Numbers 21:1 says, And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. When the king of Canaan who lived in the south heard from spies that the people of Israel were coming, he went to war with them and took some as prisoners. When the people of the world today hear that Christians are coming, they often go to war with them and sometimes and in some places even take them prisoner. Verse two adds, And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. The people of Israel vowed to God that if He would deliver the people of Canaan to them, then they would destroy their cities. We as followers of Christ are not called on to destroy the cities of those who are at war with us, but we still need to look to God for strength and the eventual victory over them. Verse three continues, And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah. God heard the voice of the people of Israel and delivered the Canaanites to them, and they utterly destroyed their cities. They might have been tempted to keep the cities for themselves, but that was not what they had vowed and I believe was not God's plan. We cannot just try to destroy our enemies so that we may benefit from it, but must destroy everything that stands against God in our life. Verse four states, And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. After they defeated the people of Canaan, they went on toward the Promised Land by the way of the Red Sea, and they were discouraged. They were having to travel further to go around the land of Edom, since they couldn't get the people of Edom to grant them passage through. We might wonder why God didn't just give them a victory over the people of Edom as He had over the people of Canaan, but the people of Edom did not initiate a war with them. Sometimes, God may lead us in a way that seems longer and harder than going to war with the world might be, but if God is not with us in a war against them, we will lose. The people, who had just experienced a great victory, were discouraged because of the way they were having to travel. Verse five adds, And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. They once again began to murmur against God and Moses, again asking why God had brought them out of Egypt to allow them to die in the wilderness. They also complained about the bread that God was providing for them and said there was no water. We too often, even after God gives us a total victory over sin, complain because He hasn't given us more materially. Verse six declares, And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. God once again dealt with their complaining by holding them accountable for it and sending fiery serpents which bit them and killed many of the people of Israel. God does not take our murmuring against Him lightly, and though as followers of Christ He has saved us forever, He may still allow us to suffer in this lifetime if we continually murmur against Him when things don't go the way we want them to. We need to be satisfied with what God provides for us and not continually murmur against Him. Verse seven adds, Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. The people of Israel may have been murmuring against Moses and God, but they now acknowledged their sin and asked Moses to pray for them that God would take away the serpents, and he prayed for them. As much as they murmured against him, Moses could have refused to pray for them, but he didn't. If we are murmuring against God, we must acknowledge our sin in doing so, and pray for God's forgiveness. If others are murmuring against us, we must pray for them, even if they don't ask us to. Verse eight says, And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. God told Moses to make a fiery serpent and put it on a pole, and that everyone that had been bitten who looked on it would be saved. God could have just sent the serpents away, but He chose to have the people take action by faith in order to be healed. God could have saved everyone simply by His word, but we must take a step of faith by looking to the cross of Calvary and acknowledging by faith that Jesus died there to bring forgiveness our sins. Verse nine adds, And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Once more, Moses obeyed God and also those who obeyed God by looking on the serpent of brass that Moses made lived. We must be obedient to God as Christians, and we need to do so without murmuring against Him because we are not satisfied with what He provides for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment