A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 11 (Part 2)

 Numbers 11:10-15—10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' 14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. 15        If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!" So this time, when the people complained, God was angry, and now Moses was displeased as well. But Moses’ displeasure comes out a bit different than God’s anger. Whereas God was angry because of their not appreciating what He had done for them, Moses’ displeasure comes across as whining. And notice the things he says. Does this remind you of anybody? “The woman you gave me, she gave me of the tree and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). In both places, you see a sort of blaming God. “The woman you gave me”, and “You have laid the burden of all these people on me. Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them?” are both cases of these men saying that God gave them too big a task. “It’s all Your fault! I couldn’t handle it!” Instead of chastising the people, he decided that maybe God is a harsh taskmaster. After all, who was it that was guiding the people? Who was it that was keeping these people in order? Who was it that was feeding the people? Was it Moses? No, it was God who was responsible for all these things.

 Are we not the same? We pray for the sick, pray for the lost, pray for things for our neighbor. And when things don’t go according to the way we want them to go, don’t we feel discouraged? Don’t we feel like we didn’t do enough? Don’t we often think there might have been something more that we could have done? And why do we think these things? Because we are human. We tend to think too highly of ourselves, and think that we have all the control and all the answers to everything. When, in reality, God is the One in control. Is someone sick? God is the Great Physician who can heal. Is someone lost? It is God who gives the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to the truth. Is your neighbor out of work, or going through a divorce, or having trouble keeping their kids in line? Are these things too hard for God to work out? So many questions, but we know the One who has all the answers. 

And, guess what? God does have the answers. Numbers 11:16-18—16 So the LORD said to Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18    Then you shall say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat."'"  He tells Moses to gather seventy leaders and meet at the door of the Tabernacle. Then He says He will take of the Spirit that He has put on Moses and put it on these seventy men, in a sense making them equal to Moses. And they will bear the burden that Moses thought he was bearing alone. Poor Moses, always taking on too much by himself. This wasn’t the first time he had done so. Back in Exodus 18, his father-in-law had to remind him that he was only one man, and there were others whom he needed to judge smaller matters. Exodus 18:13-16—13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. 14 So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?" 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws." In other words, “Poor me! I am the only one who can judge any matter between two men, no matter how big or small! Only I can do that!” And Jethro had to let him know that it was okay to let other men judge the smaller matters, and for Moses to go to God for the bigger matters. Exodus 18:17-23—17 So Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. 19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. 20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. 21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace." 

Aren’t we guilty of the same thing sometimes, though? We think that we and we alone have all the answers? That we are the only ones that can solve any kind of problem? And yet that is not the case. God has given wisdom to others, and if we would just let go of our iron-fisted grip on the situation, God can use those people to settle those matters. Keep in mind, when Moses was sitting there judging those matters, he was doing it for about half million people! That is a population twice the size of Buffalo, NY. And out of all those half million people, he thought he was the only one who could judge matters great or small. The same thing happened here in Numbers—he cried out to God that he and he alone could lead these people, that he and he alone could provide for these people, that he and he alone was responsible for the well-being of these people. When in reality, these were God’s people, and He could do and provide for these people, and He showed here that He could. 

“Then you shall say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.” Even the Apostles, when they had Jesus with them, thought that they were responsible for feeding 5000 people at one time. There they were, out in the middle of nowhere, it was getting toward sundown, and there were all these mouths to feed. Matthew 14:15—When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." As if to say “we and we alone are responsible for feeding these people! But let us do the easy thing and send these people to their homes that they may eat!” It still hadn’t gotten through their heads that God was with them. The One who created all things, the One who made even the very planet they were standing on, as well as the sun that gave them light and the moon and stars that guided them by night. But what did Jesus say? Matthew 14:16-19—16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." 17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." 18 He said, "Bring them here to Me." 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. Why do we think we have all the answers to the concerns of this life? We think we are the only ones who can judge matters; we think we are the only ones who can bear with a group of people; we think we alone are responsible for feeding a bunch of people. And we too often forget that God has the answers, and the resources, and the knowledge and wisdom to work everything out, if we will just get out of His way and let Him do it. As He did with the loaves and fishes; as He did with Jethro’s advice to Moses, and as He does here with this grumbling and murmuring people in the wilderness. Of this episode, FB Meyer said:

