Numbers 16:15-23 – Profile of the heart of an intercessor.

The accusation of Dathan and Abiram hurled at Moses had absolutely no basis. They and the congregation having to wander in the wilderness had nothing to do with him. It was their own doing. They had chosen not to believe God. Moses on his part did not do a thing to harm them, neither did he gain a thing from them. He insisted that he did not even take a single donkey from them.

However, provoked by the defiance of Dathan and Abiram, who ignored his summons and refused to appear before him, Moses became angry. So he told the LORD to ignore the offerings of Dathan and Abiram as if these two would do something to atone their wrong. However, this pair had become so incorrigible and hopelessly irredeemable. Moses then ignored them and turned to deal with Korah and his group first. Repeating what he told them earlier. He said, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. And each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” 

Unlike Dathan and Abiram, who absolutely refused to appear before Moses, Korah responded. He and his group did as they were told and appeared before Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the tent of meeting with their censers and all, as instructed. Verse 19 indicates that Korah managed to assemble the whole congregation who concurred with him in the insurrection. So they all stood facing Moses and Aaron as the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

At first, God wanted to destroy the whole congregation. He ordered Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the congregation so that He could judge them all. Here again, we see the tenderness of Moses in full display. Together with Aaron, they fell on their faces and pled for mercy for the congregation. The LORD heard  their plea and said to Moses, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the areas around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

While the passage highlighted the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the takeaways firstly, is about the heart of the intercessors, especially Moses’. As an intercessor, he was confident that God would hear and answer his prayer. So he adopted the posture of humility. He stood with God in judgment, but he also sought to understand the plight of those who were less culpable. These people did not take the lead, they were thoughtless followers drawn into a fight unwittingly. Moses pled on their behalf and God relented.  When we are seeking to mediate a situation in prayer, learn to identify those who are truly responsible and those who are unwitting victims. Secondly, we must be mindful of who we are listening to in life. There are people who would want to draw us to join in their rebellion against God’s ordained leadership. We must learn to be discerning and not become an unwitting victim of other’s discontentment, and invite needless troubles to ourselves. Be discerning and act rightly!  

Numbers 16:12-14 – True leadership

To aspire to leadership is not a wrong desire. In fact in 1 Timothy 3:1. Paul commended such a desire. A person’s desire for leadership will be wrong when the motivation and intention for leadership is self-gratification. It is needful for anyone who aspires to be a leader to examine and assess his or her motive before God. Important as the gifting of a person for leadership may be, his or her character will be a far more vital criterion. Obviously, Dathan and Abiram did not appraise themselves appropriately and failed to see themselves rightly. They were flawed characters.  

Korah’s ambition was the priesthood whereas the desire of Dathan and Abiram was to usurp Moses' position. They wanted to lead the people without realizing that they lack the character to do so.  On closer examination, they were after the power and position. They were downright defiant when Moses summoned for them to appear before him. They stoutly refused to budge. Disrespectfully they challenged Moses’ leadership saying, “We will not come up.  Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”

Here was a frontal attack on Moses personally. They accused him of leading them into the wilderness to kill them and not to Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. Egypt to them seemed more like the land of milk and honey. They had forgotten that it was they and the congregation who had chosen to listen to negative reports and had refused to go into the promised land. They further claimed that Moses had appointed himself as the leader to enslave them. Rhetorically they were accusing Moses of deceiving the people in what he was doing. They were not saying that he physically gouged out the people's eyes. They were implying that Moses could deceive the rest of the people, but he could not delude the two of them.

We can tell that while they were attacking Moses, their real target was God. Their disappointment was more with God than with Moses. This is what normally happens. People will take it out on leaders whom God has appointed because they are His representatives. The delusion of the two brothers could well be generated by their mismatched expectations. What they were experiencing seemed incongruous with what they were expecting. They failed to see that it was not the Lord, neither was it Moses who created the problems for them. They would have been in the promised land by now, had they not been derailed by pandering to their unbelief.

Korah’s issue with Moses was because he wanted the prestige and status of the priesthood. Whereas Dathan and Abiram’s issue was all about the power they wanted to have over the people. And these issues can also be seen in today’s church. People eye leadership because of prestige, status, power, and control. We must never forget that leadership in the church is all about divine calling and divine reliance. No church leader can act independently of God’s will and purpose. The Biblical way Church has to be led is often unimpressive in human estimation. But what is folly to humans is really the wisdom of God. We must view church leadership from the perspective of the cross of Christ. The strength of an appointed leader is made evident when the finished works of Christ are brought to bear in the weakness of the leader’s life. The effectiveness of a leader in the context of the church is not pragmatism but reliance on the wisdom of God. Effective leadership follows principles derived from God’s Word and not merely the skills gleaned from secular leadership seminars.  Effectiveness is about godly servant leadership. And it is a calling, not self-appointment!            

Numbers 16:4-11 – The danger of harboring a wrong ambition.

Numbers 16:4 tells us how Moses responded when he heard the accusation of the group of rebels. He immediately fell on his face. This was also how he responded when the congregation, influenced by the negative reports of the ten spies, grumbled against him and Aaron. Numbers 14:5 said that “Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.” What exactly does the posture he had adopted tell us? It affirms what God said about him that he was the meekest man on earth. But more importantly, falling face down on the ground was a posture of submission, a posture of turning to the Lord, and seeking divine assistance. We know that in life, the immediate response for some leaders when challenged would have been to lash out at the accusers and become defensive. But not Moses, his immediate response was to turn to the Lord and seek His counsel on how best to deal with the situation. He was basically placing the matter before God and into His hand. Isn’t this a better option?

