You Can't Pick and Choose Which Instrucitons of God You'll Follow and Expect To Be Blessed

Numbers Chapter 33: Reviewing the Journey from Egypt to Sinai, from Kadesh to Moab, and Getting Instructions for Conquering Canaan

Intro to Numbers 33:1-56

Day 91. Thirteen weeks of social distancing for us since we came back from the U.S.  Who would have thought? But what is that to 40 years in the desert as the Israelites experienced when they left Egypt to head to the Promised Land of Canaan?

This chapter reviews the details of the journey geographically and then tells us what God wants Moses to tell the sons of Israel with respect to actually “crossing over Jordan” and finally reaching ‘home’.

The Passage

Verses 1-49 describe the trip, and all the stops. It covers their starting place from Rameses (a.k.a. Heroopolis or Pithon in later times; and then Abu-Keisheid), in bold view of the Egyptians who were still burying their first-borns that had been killed by the Lord in an effort to get the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Verse 49 finally has them camp by the Jordan (on the east side) in the plains of Moab. We pick up the actual text from there:

⁵⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ⁵¹ “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; ⁵³ and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. ⁵⁴ You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. ⁵⁶ And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’”

Thoughts on the Passage

The first 49 verses speak pretty well for themselves. It was a journey that has never been repeated in terms of its length and I don’t believe that too many are lining up to be the first to repeat it in the same manner. And now finally, they are on the cusp of the promised land. Just cross that river and conquer it, boys.

Then from verse 50 to the end of the chapter we have God’s “Law of Land Possession” as some Bible scholars have dubbed it.

We note in verse 50 that this was not to be a “learn as you go” operation. God gave the instructions once, and they were clear and specific. In verse 51, we can see there was no “if you cross over the Jordan” but rather “When you cross over”. This was going to exactly as God would describe it. And anyone who knew God, knew that. There’s no room for wondering. It is the same for us today – when God says something will happen in His Word, it will happen. When somehow the Holy Spirit has assured us of something happening in our lives, it will happen. Doubting only delays the inevitable.

So, here’s the summary of the instructions:

1.     You’ll cross the Jordan into Canaan

2.     Drive out all the inhabitants

a.     Notice you don’t have to kill them, just drive out

3.     Destroy all their figured stones and molten images

a.     All evidence of idolatry in the land needs to be totally erased; a lot of it were likely lewd sexual depictions of their corrupt and demonic worship practices and behaviors

4.     Demolish all their high places

a.     All evidence of their religions and worship need to be totally erased

5.     Take possession of the land

6.     Live in it (it is yours to possess given by God)

7.     You’ll inherit the land by lot by families (land given proportionally by numbers)

8.     If you don’t drive out the inhabitants, those that remain will become “pricks in your eyes and thorns in your side” and trouble you greatly.

9.     And if that’s the case, I will do to you as I plan to do to them.

a.     That is, they will ultimately drag you down, says Chuck Smith, and God would have to destroy/drive the Israelites out the land, as He did to them.

b.     Residing in close quarters with sinners has its negative influence.

Wow. Those are the terms. No chickening out allowed. Failure to carry out the orders in totality has great consequences. And as we will find out later in the Old Testament – Israel did fail in following the instructions totally. And that was a big problem for them. David Guzik says there’s a lesson there for the church as a whole and as a local assembly: You can succeed in the eyes of men (as the Israelites were about to do) but if you fail in the eyes of God, you still lose big-time.

God was clearly telling the Israelites, “don’t even think of associating with them”.  They did think and they allowed it.  And they suffered the consequences as we will see. There’s no more valid or serious warning one can receive than a warning from God – guaranteed execution if ignored.

Wrap-up

While we don’t see yet what the Israelites did in response to these instructions from God, we can note that God instructs and warns His children to do what is right in His eyes. Let’s get this right – you and I don’t have to agree with those instructions. Our disagreement is useless except for our own peril and possible destruction.

You and I may know what God expects. We know what God has told us in His Word. We know what the Holy Spirit may be speaking to us. And so, we do as much of it as we can. But not all. It’s the part that we don’t do that will give us trouble.

For me, it is to be patient when things are happening that I don’t like – in my own life, my family, my friends, church, etc. It was to trust fully in God and leave things totally to Him after I’ve told Him about my concerns.

What’s the part still left that you and I are following in what we know God wants? Maybe it’s time to do what we can to obey that as well.  May God help us to do so.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Christian, Misrepresent God at Your Own Peril and Lose Your Dream.

