March 10, 2010, Numbers 14:1-15;16, Mark 14:53-72, Psalm 53:1-6, Proverbs 11:4

Dear Lord, thank you for giving yourself sacrificially that we might be reunited with you.  May your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.  Help us to see more of you as we consider the message you have for us today.  Speak to us and speak through us. May our offerings in thought and word be pleasing in your sight.

Response to Numbers 14:1-15:16

It was just yesterday that I posted the following comment as I blogged about the quail.  "Moses learned a lesson about trusting in the Lord and the people were reminded again against rebelling and complaining before the Lord."  Perhaps Moses learned, but the people start out today rebelling and complaining again!  They don't trust their leader and the relative comfort of slavery is looking pretty good now that they are aware of the challenges that lay ahead!

Joshua joins Caleb and with Moses and Aaron they entreat the people to trust in the Lord who has done such wonderful things in their midst.  I can take their wise counsel to heart in the midst of the trials of my own life;  "Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land (evil in this world), because we will swallow them up (our God reigns!). Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." But the people had had enough, they had served this God and life had not become easy! They didn't want to deal with this righteous honor thing anymore! Faith was gone, they were weak, they just wanted to go back to the good old days - of course, Egypt had probably adjusted to life without them - and they had grumbled and complained there also - grumbling and complaining had become an habitual addiction.

Moses writes that God was angry too!  Let's wipe these people out and start over!  I can start a new people to carry out my plan!  But Moses reminds Him of all the work that has already been done.  God has already shown the power of his hand in bringing the people this far.  The world is watching and God's reputation is on the line.  When the people refuse to honor their leader, when there is no faith, no joy, no hope, there is no strength, There is no power to save!  There is only confusion and despair!  If people give up on God, God may give up on them and save the good stuff for the future.  For me, I want to see God at work saving the world within my lifetime.  I want to see him bringing his people into the promised land!  I can't wait!

Through inspirational prayer, Moses staves off yet another catostrophe!  His words of Numbers 14:18 echo the words of God in Exodus 34:6-9; "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
     Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. "O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."

God's response was not as forgiving however following two years of work with these people.  This generation loses its opportunity to enter the promised land.  The pain they suffer, they will suffer for the rest of their lives because they could not honor God with praise and thanksgiving for His gifts to them.  They rebelled and complained and God removed His blessing from them for their lack of Faith!  Their prophecy regarding their end would be fulfilled.  They would die in this wilderness.  Only the two that honored God through faith, Joshua and Caleb, were allowed to live to a ripe old age.  If you want to extend your life - faith, hope, and love are some pretty good vitamins.

However, God is still is seeking that generation that will fill the whole earth with His glory!  The NIV is the only version I have found that verse 21 does not speak of the glory of the Lord filling the earth in the future!  (KJV) "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." (see also RSV, NASB, ESV, ASV)  Are you willing to take a risk and honor God through Loving God and Loving your fellow man? Could we be the generation to witness the power of His salvation within our lifetime?; Isaiah 45:23-25 "By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.' "All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.

In Numbers 14:3, the men had said; "Our wives and children will be taken as plunder", they felt they would be captives once again in a foreign land.  However, their children were watching.  They had been brought up observing the wonderful power of God and were raised to understood the Joy and Power that came with honor!  I have often felt that their experience of the Love of God which routinely overshadowed the mundane struggles of life (of which they knew no better) caused them to become the most righteous generation that ever lived.  ("There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous" Psalm 14:5) It was this generation, this company of righteous brought up as witnesses to the awe-full power and might of an almighty God who required their honor to find their strength and a faith that would conquer the Giants and and bring them into the promised land.

This was a story in which the children witnessed the lack of faith by their parents and changed the course of the world in their lifetimes as each embraced God with their faith.  They finally understood the ideals of Psalm 73:11-15 as they witnessed God's wrath against their lack of faith. "They say, 'How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?' This is what the wicked are like - always carefree, they increase in wealth (their power exceeds righteousness). Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. If I had said, 'I will speak thus,' I would have betrayed your children."  And yet, this generation of parents, who were abandoned by God because of their lack of faith, repented and raised up a kingdom of Nazirites who's joy in the Lord was their strength.  God would do this and it is marvelous in our eyes.  He swore in Numbers 14:33; "As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected."  This scenario is played out over and over in the Bible in speaking of the Kingdom of God, the wedding feast prepared for all man.  Malachi 4:6; "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."  Let the tradition of passing on a devoted faith in a Holy Loving Powerful and Peaceful God become the reputation of our generation as our lives point all men unto the Father through whom that Love, Power, and Peace will be extended to nations and peoples on earth.

