Part 8: Sinai to Kadesh

Meditations in Exodus: 77. Leaving Sinai

Num 10:11,12    On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran .

According to dates in Exodus, the Israelites had been at Sinai eleven months. They had received the Law and the Covenant had been established and the Tabernacle set up in the centre of the camp. Now the pillar of cloud starts to move. We continue the story of the Exodus in the book of Numbers and from Chapter 10: “ They set out, this first time, at the LORD's command through Moses.” (v.13) Whether at the first sign of the cloud moving Moses calls the leaders to break camp is unclear. In the earlier part of chapter 10 here, the Lord gives instructions for two trumpets to be made and they will be blown at Moses' instruction to signify the breaking of camp. That presumably happens

Our verses above tell us they travelled to the Desert of Paran which is a large desert area across the north of the Sinai Peninsular but Num 11:35 shows us they went via Kibroth Hattaavah and Hazeroth before they finally got there. Later in chapter 10 we read, “So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and travelled for three days.” (10:33) This is three days before the next incident is recorded.

Now before we move on to that, it is worth pondering the state of mind that should be in Israel when they leave Sinai. They had been there almost for a year and much had happened in that time although it was spaced out. They had watched the Lord's spectacular display of clouds, thunder and lightning and trumpets, they had seen Moses go up and down the mountain to meet with God and to come back and record the laws the Lord had given to him. Moses and his leaders had gone up the mountain and ‘seen' God. They had then seen Moses go up the mountain for forty days and they had become restless so that a group of them basically rebelled and demanded a visible god which Aaron gave them. When Moses came back down, judgment was brought on this group. The Lord had subsequently called Moses up the mountain for a further forty days and this time no one dared stray. Moses came back down and the next record we have is of the cloud starting to lead them off.

They have much to think about. They are now a unique people in covenant with God. There is no other nation on earth like this. Now perhaps they struggle to grasp that concept because they are, at the moment, just a group of people of one ethnic group, wandering through the desert and, unlike other nations, they do not yet have their own land so, to be fair to them, it may be a little difficult to grasp the whole idea – but they nevertheless have all the testimony of what went on at Sinai. More than that they have the testimony of their journey to Sinai and all of the wonder of leaving Egypt . That journey, we said, to Sinai had been used by the Lord to build trust in the people for the Lord.

Bear that in mind as we now read, “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down.” (Num 11:1,2) Now we need to note, we're into a very different ball-game now from that previous journey. On the trip from Egypt to Sinai, the had complained a number of times but each time the Lord had simply provided for them. On this journey they have only got to start grumbling and the Lord sends a disciplinary judgment – fire that burns the outskirts of the camp. Was that where the grumbling was I wonder? So often grumbling comes from the periphery of the church, those only half committed to the church. No lives appear threatened but what has changed? Sinai!

It seems as if from now on the Lord EXPECTS Israel to get it together better than they did and when they get it wrong now, He deals with them. No longer does He just provide; now He challenges them. This is that accountability thing again and He has clearly raised the bar of His expectations in respect of them. They have had so many unique experiences over the past couple of years, more than you and I can ever expect to have in our entire lifetime, that really and truly they OUGHT to have learned. We won't go over their testimony again, we've done it at least twice already. The simple lesson: they have no excuses.

Now having said that about them, can I say it gently, how about us? We may not have been around seeing plagues and all the other stuff we've been seeing in these studies, but how about THE Book, how about the INDWELLING Holy Spirit, how about GIFTED MINISTRIES in the Church, how about the TESTIMONIES of great saints down through the ages, we have all this.

Our younger son used to do high jump. He's very tall but he could easily jump over a bar higher than his head. I say ‘could easy jump' but whenever we went to watch him jump for competitions every time he started his semi-circular run up to approach that bar, I held my breath, inwardly thinking, he can't do that' it's impossible - but he did it until he was the last one left jumping. The bar has been set high but you can do it, God has given you the grace to do it, whatever the ‘it' is that God has put before you and you've been backing away from. You have His word, you have the Law, you have the testimony of all he has done and specifically done for you, you have His Holy Spirit, you CAN do it. No more excuses, you are not Israel, you are a child of God with all that that means. Do it! Go for it! Be blessed!

Meditations in Exodus: 78. Oh, not again!!!

Num 11:5-6   The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

I am going to, as they say, let the cat out of the bag! I am going to share what I believe has to be behind so much of what goes on in respect of Israel. As I have studied the activities of Israel from the Exodus to the Exile, I have concluded there are two reasons for the existence of Israel . The first is to create a nation that should have been a light to the rest of the world, and the second is to show that even with God helping them, the folly of sin cannot be suppressed by the Law so that an alternative means of salvation is needed, i.e. Israel constant and ongoing propensity to sin shows the rest of the world that even with God's help we need a greater salvation. That of course then opens the door for the coming of Jesus and the salvation he provides through the Cross. Observing Israel can be a depressing exercise unless we realise these things (and it certainly destroys any romantic feeling that certain groups have about modern-day Israel who are the same as their ancestors of the Old Testament – as we all are outside of Christ).

Now there are question marks over who is meant by ‘the rabble'. Some suggest it was the Egyptians who came along with Israel , who had left with them at the Exodus, but I'm not sure there is any warrant for that. Observation of the human race suggests there will always be people of lower moral character, who love to do their own thing, are utterly selfish, give little thought for others, and certainly not God. Sadly there appear there will always we those who some unkindly call the ‘dregs of society' and these ones grumble.

They have this miraculous food provision, called manna, but they are fed up with it and they remember the variety of food that there had been back in Egypt . In their folly they forget two things: first, that they had been slaves back then (this might be an argument for the rabble being Egyptians, because they hadn't been slaves) and, second this provision is only supposed to be short-term while they traverse the desert until they reach the land described from the outset as, “ a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Ex 3:8, repeated in Ex 13:5 and 33:3).

Now note how this spreads: first of all it is ‘the rabble', then is, ‘the Israelites' and soon it is ‘every family' (v.10). Beware grumblers and those who criticize and moan; they have a habit of infecting the rest of the people. What starts out as one or two can soon become the whole church.

As a result of this, we read, “The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled.” (v.10) There used to be a TV series with a grumpy old man as the key character whose favourite expression was, “I don't believe it,” said in the most despairing of tones. That is how any rational person reading this account must surely respond. Surely, after all the wonderful things that have happened to them, this people cannot have taken their eyes off the big picture and fallen into a grumbling and moaning disarray? Yes, they have! And the Lord is not pleased about it and because He is not pleased about it, Moses was troubled as well.

In fact the extent of Moses' ‘troubled' mind is expressed in what follows: “He asked the LORD, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, `Give us meat to eat!' I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now--if I have found favour in your eyes--and do not let me face my own ruin.” (v.11-15) I think all this would be summarized in modern language as, “I have it up to here with this lot, I can't do it anymore, I'm out of here, I didn't want the job to start with, you might as well kill me off now and be done with it! He is a seriously unhappy little shepherd! Sorry that makes it sound a laughing matter and it's not, but that is how it comes over.