How would you and I  have responded if it had been us being challenged? Many of us would inevitably feel the need to exert our rights and probably seek to try and vindicate ourselves. How many of us would be like Moses and adopt a posture of submission? For us most probably aggression and guarding our “so-called” reputation would be the rule of the day. Here the posture that Moses adopted in the face of the rebellion was worth our emulation. Turning to the Lord, seeking His wisdom on how to tackle the situation would certainly be the best option in a time such as this. So when we are confronted with such a situation, learn to respond like Moses.

In Numbers 16:4-11, Moses was dealing with their question on who had the right to take the lead in religious matters. When Moses fell faceward to the ground, he was confident that God would give them a satisfactory answer as to whom He had consecrated for the priesthood to serve Him in the Tabernacle. Verse 10 hints to us that Korah and the rebelling Levites were eyeing the priesthood. They were showing signs that they were not pleased with their God-given ministry of transporting the Ark of the covenant, the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and the golden lampstands. They wanted more. They wanted what they thought was the more glamorous role of a priest ministering in the Holy place. 

As Moses turned to the Lord, he was confident that the next morning God would show them whom He had consecrated for the priesthood. So Moses told them to take the censer used by the priests to offer fire and incense to the Lord. He told them to put fire into it and fill it with incense as they assembled before the presence of God the next day. Moses was sure that God would give them a clear indication as to who He had appointed for the priesthood.

If Korah and his rebelling brethren had recalled what happened to Nadab and Abihu, they should be extremely petrified. In Numbers 3:4, we are given a brief description of what happened to those two sons of Aaron. But that incidence was more fully recorded in Leviticus 10:1-3. These brothers were legitimate priests who did not offer fire taken from the altar of God, they carelessly offered strange fire. And for that careless disregard for God, they paid dearly with their lives. If they, legitimate priests, were dealt with so severely for offering strange fire to God, what made Korah and his rebelling brethren think that they could get away from such an end for their presumptuous disregard for God? They should know that they were not called to the priesthood, a misplaced ambition that they secretly harbored. That was the true reason for their rebellion.

Here are two lessons gleaned from these verses. Firstly, we learn that God should always be the first person we turn to for a remedy to squelch a mutiny. In tackling a conflict, the best posture to adopt is the posture of submission to God. Rely on God is the best option to solve a crisis. Secondly, know our calling and do not entertain any misplaced ambition for a ministry God has not assigned to us. Just bloom where God has planted us, and excel in our calling. We must always give our best in our calling.  For that’s the best place for us to serve God!               

            

Numbers 16:1-3 – Be wary of the spirit of discontent!

Numbers 16 is a good chapter to learn about divine order and leadership. This is a long chapter so we will look at it part by part, to explore the lessons we can draw from each portion. One common hazard a leader often faces is the complaints, murmuring, and even the revolt of the people that he is leading. This is a symptom of the propensity of fallen men. No matter how many times people have seen or experienced the gracious dealing of God there would always be some who had not learned the lesson. These people would then stir up dissension against the authority, especially in difficult situations and where advancement seems slow.

In these three verses before us, we see a group of people rebelling against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. This group comprised of Korah and the Levites under him as well as people from the tribe of Reuben led by Dathan, Abiram and On. It was not coincidental that these Israelites would rebel together. It was because their camps were located on the same side, the south side of the Tabernacle. Being near to each other, their attitude naturally rubbed on to each other. Herein is a principle. It is wise not to stay too close to people who are negative so that their propensity will not rub onto us. It is undeniable that birds of the same feather usually flocked together. The American has a saying that goes like this - if we run into a skunk, we will smell like a skunk. We must be careful who we are running with. However, in situations where we must be with such people, we need to be discerning and stay on guard so that we will not fall victim to their negative vibes.

This group of rebels brought charges against Moses and Aaron. The Korah group was against the leadership of Aaron who was assigned to take care of the religious matter of Israel. The Reubenite group was more against Moses’ overall leadership of the whole nation. So verse 3 describes their charge. They said to Moses, “You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” Here’s the problem, they had falsely concluded that just because God had called them His people, there should be equality in status and position. We need to learn from here that while we are all equal before God, yet He does set people whom He has gifted and called to assume higher office. Bear in mind that not everyone is called to lead. While all of us are called equally to share in God’s goodness, there must be gifted leaders and administrators to ensure orderliness. We must accept the fact that God has placed us where He knows we can function best. To rebel against the structure is to rebel against the Lord.  

We need to know who we are in God and be contented with whatever we are assigned. While we must have an ambition to progress, we must accept that God has a timing for us all, in the different stages of life. Be careful and discerning with people who can negatively influence us. Let us not fall prey and become victims to their negative vibes. Be vitally connected with God and leave no room for any rebellious spirit to emerge and manipulate us to act wrongly. Rebellion is a grievous sin!

Numbers 15:37-41 – Don’t ever forget God’s grace and mercy.

For many of us, Numbers 15:37-41  can be quite puzzling. What is a tassel? Why did God want the children of Israel to make for themselves tassels on the fringes of their garment? What is the significance of the violet thread?

A tassel is basically a bundle of thread bound into strands of cord that hang loosely from a knot. All of us must have seen a graduation cap before. On top of the cap are strands of cords wound together hanging from a knot, which the student on graduation would shift from right to left. That is a tassel. In Numbers 15:37-41, Moses was instructed by God to get the children of Israel to have tassels sewed at the fringes of their garment.  The tassels must contain a single violet thread.  

