a child of god
this is the way, run in it
Setting the Scene: It's the people of Israel, in the wilderness, after the Red Sea deliverance from Pharaoh and his army by God's amazing power. Not only did Pharaoh let them go, he and his people begged them to leave (who wouldn't after 10 plagues?) and gave them gold and goods to take with them. God has also provided manna to eat and water to drink in a place where there was nothing else.
We'll skip over Leviticus and the first 10 chapters of Numbers, where God taught Moses and the people how to be a holy people who belonged to a holy God, with detailed instructions on how to construct a tent of meeting where He, the LORD God, would dwell in their midst - a cloud hovering by day and a fire by night. They could follow God by day or by night, whenever His cloud set out, they were to strike camp and follow, stopping when He stopped. He also provided a balance pattern of life for them (Leviticus 23) including work, rest, the Passover Meal, offering to God from the first of one's produce and providing for the poor, a call to arms, the Day of Atonement and humbling oneself before God and the Feast of Booths - a time of celebrating. And we are in Numbers, Chapter 11. The cloud of God lifts off the tent of meeting and they are underway, heading out on a great, big, God adventure! And the people blew it. "Now the people became like those who complain of adversity..." (v.1). When the going got tough, the people started to complain and murmur. And this came to "the hearing of the LORD and his anger burned against them." Their disrespect, lack of gratitude and lack of trust broke their relationship with God and some of them died. What I find interesting in verse 1 is how it says they became like those kind of people who complain... So they weren't like that to begin with. But something or someone caused them to become complainers, people without grateful hearts. Verse 4 talks about this in an oblique way. It says, "and the rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?" It only takes a few bad apples, to corrupt the rest. We should be careful who we listen to. So the people wanted meat. They were remembering all the luscious food they had in Egypt, while conveniently forgetting the slavery and back breaking work. As an allotment person, the list sounds luscious: the fish, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic..." but what are we hankering for there? Moses, seeing God's anger at the people's attitude, goes to talk with God. He's about had enough, as well! He says, what did I do to deserve these people? (Have any of you leaders ever felt like that?) Did I conceive all these people? Moses is basically saying he isn't responsible for them, God is. And what does He want Moses to do about it? Moses goes on to say, How am I to feed 600,000 people? Where can we find that much cattle? And what does God say? This is the BOOM moment for me. God says, "Is the LORD's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not" (v.23). Yes, God is big enough! Yes, God's power is almighty and unlimited! He is the creator of the universe, after all. Do we believe God when He tells us He is going to do something? When He promises to be our shield and defender, our Rock in times of trouble, our Savior, do we believe Him? God tells Moses, go gather 70 elders, whom I will put some of the Spirit that is on you on them so they can help you lead these people, and then watch what I will do. I will give the people meat, but they will face the consequences of their wrong heart attitudes. Ouch. It's not good to diss God. How much better to believe and ask for what we need, trust Him for the outcome, and be thankful we are known and loved by Almighty God? Moses was called the friend of God. He talked with God and took all his concerns to Him, and he obeyed God. May we do the same on our very own great, big, God adventure with Jesus!
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Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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