Now the fact that I am able to identify with it like that – and perhaps you too – suggests that I too have been through ‘trying times' and have almost screamed at the Lord (although you don't scream at the Lord of the Universe!), “I can't do it any more. I give up!” Now here's the encouraging bit – God doesn't give up on him or on Israel – or us! I think we would do better to wait until the next study before seeing the Lord's way of dealing with the problem – which is a little unexpected – and simply conclude with a few general thoughts about this sort of experience.

I am encouraged by Moses here, his humanity, especially his rant about, “did I want all these people”. I am encouraged that even the best people run out of grace, even the best people feel like giving up, even the best people feel they are confronted by an impossible task from time to time. It's not just me; it's other people as well. But then, and this really looks forward, we will find the Lord doesn't beat up Moses or write him off. In fact He appears to understand Moses' feelings and work on that basis in dealing with the situation. The Lord knows what I feel and He understands. That doesn't mean that He will pat me gently on the head and say, “You poor old thing, I'm sorry I gave you such a hard job. It's all right you can walk away from it and go and retire and grow tomatoes.”

No, when the Lord calls us, He knows the way through to the end and His grace – one way or another – will be sufficient and He will enable us to get to the end goal. So, sorry, no opting out. Just listen to the Lord and see what He has next as a solution. So go and lie down, put a bit of damp lettuce on your face (or whatever else they recommend to calm people down), calm down and commit it to the Lord and wait for Him to turn up with a solution. And if you are someone who has never been in such a situation and are not there now, count yourself lucky and thank the Lord! Enough said.

Meditations in Exodus: 79. Lifting the Burden

Num11:16,17   The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel 's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.

Moses has just cried out to the Lord that he's had enough, he can't cope with this people. The Lord's response is to raise up a wider Spirit-anointed leadership, seventy of the elders. Moses is to choose men known to him as leaders and officials and they are to come to meet God and receive the Holy Spirit. That was going to be Part 1 of the problem being solved, but there was still the matter of the need for food but we'll leave that until the next study.

The anointing of the leaders goes almost to plan: “ So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.” (v.24,25) When the power of the Spirit came upon them they prophesied, such was the anointing.

Now here is the bit that didn't go according to plan: “However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” (v.26,27) For some reason these two men did get to the meeting place. We don't know why, we don't know if something just delayed them but they were among Moses' seventy chosen men, But the fact that they are not with the main body of elders doesn't matter, the Spirit of the Lord came on them and they prophesied.

It was this that upset Joshua, “Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!” (v.28) Joshua clearly has worries about two random elders prophesying back in the camp, I mean decency and order must be maintained, surely? “ But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.” (v.29,30) Moses has a good response – I wish all God's people were prophets. Wow! Moses knows that you don't prophesy unless the Spirit of the Lord is upon you.

His response reminds me of the apostle Paul's words to the Corinthians, “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.” (1 Cor 14:5) There is an endorsement of spiritual gifts if ever there was one. Is it a coincidence that just yesterday I had someone from our past ring up to ask about prophecy and Scripture. “I've never heard of it,” she said over the phone. “Read 1 Cor 12 and 14,” I suggested. “I just have,” she replied. Now I am in the process of reading R.T.Kendall's book about wisdom and he has a big chapter how we can have blind spots. I couldn't help thinking of that as the phone call drew to an end and I had offered to do a mini-school of prophecy for them and she replied, “I don't think our vicar is ready for that yet.” Blind spots.

How different from a leader I recently heard who said about the whole church learning to listen to the Lord, “My people know it is not me leading the church, it is the Lord. Who leads the church? The Spirit of the Lord; you have to be listening for the Lord.” Joshua was worried about improper prophecy. Moses said, ‘I wish everyone was doing it.' Paul said, ‘I wish you were all prophesying.” The more prophecy there is in a church, the more likely it is that someone will get it wrong, but that is why you have checks and balances to make sure that the ‘enthusiast' doesn't get carried away.

Suppose over a couple of weeks ten people prophesy and one of them gets it wrong. How do we respond? The unbelieving Christian grumbles about abuses of prophecy but, hey, nine people heard God for the edifying and building up of the church. It's a bit like praying for the sick. I was at a big conference fairly recently where people were called out for healing near the end of the session and they were asked, “If you have been significantly healed would you put your hand up.” Only about a third of those prayed for put their hands up. The negative Christian grumbles about abuses of ministry. Hey, in a group of about three hundred, three out of every ten got healed – got healed! So yes, we pray again for the others but our bad attitudes can quench the Spirit.

One of the biggest complaints during our experience of the Toronto Blessing back in the closing years of the twentieth century was that “it's frivolous”. Our church didn't go looking for it but the Lord just turned up and stuff happened, sometimes weird stuff happened and people heard and people came to observe. I remember one Sunday morning when the Lord was moving and there was a group of visitors who had ‘come to see' and they sat there like a little black cloud thinking, ‘this is frivolous'. Well all I can tell you is that my people (and especially young people) became more and more hungry for the Lord, started reading their Bibles like the Second Coming was about to happen and couldn't wait to get to the prayer meeting and couldn't stop gossiping it around. Life abounded!

Life was abounding in these seventy leaders – even in two still back in the camp. It was the life and power of the Lord. How can we live without it? You may note in your Bible a footnote after the words of verse 25 which reads in the text, “When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.” The footnote adds an alternative – “prophesied and continued to do so.” I find that slightly bizarre that they could be totally opposite possible meanings to this verse. I suspect that as scribes copied it down through the centuries a tiny mistake was made so the end result is now open. Perhaps it is a one off – that happens.

If I run a school of prophecy with say ten people, on average three or four will continue exercising the gift regularly, three or more less regularly, and two three never again. They will on the night when the Spirit comes on them but they just don't have the ongoing gift from the Lord which is fine by me because they will probably have some other gift from Him. But perhaps they did carry on prophesying and a prophetic community of leaders was raised up. Excellent! But how does this Holy Spirit talk leave you feeling? Don't hold it heavily. If it's not where you're at today, that's fine – you may be there in six months – or not. Rest in the goodness of God's provision, to whatever extent His faith is given to you today. Rejoice in it.

Meditations in Exodus: 80. Meat in Abundance

Num 11:18 "Tell the people: `Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt !" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it.

We started the previous meditation by reminding ourselves that Moses has just cried out to the Lord that he's had enough, he can't cope with this people. The Lord's response was to raise up a wider Spirit-anointed leadership, seventy of the elders but, we said, there was still the matter of the need for food that the people demanded.

