Numbers
19:1–20:13, 1 Corinthians 2:1–16,
Psalm 18:13–30
The work my husband does brings us into contact with
people who have lived in many places. Some of them do well, mostly because they
adapt quickly to a new location and culture. Others struggle, maybe less able
to adapt to change, often have expectations that work against them, and their
memories are short.
The OT Israel seem more like the second group. They forgot
what their bondage in Egypt had been like. The nomad lifestyle wasn’t what they
were expecting, and they didn’t like their change in diet. Would I have reacted
the same way to those challenges? After many severe rebukes from God, would I still
moan and groan and not get it?
The reading today describes their next incident, this time
involving water; they didn’t have any. In a desert, this is a serious matter .
. . “And they assembled themselves together against
Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Would
that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly
of the Lord into this wilderness,
that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come
up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or
figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.’”
Moses and Aaron went from them to their place of worship and
fell on their faces. The glory of the Lord
appeared to them, and the Lord
spoke to Moses . . .
“Take the staff, and assemble
the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their
eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and
give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”
Moses did as God commanded. He and Aaron gathered the people
together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear
now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses
lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out
abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because
you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of
Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have
given them.” (Numbers
20:2–13)
Moses was told to speak to the rock, and he struck it
twice. This might seem like a small thing, but the OT speaks of Christ (see Luke 24:27). Moses’ action was
supposed to illustrate a spiritual reality about the Rock of Ages, but hitting
the rock did not fit the plan. Because of it, this man was not able to enter
the Promised Land. One disobedience changed the course of his life.
And yes, the people were short-sighted and dissatisfied. He
probably felt like hitting them, not the rock. They were worse than children
whining, “Are we there yet?” and dug in their heels, not quick to trust God about
anything, even though He had done many miracles on their behalf. It seemed they
were blind to His goodness and only able to think about their “I wants.”
When reading the next passage, God impresses me that the key
to seeing farther than today’s thirst is being able to think His thoughts for
my tomorrows, but the only way to get inside the head of God and think His thoughts
is to let Him live inside my head. . .
“The natural person does not
accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is
not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The
spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For
who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the
mind of Christ.” (1
Corinthians 2:14–16)
The Israelites did not have the mind of Christ, nor did
they have much faith. Yet I cannot boast. Any faith I have for obedience, or
for waiting on Him is not in me either — it comes from Him. If I want to know His
will for my future, I need to be in line with what He has shown me today. Continual
obedience means continual instruction and guidance from Him. How I think and
act, my receptivity and attitude always have a bearing on how He reveals
Himself to me . . .
“With the merciful you show
yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the
purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem
tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.”
(Psalm 18:25–27)
At
first, I wondered if this verse also suggests: If I am silent, He will not
speak. If I am slow to obey His commands, He is slow to answer my requests . .
. ? Thankfully, not.
I cannot earn the favor of God. If I act like a jerk, it should be no surprise if He rebukes me for it and if I
want Him to lead me, I must follow, not tell Him where I want to go. Yet because of Christ,
He keeps blessing me with mercy and great patience.
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