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Hi, everyone. I realize that what I am going to give my personal assessment of below is not concerning the usual Easter subject of Christ's death and resurrection, so I do want to stress that you keep that in mind today first and foremost, whether in church or otherwise. In fact, I believe his resurrection from death is all the more essential to the believer's faith and to salvation from the second death, regardless of his/her personal view of what one is saved from according to the theological views of traditionalism (eternal conscious torment), annihilationism (conditional immortality), or universal reconciliation (God eventually restores everyone).
However, this morning while it is fresh on my mind I would like to give my personal assessment on a subject I encountered yesterday while reading through the Bible, so if you would please take a few minutes to turn with me to the chapter in the book of Numbers, 13 and 14. As of now I use the New American Standard version, just so that you are aware in case the alternative wording from the version you personally use may make for a different personal interpretation on the subject at hand.
Here is a link in case you do not have a Bible on hand.
Numbers 13; Numbers 14 - New American Standard Bible - NAS - Bible Study Tools
Here the Lord has directed Moses to send spies out to survey the land of Canaan during their great journey out of slavery in Egypt to a new home. He intended to give Canaan to the Israelites, and it may be here that He intentionally commanded Moses to send spies to see how they would react to their observations of the "giants" already in the land, who I understand to be the descendents of Anak, who are among the Nephilim. As with many cases, I take this to be a "trust" exercise. The Lord promised to give the land to the Israelites, did He not? And now, would they still trust His good promises even after they see the powerful men already roaming Canaan?
So Moses sends out forward to Canaan a representative of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, including Joshua (also called Hoshea) the son of Nun from the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Issachar. And unfortunately, all of the men who had gone except for Caleb and Joshua gave what the NASB calls a "bad report", which, considering this is used elsewhere in the Bible to refer to a negative examination of a man's current character and actions, such as with Eli later in Samuel concerning his two sons who displeased the Lord with their selfish and irreverent actions as priests, may or may not be significant here.
The men were terrified of the seemingly strong inhabitants they saw in the land of Canaan. They say, at the end of Chapter 13, that they saw themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of the Nephilim, and thus they believe the Nephilim saw them this way also. Basically the old adage, "I think, therefore I am", perhaps.
This was not all, however. Fear in itself is one thing. I believe it is a natural human reaction and emotion. But you see, the men did not stop here with their statements of feeling weak and unable to accomplish the task of taking the land for themselves as God promised He would give them. Despite Caleb's admonishment to his fellow spies and the congregation of Israelites being given the report to trust the Lord and go through with moving into Canaan, the men had apparently become so frantic at the sight of the Nephilim that they lost their trust of God completely, and even stirred up the Israelites listening to them to weep in hopeless distress, apparently for the greater majority of that night, and to complain against their leaders and ministers Moses and Aaron that God Himself set them up to perish like dogs at the hands of the inhabitants of Canaan. And that they wish He had let them stay as slaves in Egypt, as you can see at the beginning of chapter 14.
This apparently is a prime example of rebellion against the Lord given in the Bible, and upon reflection after reading through these chapters yesterday, I can see why. Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb all tried to admonish the Israelites to, in so many words, be still and know that God is in fact God, and when He says He means well for you, He will make it so. He is our Father, our greatest Caretaker, our Shepherd, and He Himself assures us that He is good. The Israelites commonly lost trust in this basic promise throughout the Old Testament, and especially here in Numbers 14, even tot he point where they intended to stone Moses and the others for trying to calm them down and assure comfort to them that God is in control!
And at this point, after threatening the stoning, that the glory of the Lord appeared before the congregation in the tent of meeting, and He asks, perhaps in knowing disgust, even, how long these people would spurn Him and continue to disbelieve in Him. He is rightfully angry with these people, I would say, and threatens to smite them for their incredulous displays of unbelief. Moses pleads for God to show mercy yet again, indeed according to "His lovingkindness", as His smiting them would surely only give God Himself a bad reputation among the nations from here to Egypt, giving them the impression that God had only failed to keep His promise by oath to the Israelites He freed, and thus in His frustation He simply destroyed them in the wilderness, as though He is not only an impotent God but also one who cannot even keep His temper over His own failures. God in His goodness as always, pardons, but still rebukes. I think Moses' plea here is also significant, as I doubt He actually "changed God's mind", so to speak, with his request for God to hold back His anger against this rampant unbelief. Rather, it may very well be that God also tested Moses' good faith in Him, to see how he would react to the threat of the people being smitten as a whole by the Lord's anger. Would Moses trust in God's neverending ability to forgive and pardon even unbelief and plea for God's abundantly good character? Or would he perhaps say, "yeah, go ahead and do it, God. I'm sick of them. Show them your wrath, they deserve it." Perhaps the kind of attitude that is unfortunately prevalent in a few identifying Christians (Westboro Baptist church, for one) to always judge and condemn and do nothing but talk about God's will to destroy and inflict suffering and so forth against (conveniently) everyone but themselves in what they are so sure is nothing but an exceedingly wicked world, is in itself an example of unbelief.
