Numbers 28-35: Content In The Wilderness

Numbers 32:1-5   Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;  2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,  3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,  4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:  5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.

     The tribes of Reuben and Gad make what seems to be a pretty harmless request of Moses.  Their desire is to stay in the land they have been traveling through on their forty-year trip to the land that God has promised them.  The reasoning of these two tribes seems to be pretty solid.  They have a large amount of cattle and the land is a land that provides adequate pasture for cattle.  Reuben and Gad do not mention it but I believe we can also see a certain degree of security in this choice.  They already possess this land and they have seen it with their eyes.  Battles will have to be fought for the other land and they must take God's word for the goodness of the land.  Like us, they found security in walking by sight instead of faith.

Numbers 32:6-7   And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?  7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them?

   Moses sharply rebukes them for their request.  He points out two problems with this seemingly innocent request.  First of all, it will exclude them from the battles that their brethren will have to fight.  Secondly, it will discourage the hearts of the rest of Israel.  So here we see that other Christians' courage and confidence in God can be zapped by Christians giving up on the good fight of faith and settling for a life of sight instead of a life of faith.  I wonder how many times we have discouraged others and caused them to quit on God simply because we did not continue in the battle?  I don't think we give any thought to how our unfaithfulness in little battles like attending the public meetings of the church, gracious and consistent giving, and growth in Christ's likeness in our attitude and actions discourage other saints.  Perhaps others are discouraged and don't feel like they can go on because they have watched us choose to sit down and enjoy the pleasures of this wilderness instead of fighting on by faith to live a biblical life as the disciples of Christ.  All of the Jewish males who were twenty and older died when the ten spies found contentment in the wilderness.  I wonder how many will die and spend eternity separated from God because we are content in the wilderness and have discouraged their hearts?


Daily Devotional:  Luke 23:44-24:12   Jesus' Death and Resurrection

Numbers 20-27: Ahhh! It's A SNAKE!

Numbers 21:4   And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

     Here we encounter one of the real, everyday enemies of a living faith--Discouragement.  Discouragement is defined as the act of disheartening, or depriving of courage; the act of deterring or dissuading from an undertaking; the act of depressing confidence.  If I could, I would like to give you a working definition from this dictionary definition.  Discouraged is the state of being robbed of courage and the confidence in God needed to continue living out the faith of Christ in daily life.

     Now we can be sure that the same thing that discouraged these people of God is the same thing that will discourage us today if we are not careful.  The latter part of verse four points out the main reason for discouragement then and now to be the challenges of the way.  They had encountered many obstacles along their journey and they allowed these to rob them of courage and confidence in God.  We too meet with many obstacles both internal and external as we seek to pattern our lives after Christ and His teachings.  The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters five through seven, provide many challenges to the person that desires to live an honest and biblical life.  Living out these principles of a biblical faith is the way in which God has chosen for us to walk, and it is a daunting task more akin to a mountain climb than a Sunday stroll.

Numbers 21:5   And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

     Unfortunately, we are prone to react badly when faced with the difficulty of the way.  Like Israel, if we are not careful, we find ourselves complaining when we should be climbing.  We will sink to complaining of God's choice of leadership and blame our leaders for the difficulty of the way.  It is easy to blame our failure to continue in a living faith on others and lack of provisions, but we must keep in mind it didn't work for Israel.  Finally, if crying, "It's their fault" and complaining, "I don't have what it takes" doesn't work, we complain about God's provisions.  In this stage we see the provision of God, but it isn't enough.

Numbers 21:6   And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

     So what happens when we allow ourselves to be discouraged by the challenges of a living faith and regress to the point of complaining about everything and everyone God has placed in our lives?  Problems multiply and the way gets harder.  Many times our complaining only magnifies the obstacles and multiplies the hindrances to our progressing along the way.  Nothing good ever comes of complaining and blaming.

Numbers 21:7-9   Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.  8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.  9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

     So how do we get out of this mess?  For Israel the only way out was confessing their sin and by faith placing confidence in a brass serpent on a pole to take care of their problems when they were bitten.  As for you and I, we simply need to follow their pattern.  Confess our sins of fear and doubt.  Confess our failure to live out the faith of Christ daily.  Then put our confidence in the one that the brazen serpent pictured-- the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:14-15   And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:  15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.).  It will not make the way any easier but it will give us the courage and confidence in God we need to press on the upward way!

Numbers 21:10   And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

Daily Devotional:  John 18:1-11   Jesus Willingly Taken