The Dilemma of Disappointment

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people…”

Numbers 27:12-13

Just after God helped Moses resolve a civil matter within Israel, the Lord gave His prophet a devastating report. He informed Moses that he could view a portion of the Promised Land from a mountaintop, and nothing more. Israel’s messenger and leader would not be permitted to step foot inside the long-awaited borders of Canaan. Moses’ unholy conduct, exhibited on a prior occasion, had cost him the opportunity to fully complete the tasking he was given: to guide the people into the Promised Land. To say this was a crushing revelation to Moses is a massive understatement. This man, though prone to anger and self-deprecation, was a monumental pillar of support and wisdom for his kinsmen. If there was ever a person who would have “merited” the privilege of feeling and seeing the Promised Land up-close and personal (during this point in history) it was Moses. But God forbid it and, remarkably, Moses accepted it with dignity and graciousness.

When told his time on earth was nearly complete and that he would soon relinquish the reigns of governance how did Moses respond? Did he complain and whine? No. Did he lose heart or break down, sobbing with bitter tears? No. Did he tell God it was unfair and wrong? No. Moses received God’s command and absorbed it in a spirit of praise. In fact, Moses’ first inclination was to ask God that He appoint a replacement so that the Hebrew people would not be like sheep without a shepherd (Numbers 27:17). This is a truly incredible reply to an otherwise upsetting message.

The dilemma of disappointment can be a most menacing foe. Humanity is conditioned to react to setback in carnal frustration. But Moses did not react in frustration or fury; he responded to disappointment in faith. Moses’ trust in God’s sovereignty overcame his emotion in the moment and his natural inclination to plead the injustice of God’s decision. Clearly, Moses was a man who believed more in the goodwill and noble intentions of the Lord above his own. The great prophet of God did not let discouraging news or dispiriting outcomes dampen his beliefs or his convictions. The Lord was more eternally glorious than the distress of the temporary. In summary, faith is the spiritual substance that can set followers of God apart from the world. It was true of Moses. It should be true of us.

The Blessing and Burden of Leadership

“Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance of his tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled.”

Numbers 11:10

Leading is never an easy responsibility, and it is fraught with adversity. Moses’ legacy provides us ample proof of this. He was called to take God’s covenantal people, Israel, out of Egypt and guide them to the Promised Land. This task bore many triumphs, moments of sweet corporate fellowship and praise. But there were also spiritual valleys, moments when a sense of collective distrust and rebellion permeated the Hebrew people. For instance, the Israelites made a foreign God as Moses was receiving the sacred commandments. And the people found many opportunities to openly complain about their dissatisfaction with everything associated with journeying through the desert.

That is the state of affairs when we open up Scripture to Numbers 11. Israel was brazenly ignoring the blessings they had received at God’s hand and choosing to candidly dismiss God’s sovereignty. Israel grumbled continually. What the Hebrew community had in freedom from Egyptian slavery and oppression apparently didn’t appease them for very long. They wanted more, and it was revealed in one particular example: the collective call, better yet demand, for meat (Numbers 11:4). Israel worked very little for manna since God reigned manna down upon the land, but the people were not content with it.

Moses ventured throughout the camp and heard the cries of his kinsmen. It overwhelmed him, and burdened him. Moses rightly brought the matter before God. The great prophet expressed confusion as to why he was saddled with so many of the peoples’ heartache. He honestly assessed the problem. He was a mere mortal and had neither the physical nor the mental prowess to provide meat for some several hundred thousand people. He felt sure that the hurt in the community would soon turn into contempt and violence, likely resulting in Moses’ execution for failing to deliver sustenance to the peoples’ voracious expectations. He asked the Lord to put him to death rather than face the carnal brutality of an angry mob.

But God offered Moses a most welcomed and gracious response. He informed Moses that He would allow some of the headship role to be disseminated with seventy of Israel’s elders. Remarkably, God revealed that He would share the Spirit that rested on Moses with the newly appointed leaders, thus confirming God’s authoritative presence and blessing in the matter. It is amazing to read how God patiently, gently addressed Moses’ predicament. The Lord was both sensitive to Moses’ concerns and spectacular in how He resolved the issue. Furthermore, God took care of avenging the misguided behavior and the shameful attitude that was running rampant throughout the Israelite camp.