Why violet thread? Violet dye in the ancient world was harvested by hand from sea snails. Only a small drop could be harvested from each snail. Hence it was an expensive commodity. Hence, the violet color came to be associated with wealth and the nobles. Remember the Tabernacle? Much of the material of the tent of meeting where God would speak with Moses were made of purple thread because it is a color fit for royalty.  The purple thread in the tassels God told the Israelites to make speaks of their identity as a royal priesthood. Requiring only one single thread in the tassel made it affordable even for the not-so-well to do. For the Israelites, wearing them would remind them to live and behave according to their calling as God’s chosen and covenant people.   

Two things would be brought to the mind of the people of Israel whenever they looked at the tassels. Firstly, It was to remind them that they were a people by reason of the awesome grace of God. They would recall that it was God who had redeemed them from their bondage to have an enduring relationship with Him. No one, not even the power of Egypt or their own rebelliousness, would be able to thwart God’s purpose.  Secondly, the tassels would remind them of whose they were. They must know that they were God’s redeemed people, called to be a holy nation and a royal priesthood. Hence, they must obey His commandments and live a life set apart for God. They were expected not to pander to the lust of their hearts or their eyes.

What is the lesson for us in these verses? It is a call to remember that we are God’s people and that we must always live responsibly to honor Him. Ever wonder why the Lord Jesus commanded us to have the Holy Communion regularly? It’s because by nature we are forgetful people. We tend to forget the good things He had done for us and remember needless things that will enslave us. The bread and the cup at communion are to help us recall that it was Christ's finished work at the cross that secured our redemption. By partaking in the communion we remember that we are now God’s people and hence we must live for His glory. We are God’s chosen people and His royal priests, and we must live and behave thus!    

 

Numbers 15:32-36 – It is important to observe the Sabbath

At its root, sin is always committed without any regard for God. Just like this account of the man who went out to collect wood on the Sabbath. He could not have been ignorant of the Law. Hence, what he had done was a show of careless disregard for God’s  commandment that they “Remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy.” 

Sabbath was a day consecrated to God. It was a day to be kept in honor of Him. Breaking it would be a show of utter disregard for God and a reproach to Him. Besides Sabbath was also a day to commemorate the children of Israel’s emancipation from Egypt. To break the Sabbath was to show ingratitude and a reproach to God. So the man who went and collected wood had totally no regard for God and His command. This was outright defiance.

Those who found the offender brought him to Moses, Aaron, and before the congregation. They placed him in custody before deciding what to do with him. Then the Lord spoke and told Moses to have him stoned by the people outside the camp. So he was brought outside the camp and stoned to death.

To some, the punishment seems disproportional. Isn’t that a minor sin? Of course not. No sin is inconsequential to the Lord. There is no lesser or greater sin, a sin is a sin. And no one has the right to take God for granted. We must never treat His words lightly. To disobey God is serious no matter how small our sin may appear. Disobeying God must be discouraged at all costs. Let us not entertain sin. One other thing this account reminds us is this, Sabbath-keeping is important in God’s sight. We must learn to make a distinction between Sabbath and the rest of the other days in a week. It is a day to cease from work, to rest in God, and to connect with Him. So Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy!  

 

 

 

Numbers 15:22-31 - Seek to live a sin-free life

At the beginning of Numbers 15, we get a sense of God’s desire to continue to relate with His people despite their failure to trust Him totally. He had told them that they would not enter the promised land for their unbelief. The generation that came out of Egypt would die in the wilderness, yet He would allow their children to enter the promised land and enjoy His favor there. He then prescribed the various sacrifices to enable them to have an ongoing relationship with Him. In so doing, God had confirmed that the next generation would indeed enjoy an ongoing relationship with Him. But this would require that they made the needful sacrifices to atone for sin and to honor Him. We can see here that while God is merciful and would forgive sin, yet His justice needed to be appeased. This has been enacted in the death of Christ at Calvary. There He punished our sin and yet can justifiably accept and forgive us in Him.   

Here God was providing a remedy for sin. If the whole community had sinned, they would have to atone for it with a burnt offering. A bull would be sacrificed to restore its relationship with God. But alongside the atoning sacrifice, a male goat must also be offered as a sin offering. If the sin was committed by an individual, then only a female goat would be required. This same regulation applied to the Israelites as well as the foreigners who had chosen to be part of the community.

It is interesting to note that God should make a distinction between unintentional and intentional or defiant sin in these verses. All sins carry with them a sense of intentionality. How could sin be unintentional? The best way to illustrate this is to distinguish whether an act was committed premeditatedly or not. When a killing had been committed with the intention it would be considered murder. When it had been committed without any premeditation it would just be manslaughter. Sin also has two kinds – the sin of commission and the sin of omission. Some sins are wilfully committed while others are committed thoughtlessly without any malicious intention. Some sins can also be committed in ignorance. All these leave us with a question of whether God will forgive all sins, intentional or unintentional?

Do these verses imply that intentional sin will not be forgiven? In the New Testament, Jesus did talk about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as an unforgivable sin. John also talked about committing unpardonable sins. When would a sin become unpardonable? When a person persists to wilfully do a wrong and revile God to a point where he or she cannot turn back, it will become an unpardonable sin. In Hebrews 11:26-27, the author tells us that, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” 

What is the message these verses have for us? We need to cultivate an intense dislike for sin whether it be a sin of commission or omission. We must stay prayerfully connected to God and make Him central in our life. When we do that, we will not want to do anything that will bring displeasure to Him. Let us be careful how we live. The discipline of examen, where we check our action against our conscience can help.  After all, had been said, we must learn to live for God, for only that will take away our desire to sin. Always be quick to repent whenever the Holy Spirit brings conviction.  