 

“It seemed impossible to suppose that God could provide a table in the wilderness of such magnitude that in it the whole host could participate. Unbelief says, Can God? Faith answers, God can! Child of God! God’s hand is not waxed short, that it cannot reach to you. Even if we believe not, He remains faithful. This equipment of the elders reminds us that we, too, need to receive the Holy Spirit, first for our sanctification in character, and then for our service and office.”

Numbers 11:19-23—19 “You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?’” 21 And Moses said, "The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.' 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?" 23 And the LORD said to Moses, "Has the LORD's arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not." As soon as Moses spits out his pleas, God has an answer for him. He tells Moses “Don’t worry. Just bring seventy elders to the Tabernacle, and I’ll give these people so much meat they’ll make themselves sick on it.” 

Look at God’s reply to Moses. When Moses asked, “Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” As much faith as Moses had, as many times as He talked with God, and as many miracles as God showed him, there was still a touch of doubt in his mind. He still couldn’t understand just how God could provide enough food for a half million people. Would herds of cattle be enough to feed these people? Could they gather enough sheep out of their flocks? What if they went out and caught all the fish in the sea in a net, would that quiet their murmuring and their grumbling stomachs?

In His reply, we see God uses anthropomorphic devices to describe certain characteristics of Himself. “Has the LORD's arm been shortened?” Does God, who is spirit (John 4:24), have an arm? No. But we read many times in the Old Testament about the LORD’s mighty hand and outstretched arm. For example, 6 times in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:34, Deuteronomy 5:15, Deuteronomy 7:19, Deuteronomy 9:29, Deuteronomy 11:2, Deuteronomy 26:8), as well as 2^nd Chronicles 6:32; Job 35:9; and Ezekiel 20:33-34. This was how God related to the people. He had no form that they could see. Even Moses only saw His hind parts (Exodus 33:23). But they knew what an arm was, they knew what a hand was. Many times we see the writers of Scripture employ this and other devices to describe the power that God had and would use to deliver His people over and over and over and over again. As He would show here to these people who had forgotten just how powerful and mighty their God was (and is). No, His arm has not been shortened. They did not like the manna which He sent down every day at sundown? Fine. They wanted meat to eat? Fine. They wanted so much that it would come out their nostrils? Fine. He could do that. The same one who rebuked the wind and the waves (Mark 4:39; Luke 8:24) could make the wind blow wherever He wanted and bring some quail to them. And He did. And we will get to that shortly. 

Numbers 11:24-30—24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." 28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, "Moses my lord, forbid them!" 29 Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel. As I have said so many times before, and will undoubtedly say many times more before I am through, are we any different? We think we know the only ones who are preaching truth, and up comes this new person, preaching and teaching, and we just can’t seem to wrap our heads around the fact that they are teaching truth. So we have to find a chink in their armor. We have to look for a speck in their eye, because they are not on our approved-of list. We know the modern-day greats, like John MacArthur, RC Sproul, Paul Washer. Men that we know are mighty in the Word and speak truth. But what about men like Jeff Durbin? Keith Foskey? “Who are they? I’ve never heard of them, so I’m not even going to give them a chance.” It’s another way of saying "us four no more Katie bar the door". And it not limited to little Independent churches with 10 members. The same can happen at larger churches: The lead pastor is off this Sunday, so they have a guest speaker in, and what happens to the attendance? It drops off the charts. Don’t think you’re any different. And when we do this, we are just like these Israelites who scoffed at the idea of someone they didn’t approve of prophesying in the camp. Now, don’t get me wrong. If someone is speaking falsely, and preaching a different Christ and a different gospel, we should mark and avoid them (Romans 16:17-18; Galatians 1:7-8). But if someone is preaching truth, they deserve to be heard. You never know, you may hear something you need to hear! And perhaps God has sent that person so they can speak that word and you can hear it. The Expositor’s Bible says of this:

