A Conversation

O. T. #330  "A Conversation"
July 28, 2014
Numbers 14-Part 3
And the LORD said unto Moses...Numbers 14:11-12
And Moses said unto the LORD... Numbers 14:13-19

LET IT GLOW

We get to read about the conversation between the LORD and Moses. It is right here in this chapter.
What if my prayers were revealed, written down? What if everything I asked for happened? Aren't we glad that Jesus intercedes for us with His wisdom? Some selfish prayers I am grateful that He doesn't grant.

Here we are still camped at Kadesh-Barnea at least forty-two days while the twelve men were gone spying out the Promised Land. They returned with a report of giants, walled cities, but fruitful land. The people cried all night. Were they thinking they were not going to get to go into such a wonderful land to live and raise their children? Or thinking they were stuck in the wilderness to die, defeated before they got to see the good land? They had come this far to give up?

Only Joshua and Caleb had the faith that God could conquer it for them, despite the odds.
We read of Moses and Aaron on their faces, praying for this crucial time and decision in Israel's history. Joshua and Caleb even tore their clothes in grief and mourning, then attempted to persuade the people with a speech. To their dismay, the people wanted to stone them.
That is when the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. (verse 10b)

The LORD spoke to Moses:

• How long will these people provoke Me? Provoke means to scorn, to blaspheme, despise.
• How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?
• I will smite them with pestilence.
• I will disinherit them.
• I will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

God had only been good to Israel and demonstrated His loving strength towards them countless times. He could give rebellious Israel what they deserved-judgment. He could fulfill His promises of a land, nation, and blessings to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through Moses instead. God offered Moses the position of being "patriarch" to a new Israel. This offer was similar to that made back in Exodus 32:7-14. (Guzik)
(The first offer to Moses to become the patriarch was made after Israel worshiped the idol of a golden calf.)

Do we provoke the LORD?
Do we refuse to believe Him?
Do we realize that He could snap His finger, better yet, speak a word, and we are dead?
Are we willing to disobey God and loose out on our Promised Land?
Are we tempted to leave our difficult situation or assignment to someone else?
How strong is our faith?
Will we attempt to encourage others when their faith wavers?

LET IT GROW

Did Moses even consider such an offer from God? It doesn't appear that he did, for Moses went right on into an argument of why God should spare sinful Israel:

1. because of God's testimony among the heathen (verses 13-16);
2. and because of God's former promises to Israel (verses 17-18).

In verse 18, Moses quotes God's own words back to Him, spoken in Exodus 34:6-7). If we, too, desire to remind the Lord of His promises to us, we must first of all know God's Word. (Falwell)

The heathen had heard about what God had done for the Israelites.  If He killed Israel now, wouldn't they say that He wasn't able to conquer the land? Was God's reputation on the line? Would God keep His promises? What would the LORD do? What would Moses do? Is there mercy for Israel?
Come back tomorrow to find out.

LET IT GO

Repent of my rebellion.

Plea for mercy.

Stay focused on God, not the giants in my life.

Love, encourage, and intercede for others.