Numbers 15:17-21 – Nurture the attitude of gratitude

In the abundance of God’s provision, we do have the penchant for forgetting that He is the source of everything we have in life. People tend to take things for granted when they have plenty in life. Before long the plenty they had would lead to the development of the spirit of entitlement. Up to this point, the bread that the children of Israel ate rained down from heaven in plenty. There was nothing they needed to do to have the manna. God provided for them with daily supplies without them having to work for it. But ultimately, when they entered the promised land, the manna would stop coming down from heaven. It would be then that they were expected to till the ground to enjoy the fruit of the land. It would be then that they would forget that God had been their source.   

Moses was instructed to tell the people when they had made dough from what they had harvested from the land, the first portion of the dough must be offered to God. This was to acknowledge that it was God who had granted them the privilege to enjoy the food that they would partake. This dough would be brought as a wave offering to the Lord. That portion would then be given to the priests. This was to be carried out throughout the generations. It would be a reminder to them that though they had to put in their fair share of responsible effort, God was still the source of the bread. The wave offering would be an acknowledgment of God’s provision and that they were grateful for His provision.  

Our daily bread is a gift from God. And we must never forget that God is the source of all that we have now and all that we will potentially have. When Jesus taught us to pray that God will give us our daily bread, He was pointing us to God, our source. When He taught us to call God, Abba Father, He was telling us that God is the source and the one who sustains our lives. So let us be thankful to God. We must learn to appreciate and be grateful for what we have and not lament for what we do not have. Gratitude is what will help us to distinguish between privilege and entitlement. So in everything be sure to give thanks to God with a grateful heart!

Numbers 15:1-16 – Obedience the key to love and fellowship with God

There is a song that we used to sing when we were younger. The lyrics describe the depth of God’s love for His own. The words say: His love is warmer than the warmest sunshine, softer than a sigh.  His love is deeper than the deepest ocean, wider than the sky. His love is brighter than the brightest star, that shines every night above.  And there is nothing in this world, that can ever change His love.

These words are true and Numbers 15 attests to the depth of His love. He could have left and had nothing to do with the children of Israel having been snubbed by them so many times. But God did not. Though he had decreed that the present generation would all die in the wilderness, He still thought of the next generation. Here the verses give the impression as if they would be going into the promised land. Through Moses, God was instructing the people on how to continue to have fellowship with Him. Numbers 15:1-15 deal not only with sacrifices for the atonement of sin but also for fellowship meals with the Lord and with each other in the community.

God had prescribed sacrifices for different purposes. Firstly, sacrifices were to be made for the atonement of sin. Secondly, sacrifices were also to be made to honor the Lord as their master. And thirdly, sacrifices must also be made to enjoy fellowship with God, their covenant Lord. We see the emphasis on the sacrifices described in Numbers 15 were more for the purpose of fellowship with God. That was why included in the sacrifices were the details for meal offerings. The portion of the meal-offering varied depending on the size of the animal they would bring to offer to the Lord. Notice the talk about the sweet aroma pleasing to the Lord. It was an indication of God’s desire to participate in their fellowship meals. For consistency, God not only prescribed these for the people of Israel but also for those foreigners who chose to be a part of their community.

Here again, we see the mercy and grace of God in full display. Indirectly God was rebuking the people for their unbelief. If they would obey Him, there would be no fear of lack for them. They would have plenty and be enabled to enjoy lavish fellowship with the Lord. Implicit in this was the fact that God still wanted to have continual fellowship with them as His people despite their failure. This was why a portion of verse 2 reads “…When you enter the land where you are going to live, which I am giving you…” He was referring to the next generation of course. God thought of their future. While the present generation would not have the privilege of going into the promised land, the next generation would. Isn’t this the graciousness of God? The instruction given here was to ensure that their freedom of fellowship with Him would remain intact. For us, the instructions in Numbers 15 tell us that faith in God ensures freedom of fellowship with Him. But obedience is required. True faith is not opposed to effort, it only opposes merit. It rests firmly and objectively on the Word of God. When we do as we are instructed, we will enjoy love and true fellowship with God. Isn’t that marvellous!

Numbers 14:20-45 – Faith and presumption are not congruent

Incorrigible would be an appropriate word to describe these children of Israel at this point. First, they refused to go into the promised land despite the assurance of Joshua and Caleb that God’s favor was on them and they could inherit the land. Refusing to believe, they even wanted to stone the leadership. And now that God's anger had been kindled and Moses was told to take them by the way of the Red Sea, they wanted to go into Canaan by their own strength. Who were they trying to kid? If they felt they could not possess the land with the help of God, how ironic of them now to believe that they could possess the land without God. This is another reflection of the unbelief that was deeply entrenched in their heart.

Despite what God had said, verse 40 tells us that “In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, ‘Here we are; and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.’” Here we see a contradiction in their confession and action. They knew that they had sinned and yet they would act contrary to their belief. This suggests that they had not truly repented but were only giving mental consent to those words. Moses strongly urged them not to violate the commandment of God again, and that they should not go because God would not be with them to prevent them from defeat. He told them in no uncertain terms that “…the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to confront you, and you will fall by the sword since you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.” But adamantly and foolishly they went headlong into Canaan. They even went without the Ark of the Covenant and Moses leading them. The predictable happened, they were struck down by the Amalekites and the Canaanites and were scattered as far as Hormah.   