 

“We can only wonder that still any order of men should try in the name of the Church to shut the mouths of those who approve themselves reverent students of the Divine Word. At the same time let it not be forgotten that the power of prophesying is no chance gift, no easy faculty. He who is to speak on God’s behalf must indeed know the mind of God. How can one claim the right to instruct others who has never opened his mind to the Divine voice, who has not reverently compared Scripture with Providence and all the phases of revelation that are unfolded in conscience and human life? Men who draw a narrow circle and keep their thoughts within it can never become prophets.” 

Again, the Apostles were no different. Mark 9:38—Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." When John said this, Jesus might have had a flashback. This was almost the same thing that the people said in Numbers 11. There was someone doing the things of God, who were not part of their group. And John could not stand that these people were doing something that only they could do. But that wasn’t the case. These other people did these things because they had received power from God to do so. Just like Eldad and Medad. The Spirit of the LORD rested upon them, and they did what the people thought only Moses could do. And in Both cases, those who objected were rebuked. After Jesus says, in Mark 9:39—“Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me”, He goes into a short commentary of why He allows them to cast out the demons in His name. Is it so these people will gain a great following and get millions of dollars from the gullible people watching them on TV? No. Mark 9:40—“For he who is not against us is on our side.” And if you are on Jesus’ side, you are on the correct side. He then goes on to discuss how the righteous shall in no way lose their reward, but the unrighteous will go to a place where they are eaten by worms and are burned in conscious, everlasting torment. If someone is speaking the truth in Christ, hear them. For they are on Jesus’s side. The early Methodist minister Joseph Benson said:

 

“Forbid him not — Neither directly nor indirectly discourage or hinder any man, who brings sinners from the power of Satan to God, because he followeth not us, in opinions, modes of worship, or any thing else which does not affect the essence of religion. For he that is not against us, is for us — Our Lord had formerly said, He that is not with me, is against me: thereby admonishing his hearers that the war between him and Satan admitted of no neutrality, and that those who were indifferent to him now, would finally be treated as enemies. But here, in another view, he uses a very different proverb; directing his followers to judge of men’s characters in the most candid manner; and charitably to hope, that those who did not oppose his cause wished well to it.” 

There may be some who say “Who is this Joseph Benson anyway? I have never heard of him! Why not quote Spurgeon or Whitefield? I will not listen to what this Benson fellow says!” And you would miss out on reading some splendid teachings about our Lord and Savior!

Part 3 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 11 (Part 1)

If you know your Bible, specifically the Book of Numbers, specifically Numbers 11, you know the story. Some study Bibles have headings at the top of different sections stating what the section is about, the heading for this entire chapter should be “Be Careful What You Wish For”. We will begin with verses 1-3 

Numbers 11:1-3—1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them. The Hebrew word Taberah literally means “burning”. This shows how utterly foolish the human heart can be. The people have been at the base of Mt. Sinai for two whole years. Between Exodus 20 and Numbers 10, they have not moved. They have seen Sinai burn with the fire of God. They have seen Moses wear a veil over his face after he spoke with God. He showed them how He is not to be mocked by burning Nadab and Abihu when they offered the wrong incense on His altar. He showed them mercy after Aaron made the golden calf. And they have just left that mountain, with the cloud from God directing their way and what do they decide to do? Complain. 

We know that God is a God of infinite mercy. He was patient with me when I ran from Him for 20 years. He is patient with some who do not come to know Him until they are well advanced in years. He was patient with Israel when they went back and forth between loyalty to Him and their worshipping of other gods. He has been patient with Israel for the last 2000 years since they killed Jesus. But there are times when He is not so longsuffering. This is one of those times. The people, who had seen the many signs and wonders God provided to show that He is God, decided perhaps they didn’t like the way He runs things and went marching straight to the complaint department. And what happens? God’s anger is aroused. If you remember the TV series “The Incredible Hulk”, one of the famous lines was “you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”. Doesn’t even come close to the anger of God. In his famous sermon “Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God”—a sermon which rightly shook all those who were sitting in the pews and heard it, and which lit a fire bringing forth the First Great Awakening in the United States—Jonathan Edwards said this about God’s righteous anger:

 

Man's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?

