The Good Ole' Days......

"I want to go back to the good ole' days, God!"

Back to slavery.

Back to hardship.

Back to death.

Can you believe the Israelites would even consider this????!!!!

These are accounts of the Israelites in the wilderness from Numbers 16. It is fascinating....and boy, can I see MYSELF in these accounts!

Even though God delivered them with signs and miracles from BONDAGE and cruel slavery, every time they would come up against hardship in the desert (or "wilderness"), they would grumble and complain to Moses. They would ask Moses, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? We should go back to Egypt!" This was the one that REALLY got me, "Isn't is enough that you have brought us up OUT OF A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK HONEY (EGYPT), to kill us in the desert? Morever, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards."

Can you believe that?! Yes, Egypt was a land flowing with "milk and honey", but not for them! They were slaves! They did not even get to experience the bounty and prosperity!

Isn't that just like us, at times? When times get hard, as God is leading me through my own personal wilderness, I cry out for the way things WERE. I would rather grumble and complain about the "good ole' days", even when they weren't in truth so good, instead of digging my heals in, taking God's hand and walking with Him in the desert. I willingly trade freedom for bondage.

What REALLY blew me away, though, is that a group of priests get really mad and rebel against Moses and Aaron (Moses' brother and "top" priest). A priest named Korah (remember this name!) got his family and 250 other leaders to rise up against Moses. He wants some of Moses' power. He says, "The whole community is holy (yea, right!), and the LORD is with all of them. Why do you put yourselves above them?"

You see, in Korah's eyes, "holy" meant following all of the laws and rituals. But, God looks beyond following the law....He looks at the heart. Yes, they were following and obeying God's directions, but with what kind of attitude? And, didn't God Himself place Moses in charge? Wasn't it Moses who led them out of Egypt? And, this is most important, who talked to God? Who continually was in the presence of God? It was Moses.

Moses had a HEART for God, a relationship with Him, a hunger for His presence.

So, the next day they go to appear before God, to let Him judge between them. God tells Moses and Aaron to seperate themselves from these men (Korah, his family, and 250 leaders) so that He can "put an end to them at once." Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?" Moses does what He has continually done through grumbling and complaining of the Israelites- He falls face down and cries out for God's mercy. When you read the story, the people grumble and blame Moses. It strikes me that Moses is forgiving and merciful even when He is the brunt of all their bad behavior. Anyway, God has everyone move away from Korah, Datham, and Abiram (family). He warned the assembly, "Move away from their tents or you will be swept away because of their sins."

God opened the earth and swallowed up the families of these men (women and children, too), then a" fire came out of the LORD and consumed the 250 men who followed Korah."

God was MAD! He was angry at their rebellion, their lack of reverence, complaining, and pride. Now you would think that would have been the end of it, wouldn't you? I mean, if it would have been me, if I saw the earth open up and swallow people and then a fire consume 250 more, I would have been doing some big time repenting! For us, it obvious that they had sinned and offended the LORD greatly. But, can you believe this, the next morning, " the WHOLE (YES, WHOLE!) community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 'You have killed the LORD'S people' they say."

What rebellion! And, blaming! WHO killed the community???? MOSES????? We never want to take responsiblity of our own actions when it much easier to blame someone else! Notice, again, that it is against Moses that grumble and blame. Even though they saw with their own eyes the earth open up and fire come from the LORD.

Well, you can guess that the LORD was ANGRY! He was going to "put an end to them at once." Again, Moses and Aaron fall facedown on behalf of the people. Moses tells Aaron to put incence in his censer to make atonement for the people. "The wrath came out of the LORD and the plague had started." But, Aaron runs over to the people with his censer and made atonement for the people." The plague had already started, so Aaron was a dividing line between the living and the dead. The plague stopped where he stood. 14,700 people died from the plague.

OK, this so amazed me. I wondered how could the people have been so obstinate, rebellious, stubborn? How could they have witnessed with their own eyes God's anger the day before as He dealt with the rebellious Korah and his followers, and still not be humble and repentant? Instead, they go and do the same thing? Didn't they see how angry God was? I began asking God how could this be? How can people see with their own eyes the will of God, and still rebel against Him? Wouldn't what they witnessed the day before nipped any grumbling in the bud? Stopped it cold? Obviously not. But, how, why?

And, God showed me that these people, although they follwed Him, did not have a "relationship" with the Living God. They foll0wed His commands and rules, but didn't know His heart. They didn't seek after the presence of God ("you go, Moses, and talk to God for us"). They didn't spend time with Him, getting to know HIM. They wanted His blessings and the promised land, but they didn't want to get to know Him.