Numbers Chapter 20: A Big Chapter in which Miriam & Aaron Die; Israel & Moses Sin; God Commands; and Edom Refuses Passage to the Israelites

Numbers 20:1-29

Day 73. Minneapolis is “burning”, and a police officer was charged with 3^rd degree murder and manslaughter. Murder is either first degree or second degree, except in three states (Florida, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota). There were violent riots last night in Atlanta, New York, Washington, and Minneapolis. The world is no longer a safe place. Racism is still rampant. Love is still missing big time. I can’t speak for others, but I feel the church is silent. It was, for all intent and purposes, silent as Hitler was implementing his “final solution”.  The Church of Jesus Christ has the only true “final solution” that works for mankind and it needs to take bigger risks to share it these days. I recently was asked on social media if I was prepared to actually admit that I “talk with God daily, etc.” I said “yes, I do” and the person proceeded to ridicule me. That’s okay. But the message got out there. Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Association is using this Covid-19 experience as an opportunity to share the Gospel – clearly and simply.  I congratulate him. We need to put our money where our mouths are. Let’s be a blessing to someone today.

On a positive note, today NASA/SPACEX (the latter being owned by Elon Musk who owns brought us Tesla cars) has successfully launched American astronauts into space again, after nearly one whole decade. We wish them godspeed.

Thank you for joining us in our study of Numbers. Chapter 20 is a chapter with lots of events. Read on.

The Passage

20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

² There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. ³ The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! ⁴ Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die ^[a]here?⁵ Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of ^[b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.”⁶ Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them;

⁷ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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 shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”¹³ Those were the waters of ^[c]Meribah, ^[d]because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us; ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ But when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’” ¹⁸ Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ^[e]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will ^[f]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ^[g]nothing else.” ²⁰ But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy ^[h]force and with a strong hand.²¹ Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

²² Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My ^[i]command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 20:4 Lit there
2. Numbers 20:5 Lit seed
3. Numbers 20:13 I.e. contention
4. Numbers 20:13 Or where
5. Numbers 20:18 Lit me
6. Numbers 20:19 Lit give
7. Numbers 20:19 Or no great thing
8. Numbers 20:20 Lit people
9. Numbers 20:24 Lit mouth

Thoughts on the Passage

A packed chapter indeed. Verse 1 tells us where they are and when they got there and simply that Moses’ sister, Miriam, died there. Miriam was the first of the three siblings to die (Aaron and Moses were to follow). This was in keeping with God’s promise that none of the original generation of those who left Egypt, save Joshua and Caleb, would enter the promised land.

In verses 2-6, we find out that the people grumble again, this time for water. They approach Moses and ask the same questions, “why, why, why”. And of course, Moses and Aaron go towards the doorway of the tent of meeting, fall on their faces, and the glory of the Lord appears to them and God speaks to Moses. He instructs Moses on how to deal with the situation. Let’s look at the instructions carefully because this event is a lead-up to the most critical or key verse of the entire book of Numbers.

David Guzik says the need was real, but the reaction of Israel smacked of unbelief and a bad attitude. Sometimes, as we all know, we overact to what we think is a pressing need in our lives rather than to take the matter to God.

God says: i) take the rod; ii) you and Aaron assemble the congregation; and iii) speak to the rock before their eyes, so that it would yield water. Simple. Three requests. Nothing else was needed. The rod that Moses was to take, according to Robert Jamieson, was the one that had been deposited in the tabernacle as we are told in Numbers 17:10. It was the rod of Aaron. There was no request to ‘use’ the rod to strike the rock as God had instructed Moses to do back in Mount Sinai when there was a similar need. Just talking to the rock this time would produce the water needed and the congregation and their animals would have their thirst satisfied. But what happened?

Moses i) takes the rod (so far, so good); ii) Moses and Aaron gather the assembly before the rock (even better); and iii) – oh oh, Moses doesn’t speak to the rock! He speaks to the people (verse 10) and he calls them rebels. He asks them if he and Aaron were to give them water out of the rock. And then, only then, does Moses strike the rock twice without speaking to it. The water gushes forth and the people and their animals drink as much as they want.

What was Moses guilty of from a human perspective? First, he added his own approach to the process that God had given him to deal with the situation. Second, he chided the people and was angry at them. His emotions or attitude took over his heart. And finally, as Guzik says, he over-magnified his part or potential part in the solution – “shall we give you water?” Who’s “we” Moses?  You can’t do anything. Did you forget that?  That’s our lesson here. When God wants us to do something – stick to what He tells us to do and we must not exaggerate in our minds or with our words, our role in that. And then he strikes the rock not once, as if he were a magician, but twice, out of shear anger and frustration.