Yet here, He kindles a fire, and all He does is burn up the outside parts of the camp. He could have very easily sent down fire to consume all of them, like *SNAP*. But He didn’t. It’s almost as if He was saying “Do you really want to do this?” 

So what do the people do? They cry out to Moses to go to God and ask Him to stop. Couldn’t they have done that themselves? Couldn’t they have stopped complaining and instead cried out to God that He would stop? And instead be glad that He was on their side, and that He is a faithful God and was not One to break the covenant He made with Abraham? But they didn’t do that. They didn’t stop complaining, they asked Moses to step in and ask God to stop. They were basically treating the symptom instead of trying to cure the disease. But faithful Moses, the man who spoke with God face-to-face, stepped in, called on God to relent, and He did. But think about it for a second. Here you are in the middle of the camp, some people complain, and all of a sudden you see those on the outside of the camp burned up. I don’t know about you, but that would be enough for me to change my mind and be grateful. The people here, though… 

Numbers 11:4-6—4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!" I always scratch my head when I get to this part. They sat there and told God they weren’t satisfied with what He had given them, with their lot in life, with Him leading them, and they saw Him burn up at least hundreds, if not thousands, in an instant. And what do they do? They listen to the mixed multitude—probably pagan Egyptians—and they tell God they weren’t satisfied with what He had given them, with their lot in life, with Him leading them. 1st Corinthians 15:33—Evil company corrupts good habits. When we listen to the immoral God haters, when we try to mix a little of the world into our understanding and worship of God, bad things are going to happen, We are to be salt and light, but we will allow the world to dim our light and take away the savor which our being salt does. In his commentary, Adam Clarke relates what he was told about the Valley of Salt on the south side of the Dead Sea:

 

[Henry Maundrell, clergy of the Church of England in the 1600’s states] “I broke a piece of [salt]…that was exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, Yet It Had Perfectly Lost Its Savour: the inner part, which was connected to the rock, retained its savor, as I found by proof.” See his Trav., 5th edit., last page. A preacher, or private Christian, who has lost the life of Christ, and the witness of his Spirit, out of his soul, may be likened to this salt. He may have the sparks and glittering particles of true wisdom, but without its unction or comfort. Only that which is connected with the rock, the soul that is in union with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit, can preserve its savor, and be instrumental of good to others.

If we are to be the salt of the earth, we must cleave tightly to the Rock of Ages; we must strive to keep ourselves unspotted from this world that is daily passing away. 

But they had let their minds be poisoned by those who desired to lead them back to slavery in Egypt. We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. They may have eaten it freely, but how many of you know it wasn’t free? They could eat all of these things they so desired, if only they would tread the mud pits making bricks without straw, daily give their backs to the lashes of the taskmasters, and erect the huge stone monuments of the pagan gods of the Egyptians. “Oh, all we had to do was tread out some bricks, and they would give us onions!” Or, “Oh, it was nothing to feel the sting of their whips, for they would give us leeks and garlic!” Some may say “all we had to do was pull those ropes with all our might to raise up the statues of Ra and Etum and Kephri and we could eat melons!” And even “all we had to do was watch as our women were defiled, and we got cucumbers!” Really? They wanted to go back to the bondage that God saved them from for the food? 

But now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes! Oh, how awful! For 430 years they were slaves of the lowest order, trodden like worms under the feet of the Egyptians, counted as less than dung—but they ate good! And now, all they have to do is walk out of their tent at twilight and *SCOOP* got some manna. Oh, tomorrow’s the Sabbath *SCOOP SCOOP*. That’s all they had to do. And they ate! God has given them food which has kept them alive for the last two years and it’s not good enough! It’s like they’ve been eating in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant for 430 years, and now they’re eating McDonald’s. 

