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Numbers 12-14
Fatal Failure
of Faith
Psalm 22:6-31 A Psalm of Trust and Triumph
6.But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.7.All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,8."He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him."9.But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother’s breasts.10.I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.11.Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.12.Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.13.They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.14.I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.15.My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.16.For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.17.I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.18.They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.19.But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me.20.Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
21.Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
22.I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.23.You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!24.For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.25.Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.26.The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.27.All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.28.For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations.29.All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.30.Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.31.They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it."
Observations
22:6-20.The events in David's life closely parallel those of Christ being mocked on the cross, yet David recalls that God has been his God from youth, and therefore won't abandon him now, and he continues to trust Him, regardless of how bad it gets or looks.
22:21.
The psalm hinges on this verse with a change of verb tenses. Up until this point, David has been pleading (“cause me to be saved” – Hiphil Imperative), now, in the second half he has been delivered (“you have answered/heard – Qal Perfect) and his prayer turns to that of praise.
22:22-31.
These are not the words of someone who has been forsaken, but of one who has been heard and delivered. The ascriptions of praise go beyond David, to a Davidic descendant who would rule over all nations in the Kingdom of Yahweh. All mortals, rich and poor would bow and worship. People yet to be born would declare His righteousness and of God's deliverance. See how this applies to the Messiah as a song of victory?
Application
Those who wholeheartedly trust and seek God can confidently expect Him to answer and save them regardless of how bad it gets, even through death. If God doesn't answer as you wish, know that He has a really good reason. (Resurrection to happily ever after anyone?)
Prayer
God, I praise You for being so trustworthy, and faithful to those who seek and trust You; thanks that You will never abandon me. Amen.
Proverbs 6:16-19 What God Hates
16.“There are six things which Yahweh hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:17.(1) arrogant eyes/proud look, (2) a lying tongue, (3) hands that shed innocent blood;18.(4) a heart that devises wicked schemes, (5) feet that are swift in running to mischief,19.(6) a false witness who utters lies, (7) and he who sows discord among brothers.“Observation
6:16-19. To avoid the judgment God heaps upon abominations, we need to understand why each of these items is so bad that they are singled out for God's specific displeasure. (Hint: look for the hoof prints.)- 17 arrogance/pride – views oneself as the center of the universe, like Satan, independent of God (essence of sin) and considering oneself better than others, rather than their servant.
- a lying tongue – following in the hoof prints of the father of lies, Satan, one who lies does so to gain advantage, rather than trusting God to bless them.
- hands that shed innocent blood – God hates injustice, and those who kill the innocent usurp His role as the author and sustainor of life, operating independently of His mandates. Satan seeks to undermine God's rule.
- 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes – instead of having a heart wholly focused on obeying God, an evil heart departs from God's ways and schemes to do things contrary to His will.
- feet that are swift in running to mischief – unrestrained willfulness is the mark of undisciplined toddlers and ungodly adolescents, and unsanctified adults.
- 19 a false witness who utters lies – people lie, operating in the dark rather than the light, for temporal advantage, and lose out on eternal gain.
- and he who sows discord among brothers – God's plan is unity among believers, but Satan seeks to thwart that to prevent God's purposes from being accomplished. Satan appeals to our self-centeredness to create discord (see Ephesians).
Application
If God hates something, we'd be wise to figure out how to avoid it.
Prayer
Lord, I want to do the things that please You, know the things You hate, which will incur Your wrath. Amen.
Numbers 12-14 Fatal Failure of Faith
Skip to chapter 14 if you're short on time. It ties with Genesis 3 as the most significant chapter in the OT for understanding the triumphant Christian life. Don't miss it.1 Corinthians 10:1 “Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that accompanied them, and the rock was Christ. 5 However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were strewn over the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted...”