First, the children of Israel refused to act despite the assurance of victory, then they acted presumptuously though they were told they would not succeed. The folly of the children of Israel seen in Numbers 14 is a lesson for us. They chose to live outside of God’s covering by entertaining unbelief. Outside of His covering there will be no protection. In the earlier verses, their unbelief led them to despondency. Now in these seven verses, their unbelief led them to act presumptuously. From their experience, we see the importance of living in a vital connection with God, so that we will have His covering. When we are living in a vital connection with God, we will neither pander to despondency nor presumptuousness, no matter how bleak the future may look. Be vitally connected with God by trusting and obeying Him! There’s no other way!

Numbers 14:26-38 – The danger of unbelief

We all know how annoying the sound of a leaking tap can be. The persistent grumbling of the children of Israel was like the irritation of a leaking tap. God  Himself referred to their grumbling as evil. And we can tell that His response not to destroy them straight away was in deference to Moses’ plea for them. One swift act from the LORD and they would have been annihilated in an instant. But in concession to Moses, God would delay that. Since they would rather die in the wilderness, God would grant them their wish. They would all die in the wilderness. Since they wanted to return to Egypt, instead of marching forward toward Canaan, God told Moses to take them by the route of the Red Sea.   

The whole congregation from twenty years and above, those whom Moses had numbered in the earlier census, would all die in the desert. God decided that only their children together with Caleb and Joshua, who acted differently from the other ten spies, would enjoy the liberty of the promised land. God was determined to grant the rest of the congregation their wish to die in the wilderness. He would allow them to take a forty-year journey round the wilderness, one year for every day which the spies had taken to scout the land. As for the ten in the scouting party whose report had negatively affected the people, verse 37 said they died instantly in a plague before the presence of the LORD.

The children of Israel had crossed the threshold of divine endurance. Just imagine the patience of the patient God being tried to an unbearable point. Their inpatient grumbling was a sign of unbelief. Here the lesson is: be careful of the spirit of unbelief that will cause one to test the patience of God. This is the point of the author of the letter to the Hebrews. In chapter 3 and verses 16-19, he recalled what the children of Israel did to God in the wilderness. Even though they heard His voice distinctly, yet they chose not to obey, provoking Him to anger. Such that the whole generation died in the wilderness without entering the promised land. So in Hebrews 3:12, he warned us saying, “Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” Unbelief always leads to disobedience, but faith and trust always result in obedience. Don’t let unbelief stifle our trust in God and forfeit our divine inheritance. It is not worth it!   

Numbers 14:20-25 - Be wholeheartedly faithful to God.

God is merciful does not mean that He would not exercise justice. So in response to Moses’ intercession, He agreed to continue to relate with the people of Israel. But he could not overlook their sin. The very generation that He brought out of Egypt and had experienced His miracles, and tasted His goodness, would not go into the promised land. Since they had shown such disrespect for God, He would not allow them to inherit the promise He had given. All except for Joshua and Caleb. For Caleb, this was what the Lord said of him, “…My servant Caleb because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”     

These few verses draw our attention to the brief description of Caleb. In the midst of a people who had shown disrespect for God and would not trust Him, Caleb stood out. What can we learn from Caleb? Firstly, his name means faithful, wholehearted, bold, and brave. God said that Caleb had a different spirit,  meaning that he was obviously different from the ten spies who gave up at the slightest challenge. He was said to follow the Lord fully. In other words, he was wholehearted and was single-minded in following God. What a befitting name for Caleb. Like him, we must be faithful to God and the call He has placed on our lives. And not only should we be faithful to God, but we should also be wholehearted in following Him. When one is faithful, one will boldly embrace the challenge and goal before him without flinching. His target is to reach the goal granted him. Caleb was such a person.

Another way to describe Caleb would be that he was dogged. He doggedly followed the Lord. To be dogged is to show tenacity and grim persistence. A dogged person does not give up easily but is stubbornly persistent. Such a person perseveres even when the challenges ahead look difficult. He does not give up easily but would stick to the task till the goal is achieved. Caleb's type of people are like faithful dogs, who would not depart from their master in the face of challenges. When it comes to trusting God, we must be doggedly faithful like Caleb. It is the most befitting response to a faithful God. So let us be faithful to Him!

Numbers 14:11-19 – Being a great intercessor.

The tantrum of the people of Israel did not augur well for them. It showed how shallow was their trust in God. They showed themselves to be unreliable and not single-minded. Though God’s patience for them could not be questioned, their uncalled-for behavior was slowly but surely wearing it thin. God concluded that it was a lack of respect for Him. To God, their faith in Him was incredibly unbelievable. Despite the many miracles He had brought about in their midst, yet they could not trust Him. God was on the verge of disowning them. He wanted to destroy them and suggested raising for Moses a different group of people, a nation who would be more in tune with Him. This was not the first time God felt that way. In fact in Exodus 32, God had said the same thing after the golden calf’s incident. Was God giving the cue to Moses to pray for them? For that was what Moses did. It is so comforting to know that when God has a compassionate intercessor, He always finds it in His heart to deal kindly with the people. Today, God is still enlisting intercessors to stand in the gap between Him and lost mankind. Will we be like Moses, stand up, and be counted?

What makes a good intercessor? Look at verses 13-19 and see what made Moses such an excellent intercessor. Here’s a model for us to emulate. For a lesser person, God’s suggestion to make him a great and mightier nation would be a chance not to be missed. But not for Moses whose heart was for God, His reputation and His plan. Firstly, Moses was more concerned for God’s reputation. He was afraid that God’s name would be smeared by the Egyptians who saw His mighty deeds. If He slaughtered the people now, it would provide them with a cause to rumor falsely about Him. They would falsely charge that  God, who had begun greatly, could not fulfill the promise that He had made, so He slaughtered them in the wilderness. This would certainly not speak well of God.