We need to note how gracious God was to the Israelites. Even though Moses didn’t follow the instructions, God didn’t deny His people what they needed. The thought that comes to mind is how we often see God taking care of His people in local church when their leaders are not following God’s exact instructions. God loves us and He will take care of us regardless of leadership. And then He will deal with the leadership.

And the God speaks to Moses and Aaron, and here comes the most critical or key verse in the whole book, verse 12, “Because you guys did not believe me and you did not treat Me as holy in the sight of the people, you both will not have the privilege of leading them to the promised land.”  The rock did not need to be struck; it only needed to be spoken to. Come on, God. We’re talking about Moses and Aaron here. These are you chosen servants.  They have gone through so much in obedience to you. One little mistake and that’s it, they’re out?  That’s it, they are out. And not only that, they, or at least Moses, still has a lot of work to do for God. No exceptions, not even for Moses.

We have to understand what God was upset about here. It was the fact that He was misrepresented to the people by Moses and Aaron. He says, “because you did not believe me.” Because God said that, we can know that Moses did in fact have a problem at that very moment with his belief in God being able to deliver the water by Moses simply speaking to the rock. And as a result, Moses lost out on his life’s dream – the promised land. The lesson? Don’t ever misrepresent God. Don’t ever doubt God. Don’t stop believing in what God tells you directly. Leaders, pastors, elders, deacons, church staff take note – don’t ever do that. And that goes for the rest of us, too.

Now, here’s the comparison to Christ the Rock. In order for Christ to accomplish His work for the Father, He only needed to be struck once – to be crucified. He did not need, in order to save us all from sin, to be struck twice. Guzik says Moses in striking the rock twice, “defaced a beautiful picture of Jesus' redemptive work through the rock which provided water in the wilderness”.

Verses 14-21 relate the account of Moses sending messengers to the king of Edom requesting permission to pass through his land on their journey. Notice these messengers referred to themselves, to Israel, as “Edom’s brother”. Guzik says, “The nation of Israel was brother to the nation of Edom, because the patriarch Israel (also known as Jacob) was brother to Esau (also known as Edom), as related in Genesis 25:19-34.

They give him the story about all the hardships they’ve been through and that they will not harm their land at all. The king of Edom says no, and if they try anyway, he would go after them in battle. They tried again asking if they could even just go by one highway and again, he said no, at which point the Israelites turned to travel away from Edom’s territory and they got to Mount Hor (verse 22). The refusal was truly unnecessary. It would have cost Edom nothing to agree. But what was the lesson for the Israelites? It was the same as it is for us today: when people do not support our work or cause and set up barriers for our service to God, leave them to God and don’t try to avenge their actions. In my own life, I’ve seen God take care of those kind of uncooperative sorts appropriately soon after their refusal to help.

God once again speaks to Moses and Aaron. This is important because now God is telling them that it is time for Aaron to die because they both rebelled against God at Meribah (where the water miracle took place). And Moses was to take Aaron and his son Eleazar up to Mount Hor. God uses the phrase “bring them up” so we could assume that He was going to be there as well. Moses was to strip Aaron of this high priestly garments and put them on Eleazar. And then Aaron was to die there. And that’s exactly what happened. Then Moses, after supposedly burying Aaron (we don’t know for sure), along with Eleazar went back down.  The whole congregation connected the dots and realized that Aaron had died, and they all wept and mourned for 30 days.

Several things to note here. Aaron’s death had been announced prior to the trip up Mount Hor. So, there was time for an orderly and appropriate transition from Israel’s first High Priest to their second. Also, we must remember that as good as Aaron was, he was also involved negatively in the whole situation with the Golden Calf. He, like sister Miriam, and later Moses, could be said to have had a mixed record in serving God. What’s the lesson? Guzik suggests that many times the office and the work is more important than the man (or woman) carrying it out. [I can’t but think of how so many Christians today complain about the personal sins of a president but fail to see what that president may be doing that God wants done. We need to think about that as we verbalize our opinions.]

What is not lost on us and Matthew Henry is that these same people who time and again came out and complained about Aaron, now mourn 30 days for his loss. That is human nature. That is the fickleness of people. That is the hypocrisy of people. I can go on.  I won’t. Our job is to work and live throughout our lives for an audience of one – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is my prayer for you and me today.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

What you don't want to hear is: "Big Mistake. Big Mistake. Huge Mistake."

The Lampstand

                        

Photo courtesy of: http://www.templebuildersministry.com/ -- please do visit their site.

Exodus 25:31-40: “Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower—so for six branches going out from the lampstand; and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers. A bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. Their bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.”