Numbers 12 Sibling Stupidity
1.Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married2.They said, Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn`t He spoken also with us? Yahweh heard it.3.Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth.4.Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, Come out you three to the tent of meeting. They three came out.5.Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth.6.He said, Hear now My words: if there be a prophet among you, I Yahweh will make Myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream.7.My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house:8.with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?9.The anger of Yahweh was kindled against them; and He departed.10.The cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as [white as] snow...11.Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my lord, please don`t lay sin on us, for that we have done foolishly, and for that we have sinned.13.Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, Heal her, God, I beg you.14.Yahweh said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn`t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.16.Afterward the people journeyed from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.Observations
12:1.Cushites weren't verboten Canaanites. Moses had the closer and better relationship with God because of his better obedience (v7). God spoke to him face to face (v8), not in dreams and visions. His siblings weren't getting their worth and value from God, and therefore had to get it by being better than others. Seventy elders had just been given the Spirit in the last chapter. Folks with fragile self-worth are always threatened by not feeling special. The corrective is to be special in God's sight, via faithfulness.
12:3.
Moses wrote these true words. He took no offense at the attack, God did, and he even prayed for his “enemy” (v13).
12:7-8.
Because of his faithfulness, Moses saw God in the form of Yahweh.
Application
Beware of criticizing people who follow God better than you do. If you want to feel better about yourself, follow God more closely.
Prayer
God Who Fights My Battles, may I be so faithful in following You and feeling good about it, that I don't even think about being better than someone else as the basis of my worth and value. Amen.
Numbers 13 Short-Sighted Spies
1.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,2.Send your men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, everyone a prince among them...4.These were their names:...6.Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.8.Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.16.These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.18....see the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many;20.Be of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.25.They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.26....and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.27.They told him, We came to the land where you sent us; and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.28.However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.30.Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.31.But the men who went up with him said, We aren`t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.32.They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants of it; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.33.There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.Observations
13:2.God promised to give the land. All Israel had to do was trust and obey.
13:16.
Dt 1:22 says it was the people's idea to send out the spies. The emphasis here is on the failure to obey, not the sending of the spies. Hoshea/Joshua, Moses' assistant, used to hang around in the Tent of Meeting even after Moses left. He helps fulfill Jacob's blessing of the per-eminence of Ephriam. Funny how we only remember Joshua and Caleb. What about the other ten?
13:27.
The land was good as God had promised. The spies could see the goodness of the land, and the giants who lived there. They could see their own inability to reap the promises of God. What they didn't see was that the God who promised was faithful to perform (Rm 4:21).
13:32-33.
The land was so good, that the biggest and baddest took it over for themselves, eating up the previous inhabitants. The Nephilim would have been destroyed by the flood. If you think you're a grasshopper, you'll think everyone else sees you as one.
Application
If the part of God's promises that we can see is true, then it stands to reason that the part we can't see will also be true.
Prayer
Almighty God, help me keep Your promises, and not my problem in attaining them, in front of my eyes. Never let me doubt Your ability to do what You have promised. Amen.
Numbers 14 The Folly of Fear and the Failure of Faith
1.All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.2.All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!3.Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn`t it be better for us to return into Egypt?4.They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.5.Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.6.Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes:7.and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.8.If Yahweh delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.9.Only don`t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear you the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us: don`t fear them.10.But all the congregation said stone them with stones. The glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel.11.Yahweh said to Moses, How long will this people despise Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?12.I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.13.Moses said to Yahweh, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them;14.and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You Yahweh are in the midst of this people; for You Yahweh are seen face to face, and Your cloud stands over them, and You go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.15.Now if You shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of You will speak, saying,16.Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness.17.Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as You have spoken, saying,18.Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in hesed /loyal love, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.19.Pardon, please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your hesed /loyal love, and according as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.20.Yahweh said, I have pardoned according to your word:21.but indeed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh;22.because all those men who have seen My glory, and My signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted Me these ten times, and have not listened to My voice;23.surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised Me see it:24.but My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it.25.Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn, and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.26.Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,27.How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.28.Tell them, As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you:29.your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,30.surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.31.But your little ones, that you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.32.But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.33.Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and suffer for your infidelity (prostitution), until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.34.After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my alienation.35.I, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this will I do to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.36.The men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,37.even those men who did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh.38.But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.39.Moses told these words to all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.40.They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned.42.Don`t go up, for Yahweh isn`t among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.43.For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following Yahweh, therefore Yahweh will not be with you.44.But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn`t depart out of the camp.45.Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.Observations
14:1.People responded to their fearful obstacles with their feelings rather than faith. Fatal.