Judgment belongs to God, so I do not believe we have any say in it, and it is far more balanced and tempered with mercy and goodness than any of us can ever know or understand. Not only that, my take here in Numbers 13 and 14 is that grumbling against God and displaying a lack of faith in His protection and goodness is actually a form of unbelief that hurts and angers Him even more than the kind of sins that hardcore fundamentalist types go around yelling about seeing in everyone else most times.
And this can even go back to what's at the center of it all in our faith, Jesus Christ and His redemption of the world through the cross, whether you personally believe that His death and resurrection redeems only those in the world who actively believe in it in the course of their earthly lives OR you take "the world" in the most literal sense, and that, whether those who currently do not believe like it or not, He will eventually cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess. Do you trust this, that God has done the seemingly impossible and purchased us by the ultimate sacrifice His Son Jesus Christ willingly made, however fearful of it He was the night before in the garden of Gethsamane? That He is altogether good? And mercy triumphs over judgment? ... Or are you acting like the Israelites who were stirred to rebellion because of the fearful report about Canaan brought to them, perhaps, thinking God is out to get you? That He whimsically or wantonly leads people to their own destruction simply because He is God and as our Creator can do that to us if He wants?
For He knows the plans He has for us, so says the Bible, plans to prosper and not to harm. He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And, He assured us in His first sermon ever in the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 3, that Jesus would crush the head of Satan, so forth leading to the restoration of all as evidenced in various places throughout the Bible, especially the Gospels. (It's called the Good News for a reason, folks.)
God is in control, and it is not something we should be afraid of. The time is to get our there and speak of the great love displayed at the cross, to show Jesus' life of self-sacrifice and hope and gentle rebuke and admonishment in our own towards the outside world who is lost and yet may be seeking, ... NOT to go around yelling and crying about how evil the days are and everything just gets worse and worse and how you can't wait for the rapture to take you away yourself as a means of escape while others get left to the slaughter, almost as though you don't even care. (I admit that as of now I am uncertain as to whether the popular rapture and tribulation doctrines are Biblically accurate or not, as they do seem to create an unseemingly attitude in some, and I personally believe we are to look for the fruit of the Holy Spirit in teachings and doctrines to assist in determining their veracity.)
Now then, these are the thoughts in my heart personally, and what I myself gleaned from these two chapters of the Bible I have spoken on today. I cannot claim to be a wise and great prophet who is above disagreement or even reproach. But I pray that by God's grace, seeing as I have not done this kind of thing often before, I was a worthy enough teacher of the Word this morning.
Happy Easter, everyone. Remember always that, perhaps most important of all, Christ is risen, and has defeated death. Go in peace today.
However, this morning while it is fresh on my mind I would like to give my personal assessment on a subject I encountered yesterday while reading through the Bible, so if you would please take a few minutes to turn with me to the chapter in the book of Numbers, 13 and 14. As of now I use the New American Standard version, just so that you are aware in case the alternative wording from the version you personally use may make for a different personal interpretation on the subject at hand.
Here is a link in case you do not have a Bible on hand.
Numbers 13; Numbers 14 - New American Standard Bible - NAS - Bible Study Tools
Here the Lord has directed Moses to send spies out to survey the land of Canaan during their great journey out of slavery in Egypt to a new home. He intended to give Canaan to the Israelites, and it may be here that He intentionally commanded Moses to send spies to see how they would react to their observations of the "giants" already in the land, who I understand to be the descendents of Anak, who are among the Nephilim. As with many cases, I take this to be a "trust" exercise. The Lord promised to give the land to the Israelites, did He not? And now, would they still trust His good promises even after they see the powerful men already roaming Canaan?
So Moses sends out forward to Canaan a representative of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, including Joshua (also called Hoshea) the son of Nun from the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Issachar. And unfortunately, all of the men who had gone except for Caleb and Joshua gave what the NASB calls a "bad report", which, considering this is used elsewhere in the Bible to refer to a negative examination of a man's current character and actions, such as with Eli later in Samuel concerning his two sons who displeased the Lord with their selfish and irreverent actions as priests, may or may not be significant here.
The men were terrified of the seemingly strong inhabitants they saw in the land of Canaan. They say, at the end of Chapter 13, that they saw themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of the Nephilim, and thus they believe the Nephilim saw them this way also. Basically the old adage, "I think, therefore I am", perhaps.
This was not all, however. Fear in itself is one thing. I believe it is a natural human reaction and emotion. But you see, the men did not stop here with their statements of feeling weak and unable to accomplish the task of taking the land for themselves as God promised He would give them. Despite Caleb's admonishment to his fellow spies and the congregation of Israelites being given the report to trust the Lord and go through with moving into Canaan, the men had apparently become so frantic at the sight of the Nephilim that they lost their trust of God completely, and even stirred up the Israelites listening to them to weep in hopeless distress, apparently for the greater majority of that night, and to complain against their leaders and ministers Moses and Aaron that God Himself set them up to perish like dogs at the hands of the inhabitants of Canaan. And that they wish He had let them stay as slaves in Egypt, as you can see at the beginning of chapter 14.