And yet, that faith and honor still met many challenges in the days to come!  Our reading of Numbers 14:39-45 speaks of their repentance.  Although they intended to honor God now by going up against the enemy, they still would not listen to the leader God had placed within their midst - and they were crushed.  Matthew 12:25; "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."  Through our reading of this passage, we are experiencing a lesson in honor.  Before going out to battle, the faithful must experience the presence and the will of the Lord within their midst.  They must honor the spokesman God has placed within their midst.  Gideon did not go to battle until he felt an assurance that God was on his side (Judges 6:11-40).  Judas Maccabees reflected this attitude in the face of tremendous odds in II Maccabees 15:21b; "it is not through arms but through the Lord's decision that victory is won by those who deserve it."  Moses again stated the will of God in Numbers 14:42; "Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies" - yet still the people did not trust their leader and suffered great defeat.  Honoring God requires us to honor our leaders and trust that God has placed them in authority.  We cannot rely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). We must be united under God and realistically reflect on whether the fruits of our spirit reflect the fruit of the Spirit of God.

I John 4:1 states; "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."  The passage goes on to confessing Jesus Christ.  I believe this goes beyond confession of the name, but to an acceptance of the ministry and the representation of the man.  To see Jesus Christ apart from the Prince of Peace - apart from the fruits of the Spirit which are Love, Joy, Peace..., is to have separated him from His very essence - the heart of His teaching.  To use our concept of Jesus Christ to judge the world and our fellowman appears to me to be the spirit of an "anti-christ" rather than Jesus Christ as I reflect on the words and the heart of His ministry.  The world is in peril because Jesus Christ has become a stumbling block.  Instead of the way, the truth, and the life, He has been treated like a Rock that detracts from the Love of the Father instead of drawing all men to the Love of the Father.  This must be changed for the world to see the salvation of our God!  Indeed, the faith groups that isolate themselves from the world routinely find themselves isolated from God and their children are leaving by double digit percentages!  Our children are experiencing the Spirit of God that calls them to a love for their fellowman.  Let's not challenge this, but work with the Spirit of God and seek a Spirit of Love, Joy, Peace - and Truth.  With that Spirit, we shall indeed move mountains - and defeat Giants.

As we experience this Kingdom of God - as we enter into the promised land as His Kingdom comes on earth as it is in Heaven, don't forget, child of God, to repent; to honor God in thanksgiving for the power of His salvation in our lives; to dedicate our lives to the administration of His Love to all people to the glory of His name; and to come together for fellowship; to celebrate the joy and peace we share with one another through the Spirit of God. Does this not reflect the message of Numbers 15:1-16? 

Romans 11:33-12:2; "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 'Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?' (Isaiah 40:13) 'Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?' (Job 41:11) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
     Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual (reasonable) act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Response to Mark 14:53-72

As Jesus was brought before the rulers of the Jewish faith, they attempted to bring charges against him.  Due to His prophecy regarding the destruction, they attempted to claim that He had said he would destroy the temple - yet build it again in three days.  As they did not understand the prophecy and even their words were confusing, this charge could not stand.  This accusation stemmed from the conversation overheard earlier as Jesus spoke of the destruction of the temple in Mark 13:1, yet the dialogue is better represented in John's memory and inspirational thoughts regarding the event as shared in John 2:18-22;

"Then the Jews demanded of him, 'What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.' The Jews replied, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?' But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."

Not only was Jesus concerned for His own welfare, he also had wep't for Jerusalem.  David had reflected his attitude even for those who stood to condemn him to death in Psalm 69:6-8; "May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the Lord Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel. For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons;  for zeal for your house consumes me"

One day, even these shall behold the sacrificial lamb represented by the one who that day stood accursed; Matthew 23:37-39; "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."  That prophecy is being fulfilled within our lifetimes.