In response to this cry for meat, as our verse above shows us, the Lord instructs Moses to speak to the people and tell them to consecrate themselves. Now that is slightly strange unless the intent is for the people to ready themselves to meet with God. In other words, the Lord wants the people to realise that what is about to happen – all of it – is from him; there is no accident or coincidence here. You asked for meat (implied)? Very well you will have it in abundance : “You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month--until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it--because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?” (v.19,20) The warning is very clear, this provision will also be punishment.

But for the moment Moses is amazed and simply asks, ‘how can you possibly provide meat for this massive crowd for a whole month? (v.21,22) “The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.” (v.23) i.e. is anything beyond the Lord's reach? We then see how He does it: “Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp.” (v.31,32)

Historians and geographers tell us that quail migrate from Arabia and Africa in the spring and return again in the autumn. Their route takes them over Egypt , Sinai and Canaan , and earlier last century Arabs in north Sinai used to catch between one and two million quail at the autumn migration using nets to catch the low flying birds. Now whether the ‘three feet above ground' refers to the height the birds flew or possibly the height that the exhausted birds piled up to in places, is unclear, although the latter is more probable. Again it is more likely that they were in piles rather than a three foot deep mass covering all the land. Whatever the exact truth, there were a lot of birds for the taking. In fact everyone gathered plenty for themselves and then laid out the extras (presumably for use next day) around the camp, again probably in piles.

Now what follows is a description of probably what followed a lot of rotting decaying piles of birds, all going off in the heat: “But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.” (v.33,34) The name of the place, your footnote will tell you means ‘graves of the craving', i.e. a graveyard for those who had craved the meat.

We aren't given details of the effect of this plague except a number of people died and they were the ones who had craved other food. As much as our modern sensibilities (as distorted as they often are) may find this disturbing, if the ‘plague' is (as is almost certain) the result of the rotting food, then one has to suggest this is as much the folly of the people as it is a judgment of God, because it must surely have been obvious that leaving all these birds around the place would create serious infection and the obvious answer to any rational person would have been to said, ‘burn all the birds that you cannot eat before they go rotten', but they didn't. Even Moses remained quiet.

We see here a principle at work that, I believe, often operates. Ungodly and unrighteous people cry, “Give us what we want, let us live like we want to live,” and the Lord sees that despite all He has said and done, they appear set in their ways and so He allows them to have what they wanted. In its simplest terms we might say this behaviour is self-destructive. Some have suggested that AIDS is a classic outworking of this and certainly STDs are an obvious outworking in a sexually promiscuous society. There may be a considerable number of other things that the discerning person can see in modern Western society where the Lord has allowed ungodliness to develop and unrighteousness (living contrary to God's design) to prevail with negative outcomes.

We see this in Romans 1 in verses 24,26 & 28 where we see “God gave them over” to various sinful practices that have negative outcomes, disciplinary judgments intended to bring people to their senses as we see happening in the book of Judges again and again and again. May we be a people who understand these things and understand that God has designed His world to work in a particular way, and rejection of that way leads to breakdown in society and breakdown in health.

Meditations in Exodus: 81. Ongoing Folly

Num 12:1,2 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this.

Now I have to say, if when you read these current meditations you are tempted to go elsewhere to find happier writings, I would fully understand. There are two areas of the Old Testament that I find particularly depressing; they are the book of Judges and the period of Israel travelling from Sinai to Kadesh recorded in Numbers. They are depressing because they reveal an ongoing folly (I use that expression to make it sound more gentle) in the people of Israel . How the modern Jew can look at the history of the Old Testament and still feel good about being a Jew, I don't know. But then I realise that these are just one bunch of human beings revealing the sinfulness of mankind and if you look carefully at the history of ANY nation you will find that same sinfulness revealed. We are ALL the same and if these studies say anything, it must be that we are a sinful people and we NEED the salvation revealed through Jesus Christ.

So we've just seen in chapter 11, first of all grumbling in the camp that brought about fire from God around the outskirts (v.1,2), then the rabble craving meat and grumbling (v.5,6) which had ended in all the grumblers dying of plague. At this point you would have thought anyone in Israel would have been looking over their shoulder, so to speak, to make sure they and others were walking well before God to avoid any further disciplinary action coming from heaven.

You would have thought! But no! Next it is the turn of Aaron and Miriam. I am surprised Aaron is still alive after the incident with the golden calf but it is almost as if the Lord says to His chief priest, ‘No, you will live with the knowledge of what you have done, and I will keep you alive. Your role of chief priest can be a blessing (you are still alive) and a bane (this memory will nag you).' Aaron and Miriam are, you might remember, Moses' older brother and sister. So what do they do?

They do two things. First they complain about Moses' wife. The reference to a Cushite may refer to a second wife that Moses took after the death of his first wife, or it may simply be a derogatory term for his first wife who came from Midian. But that is really only a cover-up for their second thing is they complain that Moses is getting too much praise and glory. Come on, they say, does God only talk to him, hasn't He also talked to us? Well, yes, but not much!

And there in parenthesis we get this beautiful description of Moses: “ (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)” (v.3) Older versions speak of him being the meekest man on earth. Perhaps another way of saying it in modern terms is, “Moses wouldn't say boo to a goose”, a modern expression that means very shy, timid and not aggressive in any way. When Moses gets attacked we see again and again he falls on his face before the Lord pleading for help (e.g. Num 14:5, 16:4,22,45, 20:6). He doesn't ever have a go at his detractors.

The bad news in verse 2, as far as this couple are concerned is that, “the Lord heard this.” So, “At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, "Listen to my words.” (4-6) The Lord then points out to them that when He speaks to a prophet it is in visions and dreams (v.6) but with Moses He spoke face to face (v.7,8). Hadn't they realised the significance of this, and so, “The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.” (v.9)

Was that the end of it? Not a bit of it! “When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, like snow.” (v.10a) Now whether it is leprosy or some other skin complaint is irrelevant; the Law said there were specific ways to deal with such things (Num 5:1-4) and that was to put that person outside the camp until it is cleansed and healed. Aaron pleads with Moses: “he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away." (v.11,12)

Now Moses could have turned his back on the couple but that is not God's way, “So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!” (v.13) That was the natural thing to ask but it ignores the sin, so, “The LORD replied to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." (v.14) Thus we then see, “So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.” (v.15) In other words, because the whole camp would have heard why they were at a standstill, her shame was seen by all!

Now there seem three obvious lessons from this passage:

First , don't grumble against God's leaders. Complain to Him about them by all means but don't grumble about them in public or to any individual.

Second , w hen people ‘attack' you, let your first response be to take it to the Lord and leave it with Him, to deal with it.

Third , when you are praying for other people's healing, it may be natural to just ask for healing but there may be a genuine reason for their state which needs dealing with first. Pray for the big picture.

And we might add to these three, four , just realise afresh the folly and stupidity that we are all prone to, and ask the Lord to grant you wisdom on a daily basis to avoid such things. May we learn these things, not just in our heads but also in our lives.