Secondly, Moses appealed on the mercy and compassion of God. He reminded God of what He had said of Himself in Exodus 34:6-7. Moses rehearsed those words captured in these two verses. So verse 18 reads “ The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.” He pleaded for God to show mercy on the people because of who He claimed to be. This quotation shows us two things about God. It shows us that while God is merciful, He is also just. He will balance justice with mercy. What a magnanimous God!

Here we see the heart of God as well as the heart of a true intercessor. So the next time we intercede for others, we must consider the reputation of  God. While we want God to be merciful, we must not presume on Him to compromise on His just and fair nature.  

Numbers 14:1-10 – The importance of building faith in God

Negative news is infectious and so the pessimism of the ten spies devastated the spirit of the community. The spirit of the people was shattered. Their future looked grim and hopeless so the whole congregation groaned, moaned, and wept inconsolably. They then turned against Moses and Aaron. Like a huge choir singing in unison, the entire congregation grumbled at Moses and Aaron and said, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! So why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 

How pitiful they had become! They were actually blaming the LORD for their “seeming” plight. Even before they could embark on the challenge they were already defeated by their own attitude. Their outlook of things depressed them till they entertained negative thoughts and indulged in depressing talks. So dismayed were they that they even wanted to appoint themselves new leaders to replace Moses and Aaron. They wanted to turn back and return to Egypt. Unwittingly, they were rejecting God and His glorious plan for their lives. Their unbelief had made them totally irrational. To think that they even preferred bondage to freedom just because of some challenges ahead.

Both Moses and Aaron were driven to their wits’ end. So verse 6 tells us that they fell flat on their face on the ground before the whole threatening mob. But Caleb and Joshua whom we mentioned briefly in our last reflection came forward to offer their take of what they saw. They tore their clothes and appealed to the people to look at the positive side of things. Using faith language, Joshua appealed to the people to look from God’s angle. The land he insisted was indeed a good land. His take was that what they needed was to factor the LORD into the equation. What they truly needed was the favor of God. Joshua knew that with God we will always form the majority. To him, the issue was never about the seeming huge problems but the presence of the Living God with them. To borrow Paul’s words, “…if God is for us who can be against us?”

Wisely and courageously Joshua urged the people, “Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection is gone from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Here Joshua was looking at the whole situation with the eye of faith. Like Joshua, the issue for us should not be about the possibility of losing but the impossibility of not winning when we have the favor of God. Unfortunately, the people were too steep in unbelief. Verse 10 tells us that the people intended to stone the four of them. It was halted by the appearance of the glory of God in the tent of meeting.

Faith always looks up to God. Fear always generates unbelief. We can choose faith over fear, and trust over doubt. This passage underscores the importance of building faith in God. It is a call to nurture faith and trust in God. How can we build a faith-filled life? We do so by setting aside regular times to be with God to know Him better. We also make time for prayer, praise, and worship. Since the Word of God is our final authority, take time to feed on it. Be sure to read, study and meditate on it. Most importantly we must act on it. Soli Deo gloria – to God be the glory!

Numbers 13:25-33 – Our perspective in life matters

The 12 spies Moses sent into Canaan surveyed and covered the land. After 40 days, they returned to Moses, Aaron, and the congregation who were camped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Param. They showed Moses and the people the fruits they brought back to prove how rich the land was. But ten of them came back with a negative conclusion.  They had focused on all the wrong things and concluded negatively. While they affirmed that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, what they saw were problems. They said that the people there were too strong, and the cities were fortified and large. Besides, the descendants of Anak were living there. These people belong to a race of giants that inhabited the land around Hebron. Their fierce and warlike features immediately sent chills up their spines. Furthermore, they said that present in the land were other hostile tribes, as they enumerated the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites.  

Of the 12 spies, there were two namely, Caleb and Joshua, who were different. They had a different perspective. We shall look at them in some detail in our next reflection. Sufficient to say that they saw the same land and obstacles as did the other ten, but they were confident that they could indeed possess the land. So in Numbers 13:30, Caleb spoke up to calm the rising anxiety created by the negative report. He encouraged the people to rise up and go in and take possession of the land. Caleb was confident that they would prevail against the odds. But the ten continued in the negative mantra saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” They kept up by saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. We also saw the Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Unwittingly, what these negative people saw developed in them a grasshopper’s complex. By looking at the bigness of their problem, they became intimidated, and the bigness of their God soon faded away from their view. Be aware that our ability in life is often conditioned by our perspective. A story was told of two shoe salesmen deployed to Africa to survey the market to explore the possibility of marketing their brand of shoes. They went. One wrote back saying: “No prospect, no one wears shoes here.” The other in his report said, “Great prospect, no one wears shoes yet.” What are we focused on in life? If we factor God into our lives and keep Him within our view, we will learn to live by faith. And as we do, we will soon realize that there is no problem too big that we cannot surmount with God. This passage challenges us to develop the habit of honing our perspective in life. The next time when we look at a doughnut, do not focus on the hole till we fail to see the dough. Do not be a pessimist who can only see the wind. Learn to be an optimist and do expect change, but most of all, be a realist. Set your sail, and move with God!

