Ancient Israel experiences in the 40 years of wilderness wanderings can be a good mirror for us. Their example reveals many aspects of our nature: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:1-5).
And why not well pleased? “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10: 6-10).
These scriptures were written so we would not choose ancient Israel’s pattern of behavior. We know God delivered them from slavery in Egypt by a series of 10 miracles. We know the land that God promised to deliver to them; however, we also became aware of their human nature. So, Paul warned: “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10: 11-13). We are warned, and yet assured that we will not be tested beyond our ability to endure and overcome.
Looking back at this period of time, we see a people that did not take God seriously. They did not take Him at His word. But this is not unique to them. Adam and Eve did not take God at His word. This is a human trait, common to man. We, like Israel, are a product of our environment. When life became difficult for them, they looked back to the comfortable environs of Egypt.
To understand what we are accustomed to is to understand ourselves. We currently live in the United States, in the wealthiest country that this world has ever seen. We know all the physical blessings this country affords us. The United States’ currency has been the standard for the world for some time. The wealth of this nation has become the pride of its power. Today though, where does United States fit into what our dollars say: “In God We Trust”? Are we being blessed?
In the area of agriculture, with a desire to produce more, U.S. farmers, over the past 45 years, have spent more than one trillion dollars on pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. The centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, in their report, estimated that the national healthcare spending reached 3.8 trillion dollars in 2019. In 2020, they said it increased to 4.01 trillion dollars. In 2019, the U.S. military budget was over half a trillion. It was about the same in 2020. This year it is projected to be just shy of another trillion dollars. As a nation, our leaders seem to trust in our ability to spend our way out of problems. It seems that money has become our golden calf nationally.
God told the nation of ancient Israel if they would take Him seriously, He would pour out national blessings on them: “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle . . . there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you. . . . But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed” (Deuteronomy 12-15, 23).
God also inspired Solomon to write to us as individuals: “My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you. . . .Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3: 1-2,5-12).
God clearly wants to bless the nations and their individuals. However, trust without belief becomes a problem. Belief requires actions/obedience to God’s specifications. Moses trusted God but did not glorify God when He told him what to do for Israel when they needed water. Israel was complaining again about a lack of water for them and their livestock (Numbers 20:2). “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.’ So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, ‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe Me [act as I instructed], to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them”’ (Numbers 20: 7-12).
An example of Israel getting distracted from the goal of entering the “promised” land occurred when Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land they were to inherit. “Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him and said: ‘We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey [God was completely honest. He said it was and it was], and this is its fruit”’ (Numbers 13: 26-27).
Next comes the “nevertheless” attitude: “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan” (Number 13: 28-29). Joshua and Caleb countered the other 10 spies: “Then Caleb quieted the people and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it”’ (Numbers 13.30). The men who had gone with Caleb and Joshua said that Israel would not be able to fight the people because they were stronger than Israel. They were able to sway the entire congregation of Israel to refuse to enter the land (Numbers 13: 31-33, 14: 1-10).
Only Joshua and Caleb trusted, believed, and took God seriously even when the entire nation was contrary to them, Moses, and Aaron. They were not driven or distracted by the cares of the moment. The goal was still the same, enter into the promise land. Their character is the reflection in the mirror that we need to see in ourselves: trust, belief, and taking God seriously.
The people of ancient Israel as a whole did not trust, believe or take God seriously. Faith was lacking. For all today Paul gives the encouragement needed to motivate us to practice faithful obedience, trusting Him no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 35-39).
Taking God seriously will benefit all our lives.
Ryan Welsh
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