Part 9: The Events at Kadesh, and on

Meditations in Exodus: 82. Refusal to Enter

Num 13:1-3 The LORD said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan , which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders." So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran . All of them were leaders of the Israelites.

I said in the previous study that I find this one of the two most depressing parts of the Old Testament and now we come to an episode that resulted in Israel wandering in the desert for forty years before being allowed to enter. It is a salutary lesson that only second generation Israel got into the land.

Now whether the Lord knew this would happen is debatable. He does know the hearts of men and so it is possible that He looked at the present older generation and knew they would not be up to that task. However, we cannot be sure. Anyway, we are told the episode of the spies was initiated by the Lord as we see above. The spies comprised one leader from each tribe and then, “ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)” (v.17-20) There is a sense that this is a pointless exercise because the Lord had told them He was giving them the Land and so that should have been it. This invited assessment and possibly even negative responses.

And that is what Moses got. “They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” (v.27-29) Good news and bad, except, as we said, that doesn't matter because the Lord had said he would drive out the inhabitants before them.

One of them Caleb, stand out and says they can take the land (v.18) but the others prevail: “But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (v.31-33) So what? God has said He will drive them out! Have you forgotten that? Obviously.

It gets worse: “That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt ! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt ?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (14:1-4)

Now we'll stop at this point to consider more fully the folly of what has happened, and what follows needs seeing as a whole. This is one of those times when we need to consider the big picture from start to finish. God apprehended Moses at the burning bush and performed two miracles to help shore up his faith. When he went back to Egypt he did these before the elders of Israel . This was followed by ten incredible plagues, or major miracles, over the whole land by God. The Lord then led them out and when Pharaoh followed the Lord drowned him and his entire army. In the month or so trek down to Mount Sinai , the Lord cleansed water, provided bread and water and helped them defeat the Amalekites. At Mount Sinai He had come with thunder, lightning, clouds and trumpet sounds and spoken to Moses. The He had revealed himself to Moses and the 70 elders. After the rebellion He had brought plague to finish off the remaining rebels. On the way to Canaan He had provided quail in abundance and a plague to destroy the grumblers. When Aaron and Miriam had grumbled He gave Miriam leprosy for a week.

Take this whole paragraph and what have you got? An incredible catalogue of testimonies about the power of the Lord. Now remember that the Lord said a number of times that He would drive out the inhabitants and you have a cast iron case for taking the Land confidently. Except Israel were not confident in God and, if we accept that the Lord invited them to go and spy out the land, He knew that and wanted to reveal it.

This, I suggest, presents various challenges to us. First Moses could have questioned the apparent wisdom of sending in spies, because he did have that sort of relationship with the Lord. He could have said, “Lord, you have said you will drive out the occupants before us. Surely that is all we need. Can't we just go straight in?” But he didn't. Was he subtly doubting Israel 's current faith level?

Second , does it matter how bad the problem looks when the Lord is with you and the Lord has led you to confront this problem, whatever it is? There are times in life when we feel the Lord is with us and we press on only to be confronted by an obstacle that seems too large to be overcome. But the answer surely must be, too big to be overcome by us alone, but not by God.

I recently had a prophetic word for someone in which the Lord presented a picture of a mountain before them but said there were two ways to get to the other side of this mountain. If they wanted they could walk round the bottom of it which would be relatively easy but take a long time. Alternatively, if they took His hand He would climb the mountain with them and when they got down the other side they would be transformed and stronger. Now here's the fascinating thing. In the picture when they got to the top after a long climb, they were able to look back but now behind them it was completely flat. What had appeared an impossible climb was, with the Lord a relatively easy walk.

Of course Jesus said, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mt 17:20) Now I take this to have two possible interpretations. First, if moving this mountain is God's will, you only need to catch a whisper from Him to be able to speak and He will move it or, second, as we step forward with tiny faith, it grows with every step we take until we can boldly address the mountain and it will be dealt with. Have fun moving your mountain!

Meditations in Exodus: 83. Repercussions

Num 14:6-9 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

The people respond with fear and fear is the enemy of faith. “ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.” (v.5) Moses and Aaron don't try to argue but just fall on their faces in prayer before the whole crowd. It is left to Joshua and Caleb to speak in faith about the land as above. Note their approach. First they tear their clothes, a sign of deep distress, and then they address the people. See what they say.

First , they speak of the land: “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.” (v.7) That is the same truth that the Lord has spoken every time He has mentioned the land.

Second , they speak faith: “If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.” (v.8) God WILL lead us into this good land.

Third , they appeal to the people: “Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them," (v.9) and in this appeal there is reassurance, we've got God on our side, it will be all right!

But their words fall on deaf ears: “But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.” (v.10a) There appears no reasoning with this panicky people. “Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.” (v.10b) Then the Lord turns up and He speaks to Moses: "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.” (v.11,12) Now be careful, we've had this lesson before; this is the Lord testing Moses, it's not what He really wants.

Moses responds well. He intercedes with logic and wisdom: “Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, `The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.'” (v.13-16) What a gem Moses is, what brilliant arguing.

Basically he says, “If you do this everyone in the surrounding nations will hear about it and you will be shown to be a failure and that is not true. Then he continues on the basis of the revelation he had received from the Lord: “Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: `The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.” (v.17-19) i.e. you have said you are loving and forgiving, even though you do punish sin, so please have mercy and forgive this foolish people.

The Lord responds to this argument: “The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.” (v.20-23) Judgment tempered with mercy. He will not kill off this people straight away, but He will stop them from entering the Land so every one from the age of accountability (over 20 – see v.29) will die in the desert. The Lord spells it out more fully in the following verses 26-35. It is a depressing scenario. The younger generation are going to have to wait for forty years before they can enter the Land after the entire older generation have died off.

If you read on you see that Israel try to back-pedal and enter the land but they are driven off by the inhabitants. Without the Lord fighting for them, it is a lost cause. Jesus said to his disciples, “apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) Apart from Jesus we are lost and hopeless. Without him we can do nothing, with him we can do all things he puts before us. The Israelites went round in circles for forty years because of their unbelief. I worry sometimes about the unbelief that exists in Christian circles. We are happy to be part of a big church and receive weekly teaching but if it stops there we are living in unbelief.

We are in fact the body of Christ and individually members of it (1 Cor 12:27), so that the supernatural power and revelation of heaven can flow through us to impact the world around us and bring transformation. Anything less than that speaks of unbelief. Are we in fact going round in circles. We speak of non-Christians as being ‘lost' but the sign of a lost person is that they don't know where they are or where they are going. Don't just say, ‘heaven' if I ask the question, ‘do we know where we are going?' Do we have a sense of purpose and direction for our lives or are we just filling in time? Are we just pew fodder to bolster the ego of preachers or are we living and active members of the body of Christ, gifted and sent, bringing in the kingdom of God ? Let's not be casual with these questions.