And yet, that day in the temple courts was not that day.  That day, they would find justification to put the Messiah to death.  Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, had become a Jew through the birth canal of the virgin Mary.  His Father, the Spirit of God Himself, was certainly not of Jewish descent. (Luke 1:34-35).  His situation today was not unlike the boy who stood convicted by the Jewish community in Leviticus 24:10-16, 23. This passage representes the law of Jewish heritage and also became the law which condemned Jesus to death in today's reading;

"Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)  They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them. Then the Lord said to Moses: "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.  Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.
     (vs.23) Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Jesus remained quiet that day.  His father had given him but one line to say within his defense and it would be the statement which would lead him to be crucified at the hands of the Romans as the people of Israel were not allowed to stone him according to their customs.  He uttered what was heard that day by that counsel as blasphemy as they did not understand the will of God at work within their very midst.  "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" He answered; "I AM"

Mark 14:64b-65a; "They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, 'Prophesy!'" compare this day also with Numbers 12:1-8, and 14 as the High priests of the camp stand in judgement on Moses as He has invited a representative of the world to become a member of the family of God;

"Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.  'Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?' they asked. 'Hasn't he also spoken through us?' And the Lord heard this. (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, 'Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you.' So the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, 'Listen to my words: 'When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?'
     (vs. 14) The Lord replied to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back."

Today's reading reflects Peter's denial as prophecied at dinner.  Upon the third denial of Jesus, the rooster crows a second time and Peter broke down and wept.  How could he know that his very act of denial would bring praise to the prophetic powers of His master for the generations to come?  How could any of them know that their acts of that day - from Judas, to the Jewish community, to the early church Father's in their humanity - were all part of the Master's plan.  Their weakness was indeed the strength of the Master revealed!  Peter's 3 denials created a deep wound that would focus his faith for the rest of his life.  Paul would later write of his own "thorn of the flesh" in II Corinthians 12:8-9a;

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

If you have time, Read Isaiah chapter 53.  It was almost as if Isaiah were reflecting on an event that had already happened, but we know that the early manuscripts of Isaiah were around hundreds of years before these events ever took place.  This was indeed the hand of God at work.  Isaiah 53:1; "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" I thiink the answer is 'You and me, brother!" The new question is "What are we going to do about it?"

Response to Psalm 53:1-6

What a powerful Psalm following our reflections on Numbers 14-15 and Mark 14 today!  Truly, after a serious accounting of the word of God and seeing His glory around us day and night, how could anyone say in their heart that there is no God?  Yet, how can anyone who reads this, understanding the heart of God as fulfilled through Jesus Christ who served and died for all man, believe that God does not love all man as reflected in John 3:16-17?  Truly, we are all fools.  Truly, we must all continue to seek the wisdom of God.  We all alike are fallen! Even Jesus said in Mark 10:8; "Why do you call me good? No one is good -except God alone"

If we do not serve one another, our brothers and sisters here on earth, and seek His Love for all created things in our words and actions, we will indeed follow in the way of all who have gone before us.  We will face terror and heartache without hope; without Love; without Joy.  Our bones will be scattered among the ungodly.

Yet, our deliverance has come! He was born in the little town of Bethlehem.  He came unto His own, but His own received Him not.  Yet He promises that they too shall see Him and accept Him as their own on that day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess our Lord Jesus to the glory of God the Father.  It is that day which we celebrate through faith worldwide.  The Day of the Lord.  Open your eyes today and fear not.  There is but one to revere, - for He alone is good.  Numbers 11:23; "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I (He) says will come true for you."

Response to Proverbs 11:4

What can wealth or worldly possessions do to keep you from death?  What can death do to separate you from the Love of God?  Don't take a ridiculous chance! Confess your sins to him today.  Accept His righteousness as yours will never be enough! Praise and Thank Him for His forgiveness of your sins through His sacrificial atonement through Jesus Christ offered on your behalf, Fellowship with His children here on earth through His Spirit of Love, Joy, and Peace until that glorious day when you are called home to His physical presence.

I can't wait!

But until then, I look forward to spending time with you!

Until tomorrow

Rick