with lightening, etc, etc.
In other words, He was pissed!
The embarrassing part is I can see how I am like the Israelites. Exactly like them. I’ve experienced God's provision and His rescue. Yet here I am in the desert, still whining about what is going to happen next.
The Good News? I’m protected, covered really, by my belief in Jesus. He’s my mediator, which means that God will not open up the ground around my house and swallow me whole. Not that I don’t deserve it, but it won’t happen.
Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for my annoying doubts and fears. You have led me out of my own desert and always kept me safe. I know you have a plan and a hope and a future for me. I rest all of my anxieties at your feet. I don’t want to be like a whining Israelite. I want to be like Moses, hearing directly from you and being obedient to everything You say. I’ll need help with that.
Thank you that you are faithful even when I am not. I love you, Lord.
If we are unfaithful,
He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny himself.
I’ve been praying these last weeks that our merciful God will continue to bless us. I pray He’ll bless us even though we have a vain habit of constantly doing things our own way. Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way” rendition may resonate with a lot of us, but it’s a slur against the Lord. Doing it My Way means, in most cases, that we’re not Doing it His Way.
I've been reading Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and it's positively embarrassing how the Israelites keep complaining and blaming God for all their stupid selfishness. What a pack of whiners. Here God has just delivered them from slavery in Egypt and all they can do is complain! Complain and disobey.
Moses shares a few rules, sure, and many of the people, including his brother, Aaron, still want to do their own thing. One big rule was to not worship any other God but the one true God. And definitely, for pity’s sake, don’t make a false idol of wood or gold or anything.
Moses heads up on the mountain for a mere forty days, a retreat with God, and the whole camp erupts into disbelief and idol worship. It doesn’t take long for them to forget everything they’ve already learned. Here they are snacking on manna, the very bread of heaven, and planning to disobey God at the same time. Oh brother! Aaron has been left in charge but the whiners harass him so much that he gives in and organizes them into making the Golden Calf. Moses is furious…yelling and throwing down the 10 commandment tablets. God is burning mad. You probably know this story. (Check out Exodus 20 if you don’t.)
What I didn’t know from Sunday school, however, was that this type of Disobedience, followed by Discipline, was a pattern that was repeated over and over again. (Kind of like in my house, with my five beautiful children.) Again and again they disobey and are punished. God gets so mad at them!
It's not a one time thing. No, God is forced to strike them down left, right and center...did you know that? In Numbers I read all about it. People were busy singing, “I did it my way” and God responded. Their way cost them their very lives. God sent a plague (twice), sent poisonous snakes to bite them, opened up the ground and swallowed families whole, cremated 1,000 people with lightening, etc, etc.
In other words, He was pissed!
The embarrassing part is I can see how I am like the Israelites. Exactly like them. I’ve experienced God's provision and His rescue. Yet here I am in the desert, still whining about what is going to happen next.
The Good News? I’m protected, covered really, by my belief in Jesus. He’s my mediator, which means that God will not open up the ground around my house and swallow me whole. Not that I don’t deserve it, but it won’t happen.
Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for my annoying doubts and fears. You have led me out of my own desert and always kept me safe. I know you have a plan and a hope and a future for me. I rest all of my anxieties at your feet. I don’t want to be like a whining Israelite. I want to be like Moses, hearing directly from you and being obedient to everything You say. I’ll need help with that.
Thank you that you are faithful even when I am not. I love you, Lord.
If we are unfaithful,
He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 NLT
NLT
NLT
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