In all, we, as God’s followers and leaders of varying degrees, must be patient, prepared, and prayerful, as Moses was. Clearly, we do not carry our burdens alone. God is among us and in us (as believers of Jesus Christ). Let us not lose heart when the “meat-moaners” of life approach us, or perhaps even threaten us. May we carry it to God and allow our Master to develop the Master plan.

The Criticality of Guarding Your Heart

“Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.”

Leviticus 19:37

A precious scene emerges in the Exodus account. Just after God redeemed His covenantal people, Israel, from Egypt, a towering, mighty military juggernaut in its heyday, The Lord steadily infused the Hebrew community with a noble purpose: to know Him and make Him known. In order to help the Jewish congregation learn His holy expectations, God laid out a comprehensive list of laws and worship observances. Leviticus is one such text that captured the Lord’s righteous rules for His followers in the Old Testament era. Underlying this extensive directory of divine “dos” and “don’ts” is a pervasive warning, or perhaps a pleading, to guard the heart. As a latter biblical passage confirms, penned by the God-endowed luminous mind of Solomon, the heart is the wellspring of life, so it must be aptly and fiercely shielded from wicked doctrine and pursuits (Proverbs 4:23).       

Biblical passages testify to the fact that when people are casual about their spirituality they become careless about their morality. Consider the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah and the sins of Canaan. Both of the aforementioned ancient civilizations were corrupted with the abuse of God’s original design for sex, in that it was and is to be shared within the confines of a marital covenant between a husband and wife. The proliferation of sexually askew behavior can quickly become rampant in communities and nations. Lust and lewdness take a firm grip on their prey and discourage their victims from seeking physical or spiritual integrity. Clearly, God’s believers must not bend to the cultural or political pressure to minimize, circumvent, or ignore God’s great standards set forth in His Word. Modern society is just as susceptible to casting aside ethical decency as Sodom, Gomorrah, and Canaan were. These historical events sternly remind us that sinful minds produce spiritually-bankrupt lives. Therefore, we need to honor God in all our ways.     

    

Leviticus 19:37 reinforces the all-or-nothing approach to faith. God, the eternal, mighty Creator of all, does not deserve a flimsy, mediocre spirit of worship from humanity. He deserves a never-yielding, giving-Him-all-that-we-have dedication. God call’s to Israel in Leviticus 19:37 is a call that should resonate with believers today: follow God’s decrees, in heart and mind. Don’t just hear them, practice them. Don’t just say them, personify them. Don’t just read them, live them.

Mankind can never be satisfied with just a portion of God; we need all of Him. After all, partial obedience does not please God. The Lord longs for total obedience from His followers, a complete adherence to all of His principles and precepts. So often we rebel and halfheartedly offer praise to Him in a manner that does not bring glory to Him, rather than meeting God on His terms. Realize that the Lord charged the Israelites with being sanctified, or set apart. They were surrounded by worldly influences, but encouraged not to be influenced by it. They were specifically chosen to shine the light of God’s presence. The Lord gave them His Word as a heart-shield against the carnal vices facing them every day. Therefore, let God’s seekers savor His message for it strengthens the heart, even in the cruelest of places and darkest of nations.

The Necessity of God’s Great Forgiveness

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”

Leviticus 6:13

Perhaps one of the most fascinating questions involving Old Testament passages is this: why was animal sacrifice necessary, at one point, to atone for transgressions against God? Many would probably state, “We will never fully know on earth, but it is what God commanded His covenantal people to do until Jesus’ death and resurrection.” And while this answer contains the weight of truth it falls short of contemplating all the captivating correlations inherent to God’s call for His followers to participate in substitutionary offerings. Therefore, let us briefly explore a few points pertinent to this subject. One, the slaying of animals represented the ultimate consequence of sin: death. We tend to associate the original fall of mankind with the fact that Adam and Eve were exiled from God’s presence, cast out of the Garden of Eden. But God’s foremost warning to Adam in Genesis 2:17 was not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because if he did so he would surely die. Hence, disobedience equals death and animal sacrifice gruesomely reminds us that sin is ugly in God’s sight. And it reminds us that sin has disastrous consequences.