We come now to the third piece of furniture God wanted constructed by the people of Israel – a lampstand of pure gold. He gives them specific instructions that one reads in this passage.  There are a few special aspects we should point out. The text speaks of “bulbs” and one could well say, “Wait a minute, they didn’t have bulbs, as in light bulbs, in the day of Moses.” And one would be right. This lampstand would not even be lit with candles. Instead, the ‘cups’ that were shaped like almonds, but also looked like flowers, made of gold, were to be filled with oil and a wick placed in them, which would be lit.  But once lit, they were to remain lit, and so we imagine the wick and the oil would need replacing and replenishing often. David Guzik suggests the use of the almond blossom image is significant in that it is the first tree to blossom in the springtime. I draw from that the “children of Israel” were the first of God’s children and the real light (Jesus Christ) came to them first.

It would have six branches going out from it, three on each side, and the center post shall have four ornaments looking like flowers on it, likely spread out from the top to the bottom of the stand, the top one also used as a lamp along with the other six ornaments – so seven lamps (or lights) all together.

And if that’s not enough detailed instruction, God wants the flame in each of the seven lamps to be placed in such a way that each one sheds light on the space before it.  Accessory equipment like the snuffers and the trays they sit on are also to be made of pure gold.  Wow not even ladies of the southern aristocratic families of the last century had these many demands for anything they ordered for their fancy plantation homes. And God drives home His request by telling Moses to make sure that all these things are made in accordance to the pattern He gave to him on the mountain.  Our God is a demanding God.  But here’s the newsflash – He has every right to be.  And once again that is the hardest foundational hurdle of faith for us to overcome, and the rest comes easy. For those that are looking for a better (from a human perspective) explanation, Chuck Smith says God wanted it exactly the way He wanted it “because it has to be an exact thing if it’s going to be a model of the heavenly.” Then he points out that in Hebrews 8:5 we are told that that’s exactly what it is.

Remember this lampstand (along with the Ark and the ‘table of showbread’) was to be kept in the structure that God instructs His people to build next – the tent we call the Tabernacle. The lampstand was to be the light in the tent that would be completely covered and thus needed internal light, but Chuck Smith commentates, “it really was a symbol of God’s desire for the nation Israel to be the light of the world.”

Matthew Henry takes the symbolism one step further. Until the real Light (Jesus Christ) was to come to earth (for He already existed in the heavens), God was not left without witness of His existence. The lamp, to Henry, represented the commandments of God, and the lights of this lampstand the law.  The branches from the lamp were the prophets who gave light in their time throughout the Old Testament.

As interesting as all this symbolism is, I must remind myself that it is all symbolic and sometimes left to the interpretation of commentators.  However, what we should not ignore to any extent is God’s caution that He now has repeated twice and I believe does so again later in Scripture.  Simply put, it is “Follow the Instructions!”  Not, “If all else fails, follow the instructions!” But follow them the first time. Henry says, “Nothing was left to his (Moses’) own invention, or the fancy of the workmen, or the people’s humor; but the will of God must be religiously observed in every particular.”

And here’s why this is so significant according to Henry: “All God’s providences are exactly according to his counsels, and the copy never varies from the original.  Infinite Wisdom never changes its measures; whatever is the purposed shall undoubtedly be performed.” That’s critical.  God’s principles do not change.  If something was wrong in the days of Israel, it’s wrong today. If God desired a relationship with us in the day of Moses, He desires a relationship with us today. And so on. And thus His representatives in the Church today must administer all his ordinances according to His instructions. Jesus Himself echoed this when in Matthew 28:20 He said, “Observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

In the business world today, contractors lose their jobs if they fail to follow the exact specifications of the blueprints they are given. Engineers can get sued if they fail to build a product to spec. Deaths can result from such disobedience. So we all do our best to follow the instructions to a tee if we want something to work well. But for some reason, when it comes to either our relationship with God, or in our obedience to His directions for our lives, we think we can improve on the design or the process.

Many of you have seen the old movie with Julia Roberts were she, looking a little like a tramp, was refused service when trying to buy something at a very expensive store on Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, California. She was asked to leave.  Later in the week, she drops in to the same store, loaded with several bags from a competitor elite retailer, finds the same saleslady, holds ups all her shopping and utters her famous line, “Big mistake. Big mistake. Huge mistake.” You ask what’s the connection? Simply this: When God tells you to do something, do it.  If you’re there to serve others – don’t pick and choose who you serve; serve all that God brings your way.  And you can draw many of your own inferences.  The point is you don’t want God or the angels He sends in disguise coming back and saying, “Big mistake.” Let’s get serious about God’s instructions and let’s follow them religiously. 

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