The Lord Says: "See Who Is Still Around."

Numbers 26:1 After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward,” as the Lord commanded Moses. 

After giving a few more examples of how the people of Israel disobeyed and failed to trust God, He once again calls on them to take a census.  Those twenty and above were considered the new generation after the disobedient one had died in the wilderness.  Comparing this census, or "Numbering," with the one made at the beginning of the wandering shows which tribes had decreased the most.  For instance, the greatest decline was in the tribe of Simeon, which was especially noted in the chapter before this (ch.25) as those falling into Baal worship and being plagued because of it.  Most of all, this chapter ends with the statement: 64 But among these there was not a man of those wo were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai. (except Caleb and Joshua).  God had kept His promise. It was time to get ready to move on. 

The Lord Speaks When We're Too Blind to See

Numbers 22:31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

This chapter begins the intriguing account of Balaam during the wilderness wanderings of Israel.  He had "sold out" his people to prophesy against them, and in the preceding paragraph we are told God was angry. He sent His Angel to block the way, but Balaam was oblivious.  Finally, the angel of the Lord speaks and shows Balaam has blind he had been.  How often are we that way?  So gun-ho on our own paths that we ignore what God has to show us.  He then speaks - maybe even shouts - that we are on the wrong path. Do we hear Him? Do we listen?  May He open our eyes and ears to what He has so obviously put in our path.

The Lord Said: "You Are Responsible"

 Numbers 18:1 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. 2 And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 

We have seen over and over again sections that begin: "The Lord spoke to Moses" or "God said to Moses" and occasionally "The Lord Spoke to Moses and Aaron."  But God was speaking to Aaron, and as the passage goes on, He was entrusting - and holding accountable - the Priests and Levites for a lot of what went on at the Tabernacle.  Once again, context is everything. In the preceding chapter, God had shown Aaron's tribe to be the tribe for the job, as only his rod of the twelve budded and bore fruit overnight. The other leaders were moved to fear.  Lest this choosing go to his head, God made it very clear that with this authority came great accountability. Often we find leaders in scripture letting their choosing "go to their heads" and abusing their power, and the people as a whole resting on their laurels as "God's chosen people." We are not immune to this.  We are held responsible to God for all His blessings to us.

The Lord Said: "I'm Serious..."

Numbers 15:32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.

It is passages like this that make people point to the God of the Bible and portray Him as a mean, heartless ogre.  They say: "kill the man for picking up sticks - really?"  That's because we often read without context. In the proceeding verses God had been talking to people about intentional versus unintentional sins.  The former are those done "with a high hand" - deliberate, arrogant acts of rebellion against God.  We're not talking some misdemeanor act, but hateful defiance. This becomes more evident in the next event: the rebellion of Korah.  Context is everything. These were not innocent people making a mistake. They are examples of why Israel had to wait in the wilderness for forty years: their rebellious hearts.  As Paul says to the Corinthians: Let us learn from the example.

The Lord Spoke: The Complaint Department Responds

 Numbers 14:26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 

God had proved over and over again that He would provide, protect, and lead His people into the promised land.  As we saw yesterday, when the time came, they resisted. They complained that God had led them into the wilderness only to die there.  So God granted their request: He let them die there- not because that was His plan, but because they rejected His plan.  It is okay with us to "wrestle with God", to cry out complaints and wrestle to understand His ways. But this is an attack on His character and a blatant refusal to trust Him. Be careful what you accuse God of; it just may come true.  

The Lord Said: "Let's Start Over Here..."

 Numbers 14:11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

The Lord had been speaking all sorts of instructions to the people through Moses, preparing them to enter the promised land. He had offered them a covenant promising protection, provision and His presence. He led them through the construction of the Tabernacle, how to use it, and gave guidelines for those who served there. As we saw yesterday, He said "Now is the time; take a look." And the people said "no, we won't go."  On the one hand, we can understand God's frustration. But we also wonder about the wisdom of abandoning everything God had already invested in this plan: from the Exodus to the present. In faith, Mose and Aaron, and Joshua and Caleb, vastly outnumbered and on the wrong side of the crowd, call out to both God and His people to make this work. Rather than starting over from scratch, they stared over from where they were at.  It wasn't going to be easy; it was going to take another 40 years. Like these people, we often go so far and say stop. God does not take abandon us. He starts where we are, to begin again, and learn to trust Him more.  May we do that today.

The Lord Spoke: Send Spies

Numbers 13:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

Most of us know the rest of the story without reading on, but it's worth repeated.  Most of the spies (10 of the 12) focused on the size and number of the inhabitants, becoming full of fear.  The other two did what God said: focused on the land, its lushness and produce. We cannot ignore the historical context here: God had been building them up, preparing them for the journey, organizing them. This was the whole reason for delivering them from Egypt, and they said "No; we're stopping here."  How often have we done that with God? He calls us, prepares us, gives us everything we need, then we give in to fear and give up on it. When God shows us something, gives us a glimpse, it is to move us forward in faith and learn to trust Him more.