Two, animal sacrifice signifies that worship costs God’s believers something, not just in a monetary sense, but spiritually as well. In an ancient agrarian culture animals were given a high value, as they are today. Consequently, to part with treasured livestock meant that God’s covenantal people were rendering offerings unto God, rather than hoarding wealth or money-making possessions purely for personal comfort and profit. Therefore, worship means we willingly and humbly participate in voluntary offerings to God. This is critical because Scripture highlights that any wrongdoing, whether intentional or unintentional, premeditated or accidental, is despicable to God and requires restitution. In essence, the things we make wrong God demands be made right. Ultimately, mankind must be willing to seek God’s great forgiveness. If we desire to find the holiness of God we must expel the haughtiness of humanity. In short, spiritual restitution in the Old Testament was expressed and absolved through sacrificial worship.  

With all of this in mind, an incredible verse resides in Leviticus 6:13. In this passage, God told the priests to not let the fire of the altar of sacrifice ever go out. The requirement to have the flame of the sacrificial altar continually burning symbolizes the unending guilt of God’s people and their perpetual need for redemption. Now link this thought to Jesus’ final proclamation from the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30). What a glorious and superior consideration! The undying blaze that seared the flesh of the substitutionary offerings in the Old Testament was finally and permanently satisfied with Christ’s self-offering. Jesus’ generous and gallous act was sufficient. It was enough. It fulfilled the role that the ancient atonement observances served: complete, total redemption. So may a spirit of gratitude for Jesus’ redemptive work singe away our fleshly, egocentric form and set us ablaze for the activity of God, ever thankful for Christ’s forgiveness-laced sacrifice at Calvary. 

God’s Word: A Life-Changing Message Brimming with Instruction and Inspiration

 “When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony. And he spoke with him”  

Numbers 7:89 (NIV)

Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land God set out very specific sacrificial requirements, mandates that they were to regularly and repentantly observe. These stringent expectations seem a bit foreign to the modern-day church, which enjoys spiritual shelter in grace (thanks to the atoning ransom of Jesus Christ), rather than in the law. But through the historical advantage of hindsight many believers today recognize that the era of methodical, regimented obedience in the Old Testament set the stage, so-to-speak, for the recognition and reverence of God’s Son. Jesus fulfilled what no man or woman has been able to do before or since: perfectly abide by God’s tenants and live a faultless moral life, a life exhibiting a righteous, divine nature. Christ’s superior character and conduct confirm He was and is the only begotten Son of God, the Messiah, Savior of the world.

Reflecting upon the establishment of the Old Testament statutes and structure for a moment, there is a very interesting passage at the conclusion of Numbers 7. In Numbers 7, Scripture records that the offering altar was dedicated in the Tent of Meeting in a special, meaningful fashion. A leader from each Hebrew tribe presented gifts, such as silver and gold, for the work of the Lord. Each family elder also brought forth propitiations, in the form of grain and livestock. The solemn ceremony highlighted the fact that every Israelite was not only welcome to partake in the worshipful adoration of God, but they needed to participate in the penitent practice of sacrifice. After all, everyone had, at some point, fallen short of God’s great standards, as outlined in the Lord’s great commandments.

At the completion of the twelve day-long praise service, Moses entered the Tent of Meeting, the tabernacle, to communicate with the Lord. And then something literally and symbolically significant transpired. The Bible indicates that God raised His voice from above the Testimony, His sacred message. This is a very revealing piece of information. God could have chosen to articulate His voice from anywhere in the Tent of Meeting, but He explicitly chose His Word as the podium from which He would converse with Moses. Dwell on the importance of this consideration. Moses audibly heard God from the nearness and proximity of the Testimony.

This implication is astounding. God’s Word is a vitally critical method in which God imparts truth to humanity. Clearly, God was indicating that His Word is not a valueless tale or outdated text; it is alive and breathing. It is liberating and powerful, filled with the Spirit of God. Through Scripture, we have inspiration and instruction. We have direction and doctrine. We have hope and help. To put it another way, God’s loving disposition underlines the body of the letters and phrases that encompass the Bible. In summary, the manner in which we approach the reading and review of God’s Word should exude appreciation and admiration. This life-changing message overflows with holy knowledge, a knowledge willing to be distributed to the God followers eager to receive it. Moses discovered this to be true. We should too.