And, how many of us are like that today? We want all the benefits of God, His blessings, answered prayer, our "promised land", but are not willing to get to know HIM, to spend time with Him, to get to know His heart. Do we hunger after His presence? Do we seek HIM above all else? Not just praying because we need something, but praying and reading His Word because we want Him more and more. We long for Him because life without His presence is NOTHING!

Nothing compares to the joy and the passion we fill when we are walking with Him.

Moses was amazing. Do you know that when God got fed up with the Israelites at one point, He told Moses, "OK, go into the promised land. I will send an angel to go in before you to clear the way. BUT, I am not going in with you. You will not have my presence." But, Moses refuses! He knows that life in the desert WITH God is better than any promised land full of blessing and prosperity WITHOUT God.

Oh, God, may that always be MY prayer, the cry of MY heart! May I say I don't want the thing (no matter how wonderful) if You are not going to be with me! I don't want the job promotion if I won't have Your presence with us. I don't want any speaking opportunity if Your Spirit is not there! I don't want ____ without YOUR presence!

Oh, God, may we hunger and thirst for Your presence above all! May we continue to seek You with all of heart, our soul, our mind, our strength. May Your love be better than life!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Rejoicing in His amazing love!

In the Pit! Psalm 107 part 3

Continuing with Psalm 107.....

The next group of people praising God were “fools.” Not that the they are silly, or even so much that they are unwise, but that they are rebellious toward God. Verse 17 says, “Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.” Again, I am reminded of Proverbs, especially chapters 1-10, which compares wisdom to foolishness, or rebellion against God. Proverbs 1:7- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Listen to what God speaks to us in verses 1:23, 24- “If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you, (Don’t you want God to pour out His heart to you?????) and made my thoughts known to you. (I want God to make His thoughts known to me!!!) But the fool “ignores God’s advice and does not accept God’s rebuke.” The following chapters declare all of the blessings (long life, riches and honor, peace, good reputation before God and man, confidence, just to name a few!) of following wisdom and not rebelling against God. “Trust in God, but don’t lean upon your own understanding (fool), then God will direct your steps. Do not be wise in your own eyes, shun evil, and this will bring health to your body.”

This brings me back to Psalm 107 because the foolish (or rebellious people) in these verses are sick due to their sin. “They loathed all food (Amplified says “ill”) and drew near the gates of death." Now, not all people who are sick are so because they have sinned or because of their rebellion. But, the people in this psalm are! Their sin has made them deathly ill. And, I can relate- I have made myself sick- upset stomach, headache, feeling “down”, feeling of complete unrest because of my stubbornness and resisting obedience to something God has laid on my heart. (Psalm 38- “because of my sin…I am bowed down, going around mourning all day… there is no health in my body.”) Unforgiveness is such a poisonous sin to our bodies in particular. I have a close friend who was betrayed horribly. She suffered serious colon problems. God had been telling her to forgive this person, but she refused. It was when she did forgive that she experienced immediate healing! (Again, we live in a fallen world where there is sickness and disease. NOT ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK ARE SO BECAUSE OF THEIR REBELLION!)

“THEN they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.” God is so good, so forgiving, so faithful, pure love and mercy! “He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.” I love the Amplified bible so much better here. It uses PRESENT TENSE instead of past tense, “He RESCUES, He SENDS forth His word…” That does so much more for me! He is still doing it today!!!! He still rescues, He still sends forth His Word. And, instead of “grave” the Amplified says, “He rescues them from the pit (ever been in a pit??????) and destruction." How self-destructive I can be at times, but hallelujah- God rescues me!!!!!

And, this is precious! Look at how He rescues us- “He sends forth His Word and heals them.” Who is the “Word?” John tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the Word! God sends forth Jesus to heal us! And, as we look at Jesus all through the New Testament, He walks among the people, healing them, rescuing them from the pit and destruction. Glory!

Watch their reaction. “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy.” When we experience healing from the Lord, we react with songs of joy! When Jesus reaches into that pit of destruction and scoops us out, healing us, forgiving us, we are filled with joy. God comforts all who mourn, bestows on them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:3)

Thank you Lord for loving me so much! Your love won’t allow me to remain in a pit of despair. Your love won’t allow me to remain in sin, sin that spreads disease through my body. Thank you for the forgiveness that is given to me through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Father that you sent forth the Word, Jesus, to rescue me from my own destruction! I do proclaim your works with songs of joy! Hallelujah! Praise God! Help me Lord to always be humble before you. I do NOT want to be a rebellious fool. Search my heart, O God, and show me any rebellion that may be there. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus for your blood that covers every sin and cleanses me from all unrighteousness. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!