This apparently is a prime example of rebellion against the Lord given in the Bible, and upon reflection after reading through these chapters yesterday, I can see why. Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb all tried to admonish the Israelites to, in so many words, be still and know that God is in fact God, and when He says He means well for you, He will make it so. He is our Father, our greatest Caretaker, our Shepherd, and He Himself assures us that He is good. The Israelites commonly lost trust in this basic promise throughout the Old Testament, and especially here in Numbers 14, even tot he point where they intended to stone Moses and the others for trying to calm them down and assure comfort to them that God is in control!
And at this point, after threatening the stoning, that the glory of the Lord appeared before the congregation in the tent of meeting, and He asks, perhaps in knowing disgust, even, how long these people would spurn Him and continue to disbelieve in Him. He is rightfully angry with these people, I would say, and threatens to smite them for their incredulous displays of unbelief. Moses pleads for God to show mercy yet again, indeed according to "His lovingkindness", as His smiting them would surely only give God Himself a bad reputation among the nations from here to Egypt, giving them the impression that God had only failed to keep His promise by oath to the Israelites He freed, and thus in His frustation He simply destroyed them in the wilderness, as though He is not only an impotent God but also one who cannot even keep His temper over His own failures. God in His goodness as always, pardons, but still rebukes. I think Moses' plea here is also significant, as I doubt He actually "changed God's mind", so to speak, with his request for God to hold back His anger against this rampant unbelief. Rather, it may very well be that God also tested Moses' good faith in Him, to see how he would react to the threat of the people being smitten as a whole by the Lord's anger. Would Moses trust in God's neverending ability to forgive and pardon even unbelief and plea for God's abundantly good character? Or would he perhaps say, "yeah, go ahead and do it, God. I'm sick of them. Show them your wrath, they deserve it." Perhaps the kind of attitude that is unfortunately prevalent in a few identifying Christians (Westboro Baptist church, for one) to always judge and condemn and do nothing but talk about God's will to destroy and inflict suffering and so forth against (conveniently) everyone but themselves in what they are so sure is nothing but an exceedingly wicked world, is in itself an example of unbelief.
Judgment belongs to God, so I do not believe we have any say in it, and it is far more balanced and tempered with mercy and goodness than any of us can ever know or understand. Not only that, my take here in Numbers 13 and 14 is that grumbling against God and displaying a lack of faith in His protection and goodness is actually a form of unbelief that hurts and angers Him even more than the kind of sins that hardcore fundamentalist types go around yelling about seeing in everyone else most times.
And this can even go back to what's at the center of it all in our faith, Jesus Christ and His redemption of the world through the cross, whether you personally believe that His death and resurrection redeems only those in the world who actively believe in it in the course of their earthly lives OR you take "the world" in the most literal sense, and that, whether those who currently do not believe like it or not, He will eventually cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess. Do you trust this, that God has done the seemingly impossible and purchased us by the ultimate sacrifice His Son Jesus Christ willingly made, however fearful of it He was the night before in the garden of Gethsamane? That He is altogether good? And mercy triumphs over judgment? ... Or are you acting like the Israelites who were stirred to rebellion because of the fearful report about Canaan brought to them, perhaps, thinking God is out to get you? That He whimsically or wantonly leads people to their own destruction simply because He is God and as our Creator can do that to us if He wants?
For He knows the plans He has for us, so says the Bible, plans to prosper and not to harm. He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And, He assured us in His first sermon ever in the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 3, that Jesus would crush the head of Satan, so forth leading to the restoration of all as evidenced in various places throughout the Bible, especially the Gospels. (It's called the Good News for a reason, folks.)
God is in control, and it is not something we should be afraid of. The time is to get our there and speak of the great love displayed at the cross, to show Jesus' life of self-sacrifice and hope and gentle rebuke and admonishment in our own towards the outside world who is lost and yet may be seeking, ... NOT to go around yelling and crying about how evil the days are and everything just gets worse and worse and how you can't wait for the rapture to take you away yourself as a means of escape while others get left to the slaughter, almost as though you don't even care. (I admit that as of now I am uncertain as to whether the popular rapture and tribulation doctrines are Biblically accurate or not, as they do seem to create an unseemingly attitude in some, and I personally believe we are to look for the fruit of the Holy Spirit in teachings and doctrines to assist in determining their veracity.)
Now then, these are the thoughts in my heart personally, and what I myself gleaned from these two chapters of the Bible I have spoken on today. I cannot claim to be a wise and great prophet who is above disagreement or even reproach. But I pray that by God's grace, seeing as I have not done this kind of thing often before, I was a worthy enough teacher of the Word this morning.
Happy Easter, everyone. Remember always that, perhaps most important of all, Christ is risen, and has defeated death. Go in peace today.
