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February 28th
The Bible reading today is in Numbers chapters 11,12,13....but before we get there...I want to touch on one of the duties of the priests mentioned in yesterday’s reading. It inspired my thinking.
“The blowing of the two silver trumpets”This duty was for priests alone...and it was for two main purposes...
First... to call the congregation to the tabernacle...”God had something to say.”...And there was “Nothing” more important than that.
In the wilderness of Sinai, God used the trumpets to arrest the attention of the people...to lay aside other things...and “Hear from God”.
On this side of the cross, God the Holy Spirit, living in us, is that trumpet sound to our souls...telling us...” God has something to say.”...
So stay in the Word, stay in the Bible, stay in church...and pay attention to what God has to say. There is nothing more important!
Secondly....the trumpets’ certain sound not only called the Congregation to worship...the trumpets also called the congregation to war.
Friends...God the Holy Spirit sounds the trumpet to our spirits...calling us to spiritual warfare...let us report for duty courageously... every day...in and through prayer...and witness...pushing back the darkness and slaying the demons of unbelief not only for ourselves but for our families and church family...for our nation and the world...
“Thy Kingdom Come Lord...on earth (right here) as it is in heaven (with power)...power to save the souls of those we love. Amen! Let it be!!!
Now to the text of our reading today...
Israel has been organized, sanctified, encouraged, and blessed, instructed how to give, and reminded of God’s faithful deliverance...and on top of that, God lives in their camp...to provide, protect, and empower the nation...all the way to the promised land.
So what happened? A nation so blessed by God...and now they erase the thanksgiving in their hearts and replace it with grumbling, murmuring and complaining against God.
God heard their complaining.
And What He saw? ”They were no longer satisfied with God”. ...
Isn't that common among believers?
Yes...and No...remember, Jesus was and still is totally satisfied in His relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit....even after the cross...and we are in Jesus...so what is most common for believers is to find our happiness and significance wrapped up in God.
...”Israel forgot what it meant to be His treasured ones...no longer being totally satisfied in Him.”
What an insight God’s own word gives us into the seed of bitterness and complaining in our own lives...it springs up out of no longer being totally satisfied in our relationship with God...”
Our text says that God was so displeased with the faithless murmuring of the people, that the fire of the Lord burned among them and many on the outskirts of the camp were killed.
Wow...destructive doubting and complaining to God by His people brought His severe discipline. But apparently Aaron and Miriam didn’t get it...neither did the leaders of the clans...
You ask, “What happened to them?” Well, that’s the rest of the story. Enjoy.
Have a good day.