14:8.
Most believers encounter failure in their walks because they fail to faithfully follow (obey) God and therefore have no confidence that He delights in them (He doesn't delight in disobedient rebels).
14:11.
They had daily manna, and the cloud/pillar was visibly with them, but the focus on themselves, made it impossible to focus on God. Signs are no substitute for trust (14:22. cf Mt 12:39; 16:4).
14:12-13.
This is the second time God offers Moses this deal, and again he declines, because he is concerned about the glory and reputation of God more than his own.
14:17-20. These verses are KEY!!! They are rooted in the very essence of the glory of God (Ex 34). God pardons and forgives His redeemed people for their repeated rebellion and disobedience, YET because He is also just, they miss out on the blessing/reward/inheritance in the Promised Land. They are not unforgiven, nor are they re-enslaved in Egypt.
Spoiler Alert: In six chapters (Num 20) Moses will miss the promised blessing as well, because of his disobedience.
14:24.
Caleb and Joshua fully follow God and reap their reward (Book of Joshua). See Caleb A Whole-hearted Believer on Truthbase.net. My sons' middle names are Caleb and Joshua. Hopefully they won't be the only ones in their generation to go against the flow by following God.
14:31-45.
God likens their unfaithfulness to Him to prostitution, and brings upon them the very thing they feared. Even acknowledging their sin, they continue to sin by disobeying God's command to go back to the wilderness. As a result, God isn't with them and they get beat up. That's presumption, presuming they know better than God. Tragic.
Application
Disobediently focusing on our fears leads to failure. Obediently focusing on God's promises leads to pleasures forevermore. Is there anything too difficult to understand about that?
Prayer
Faithful Father, You forgive and bless for Your glory's sake. May I faithfully follow You all of my days, with my eyes on You and Your promises, and not on my fears and problems. Amen.
Digging Deeper
The ten times Israel tested God (cf Ten Plagues)
1. At the Red Sea (Ex 14:11-12)
2. At Marah (Ex 15:23)
3. In the wilderness of Sin (Ex 16:2)
4. In the wilderness of Sin (Ex 16:20)
5. In the wilderness of Sin (Ex 16:27)
6. At Rephidim (Ex 17:1-2)
7. At Horeb (Ex 32)
8. At Taberah (Num 11:1-3)
9. At Kibroth-hattaavah (Num 11:4-34)
10. At Kadesh (Num 14:1-3)
Each time God graciously forgave them (although He did smite the ringleaders sometimes).
God in a nutshell:
God requires and blesses obedience, and forgives yet punishes disobedience. He forgives the death penalty of eternal separation from Him in the lake of fire (Rev 20:15), but does not spare us the consequences of our actions, indeed He will bring curses upon the disobedient (Lev 26). This is totally consistent with His glory as revealed to Moses in Ex 34 (and repeated in Num 14). He graciously forgives multiple times, yet reaches a point where He lets us go our own way and reap the consequences of being separated from Him. He'd rather it not be that way, but He's given us the choice. Remember a Sovereign sets the rules, and dem's the rules.
Us in a nutshell:
We tend to have a difficult time understanding a God who pardons yet punishes. That's partly because we underestimate the magnitude and effects of our sin. If we whole-heartedly set our focus on God and faithfully following Him in light of His promises, everything is good. If we focus on our flawed value system, faulty feelings and fears, we will fail, and then nothing will be good, even though God forgives us.