Numbers 13:1-24 – Spritiual growth requires personal collaboration with God

The last verse of Numbers 12 tells us that the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Param within sight of Canaan. We have seen how God through a series of mighty miracles had led them out of Egypt. And how all along the journey to the wilderness of Param, He had dealt with their attitudes to prepare them for the promised land. Here they were now standing at the brink of the Promised Land. God then commanded Moses to send a team to recce the land they were promised. The aim of this mission was not so much to spy out the land like what Joshua would do later. Their mission was to survey and make a report of the land, and how to take possession of it. So a team of 12 was assembled, comprising of one person from each of the Twelves tribes of Israel. Their mission was to scout the land and come back with samples of how good the land was.

 The task force of 12 was assembled. Each of them was a leader from the 12 tribes of Israel. However, of the 12 in the task force, only Caleb and Hoshea, whom Moses renamed Joshua, are worthy of mention. We shall see why as the account progresses. These are the two who will be worth our emulation in our spiritual journey. Numbers 13:17-20 defined what they should do. So we see a list of assignments expected of them. They were to “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are the people in open camps or in fortification? And how is the land, is it productive or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? And show yourselves courageous and get some of the fruit of the land.”  Basically, they were sent to assess the land to see if it was fertile or barren, wooded or bare. Then they were also expected to make an assessment of the people to see if they were strong or weak, plenty or little. Regarding the terrain, they were to check if the city was an open camp or fortified. They were also expected to bring back samples of the goodness of the land.  

Of the places the 12 went to, Hebron was the place that held the most memories for them. It was here that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah were buried. It should have been a timely recollection of the promise God had made to Abraham and his descendants. God had promised that they would inherit a land flowing with milk and honey. It would have been a perfect reminder of the faithfulness of God who had kept His words so far. Here the scouts saw how fruitful the promised land was. In verse 23  we are told that they cut off a single cluster of grapes which must be quite a huge bunch that it had to be carried with a pole on the shoulders of two men. Together with this bunch of grapes were pomegranates and figs.

To possess the land would require responsibility on the part of the people. Like all gifts of God, responsible action must be taken to fully realize them. Without acting upon whatever gift promised would only be a potential unrealized gift. To possess it requires that we play our part and take action. This is true in spiritual life. To become Christlike is everybody’s potential, but to be Christlike requires that we take the time to nurture it. While God is working within us, we need to be responsible and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We must collaborate with God to grow spiritually. 

  

Numbers 12:9-16 – Restoring the fallen

What Aaron and Miriam had done tantamount to rebellion. They were trying to incite the people against Moses, God’s appointed leader. This kind of action was totally unacceptable to God. This was what the Prophet Samuel said to King Saul when he rebuked him in 1 Samuel 15:23 saying, “For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry.” From this, we can understand why God took such a serious view of what Aaron and Miriam had done. God judged them. As soon as the glory cloud of God’s presence lifted from the tent of meeting, judgment began.  

Being the instigator, Miriam was immediately struck with leprosy. Her skin became as white as snow. When Aaron turned and saw her, he must have shockingly exclaimed, “…behold, she was leprous.” She and Aaron claimed to have equal access to God as Moses. Hence, becoming a leper was the clearest indication of how untrue that statement was. Becoming a leper, she now would be completely shut out from God, let alone any access to God. What was worst, she could not even mingle with the people within the community. It was a befitting judgment for her.

Instinctively, Aaron appealed to Moses to do something. He seemed to know almost instantly who the leader among the three was and who had the capacity to do something to turn the situation around.  So turning to Moses he said, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned.  Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” He had to seek the help of the one whom they had wronged.

How would we have responded if we were the subject of the malicious attempt to smear us? We can be sure that many, when being accused, would certainly be reluctant to lift a finger to help. But not so Moses. Magnanimously, he turned to the Lord and compassionately pled saying, “God, heal her, please!” God not only spoke to Moses face-to-face, but He also heard him instantly. The Lord’s response to Moses indicated that it was not cleansing that she needed but she had to bear with her shame for a duration, So she was kept out of the camp for seven days till her sin was atoned. And the whole community came to a halt till she was received before they moved to Param.

From an account like this, we learn first that we must not malign the leaders God has set over us. God takes such an action with a serious view. Be careful what we say about the leadership set over us. Secondly, leaders who are wronged should learn to be like Moses, magnanimous and forgiving. Thirdly, we must appreciate that we have a gracious God who shows mercy in judgment. His way of dealing with any sinner is not punitive but restorative. And that is what we should also do in dealing with someone who had fallen. Be gracious and merciful!     

Numbers 12:4-8 – God stands with those He has called to lead.

Nothing concerning the life of God’s people, especially those who serve Him, escapes His eye. So God took notice of the griping of Aaron and Miriam against Moses. And in Number 12:4-8, He answered on behalf of His servant, Moses.

The word “suddenly” in verse 4 indicates how urgent the matter was to God. He would not permit Moses to be maligned even a moment longer without addressing it. The text seems to suggest that Moses was not even aware of what Aaron and Miriam were doing. For they were talking behind Moses’ back. So God interrupted and summoned Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to go to the tent of meeting. The Lord then came down in the pillar of cloud at the entrance of the tent as He bade Aaron and Miriam to come forward to Him. The experience must have been frightening to the two. It is hard to imagine them not extremely petrified at that moment. For us, the Bible assures us that “vengeance belongs to the Lord and that He will repay it.” Whatever unjustified wrong levelled against us will not go unnoticed before God. He will vindicate His own. We can be assured that He will also not allow us to be maligned and not address it ultimately.