Meditations in Exodus: 84. Accidental or Purposeful Sin

Num 15:32-34    While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.

Something I have rarely heard preached about, and yet is one of the most important key features, especially of the early life of Israel, is the battle that went on for the minds of the people for them to remain a pure people who were to remain a light to the rest of the world, a nation who revealed the Lord and all His love and goodness to the earth. That was what was supposed to happen. God had made mankind to work in a particular way and any deviation from that produces human breakdown, e.g. over eating produces obesity which produces other health problems. Of course at the Fall, Adam and Eve had opened the door for sin to enter the world and every person was thus born with a propensity to self-centred godlessness. To help Israel counter that propensity, the Lord gave them to Law.

We now come to an incident that needs considering in context. Israel have just failed to enter the land and then we find at the beginning of this chapter, “The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `After you enter the land I am giving you as a home and you present to the LORD offerings made by fire….” (15:1-3) and we then see the Lord giving further instructions on how to present offerings (v.3-16) This is followed by, “ The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the LORD.” (v.17-19) which is the start of a new section of law about how to deal with failure (v.19-26). Now I have underlined the key reasoning behind these laws, apart from what they say, which is to emphasise the Lord's intent to eventually bring these people into the land. That is still top of His agenda and their initial failure has not detracted from that.

Now it is in the context of this ‘law of failure' that the Lord then speaks about unintentional and defiant failure. There IS a difference. “ But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the LORD for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien. BUT anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the LORD's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.' " (v.28-31) Notice the threefold emphasis on the word ‘unintentionally'. When such a person brings their offering in repentance they will be forgiven. This is contrasted with the person who sins ‘defiantly', i.e. intentionally or blatantly or purposefully. This person cannot repent for they are just rebellious.

Now it is at this point that we are given an illustration of what this means because a man is caught ignoring the rule to rest and do no work on the Sabbath (v.32,33) Now this is the first time such a thing has happened and so they hold him in custody wondering what to do with him (v.34). So then we read, “Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.” (v.35,36)

The severity of this terminal judgment indicates the importance laid on holding the people together and maintaining a law-abiding people. Elsewhere I have called terminal judgments, ‘judgments of the last resort'. Nothing else would do at this point to make the point: this is a nation called to stand out in the world and reveal the goodness of the Lord's design for the earth. God's plan, which He has just shown is still in place, is to take this holy people into the Promised Land and there be with them to bless them as they keep to the Law and reveal an alternative way to live to the rest of the people on the earth.

This people have three times at least affirmed the covenant with God – all of them – and so now when one man turns round and blatantly shows that he doesn't care about the laws, he has forfeited the right to be part of Israel, but for the sake of the nation, he cannot just be expelled and banished for that would be the same as any lesser punishment that would say it really didn't matter. No, death is the judgment of last resort. In no other way will the message be conveyed.

Almost as an aside – and it is a thought I've never had before – if you were an Israelite and you didn't like the idea of being part of this law-keeping society, you could always sneak out of the camp and go and live in some other country. Staying in the nation required you to abide by the covenant. Because this appears very negative it is worth pondering briefly on how this worked out in the high points of Israel 's life when they were truly seeking the Lord and obeying Him in all things. I always cite the incident of the Queen of Sheba coming to Solomon in 1 Kings 10 and how she was overcome by the extent of God's goodness to them, the wealth and the quality of life they had. There are other such incidents in the life of Israel but tragically even Solomon fell off the rails and ended up in a bad place, as did so many of the other kings. The Old Testament is a testimony to the goodness of God and the folly of mankind – even with Him in their midst. Oh yes, we need our salvation!

Meditations in Exodus: 85. Insurrection

Num 16:1,2 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites--Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth--became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.

I have used the word insurrection here, because whatever way you look at this, it is a rebellion, a mutiny and an uprising – and it is almost unbelievable. I say unbelievable because not long back Aaron and Miriam had taken a similar stance and Miriam had suffered disgrace and leprosy for a week by way of punishment. You will note a footnote at the end of verse 1 that suggests the alternative that says these four men – Korah, Dathan and Abiram and On – ‘took men', they got others to side with them; in fact 250 men, men who were community leaders. This is a disaster, it is a challenge to Moses leadership and his authority before the Lord.

They say to Moses and Aaron, “ You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?” (v.3) i.e. what makes you so great? What a bunch of idiots! Have they been deaf and blind for the last two years, have they not seen Moses role opposing Pharaoh in Egypt, have they not seen Moses' leadership role in the desert, did they not see Moses going up and down the mountain talking to the Lord and receiving the Law? What is wrong with these people? It is called pride and pride blinds you to the truth. I have to confess I have been attacked three times in my leadership roles throughout my Christian life by those who wanted to take the role of leader from me so they could lead.

Moses' response to this challenge to his leadership is to again fall on his face in prayer (v.4) and having listened to the Lord (assumed), “he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!” (v.5-7) There is an implication behind all this that Korah who is a Levite (and Levites looked after the Tabernacle) wants to be upgraded to a priest and so Moses says, “Very well, you want to be a priest and your followers want to be spiritual leaders? OK, tomorrow morning act like priests and bring censers with fire and incense in them and we'll see what God does, who He chooses.

But then he confronts Korah with this specific charge – “you do the work of the Lord's tabernacle… but now you are trying to get to the priesthood as well. It is against the Lord you… have banded together” (v.8-11) That makes it quite clear. Then “Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come! Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!" (v.12-14) What world had they been living in? How had their memory changed Egypt from a place of harsh slavery to being “a land flowing with milk and honey”? They dig in!

This angers Moses and he talks to the Lord: “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.” (v.15) He then reiterates his instruction to the men to bring censers next morning which they do (16-18) The glory of the LORD appears (v.19) and “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” (v.20,21)

So here we have a third time the Lord makes a statement for Moses to react against, a test if you like. Moses rises to it: “But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?” (v.22) Good call Moses! “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, `Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.” (v.23,24) Moses goes to them and warns the assembly (v.25-27) He addresses the people: “Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” (v.28-30) It can't be made any plainer.

The judgment is devastating: “As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.” (v.31-35) It is utterly conclusive. There is a little follow on. The bronze censers of the 250 men were collected up by Aaron's son and hammered into a sheet to cover the altar as a reminder for future generations that such a thing should never ever happen again.

What more can one say? It is like coming to the end of some great film full of action and suddenly, ‘The End'. Silence. It is over, but you are left there, standing and wondering. Why were these men so foolish as to mess with God? Sin. It's there in every one of us and Satan comes to tempt us so that the Sin in us rises up and leads us into ever greater folly. May we learn.

Meditations in Exodus: 86. Saved by Mercy

Num 16:41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said.

