Anyway, where were we?
This past Sunday we discussed Numbers 11-14 which tells to story of the nation of Israel leaving the foot of Mt. Sinai and moving to the border of the Promised Land.
And in the Promised Land, it's gonna be so grand
We'll have our fill from the grill,
As much as we can stand
It'll be so great, oh we can hardly wait
'Cause we're goin' to the Promised Land!
Sorry. Veggie Tales muscled its way into my brain. That was the blog equivalent of bursting into song.
Many of us have heard the the story from childhood about how the twelve spies were sent into the land to "scope it out", and how ten of them gave a dismal report full of negativity and pessimism, while only Joshua and Caleb expressed faith and confidence in what God could do. As is too often true, the negative report had more of an effect than the positive, and the whole nation began to plot their return to Egypt, (Num. 14:1-4)
On Sunday we discussed that phenomenon of wanting to go "back to how it was". It is a pretty universal thing. And even though we look at the narrative in the book of Numbers and wonder how in the WORLD these people could want to go back to slavery and hardship and Egypt, we are not so different ourselves. We forget about how bad things were once they are over, and something unknown in the future can become more of an issue than most anything in the past- even if that thing in the past was a great evil.
And so, the nation grumbled against God, and their grumbling was costly. This faithless report of the ten spies and the reaction of the people was a sort of last straw, and God was angry. God pronounces His judgment in Numbers 14:10-12
But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
Then Moses does what I consider to be a pretty remarkable thing. He goes to bat for the people! He intercedes on their behalf! He tries to talk God down from His anger! I don't know, if it had been me I would have probably said something like, "I hear ya, God. They're a bunch of whiners! Always griping. Always complaining. Can't say that I blame you on the whole "plague" thing." But that is not what he does! He intercedes on behalf of the people, and, I think, does it in an interesting way.
It is good to remember here that Moses himself certainly felt the frustration of dealing with these people. Look back at Numbers 11:14-15...
I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
Moses says "I can't handle these people and their problems- if this is how you are going to treat me just kill me now."
So, Moses was no stranger to the exasperation caused by these people. But still he went to bat for them and pleaded with God to forgive them.
Let's look briefly at how he did it...
The first thing Moses does is say to God, "If you wipe these people out, then think of what the Egyptians will say about you! They will say you were not able to deliver your people!" Moses' first course of action was not to speak about the people, but to appeal to the character of God Himself. In a way, Moses reminded God of who He is. Now, that is a very loose way of saying it- I don't think that God really had forgotten Himself, nor did He need any reminder of his own character. But that is how Moses approached it. And I think that we see here a component of intercessory prayer that is worth remembering. When we set to the task of praying hard for others, we can appeal to the very character of God Himself! Like Moses, we can pray, "God show your strength for all to see! Show yourself to be the powerful and loving God you are!" I think that we sometimes shy away from praying with these kinds of words because we do not want to sound like we are "manipulating" God. But you know, I don't think we need to worry about that. I get the feeling that God is not one to be manipulated by anyone. And if His glory is what we are really after, then He will not mind us bringing it up.
The one other thing that I find interesting about the way that Moses interceded was the fact that he did it at all. These were people who were never happy! These were people who would try the patience of Mother Theresa. If it had been me I would have said to God, "Can I watch while you blow them away?"
Even now we are faced with a similar challenge. We have talked about this before. When we look around and see what people are doing in the world, we can react a couple of ways. We can, as I do most of the time, just shake our heads and say, "Boy do you people have a big surprise coming. When Jesus comes back...... hooo boy are you gonna get it....." Or, we could be more like Moses and we could plead with God for the forgiveness of people, even when we are dead certain that they do not "deserve" it, and even when we don't really like them all that much. Just because we want the world to see the glory of the Lord and know the love of God. That's what Moses did.
I think it is important to note that even though Moses went to bat for these people, God did not let their disobedience go unpunished. In the final verses of Numbers 14 we see the people come to their senses, but too late. They decided that perhaps they will go into the promised land after all, but God does not go with them and many of them died by the sword. The lesson here is that punishment is not delayed forever. And we live in that era in which we cannot know the exact date or time of the Lord's return. So, I think, the lesson is, obey now while there is time. There will come a day when the opportunity is past.
Just Keep Swimming....
Jon
Then Moses does what I consider to be a pretty remarkable thing. He goes to bat for the people! He intercedes on their behalf! He tries to talk God down from His anger! I don't know, if it had been me I would have probably said something like, "I hear ya, God. They're a bunch of whiners! Always griping. Always complaining. Can't say that I blame you on the whole "plague" thing." But that is not what he does! He intercedes on behalf of the people, and, I think, does it in an interesting way.
It is good to remember here that Moses himself certainly felt the frustration of dealing with these people. Look back at Numbers 11:14-15...
I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
Moses says "I can't handle these people and their problems- if this is how you are going to treat me just kill me now."
So, Moses was no stranger to the exasperation caused by these people. But still he went to bat for them and pleaded with God to forgive them.
Let's look briefly at how he did it...
The first thing Moses does is say to God, "If you wipe these people out, then think of what the Egyptians will say about you! They will say you were not able to deliver your people!" Moses' first course of action was not to speak about the people, but to appeal to the character of God Himself. In a way, Moses reminded God of who He is. Now, that is a very loose way of saying it- I don't think that God really had forgotten Himself, nor did He need any reminder of his own character. But that is how Moses approached it. And I think that we see here a component of intercessory prayer that is worth remembering. When we set to the task of praying hard for others, we can appeal to the very character of God Himself! Like Moses, we can pray, "God show your strength for all to see! Show yourself to be the powerful and loving God you are!" I think that we sometimes shy away from praying with these kinds of words because we do not want to sound like we are "manipulating" God. But you know, I don't think we need to worry about that. I get the feeling that God is not one to be manipulated by anyone. And if His glory is what we are really after, then He will not mind us bringing it up.
The one other thing that I find interesting about the way that Moses interceded was the fact that he did it at all. These were people who were never happy! These were people who would try the patience of Mother Theresa. If it had been me I would have said to God, "Can I watch while you blow them away?"
Even now we are faced with a similar challenge. We have talked about this before. When we look around and see what people are doing in the world, we can react a couple of ways. We can, as I do most of the time, just shake our heads and say, "Boy do you people have a big surprise coming. When Jesus comes back...... hooo boy are you gonna get it....." Or, we could be more like Moses and we could plead with God for the forgiveness of people, even when we are dead certain that they do not "deserve" it, and even when we don't really like them all that much. Just because we want the world to see the glory of the Lord and know the love of God. That's what Moses did.
I think it is important to note that even though Moses went to bat for these people, God did not let their disobedience go unpunished. In the final verses of Numbers 14 we see the people come to their senses, but too late. They decided that perhaps they will go into the promised land after all, but God does not go with them and many of them died by the sword. The lesson here is that punishment is not delayed forever. And we live in that era in which we cannot know the exact date or time of the Lord's return. So, I think, the lesson is, obey now while there is time. There will come a day when the opportunity is past.
Just Keep Swimming....
Jon
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