Let’s fast forward to today. Ever have to decide to leave a high-paying job in the world and take a job in ministry? Or be a missionary in a poor country? That was the decision facing Jim Eliot. He was highly esteemed by his classmates, was thought to have a bright future where he could make a lot of money. Instead, he formed a group with four of his friends and spent his days learning the ways and the language of the Waodani people—called at the time Aucaus, a name which has since fallen out of favor, as it literally means “savages”—and take the gospel to them. What did he receive as his wages for that decision? A spear through his chest. But that spear sent him to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is famously quoted as saying “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”. We may be called to forsake the melons and cucumbers and leeks and onions and garlic of the world, and instead dine on the manna we receive from God. 

And what of this manna? How is it described? Numbers 11:7-9—7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. 9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. And why did God give manna to the people? Because they complained. Exodus 16:8—Also Moses said, "This shall be seen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the LORD hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD." Even before they got to Sinai, the people complained against God! And what were they complaining about when He gave them manna? I’ll give you three guesses. That’s right, the food. The food they so freely enjoyed in Egypt beneath the stings of the taskmasters’ whips. 

And this manna was very versatile. They could make so many things from it. Maybe not some of the things you see on any cooking show these days, but still. It was free food from God, it was filling, it was nourishing, and all they had to do was go out of their tent at twilight and gather it up. But that wasn’t good enough for the people. They wanted more. Jesus faced the same thing in John 6. He also gave people free food, all they had to do was sit down and eat it. And it must have been good, because they came to Him the next day wanting more. In John 6, we read of Jesus feeding the 5000 with two fish and 5 loaves. Again, free food from God. And the next day, they worshipped Him because He had shown that He had come forth from the Father. Well no, not really. John 6:22, 24, 26—22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone…24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus…26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” And this begins a long and drawn out exchange between Him and the Jews about signs and wonders. He had given a sign, the multiplying of two fish and five loaves of bread into a meal that fed five thousand people! But they weren’t thinking about that, all they wanted was another free meal. And once again, they were being oppressed by a pagan nation. 

They say to Him in John 6:30—“Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” And why did God give them bread to eat? Because they complained. Because they wanted to go back into slavery and eat good, the cracks of the whips on their backs and the hard labor, to them, was worth it. Jesus corrects their thinking and says John 6:32-33—32 "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." It wasn’t Moses that gave them bread, but God who sent the manna from heaven. Moses was the intermediary, God was the giver. And standing before them was the One who could feed them in the Kingdom forever, but they still had their blinders on and they still wanted to complain after He tells them He is the Bread of Life John 6:41—The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." The fact that God did not burn these people up on the spot shows how patient He is. But here’s the thing: the people had gotten distracted, or had let themselves become distracted from Christ’s message. It’s almost as if they had found an excuse to not believe Him. “We know what Moses did, but this saying from this Man is hard to understand. I don’t know if I want to believe Him.” And don’t a lot of people do that? They find out how hard it is to not just read the Bible, but to study it, keeping verses in context, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and actually thinking about what you are reading? “What He is saying is hard to understand. Let’s just go back to the Law.” John 6:48-50—48 “I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.” Once again, they wanted to go back into bondage. They didn’t want this Man to rule over them, so they made their excuses, they rationalized Him away, they did not understand what He was saying mainly because they didn’t want to, and they gave themselves over to condemnation.

Part 2 next week

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 10 (Part 2)

Numbers 10:28-32—28  Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey. 29 Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has promised good things to Israel." 30 And he said to him, "I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives." 31 So Moses said, "Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32 And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same we will do to you." We read in the Book of Judges (Judges 4:11) that Hobab did indeed travel with the Israelites from Sinai. This gives us a good example of why we need to learn from those who have studied Scripture well. Yes, God is our guide, He directs on where we should go and what things we should do. But in our day-to-day walk and learning, we need someone to guide us in what that means. As the cloud guided the general direction the Israelites should travel, they needed someone to point out where they could find food, find water; which way to travel to avoid anyone who would try to harass or plunder them; which way would not involve the most physical expenditure, considering there were women and children in their camp. 