In dealing with Aaron and Miriam, God made known how special Moses was to Him. He pointed out that with all other prophets, He communicated through dreams and visions that needed to be interpreted. But with Moses, God spoke clearly and directly. He did not speak to Moses in an encrypted way. Everything He said to him left no room for second-guessing. God made known to them that as far as Moses was concerned, they had no right to claim to be his equal.

We learn from this passage that no murmuring against God’s appointed and ordained leaders will go unnoticed by God. It will serve us well not to falsely accuse and slander those whom God has placed in leadership. We must be careful of the criticism we hurl at our leaders. For all leaders, take heart! When we are sure of our calling and who we are in God, we will experience His vindication. He will not allow us to be maligned and disparaged without addressing it on our behalf.       

Numbers 12:1-3 – Do not to entertain the spirit of envy

Numbers 11 shows us how enervating grumbling can be. It not only could make one cynical but also could spread like a contagious disease. We saw how the murmuring and complaining spirit of the children of Israel even rubbed on to Moses. This shows us that no one is immune to this destructive habit. It is no wonder why God had to deal with it. And for us to nurture a God-pleasing life, we must be watchful and not allow a spirit of discontent to creep into our lives causing us to grumble over the smallest thing.

In Numbers 12, we see the emergence of yet another problem, the issue of envy. What’s glaring about this issue that confronted Moses was that it came from people dear to him. It came from his own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam. They envied Moses’ leadership and spoke against him. We know people do become envious of others who are in positions of leadership which they themselves have secretly aspired to have. But for envy to come from someone dear can be very unnerving. Aaron and Miriam had unwittingly despised God’s choice of Moses by criticizing him. After all, he did not appoint himself as the leader. It was God who had called, chosen, and commissioned him to lead the people of Israel out of bondage and to the promised land. Hence to speak against him was to speak against God.  

The first issue they murmured against Moses was his marriage to a Cushite woman. Was this woman Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro? The text seems to indicate that this was a recent event. Whether she was Zipporah or not, the issue they raised against Moses was that his wife was not an Israelite. They did not bring the matter to God or to Moses, but to everyone who would lend them an ear. This is the crux of the problem. If they genuinely wanted to solve the problem, they would have taken it up with Moses, but they did not. What they did was more like seeking to smear Moses’ reputation. And that was totally unacceptable. This is something we must learn. If we are not happy with a leader, we should take it up with that leader himself or herself first. It would be wise to bring the matter to God in prayer prior to approaching the leader. And only when he or she does not want to listen, should we go to people who have the capacity to solve it. Not with every Tom, Dick, or Harry, just to discredit the leader.

The real issue they had against Moses was not so much his marriage but his leadership that they were envying. His marriage was just a smokescreen to what they were truly unhappy about. The questions they asked revealed that. They felt they were equally disposed to take the lead. This is what envy always does. First, they compared themselves with Moses. Then they compared their situation with his. In personality, they felt they were better than Moses. In the situation, they felt Moses was better though he seemingly had a flawed marriage in their eyes. As they did that, they became unhappy that he should be given the privilege of being the leader.

We must all learn that we are brought into the community to complement and supplement each other. If we have proper self-acceptance, we will not envy the task of another.  And we should not despise another person's lack nor envy his or her gift because we accept that God knows best. We acknowledge that He has endowed each one of us precisely with what He knows we can do best. This is borne out by what God said of Moses. In parenthesis verse 3 said, “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.)” The best way to deal with envy is to start counting our own blessings instead of counting others. We must not view someone else’s acceptance as our rejection. When we put our confidence in God and who He has made us to be, we will leave no room for envy or jealousy to wreak havoc in our lives. So put your confidence in God, for He knows you best!  

           

 

Numbers 11:31-35 – It’s important to wait for God’s plan

Let us return to the complaint of the children of Israel captured in Numbers 11:4-6. Like a monotonous chant, they cried out in a unison choral saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna!” So now in Numbers 11:31-35, we see the response of God.

In referring to this incident, Psalm 106-13-16 so succinctly captured the essence of the whole problem. The Psalmist said:

“They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His plan,
But became lustfully greedy in the wilderness,
And put God to the test in the desert.
So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.”

In response to their lustful craving, God sent a strong wind that got an unimaginably huge horde of quails from the sea crashing into the camp. These were migratory birds that would not be there if not for the strong gush of wind sent by God. The number of quails that was available to them was impossible to count. Just imagine three feet of the ground for a traveling distance of two-plus days covered by quails waiting to be picked up. One cannot even begin to estimate the number of warehouses required to store the meat God had provided.  

On the day that the quails came dropping all over the camp, the children of Israel took the whole day and night plus the next day to gather them. The least that one Israelite had collected was about ten homers. Homer is a measurement in volume. How many birds would that be is anybody’s guess! But suffice to say that they had collected a lot. In days where there was no refrigerator, the quails were left outside their camp to dry. It is chilling to read verse 33. We are told that even before the people could chew the meat of the quails, God’s anger was kindled. Many were afflicted with a plague and smitten dead. That day the place came to be known as Kibroth-hattaavah or the grave of lust.

It is painful to think about how hurtful it must have been to God. His patience was tested time and again. The number of miracles God had granted them should have led them to trust Him but apparently, they did not. Never mind about them, what about us?  God, we can be sure, is more interested to know if we have learned from their experience. Will we also forget His work in our lives? Will we wait patiently for His plan to be fulfilled in us? We must not allow our lives to be driven for an instant gratification mentality. Let’s allow God to work His will in our life. And in His time, He will make all things beautiful. We need to be patient. Why? For those that wait upon the Lord shall not only renew their strength, but shall also soar like an eagles .So we wait on Him patiently.