I finished the previous meditation with the following: What more can one say. It is like coming to the end of some great film full of action and suddenly, ‘The End'. Silence. It is over, but you are left there, standing and wondering. Why were these men so foolish as to mess with God? The death of Korah and company by what appears a limited earthquake or even sink-hole followed by fire, must have been devastating. Yes, Moses had clearly been the Lord's instrument but the magnitude of what happened was so great that surely there must have been no question that this was an incredible act of God. I finished as I did because it struck me that this is how it must have been, total silence and horror, but if it was it was short lived.

“The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said.” (v.41) What was it about this people that made them so blind? Well we said it then and we'll say it again – Sin. Modern Christianity so often says little about Sin but it is the reason for the Cross. It is inherent in every single person. Before we came to Christ we were held by its power. When we came to Christ he not only justified us, forgave us, cleansed us and adopted us, but he also put his own Holy Spirit within us, power to overcome, power to change us, but without Him we would be the sort of people Paul demonstrates in Romans 7 when he speaks of his old life saying, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing .” (Rom 7:18,19) Because of this the apostle John wrote, “the whole world is under the control of the evil one .” (1 Jn 5:19) And if we're still wondering remember Paul said, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers.” (2 Cor 4:4) There can be no other explanation why these people – the whole community – grumbled against Moses.

Moses and Aaron must have either been outside the Tabernacle or they still used the tent of Meeting outside the camp because we read, “But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.” (v.42-45) The crowd come to have it out with Moses and turn towards the tent at which point the pillar of cloud appears over it – the Lord has come, He has heard and yet again He tests Moses with His proposal to destroy this people. In fact clearly plague has started to appear in the people (v.46b) so Moses and Aaron fall face down in prayer for a third time.

But the role of the priesthood is to intercede for the people and stand between them and God and so we read, “Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started." So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.” (v.46-50)

The people with their attitude have forfeited the covenant and are in blatant rebellion against God. It is not an unintentional thing (remember the Law we considered recently) but wilful and purposeful. They don't care. They are the chosen people of the earth, they have been called to be a blessing to the earth, to reveal God to the earth, to be receivers of His blessings and demonstrate His goodness to the world but instead a bunch of them rebel and when terrible judgment falls on them, the rest grumble against God's servant. How incredible, how bizarre!

But why didn't God just strike all of them down in a second, for He could have? The answer must be in what followed. The fact that Aaron stepped in with his priestly role with an act of atonement must have been what the Lord was wanting. The lessons are strong and clear. Blatant sin warrants death but even then where there is an intercessor, God will hold back and give another chance for no other reason than He is merciful. Yes, He is! There is no reason why He should hold back at this point. He is almighty God, Creator of the Universe. He has made a perfect world and mankind have thrown it back in His face, so to speak. He could have just wiped out and utterly destroyed the earth. He has the power and might to do that; we are but ants to Him and you and I tread on ants with little thought. Why hasn't God wiped out this rebellious anthill? Be very clear: we have done nothing to deserve mercy; that is the thing about mercy it is given for no reason other than God chooses to.

Again we fall back to the Lord's words through Ezekiel: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ezek 18:23) and “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” (Ezek 18:32) and “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” (Ezek 33:11) THREE times the same message which perhaps the apostle Peter picks up on when he writes, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9)

We have emphasised again and again in these studies the battle that is going on to bring this people through to a place where they can truly be a light to the rest of the world but it is hard work in the face of their constant failures. On the one hand with the human race we have a people made in the likeness of God so often revealing His grace (theologians call it ‘common grace') so good things are seen in us, but all the time there is this struggle, because of free will, with this propensity to be self-centred and godless. It is an incredible battle that is going on and the only reason we are still alive is the mercy of God. Do a Moses and Aaron and fall on your face and worship the One who is holy, the One who is all powerful, the One who sent His Son to satisfy justice on your behalf, to spare you for no reason other than He wanted to! That is mercy. We didn't deserve it but we got it.

Meditations in Exodus: 87. A Sign for the Rebellious

Num 17:10 The LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die”

In the previous chapter we observed the plague that was coming as God's judgment after the Lord had threatened to judge all the people for their grumbling, but as the priests interceded for them, the Lord had mercy on them and the plague was stopped. We marveled at why the Lord had not finished completely with this people. It might be helpful to itemize again the order of the things that had recently happened:

•  They arrived at Kadesh on the border of the Promised Land (Num 13), spies had gone in and ten of the twelve brought back a bad report that swayed the nation who then refused to enter the Land (Num 14).

•  Because of this the Lord decreed that the whole of the nation over the age of twenty would die in the wilderness in the coming years and the younger generation would only enter when the older generations had eventually died out. (Num 14:29-35)

•  Subsequent to this, presumably still at Kadesh but it may be later, Korah and at least 250 community leaders had risen up against Moses and Aaron and had been destroyed when the earth swallowed them up (Num 16).

•  Incredibly this was followed by the people grumbling against Moses (16:41) and when the Lord sent plague against them, it was only stopped by Moses getting Aaron as High Priest to make atonement. (16:46-50)

Thus we arrive at a point of time when Israel are consigned to a life in the desert, have been on the verge of being wiped out by the Lord for their ongoing rebellious attitude, and are teetering on the brink of existence. What will they do? What will the Lord do? How can they carry on?

Our verse above explains what follows as the Lord's activity seeking to end their grumbling so that they will not yet be destroyed. The Lord proposes a strategy whereby His will and the sanctity of the priesthood will prevail. Observe:

“The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites." (Num 17:1-5) It is very simple. Each tribal leader is to present their staff with their name on it – and Levi's will have Aaron's name on it. These staffs are to be put in the Tent of Meeting overnight and whoever's staff buds by next morning will be the one chosen by the Lord. That will put an end to all the grumbling about who is a leader and who is not. This they do (v.6,7)

What follows is amazing: “The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.” (v.8) It is undoubtedly a miracle because it not only budded, but leaves had formed AND blossom AND fruit appear on it.

Moses takes all the other staffs and gives them back to their owners – unchanged! – and the Lord tells him to put Aaron's in the Tent as an ongoing reminder to everyone that Aaron, the high priest is His chosen on. (Num 17:9-11) The impact on the leaders and the people is instructive and obvious: “The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?” (v.12,13)

Now, interestingly, they are not given an answer, or at least one is not recorded. What is recorded is Aaron, his sons and his future sons, and the Levites being appointed to serve in the Tabernacle for the centuries to come. The Lord is very specific: “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.” (Num 18:5) The priesthood is to be the means of the salvation of the Israelites by providing atonement for them whenever they sin (stated elsewhere). The rest of the chapter is about how they are to be provided for, not ever having land of their own. Chapter 19 is all about killing and burning a red heifer, a cow, outside the camp and using its ashes as a cleaning agent in water whenever uncleanness occurs. It is simply a law about maintaining or regaining cleanliness. In other words the whole emphasis swings away for a couple of chapters away from the failures of Israel to the Lord's provision for them of a priesthood which they have already seen can stand in for them and preserve them when, in reality, they deserve death.