Likewise, we know Christ, we know our Bibles tell us to live lives of holiness to God. But so many times we ask “What does that mean? What things should I do or not do? Should I do this-or-that? Or should I avoid it?” Jesus said as He washed the Apostles’ feet in John 13:15—“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” In Ephesians 5:1 Paul says Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. “But what does that mean?” As this question abounds today, so it did even as Paul was writing his epistles. He told Timothy in 1st Timothy 4:12—Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. When someone has 100 pianos they have to tune, how do they do it? They find one piano that is in tune, and use it to tune the first piano. Then they use it to tune the second piano, and the third, etc. We can apply that same principle to imitating God—when we find a person who is imitating God, we let their lives be an example to us, and we follow them as Timothy followed Paul who followed Christ who followed the Father. But we need to make sure their lives are aligned with Scripture. In our daily walk with Christ, we need someone to guide us. As we read the Scriptures, as a guide to show us how to live for Him, there is not a step-by-step guide to show us that this is right our this is wrong—there is not a list of do’s and don’t’s to show us whether every little thing is right or wrong. We need someone to show us, from the Scriptures, that things are right and wrong, using the principles in the Scriptures to show us why they are right and wrong. So that, not only may we abstain from the things that are wrong, but we may also do the things that are right and proper. 

This is why it is important to find a preacher who is preaching the Word of God in truth, and not a motivational speaker/life coach who only wants to make people feel good while they speak on Sunday morning, rather than show forth the glory of God and lead them away from sin. Which is why someone like Joel Osteen is so problematic. He has admitted, from his mouth, that he does not consider himself a pastor and he does not use the word “sinners” in his sermons: “I don’t use it. I never thought about it. But I probably don’t. But most people already know what [when] they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church, I want to tell them that you can change.” (https://savenewengland.org/2023/07/14/preaching-against-sin/) No! If a man is sinning, he is, at the very least, grieving the heart of God and, at worst, taking one more step towards the fires of Hell. But how can a man know he is sinning if he is never told? Romans 7:7—I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." We hear many times that we need preachers who will preach Law and Gospel. Some will say “Why do we need to preach the Law? The Gospel is all that matters”. Are we saved by faith alone apart from works of the Law? Of course! (Galatians 2:16). But how will we live a life of holiness apart from doing things that please God and putting away from ourselves those things which displease Him (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9). As John Owen said “Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin, or sin will be killing you” (from “Of The Mortification of Sin In Believers”). 

This may seem hard to many. There are those who think that ceasing from sin means their lives will be filled with mundaneness and drudgery. What could be farther from the truth! To follow God is peace and joy and contentment! Will we always be happy? No. But look at any saint mentioned in Scripture and decide if their life was full of happiness. Will we never sin again if we are in Christ? Oh, I wish! Did you have a stray thought? Did you get cut off in traffic and curse the person under your breath? Did you notice that man’s or woman’s attractiveness for just a bit too long? Then you have sinned. Just after he said the preceding, Mr. Owen said again: “Indwelling sin always abides whilst we are in this world; therefore it is always to be mortified. The vain, foolish, and ignorant disputes of men about perfect keeping the commands of God, of perfection in this life, of being wholly and perfectly dead to sin, I meddle not now with.” 

But in this is true freedom: If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1st John 2:1). We no longer need to bring the blood of bulls and goats to a priest to be killed, cut up and burned.  We don’t need to go into a closed booth and tell the guy in the funny collar everything that we have done. We simply tell the Father that we know we did wrong, ask for forgiveness through our Savior, and guess what—we are forgiven! Show me one place in all of Scripture where prayer is even suggested to be made to someone other than God. Why? Because God alone has the authority to forgive sins. Even the Pharisees knew that (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:24). But here’s what they didn’t know—that God was standing right in front of them and was teaching them about forgiveness. But they were zealous for every jot and tittle of the Law, and forgot one very important thing: mercy. Hosea 6:6—For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. They thought they were doing well in that every time they sinned they brought a sacrifice. But they had it backwards. God wanted for them to not have to bring a sacrifice at all (Isaiah 1:11-17; Psalm 51:17). And in Matthew 9:6, Mark 2:7; and Luke 5:24 Jesus shows them the better way—to show mercy toward your neighbor. 

Numbers 10:33-36—33 So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the LORD was above them by day when they went out from the camp. 35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You." 36 And when it rested, he said: "Return, O LORD, to the many thousands of Israel." So, after all this time and after all these words the people finally left Sinai, with the cloud of God marking the way they should go. And whenever the cloud was taken up and they were thus commanded to leave, that Moses lifted up his voice and pleaded to God, "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You". He so begged, that those who would oppose the people of God might be taken away from them, that they may have a clear passage to where God was leading them. For how could the people fight when they had the Ark in the midst of them? “But if they had the Ark, wouldn’t God be there and fight for them?” You would think so. And so did the people of Israel when they fought against the Philistines and the battle was not going in their favor. 1st Samuel 4:3-5—3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies." 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. “Hooray!” the people said. “God is in the midst of us; surely He will defeat our enemies!” But, alas, it was not so. For not only did the Philistines defeat them in battle, but they also took with them the Ark of the Covenant. 1st Samuel 4:10-11—10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. Note, this chapter is almost a continuation of the Book of Judges (as Eli was named a Judge in 1st Samuel 4:18), when the nation was still young, and was still trying to find their way out from that most sad and dreadful period, when they were still smitten with the worship of other gods, and still sought after a visual representation of God. And they thought that the Ark was God, and their superstition drove them to believe that if only this thing they could see and feel was in their midst, they would win. But it was not so. And, as Phineas’ wife said in 1st Samuel 4:18—"The glory has departed from Israel!" All this happened for one reason: Eli, being a wicked judge, had not restrained his sons from besmirching the Law of God and taking to themselves what belonged to God (1st Samuel 2:12-17). 

Yet many who don’t know Christ think the same way. When they do what is not right in the sight of God; when they slander His name, when they despise His Son; when they think themselves smarter than to believe in “some Sky Daddy”; when mischief befalls them, who do they turn to? Who can they turn to? They have insulted the only One who can deliver them out of their predicament. Or if that person thinks there may be a God, they may offer up some feeble prayer to Him, that He may deliver them. Or what about the person who knows that God is real, so they may wear a cross on a necklace; they may put up pictures of Christ knocking at a door, they may have in their midst some token to God, and think that will protect their life and their eternal soul. But God does not look for these things when that person stands before Him. He does not ask if they wore a crucifix, or if they had some trinket in their home. They will ask if they knew Christ. If they believed in Him for everlasting salvation from their sins. If they cried out, as Moses did, for Christ to scatter the minions of Satan, to make them flee before Him, to forgive their sins and impart to them His Spirit, that they may live lives that bring honor to Him. May God be gracious to us; may God fight for us and give us His great salvation. Let us not think trinkets and necklaces will make us acceptable to God, but only faith in Christ, the author and finisher of faith (Hebrews 12:2). Of those who would not rebuke the evil, Alexander MacLaren said: “Good, weak men, especially when they let foolish tenderness hinder righteous severity, bring terrible evils on themselves, their families, and their nation. It was Eli who, at bottom, was the cause of the defeat and the disasters which slew his sons and broke his own heart. Nothing is more cruel than the weak indulgence which, when men are bringing a curse on themselves by their sin, ‘restrains them not.’” 