The whole affair of the staffs, and the laws that follow establishing the priesthood, clearly speak of the Lord's grace that is doing everything it can to preserve this foolish people. We may wonder about this because they are a people condemned to die in the wilderness – well the older generation at least – but what we have here are the Lord's actions to head off further folly which could contaminate the younger generation. The Lord's intent is for that younger generation to grow up in the wilderness, to learn from it all, and be ready to go in and take the Land when the older generation has died off. All we have been reading about has been the Lord's activity, working to help bring that about. How amazing! This is the God of grace and mercy with whom we have to deal. Praise and worship Him!

Meditations in Exodus: 88. Moses' Downfall

Num 20:10 Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"

We need to identify first of all just when this all happened. “In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin , and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.” (20:1) Now no year is mentioned, just a reference to “the first month” but in verses 22 to 29 of this chapter, warning of Aaron's impending death is given. In Num 33:38 we read in respect of Aaron, “he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt .” (Num 33:38) We have clearly jumped some thirty eight years forward. Israel have obviously done their wandering and the older generation has died off. There is no record of the things that happened in that thirty eight year gap because it was a time of shame. At the beginning of this chapter Miriam dies and at the end of it Aaron dies (Num 20:27-29). In between, Moses future is determined by an event that had similarities to what had occurred some thirty eight years earlier (Ex 17:1-7).

So thirty eight years have passed and now we are told, “there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.” (Num 20:2) There is a real sense of deja-vu here: “They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!" (Num 20:3-5) The only thing is that this is the NEXT generation. The previous generations have virtually all now died.

Moses falls down before the Lord and God's glory appears to them (v.6). The Lord tells Moses to take his staff and speak to the rock and the Lord will bring water out of it, enough for everyone (v.7,8). It is at this point that things go slightly differently from the time many years before: “So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.” Num 20:9-11)

Note Moses' language: “you rebels” and “must we bring water out”. And then he struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it. Yes, water comes out, but that's not the point. The point is that Moses is supposed to be the Lord's representative and only do what the Lord tells him to do. Clearly Moses is utterly frustrated by the Israelites. It may be all the worse for him because thirty eight years have passed and the next generation are getting ready to enter the Land and then the same thing happens all over again! He has not handled it well. So we find, “the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (v.12) Psa 106 records, “they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips.” (Psa 106:33)

A great deal is yet to happen, as is spelled out in the remaining 16 chapters of Numbers (which we will only summarise) and indeed the entire book of Deuteronomy is to be written by Moses yet, but eventually we read of his death on his own on Mount Nebo , overlooking the land in Deut 34:1-8.

So how can we sum up this? Moses overstepped the mark on this occasion and for that he was not allowed to enter the Land. Why? Perhaps to show to Israel that even someone as great as Moses is answerable to the Lord and has to be held to account. Yes, the reality was that he was now 120 years old when he died and had spent the first forty years of his life as an Egyptian Prince, the second forty years of his life as a Midianite shepherd, and then the final forty years of his life as the shepherd of Israel . That last role had involved delivering them out of Egypt, taking them to Sinai, then up to the Promised Land, but then just looking after them for nearly forty years in the wilderness before finally taking them up the east side of the Dead Sea until they were ready to cross the Jordan near Jericho to enter and take the Land. There on the plains of Moab he gave Israel a reminder of all that had happened over these past forty years, and then gave them detailed instructions about entering and living in the Land, which we now have as the book of Deuteronomy.

Commentators often disagree on dating the time of Moses life and so also of his death, but it is possible (if not probable) that from the time of striking the rock to dying on Mount Nebo was only about a year or so. If that is so, then his final year was a very active and very fruitful time. One hundred and twenty is a good age to die and he was more active in guiding Israel through the territories up the east of the Dead Sea and instructing Israel that most people would be in their sixties! No way does he let this restriction imposed on him by the Lord limit his ongoing service as the Shepherd of Israel.

In fact, I find this quite a challenge. If the Lord told me He was disciplining me and so all my hopes and aspirations were to be cut short (as happens when we find ourselves with a terminal illness) how will I feel about the months left to me? Would I sulk (I hope not) or would I seek to be as fruitful as Moses was? (I hope so). Part of our reply would also depend on how we coped with our own failure, if it had been like Moses and our shortened lifespan was a disciplinary act of God.

Indeed, how we learn to live with our failures is a big part of many of our lives. When we have blown it (and I have on more than one occasion) will we sink into a self-centred morass of gloom and doom, or will we receive the grace of God and get up and say, “Lord, please yet do what you need to with me, but please continue to use me.” We can yet be fruitful for that is always the Lord's intent for us, even after He has had to pick us up and set us going again after some failure.

I think one of the greatest examples of this that I have observed in my lifetime was the life of Charles (Chuck) Colson, indicted and imprisoned for his part in the Watergate Affair when working for President Nixon. Through this he came to the Lord and went on to found Prison Fellowship and was greatly used in a teaching ministry. His failure was able to be used by the Lord to bring a new son to glory. Failure was not the end, and it was clearly not so for Moses. May it not be so for you and me.

Meditations in Exodus: 89. Clearing the Way

Num 20:14,17,18   Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying… Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory….. But Edom answered: "You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”

We have endeavoured in this lengthy series to cover the whole of the story of the Exodus from the deliverance from Egypt to arriving at the border of he Promised Land. Now the final outcome shows that actually some of the land to the east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan river were given to the tribes of Gad and Reuben (see Num 32) and so technically they are about to enter the land that was to be theirs and so as we are in a transition stage, we will only cover it in basic outline form.

Kadesh Barnea, you will see from a map was in the far south of the Land, which is where Israel return to after the thirty eight years of wilderness wandering. To keep the story short we will simply summarise what follows:

•  To move north towards the Land they had to skirt Edom but the king of Edom refused them entry (20:18) and the Lord forbade them attack (Deut 2) so they moved south east and in the process…..

•  Aaron died on Mount Hor (20:22-29). They then skirted Edom and going north were attacked by the king of Arad (21:1-3) who they defeated.

•  There was then yet another time of grumbling and when a plague of snakes broke out against Israel , Moses provided salvation through a bronze snake (21:4-9).

•  As they approached the land of the Amorites that king refused them entry and fought them but was defeated by them (21:21-26).

•  The same thing happened as they travelled further north and they defeated the king of Bashan (21:33-35).

•  This brought them to the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho . To the east were the Midianites who had heard all that had happened and were fearful and so follows the bizarre story of Balak who hired the seer Balaam to curse Israel . Every time he went to do this he encountered the Lord and ended up blessing Israel , much to the displeasure of Balak (Ch.22-24).

•  Failing in this, Balaam advised Balak to get his women to seduce the Israelite men to overcome them and lead them into idolatry, which is what happened (Ch.25), and God's judgment on them was only averted when Phineas stepped in (25:6-18), although many still died by plague and the Lord decreed that Midian were to be destroyed (see ch.31).

•  This is followed by settling Reuben and Gad in the land east of the Jordan , subject to their soldiers continuing to help the rest take the rest of the Land (Ch.32). This is really the last historical incident recorded in Numbers.

•  Moses actual death is recorded, as we have noted previously, in Deut 34 which concludes the book of Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch.

Thus we have observed the final historical events involving Israel as they come to the end of this forty year period of deliverance from Egypt and their travels until the point in time where they arrive on the Plains of Moab to the east of the Jordan , opposite Jericho , and prepare to actually enter the Land. They have arrived! We will in one final study recap all we have seen of their travels but for the moment we might ask ourselves what these final events, recorded above, say to us?

In the previous study we noted Moses' failure in respect of the water from the rock but also noted that this did not stop him remaining fully active in his final year(s) as he led the people up to the point where there were to cross the Jordan and enter the Land. We usually think of Joshua as the great general who led Israel into the Land, but actually Moses had led them in the first stages. He had been their leader and seen them through the lands to the south and then east of the Dead Sea and he had been the one leading them to defeat Arad , then the Amorites and then Bashan and eventually the Midianites. i.e. he had led them through their first four battles, helping them gradually gain confidence in being a fighting force. He had had to overcome the spiritual battle over Balaam's deception and he had had to preside over various administrative issues about ownership and settling the Land.

There is a portion of a psalm that we should perhaps consider at this point: “ The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age , they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." (Psa 92:12-15) This is the challenge for the believer in old age, and Moses sets an example for us to follow, being the perfect illustration of what this psalm says. For those of us of more mature years, will this be us? The writer to the Hebrews testifies, “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house.” (Heb 3:5) Will the same thing be able to be said of us when we are gone, that we have been a faithful servant of the Lord, who kept on to the very end? May it be so.

Meditations in Exodus: 90. A Final Recap

Heb 3:5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house.”

In many ways the story of the Exodus is the story of Moses. Yes, it is all about the deliverance and ups and downs of Israel , the forming of this embryonic nation, but behind all that is the presence and leadership of Moses. In this final study we will first recap the things that happened and then consider lessons to be learned from this amazing story.

A. Recap :

Part 1: Background – Studies 1 to 7 – Ex 1 & 2

The early life of Moses after a unique saving from death in his first months to live as a Prince of Egypt for the first forty years of his life until he rashly killed an Egyptian and had to flee Egypt and ended up looking after sheep for his next 40 years in Midian.

Part 2: Encounter with God – Studies 8 to 18 – Ex 3 & 4

After 40 years looking after sheep, Moses has an encounter with God at a burning bush on Mount Sinai where he is called to go back to Egypt and deliver Israel and take them to the Promised Land of Canaan.

Part 3: Returning with a Mission – Studies 19 to 25 - Ex 4 to 6

Moses' return to Egypt , and meeting with the leaders of his own people – an inauspicious start.

Part 4: Into Battle – Studies 26 to 36 – Ex 6 to 11

The Battle of the Snakes, the first nine plagues: Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Livestock, Boils, Hail, Locusts, and Darkness

Part 5: Wrapping it up – Studies 37 to 48 – Ex 11 to 15

Getting ready to leave, the Passover and tenth plague, leaving, being chased by Pharaoh, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his army.

Part 6: The Road to Sinai – Studies 49 to 60 – Ex 16 to 19

A time of early learning to trust God with trials by bitter water, no water, abundant water, learning to fight, and their arrival at Mount Sinai .

Part 7: The Divine Encounter at Sinai – Studies 62 to 75 – Parts of Ex 20 to 33

Meeting with God and receiving the Law, followed by an awful failure with the Golden Calf and much talk about the relationship with the Lord

Part 8: Sinai to Kadesh – Studies 76 to 81 – Num 11 & 12

Leaving Sinai and travelling to Kadesh with testings and failings

Part 9: The Events at Kadesh, and on – Studies 82 to 90 – Num 13 to 20

Israel 's refusal to enter the Land and being consigned to wander in the desert for forty years. Further failings and judgments and then travelling up the east side of the Dead Sea until arriving at the Plains of Moab opposite Jericho after having vanquished four enemies.

B. Lessons:

i) Moses: Moses, as we said above, is the primary character who features throughout this period of time and the story of the Exodus. Brought up as a prince of Egypt we saw his fall and his period as a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian, a time when all self-confidence would have left him. This is then the man God chooses to deliver his people. As the apostle Paul wrote, “ God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things.” (1 Cor 1:27,28) When will we learn what Isaiah learnt: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.” (Isa 55:8) or what Samuel had to learn: “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7) It was not going to be by princely power, smart wisdom or even wealth that God's people were delivered – and they are not today.

Associated with this we learn of the Lord's calling. I believe the lesson that comes throughout the Bible is that God calls those to follow Him and do His bidding who He knows He can change and who have potential for great things. That means you and me.

ii) Pharaoh: here is the epitome of human pride and foolishness, a man who hardened his heart by his self-centred and godless desire, reinforced by the occult, to withstood all of God's persuasions that got tougher and tougher and more obvious as they went along. His eventual death was down to his own pride – and so it is with men and women today.

iii) Israel: Israel we would like to think well of, but cannot! Their self-centred concerns, and so often godless attitudes, sum up what the Bible calls Sin, and it is constantly there! Again and again the Lord provides for them and although we may consider a number of things they encountered to be trials or testings through which they should learn, they never learned the simple lesson – when in trouble ask God for His help! However if we are honest, Israel simply portray mankind as a whole, of whom we are a part. We, all of us, have this propensity to be self-centred and get it wrong, failing to seek God's help at every turn. No, we are just like Israel and without Christ are just as bad.

iv) God: On one side of the coin, the picture of God is scary. Here is a God of power and might, a holy God who holds people to account and when they fail to repent, brings judgment. However, the other side of the coin reveals a God who understands the frailty of those He calls and so perseveres and perseveres with them until they grow and mature. The fact that He did not wipe out the whole of Israel very early on in their life as a nation, simply reveals a God of immense grace and mercy. He is also seen as a God who draws near to His people, provides for them, blesses them and brings them all the guidance they need. i.e. He is a God who interacts with His people constantly.

Now these are massive lessons, I would suggest, and if you have managed to follow all these studies right through to the end you are to be congratulated because they have not always been highly enlightening. And therein is another lesson: not every page of the Bible is as enlightening as all others, yet we can learn something even from those that do not seem to inspire us. Inspired they may be but not every word is thrilling BUT it WILL be “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that (we) may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16,17) The only criteria, I have learned over many years of writing these studies, is that we need to pray both before and after what we have read, and THEN the word comes alive as we encounter Him and He opens it up to us. OK, what's next?