But of those who will stand strong for God and His Christ, He will scatter their enemies, and make them flee. James 4:7—Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Adam Clarke: “He cannot conquer you if you continue to resist. Strong as he is, God never permits him to conquer the man who continues to resist him; he cannot force the human will. He who, in the terrible name of Jesus, opposes even the devil himself, is sure to have a speedy and glorious conquest. He flees from that name, and from his conquering blood.”

 

"Return, O LORD, to the many thousands of Israel." When the cloud rested, Moses would pray that God would visit His people, that He would be their God, and that they would follow His ways. And they did. Then they didn’t. Then they did. Then they didn’t. The story of the people of Israel is one of constant worshipping of God until one of their kings turned the people away from God (e.g. Ahab, Jeroboam), then they came back to Him under the rule of a wise king (e.g. Josiah, Jehoshaphat). But then their true King came, and they had Him put to death. So that spelled the end of Israel, right? Wrong. Romans 11:1-5—1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 "LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. God is not through with Israel. Although many in the physical nation of Israel do not believe that Jesus is their King, there are also many outside that physical nation who do believe. Rabbi James Scott Glazier says “The essential difference between Jews and Christians is that Christians accept Jesus as messiah and personal savior. Jesus is not part of Jewish theology. Amongst Jews, Jesus is not considered a divine being” (https://reformjudaism.org/learning/answers-jewish-questions/what-are-main-differences-between-jew-and-christian). But when he says “Jesus is not part of Jewish theology”, he is sadly mistaken. Jesus is spoken of in the Law and the Prophets; He is spoken of in all of their Tanakh. John 5:39—“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” He came to reconcile the people of Israel to God (Matthew 15:24). But they would not have Him as their King, for they were quite content having Caesar as their King (John 19:15). And even today, many Jews reject Him. But there are also many Jews who acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. At this present time there is a remnant. A fellow named Ty Perry, at “The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry”, says it nicely. “Gentiles should never assume God has divorced His Chosen People. Jewish people should not cast Jesus off as a traitor to His people. He never denied the Jewish people, and His message of salvation by grace through faith is for all people, the Jew first and also the Gentile (Rom. 1:16)” (https://www.foi.org/2020/01/10/when-did-jesus-stop-being-jewish/). There are many groups, both Jewish and Gentile, who are longing for Israel to come to know that Jesus is King of the Jews, and that He longs for them to be saved (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34).

 

But why? Why is it that so many in Israel do not see Christ as their Sovereign? Why do they reject having Him as their Lord? Why does it seem that God has cast off His people, who to this day and forevermore are His people? Well, God has blinded their eyes, has caused a spirit of unbelief to come upon them that the number of Gentiles He has ordained should come into His kingdom. Romans 11:25-29—25 Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God made a covenant with Abraham, with David, and He promised them through the prophet Jeremiah that the people of Israel would be He people forevermore (Jeremiah 31:37). And who did He swear that by? He swore by Himself (Hebrews 6:13). When an oath is undertaken, can that oath be broken? No. Joshua learned that the hard way in Joshua 9. He had sworn by God that no harm would come to the Gibeonites, even though they had purloined that oath through untruths. Did that nullify that oath? No. So then, does the faithlessness of Israel negate the covenant God made with Abraham? Of course not! Even though Jesus said of Jerusalem that it “kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her”, Paul said at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace and that one day all Israel will be saved. Adam Clarke again: “[Israel] Shall be brought into the way of salvation, by acknowledging the Messiah…The term saved, as applied to the Israelites in different parts of the Scripture, signifies no more than their being gathered out of the nations of the world, separated to God, and possessed of the high privilege of being his peculiar people. And we know that this is the meaning of the term, by finding it applied to the body of the Israelites when this alone was the sum of their state.”

 

And one day, as the cloud returned to the people, our King and Sovereign Lord will return to us, giving us eternal rest. He will cause our enemy to flee, will bind him in chains for 1000 years, let him loose for a bit, then cast him into the lake burning with fire and brimstone for all eternity. He will return to His own, both Jew and Gentile, shall give us eternal peace, and we shall be in the presence of our Lord forever (1st Thessalonians 2:19).

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.